As the timer counted down the minutes to the portal closing, it was already clear that the Demons formed from the destruction of the greater Energy Being were not going to remain stable for long this time. The being had been split between two layers of space, and they were missing something fundamental to their existence.
The attack wave was faltering, and the force was dissipating into energy as the Portal between layers finally closed in front of them, and Max heaved a sigh of relief.
"Well, now that we have that thing off our backs, let's take a moment to rest," Nico informed Max as they made their way back to the ship, accompanied by one of the Command Walkers as an escort of sorts.
"I don't think that is going to be possible. There is a visitor waiting for us inside the Cutter." Max replied as he sensed the new presence inside their vessel.
Normally, that would have gone unnoticed, but there were no other living things on the ship, so the presence of one living mind was immediately noticeable to his mind reading. The thoughts weren't hostile, nor were they impatient. If he had to guess, whoever it was had settled in for a cup of tea while they waited.
[I will leave you here. The old one on your ship will explain everything to you.] The Command Walker informed them as they got close to the ship.
"You know what's going on?" Max asked curiously.
"Of course, I was there. But it's better that he tells the story of our three people and the rise of the Great Enemy."
Most of the Command Walker's mind was closed off, but Max could sense memories of a brutal war on a scale far beyond the one that they were fighting here. It might well be the one that destroyed this whole region of space, but the memory faded before he could really make sense of it, and the Command Walker returned to his vessel.
If he had been around for the destruction of this region of space, the entity in the Command Walker was most likely millions of years old. Anything that he would call the "old one" had to be somewhat impressive.
The Arisen fleet remained on station as the Human vessels began to restock and repair their fighters, and Max locked down his Mecha in the storage hangar, which now had a Darkling interceptor sitting in the middle of it.
"I wonder if it came in between layers or if they can bypass our shielding just like that." Nico wondered, already doing her best to examine the currently unoccupied ship.
"Have the sensors check it. You should be there with me to meet whoever piloted it." Max reminded her before she got too distracted to hear him at all.
The mind that Max could sense was in the lounge next to the cargo bays, the first comfortable sitting spot that it would have reached after entering the ship. It wasn't a big thing, but it was something that Max appreciated. The visitor might have broken in, but at least they weren't rummaging through his stuff.
Nico followed him into the lounge, happy that they would still be in range for her skill to check on the Darkling interceptor, and found a wrinkled old man with long ears and shockingly white hair braided down to his boots standing in the middle of the room, waiting for them.
He was a little over two metres tall but so incredibly skinny that he didn't feel like a large person at all. In his prime, this was likely a powerful warrior, but at this point, it was clear that he was reaching the end of his life.
The man's voice was musical and smooth, light in tone but still masculine as he began to speak.
"Keres Max and Tarith Nico, the beloved children of the God of Humans, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. You should have a great number of questions for me, and I have been sent here to help you answer them. The first I should start with would be the reason for this war, am I correct?" He asked.
"Yes, that is as good of a place to start as any." Max agreed, then moved to the replicator and made the tea and snacks set he had expected the man to be enjoying when they arrived.
The three of them took seats across from each other, and the ancient Darkling smiled at them in a way that Max felt was more paternal than patronizing or that of a friendly stranger.
"To understand why you are at war now, we need to explain what started this conflict, and that brings us back to my youth. Now, the Great War was some millions of years ago, so forgive me if I reminisce more than might be succinct, but I will do my best.
Once, there was a balance between the layers. The civilized species, better known as the Collectors, the Everborn and the Humans, moved freely between them, at peace with each other and the universe.
We three were the firstborn of the advanced species, and we had nearly a hundred million years worth of head start on the Galactic Empires that are active today. But that is neither here nor there. What matters is how that peace ended.
While we three mortal species lived in harmony, not all species were capable of such a thing. In our early days, we had pacified the energy beings, keeping them stable and ending the Eternal Conflict. Or so we thought.
But the Energy Beings were evolving faster than we were, and one day, a new group of beings was born. 'The Gods' they called themselves.
Most of the Gods embodied an aspect of creation or mimicked a species that they were fond of, and the three mortal species believed that this new development might be a good thing, an immortal being to guide new species into civilization.
In some cases, it was, and that was exactly what happened. But not all of the Gods were of the same mind. Some believed that they were the natural rulers of the Universe, and as such, they should have the right to wipe the universe clean and start over from a blank slate to create the universe that they wanted."
The Ancient Darkling paused to let the human duo take in all that he had said so far and delicately sipped on the tea Max had provided.
"Ah, refreshing. It is good to see that human tastebuds are still attuned the same way." The old man sighed as the two Reavers sat in silent shock.
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