Factory Reset: Divine Corruption

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Forge of Life

There were few times that Ja'Kle genuinely felt true and unfettered fear course through his body. Sure, it had happened quite a lot in the past weeks, but nothing like the unfiltered dread that caused his body to lock up as they popped back into existence from the Fold-Stream.

The planet that the message Scion had sent from was in complete ruins. It was another dwarf planet, just a few tens of thousands of miles from becoming a literal moon. It orbited around the solar systems' sun, but if it was any smaller, it would orbit the closest planet, Jemmina-1.

This dwarf planet had no proper name, as it was older than the protogen itself. Believed to be the literal forge of protogen life from their progenitors, the technological planet was almost entirely defunct, but Scion and Axel took it upon themselves to make it into a safe space, as well as a haven for experimentation.

An unofficial 'lab planet'. And if it weren't for the fact that it was heavily classified, it would've been known as the largest lab in the universe.

However, as the group on the Bridge appeared out of the Fold-Stream, they gazed upon the planet against the void backdrop. It looked half destroyed, with massive craters impacted into the metallic surface. Smoke seemed to billow upwards, as thick and as long as clouds on the surface.

"Jesus..." Mason whispered, stalking up to the glass shield protecting the bridge from space. He pressed his hands against the glass, "Nebula, are there any unidentified radiation or energy spikes? The Kakuralites have a specific energy source unique to them."

Nebula nodded, turning to her  own board before her space at the Bridge, and she looked over it swiftly, "Yes, captain. There are faint trails leading from the Light Wall to The Forge. It appears that they have stationed themselves onto the planet. There... Aberration, can you see if that reading is correct?" Nebula asked, turning to her partner in crime. Aberration nodded.

He too returned to his own board and looked over it, "Yes. There are massive spikes of Black-Boson Energy floating along with the radiation. It is not refined Black-Boson Energy, like those of Obsidian-1, so the best guess would be... something divine." Aberration told them.

"Right, Scion did mention that too. God..." Mason replied, frowning as he looked at the forge, "Are there any readings for Jemmina-1?" He asked, glancing between his two Bridge compatriots.

"No. Not a single instance of radiation nor Boson Energy spike. They have not attacked Jemmina-1 to any extent. The Synths have nowhere to go at the moment, as The Forge is where they are transported to and from." Nebula replied, her visor flashing different graphs as she responded to her captains' question.

"Fuck, a God is here... And by the fact that they are with the Kakuralites... We're going to have to fight it. Damn it." Marissa commented instead of Mason, approaching the two smallish protogen with a viscous frown, "What should we do, then? We need to help out Axel.. And Scion too, of course."

"We could split up. Have all the fighting and semi-support protogen go with you to The Forge, and Ja'Kle can handle the rescue operations with Aberration and Cardinal with Me." Nebula helpfully added, her visor showcasing a frowning face, "Maybe not the best absolute plan, but we can at least evacuate the synths while we have the chance."

"Yeah..." Ja'Kle agreed, standing up as his head throbbed painfully. The Blessing he had consumed was already taking hold of him, but he felt no worse than the one time he attempted to 'bottom'. It was just simply not for him, and neither was this headache, but he could tolerate it in the name of love.

Mason sighed, quickly adding his own two cents, "I can see that working. I'm sad that you can't come with me, Ja'Kle, but after last time... it's for the best." Mason agreed, his purple eyes flashing remorse at the Mosomarian, who simply blushed and waved it off with a wave of his hand.