Chapter 25: Homecoming

Ravig rolled his shoulders back and stared out into the assembled soldiers underneath the Quantic Requiem. It was a large majority of the Kunar's forces, both ground troops and Reclaiments, that stood at attention and eagerly awaited their commands. Outside of the hanger bay, fighter ships buzzed around hastily like insects as they prepared for their next mission.

"Are you ready to take control of what's rightfully yours?" Rana inquired from his left side.

"It's not fully mine yet, but we're making progress," Regal responded. He turned to Rana, grabbed her hips and pulled her closer. His eyes connected with hers and he stroked her face with the back of his hand. She was the only thing that gave him life in an otherwise cold and lonely existence. For her, Ravig would burn down the universe. "I'll complete my part, you'll complete yours, and we'll meet back here to finish everything. Then, we'll start the next chapter in the Regime. Together."

Rana ran her fingers up Ravig's arm and interlaced them between his. "Just remember who's really in charge here." 

Ravig leaned in closer and Rana mirrored the movement. A loud knock at the Zanathum door of the bridge stopped them before they could meet. Rana quickly separated and stepped back into a more formal position. 

"Enter," Ravig growled as he unlocked the bridge door. The timing of the interruption was more than enough to ruin his mood. The door slid open and Rhug squeezed through.

"Forces ready," He muttered. "Need to leave."

He looked at Ravig and Rana, but said nothing else. Ever since Rhessian had died, Rhug had been noticeably more subdued. Ravig originally thought he would have to work hard to pull the monstrous Overseer to his team, but Rhug made the transition of his own accord. Ravig was sure the embarrassment Regal doled out had a hand in it as well.

"I trust you have everything in order?" Ravig asked Rana.

"Always," Rana replied succinctly.

Ravig nodded once in acknowledgement then followed Rhug out of the bridge and to the Requiem's lifts. The humongous humming disks dropped them down to the ship's engineering deck, a few turns away from the entry ramp. Ravig and Rhug walked in silence, but it didn't bother the former at all. There was no need to form a relationship with Rhug, just as he felt about the other Overseers save Rana. It was a waste of time. Ravig walked down the ramp and stopped at the mass of Kunar before him. Rhug halted diagonally behind him. 

"Kunar, we are the weapons," Ravig shouted.

"For rule and Regime," They answered back in thunderous unison.

Ravig slipped his arms behind his back and paced. "What does it mean to be a weapon? To be a weapon is to be prepared. It is to be mentally and physically sharpened. It means that we must be ready to strike at a moment's notice and not care about the lives that we remove from this world. It is to be cold, calculated and unfeeling. This is the moment when we must follow such a mentality. What we are going to do leaves no space for doubt, no space for rebellion, and no space for weakness. If you are not wholly dedicated to the cause, step forward so that we may cull you from the force. I'm sure the grounds of Yara yearn for your sustenance."

He paused and extended out his hand. No one moved. "Then I take that as a sign that you are ready to do what is asked of you. You will be briefed by your section leaders on your various duties in this most pertinent assignment, but know that I will lead the charge myself this time. I will be fighting side by side with all of you. There are no ranks. There are no specializations. This time, we are all Kunar. I know I am not alone when I say that I am sick of dealing with the pompous nature of the Chyl and the ineptitude of the Humans. We will be the most feared species in the galaxy once more. We will reclaim what was taken from us over a century ago. We are the phantoms of a bygone era come back for revenge, the death throes of a government on its way out of this world. Our forces shall return the punishment doled out to us tenfold. For rule over the weak! For a Regime unyielding and undefeated!"

The Kunar released a trumpeting cheer and raised their rifles into the air. The energy in the hangar was palpable. Ravig smiled maliciously and extended his arms out. The new era of rule in Atania was at hand, and Ravig was the one leading the charge.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Diah fidgeted in her seat, her mind moving a million miles an hour as she tried to determine the best approach to warning the Alis about the impending attack. It was more than a matter of exchanging words. There was the need for proof, the time to come up with a plan of defense, and the ability to get both sides of the fractured Chyl society to trust each other long enough to survive. Above all else, though, she would have to get through her mother.

She could picture it in her head: her mother standing, arms hidden in her robes with that familiar expression of disgust. Wyrna would look her over and comment on her appearance in some way. She would say something along the lines of it being Diah's fault, how she shouldn't have run away, how she was too weak to fight back, or how Diah was the biggest disappointment ever.

'It is, you shouldn't have, you were and you always will be,' her mental mother agreed.

Diah let out a frustrated grumble. The monster of a mother she had concocted in her mind was getting worse. There was never a moment of peace in the anxiety-riddled depths of her inner-thoughts. Add the ever-ticking countdown to attack with the absence of support, and Diah had finally hit the point where she felt like she was going to explode.

"Are you worried about your mother?" Sky asked quietly from the corner.

Diah nodded slowly. "Partially," She responded. "I know the Alis will be hard to deal with as well."

"Yes, but the Alis didn't hurt you in a multitude of ways," Sky added. "No matter what, we have your back."

Balakus was asleep in the corner, a mountain of snoring rock, when the Aurora rattled and forced him awake. "Birther's bite! What did we hit?"

Diah glanced out the porthole and saw the familiar double rings that vertically encircled Vensha, followed by the accursed red ball that floated nearby. Her anxiety somehow managed to skyrocket even more. "We're nearing Vensha," She informed the others.

The sound of clicking and static caught Diah's attention. She ran to the halved-cockpit of the Aurora and looked for the source. A green button on the control console blinked intermittently. Diah pressed it and jumped back as the holographic image of her mother's face sprang forward.

"Diah? Diah, are you there?" Wyrna called. She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you answered. I've been trying to hail your ship since you entered the system."

"How did you know that I was on this one?" Diah asked. Her stomach threatened to knot. No amount of preparation could prepare her for the dread that instantly filled her upon seeing her mother's visage again.

"Your MenXhip gave off a ping when you got close," Wyrna responded. "I've had members of our intelligence division devote themselves entirely to finding you. They notified me immediately."

Wyrna tracking her location made sense in Diah's mind, creepy as it may have been. She wondered how much effort Wyrna had actually put into finding her, or where the extra Chyl help had been over the course of her journey. Diah heard Sky and Balakus make their way up to the cockpit.

"Diah, I've been so worried about you," Wyrna continued. "I thought I had lost you forever. I couldn't go after you because the Low Mark situation here has escalated rapidly. I hoped that everything I taught you would be enough to get you back to Vensha, and here you are!"

Diah took a breath. She wasn't used to this type of interaction with her mother. She had expected to be belittled and berated, not missed. To say it caught her off-guard was an understatement. "I'm on my way to Liotik, mother. We've been on the run from the Kunar on Tovarro and Locarian, and I need to inform you about the plan to -"

"Calm, Diah," Wyrna interrupted in a hushed tone. "Do not speak of these things anymore until I meet you in person. I have reason to believe that there are some in the Alis that are not on our side. We can't risk anything getting out. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mother," Diah replied. The response came out naturally, as if hardwired into her. She didn't miss it. Still, she understood what Wyrna had said and wanted to be cautious in how she divulged information. There was too much at stake for the people of Vensha.

"I'll send a security detachment to greet you and will follow up with you shortly. Be careful," Wyrna said before her holographic form blipped out of existence.

Sky peeked around the doorframe. "That seemed to have gone well, right?"

"I'd say something was off," Balakus' deep voice carried from the hall.

"I'd say you two are both right," Diah agreed. "We'll need to be cautious moving forward. If my mother is right, we can't fully trust the Alis yet. Not that I fully trust her either, but I know for a fact that the Alis only care about keeping their precious power balance."

"If that's true, then that doesn't make them any better than the Regime," Balakus put forth.

He was right, and Diah knew it deep down. While she had to do her best to save her people, she knew that only kept the door for their intercultural war open that much longer. Any lives she saved today could still be lost tomorrow, just by a different set of hands. It was a sad, horrible truth.

The systems in the Aurora's cockpit began to beep softly as the ship rattled and entered the Venshan atmosphere. Blue and white flames flitted across the cockpit window. The ship broke through a sea of clouds and dropped down over the gleaming golden city of Liotik. It was a welcome sight, one that Diah was unsure she would ever see again. The warmth of the Venshan sun permeated the cockpit. Sky looked out across the rooftops and sandy beaches in awe. Giant fronds danced in the breeze while the periwinkle waters of the ocean crashed along the coast.

"This is by far the most exciting planet I've ever been to," Sky noted. "Millik and Tovarro are so cold and artificial. Elontra was different, but dusty. This, though? The waters and the lights and the elegance of it all? It's better than I could have ever imagined."

"If there's one thing I've learned, Sky, it's that even the most beautiful things can have sinister natures hidden beneath," Balakus remarked.

Diah reflected on her youth and how much of the city below was marred by the memories her mother had made for her. As much as she would have loved to believe that her mother truly did miss her, that she really had been distraught over her disappearance, Diah couldn't shake the feeling that it was all for show. Only time would tell, but they didn't have much to spare.

The Aurora fell into a gentle glide above the capitol. Two smaller patrol vessels, airbikes manned by a pair of Chyl security officers each, pulled up to the side of the ship. The Aurora arched into a sharp curve and drifted down onto one of the capitol's many landing pads. The landing gears extended out with a click and the ship touched down safely. The screens and buttons in the cockpit all went dark, save for a singular console with a red screen. White text typed across it:

"Section AURORA = Safe Landing. Emergency Parameters = Disabled. Low Power mode = Enabled. Awaiting Connection Signal."

Diah read the text and figured that meant the ship was grounded until the Nova half of it returned. She hoped that the others were safe and wondered if Zaius was thinking about her as much as she thought about him. Her heart ached. Diah walked out of the cockpit and towards the entry ramp. She pressed the red button embedded in the wall above it and it dropped with a slow hiss.

"We're here for you, okay?" Sky reminded Diah as the latter took a deep breath full of salty Venshan air.

The trio disembarked and were met by a group of Chyl soldiers. One of the soldiers, a purple-skinned female with swirls on her face, stepped forward to meet them. "We have been given orders to keep you three here until Speaker Nollak can greet you."

"It's alright, I know where to go. I'm Diah, Speaker Nollak's daughter," Diah explained to them. The soldiers formed a tight barrier around them.

"We know who you are, Ms. Nollak," the Chyl responded. "I will reiterate: We have been given orders to keep you here."

A heavy hum and a blast of wind caused the whole group to face the sky. A familiar silver shuttle, decorated in eye-catching patterns of onyx and yellow sapphire that radiated in the sun, descended onto the pad. The shuttle door slid open and Wyrna emerged in her usual flared yellow robe.

"Disperse!" Wyrna yelled at the soldiers as she ran toward Diah. The soldiers did as commanded, splitting apart to allow Wyrna in. She scooped Diah into her arms and pulled her as close as she could.

It was the only hug Diah had ever gotten from her mother.