Beyond The Impossible

N01-Ragnarok, Calypso sector of the Aegian Galaxy

On the bridge of the warship, Kari Zel is focusing on one of the workstations.

<We lost their signal. Can you still sense Vesta and Quantum?> she asks.

Torn is standing at the center of the bridge, staring at the view screen.

<No.> he answers after a few seconds.

<They’ve been gone for too long; it should’ve been an easy reconnaissance mission. I’m calling Noriko.> Kari announces, bringing her hand to her ear as if to activate an earpiece; it’s not necessary, since the Soul Relay is installed inside her skull, but it’s a reflex.

<Wait.> Torn interrupts her; if Kari had the ability to sense souls, she would’ve felt his connection to the Blood blocking the communication.

<Why? We’re in enemy territory, Torn, they could be in serious danger. Noriko could help…>

<We are being watched.> he says.

<Really? Are you sure?> Kari asks, creating a duplicate to check on the other ship systems.

<Cloaking systems are working just fine, Torn, and we’re light years from the nearest planet… nobody could possibly know we’re here.>

<I can feel we’re being watched. And something big is approaching; we should move the ship.>

<Okay, which way? The scanners are not picking up any…>

Something hits the ship, with enough force to throw it off-balance and overcome the gravity generators; the effect is similar to being rammed by something of equal size.

Torn manages to stay on his feet, while Kari has to rely on a couple of duplicates to cushion her fall.

<Shields up! What just hit us!?> she yells at her own duplicate on the captain’s chair.

<Some kind of liquid wave! Why didn’t the scanners pick it up!?> the duplicate wonders.

The ship should be completely isolated from the outside, but some type of green liquid manages to squeeze through the hull. A rain of droplets moves rapidly through the bridge, solidifying itself in the shape of a young woman with green hair wearing a chainmail tank top.

<Amazing what you can fish out of space if you know where to look, isn’t it?> the woman asks.

<Who are you and how did you find us?> Kari wastes little time asking her.

<You better answer.> Torn adds, creating a Blood dagger in front of the woman’s eyes.

<Oh that’s adorable, you think that’s a threat.> she asks back, grabbing Torn by the throat and lifting him off the ground with one arm.

To free himself, he mentally commands the dagger to stab her shoulder; the blade passes harmlessly through her body, which transforms into a green liquid the second the dagger pierces her skin.

<The name’s Despoina, air-breathers. As for your ship… I recognize the sloppy handiwork of Hephaestus. His “neutral matter” was always overrated.> she says, after which her arm transforms into a jet stream of green water so powerful that it pins Torn against the wall. He could hold his breath for a long time, but the water penetrates into his lungs and forces him to lose consciousness.

Kari hesitated attacking before understanding her opponent, but this is the final straw. She activates her 10K Rise and prepares to attack Despoina, but she’s distracted by the sudden appearance of another intruder. A frail old man with a long white beard just popped into existence.

<I woUld NoT do ThAt iF I wEre YOu…> he warns her; his voice is constantly changing, and the second Kari blinks she’s no longer in front of an old man. There’s a goat to finish the sentence.

<…sHe Is a BIt cRAnkY.> the goat says; Kari takes a step back, and now she’s facing a horse.

<What the Hades are you!?>

<Oh for my father’s sake, just knock it off and take her out already!!!>

<yOU saY thAT, bUt I caN SEe thAt in TWelVE seCOnds…> Proteus replies, now in the form of a potted plant. Kari jumps over him, attempting to attack Despoina; she finds herself trapped in a bubble of green water, which increases its pressure so much that even having the strength of ten thousand men is not sufficient to allow Kari to stay conscious.

<…yoU will TAke heR Out yOUrseLF.> the leopard that replaced the plant finishes the sentence.

 

Somewhere in the Aegian Galaxy

Quantum and Vesta don’t know much about Roxiana, other than she was the wielder of the Nexus before Noriko Null and that she can’t be trusted.

They know her subordinate Skorpios better: they’ve fought her before, and they are fully aware that her Drylon device that gives her near complete control over space make her a formidable foe.

What they don’t know, however, is where Skorpios has teleported them: the space station around them is completely unfamiliar.

<Where did you take us?> Vesta asks, her fists engulfed in fire as she prepares for battle.

<Simmer down, red, you’re not the one asking questions here.> Skorpios replies.

<Please excuse my associate, she has no manners to speak of.> Roxiana calmly explains, extracting a tiny pebble from her belt that expands into a bubble of pure darkness floating above her hand.

<You see this? I call it Liquid Death. Necrophagic nanites that annihilate any sort of biological form. If I release its containment field, there won’t be enough particles of your teammate left to even prove he ever existed.>

<Along with yourself and your minion? I’m not falling for that. Besides, Quantum can easily avoid such a trap.> Vesta calls her bluff… if it is a bluff.

<Uhm, this might be a bad moment for it, but I can’t transform.> Quantum whispers to her.

<Of course you can’t, this base is flooded with anti-neutrinos. Harmless for humans, but they scramble your particle shapeshifting. Also, I’m protected by the Absolute Defense device, and good luck getting anywhere near Skorpios with her spatial control.>

<Alright, you got us. What’s your plan here?> Quantum asks, hoping to get something out of her.

<A truce. Your animosity towards me is not mutual: I don’t hate you.> Roxiana says.

<I do.> Skorpios corrects her, and her voice makes it easily believable.

<In fact, the Vanguard doesn’t factor into my plans at the moment… I left your galaxy, didn’t I? And I had nothing to do with sending any signal towards the Ithaca ship.>

<But you have an idea of who did.> Vesta realizes, opening her fists to make the flames vanish.

<Oh come on now, I realize you are not one of the smartest beings in the history of the universe, but you don’t need to be me to realize who could’ve sent a signal to the Ithaca expecting you to visit Calypso and discover one of my labs, right?> Roxiana says.

<Ulysses, yeah, like he wasn’t the first person we suspected.> Quantum comments, rolling his eyes.

<Doesn’t he work with you?> Vesta asks.

<Ulysses was the leader of the Zenith before handing me his position, yes, but he doesn’t answer to me: he comes and goes as he pleases. Always has.> Roxiana answers.

<If he wanted the Vanguard to be in the Aegian Galaxy, he would have asked me to teleport you here. And I would have suggested him to get rid of you once and for all.> Skorpios adds.

<Didn’t we beat your ##s the last time we fought?> Quantum teases her.

<That’s not how I remember it.> Skorpios responds, crossing her arms and looking away.

<Ulysses is the only person besides me who knows the activation codes of the Ithaca; if it’s not him, he’s still involved. I will need to study the Ithaca myself.> Roxiana proposes.

<Absolutely not. That kind of technology is too dangerous for your hands.> Vesta replies.

Roxiana stares with her with bemusement, suppressing a chuckle before commenting.

<There is nothing on that ship I haven’t created a superior version of. Knowing Noriko, I’m going to assume she parked it in her own private dimension, didn’t she? Skorpios, take me to the Null Zone.> she orders, already preparing to pack some equipment.

<Skorpios, I gave you an… Skorpios?> she calls her, turning towards her colleague.

The woman is paralyzed, standing at attention and staring into the warp in spacetime being created in front of her. A warp out of which walks a woman with blue hair that writhe like snakes, followed by a merman that floats inside a bubble of water.

<I can’t believe he actually pulled it off!> the woman comments. Vesta immediately recognizes her, but it’s her ally that worries her the most.

<Triton? You’re involved with the Zenith!?>

<Don’t tell me: these are your relatives.> Quantum says, frustrated by his vulnerability thanks to the field of anti-neutrinos saturating the air.

<These are Rhodos and Triton, the oldest children of Poseidon. Why would you get involved?>

<You really are lost without Null.> is the comment of the last person to exit the portal created by Skorpios. A man with an unruly beard that the Vanguard has learned to mistrust.

<It doesn’t take a genius to realize why the vassals of Poseidon might be interested in having the Vanguard, the Zenith and the Angel of Death all in one place.> Ulysses explains.

<You still have psychic blocks on Skorpios? That’s impressive, I thought I got rid of them.> Roxiana congratulates him.

<More than blocks. You will find yourself unable to escape this room, Roxiana; the control Skorpios has over space is truly remarkable. But don’t get any ideas, Triton.> Ulysses warns the merman god.

<A deal is a deal. You will be allowed to extract the Drylon device from her corpse.> Triton answers to him, gesturing towards Skorpios.

<What do you get out of this, Ulysses? After thousands of years fighting for mortals, what’s the price of betraying your kind?> Vesta asks.

<Do you take me for the sort of man that would announce his plans? Take her down.>

<With pleasure.> Rhodos replies, flying towards Vesta to throw a punch.

Vesta blocks it, but it takes all of her strength to do so: she immediately senses that Rhodos is much stronger than she expected. And she also has to deal with Triton unleashing a blast of compressed water that has the same kinetic energy of a tsunami.

Roxiana takes the distraction to launch the ball of Liquid Death at Ulysses, who easily catches it: once he squeezes his hand into a fist, the nanites dissipate into a harmless cloud.

<Come on Roxiana, you know me. Do you seriously think I don’t have a countermeasure for every single weapon you’ve ever devised? You will also find yourself unable to access your own computer systems, courtesy of a virus originally designed by Null to disable the Talos network. If you still had the Nexus you would be a force to be reckoned with, but you are just a ghost from the past… you’re outdated.> Ulysses explains.

<In retrospect, I should’ve seen a Trojan horse coming from you. But then again, you should’ve seen this coming.> Roxiana replies, before her body falls to the floor.

 

N01-Ragnarok, Calypso sector of the Aegian Galaxy

The Siren of Gyaros wakes up, or rather her body opens her eyes. But there’s a different mind in the driver’s seat.

Roxiana doesn’t take much to understand the situation. She had hoped to project her mind into one of the duplicates of Kari Zel, but this will have to do.

The Siren is trapped inside a reinforced glass that keeps her underwater. The Sound Nullifier attacked to the glass prevents her from using his body’s sonic powers, but unlike Roxiana the Siren didn’t know the details of this technology.

Instead of screaming a supersonic screech, she hums a low-frequency sound that is too faint for human or mermaid ears. A specific frequency disables the Sound Nullifier, after which she’s free to destroy the glass with a sonic shout.

The body of the Siren falls out of the shattered glass, and Roxiana knows she doesn’t have much time: she knows exactly how long a mermaid can survive without water.

Adding the incentive of the knowledge that, if there are no conscious Kari duplicates, the ship must already have been fallen to the forces of Ulysses… it’s enough to make Roxiana more excited than she’s been since her resurrection.

 

The Stygian Galaxy, 2.7 million light-years from Earth

<I think I’m starting to get it.> Noriko Null admits, sitting in front of a stern Hades.

A mass of concentrated information, manifesting itself as a ball of lightning mixed with the tiniest amount of Blood energy, floats before her. It’s not much… the size of a tennis ball… but she feels she might be able to grow it into something better.

Her concentration is broken by the most unusual event: a portal opening right next to her, dropping a topless mermaid into the ground.

<Another visitor with no ticket. Charon will be supremely annoying about this.> Hades sighs.

Noriko recognized the use of her Portal Generator, but that’s not what she considers important at the moment: it’s the fact that the Siren is gasping for water.

<She’s drowning in air! Hades, do something! She’s going to die!>

<…and?> the Lord of the Underworld shrugs.

<Freaking gods.> Noriko says under her breath, taking off her belt and activating its Survival Field; with a few minor tweaks, it synthesizes water around the Siren’s mouth instead of oxygen.

<You should make… your ship… more accessible… to water-breathers.> the Siren complains, taking several deep breaths to recover.

<Do I know… wait. Roxiana, is that you!?>

<You have learned to recognize souls. A minor step, but an important one.> Hades congratulates her.

<This may sound funny, but we both need each other’s help.> Roxiana says.