Epilogue
#26 of Crystal Lake
A Tech Noir Crime Thriller
Epilogue
"Welcome to VBC News..."
"Hear are your headlines at noon"
"Phoenix Grace faced collapse today as evidence of a secret chemical weapons research center surfaced in the Fesalis desert. According to the Fesalis Government, the corporation, which employees number almost 2.3. Million worldwide, was responsible for illegal research, prohibited by Fesalis religious doctrine."
"A small strike force stormed the illegal complex during a raid conducted by local government officials, acting on information from and unknown informant."
"Phoenix Grace Head of Research and Development, Cassandra Equinox was arrested on multiple charges of violating the Anasera Convention of Species Rights, which forbids the development of any chemical weapons anywhere in Global Union."
"Police from Crystal Lake Police Department, arrested Phoenix Grace CEO Ivan Grace on conspiracy to violate the Anasera Convention and suspicion of second degree murder in order to cover up the appalling actions of his company."
"Mr Grace, son of company founder, Cecelia Grace, refused to make a statement to the press and claimed that he unable to comment due to the ongoing investigation."
"In other news... Could aliens walk among us? Bob Sturgot is here to talk with several conspiracy theorists... who believe just that?"
***
Five Hundred Ten Years Ago...
Commander Kestra Valentine's worst fears were about to be realised, her crew laying dead or dying around her feet as the Valkyrie plummeted through Terra's blue atmosphere.
She had failed. Totally and utterly to stop this new enemy, that had so effectively cut through Terran defences and breached deeper than any enemy had ever known to do.
She had always said that she would give her life for Terra, a conviction that she had always hoped that she never had to test. However the burning wreckage of her ship falling through the Terran atmosphere gave the stark realisation that this was it.
This was the apex of her existence.
The Valkyrie had been successful at distracting the Pantheon ship for long enough so that Doctor Levantine Bittersweet could activate the Aegis Shield from Celestial Gate station, using the last of the station already battered power reserves and cutting off the life support aboard the station to do it, consigning himself to a slow death from asphyxiation and the harshness of space.
The shield had created a blinding orange hexagonal wall around the entire planet, the last line of defense for the once proud Terran Federation.
However, it had not come at great cost...
The Pantheon ship, which had tore so quickly through the entire Terran Fleet and had crippled the Valkyrie was not to be defeated so easily.
Before the shield had been raised, the Pantheon ship had released an incredible biogenic pulse which had passed their pathogen onto the planet and the surrounding vessels. The virus was a biologically engineered to reconfigure the brain chemistry of those infected by it, causing it to wipe their memories.
At the same time, a mechanical virus corrupted and dissolved all seemingly advanced technologies from the surface of the planet itself, so that nobody would be able to provide resistance against the Pantheon.
Kestra wondered if this was how they colonised, no... conquered worlds? Did they wish to reset civilisations, keep them weak and underdeveloped so that they could conquer that world and play god?
Were humans really so vain?
She could feel the same pathogen at work inside her as she had already forgotten how to fly the ship as it fell through the atmosphere.
"No!" she thought. "I MUST remember".
Such resistance to the pathogen proved futile as she clung to her identity as closely as she would a lover. The bridge was wreck, most of her crew had already succumbed to the virus that had rendered them unconcious, leaving her alone to face the inevitable fate of her ship and crew.
"It can't end... like this"
Her memories, treasured memories of her father were slipping away from her. Her upbringing on Serenitas Island slipping away from her. Never before had every second felt so pressure as the alarms blared around her, smokes and sparks filling what once had been, the proud command center of her ship.
She smiled. At least she would have the knowledge of knowing that the Aegis Shield, which had been well designed after the Terran Federation's first encounter with this seemingly unstoppable species, using extremely advanced technology found on a far off planet, would keep this threat out...
Her people may have been robbed of their memories but at least they would survive to make new ones. That gave her hope. Terra would continue, even if memory of her would die alongside her ship.
"War-Warning... Warning" stated the damaged computer, the voice skipping as Kestra closed her eyes and waited for the abyss. She opened them for a second, gazing at the small rocky peaks of Everonth, suddenly becoming larger and larger with each passing second.
She tried to think of something profound to say... if not just for herself as nobody onboard was conscious to hear it.
"Fuck it..." she said finally, giving a short grin as her vessel smashed into the side of the mountain, causing a huge fireball of explosions.
The Valkyrie, the protector of Terra was gone. But Terra.
Terra would survive...