First Contact Fallout

empire did.”
“What happened from your view?”
“You were telekinetically decapitated.”
“How?”
“Your head was twisted until it broke, then it was pulled free of your body.”
“I remember feeling the Lachka and using my Rentar to counter it. Then I was grasped again with something other than Lachka. Something I could not defend against.”
“Another psionic?”
“The range involved for Lachka was impossible. He had to augment it. When it failed, he used something else. I believe he used raw Essence to kill me, and by doing so he has opened my senses to it. I feel drained, and I know I must not experiment too far or it will kill me, but I just added force to crush that container that my Lachka does not possess. I pushed it from my chest into my head, and I felt it flow out through my Lachka tissue. I am told Essence can also heal.”
“I know nothing about Essence,” Sol’an admitted. “How can it repair your cells without replacing them?”
“Even Star Force does not fully understand it, but they have recorded many instances of magical occurrences that they then later begin to define. I am weaker now. Can you see it in my body?”
“I cannot. My scans show you the same as a moment ago.”
“I am diminished. It must be Essence. Eldorat’s assassination attempt had given me access to it. I was touched by Essence, now I can dislodge it from my own body,” he said, standing up and twisting his tail around so that he could look at it. Mak’to’ran took one more risk, pushing the fabric of his existence out of alignment and down into his tail…which appeared to glow as he did so.
He immediately let go, and it felt like his second body jerked back into alignment, only now thinner than it had been before. The glow faded quickly, but not instantly, and he stared at his tail until the last embers of it were gone.
“What did you see?” he asked Sol’an.
“Where?”
“On my tail.”
“Nothing. What did you do?”
Mak’to’ran straightened out and fell to his knees again with the urge to breath heavily, but he realized his lungs were not craving air and it was just an automatic response to fatigue. He resisted it and simply held still, which seemed to help a bit better.
“I can see it now,” he said, not looking at her and staring at the ground as he tried to assess his interior Essence without moving it. There appeared to be nothing there until dislodged, and the thought of someone else dislodging it in him scared him to the core now that he had some understanding of what that involved.
“The Zak’de’ron claim they have one who can use Essence now, but in very small amounts.”
Mak’to’ran turned his head and glared at her. “What do you mean?”
“They made a public announcement after reclaiming Itaru. They said only they and the Oso’lon and J’gar could lead us against the Hadarak and all other threats. They said that they now had the seed of Essence power that would grow throughout the full empire over time, and showed one of their own lifting an object without using Lachka. We assumed it was fake, but they had numerous sensing devices on him at the moment, if you believe them.”
“And they use it to claim leadership?”
“Some are afraid of what Essence can do since Eldorat killed you right through our planetary defenses. They do not know how to defend against it. It was said that we went to war against the Zak’de’ron in order to die in a fight that was winnable rather than waiting to be slaughtered by these Essence users. I think that might be partially true.”
“Some?”
“Some have joined Itaru and accepted the triumvirate’s leadership once again. They believe in the superiority of the Zak’de’ron, and their claim of an Essence breakthrough gives small hope to those who feel helpless. If you have truly made the breakthrough, it will give you parity with them.”
“Parity? Star Force has the Essence power that neither of us do. Why did these systems not ally with them? Have they taken any of our worlds as their own?”
“I have heard stories of many that have fled to them, but no worlds have asked for their protection. Our war against the Zak’de’ron is our own, to win or lose. We have not involved them.”
“Yet you run to the Zak’de’ron when they show even the smallest Essence power rather than those who actually know how to wage war with it,” Mak’to’ran said angrily, standing up as he forced himself to concentrate. His strength was not returning quickly, and he felt if he dislodged his Essence again he could pass out, or even die, so it was imperative that he not touch it again for days, perhaps weeks, if the information Star Force had given him was accurate. Yet even this brief experience was illuminating. He felt as if another sense he’d possessed all along had suddenly awoken.
“We have not,” she defended.
“Have all Era’tran remained loyal?”
“I have not heard of any traitors, but I have been in the Zor’do working on you constantly. I know little of the war other than the major occurrences.”
“Treasonous Era’tran is a major occurrence,” he criticized, but his anger was not with her. “I understand your focus and thank you for it, though I do not remember it.”
“I had to wipe your short term memory each time I treated you. You should not remember it.”
“How badly damaged was I initially?”
“You were not conscious. Merely thrashing as pieces of your brain tried to operate without the others. It was more than 20 years before you could even stand.”
“Why did I not die initially? You said I was decapitated.”
“All the Era’tran with you were, but the Zen’zat were not attacked. They managed to