Shattered Skies: The Morning Lights

CHAPTER 6: Break

CHAPTER 6: Break

-VERTEX FOUR: 8.36679-

Interdimensional Space

Arthra

"Amy, do we have comms back yet?"

Amy didn't answer. She was too absorbed in staring at the impossible phantom from the past on screen, her mouth agape.

"Operator Limietta," said Lindy, firmer this time. "Status report on our comms, please."

Addressing her subordinate in standard-issue protocol was so unlike Lindy that Amy snapped from her trance immediately. Her trembling fingers worked the holographic controls, slower than usual. "I... I think I can give you one short burst, Admiral, but that's all..."

"Do it. That's all I need."

"Yes, sir." Amy swallowed. It was a delicate operation, rerouting power from the Arthra's many damaged systems to the undamaged ones, isolating the good sectors from the bad ones and making sure that no data would be lost during the transmission. It took a few minutes longer than normal to set up, but she did it. "Ready, Admiral. Go ahead."

Lindy steeled herself and took a breath. "Attention, all hands," she spoke, calmly and clearly into the receiver on the console. "This is Admiral Harlaown. We are under shipwide Red Alert. The Book of Darkness, a Class-9 Hazardous Lost Logia, has regenerated and fully manifested. The Arthra has sustained heavy damage from its attack, and it might still be somewhere on board. If you encounter the Book or any of its manifestations, do not engage in combat. I repeat, do not engage. Survival is priority one; gather at the forward decks and await further instructions. Harlaown out." Once the transmission was complete, Lindy sagged backwards, allowing herself a moment of weakness she could only show in front of a trusted few. But only a moment... in seconds, she was straight-backed and staring at the holoscreens again. "Amy, bring up the image of the Will from before, please."

"Yes, sir." That much Amy could do without much trouble. Once more, the picture appeared before them of the Book's Will staring out into the dimensional void through the massive wound in the hull. The two officers fell silent...

"She's different from before," said Lindy after a while. "Her Combat Equipment is a different color and configuration, and so is her hair. It was pure silver last time, and now-"

"Sir, do you think that makes a difference?"

"We have to work with all the information we can find, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Do we have sensors yet?"

"Working, Admiral... there we go. Basic functions only, but it's something."

"Good. Run a whisper scan on her Linker Core. The data should still be there from the last time she manifested. I want to know if there's any-"

The command was carried out before Lindy could even finish her sentence, as expected of Amy. She ran the scan and crossed her fingers... then sucked in a short, sharp breath.

"What is it, Amy? Talk to me."

"Sir, s-s-she's..."

Lindy moved over to see for herself... and froze. It had to be a mistake or a malfunction, it had to be... because the Will's estimated power rating was a figure she had only seen in the TSAB's most advanced theoretical training scenarios. What she was looking at was a number that easily put the Will at SSS+ level... a mage rank that most of the experts said was now impossible for living beings to reach. A rank that was speculated to only have been attained in the ancient age of the Saint Kings, when entire worlds were rent apart by cataclysmic war. Lindy's knuckles turned white as she gripped the headrest of Amy's chair for dear life. "How... how?! She wasn't nearly that strong last time, or in any of the other incidents on record..."