Beyond The Impossible

Holy Palace of Megalopolis, 52.000 light-years away

In the last million years, Vesta has fought her sister Hera several times, but much less frequently than her sister Demeter. And for a good reason: as far back as she can remember, Vesta has always been the weakest of the children of Kronos and Rhea.

Despite all the experience she gained in the Vanguard, she knows she can’t win against Hera. She does, however, have a single advantage over her blue-haired sister: her speed.

Vesta dodges Hera’s energy blast with ease, then creates a wall of fire around herself.

<You think that’s going to stop me? I survived giving birth to Hephaestus!> Hera says, calmly standing up from her throne and walking through the fire like it wasn’t even there; and on the other side, she finds a goddess entirely engulfed in flames.

<Well? Any words before I punish… you?> Hera asks, taken by surprise when the flames disappear… revealing that there’s nothing inside them.

<A decoy!? Where did my sister go!?>

<If she left the Holy Palace, she could be anywhere by now!> Circe says.

<Don’t worry about her. I know how to deal with her kind.> the Ice Queen tells her. Circe doesn’t know what to think of this mortal, who gained Hera’s confidence much better than her.

<“Her kind”? What, you have experience with fighting gods?>

<Not gods. Heroes.> the Ice Queen answers, raising her hand: when she closes it, her Winter Armor glows an ominous dark blue.

 

20.000 feet above the Holy Palace

Vesta deactivates the bracelet Noriko gave her, becoming visible again: at this altitude, the mortal population shouldn’t be able to see her.

<I’m never doubting your paranoia again, Noriko: including an invisibility field was a good idea. Now I should be able to leave the planet and keep quiet until one of her ships can… what the…>

Something truly unexpected caught her attention: an object as large as a city just appeared out of nowhere right below her. It’s a woman’s hand, entirely made of ice. And since there’s nothing keeping it in position, it rapidly plummets towards the actual city beneath it.

<That madwoman!> she exclaims, flying to intercept the enormous ice hand: she can’t calculate how much such a thing must weight, but it’s guaranteed to cause victims when it hits.

She hits it with enough raw strength to shatter it into a billion pieces. In addition to the force of the impact, she also increases the temperature of the atmosphere around her: the citizens of Megalopolis won’t have to worry about tons of ice falling on their heads, just a quick rain shower.

<Is everyone alright?> Vesta asks, looking at the crowd of people running away from her as she floats above them: they seem to be more terrified of her than of the giant block of ice that almost killed them. Vesta is so concentrated on them that she doesn’t notice the hummingbird flying towards her, at least not before it suddenly turns into an elephant to crush her under its weight.

Or rather, it would crush her if Vesta didn’t catch its foot. Even when the elephant turns into a T-Rex and terrorizes the city with its roar, she doesn’t budge.

<I don’t have time for your games, Circe!>

The dinosaur turns back into the sorceress, who gestures towards the crowd saying:

<Oh, I haven’t even begun to play.>

Hundreds of civilians are transformed into a wide range of wild animals: now that they’re under her spell, they gather around Vesta showing their claws and teeth.

<I know they can’t hurt you. But can you escape without hurting them?>

<I won’t have to.> Vesta retorts, throwing a fireball at Circe. It’s frozen long before it can hit her; as if things weren’t bad enough, the Ice Queen just teleported into the city.

<You should’ve brought your friends. This armor has defeated the Vanguard once: it can defeat you again.> she says.

<Funny, that’s not how I remember it.>

<Allow me to refresh your memory.>

Vesta closes her fists, mentally preparing herself for a tough fight. Then she vanishes in a flash of light, leaving both Circe and the Ice Queen very confused.

<Where did she go? And since when can she do that!?> Circe wonders.

<She can’t: that was an artificial teleportation. I can’t trace the signal… very interesting.>

<Too bad. I wanted to prove my worth to Hera.> Circe whines, transforming the animals back into their human form. And then shivering when the Ice Queen puts her hand on her shoulder.

<You’ve proven yourself to me. That’s a versatile power you have… if Hera doesn’t appreciate its applications, perhaps it’s time to find yourself a new ally.>

 

N05-Kali Yuga, in orbit above Megalopolis

Vesta recognizes both the feeling of being teleported against her will and the look of the bridge: it’s a perfect replica of the N01-Ragnarok, but unlike the Vanguard’s ship it has a dedicated crew.

And they’re all wearing the uniform of the Athenian Fleet.

<Target acquired. Get us out of here, maximum speed.> is the order of the captain. Vesta recognizes him as Kamos, the Aurochian former captain of the Demosthenes: she never forgets a face, but then again it’s hard to forget a minotaur.

<Negative Drive engaged.> the helmsman announces, and the planet disappears from the viewscreen in an instant. Vesta approaches the captain’s chair.

<Thank you for the save, Captain Kamos. I assume Noriko sent you?>

<I’m under orders from Athena herself to transport you and the Covenant operative back to Earth, Lady Vesta.> the minotaur explains.

<What Covenant operative? I thought Noriko gave this ship to the Athenian Federation.>

<They only work for the Federation. He’s talking about me.> is the answer coming from a human who just stepped on the bridge. And Vesta definitely remembers him.

<Doctor Voron? What are you doing here?>

<Call me Dmitry, please. As for your question… Noriko needs my help, doesn’t she?>

 

Deshret, Naqada Galaxy

Since it is a sanctuary planet, Deshret doesn’t have permanent population in the traditional sense. Millions of pilgrims reach the planet every year, making their sacrifice to Serket and then leaving in a few days. Some of them wander through the desert for weeks seeking a revelation from the goddess, although the vast majority of them die in the first few weeks. Then there are priests and priestesses, who dedicate their lives to the service of Serket. Every world in her sector has its own clergy, but every priest must visit Deshret at least once in his lifetime.

The three members of the Vanguard currently in this galaxy… Quantum, Kari Zel and Torn… have dragged one of the priestesses in the underground tunnels that extend below the desert. In a weird combination of old and new, the stone tunnels filled with hieroglyphs are used by flying cars moving at hundreds of miles per hour.

<I don’t like this. She could be leading us into a trap.> Kari Zel complains: the Vanguard is being led by a young priestess who doesn’t speak any language they can understand.

<תהיס שאy תע תהאֶ צענגראֶגאתיענ> she says, pointing at the sign leading out of the tunnel. It’s a series of symbols: a feather, a snake, wavy lines, a falcon’s head, and a foot.

<Do you know what it says?> Quantum asks Kari.

<I can read twenty-seven languages, but Ancient Egyptian isn’t one of them. And these people have been separated from Earth for Gaea knows how long, it’s probably a completely different language anyway. The sign could be saying anything.> she answers.

<I know what it says.> Torn intervenes.

<Seriously?> Quantum says; it’s always hard to anticipate the Demon’s thoughts.

<Of course. It says “feather, snake, squiggly lines, bird, foot”.>

<What the heck is that supposed to mean!?>

<I don’t know. I don’t speak the language.>

<Figures. Well, at least it can’t get weirder than this.> Kari comments, opening the door.

She can’t read the signs on the other side, but it’s a backdoor entrance to one of the terminals of the nearest spaceport. What she can see are the two dozen soldiers wearing only loincloths and a belt that creates personal forcefields; they’re armed with what look like very advanced blasters, and they seem to be quite on edge.

<סתאy באצכ! תהיס אראֶא יס נעת סאפאֶ!> one of the soldiers shout at them, pointing his weapon as if to mean “get away from here”.

The Vanguard is ready to fight, and so are the soldiers. But something emerges from the ground, between the soldiers: a man with golden skin and a soft voice.

<Don’t be afraid. You will join eternity soon.>

The soldiers open fire immediately, but their blasts go through the intangible golden man and hit their own people; if it wasn’t for the forcefields, everyone would be already dead.

<Your weapons are useless. We are Eden.> the golden man says, moving his hands past the forcefields to touch the soldiers… whose eyes immediately become golden.

<We are Eden indeed.> the two converted soldiers say in unison, raising their hands to shoot. It’s a recipe for a real fight, but it’s very short: Quantum just transforms into a bolt of electricity, passing through the bodies of all Egyptian soldiers. Not enough to kill them, but enough to make everyone unconscious. He then returns to his human form, pointing his finger at the golden man: it’s still crackling with electricity, but he doesn’t unleash it.

<Alright, I’ve had enough: I feel like I’ve lost the first half of a movie. You have one chance to explain to me who you are and what the heck is going on!>

<We are Eden. You and everyone else will join eternity with us.>

<Okay, sure.> Quantum responds, releasing the electricity… which doesn’t do anything. Worse, the two unconscious Egyptians stand up again; even when he increases the voltage, not only they resist: they start walking towards him.

<That’s never a good sign. Are these guys still human?> he wonders.

<Let’s find out. 10K Rise!> Kari shouts, unleashing her full power and reaching the converted soldiers in the blink of an eye: she punches them so hard that they’re thrown against the wall with enough force to sink inside the stone. Only their forcefield kept them alive.

<Yep, still human. What about you, goldilocks?> she asks the gold-skinned alien while she does a high kick: her leg goes through his skull, making no damage whatsoever..

<Nice trick, but I’ve seen it before. Can you hit me while you’re intangible?> she then asks, plunging her hands inside his torso: becoming tangible would mean she could crush his heart.

<We are above violence. We are Eden. And so are you.> the Eden explains calmly, while Kari takes her hands away from him. Quantum and Torn approach her, careful not to let the Eden catch them off-guard while at the same time finding Kari’s sudden immobility quite concerning.

<Kari? Is everything alright?> Quantum asks.

<We are more than alright.> she answers, turning towards them: her eyes are golden now.

<We are Eden. And you can join eternity with us.> she says, kicking the ground with the strength of ten thousand women: enough to make her teammates lose their balance as she attacks.

 

Null Tower, New York City

Kari Zel looks at the Valkyrie shuttle landing on top of the skyscraper; she walks towards Noriko Null stepping out of it. To the uninitiated, this would be an unremarkable moment, but Kari notices something that is really out of the ordinary.

<I know that look on your face. You’re about to say something embarrassing.> Noriko says.

<Come on, Noriko, you’re not just smiling, you’re practically glowing. Just how great was your date? I want all the juicy details!>

<I’m sure you do, but we have work to do. In case you’ve forgotten, we have almost the entire team off-planet. And since you can’t duplicate while you’re pregnant, you’re at half-power too.>

<Don’t change the subject! You know you can’t… can’t…> Kari hesitates, moving her hands to her temples as she suddenly experiences the worst headache ever.

<Kari? What’s wrong?> Noriko asks, rushing to her friend to help her. Once she reaches her, however, Kari just stands like nothing happened. With a vacant smile on her face.

<Nothing is wrong. We are Eden now.>

<Uhm, what?>

<And you  are…  you are… you are the Nexus.> she says, suddenly grabbing Noriko’s throat with both hands.

<We will free you from this unworthy host. Eden is coming for you.> Kari says before pushing Noriko off her own building.