Red Nova

Yak-Shur

The mothership’s shuttle chamber was filled to capacity with vel’pheasians. Shiva’s crew was finally able to take off their helmets and breathe. The vel’pheasians surrounding them roared and hissed at Zar’kara while he got out of the UHAT. They gazed at him with distaste. Teri exited the cockpit too, hugging Zar’kara.

“Don’t worry, Zarry,” she said. “I’ve got yer back.”

“Thanks,” he said, snorting.

“Your friends don’t look as happy as you, Zar,” said McKenzie.

“Since when have I ever looked happy?” grumbled Zar’kara.

“Never,” said McKenzie, moping.

Just then, a door with purple veins surging within the walls opened, and in came Meftha, a vel’pheasian clad in tribal armor with jewels embedded in it. Though hunched, he stood nine feet tall with amber scutes, yellow-glowing eyes, gray tusks, and a white lock of matted hair that reached down to his spine.

“Meftha,” said Zar’kara, growling.

“Yalak tsk-vsk!” bellowed Meftha.

Zar’kara bared his fangs and responded, “Pel-venav ak-tak!”

“Shaz cata-zha,” said Meftha, glancing at Zar’kara’s companions. He hissed and then added, “Visse cal’je-de al kan-ack!”

“Sorry,” said Keith, “but I don’t speak gibberish.”

Meftha snorted. “Halga? Mav’jah-zak! You were foolish to follow this rebel.” He sneered at Zar’kara and shouted, “You’ll never be praetor again, exile! Shaz-vata! Take these loathsome fools away!”

“All hail Praetor Meftha!” roared the vel’pheasians.

A discharge of plasma energy surged out from the organic walls, zapping Nesha and her comrades. The energy caused them to shriek in horrible pain. All at once, they fell onto the slimy floor and were rendered unconscious. Zar’kara was the only one who remained conscious longer. He was the strongest in the group and attempted to struggle against the energy, but he groaned in agony and eventually fell unconscious.

Several hours later, Nesha woke up. She started to move around near the corner of an insulated cell made of an organic material that resembled fungi. Nesha opened her eyes and glanced at the prismatic-colored force field that enveloped the chamber she was being held captive in.

“I think she’s waking up,” said McKenzie.

“She’s already awake, you idiot,” said Zar’kara.

“Oh,” said McKenzie. “Hey, Nesha.”

Nesha groaned and yawned as she asked, “Wh-where are we?” She tried to get up and looked around the damp cell. There wasn’t much to see other than her companions who were stuck in the same cell. “Do any of you know where we are?” she asked again.

Shiva began, “Based on the macrobiotic hull—”

“Shiva,” interrupted Keith agitatedly.

“We’re inside a penitentiary,” reiterated Shiva.

“You either speak in parables or snippets,” said Keith, sighing.

Teri giggled and said, “Me tinks we be in the praetor’s ship, headin’ over ta Zarry’s homeworld. Quite the unexpected adventure, wouldn’t ya say?”

“I conjecture that anything’s better than Sepas IX,” said Shiva.

“Oh, you say that now but—” McKenzie suddenly stopped as Zar’kara growled at him. “I mean, yeah, swell place over here.”

Bubbles suddenly formed on the wall that Nesha leaned on, along with raucous sounds of a stomach growling as though in hunger. When the noise stopped, Tathagata was spewed out of the gooey wall, covered in purple ooze. She shivered on the slimy floor, muttering words.

“Margie!” cried out Teri, running over to her.

“Lotuses,” muttered Tathagata. “Hundreds of lotuses.”

“It’s okay, Margie,” said Teri. “You’re with us now.”

Keith saw her deranged face and grew pale. “What the hell did they do to her?”

“In the mud,” added Tathagata. “Hundreds of them…”

“Is that wall made out of mud or blood?” asked McKenzie.

“It’s birthed of Yak-Shur,” said Zar’kara. “As Shiva said, it’s a parasitical tissue in the form of macrobiotics, and we use it to breed our ships.”

McKenzie swallowed heavily. “This ship is actually alive?”

“That’s what he said, hot stuff,” replied Teri. “Except it’s not a typical symbiotic mind.”

“It feeds on your perception and regurgitates your thoughts with its own, but if it has no such memory then it simply manipulates the mind that it has imprisoned,” said Zar’kara. “That is the blood pact and will of Yak-Shur.”

“Zarry the scientist!” said Teri, clapping. Zar’kara glared at Teri who cleared her throat and added, “I mean, Zarry the warrior-scientist!”

“But why did the vels do that to her?” inquired McKenzie. “She didn’t do anything.”

“My brethren are not fond of deserters,” said Zar’kara. “They probably thought she was hiding from the battle we faced. True glory is to shed blood in battle. Gahza’s glory shall be remembered by all of my descendents. But if anyone flees, they are punished by the Merge of Yak-Shur, which utterly destroys their mind.”

“Look, I don’t like deserters either,” said Keith. “But doing that to someone’s mind is insane. And I’m still wondering why you never told us that you used to be the praetor.”

“That was a long time ago,” said Zar’kara.

“A long time ago?” said Keith. “Zar, you were once the ruler of the Vel’pheasian Empire. That’s not something you leave out when joining the UEC.”

“It’s no longer relevant,” said Zar’kara. “When Mother Fe’lora had defeated Hezekoth, it was between me and my other blood brother, Meftha. He became viceroy, and I became praetor. But when I put an end to the war, Meftha saw it as a weakness and overthrew me. According to your human timeline, that was nearly two decades ago. I was banished from Yak-Shur, as were those who followed me.”

“That’s when he met little ’ol me,” said Teri.

“Banished for ending a war?” said McKenzie. “And here I thought I was the only one who hated wars.”

“And yet you’re a soldier,” said Keith.

McKenzie stuttered while he responded, “Wh-what? Well, yeah, but I never signed up for this kind of stuff. I mean, this has been unbelievable. Seriously, ever since I’ve been around you guys it’s been endless gunfire, running away, getting shot at, and being imprisoned.”

“Funny, I was thinking the same with you,” said Keith.

“Come on, you guys,” intervened Nesha. “It’s pointless to fight. I want to know more about that war. Who was Hezekoth? And who exactly was Mother Fe’lora? I still don’t know anything other than the fact that the fe’lorians named their homeworld after her.”

“Hezekoth was a Paragon among my brethren, and he was praetor long before my time,” said Zar’kara. “As for Mother Fe’lora, that’s what she called herself. I think the UEC used her in those ludicrous experiments before Liagon. I can be wrong, but I doubt she was the real Mother Fe’lora. It would mean she lived for thousands of years. No one lives that long.”

“As I mentioned to you earlier, Nesha,” began Shiva, “Mother Fe’lora was none other than the being who gave birth to fe’lorians. When the UEC finished their experiments with the fe’lorian who volunteered to help them, she claimed to be Mother Fe’lora. Whether that was actually true, her powers were inconceivable—they were ten times stronger than Liagon’s. She was the original UEC prodigy, sent to obliterate the Vel’pheasian Empire. However, no one ever heard from her again. Still, the UEC kept her G-DNA and continued testing it on humans such as Liagon.”

“What happened to the fe’lorian who claimed to be Mother Fe’lora?” asked Nesha.

“I sought to speak with her after she killed Hezekoth in an honorable battle,” responded Zar’kara. “But Meftha captured her and hurled her into the Merge of Yak-Shur to discover her memories. He then used her mind against the UEC.”

“Great,” said McKenzie dismally. “So Meftha’s in power, and he has all the necessary secrets to destroy our race. And here we are, stuck inside this smelly piece of vel crap.”

“It’s actually my favorite scent,” growled Zar’kara.

“I knew that was coming,” said McKenzie in a whimpering tone.

“I’m really starting to lose my patience with you guys,” said Nesha. “You came to my rescue on Earth, but since then I’ve been in endless trouble. Can we please work together?”

They suddenly heard sounds of several plasma force fields dissipating nearby and heavy footsteps approaching their cell. Rrahza appeared, gaping into the chamber of slime. He glared at the prisoners, particularly Zar’kara who glared back at him just as coldly.

“Zha-ka’sk vajel msk telvy-keh,” said Rrahza. “So, it’s true then. My father has actually sided with humans.”

“I have nothing to say to a traitor!” barked Zar’kara.

“It’s you who’s the traitor!” said Rrahza. “You have betrayed your own clan and the empire!” He then noticed Nesha. “By the Yak-Shur, Bisel is your accomplice?”

“Rrahza?” said Nesha, remembering him from the rifting tournament. “What are you doing here?”

“Praetor Meftha has allowed me the honor to look upon my father’s face one last time before the Merge,” said Rrahza. “I came to see if the rumor was true. You chose well to travel with Nesha Bisel, father. But to devote your entire exiled existence to these loathsome humans? You have fallen far.”

“Gratitude for the Yak-Shur that you are my son,” replied Zar’kara. “If you weren’t, I would kill you myself before slaughtering Meftha. It is your empire that has fallen far. Hezekoth was the last of our kind, a true Paragon. All Meftha is and shall ever be is a shadow. And when the Ahgraka rises against the empire, none will live to tell the tale. Only Nesha Bisel can save us from the Ahgraka. She is the true Shal’a-ka.”

“Blasphemy of Yak-Shur!” yelled Rrahza. “I shall enjoy watching Meftha send you into the Merge. You’ll regret returning to Zortega. You will all suffer!”

Rrahza stormed out and reactivated the plasma force fields. The others remained silent as they glanced at Zar’kara who seemed the most disturbed of them all. Zar’kara was furious, yet he managed to remain calm and not kill someone in his usual rage.

In the meantime, Meftha’s mothership—Galvorden—entered Yak-Shur’s atmosphere, descending into the jungle world. With the exception of the myriad parasitical tongues rooted deep into the soil like weeds, it resembled planet Earth. No urban colonies or any form of cities existed on Yak-Shur, only temples. Massive hive-like starships were hovering over Yak-Shur’s vista of an almost endless wilderness while Meftha’s vessel flew over them in a dark, glorious shadow.

“I have returned,” said Zar’kara, sniffing the air. “It is the scent of Yak-Shur.”

Vel’pheasians across the region roared, beating their chests with their snouts lifted up high as they witnessed Praetor Meftha’s return. They gazed at him while he stood on the outer rim of Galvorden, which gradually approached a temple that glistened in a purple tinge. The temple’s talon-shaped apex unfolded as the mothership descended. When the vessel finished connecting to the temple’s apex, a plasma shield enveloped it.

“Zarry, I thought your empire never killed their own kind,” said Teri. “What do you think they’ll do?”

“They won’t dare not kill me,” said Zar’kara. “No, it’d be too simple of a punishment for an exile such as myself. It shall be worse than death: the Merge. Yet death is what I fear for my brethren. I am sorry.”

“Wait,” said Nesha, confused. “They don’t kill their own kind, but they will kill your brethren? That doesn’t make any sense to me, Zar. Why break their sacred lineage and kill Rrahza?”

“You consider Rrahza to be my brethren?” said Zar’kara, snorting. “No longer do I see him as my brethren. It is all of you who are truly my brethren.”

“Oh, Zarry,” said Teri, holding his thigh. “I love you too.”

The prismatic force fields deactivated again. A clan of ten vel’pheasians arrived while a discharge of yellow energy shot out from the walls, enveloping their prisoners and paralyzing them. The vel’pheasians dragged them out of the cell, shoving them into what seemed to be an organic funnel that sucked them to the lower rim of the mothership’s exterior veranda where Meftha stood, speaking to his people.

“Fle-gsk mie’shak zala ka-jsk!” said Meftha. “He who was banished has returned against the will of Yak-Shur! I once granted mercy, but never again! The fallen warrior of Kezhin clan shall be severely punished, as with his pathetic comrades!”

The vel’pheasians surrounding Meftha’s vessel roared in anger at Zar’kara’s presence. They also snorted, smelling the stench of humans. Nesha and her companions were finally able to get up, but their arms and feet were shackled. They looked at the furious and ravaging crowd who craved nothing but carnage.

“You shall all be thrown into the abyss of eternity!” exclaimed Meftha, scowling at his prisoners. “Whether it is the fate of perpetual imprisonment or the sweet gloriousness of death itself, let it be Yak-Shur who decides.”

Keith clenched his teeth, glaring at Meftha. “I’m only going to say this once, Praetor. You may have wished that you captured a two-faced son of a bitch who dares not speak against you, but I’m not so political as to resort to such bullshit. So, listen well. It was not our intention to linger in this system, much less visit your revolting world. Our business is with the fe’lorians and only the fe’lorians. This is the only chance you have at diplomacy if you wish to peacefully breathe another day. Let us go, and all will be forgiven and forgotten.”

Nesha stared at him as if he had lost his mind, just as the others did, but then she thought of her father and smiled at Keith’s remark. As for the rampant army of vel’pheasians, they gazed at Keith, who was still shackled, and cackled.

“Mr. Wernn, do you desire to be exterminated?” asked Shiva.

“They’re going to kill us anyway,” said Keith. “We might as well stand tall.”

“You humans were always foolish,” said Meftha while leaving his ship. “I have learned much from your doctor’s mind. She has told me much of you, but you’re not even as significant as the mucus within my snout. Zar’kara, you shall forever regret betraying us. As a punishment, I’m taking Teri as my prize. The rest of you will be sent to the abyss. Pray by the will of Yak-Shur that you find death.”

The vel’pheasian guards grabbed Teri, removed her UND, and dragged her toward Meftha’s temple as she attempted to tug and heave herself free.

“Zarry!” cried out Teri. “Zarry!”

“Teri!” bellowed Zar’kara. He broke out of his shackles and clawed one of the guards in half while hurling another off the mothership. The other eight guards shoved their spears against him. The tip of the blades zapped him with electrical discharges, causing him to fall down on the floor. “Teri…” he muttered, falling unconscious.

“Ruthless,” said McKenzie. “They’re all ruthless.”

Rrahza stood on the ship’s edge with his clan: Gortal, Norseis, and Hala’feth. He stared at Zar’kara with a pitiful expression. Seeing his father become the first criminal of his race, Rrahza could no longer bear to see any more and left.

“I’ve never seen my elder brother so wretched,” said Meftha, furious. “Whimpering and murdering his own kind just for the life of a trivial human child. This is what would’ve become of us, my brethren! This is what he demanded of our impenetrable empire: to live as worthlessly as those other pathetic races! Never will our glorious empire crumble beneath their knees! We shall soon crush them all!”

Meftha left the mothership. Then the plasma shield surrounding the ship vanished while the temple’s talon-shaped apex released it. The mothership brought Nesha and her comrades to the parasitical wilderness, where they would merge with Yak-Shur for eternity.

“That’s disgusting,” said Nesha, looking at the slithering tongues covering the terrain with saliva. “Are they actually a part of the planet?”

“Yeah,” said Keith.

“This is not what I’d call God,” said Nesha, appalled.

The massive mothership that resembled a cluster of hives traveled above the seemingly endless wilderness. Nesha realized that below lay a tropical rainforest, identical to the rifting tournament’s third dimensional plain. But the slithering tongues grossed her out, so she turned away and gazed at Yak-Shur’s violet sky, an uncanny veil she’d never seen before. What was even more interesting to her was the ultramarine planet that hung in the far distance.

“Is that Fe’lora?” she asked.

“Affirmative,” said Shiva.

“Damn it,” said McKenzie. “We’re so close and yet—”

“So far,” said Keith. He got up after checking Zar’kara’s and Tathagata’s vital signs. “Zar’s still alive, but it seems the doc’s mind is lost.”

McKenzie turned to Shiva and asked, “Do you have a plan?”

“Indeed,” replied Shiva. “Several actually. However, all of my contingency plans result in getting everyone—including myself—terminated. Therefore, it seems that our only hope is surviving the Merge. Correction, I cannot experience the Merge other than being imprisoned in the stasis pod, so it seems your only hope is surviving the Merge, which is approximately a 0.1 percent probability.”

“Lovely,” said McKenzie depressingly.

“I wonder what Meftha’s going to do with Teri,” said Nesha.

“Not sure,” replied Keith. “Though, it can’t be good.”

“At least we know where Zar’s loyalty is,” said McKenzie. “He killed two of his own kind to try to save her. Can you believe it?”

“My programming didn’t believe it,” said Shiva. “But I witnessed it myself. It was a most fascinating sight. Perhaps there is a part of Teri that reminds noble Zar of something or someone from his past?”

Nesha sulked and said, “Or maybe he just cares about her? Come on, not every vel has to be bad.”

“Inductive reasoning,” said Shiva, twitching. “Definitely a logical probability.”

“Well, we better figure out something fast,” said Keith, fearfully gazing down at the approaching abyss.

The vel’pheasian mothership came to a halt, hovering over the vast pit that resembled a creature’s maw. Eight tongues slithered out, trying to grab the hive-like mothership. The mouth occasionally breathed hazes of brown gas into the atmosphere that soon dissipated, enriching Yak-Shur with xenojin, which was almost identical to oxygen except it was only found on this planet.

“This is it,” said Shiva. “The heart of Yak-Shur.”

A feeling of déjà vu came over Nesha, sweat pouring down her brow. Her heart pounding wildly, she wondered to herself, Have I seen this before in my dreams? Or is this feeling from the rifting tournament? She felt as if Yak-Shur touched her mind. No, this can’t be, she thought. Not a second later, Nesha started getting hot flashes and then fainted.

“Nesha!” shouted Keith, grabbing her. He shook her body and cried out, “Nesha! What happened to her?”

“It’s the Merge,” said Shiva. “If Mother’s consciousness has truly integrated with Yak-Shur, she can sense Nesha. And if they truly share the same biochemical make-up, then Mother is calling out to her.”

“All this mystical shit is really getting on my nerves,” said Keith with a sigh.

“Not mystical,” responded Shiva. “Simply biochemical.”

The guards lunged their spears at Keith’s back and zapped him into the abyss of Yak-Shur. He groaned with unbearable pain, and since he’d been holding Nesha, she also fell. Not one second later, McKenzie, Shiva, and Zar’kara were also thrown into the mouth of Yak-Shur. Keith saw them get tossed down while he entered the abysmal mouth. His vision blurred when his body fell deep into the lair of Yak-Shur. He was consumed in its squelchy yet earthen belly of glop and puss, blanking out.

Nesha awoke the following day. She found herself in a starship. She was running through one of its corridors while a red battle alarm kept blinking. At first, Nesha had no idea where she was, but then she clicked her UND, which told her that she was on board Goliath, her father’s vessel.

“That’s impossible,” she said to herself.

She came to a halt since the access door in front of her was sealed. The computer console next to her wouldn’t work. Suddenly, an echoic voice spoke to her:

“You who have shared Liagon’s memories; you who have shared my memories; you who have seen the past, present, and future; yes, Nesha Bisel, I beckon you to witness this vision—one such as the Merge.”

“Who are you?” asked Nesha. “And how do you know my name?”

The voice didn’t respond. Instead the access door’s hatch unlocked. When it opened, she saw her father standing inside the prison bay, glowering at Vreffith.

“Dad?”

Nesha was surprised to see her father, yet she never felt happier to see him. She’d held a grudge against him for so long because of his controlling and demeaning behavior, but now she wanted to hug him. When she tried embracing him, however, her hands went through his ethereal body.

Bisel looked as smug as ever and said through his visor, “I was wondering when you’d break out.”

Vreffith shrugged. “I would’ve stayed longer, but what’s the sense in pretending to be human when you already know that I’m not,” he said.

“What’s going on here?” asked Nesha.

“I had hoped to bring you in alive; but I guess that’s no longer an option,” said Bisel.

“You never had any options,” said Vreffith.

Bisel charged up his FG-400. “I always have an option.”

Vreffith raised his hands with a contorted grin. “Are you planning to shoot an unarmed man?” he asked.

“It’s interesting how you refer to yourself as a man now,” said Bisel. “I wondered when you’d finally admit it. Yet there’s something else I’ve been wondering about…”

“And what’s that?”

Bisel wore a crooked smile as he answered, “Why there’s still gravity in here.”

Vreffith didn’t care. His indifference, however, changed when Bisel aimed his FG-400 at the huge window, blasting it into pieces. The air in the chamber started getting sucked out. Bisel jumped high into the air, unaffected by the shatter since his armor suit had its own gravity and magnetic system. Vreffith sulked, quickly gripping the handles of the bridge.

Nearly being sucked out, Nesha shrieked and grabbed the rail while she shouted, “Dad! Help me!” Bisel ignored her. Countless thoughts filled her mind. Nesha didn’t understand how she ended up here. And she was caught off guard by her father destroying his own ship. Seeing Vreffith also made her fretful. “Dad!” she shouted again.

“Zero gravity, asshole,” said Bisel, releasing his gun’s fusion beam at Vreffith while flipping in a somersault toward the chamber’s ceiling.

Vreffith dodged the beam by accident when his body flew upward. He held the bridge’s handles as tight as he could while the beam ripped the corners of the bridge, causing it to tilt. Bisel now stood upside down on the ceiling and shot again at Vreffith who released himself from the handles. The beam blasted through the middle of the bridge, splitting it in half.

Nesha thought, Why is he ignoring me? I can’t even touch him. Is this another dream? Or is this the Merge? If this is the Merge, then how long have I been here? Where are the others? She maintained her grip, confused by what was happening. All she could do was watch the battle, hoping her father would put an end to Vreffith.

An emergency shutter abruptly closed where the shattered window used to be, preventing anything more being sucked out. Gravity, however, wasn’t restored. The halved bridge floated up to where Vreffith drifted. He gripped it and pressed his feet against the railing, launching himself to a corner. Another beam from Bisel’s gun missed Vreffith by a hair while he landed against the wall. He grinned, jumping toward the ceiling where Bisel stood. Vreffith was so fast that he managed to thrust his fists into Bisel’s visor.

The helmet cracked as Bisel fired his gun, accidently blasting a bridge below and causing it to drift away from its column. He brought his gun down to fire at Vreffith who stretched into a somersault, kicking Bisel across the prison chamber. Jolting backwards, he managed to target Vreffith and pressed the trigger using maximum power. This time the beam went right through his abdomen. It was so powerful that it blew out from his back and continued to another bridge, sending it down along with Vreffith’s corpse.

“Dad, you killed him!” said Nesha excitedly. She released her grip from the rail and floated over to her father while she added, “You saved us!”

“They’re always so arrogant,” said Bisel. He jumped down from the ceiling, onto the halved center bridge and stared at Vreffith’s corpse, which hung in midair. “It’s finally over. Now you can rest in peace, Elsa. Our daughter is saf—”

“But dad, I’m right here,” said Nesha. “Can’t you see me?” She drifted back down and hovered by the platform her father stood on. “Dad, I’m right here,” she repeated. Nesha reached out to her father, yet her hands went through his ethereal body again.

Not one second later, a luminous light formed from the corpse. It blinded Bisel, causing him to groan. Nesha, however, could see what was happening. She saw Vreffith’s body emit a scorching light, which regenerated and revived him. As for her father, he backed away from the heat. The radiant light eventually dimmed, allowing Bisel to look ahead without squinting. Vreffith’s body, however, was nowhere to be seen. Then he heard an impossible voice: Liagon’s voice.

“I must admit,” said Liagon, “your tactics have impressed me, Admiral.” There was a monstrous tone in his voice. “Only a fellow criminal could accomplish what you’ve done. And for that, I respect you. But did you honestly believe your weapon could destroy me?”

Vreffith Larser was no more. His business suit had been torn apart by his aberrant transformation, and so had his body. Bisel now confronted Liagon, a creature whose bodily form resembled a human but whose eyes were glowing citrine. His skin had become a terracotta fleece like many of the fe’lorians. And the lethal hole in his body that Bisel had created was no longer there. Instead, his abdomen had fizzing cracks similar to veins. Strangest of all, Liagon’s scalp had been replaced with horns.

Nesha thought to herself, That’s him, the demon in my dreams! He’s come for me again. This means he truly is Vreffith. She was utterly frightened, gazing at Liagon.

Her friends had died because of him. She had suffered tremendously because of him. Nesha wanted him to be removed from existence. And that’s when she realized Niralus Bisel wasn’t just her father; he was now a hero to her. And it seemed to Nesha that only her father could kill Liagon. She watched, eagerly waiting for her father to finish him off.

Bisel sneered at Liagon and aimed his FG-400 down, firing at him. When the particle beam reached Liagon, he held out his hand and absorbed it. His abdomen healed completely, no longer baring the fizzing vein-like cracks.

“My turn,” said Liagon, sneering back at Bisel.

Liagon scuttled across the lower bridge with inhuman speed and continuously dodged the yellow pulse charges that Bisel switched to. Shortly after, Liagon soared into the air and fiercely slammed against the column of the bridge that Bisel stood on. He rammed into it so hard that the pillar fractured, tumbling and floating up. The bridge, as a result, tilted, causing Bisel to lose his balance.

Jumping down, he managed to land safely on one of the many lower bridges. He turned around quickly to retaliate, yet Liagon was already upon him. Liagon leapt across in an instant, almost faster than the speed of light itself. He grabbed Bisel’s gun with one of his claws while attacking with the other, ripping Bisel’s front armor apart. The slash was so deep that it pierced Bisel’s flesh. Specks of blood spewed out in the form of gelatin.

“Dad!” shouted Nesha. “Dad!”

“Do you still think I’m human?” said Liagon.

Bisel was no longer smug. He gazed at Liagon in terror and realized it was over—he was over. Liagon kicked Bisel off the bridge. Bisel’s malfunctioned armor could no longer stabilize his movement. As he flew above helplessly, Liagon aimed the FG-400 at him, blasting a hole into his abdomen. Liagon scowled at Bisel and didn’t stop firing the weapon until the heat of the particle beam melted the rest of Bisel’s armor and body. All that remained were remnants of his existence.

“No!” cried out Nesha.

She was filled with an irrational rage that she’d never felt before when Liagon killed her father. Instead of crying, she gave out a deafening scream that turned into a bellowing roar. Her eyes glowed citrine as she ported out her FG-500, blasting its fusion beam at Liagon. But the ray went through him while he dissipated. Then everything around her froze as if caused by a space time continuum. Nesha screamed again with a look of frenzy. Only she could move, throwing her weapon at Goliath’s ruptured hull with a frantic expression.

“He killed my father!” she yelled out monstrously. “He killed him! Where is Liagon? I will tear him apart if I have to!” Her hands changed into gruesome talons as she ripped pieces of the platform’s banister off. Yellowish tears fell from her eyes while she screamed and roared in an uncontrollable frenzy, turning more and more into a fe’lorian. “It’s because of you, Liagon! They’re all dead because of you! I’m going to kill you!” She dropped to the floor, weeping in the silence and stillness of time. Nesha looked like a beast, but she still had her humanity. She felt imprisoned, as though someone forcefully gave her this heinous memory. Feeling dejected, she cried out once more, “Where are you?”

She then heard the same echoic voice speak to her again:

“I have long witnessed the shared memories of my son. And so the same has been with you, my innocent daughter. For you have now witnessed the shared memories of Liagon. This is the Merge, yet I have changed your fate. We’re the same in nature. Our biological unity of consciousness has made it so. But the others are lost. Their minds have been sucked into the parasitical consciousness of Yak-Shur. Now they suffer a blight of eternal imprisonment. It is worse than death.”

Nesha slowly shifted back to her human form and stood up. She gazed out into the shattered chamber, listening to the voice.

“Who are you, and what have you done with my friends?” she asked.

“I am Mother Fe’lora, the one who allowed you to receive this pertinent yet miserable vision. But your friends…yes, I see your friends. Yak-Shur is feeding on them. The Merge is a mimicking unity I have evaded by giving it my shared memories of Liagon instead of mine. Even though one of your friends has been lost forever, there is still time to save the others.”

“How can I help them?” asked Nesha. “What must I do?”

“Dear child, you will know when the time comes. Acknowledge the Merge: understand the memories of the past, present, and future. And remember, those who are trapped in Yak-Shur may very well be a deception. But they may also need your help. For we are all prisoners within the Merge, and only you who share my eternal consciousness may free your friends from the never-ending chasm of dreams.”

“You’re not speaking clearly,” said Nesha. “I don’t understand.”

The prison bay suddenly bended and ripped open. That instant, Nesha got sucked out into space. She shrieked as she was pulled out. But when she went through the shutter’s torn hole, she vanished from time and space.