The Celestial Way

Chapter 3 - Beginning of the Way

CHAPTER 3 – BEGINNING OF THE WAY

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

– Confucius, Datalinks

In the skies above Terra Para

Airo listened to the howling wind, surrounded by darkness. He wondered if he was in cryostasis again. The thought startled him, and he opened his eyes.

He was in a freefall high into the planet's stratosphere. His power armor was glowing from the friction. To his left, about a kilometer away, the starship made its own plummet toward the ground, it too white-hot on re-entry.

"Well, this is great," Airo muttered. He felt vague, primal dread rising inside him as he gazed downward. If he survived the atmosphere burn, the fall would surely kill him, power armor or not.

Suddenly, his helmet boomed. "Commander, you are awake! Welcome back!"

"Computer! You are still online? What the bloody stars happened?"

"There was a critical malfunction, sir. You were disabled by the extremely exotic field the starship crossed through, and I executed evacuation procedures per standard protocol. Unfortunately, I lost access to the cargo bay, and–"

"Damn, the cargo," Airo cursed, staring at the falling starship. "Computer, bring me back on the ship! The cargo is of the highest priority!"

"Commander, I advise against it. Reactor meltdown is imminent, and you are still within the danger zone. You must authorize engagement of landing procedures at–"

In the distance, the starship vanished in a ball of light. "Bloody stars!" Airo yelled as the explosion reached him. The tremendous impact wave hit him full-force, casting him into darkness again.

***

Somewhere on Terra Para

He slowly upended himself on one elbow, and grunted in pain. His view was framed by the soft viridian hues of the power armor's heads-up display. The overlay smoothly provided various streams of data. He ignored it as he stood up stiffly.

He took stock of his surroundings. Steel-grey sky hung above him, a raging gale twisting thick clouds. Sparse snow and lightning rained from the heavens on the ground below. He was on a small, flat area, situated on a wide ridge. Wherever he looked, peaks and summits extended in every direction. The vast mountain range spanned all the way to the horizon, snow covering the entirety of the landscape.

He had landed, alive.

Airo had scarcely time to dwell on this fact, when his attention was caught completely. There, in the distance, a sheer, violet-white column of pure energy streamed upward on the horizon, a great, swirling beacon visible from hundreds, possibly thousands of kilometers.

"Great Cosmos," he muttered, stunned by the sight.

"Welcome back, Commander. Yeoman Cloud reporting in. I'm sorry, I didn't understand your query; please re-state."

"You," Airo said curtly. "How?"

"My core routines were automatically loaded into your suit during the evacuation, Commander. I remain at full capacity, though my computational resources are diminished by approximately ninety-five percent."