Ursae Majoris: Eternal Knight

by Draconaes

Chapter 3

Chapter 3
******

The great sphere known as Mother filled the sky, colored bands of clouds swirling and churning. It was night, but there was enough light from Mother for any creature with eyes to see without much difficulty. In a few hours, it would be the young day, and the tribes would start hunting sleeping loners.

A winged shadow crouched high among the trees. She couldn't stand the tribes. They thought that by getting one thing right, they were infallible in all other regards. Hunting during either day was ludicrous. Hunting their own kind was insane. They didn't even eat them! They "converted" them. A tribe was an abomination.

And yet, this repulsive super-organism was what had inspired her in the first place. Why not forge a greater being out of the many? But where the tribes were disgusting and imperfect, she would create a wondrous entity: perfectly attuned, subtle, elegant, and efficient. And she would purge the tribes that did not join her, rather than humiliate them with mind-murdering "conversions" or insulting battles of words. She would be as a force of nature, and others would either yield or be inexorably crushed. She would lead a great exodus as foremost of the children of the stars, and the flame of life would spread from its nest and consume the night sky, rivaling even Father's distant blaze! She need only take the initial leap.

'And there he is now.' Night raised her head as another shadow alighted on a nearby branch.

"Fellow hunter, Night. I considered your proposal, and I think that I agree. Much will have to change, however..." He flexed his wings, trying to bleed off nervous energy. "Heavens, I think should fit."

"That was a given, Heavens. But you are adaptable. You've already adopted a name. I hadn't thought it would be so quick. But if we want to forge a coherent entity from the scattered hunters, then we will need to do more than adopt names. I know..." Night turned to face a distant campfire. "I know... you dislike tribal practices."

"And you know why! They-"

Night snarled at him. He hissed and ducked his head. "I believe I have the most cause for grievance over that. Do not presume to put your loss near mine."

"But it is! I am bound to you! If you can no longer-"

"It is all the more insulting when dressed in flattery, but perhaps more forgivable as well." Night chuckled. "Besides. I suppose it's not strictly true that I will have no legacy. A poetic view of this endeavor might have us as parents of a new generation."

Heavens sighed. "Reality cares not for metaphors. Nor do the tribes. Why should we have anything to do with those... unnatural brutes?"

"You are quick to denounce unnatural behavior, given your fixation on me. The tribes are a hindrance, have no doubt. But some of their practices are actually necessary for us to work together at all. A social construct requires social behaviors and rules. The insane can sometimes be insightful, despite their insanity. Or sometimes because of it."

Heavens fell silent for a few minutes, then spoke again: "The tribes won't be happy when you start succeeding, Night." She felt a surge of warmth when he said 'when', not 'if'. "They might even join together if they see you as a threat. What are we going to do about them?"

Night let out another chuckle. "Nothing, for now. We will gather in the skies of Mother. They used to say the gods lived there: we shall give truth to those claims. Once we are strong enough, we will banish Death to the crushing depths, and take our place among the true gods with Father. We will soar with the stars, and leave these treetops behind, And then, the hunt will continue."

Heavens fidgeted. "The hunt? You like your word games so; I am not sure what you mean."

Night let out a contented sigh. "Yes. The hunt. The hunt for what may lay beyond. The hunt for the unknown, to make it known, and to use it to better ourselves. The hunt for our future. The greatest possible hunt of all, and the prey cannot escape us if we persevere. Heavens, I am glad that you have agreed to join me. I request your assistance then to help me realize this goal. We need to bring more to our cause. I am wary of the tribes, but it may be that they are more... pliable. They may see creating a true society as more than mad ravings. What think you? Should we attempt to bring the tribes into our fold, or focus on the loners?"

Heavens was silent. After nearly an hour of thought, he responded. "Neither. We need more than just you and I, but not many, I think. We should find several more loners, I think. Ones willing for change, ones willing to bring our species to its full potential. We can then create our own followers. Not like that!" Night was chuckling again. "Deathborn's experiments. He showed it to be possible. His tribe is not like the others. We could convince them to help us in creating followers and in reaching Mother in the first place."

"Deathborn is insane, scampering about on Death like a crawler."

"He's also correct, more often than not. The insane can sometimes be insightful, if you recall."

It was Night's turn to pause. "Very well. It is worth an attempt, given the circumstances. Come, Heavens, our future awaits us!" They both jumped from the tree and began gliding south, to where Deathborn and his tribe resided.

******

Thousands of years in the future...

Night, or, as she was now known, Nyx, walked along a gleaming hallway. Behind her walked Heavens, now known as Aether. To her left, a vast field of stars twinkled , against which a few dark shapes could be seen from time to time: her personal fleet, the most feared force in the galaxy. 'If only I had gone myself, The Terran Empire wouldn't be the thorn it is today.' Such thoughts were becoming more frequent of late. She would have to deal with the Empire in due time. 'Thanatos has been useless lately. I cannot keep relying on him for solutions to every problem, anyway. It was bad enough putting our lives in his hands back on Death. Perhaps I can...' Her thoughts trailed off as she passed on open doorway and saw Syn and Tyr conversing in hushed voices.

Nyx did not particularly like Syn. She was a fellow member of the High Instruction, the governing body of The Stars' Escape. Generally, all High Instructors tended to agree on any given decision fairly quickly and without much fuss. Syn, however, always seemed to oppose her on decisions regarding other species. Just recently she had tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the other Instructors to ignore the Terran Empire, when they should instead be figuring out how to neutralize this threat.

Tyr, on the other hand, was a personal favorite of Nyx's. A first-generation artificial, He was always very efficient and clean with his missions. That aside, he had an interesting coloration defect: rather than Deep, nearly black violet, he was pure white. Somehow, he managed to look exotic rather than freakish. As they passed, Aether followed Nyx's gaze and bared his teeth. Once they were out of earshot, he growled. "Why did not Thanatos correct that blasted coloration of his?"

"Of what need is there? Jealosy should be beyond you, Aether. The null-generation does not require conditioning, so do not give others a reason to think we do. Come, we must decide on a plan for dealing with the Empire."

Aether growled again. "Of course, Nyx."

Nyx's thoughts turned back to Tyr. He had been one of those assigned to banish Death, along with the squabbling tribes and what loners remained. He had been very unhappy, and honest about it, but impressive in his dedication regardless. Nyx had almost recommended reconditioning afterwards, given his emotional state, but Syn had intervened. A short while later, Tyr was once again a most efficient agent. Despite their rivalry, Nyx had to admit that Syn was valuable.

Later, He had aided in putting down an uprising among the Omegas, the loners that had joined the Escape after its founding. The High Instruction deemed the Omegas secondary citizens after that, granting them a colony ship to run as their own, barring navigational decisions. This precedent would later be followed by any client civilizations the Escape assimilated. In its modern form, the Escape comprised a large nomadic fleet traveling outward in all directions, mostly military ships with colony vessels housing various client races. Not a single significant obstacle had been encountered in their expansion.

At least, not until the humans. They had underestimated them, and if there was one thing humans were good at, it seemed to be exploiting an enemy's overconfidence. They now had a large and capable empire standing in their way, ready to strike against them at any sign of provocation, and perhaps even without provocation, considering their history.

"Perhaps..." Nyx turned to face Aether as he started speaking. "Perhaps, we can exploit their fear."

Nyx barked sharply, laughing at the idea. "They do not fear us much, Aether. We are long past the deepnight; we are no longer hidden in impenetrable shadow, an unknown foe." Aether chuckled at her metaphors. It had been thousands of years since the last deepnight, and day and night were meaningless concepts in deep space. Even so, she would still sometimes slip into language reminiscent of ancient times. "The point still stands. They do not fear us."

"No, but they fear themselves."

Nyx was silent for a moment, then began to chuckle. "You have my interest, Aether. Continue."

******

Thanatos sat in one of his labs, listening to the data scroll past. Without eyes, Starborn had little use for text. All communication was done through sound, with long lists of data being more like a song than anything else. The tune played flawlessly; check after check returning all clear. Strictly speaking, it wasn't his job to monitor the growth of each generation, but ever since Nyx got her fleet he was exceptionally bored. Nyx didn't appreciate science, not the way that he did. She spoke of reaching their potential, but it was all just words. 'Hypocrite'

Syn had come by earlier that day to tell him that Tyr had left on his assignment. He hoped it was a success. Working with Syn was dangerous, and he didn't want to have taken the risk and end up empty handed. Or worse. 'I hope to the Five Hatchlings that she doesn't attract the attention of-'

"Thanatos!" Aether came striding into the lab, obviously agitated. He stopped short when he realized what Thanatos was doing. "Why haven't you automated that yet?"

"I have automated it. I just enjoy listening to things work without error. I suppose I can listen to you instead, though, if you need me."

Aether growled and flared his wings. "Have you made any progress?"

Thanatos sighed. "I cannot repair her. I have told you this several times before."

"I ordered you to continue."

"You do not have power over me!"

Aether chuckled. "Nyx has power over you, though. This could work toward removing your debt."

"Do not invent debts for me. Do not seek to deal with me on the behalf of others. You do not want me to view you as an enemy."

"Will you send your little invention to kill me?" Cold flooded Thanatos's body. "We should be allies. We are allies. Continue serving the Escape, Thanatos, and we will succeed. Remember that." Aether spun on his heels and left.

Thanatos leaned back in his chair. 'Does he know? Or is he grasping? There's something not right about that one. I wonder why Nyx keeps him around.' Thanatos chuckled and shook his head. Everyone knew why she kept him around. 'Why she keeps him in power, rather. He seems like an unacceptable risk to me. Maybe I should propose a review of his behavior.'