Overlap: The Other Side

<01/19/48,010 {Avion 52 (BF)} - 08:15 | Luxiemaid, Karnak, Genosis, Altiri Sector Space>

In the passing of countless hundreds years I searched, nothing ever seemed to quell the splint in my heart. The search for my mother held me in endless turmoil, and with all of the hangars locked down or raided by Legasso's disciples, I could never hope to hitch a ride off this cursed, barren world. My mother was taken by the enemy, forced onto those transport ships now missing, and dropped off on that faraway moon my mind could never reach.

The world around us had changed forever, getting worse with each decade's passing. Lady Q was correct about only one aspect; the majority of us Altiri have finally seen the traitor Legasso for who he really is, and as such have ceased going to the Empyrean Temple. Legasso is hardly respected these days, never again to be referred to as a god. But like a god, he appears to be untouchable, a person above the law due to his status and influence.

I could care less what happens to our worlds. After she was removed from my presence, all I've ever thought about was finding my mother again, someday. No matter the passing of time, I shall never stop searching for her, even if my soul turns to the white sand that blows through our winds, even should my mind wipe its slate clean of all memory but her own.

For so long though, I've never found a whole lot of hope. I stayed in Ly-Rain for so long, but have recently departed from the town, in hopes to find something, anything better than the hopeless horror I've been drowning in for too long. The winds of our blizzards sound different every cycle, though I keep asking myself; when will my endless panic attacks cease? What must I do to find her?

After my slow but certain journey got me to the westward city of Zshonn-Claw, the time I spent there doing so little allowed my ears to catch wind of a fleeting rumor, extending the thinnest thread of hope that I could latch onto. The rumor spread far and wide only recently, that about three towns over due west, Luxiemaid, there was apparently 'our last hope growing there.' Ominous as it sounded, I wasn't about to ignore the possibility that we could somehow redeem ourselves of our past failures, our failure to fight back when we still had the chance.

As much as I didn't care about Legasso and his evil, if there was ever a real possibility of removing him from his royal seat, then perhaps there would also be a future, one where I could finally board a spaceship, reach the far planet of Zinod, and search for my mother there yet again. So, without delay, I made another journey all the way to Luxiemaid. I braced myself for what unknown hope would await me there, caring not if this was some kind of elaborate trap.

Such was possible. Rumors from Empyrean Temple have circulated, (false rumors of course), that some clusters of Altiri children (those of us on Karnak) were trying to form a larger kind of rebellion. It didn't matter if the disciples had evidence or not; rumor was enough reason to imprison or execute such people, even though most of these rumors came from the royal disciples themselves. The Exodus plan was already fulfilled, but our darkness only expanded, as Legasso's private army slowly expanded, in both numbers and in vile madness hath he spread to them all.

Despite all my mental preparation, what I met was most unexpected to me. When I reached Luxiemaid, the locals in the city confirmed that the rumor was true, but said nothing on what any of it meant, instead urging all of us to simply remain patient and quiet, as to not arouse any suspicion from the disciples lurking anywhere. I had to wait three days (twelve cycles) of our time to lay my senses onto what exactly brought me here, and at last, my patience was rewarded by a strange yet refreshing moment before us.

We gathered together, thousands of us altogether in the empty bank of snow just outside the city, below an uplifted stage crafted out of ice, where she made a public appearance in front of all of us.

Chapter Theme Shift: Polaris ~ Unusual Cosmic Process (Spacetime)

"Whether you know my face or not, I stand here before you today, to give hope to you all against what has happened to our world. My name is Lady Q!" The grown woman spoke with such passion and volume, so I didn't recognize her at first. In fact, she was still hard to recognize, since it has been so long a time since I last saw her. Even so, my senses were not deceiving me. This was in all aspects the real Lady Q.

I had no idea what she was doing here or why. Not long after her plan to incite peaceful dissidence within the temple partially succeed, Lady Q went off the map yet again, going into hiding for so long a time that some of us thought she was merely a legend in some story. More than a thousand years have passed since then, my age now 2,649, myself long grown, though Lady Q appeared to be even older by a small amount.

In all the time she spent hiding from the backlash that followed, it threw me in all sorts of questions to wonder why she was showing herself yet again. If Legasso ever knew she was still alive, Lady Q would be executed on sight, her treacheries against the disciples well-known by now.

Apparently, Lady Q said she had some new kind of plan to deal with the threat to our world, though I was fairly skeptical for now. After all, we did what she wanted so long ago, and nothing good ever came of it. How is she so popular now, that rumor of her presence can attract such an immense crowd?

"Hear me now. My very reason for appearing before you all today, is to help guide us out of ruin, a future no one wants, a future delivered to us by Legasso and his growing army."

"Didn't you go into hiding for a thousand years? Why should we listen to someone as random as you now?" It was an outburst from an Altiri I knew not, though her skepticism was not met with immediate disdain from many people in the crowd. I could sense it too, their collective uncertainty and confusion. I misjudged Lady Q's standing with all of us; popular as she was, she wasn't as trustworthy as it appeared.

With such height and voice, Lady Q spoke to all of us on that small stage, ensuring her speech and plan were well-heard. "I have made mistakes in my own assessments of the enemy. There was once a time where I believed Legasso would be willing to step down from his position voluntarily, if pressured by enough of us; this assumption was wrong. There was also a time where I believed, that his removal, by any means, would instantly clarify the wrongs in this world; another false assumption. Any society as large and as social as us requires leadership to survive, else doubt will dominate us as individuals, throwing us from our vision, which has already happened despite no change in leadership. And now, after so much time has passed, Legasso is well-protected in his current area of dwelling, by his own combat skills and those shared by the new countless disciples working for him. Removing Legasso by force will no longer be as simple as I once wished it could be."

"What about our mothers? When can we see them again?"

"Yeah! When can we see our loved ones? Surly you must know of a way to reach them!"

"The Exodus has displaced all families, separating most of us who would be considered children by the kingdom, from our mothers, placed and exiled on Zinod, where they too are being held under captive by off-world disciples loyal to Legasso. Taking you to see them again would be a very easy task, but one with a certain and permanent end, not just for yourselves, but for our new rebellion."

Many more argued back and forth with Lady Q, the distrust hanging so high in the air, it was the strongest scent for Luxiemaid. Eventually, Lady Q quelled the lack of trust, instead opening up about her plans. "Our new rebellion is slowly growing, and I would ask that you all join our ranks. Legasso is an evil person. He doesn't care about the lives of anybody except for himself, and as long as he remains in a position to rule, he will do everything to ensure we are loyal to him by force, no matter the cost. And yet, there cannot be progress without leadership. So, I ask that all of you follow my lead instead. Should you ever venture anywhere outside this city, you must hide any notion that you have sworn any allegiance to anyone but Legasso, for your own protection and secrecy."

"What will you do then, Lady Q? How will you remove Legasso from reign, and allow us to see our loved ones again?"

This entire meeting felt surreal, so I didn't ask any of the questions myself. I simply stood there, myself as a silent listener. I was curious, curious to see what kind of mastermind plan Lady Q could possibly come up with. It was amazing to see how sharp her mind was in all the time I've yet to see her, something I could not claim the same for myself, or even a majority for the rest of the Altiri.

"This will not be an easy rebellion, and it will take many hundreds of years to implement properly. As it stands now, we outnumber Legasso and his team greatly, but we do not outmatch him in skill, wits, or power. My goal is to change that. I will create a new force to fight this enemy, a force of people made of Altiri, loyal to ourselves, to our world, and to our freedom. I'm going to need all the help I can get, for our growth and everything we do must remain as secret from Legasso's loyalists as possible. I can assure you he will have a countermeasure for a plan such as mine, and so we must remain discrete."

"I am with you Lady Q. Those traitors ripped my mother and my friend's mother from us... I've never seen Ellimena since; they took her from me too when she lashed out against the disciples for what they were doing. It is clear to all of us how much harm Legasso intends to bring to us."

"I will train as many of you as possible how to fight, so that you can be assured a chance of victory if force be necessary to achieve your goal, or to preserve your life. I also intend to build a new, massive fleet of ships in the sky, so that we can take full control of the airspace between Karnak and Zinod. Simply put, we need a new location where we can survive in secrecy, a safe place where we can help store new members."

Bit by bit, Lady Q broke down how she intended to start this new war against Legasso, and it was more involved than I was expecting it to be before. Given all of the circumstances I was faced with, I felt that I had no other choice but to join this secret society, should I ever hope to get to Zinod again.

"We will establish several new towns and city dwellings in safer places, some to be close to the dead zones of Karnak, where most Altiri would never dare tread. From there, we can continue to coordinate actions to turn all of Karnak against Legasso, person by person, until Legasso has nowhere left to run or hide. This will be a risky plan of action, but if we do nothing, we will all one day perish under his hand."

"The Dead Zones of Karnak will keep us hidden Lady Q, but not for too long."

"That is why we must simultaneously take control of some, but not too many hangars on the planet. We will also build additional hangars nearby, so that ship construction and other sorties can be made into space. We're going to send extractor ships into the asteroid field, and take all we need to bring even more starships into existence, expanding the fleet in a cycle, until we have at least five thousand. It won't be easy, but I will attempt to also involve some on Zinod to do the same, expediting the process."

"If we're going to build all these ships, wouldn't it make more sense to just transport all of our mothers from Zinod back to Karnak?"

"We could, but if we dared to try it, Legasso would surely notice within less than a day, and our act of defiance going out into the open would then force his hand. I know that heathen well enough to estimate that he will have some kind of action to use should we bring everyone back too quickly, perhaps something designed to kill most of us, or to threaten the lives of our own mothers to use as a hostage situation. At the very least, those on Zinod must also be trained on how to fight before I consider the idea."

"I don't understand this plan Lady Q. It doesn't directly do anything to Legasso."

"Legasso has power and reign only because there are still many loyal to him, even now. I aim to take that away from him, year by year, to grow a separate faction into something so bigger by comparison, Legasso has no chance of winning even if he were to outclass us on skill, intelligence, or threat level. Little at a time, we must learn to outnumber him through a radical shift of allegiance, here on the ground, and up there in outer space. I also intend to build and expand an Altiri space station, so that we can further conduct and conceal operations in any manner we choose. Listen carefully. I tried to make moves against Legasso in the past, and so long as I expected swift results, I failed in every corner. So this time, I will act cautiously and carefully, not recklessly. None of you are required to join me, but seeing as we all want the same thing, peace and unity for all of us in Karnak and Zinod, I doubt many will oppose me. There is no doubt in my mind that Legasso will eventually learn of our plans and especially of my intensions. The goal, is to be too far ahead of him when he does become aware. And so, secrecy is our greatest asset at this moment in time. That is the reason this plan will take a while. I know that all of you are hurting, all of you wanting to be reunited with your family again. If you join us now, I will make it my personal goal to see that you do; no tricks, no lies."

Just like that, Lady Q had the entire crowd now under her leash, and as for myself, her offer was one I too could never refuse. Before coming here, I had no hope left to cling onto. Strange as it was to see Lady Q taking charge of so much so suddenly, I knew I had to do this, so that I may one day be reunited with my mother. I'll wait to see her again, even if it takes thousands of more years. We are all in the dark, but maybe soon, Lady Q will lead us into the light. That is the hope I held onto.

Sure enough, some time passed by us, thousands of years to be exact. By the year 49,000, the new rebellion that Lady Q had created managed to put 4,637 capital-class starships into action, as well as finishing and expanding the construction of a new Altiri Temple, one floating in outer space, far from the reaches and detection of Legasso's team.

The transitions were not all too smooth however. Lady Q basically achieved most of what she set out to do, but our presence was eventually picked up by the disciples, Legasso now growing aware that he had a full-blown rebellion on his hands, our numbers growing from a few thousand to more than a hundred thousand. By rule of our new popularity, we formed this faction which her gratefulness now referred to as, The Unity. In addition to this, from proving her intentions clear in her own leadership, we elected her to become our new, rightful leader of both our worlds, The Queen, meant to replace Legasso once he is eventually captured and removed from power.

Despite minor setbacks, all seemed to be going well, and I just knew I would be seeing my mother again soon... What we were not counting on, was Legasso's cunning and deadly counter-strategy to our open defiance against him.