Year: 11,019 E. Rebirth. Amaranthine Wasteland
Alannah wondered as she stared over the cliff's edge what it would be like to die. She did not tell the others her thoughts. It was hard not to wonder if it had all been worth it, fighting this fight for a millenium, all that had been dear to her lost to the desert wastelands of Amaranthine. The drop was not far, probably eighty feet down, she knew it would not be fatal especially with her grasping The Way. To her anything was possible as she felt its power wrap warmly around her soul. That thought though had not left, where would The Way take her at death, would it be peace, or would she be justly punished for her failures. She would deserve it, her past was filled with such failures many of which there was no redemption for.
Something stirred in the desert sands down far from the cliff Alannah stood on, a structure rose sand falling away as it continued to rise higher. Two crystal pyramids sprouted from the sand on the two front corners of the large metallic structure. Alannah knew even having it camouflaged centuries ago that eventually its power source would die or go critical, without access she would not know which it was. They were there to ensure the advanced tech did not fall into Imperial Federation hands, the war was already hard enough without them having another advantage.
Startled at first by the hand grasping her shoulder, Alannah looks on to see Adair, a warm smile carved into his face as if created by The Way to melt Alannah’s own heart.
“How are you?” He asked her, she ran her hand on the smooth blackish grey skin of his cheek, it continued up brushing past the pale white tattoos on his face, through his long white hair tied in a bun, ending at the right most of the two large black horns that sprouted from his forehead. Her other hand rested under the tan cloak that hung from his shoulders, against his bare chest. It was enough to make her almost forget for a short moment, “Are we going to take care of the structure or do you want me to tell the others to wait?” He said cheekily.
Pulling herself away from him with the same smile filling her face, “Sadly we must get there before the Imperial Federation, much of our lost tech is there, we need to recover what we can and destroy the rest.” Winds start to stir up sand into the air, “It also looks like a storm might be on its way, let us get this done.”
Alannah breathed in deeply the warmth of The Way, letting it fill the emptiness that could never be filled, things lost never to be retrieved, a veiled hatred vanished. Everything seemed slower now the sand moving through the air, distant scents now filled her nostrils, the muscles in her body seemed to grow denser. All this gave her the belief that through The Way all things were possible. Fast as lightning, yet natural her right foot dangles over the cliff the other launching her over. Time seems to slow as the wind rushes past her as she falls. Thoughts assaulting her, for two millennia she, her people, have fought this war, but what had they gotten for it? Betrayal… trauma... death… and her people only numbered in the thousands. Yet something stopped her, she could not forsake her obligations. She would continue to fight the darkness in this world to her last breath even if hope, he, was gone long ago. Liquid began to pool in the corner of her eyes. Hollowness was seeping in, this was not the time, she allowed The Way to fill it in.
Ground now within reach, she lets her feet absorb the energy of the impact expelling it back out as heat in her breath. Others had followed her as well, expelling the energy from the impact as heat. Alannah then jolts forward in strides of nine feet towards the structure. Despite its age the structure did not look to be thousands of years old, the metal surface still gleaming in the desert sun.
Once to the entrance Alannah pulled out a datapad from her bag, after a few buttons the large entrance to the structure opened. “Now get anything we can move easily. Adair check the reactor to see if it is safe then reroute all power to the camouflage if we can let us preserve this place. I’ll head to the control center to run a scan to see the status of its systems.” With that the others all head in, Alannah looks back over to the cliff releasing The Way hollowness returning.
Hollowness that filled her seemed to fill the corridors of this structure,dusty, sterile yet something seemed to be missing. Others like her flashed in her vision walking down the corridor, people working, talking, laughing, it was almost as if, if she allowed it she could return to a time before the purge. That to her great disappointment was not possible, even with The Way. The control room came into her view as she turned right at the end of the hall. It was rather small with only room for one, not unusual with a large computer surrounding the walls. A low hum kicks up as she enters the rooms screens displaying status of systems as it loads. She nods as all systems check out.
“Alannah,” she heard Adair’s voice over the small com in her ear.
“Yes?”
“You should come see this, there's someone in stasis.”
"Copy," she would have to come back to the computer later, after they had made a decision on what to do with this place. Her robes waved through the air as she strode through the empty metallic corridors. Copper adorns the archway opening up to the stasis room. White, red and blue flashing lights adorned the stasis-pods, as well as the many computers that monitored them.
Then in an instant she saw something that caused her to pause, in the view screen she saw a familiar face. There was no way, "He's dead... that's not him." She spoke in almost a shout, but finds the will power to quiet the out burst. Her eyes go to Adair who has a look of melancholy as he looks into the same face she had been. It could not be him.
"Should we wake him?" His eyes shifting to her as he asked.
The only life they could give this sleeping man, well he almost looked like he was barely coming out of puberty, was one filled with heartbreak and strife, "No... Let at least one exist that does not bear the burdens of our world, it looks like there is enough power to last a year. If things change by then we will come for them, otherwise set the reactor to blow a few days after.”
“Are you sure, dear?”
“Yes, would you wish to wake to see your home and hope gone?”
