6200 - Book 2 - Dark Pasts - 1 - Prologue

Eastern Most Spiral Arm Of The Milky Way Galaxy

Planet Sinveria

Approx. 2 Million B.C.E.

“We can not use it,” insisted Chancelleor Dekras her golden red hair blowing in the wake of her swift passage as she argued with Chancellor Arkita.

“We may have no choice Dekras,” Arkita told her tiredly as he paused and looked over at his fellow Chancellor.

“I realize that but are you willing to snuff out dozens of galaxies in a heart beat, some of which are just starting to show signs of sentient life,” Dekras pleaded.

“Dekras if I had the choice myself, no I wouldn’t use the Dakr Stra but we may have no choice, the Falcra are systematically wiping out our systems and colonies. Plus the decision will come down to a ¾ majority of the Chancellery,” Arkita told her.

“I realize that but I’m hoping that they won’t,” Dekras told him.

“Neither do I love,” Arkita told her brushing a strand of hair from her face and running his hand down the side of her nanno-skinned body.

Dekras smiled at the touch. “We’ll have time for that later love,” she told him and took his hand in hers as they hurried on towards the Chancellery chamber.

“I hope so, I certainly hope so,” Arkita told her as the two of them donned their Chancellors robes in the ante-chamber and then took their seats in the Chancellery Chamber.

As they took their seats among the other 312 remaining members of the Chancellery they focused their attentions on the Chamber Speaker.

“Now that all members are present and accounted for our first order of business is whether or not to employ the Dakr Stra to stop the spread of the Falcra,” the gray haired man standing at the center of the Chancellery floor stated.

Dekras hit her attention button repeatedly until the floor speaker recognized her. “The floor recognizes Chancellor Dekras of the Sn Anresda District,” the gray haired man said with a sigh.

“I realize all of you are tired of hearing what I have to say,” Dekras said and was met by several snorts and grimaces.

“Be that as it may my fellow Chancellors we can not in all good conscience use the Dakr Stra,” she pleaded with the other chancellors around her.

“Chancellor Dekras,” one of the others called from his seat several rows back.

“Yes Chancellor Vigrones,” Dekras said.

“What would you have us do Chancellor,” Vigrones asked. “Would you have us just sit here and allow the Falcra to destroy the few remaining worlds that are left us,” the man demanded in half disgust.

“No Vigrones but that weapon would destroy hundreds of systems as well as just emerging races,” Dekras pleaded.

“Yes and once they finish with us they’ll move on to those other races,” Vigrones told her.

“So instead of giving them a slim chance we’ll mercifully kill them so they don’t have to face that fate,” Dekras said in disgust.

“No that’s not what I’m suggesting Dekras, but its either us or them,” Vigrones told her.

“Well I for one am not going to vote in favor of this path,” Dekras told him and sat back down in her seat.

Planet That Will One Day Be Known As Henlerkii V

Approx. 2 Million B.C.E. +75 Years

“Arkita love, please come with us, there is still time for you to be imprinted on a nanno-seed,” Dekras begged him tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Someone has to distract the Falcra so they don’t find this planet love,” Arkita told her using a thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“I know but someone else can do it,” She told him stubbornly.

“No, no they can’t love, I have to do this. If I don’t do it the plan may not work the way I set it up,” Arkita told her.

“But you’ve already hidden the Dakr Stra as well as deactivated the facility that built it, how much more can they expect of you,” she told him pleadingly.

“It’s not what they expect of me,” Arkita told her pausing. “But what I expect of myself,” he finished with a sigh.

“Chancellor Dekras we are ready for you now,” a technician said entering the outer room of the medical facility.

“Now go love, you’ll lead our people when the time comes, and hopefully keep the same fate from occurring to them,” Arkita told her pushing her gently towards the medical technician.

What Arkita neglected to tell her was the he had found out the true origin of the Falcra and who was pulling the strings on both sides.

“The black council,” he whispered quietly the words tasting bitter and nauseating on his tongue as he spoke them.

Dekras looked back at Arkita one last time as he left the facility and then she turned and followed the medical technician into the preperation room.

“Is this going to hurt,” she asked him.

“No ma’am, not at all,” the medical technician told her and then gestured to a chair. “If you’ll please have a seat we’ll get started,” he told her.

Dekras lay back and tried to relax in the reclined chair but her nerves were pretty much shot and she kept thinking about what was about to happen to her.

“Are you ready ma’am,” the medical technician asked.

Dekras started to nod and then choked out a yes out of a suddenly dry throat.

“Initiating nanno-seed process,” the man told her and pressed several keys on the hard holography control system that sat along one wall of the small sterile room.

At first nothing happened but then Dekras felt and saw her nanno-skin thicken and spread to cover her entire body more fully and then it covered even her eyes, mouth, nose, and ears and she lost all outside sensation as the nanno-skin pulled her arms and legs tight and then started tightening down.

As the technician promised the process involved little pain but little by little the nannites that made up her nanno-skin slowly ate away at her body and recorded her memory engram at the same time.

Finally when the process was done there was nothing left but a glossy white pellet the size of a grain of sand that the medical technician carefully picked up and transferred to a container and then to another room in the facility where it would be imbedded in a mask holding a billion Sinveck citizens.

Across what was left of Sinveck space several other facilities did the same, some where destroyed before the process was complete and other masks were completed but destroyed before they reached the abandoned world where they would be hidden. The only mask to survive was Dekras and her people.

Theban Cluster - San Genero Sector - Resource System 57398 - 57398-A

Privately Registered Corvette White Lightning

Theban Cluster Office Of Fleet Intelligence Nanno-Tech Research Facility 

October 31st, 17:33 CST

“Oh god Dekras, I am so sorry,” Sandra sobbed tears trailing down her cheeks as the glossy white re-breather retracted from her face and she slid her arms from the pockets on either side of the console and then pushed herself up from her supine position on the station couch and wiped the tears away from her eyes and then sat down in the captain’s chair.

“So what are we doing in this system?” Sandra asked as her braid emerged from the white Nannos on her back and she played with the end of it.

“There are two reasons we are here,” Dekras informed her. “One with the genetic manipulation of your body and the upgrading of this vessel I have exhausted my store of excess nannites and if I attempt to use anymore it will destroy countless members of my race and two the sensors picked up a subspace emergency beacon from this facility,” Dekras told her.

“Oh, well let’s see what’s going on then; try and contact them,” Sandra ordered.

“Okay,” the Symbiote said and closed the mask back over Sandra’s face and started manipulating controls.

“Open channel on secure TC-OFI broadcast frequency is now open,” Dekras told her.

“I’m not even going to ask how you managed to hack a highly encrypted communications channel,” Sandra muttered.

“Theban Cluster Office Of Fleet Intelligence facility this is the privately registered vessel White Lightning,” Sandra said over the comm.

Sandra released the communications stud and waited several minutes. “Okay so they aren’t answering,” Sandra said.

“Perhaps there is something wrong with their communications system,” Dekras suggested.

“Hmm, could be but these new sensors that you created are showing that everything is working alright,” Sandra told her.

“Well then maybe we should go in and see what has happened,” Dekras suggested.

“Well the stations automated defenses seem to be offline so let’s see what we can see,” Sandra mumbled.

The small corvette slid slowly into place in the docking bay of the small research facility and came to a halt.

“Shouldn’t you take a weapon or something,” Dekras asked.

“You’re right,” Sandra said stopping in the small armory that was located just behind the bridge and pulling out a pair of vari-lances and trying to figure out how to carry them.

“I can help with that,” Dekras told her. “Just place them against your body where you want to carry them and I’ll take care of the rest,” the Symbiote told her.

Sandra followed the orders and pressed them against her hips and glossy white Nannos covered them holding them in place.

“Okay looks like I’m ready to go,” Sandra said and left the small armory heading for the airlock.

Sandra keyed in her access code and the lock cycled open to both the ship and the small station.

Walking through the airlocks Sandra entered the main part of the station to find it deserted.

“This is odd where is everyone,” Sandra muttered as she looked around.

“Hard to say, maybe they had to evacuate the station all together,” Dekras replied mentally.

“Could be, but I’m…,” Sandra’s answer was interrupted by a green figure shooting out of an access corridor and knocking her to the ground.

“It’s a Tantalan Military Unit,” Dekras shouted.

“Kind of, gak, figured that out for myself,” Sandra gasped out as the Tantalan continued to press its thumbs against her throat.

“A little help here Dekras,” Sandra thought to her symbiote.

“Be ready, once the mask closes you’re senses and motor coordination will be enhanced, try not to injure yourself,” Dekras told her.

“Gak, okay,” Sandra replied and the rebreather mask closed back over her head.

Looking through the white haze of the masks lenses several things popped up on the HUD and things started to slow down.

Sandra reached up and grasped the wrists of the Tantalan and slowly pulled them away from her neck allowing her to breath more easily, it wasn’t easy other than Imperial Child unit the Tantalan Military units were designed for combat and were the strongest of all the Tantalan Unit types.

“Sandra place one of your hands on it’s face,” Dekras told her.

“Kind of busy right now,” Sandra told her struggling to keep the hands away from her neck.

Sandra’s mind raced furiously as she tried to think of a way out of this situation finally she pulled her legs up under the Tantalan and used her legs to pitch the unit up and over herself where it landed with a huge bang impacting against the huge metal rib girder that held up the interior of the facility.

Standing up and breathing heavily Sandra walked over to the now battered and seemingly unconscious Tantalan.

“No what did you want me to do,” Sandra asked.

“Actually I might as well do it if you don’t mind,” Dekras asked.

“Certainly,” Sandra said relinquishing control of her body to the Symbiote.

Sandra watched as her white nanno-sheathed hand raised and then lowered over the Tantalan’s forehead and upper face.

“Hmm, it is as I feared the original consciousness that inhabited this body is gone, subsumed and eaten by the Tantalan programming,” Dekras said quietly.

“So there is nothing we can for them,” Sandra asked.

“No, but we can still use this poor person’s body for something,” Dekras said and fell silent and concentrated for a few seconds.

Sandra saw a neural pathway map show up on the HUD and watched as something

traveled down the neural pathways to the palm of her hand and then imbedded itself in the forehead of the Military Unit.

Stepping back from the Tantalan Unit Sandra watched as a small bead of white quickly expanded to cover the entire units body and the face changed to that of a re-breather similar to the one that covered Sandra’s own face and then she watched as it retracted and slid down the face and neck.

“I’m retracting the sheath mask now,” Dekras told her.

“Okay,” Sandra said.

As the mask retracted Sandra watched the figure in front of her flip its hands back and forth looking at their glossy white sheathing.

“Where am I?” the man asked looking at Sandra.

“You are on a Theban Cluster research station,” Sandra told him.

“What is that?” the man asked. “And who are you?”

“My name is Sandra and I carry the nanno-seed of Dekras,” Sandra told him.

The man knelt before Sandra. “Greetings Chancellor Dekras,” the man said.

“I’m not actually Chancellor Dekras, hold on a second,” she told him. Dekras you might want to do the talking here, she thought at the symbiote.

“Certainly,” Dekras said and once again the mask rose in place.

“Rise Braemnitol,” Dekras told the man who stood up. “I am no longer your chancellor,” she told him.

“You may not think that you are,” the man told her. “But I still view you as our appointed chancellor and leader, as will the others once they are brought from stasis,” he explained.

“Be that as it may there is an old threat that looms before us and the rest of the galaxy,” Dekras told him.

“Certainly Chancellor what do wish me to do?” He asked.

“First we both need to replenish our store of nannites and we shall do so from this facilities stores, then we’ll modify one of this bases corvettes for your use and you can start doing scouting missions to locate the Falcra,” Dekras told him.

“Certainly Chancellor but I know nothing of this time period,” Braemnitol told her.

“The ship will include a database for you to bring yourself up to speed,” Dekras told him.

“Certainly Chancellor,” Braemnitol said bowing again.

Several hours later found a corvette prepared for Braemnitol’s use and the store of nannites found at the base was split between the two vessels and both were on their way to continue their missions.