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Princess Halena Asylia

Before you is a young woman, she cannot be any older than thirteen. She is unremarkable, average. Nothing about her bespeaks of any importance save for her eyes, which carry within them a force you can neither comprehend nor withstand.

0 · 1,591 views · located in Scylla

a character in “The Multiverse”, as played by Fishbucket

Description

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"My Duty is to my People first, myself never"

Before you stands a young woman, She is resplendant in royal garbs of the finest make, but that is not what makes her beautiful. Her features are, for her youth, exquisite, but that is not what makes her perfect. Her eyes snare you, and in them you see a sorrow and dispair unlike any you have ever felt, such a deep misery and anguish that you cannot imagine anyone would ever find their way out, and yet those eyes defy you. They are filled with pain, yes, but also a fire that refuses to die, a love that could change mountains and shatter whole worlds.

She is beautiful, because you have no doubt that this woman is divine.

Halena Asylia is a strong willed leader of her people, who seeks to ensure the survival and continued prosperity of her kingdom. A prodigy, she has shown intelligence at a young age that matches or even exceeds that of the greatest minds in her kingdom. Her father's pride in her drives her forward, and pushes her to prove herself worthy of his legacy, one of just and fair rule.

She is an intense thinker, and rarely engages in the childish behaviors expected of those her age. She is NEVER seen without her Guardian and confidant, Tolend Dathar. Wise, intelligent, and with a mind for courtly intrigue and warfare, she is the great hope of the kingdom, as the only heir of her father.

History

Halena Auroran Asylia was born a mere one thousand, four hundred, and seventy two years ago, which for Asylians is just barely past childhood and into Adolescence. Her mother was a proud and powerful woman by the name of Andromena, who was born with the twin gifts of telepathy and magic.

However, Andromena died in childbirth, leaving the king with only the young princess as his one and only heir. He dotes upon her, and gives to her all her wishes and desires. In recent years her aptitude and intelligence have been the primary drive behind the kings support and acquiescence to her. The king is considered a very wise and intelligent man, and he readily admits that his daughter is smarter than he in most subjects.

Halena has been protected by Tolend Dathar since her birth, a task the simple man has taken to with all the fervor of a loyal hound. Halena lacks both the telepathic and magical abilities of her parents, making her one of the minority in Asylia of those who do not possess either of these abilities. She more than compensates for this with deductive reasoning and intelligence.

Though she has no precognition or clairvoyance, many of the lesser nobles in Asylia are convinced that Halena can see the future. This is not the case, of course, as Halena merely uses logic to determine the most likely course of events, and at times even uses her predictions to manipulate individuals and people around her in order to have things occur as best suits her. Halena has never been beaten in chess, of any format she has encountered, including the Asylian version of the game known as Dusare Don Avast, which roughly translates to Hail The Worlds.

So begins...

Princess Halena Asylia's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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"Ha, less invasive. That's not something Asylians concern themselves with in terms of prisoners. When we do deign to take them, usually they're interrogated non stop by Arbiters in shifts until either all the information is extracted, or they expire." Halena shakes her head here, before brushing her hair with a brush that seems to have come from nowhere. "As far as the court is concerned, prisoners are merely a resource to be used as required."

After settling her hair, Halena smiles at Marlene. "I suppose in that regard, the Aschen are less barbaric than we are."

"Also, what rituals are these? Meditation I suppose?" Her curiosity was back in full force, and the frightening look of an knowledge hungry lore seeker famished for information was all that her eyes showed.

At this, Tolend did a very unexpected thing, and actively took a small step away From Halena. Apparently he was more than familiar with how dangerously thorough her hunger for knowledge could be, to the point that if clearly terrified him. It begged the question, if an otherwise unstoppable, indestructible, chaotic force of absolute destruction that could become a universe annihilating threat was terrified of this little girl.... Just what was she capable of?

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Marlene raised her eyebrow slightly, she had been up for days, since the initial attack on Molecay, and the stress was starting to wear on her physical form. Her thoughts were less organized, her mind was having trouble keeping it's laser focus on pertinent realities. A good night's sleep, and a moment to clear her mind was what she needed, yet this girl kept prying her with questions.

Halena was more a guest of Marlene's than a prisoner.

"Clear my mind, push the errant thoughts and voices into silence, and try to get some sleep." Marlene responded.

"Despite what the Asylians believe, prisoners in Aschen custody are given a few basic rights, depending on their classification. I'll have to let you read Confessor Kesslee's essay on prisoner treatment." Marlene said, starting down the hallway, gesturing for Tolend and Halena to follow, she appeared distracted, as she tried to scry more answers from the ether, as to what drove Halena to ask so many questions.

Marlene grasped at a fleeting answer, and plied the princess with a simple question.

"You want to ascend." Marlene said, almost at random.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Halena's smile widened. "As someone who already knows what it means to constantly have the endless possibilities and potential timelines running through your mind, I'm sure you can understand how most Asylians are."

She turned and walked backwards besides Marlene as they passed through the halls of the ship. "You already know how distorted our perception of time is, how difficult it is for us to communicate with others because we literally have to wait for the soundwaves to reach our inner ear, and then we have to wait for them to be processed into electrochemical signals that our brains can process."

"Because of this, patience is one of the first things every Asylian learns. In the last seven hundred forty something of your years, our species developed the means to use psionics to communicate, allowing us to bypass one of the greatest difficulties our species has faced."

"Now imagine being one of the perhaps twelve hundred out of quadrillions of Asylians that do not have psionics, imagine being one of the people who has no choice but to communicate in an incredibly slow and frustratingly inefficient method. One of the unfortunate side effects our biological development has had on our culture is that technologies that are deemed beneficial are assimilated by all our people almost immediately. This means that very few people I met growing up were willing to utilize the method of communication that I was stuck with."

Her smile stretched out even wider now, but at this point it was very clearly not sincere and didn't reach her eyes. Precognition was not necessary to see the hidden pain in the child's eyes, far more real than anything from that performance for the camera's earlier.

"Now imagine being the most intelligent member of your kind, a fact admitted to you by all of the greatest minds of your people. Imagine all the hopes and expectations placed on you because of your potential, and yet you have to do all of this alone because of your inability to communicate on par with your fellows."

She shrugged then and righted herself so she was walking properly. "I'm not exactly lonely, certainly. Tolend is a very good, if taciturn, companion. But It is all but impossible to find anyone that I can actually talk to on an equal level, as a result the majority of my time is spent learning, studying, and otherwise gathering knowledge."

"As far as ascension goes, I have no idea what that is, and so of course I want to know everything about it."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Marlene frowned slightly, before an idea crossed her mind. “Come with me.” She said, as she nodded to the men in the ship, and then she started down the hallway, leading Halena through a series of twisting cooridors, and hallways until they reached a sparsely decorated room. There was nothing in the room except a square shaped pit filled with black sand, inside the sand pit was a single candle.

Marlene moved to the sand pit, and slowly lowered herself into it, crossing her legs, and settling into the volcanic sand.

“Sit.” Marlene instructed.

The candle flared to life, it’s flame dancing in front of them.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Halena sat down across from Marlene, smiling as usual. Her eyes took it everything in the room before sitting across from the other woman.

Her mind of course burned with an endless number of questions, but she had already examined and studied Marlene enough at this point to have come to a Conclusion, that the precognitive Psion had likely brought her here to fully explore Halena's own mental abilities. Likely this had something to do with this "Ascension" she had spoken of, and as Halena tilted her head, she came to another conclusion.

"So, this ritual we'll be performing, I trust you have some form of masking or dampening field in place to prevent it being felt outside of this vessel? Something similiar to your Plank field effect. Random jumps are all well and good, but even I'm not fully aware of what capabilities the full arsenal of the Asylian military has. They could very well have some method of long range scanning that would pick up significant Psionic readings. It would make sense, and if a large psionic surge is detected, investigation will occur not long after."

She tilted her head the other way, her smile never leaving her face as she said "I very much would hate for this play date of ours to be brought to a short end."

At these words, Tolend took up residence at one corner of the room, and placed his hand against the wall. Within moments, his hand had fused to the wall, the flesh breaking apart and reforming to better connect. The most subtle of ripples occured, nearly imperceptible, visually, as the Guardian connected to every wall, the floor, and ceiling of this one particular room.

After he had finished, Halena stuck her tongue out slightly. "I do apologize, but while I'm sure you have your own methods, and they're certainly formidable, I'd rather ensure our privacy for my own peace of mind.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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"What we're doing, not even the most sophisticated, or sensitive Asylian instruments would be able to detect." Marlene said, raising her eyebrow as she watched the flame dance on the black sand before them. "But whatever puts your mind at ease, because this exercise will require just that."

She held her hands out to her side, resting the backs of her hand on her knees, palms up, fingers relaxed.

"Close your eyes, relax, and open your mind." Marlene instructed.

If Halena complied, she would find a strange tingling sensation wash over her entire body, before everything went white, it was as if she was physically in a plane of nothing but white as far as the eye could see, and the only thing that stood out was Marlene, who was wearing an entirely white outfit, and seemed to be glowing with an almost ethereal aura.

"Our physical bodies are still on the ship, but I've linked with your mind through a psychokinetic bridge." Marlene's lips didn't seem to move, and the words registered instantaneously, there was no processing lag that was a result of Asylian physiology.

Thousands of voices began to flit into the noise of the white 'realm' they were in, it could be described as people talking in a crowded room. It was the thoughts of the crew, but not their current thoughts, but past thoughts, future thoughts, and every possible thought that could move through their minds, it was all jammed together, like the static snow of a telvision.

The sensation of being punched in the gut rocked the realm, and Marlene's avatar rubbed her temples, White gave way to the errant energies of the warp, a maelstrom of overwhelming emotion from nearly an infinite angles, then visions. Reality itself collapsed, ten thousand times, in ten thousand ways, but then it didn't, hundreds of outcomes from a single event trillions of light years away flitted through like noise, but then it all stopped, there was white, and silence once more.

They would once again find themselves in the room, Marlene's eyes closed, but slowly opening.

"Lightning flashes, sparks shower; in one blink of an eye, you have missed seeing." Marlene's lips didn't move this time, being linked, she could speak directly to Halena telepathically, and Halena would likely quickly discover, the connection worked both ways.

Marlene cupped her hand over the candle, extinguishing the flame.

"The potential to master true understanding is in all of us, only through moments of clarity do I see it. Like you, I was not born with psionics, or a grasp of magic. The mind can be unlocked, through understanding the nature of all things. If you immediately know that the candlelight is fire; then the meal was cooked a long time ago."

Marlene smiled, and gazed to the candle between them.

"Take the first step."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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The connection between Halena and Marlene comes with a slight hiccup.

The moment their minds interconnect, Marlene would begin to hear a strange, haunting, but beautiful melody coming from the young girl. Her thoughts spark across a cosmic blanket of nebulous stars and streaks of emotion, filling the darkness of her mind with a light so profound that one who sees into it would seem to be looking into a jewel of infinite depth. There are dark parts, with dull thoughts so shadowed they are unfathomable, and sparking flashes of errant emotion and thought that flare into existence and just as quickly vanish. And each and every one of these thoughts was accompanied by a note, and those notes made up the song that represented Halena's being, her psyche and her personality. It was a sad song, a horribly beautiful tragedy.

There is no quieting or calming such a storm, but after a few moments, Halena is able to maintain the connection by apparently detaching herself from her own mind. The ability to compartmentalize and partition off parts of herself in such a way is frighteningly reminiscent of an AI, to the point that the fragment that she separates in order to properly participate in this communion between them isn't even aware of the separation between it and the rest of her mind.

Once in this realm of emptiness, even that fragment of her mind became as active as a celestial storm. It quickly became apparent that the girls mind was ravenous for knowledge and information, and began to devour the "voices" as they came, scanning them, investigating them, pouring over every single syllable with such scrutiny it would make the owners of those thoughts blush as though they were naked in public.

The static snow was information as clear as daylight to her mind as she began filtering through it at a truly terrifying speed. But the moment Marlene spoke to her, with that connection clear to her mind, without the delay, without having to wait for the older woman to catch up, Halena's concentration broke and her emotions flooded out of her. anger was there, but overshadowed by relief, sadness, and joy. Halena's face changed, no longer a smile, no longer a mask. The girl broke down and cried as, for the first time in her life she was able to reach out and touch someone, to connect with them, to feel them and have them feel her.

It was a short lived miracle, as the shockwave that hit the realm struck her as well, and she instinctively began analyzing it and Marlene's words that followed.

Take the first step Halena tumbled over those words with a speed that even her own people would have great difficulty in following.

She glanced down at the candle, it ignited once more, and burned merrily. Halena turned and looked right back at Marlene, a true, honest and sincere smile on her face, showing the child she really was. "I did it!" She said in excitement.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Hope Anona Character Portrait: Meldraenei Character Portrait: Helga Rotfeuer Character Portrait: Liese Redwing Character Portrait: Douglas Weskit
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Fortunately, the precognitive nature of Marlene's mind allowed her to anticipate some of the hiccups, and buffer her mind to protect itself against the incoming onslaught of data. Marlene's mind processed it quickly, by buffering it out, and focusing her own thoughts. Marlene also managed to keep her own consciousness relatively isolated, while focusing on the mental 'White room' that she tried to keep them in.

But the sadness was overwhelming, the woman sensed a lot of pain, a lot of sadness in the Princess's mind, and it had a profound, and intimate effect on her own psyche.

Halena let her into her mind, and Halena took the first step towards the path to enlightenment, so now it was time for Marlene to open up to the other, to let her own mind cascade fourth.

Marlene smiled, and telepathically spoke.

"There's more, I'm going to let you in." She wanted to see if Halena could truly comprehend the steps she was about to take, but she knew that she would be completely opening her own mind to the child before her, Aschen state secrets, everything. It didn't matter, the Asylians could wipe the Aschen out, and so she took a gamble.

Marlene closed her eyes, and opened her mind to Halena. The Child would be bombarded with a sensation of pure agony, but it wasn't her own, the agony she felt was that of Marlene, the agony of being separated from ascension, but there was more, there was thousands of years worth of memories.

Marlene's childhood was the most traumatic, memories of the Aschen Confederation invading her homeworld of Yellowstone, memories of Aschen soldiers moving through the streets, door to door, dragging people out, the memories were clear, and they were vivid.

Yellowstone gave way to the lush, verdant green of Langara, and the emotions of sadness, and hatred followed. Hatred for a man that was a father figure, a man that visited unspeakable evil that left the child scarred, there was pain, a great deal of agonizing pain.

The memories were like a maelstrom, some were significant events in Marlene's life, like her first kiss. Others were the minutia of her day to day interactions on Langara.

Marlene was standing in front of a strange man in a black suit.

"Do you solemnly swear to protect and defend the interests of the Aschen Confederation of Planets, as an Agent of the Langaran Defense Agency, with every fiber of your being?"

"I do."


The Chaos of memories shifted, a memory of Marlene standing in a large room overlooking a console, and a massive device of some kind.

"They call it the Potentia, Project Shimshon, a device that, if activated will wash clean all life from this galaxy. If our society falls, we'll take this galaxy with it.."

Marlene looked down in the memory, taking a small, yet technical looking crystal into her hand, She worked quickly to suppress it, but the memory had already flowed fourth.

Another memory followed, they were in a bar of some kind, arguing passionately over someone, the woman in Marlene's mind was named Ari, they were arguing over a Randin Kaye before Ari stabbed Marlene in the chest, searing pain followed, followed by more emotions of agony, and then calm, as Marlene gazed upon a being enrobed in a brilliant white light, another ascended being.

"The success or failure of your deeds, does not add up to the sum of your life. Your spirit cannot be weighed. Judge yourself by the intentions of your actions, and by the strength with which you faced the challenges that have stood in your way. The Universe is vast and we are so small. There is really only one thing we can ever truly control... whether we are good or evil."

There was a warm light, the feeling of peace, an absolute, and overwhelming flood of knowledge, and understanding that was now being shared freely with the child. Marlene's own ascension, as she shed her physical body was a unique sensation, as she lay there on the bar floor, dying.

The white realm returned, Marlene having stemmed the flow from her own mind. Physically, the blonde was holding her head, exhaustion had begun to set in, as she relived the last few thousand years in her mind, her fragile psyche overwhelmed. One thing Halena would learn, was a hair's breadth kept Marlene from true insanity.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Starved for knowledge as Halena seemed to be, the surge of memories was like a fountain of the freshest water to a man in the desert. Her mind absorbed the details at such a prodigious rate that the girl almost out processed the memories as they came in. The series of events that Halena absorbed, the pain and emotion suffered, made no effect on her expression. Halena accepted it as she seemed to accept everything that came forward.

But once it was done, Halena had a look on her face that she had not had since Marlene had met her. It was a serious expression of Dire intent. "The Potentia.... You need to ensure that all hands responsible for it are pulled to the deepest and most defended location on your core world and ensure they NEVER see combat with any Asylian. Anyone who knows of it, the best thing to do would be to ensure they become incapable of coherent thought."

"That thing is a greater threat to this entire universe than you could possibly imagine. Particularly if the wrong individuals among the Asylian court get a hold of the information."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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"As you know." Marlene said, rubbing her temples. "The Potentia is our best kept secret, no one knows it's true purpose other than those who wield the keys." Marlene explained, she didn't have to explain that, Halena knew everything she knew, in her gambit, Marlene had handed her knowledge to this girl she barely knew, the fate of the Aschen Empire was in Halena's hands. The consequences were dire, but the Potentia could only be used with all five keys, and Halena was the only person that Marlene knew of, who knew the identities of the other four key carriers.

"The Enemy vessel that struck Cryo has retreated." EVE reported. "I've triangulated their location with the subspace transponder affixed to their craft."

"I hope the knowledge I have shared, is sufficient for you to save my people." Marlene added, and while her mouth uttered the words, so did her mind, with their two minds bridged, verbal lag was eliminated, thoughts transmitted instantaneously.

Marlene looked to the wall, furrowing her brow.

"I sense that, even if we're to stop the Asylian war machine, it won't end there." Taking a breath, she turned back to face Halena. "I have to put together a reconnaissance operation, scout out the area the Asylian ship jumped to, and formulate a possible counterattack strategy. Admiral Thauce must be eliminated with all prejudice."

Taking a breath, Marlene looked at Tolend, they were done here, so he could release his meld with the ship. "EVE, prepare a jump to the Cryo system, I must commune with Agarran, and plan a course of action."

EVE's form flickered into view, and the AI nodded.

"Jump in one millicenton, Synchronized."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Halena shook her head. "You do not understand what it is you have. You could very well have just doomed your entire race, the entirety of the universe, by sharing that information, even with me!"

The Girl stood and began pacing in the room, an act that, with what Marlene now knew of Asylian biology, was in and of itself a sign of how agitated she was.

"Admiral Ilia Thauce suffers from a mindset that she must protect Asylia with absolute precision and perfection. Even a slight defeat would be enough to send her careening over the edge to insanity. And now I know of something that, should she gain even an INKLING of, would result in the absolute worst case scenario, of this entire universe being shredded down to it's last atom."

"You have to alert the guardians of the remaining Key bearers, they MUST be found and then removed from the Aschen empire, in whatever manner is most permanent. And while I realize it would be asking a bit much that they be atomized and their ashes scattered across the solar winds, similarly significant action must be taken!"

Her pacing continued even as her thoughts and words shot like bolts of lightning to Marlene. "And eliminating Ilia is no small task. There's a reason she's so highly regarded amongst all of her subordinates, and even by others among Asylian nobility. The woman has put to shame the greatest warriors our kind has produced. She is single handedly the most powerful and innovative psychic mind ever encountered."

She stopped suddenly. "If she's pulled back, she's likely to have retreated to Baleon Orta, and if that's the case, you CANNOT send any of your ships there, unless your doing so to eliminate unwanted individuals from your civilization. Anyone you send I can garuntee will be killed, and the ships captured."

"Your vessels are neither equipped nor your personnel prepared for what you will find in Asylian Space."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: E.V.E. Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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"I'm not concerned about sharing this information with you, I've seen multiple possibilities stem from this, we've either doomed my people, or saved them. If the Asylian attack comes to pass as planned, the Aschen will no doubt fall, but so too will the rest of the galaxy be wiped clean of all life."

Marlene frowned, narrowing her eyes. "The Potentia could be used to cleanse the galaxy, and reshape it to how the Asylians see fit." She frowned even deeper. "This must not come to pass."

Marlene reached to a small chain around her neck, and pulled it forward, a strange, technical yet crystalline object could be seen hanging from the chain. "Those who bear the keys are some of our highest ranking people, the fact they carry the keys at all is a closely guarded secret." Marlene said, putting the key back into her shirt.

"Even if they managed to get four keys, and knowledge of the Potentia, it would be useless to them. No, I fear that Illia may come across one of the sister arrays, and learn of it's existence through those means."

Marlene paced too, as the strange disorienting sensation of FTL washed over them.

The Scylla winked out of existence, for destinations unknown.

The setting changes from Intergalactic Space to The Cryo System

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia
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Some time later...

"FTL jump complete, we have arrived in the Cryo system, IFF handshake confirmed... I've detected multiple debris fields, and distress signals, I'm parsing them now." EVE chirped.

Marlene frowned. "I need Tolend to release his psychic block so I can communicate with the Tarragon." Marlene asked, as the Scylla slipped through the void of space.

Commander Jarlath was instructed at once to transmit all data pertaining to the engagement to the Scylla, which he did so while coordinating rescue efforts with the damaged Command Carrier.

"As heavily defended Baleon Orta is... sending anything would indeed be suicide... but would they destroy a ship that they thought you were aboard?" Marlene asked aloud, her thoughts ringing in Halena's head.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Halena closed her eyes, sat down cross legged and proceeded to think.

She did this abruptly and suddenly, so much so that even Tolend was curious about it.

Though to be fair to Halena, she had a very good reason for needing to properly start thinking. Several very good reasons actually. First and foremost was her concern regarding the Potentia. Regardless of what Marlene said, Halena could not unseat the deep unease regarding that device. It's very existence was troubling, the ability to rewrite all existence was something that absolutely should not exist in this universe.

At least she thought so. Such power should at the very least not belong to a single individual. The ability to decide the fates of a literal infinite number of individuals was absolutely not something that any one nation should hold. A long standing lesson taught to all asylian children is that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The only defense against such corruption is a combination of understanding and compassion. If she had her way, she would see to the dismantling of the device and the destruction of it's parts. It does not need to exist, and it's destruction was a new goal for her, though one she would have to set aside in light of more concerning events.

Another of her reasons for having to stop and think was the apparent permanent connection she now had with Marlene. She wasn't entirely sure what had caused it, and it wasn't unwelcome. Having someone she could speak with without having to wait for sound waves to reach their ears and be processed was an absolute blessing for the child who had essentially been starved of the social interaction that was such an intrinsic part of her culture.

However, it also made her aware via Marlene's Display of power that there were definite gaps her the older womans capabilities to see events. The sheer amount of information present from peering at infinite timeline and potential outcomes was staggering. This line of thought immediately led her to considerations for cooperation with the precog, perhaps utilizing Halena's ability to parse such information would allow for more accurate and sure predictions and event planning.

Her thoughts changed in a flicker and she said aloud "Tolend, it's fine. Marlene, how sure are you of your ability to predict future events? Also, if you send a ship to Baleon Orta they won't have to destroy it, they can capture intact while simultaneously incapacitating it's entire crew in less time than it takes for you to think."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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The first response Marlene would feel from Agarran was a mixture of emotions. Fear was present, but it was minor compared to the concern and frustration that was placed beside it. The creature himself then responded with Ahh yes, Marlene Angel I presume? Your a very interesting person, though I admit I did not think I would ever get the chance to meet with you. His mind rumbles with displeasure. Unfortunately, circumstances have made such a meeting unwelcome. Regardless, how may I assist. I've already given Commander Jarlath my observations, and my kithid are preparing for wartime operations. It will take a few weeks before the hatcheries have produced a deployable force..."

Agarran himself took form in their shared mindspace, smaller than his actual stature, a blessing considering his wingspan. Standing about the size of a small horse, Agarran turned to Halena, seeing her sitting crosslegged and being able to feel her mind working at such blinding speeds.

He'd turn with a raised brow at Marlene. "I'm going to assume that the assistance you need has something to do with her?" He'd say.


Halena, for her own part flicks a thought towards him. "I am Princess Halena Auroran Vassari Asylia, Daughter to King Galadaius Eroque Tanno Asylia, Heir to the throne, et cetera. I'm here to stop the senseless murder and destruction that will be brought about if my people set to engage the Aschen Empire. Originally I had believed that said destruction would be one sided, and my concern was to prevent genocide." Her thoughts reddened with mild irritation that she flicked at Marlene as she said "Ignorance truly is bliss."

She then said "I need to clarify exactly what I mean when I say they could instantly capture the ship. I mean that they could effectively freeze it in it's entirety, to the point where you would not be able to initiate a self destruct, because the individual atoms that make up the ship would be frozen."

She then proceeds to dump a light load of knowledge on Marlene, showing her images and memories of her past when her father taught her about the Void Sea, it's creation, and what the Asylian Guild of Sorcery learned since then. The sorcerers who enacted the creation of the void sea, though we still have not determined exactly how they managed to make it self sustaining, have left us with plenty of lessons that allow us to replicate the feat on a smaller scale. Thanks to this, Asylia has a powerful trump card that no other known force in the universe has. Her fathers voice says to her, kind and soothing, with an unexpected depth that makes him sound wise and powerful, but also kind and loving as a father should be. Needless to say, it's a very warm and happy memory.

She's silent for a moment as the memory fades before stating. "It's important to note that that Trump card is only one of many, not all of which I am aware of. But for Telemetry gathering, your plan is a good one, just don't be surprised when the ship you send is captured and subsequently dismantled for studying.... Actually you might be best served with the bare minimum technology necessary to run a scan and then relay the information back. The less Asylia learns of your ships computer systems or defenses the better."

Agarran looked between Halena and Marlene, then settled to wait for the latter to inform him what she needed of him.

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Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Marlene nodded in agreement. "A civilian ship, or even a Taiyou ship, fitted with the bare minimum for telemetry gathering, something that they won't learn much from studying..." Marlene nodded. "I'll have us set the plan in motion when we return to Langara."

She turned her mental attention to Agarran. "I have two things to ask of you. I need help with developing a viable countermeasure to Asylian magic, weapons, and defenses. I don't know how much you managed to learn from your observations outside what was included in your report to Commander Jarlath, but we're not out of the woods yet. The second thing is I may need you to help me hide the Princess. I have a few more errands to run with her, and I want to make another video to goad the Asylians. But I know that your ships can exit phase, and become intangible.

"I'll need you to hide the Princess, if I sense the Asylians are getting too close."

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Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Agarran sat back on his haunches and contemplated. "The Asylian's magic is concerning. Generally speaking, most individuals who use magic have to have a connection to one or more of the primal forces that shaped this universe. The stronger the connection the more specific their abilities. Most individuals have to study for years and then form that connection through a great struggle of training and hardship. It's very rare that individuals are born with an innate connection to one of the primal forces."

"However, what I was able to glean from the Asylians as that this connection is an innate feature of their biology. Their nerve systems produce enormous amounts of electromagnetic radiation, that they are able to manipulate and control, training to increase their control to the point of manipulating the various interactions between electromagnetic radiation and the other primal forces."

"This essentially means that every Asylian is capable of some degree of magic and telekinesis at the very least. Considering their intelligence, I doubt their military wouldn't make this a focus of training, which likely means that their military forces are considerably powerful when it comes to metaphysical ability."

"The difficult part is that, because of that very intelligence, they've probably been working on measures to counteract standard anti-magic weaponry and countermeasures. Most of these countermeasures rely on disrupting the connection to the primal force by using a surge in dark energy, caused by whatever method the countermeasure utilizes."

"However, this method won't be viable against the Asylians. The Asylians can produce the energy that they manipulate to work their spells, which means disrupting it won't be effective against them. It will weaken their spells, but it won't stop them being able to use them."

"Their weaponry is another concern. What I witnessed was a mastery of electromagnetism and gravitational effects. They only used one form of direct combat against us, a particle cannon that, in a single volley, stripped a command carrier of it's primary shielding. After that, the only attacks we actually saw used consisted primarily of defensive measures, some form of antimatter minefield, and a strange gravitational effect that redirected the aforementioned command carriers own barrage back at it. The end result..." He pauses and gestures at the wreckage of the Athos.

"And then there's the matter of the ship itself. I'm not entirely sure what it's made of, but they were some how converting the energy resulting from them impacting the Aegis field and using that to increase their drive force. No shielding, but from what I saw the ship didn't need it, the hull, whatever it's made from, didn't even scuff from the amount of energy being built up."

"In short, ma'am... The task you ask of me is quite a large one. And that's all with just the one ship we saw, just as the Aschen have multiple classes of ship, so we must assume they will as well. Simply put, we need more intelligence. Your plan to scout them out is probably the first step in the right direction. If it's possible, any debris or wreckage we can recover from one of them would be invaluable in study. We're already working to recover whatever we can and identify it."

"As for the princess, I have a few ideas. My colony is using an old tried and tested method for defending our hatcheries. They are kept in their own seperated pockets of space and time. Even if the Asylians have the power to see into the future, they won't be able to see into the Hatcheries. She can be hidden there and none save those you desire to know it would be able to find her."

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Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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"I read the report." Marlene replied. "It was able to strip the primary shielding of a command carrier, that is most concerning, because from what I understand, the Command Carrier uses the latest, most advanced forms of shielding available to us, technically, that Command Carrier should have been able to shrug off that attack."

The Image of the drifting Command Carrier flickered to life in the shared mind space.

"We recovered some debris from their encounter at Molecay, I can arrange for the Materials Sciences division to have samples sent to you for study, the more minds we focus on this effort, the better."

Marlene stroked her chin in thought, and then nodded. "I have a few more errands to run with the Princess, and then we can keep her here, until the situation has resolved."

Marlene turned to Halena, and pondered for a moment.

"I want to set a trap, would you be comfortable being the bait?"

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Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar
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Halena doesn't seem to hear Marlene, her eyes strangely out of focus, yet she is clearly intently observing something.

The something in question is a void, an empty white space in the otherwise consistent flow of timelines she has been receiving from Marlene since their connection was made. The longer she observes this whiteout event, the larger it becomes, slowly but inexorably expanding and crossing over multiple timelines and events. It still remains a miniscule thing, but it's growth is steady and consistent. And it concerns her greatly, when one considers the possibilities it could mean.

"It's as if some event is causing a singularity across all possibilities..." She mutters to herself, nearly entranced by her observations.

Agarran eyes the child curiously, then turns back to Marlene. "I'll have my kithid begin preparations to receive the samples. The moment I have something you can utilize, I'll report to you directly, if it please you."

With that said, the Escion fades from the mindspace, and returns to his works.

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Character Portrait: Marlene Angel Character Portrait: Imperial Defense Force Character Portrait: Princess Halena Asylia Character Portrait: Agarran Magthulia Character Portrait: Tolend Dathar Character Portrait: Aeolia Schenberg
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#, as written by Remæus
The Schonberg's sensors picked up the distant, high-energy vessels and displayed them on the nav grid, raising Aeolia's attention.

Set course to Rhynosa, captain. Let's keep this one on the sly.
he called out, laying the papers he was reviewing onto the wooden desk before him. It was crucial that they met with the delegation on-time, as after a long series of negotiations with the artifact hunter, it was clear there would be other buyers.

Aeolia pushed the spectacles back up on his nose and returned to work as the ship accelerated deeper into the system.