NOVEL NEXT Chapter 118: Chapter 118
---3rd Person POV, Two Days Later---
Slowly awakening from a deep sleep, Amallyn let out a groan of pain as she opened her eyes. Staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling, she began wondering where she was until a flashback of their battle with the demons blinked into the forefront of her mind. Leaping out of bed, ready for a fight, the Eldar woman crumpled to the floor, unable to stand properly yet. Muttering several curse words in her native tongue, a familiar figure entered the room to see what was happening.
"Oh... it was just you," Eldanial sighed, with a disappointed look.
Opening her mouth to rebuke him, Amallyn quickly closed her mouth as she knew arguing with him would get her nowhere. Pulling herself back onto the bed, she took a moment to survey the room and discovered that several of their people were connected to various unknown machines.
"What is going on here? Where are we?", Amallyn asked.
"We are aboard Victor's flagship, the Endless Horizons. As for what happened…that demonic monster almost killed all of us. It broke through our mental defenses and tried to forcibly rip out Eldar secrets from our psyche. Idrerenn, you, and I are the only three that managed to hold out; the rest of my subordinates were reduced to this vegetative state," Eldanial answered, clenching his fist. "Victor saved our lives when he drew the demon's attention to himself. Based on the mental scans I have seen, we were moments away from becoming vegetables like them."
"I see; that explains why my head is killing me and my legs are not working properly," Amallyn remarked, looking at her former comrades with pity.
"Your legs not working is a side effect of the medicine Victor's medical team gave us. They temporarily put us in a coma till they could stabilize our conditions.", Idrerenn chimed in as she entered the room, "Eldanial and I awoke last night; we have been unconscious for the better part of two days."
"Two days?!" Amallyn gasped, surprised it had been that long.
Understanding how dire their situation had been, Amallyn was grateful that Victor was a kind human and not an asshole like the mongrels of this galaxy. If it had been the Mon-Keigh, they would have been left to succumb to their wounds. Taking a sip of water from the cup by her bed, the Eldar woman was surprised by how clean and pure it tasted. Chugging the glass of water down in one go, she let out a blissful sigh as she sank into her bed again.
"Is there truly nothing that can be done to save them? If we take them home, the Elders will likely choose to euthanize them to spare our homeland the burden.", Amallyn stated, much to Eldanial's annoyance.
"Biel-Tan ceased being your homeland the moment you turned your back on our people. After the Fracture, we needed every able-bodied warrior to protect what remained of our world ship, but you chose to abandon your post and leave our homeland to its fate. Eldanial stated, disdain and disgust dripping from his tone, "You may have tricked the old Elders into believing your actions were proper, but the new Elders have seen through your deceit. See for yourself."
Retrieving a piece of parchment from his satchel, Eldanial tossed her the document he had been saving till their mission was complete. Snatching the paper out of the air, Amallyn took a moment to review its contents before starting to tremble in shock. Written down in bold letters was an official notice from the leaders of Biel-Tan that she no longer had a home to return to anymore.
"This… this cannot be true!" Amallyn refuted, trying to suppress her whirlwind of emotions. "I have worked tirelessly to find a solution to make Biel-Tan whole again. While progress has been frustratingly slow, I have pursued every lead I come across. That is what brought me to this Talisman of Vaul!"
"Other Eldar in your situation have had bounties placed on their heads by the Elders. The reason you do not is because your family and friends fought to limit your punishment to just this. Idrerenn informed her, trying to soften the blow for her former comrade, "I am sorry, Amallyn."
Unable to accept that she would no longer be able to see the ones she cared about, Amallyn curled up into a ball and retreated into her mind. Hoping and praying that this was just a bad dream, she desperately wanted to just wake up and laugh this whole thing off with her comrades.
---Victor POV, Several Hours Later ---
"My apologies for not coming to see all of you sooner; I have been tied up with other pressing matters," I said, entering the Eldar's shared medical room.
"It is fine; I assumed you were busy dealing with the Imperials and the Talisman of Vaul. Before we go any further, I want to thank you for stepping in to save my subordinates and me. Without your intervention, all of us would have perished in that fight. Eldanial remarked, rising from his seat and lowering his head, "It may not mean much to you, but I would like to formally extend a hand of friendship to you on behalf of the people of Biel-Tan. You have shown us that you are a kind, sensible person who is worthy of being treated as an ally and friend to our people."
Graciously accepting the gesture, I held back my laughter as I knew this was a big deal for the Eldar. As their people saw other races as far beneath them, being called an ally and friend was akin to being recognized as their equal. Only a few individuals throughout history have ever possessed that honor, and now I was one of them.
"If the three of you are up for it, we are about to head to the fortress' space dock to check things out. Dair has informed me that an Eldar vessel from before the fall of your people is currently docked there."I informed them, "The solution to your Craftworld's predicament may reside onboard."
Looking at one another, Eldanial and his female subordinate appeared to be elated by this news, but Amallyn gave no reaction to my words. Having overheard their conversation via the onboard surveillance system, I could not begin to imagine the overwhelming pain she was in right now. Having endured many hardships and trials for her people, they had slammed the door in her face, leaving her to fend for herself.
"Amallyn, do you want to come with us?" I inquired, poking her forehead softly.
Blinking her eyes several times, she looked up at me with a pained look. Repeating what I said a moment ago, the Eldar woman meekly nodded her head and agreed to come. Handing over their repaired equipment, I stepped out of the room to give them some privacy. Coming out once they were ready, the four of us teleported over to the fortress to join the survey party.
---Blackstone Space Dock---
Taking the three Eldar to the vessel I mentioned, Eldanial and Idrerenn ran ahead when it came into view. Judging by their expressions, this was a rather well-known vessel to them, which was a good sign.
"Is that ship special?" I asked Amallyn.
"That research vessel is from one of the last expeditionary fleets our ancestors sent out before our downfall; it is called the Star-Crossed Providence," Amallyn answered. "Unlike the many Eldar, who succumbed to our lesser urges, the members of the expeditionary force felt that there were many secrets left to be discovered amongst the stars. Our ancestors lost contact with the expeditionary fleet shortly after the birth of our mortal enemy. It is honestly very surprising to see such a historic vessel within this place."
Nodding my head, the two of us chased after the other two Eldar and caught up just as they gained access to the ship. Warily stepping aboard, Eldanial immediately headed to the bridge to check if everything was operational. Walking past the laboratories on our way there, Amallyn and I broke off to have a look around. Turning on the lights as we entered the first room, we were greeted by a wide variety of animals and plants preserved in an unknown goopy substance. Intrigued by everything I was seeing, Amallyn headed to the next room while I analyzed all the subjects here.
Getting halfway through my scanning, I heard a loud crash followed by a momentary scream from Amallyn. Rushing into the adjacent room, the Eldar woman was struggling to keep a facehugger from attaching itself to her dead. Grabbing hold of it with the Force, I superheated the creature's body till all signs of life disappeared from its body. Flinging it into a nearby molecular incinerator, I rushed over to her to ensure she was alright.
"Are you alright?!," I asked, kneeling to help her up.
"What the hell was that thing?!" Amallyn shrieked, grabbing hold of me. "I... I accidentally turned off the stasis field that held that stupid thing, and next thing I knew it was trying to attack me."
"It was trying to do more than that, I am afraid. What you just encountered was a Xenomorph Facehugger, it was trying to subdue you so it could lay an egg inside you. Xenomorphs are not naturally occurring creatures; they are biologically engineered weapons from a long-dead race of aliens.", I informed her as I held her close. "Thankful it did not latch onto you; if it did, there would be no way to safely remove it."
"Do I want to know what would have happened to me afterward?" Amallyn inquired, hesitating to ask.
"No, you do not want to know what would happen," I told her, not wanting to traumatize her any more than she already was. "How about the two of us stick together from now on?"
Readily agreeing to my suggestion, I helped her back onto her feet before walking around the rest of the lab. Discovering other various abominations held in stasis fields, anything I knew was far too dangerous to keep alive was destroyed by me for the sake of everyone in this galaxy. Continuing from there, we scoured the other laboratories for anything of interest before heading after Eldanial and Idrerenn.