Dark Matter Ascension

Jace spent the next morning with Shhiv, and around mid-day Ollie appeared with a pop. The duo were in the middle of a late breakfast; Jace feasting on pancakes stacked high, while Shhiv was eating steak and eggs.

"It is time," Ollie stated. "Pulsar Coalition are ready, and the ship is prepared."

Jace nodded and stood up. He walked around the table to Shhiv and kissed her passionately. "I'll be back in a few-" He looked up at Ollie, "How long?"

"Two weeks of transit via interstellar vessel going near light speed."

"Two weeks," Jace repeated as he looked back at Shhiv.

The Churkun shark-woman nodded solemnly and hugged him, smushing her head into his abdomen. "You better come back," she said, muffled.

Jace ran a hand through her hair, "I will. Nothing is going to keep me from you. Not some Astral Demon, or a black hole…nothing."

She looked up at him and smiled, and he lost himself in those deep, black eyes that had the faintest iridescent shimmer. "I know."

He separated from her, equipped his armor, and Ollie flew around him in tight circles. "I'm ready," Jace whispered just loud enough for Ollie to hear. Reality distorted around him, and Jace found himself in front of the portal to Nihilethelea. It was locked off – with the front of the portal reading "Access Limited – Pulsar Coalition only."

Ollie spoke up, "You're good to go through."

Stepping through the doorway, he arrived in the Nethal species' capital city.

Above him, blocking all view of the skies, was a massive vehicle. Deckard's ship that had been altered and changed significantly. It was no longer a gaudy gold color; it was a deep, steel grey with the Pulsar Coalition's emblem painted along the side. The vehicle was bristling with armaments of all types. Lasers, railguns, torpedo tubes, starfighter hangars – it was a capital ship in all sense of the word.

The Nethal were going about their business, and since Jace already had his helmet on and a new series of Symbols on his hand – Star and Supermassive – he was unnoticed as the person who gave them back their home world. There were thousands of species from all across The Cosmic Corridor that were making travel and war preparations all across the city – and this central gathering point at the middle of the capital had a large, circular platform that people were stepping onto, loading gear onto…and then vanishing in a glimmer of light.

"Teleportation to the ship above," Ollie stated. "It is short-range."

Jace headed over to a person who was holding a large touchscreen panel in front of the circular platform. They were similar in appearance to Zzorth, the bee-person that Jace had encountered once before when he defeated the Archmage Ascendant on this world. But they looked more predatory and less welcoming. "You're the Dark Between Stars mercenary?" they asked.

Jace nodded, "Yes. I'm Wraith. Am I good to head up?"

"Zzorth wanted to chat. Head to the bridge when you're up there." The person pointed to the platform, "Step on, and wait for the next cycle."

Jace did so and after a few minutes of people getting on, loading crates of equipment and standing still, the world flashed a deep, cream-colored white. He was no longer in the town, but instead in the cargo bay of the space ship. Other Pulsar Coalition members began moving the crates and boxes out of the metal circle, and Jace followed Ollie's map placed on his HUD to the bridge.

No one batted an eye at the unknown figure who was walking among them – perhaps because they knew the portal limited access, or maybe because someone had told them about the "mercenary" joining them on their mission. He got to the bridge quickly and saw that it was far bigger than before. It was no longer a one-person crew-able vehicle, but a multi-station, multi-user setup.

The bee-person, the leader of the Pulsar Coalition, turned to face Jace. "Ah, Wraith. Welcome. I trust that X has paid your fee?"

Jace nodded, "Yes," he said. And to his surprise, his armor seemed to distort his voice a bit – making it deeper and more sinister.

Zzorth's wings buzzed and flapped rapidly as they flew over to stand in front of him, "Our assault plan is ready. Have you any questions?"

"No," Jace stated. "My Wayfinder will advise me of any new developments." Thankfully, Ollie was inside the armor and not visible to these other Aspirants and Ascendants.

"This is it, the final assault on Troxanir's base of power." Zzorth's voice switched to a slight chirping sound, and Jace's Universal Translation Skill transformed that into a laugh. "Finally, I get revenge for my hive. We all get revenge for the evils that the Black Hole Conclave have inflicted." The figure's eyes stared down at Jace, "Can you survive the gravitic forces of the accretion disk and the black hole proper?"

"I have the means," Jace replied.

"Good. Quarters assignments are already set up. You get one of the individual rooms. We are heading out in an hour."

The hour passed quickly, and Jace could feel the acceleration as the ship began to move. Ollie flew up in front of him, tapped a few panels on the wall, and an external screen view appeared.

"How can you touch the real world?" Jace asked.

Ollie smiled, "Benefit of being bound to you. I can go intangible or physical at will."

"Can you be hurt now?"

Ollie shook his head, "I can be hurt, but as soon as I suffer injury, I default to my intangible state."

The glimmering stars in the distance began to turn to streaks of light as the vehicle accelerated to near-lightspeed. On the interior, Jace barely felt a nudge, but he could tell they were going fast. And as they reached their top speed, all that could be seen was a single, bright point of light in front of the ship and all else was darkness.

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Zzorth's voice came over the ship speakers, "All battalion commanders and mercenaries – head to the conference room on the Fourth Deck."

Ollie flew over to Jace and phased through his armor, sticking close by. He followed the map that his Wayfinder pushed up into his HUD. After a few elevators and some walking he arrived in an a large conference room. A series of concentric circles with seats going up towards the outer wall, almost like a semi-circular lecture hall, was on his left. To his right was a large cosmoscreen, and Zzorth was standing in front of it. The figure gave Jace a terse nod, and Jace went to the back row and sat as close to the door as he could.

People continued to file in – all manner of species dressed in a wide variety of technology powered armor, magical thrumming-with-arcane-energy protective encasements, and odd combinations of both that had to be magitech. They took their seats, and when the doors shut, the lights dimmed, and the cosmoscreen flickered to life, showing a two-dimensional, top-down view of the universe.

Zzorth began, "The black hole known as Oblivion is at the center of our universe. It is Troxanir's home." The screen zoomed in on Nihilethelea, and a golden dot representing their vessel blinked slightly, "Our departure point was two weeks at near-lightspeed travel from Oblivion. We will spend that time ensuring that everyone knows the battle tactics that will be utilized."

The bee-person tapped the cosmoscreen and it flickered over to the black hole. A partially constructed metallic ring was around the accretion disk. "This is Troxanir's current project. A ring world. It would qualify as a habitable world under the System's parameters, and as such would give him a means to breach The Cosmic Corridor and Khrox. We know that it is far from completion, but even at this early stage it is heavily fortified."

They flicked the screen again and it went to focus on the black hole proper, "X has promised us that this mercenary, Wraith, is able to defeat Troxanir. And judging by the fact that they eliminated Star Father, I am inclined to believe X."

Everyone looked up at Jace, and he felt very much under-the-spotlight. But he kept his mouth shut and his head firmly fixed forward until the right moment he and Ollie had discussed with Xera's permission. He could see the expressions of the various species looking up at him, and their Wayfinders were all staring as well – possibly trying to access the System to find more information.

Jace spoke, and his modulated voice came through the external speakers. "I am Tier 10, an Ascendant, and can deal with Troxanir."

That sent shockwaves and ripples through the crowded people, who began whispering and muttering among themselves. Perfect, Jace thought, now they know that Wraith is not to be messed with, is an individual entity who is not Signed to a faction, and I have a fearsome persona whenever I do need to make myself known. Intimidation, and I might not have to kill people.

Zzorth made a weird buzzing sound, and that quieted everyone down. "Even a Tier 10 Ascendant cannot fight an entire army of Black Hole Conclave Signers…and now that we know Troxanir can bring back the dead – thanks to X and her dead Aspirant, Flicker, for that information – we must expect every Conclave member to possibly be back. That's hundreds-of-thousands. Sure, they cannot harm us until they have bodies…but we do not know what await us at this ring world."

"The strategy is thus: we use our capital ship to destroy their defenses. X has assured me that the vessel is more than capable of doing that. But there ring world is generating a shield around the whole singularity. The ship cannot fly through the shield. We need ground units to disable the shields. That is where our assault squadrons come in with the drop ships – two fighters flanking each in case we have to deal with forces that can fly. We have set up an Aspirant with each squadron who has the means to disable the gravitic forces of the singularity on those within a small area."

One of the gathered figures raised their hand, and Zzorth pointed at them, "What are the odds of space combat? Dogfights in starfighters?"

"Miniscule," Zzorth replied. "Flying and space-capable Signers? That is more likely." Zzorth pointed to Jace, "Wraith is going to be infiltrating deeper, to the far side of the ring world. The goal is that our assault distracts Troxanir's forces and leaves him open to attack. A chance for our secret weapon to take him out."

"So we're just a glorified distraction?" One of the Signers asked.

"Yes," Zzorth replied, which caused hushed murmurs to break out. The leader's voice hardened and became gruffer and more filled with wrath, "Believe me…I want to kill Troxanir with my own hands. But, as long as he dies the faction will crumble, and our universe will be safe from his machinations."

"Two weeks," Zzorth finished as the cosmoscreen flicked off. "I'll be sending out direct orders and assault plans." They looked at Jace, "Wraith, if you would please be so kind as to stick around to speak." Jace stayed put as the room emptied out, and the doors shut. Zzorth walked up to the row Jace was in and sat down next to him. "A lot is riding on you," the leader commented.

"I know," Jace replied.

"Do not let Troxanir tempt you. I know you're a mercenary, and willing to do whatever you can…but if he-"

Jace cut Zzorth off, "No worries. I have my own grudge against him."

Zzorth's face, being that of a bee-person, was hard to read. But the voice was filled with relief, "Good. Now, as for your part. X prepared a special torpedo. One that has cloaking technology that I've never even heard of. We are going to punch a breach through the shields, and ensure you get through at the same time. Once you are on the ring world, you have to get across it. That should put you right at the edge of the accretion disk, where Troxanir normally lingers."

"How do we know that?" Jace asked. "He could move around to join the fight for all we know."

Zzorth's voice filled with delight, "He is trapped there by something. He cannot go beyond the edge of the black hole itself. X told me as much, and I believe whoever they are. They want what is best for the balance of The Cosmic System. I believe that wholeheartedly." They sighed, "I wish that her Signers did not all die. Then we wouldn't need to rely on mercenaries."

"Can you keep a secret? Until the end of time?" Jace asked.

"What are you doing?" Xera asked him over the comms.

Jace turned off the external speakers, "I was going to let them know that I survived."

"Don't," Xera stated. "Just keep your identity hidden. It is safer for Shhiv. It will be safer for Chroma."

Zzorth looked at Jace thoughtfully, "I could keep a secret."

"Nevermind," Jace muttered as he stood up. "Are we done?"

"We are," Zzorth said quizzically, but stood up next to him. "Two weeks' time, and we will be there. The fight of our lives."

Jace spent those two weeks in his quarters. He used the built-in fabricator to get food and drink, and spent hours upon hours using the Cosmic System's messaging interface to talk to Shhiv, Quinn, Dee, and Priam.

The time passed relatively quickly, and Jace, on the last night before they would arrive, sat on his small bed. Ollie floated in front of him. A small chess board floated in the air between them, and Jace given his Edge of Possibility (Rank 3) was actually a challenge for the river otter.

"And check!" Ollie said triumphantly as he moved a piece into position.

Jace scanned the board trying to find a way out, but he could not, and he knocked over his king, conceding. "You win." Jace tented his hands as he rested his forearms on his knees. "Ollie,"

"Hmm?"

"You've been great."

"I know I am great," Ollie replied as he waved his paw and the pieces reset. "But in what way?"

Jace smiled, "It's almost been a year now, yes?" Ollie nodded, and Jace continued, "We've come a long way. From almost dying on an alien world where you absolutely did not believe in me, all the way to now – where we are going to fight arguably the strongest entity in our universe."

Ollie nodded thoughtfully and his face had a look of fond recollection, "I did doubt you at the start. I am very, very happy you proved me wrong."

"I want you to know that I wouldn't be here without you."

"I know."

Jace stared at the board, "You and me, together until the end."

Ollie beamed with delight and clapped his paws together, "Absolutely. Now come on, white goes first."