Syzygy

Cappella Besieged

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The attack, when it came, was worse than Andra ever expected, even having Seen what was coming for them.

The emergency beacons barely had time to go off before they were moving, in a huge cruiser escorted by six heavily-armed destroyers. An army, although they wereonly a small part of the greater force that was rallying from every corner of the galaxy in answer to a universal treat to humanity.

They weren't fast enough.

"How..." she whispered, staring out the window at the wreckage of Asteroid Base Forty-Two. Her home. "Who- were they able to evacuate before the attack? The long range scanners should have given some warning, right?"

Rubble spread through the asteroid field, the only sign that a base was there before. The few relatively intact prices showed signs of explosion and blaster-fire.

There was no sign of the bustling base that had been her home for as long as she remembered. Asteroid Base Forty-Two was the biggest of the mining bases in this sector and housed nearly six million souls.

There should have been thousands of ships buzzing in and out of the base that was anchored onto a huge asteroid. It was a city, thriving with life and trade from all walks of life. There were even a few large apartments fit for local dignitaries.

Mostly it was miners and families. A few explorers. Mechanics. Traveling trade ships with loads of food and goods. Anyone looking to build a new life for themselves out on the edge of the galaxy where the pickings were good if you didn't mind working hard for it.

Now it was gone. Blown into twisted chunks of ruined metal and plastic.

The biggest of the wreckage would fit in the cargo bay of her tiny passenger ship.

"We're scanning for lifeboats," one of the techs called. "There should be some..."

"There are no survivors."

Cygnus stepped into the bridge and made his way to Andra with quick, sure steps. Techs scrambled out of his way and even the captain looked uncomfortable in the presence of the powerful psionic.

No one much liked someone who could read their minds without the slightest difficulty.

"How do you know?" Andra asked, eyes searching the ruined base for the slightest hope. There were bodies among the wreckage, and she tried hard not to look too closely at them, for fear of seeing someone she knew. "We're still scanning-"

"I can hear every mind in this ship, you know that,," Cygnus said quietly as he came to her side. His shoulders slumped ever so slightly as he looked out on the devastation. "I can hear our escort-ships too. Close to ten thousand humans, all in a handful of ships. And not a single one out there."

Andra wanted to scream, or hit something, or do anything that could possibly make a difference. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and tears burned at the corners of her eyes.

The room closed in around her, and suddenly the blackness of space seemed terribly close.

(Stop. You need to breathe, and get yourself under control.)

She focused on Cygnus when his voice echoed in her mind, absolutely rock-steady, and flavored with concern that wasn't entirely for her.

That was when she realized that everything not bolted or strapped down on the bridge, was floating into the air like the gravity was turned off. Even the captain's ever-present coffee mug drifted lazily through the air, borne aloft by her wildly spiking telekinesis.

(Don't panic,) Cygnus said, calm, and just a little amused at the very back of his mind, even though his focus was on the multiple problems at hand. He carefully wove their minds together, a simple task after several weeks of working together on her ship. Their minds really were uniquely compatible and syzygy wasn't difficult anymore. (I told you that you were more powerful than you thought. Now, breathe, and put everything back where it goes.)

(How?) she asked, panicking a little because this was not what they needed right now and everyone she knew- everyone who made home home- was dead.

The two nearest tablets burst into their component parts and floated in midair, a perfect diagram of tiny pieces ready to be put back together.

Cygnus barely blinked at the loss of control, but then, he still occasionally blew things up when his power spiked. It had happened more than once during their work on her ship.

(Focus on the tablets,) he decided, and pointed their shared mind at the nearest problem. (You know how to fix them and the routine will calm you.)

Strangely, it was his absolute steadiness that proved too much for her.

(My home is gone!) she screamed at him, as fear and anger overtook the last shreds of her control. Shouts and curses filled the room as the floating mess of random things quivered menacingly. A pen whistled past Cygnus' face so close it brushed his hair, and he barely blinked. (Everyone I knew, everyone I loved! The old shop where I had my first kiss, the woman who always gave me real apples for fixing her busted old hov-scooter. They're all dead!)

(I know,) he said, and raised his hands as he came closer, carefully easing her control of the room away from her. She pushed against him spitefully and he blinked, orange confusion lighting up his mind when he discovered he couldn't wrest control from her if she didn't want him to. (Andra, you need to let me help you before you hurt someone. You don't want that on your heart.)

(I want to hurt someone!) she snarled back at him, only vaguely aware of the whole bridge crew, watching their standoff with terrified fascination. After all, it wasn't often that Cygnus Volans even came to the bridge, let alone had a psionic face-off with a nobody Edge mechanic. (I want to hurt whoever killed my home!)

(I know,) he said again, and inched closer. Andra shot warning-fury across his mind, but it was halfhearted as her initial rage began to fade into crushing grief. (I don't blame you. If someone destroyed Blood-Star Base, I would do everything in my power to destroy them.)

(My home is gone,) she said, as the anger drained out of her, and with it, her urge to fight. Tears streaked down her face, hot and painful. (Cyg, they never stood a chance. Asteroid Base didn't have weapons. Not really.)

The crew breathed a collective sigh of relief as pens and tablets clattered to the floor. Cygnus wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his shirt.

The enemy struck the first blow. Now it was up to them to rally, or the next would fall even heavier.