It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening.
—H. G. Wells, The Discovery of the Future
Galaxy Hunter pulsed with the life of hyper-rush velocity beneath Oriquin's feet, racing through the emptiness among the stars, planets, and space debris toward its destination. Wiping his hands absent-mindedly on his sleeve, he could feel the silken material they were made of, was conscious of the power and responsibility that accompanied these fancy clothes. Less than a month after being named Lord of Omnis, the sole orbiter of the megastar Meridian-Omega, and already he was questioning his own authority.
"My Lord Oriquin," announced someone from behind. Slowly he swiveled his chair to stare at the source of the voice. "It is my honor to inform you we are approaching Omnis and will be slowing down soon. The Rangers wish to speak with you before we land." The young man could be no older than fifteen or sixteen Seminovas old but he conducted himself twice as old and with a sense of maturity in his dark eyes.
"What is your name?" asked Oriquin, standing up.
The youth bowed formally and elegantly. "It is Rade, my lord."
"Please, Rade, you do not have to be so ceremonial—it is just you and me here." He smiled at the boy's shocked look, added, "I was your age one time, you know. Studying for the day I would wear this." He placed a hand over the golden crest embedded on his sleeveless black vest. "But I still had fun growing up, playing, and dreaming of adventures..."
Suddenly something in Rade's eyes sparkled and he interrupted—How long had it been since someone interrupted Oriquin?—the reminiscing. "I am going to have adventures one day, too. I am studying to be a pilot now and one day I am going to fly a ship like this one, at hyper-rush velocity, and I will be able to go anywhere and do anything for as long as I want. Sometimes I will go home to visit my friends and parents, of course."
Oriquin laughed, patting the young man on the shoulder as he left his private chambers. Once in a while he remembered what is was like when he was still regarded as an equal, being punished by the guards when they caught him misbehaving, studying for the next day's test in school or spending time with friends even if they were just spoiled children of the ambitious lesser nobles. Never did he think that so soon he would be thrust into a life of ruling and decision-making that affected the entire planet.
As he walked down the wide corridor, the Lord of Omnis was given plenty of space by the six other members of the crew who scurried from here to there going about their business of keeping Galaxy Hunter on course. They were unnecessary, of course, but for tradition's sake pledged to make their high leader's trip as smooth and pleasant as possible. It was a hassle having so much attention paid to him, so many lives twisted into awkward courses because of him, but his father had prepared him well for dealing with that unpleasantness. Prepared him, then met his demise at the hands of a Rapture Legion assassin.
But there was no need to worry about the Rapture Legion anymore, Oriquin assured himself, because the people of Omnis united as one to burn the threat to ashes, then chased those ashes out. What few members remained of that Legion had escaped on a small ship and traced to a nameless, uninhabited planet in a distant galaxy.
He reached the wide double doors and paused, taking a deep breath, before placing his hand against the divided black panel set in the center of the entrance. Both sides sprang to life and slid open, admitting him into the ship's bridge. As always, Oriquin's breath caught when he beheld the spacious area from which the Hunter was piloted, barely realizing the doors behind him smoothly closing. The entire would-be-front wall was not there, replaced with a incredibly strong sheet of crystiglass that allowed him to see the distant stars changing to streaks as they continued on at their high speed. On the side walls were computers, seriously equipped with navigation, pilot, mapping, scanning, and any other necessary control to make the massive ship function, neatly arranged by labeled panels and operation by keyboards, buttons, levers, and other console items. The center of the room was a holographic projector, displaying a map of the stars projected from the emitter embedded in the high ceiling.
Five people stood before the map and bowed simultaneously to their only existing superior. He had chosen them as his five personal guards, the five protectors of Omnis, merely weeks ago but they already seemed to be settling into their roles. And, benevolent spirits willing, would serve their twenty-year terms in their entirety.
"Lord Oriquin," the first to stand, in the center of the formation, spoke. Soleron was the ideal leader for the Omni Rangers: objective, intuitive, rational. He was Oriquin's age, just short of twenty-five Seminovas, but was far more imposing. His icy blue eyes betrayed no hint of his thoughts, an emotionless stare that could paralyze any given common person, and his face seemed hardened by a quarter century of training to be a Ranger. From birth he had dedicated his life to serving the lord of his world and, now that his destination was reached, there was no intention of failing it. Long black hair flowed smoothly down to his shoulders and curled around them, tied back with a single golden cord that all five of them wore in honor of Oriquin's presence. Also like the others he wore the standard Omni Ranger uniform, his signature color red shirt tucked into black pants and covered by a same-colored jacket presenting the five-diamonds-in-diamond symbol of the Rangers.
Seraide, a beautiful woman of the same age with silver hair and a silver stare, stood to one side of him and Laurasia, with her shiny blue-black hair, slightly darker skin tone and older, wiser smiling dark eyes. Seraide wore the golden cord, her yellow-shirted Omni Ranger outfit, and held her arm across her chest. On her arm was a silver jointless armlet, just below her wrist, the OmniTech Ability Band. Pink was the color Laurasia wore in addition to the cord and Ability Band.
At the left end of the line was the youngest member of the team, Pyrial, who might have been no more than twenty or twenty-one Seminovas at the most. His black jacket was buttoned up so only a portion of his blue shirt was visible. The gold cord was around his forehead, keeping blondish-white hair out of his deep ocean blue eyes. Around his forearm was a band, but in his hand he held his Lifeblade, inactive. Down toward the other end of the line, a muscular master of hand-and-foot fighting stood unmoving, his golden watch unblinking, dormant Lifeblade in hand. Talyserys was the strongest of the group, but his personalities shifted too much for Oriquin's liking. One second he would have a sense of humor, creative insight, open personality, but could snap into a solemn-faced dark-natured raptor in seconds.
"Lord Oriquin!" the other four Rangers acknowledged.
"You wished to speak with me?" asked Oriquin, keeping a level tone of authority.
Soleron nodded. "We have ordered the ship to slow down as we approach our galaxy, but Seraide has some...unsettling news, my lord." For Soleron to stumble that way this news must be very unsettling, thought Oriquin. "It seems the latest transmissions from home are reporting Meridian-Omega, after reliable Seminovas happening at given intervals, is about to..." And for the first time since they had known each other, way back when they were the future ruler and future soldier, Soleron could find no will to finish his sentence.
Realization sank in like a swift, powerful blow to his heart. "It is about to go supernova," Oriquin finished in such a hushed voice, had it not been for the total, utter silence on the bridge nobody would have heard. Time came to a standstill.
Omnis was at the verge of death. His people were probably panicking in riots, struggling to board any vehicle capable of long-range outer space travel, turning the home he loved upside-down with the chaos of impending disaster. He had to return and calm them. Before the end. Before Meridian-Omega, the mightiest and most legendary star of time immemorable, center of the known and living universe, incinerated them to nothing. To nothing.
"The ship is not slowing down for our return," Soleron said suddenly.
Oriquin stared at him with confusion, shifting slowly to anger. "My world...my life...is dying. Each living creature on that planet respects me as its leader, and I intend to see them through to the end. If, at the dark end, the legend of Omnis is nothing more than stardust, I must be with it. The Lord of Omnis falls with his world."
Talyserys moved toward Oriquin and placed a strong hand on his shoulder. "You make me proud to serve you," Talyserys said. "You make the Rangers proud to preserve your legacy. You make an entire world proud and blessed by nothing but your presence." His golden eyes darkened, almost to a burning black smoke, as he continued solemnly, "While those people on our planet may rely on their lord, so do these people onboard the Hunter. Omnis survives here in the hearts of the passengers."
"The stars foretold my failure," Oriquin began rambling. His thoughts were tossed about, escaping every time he tried to focus, losing the mental waterfall image he had been trained to summon for reassurance and strength. On the morning after his father's assassination, almost immediately before sunrise and the new lord's oath to guide the destiny of Omnis, a wandering mage had sought him out. The mage claimed to be searching for Oriquin since the beginning of time and warned him that if he did not decline the rulership of his people, he would oversee their deaths. At the time he dismissed it as some trick of the lesser royalty who sought his position. The mage tumbled over and turned into sparkling dust, but he thought it was just another trick, an illusion of some sort. Sparkling dust. "Stardust." His people.
Soleron had gone characteristically silent and stood before the crystiglass wall watching the moving emptiness. Seraide offered a comforting hug, but Oriquin merely received it, lost in his own myriad of moods. "We're closing in on Omnis," whispered Seraide. "Do you want to turn away or...or..."
"I want to see home one last time."
Pyrial bowed elegantly, compassion watering his eyes. "I am proud to serve your bravery, my lord. With no objections, I would prefer to be elsewhere..." Oriquin dismissed him with a wave of the hand. "The grace of the Omnis lineage shine on you, my lord. Grace of lineage shine on us all."
It was customary to return the blessing, but Oriquin did no such thing, deciding old customs were better off dying with the place they exist. Slowly he approached the clear wall of the bridge and stood next to Soleron. "I hate it when I can tell you know something I don't."
Soleron turned to pierce his ruler with a frozen crystal stare. "All I have are suspicions, my lord, with no facts to back them up...yet."
When Oriquin turned he noticed other passengers and crew were beginning to gather at the entrance and making it difficult for Pyrial to get out. He saw Rade watching curiously. How and when would he explain the deaths of his parents, his friends, everything he knew. Sadly Oriquin thought he was going to get his wish, a lifetime of adventure at the cost of a lifetime of painful memories. The door shut again when the youngest Ranger had escaped and the noble continued, "What suspicions are those?"
For a second he believed Soleron was not going to answer, but then realized Soleron's decisions were made on logic rather than emotion. Logic told him to follow his superior's orders. "I think Meridian-Omega is going supernova not of natural causes, but of a more sinister cause."
Oriquin was taken back. "Explain," he said in a shaky voice.
"As you know, we traced the Rapture Legion to Planet LPZ12190..."
"You think Rapture Legion is responsible?" Oriquin exclaimed, but the Rangers's leader was still talking.
"...and identified four surviving members: Corout, D'Aretiv, Mnsomey, and Arcanza. We ran background profiles on each of them. Something strange occurred to me then, and just occurred to me now. Each of the members except Arcanza worked for the Omnis Solar Research Project Administration and were intimately acquainted with experiments involving Meridian-Omega and its capability of imploding."
The news stunned Oriquin almost as much as Omnis's impending disaster. "Who authorized those experiments?" he wondered.
Shaking his head, Soleron responded, "Nobody. Those unsupervised experiments are what led to the discovery of Rapture Legion."
"So our planet is dying...for revenge." Oriquin did not need to see Soleron to know he agreed. The silence enveloped them all as they spotted the bright star that was Meridian-Omega. Slowly it grew larger, accompanied by hushed whispers among the three Rangers behind operating the controls.
The center star could have been no bigger than his fist when he located the small planet of Omnis and vaguely wondered if they knew what was coming. Deep down he knew they did, but conditioned his mind to believe otherwise. Omnis would not know what hit it and would be devastated in the midst of its greatness. Legends would be told.
It happened. A single bright flash, encompassing a large sphere area in blinding white and golden light, at which Oriquin's planet was almost near the edge. The fury of Meridian-Omega unleashed itself in burning reality then, suddenly, reversed its outward expansion. He watch, stunned, as the explosion began working backward, sucking itself back into the star. Sucking the light, the space, the planet, the star itself. The sonic roar reached Galaxy Hunter and thrust the ship into violent shaking, but Oriquin never lost his footing. It ended.
Soleron and Oriquin stood still in the now motionless spacecraft and stared out into space. Or, more accurately, the absence of space. Where once Omnis orbited Meridian-Omega, there now existed...nothing. It was a strange sight, even more of a feeling than a sight, but the area that had been taken in by the supernova was completely gone. It was a void.
"It imploded," Soleron broke the ringing silence with a solemn tone.
"Your prediction was right on target," agreed Oriquin. The quiet shock returned.
Finally, what might have been seconds or eternities later, the lord of the destroyed planet turned, facing Laurasia with her hands clutched firmly to the controls. "Set a course for LPZ12190." She shifted her gaze to Soleron, but Oriquin demanded, "Set it now!"
"As you wish, Lord Oriquin," Laurasia sighed. In moments the Hunter was alive again and changing its course.
Soleron reached out to touch his commander's shoulder. "Going after Rapture Legion is not going to bring Omnis back, but perhaps it will give all of us some sense of closure."
"Gather all crew and passengers onboard," Oriquin ordered Talyserys. "I wish to speak to them. Bring yourselves as well." With that he turned back to his old friend and directed, "Teleport me back to my chambers."
Soleron nodded and, with his hand still on Oriquin's shoulder, brought his other hand up to touch the silver band around his forearm. "OmniTech Teleport!" Instantly red light flooded their eyes and faded to replace the ship's bridge with the fancy royalty chamber. Soleron took his hand from his friend's shoulder, bowed with, "Grace of our lineage be with you, my lord," and then vanished with, "OmniTech Teleport!"
Alone, Oriquin collapsed into his chair and threw his head back, applying more than enough pressure to close his eyes. He layered his mind as the bottom of a river, filled it with the water of his spirit, and found the strength to push himself over the waterfall. It was a focusing technique that, for the briefest of moments, took his mind off of his home. His non-existent home. He tried again but the waterfall would not come this time. A confusion of anger, misunderstanding, sympathy, vengeance, and a flood of other emotions was overpowering his focus. Lost in his chaotic thoughts he tried once more, desperately concentrating, and fell into an altered conscious state.
As Oriquin opened his eyes he discovered he was no longer aboard Galaxy Hunter. His clothes were not the black and violet colored silk he expected, but a regular match of silver shirt, loose bronze pants, and golden vest he had favored while growing up. Bare feet were covered by a stream of clear water. Alongside both sides of the stream there was sea green grass made of delicate crystal and the shadowed blue sky contained a sun black as pitch.
"What is this place?" he asked in amazement. This had never happened to him before, but once in a while he heard old men on the street sharing stories of similar experiences. It was always followed by something monumental. But those were just stories. This itself was probably nothing more than a dream.
Suddenly a strange figure in robes of shining white appeared before him. It was a mage like the one who had visited him before on the morning of his ascension. "The grace of Omnis spiritual lineage shine and protect you, Oriquin, son of Taerys. I carry a warning of the future from your father."
"Lineage be with you, messenger," Oriquin replied with a respectful bow.
The mage continued. "On the path of vengeance lies devastation. You will seek out the followers of darkness and succeed in your mission, but the price you will pay to the alien waters. Death haunts those who protect you, and he who hunts you, and you shall become that death. Changes will happen, many changes, ending all you have come to accept. The end of the road is unclear, but it leads to nothingness and loss. May the eyes of the chosen watch over you." And, as last time, with the final words, the mage broke into millions of particles and floated away on a wind that was not there.
Oriquin was plunged into nothingness once more.
"...awaiting you!" a voice from the emptiness exclaimed.
He slowly opened his eyes, shielding them with a hand from the brightness of his room's lighting, to see young Rade standing in the open entryway. "What was that?" Oriquin asked.
Rade seemed shocked by the question. "I said everyone on the ship is awaiting you, my lord, in the corridors."
"Move them all to the bridge," the leader ordered, standing and walking over to the mirror to examine his appearance. "I will speak shortly, so move them quickly."
"Of course, my lord," Rade acknowledge with a bow. The youth disappeared and the door slid shut behind him.
Oriquin made sure the purple and black silk clothing was securely and regally presentable with an occasional smoothing or rearrangement. He brushed the hair out of his eyes and tied it back with two golden cords around his forehead. Striding to the chest that held his personal belongings, he opened it and retrieved the Seal from it protective box. The Seal of Meridian-Omega, the Omnis Crest, the Focus Emblem, its names were many and its sight was powerful. The size of a circular compact data disc, the Seal was pure white except for the picture in its center—a hand grasping a ball of light, supposedly Meridian-Omega itself, while the light escaped through the space between the fingers—that gleamed in all colors. It was some type of illusion, his father had told him once, involving a prism, some delicate mirror and lens placement, in addition to a rare material that could absorb and store light to release later. He found his cloak, decorated in a fashion to portray outer space, and looped it around his shoulders. The two sides of the cloak were then fastened together by the Seal.
A glance in the mirror showed him exactly the reflection he was aiming for.
The Lord of Omnis, Watcher of the Heavens, Meridian-Omega's Chosen.
His walk done the hall was eerily lonely. Lighting from the panels seemed dimmer and more lifeless than before; in fact, the entire mood of the ship seemed darker. At the bridge doorway, Rade stood, holding the door open as Oriquin passed through.
Every passenger on Galaxy Hunter was present. They were crowded in, by rough estimate about fifty of them, behind the five Omni Rangers lined in formation once again. Without losing the space between heartbeats, the protectors fell to one knee. The crowd behind them, obviously knowledgeable concerning the planet's demise based on their crying and comforting, followed, going down to one knee in honor of their ruler. Only three remained standing: Oriquin in the door, the youth Rade holding the door open, and a rough-looking man with dirty hair and a wild look in his eyes.
"Don't kneel to this coward!" the wild one cried to the crowd, but locked his crazy gaze firmly on the Lord of Omnis. "He has allowed our loved ones to die!"
In the past, Oriquin would have handled this disturbance smoothly. He would have questioned the man, allowed him to ask questions in return, and calm the disturbance diplomatically at an advantage to him. Confident, subdued, careful. When he was not wearing the Seal of Meridian-Omega.
Now, Oriquin simply lifted his hand, pointing to the wild man, and closed the hand back into a fist. Instantly the Ranger closest to the disturbance, Talyserys, cried, "OmniTech Morph!" The figure of the powerful human defender changed instantaneously to one dressed in green armor, the diamond symbol of the Rangers embedded in his chest. He turned, drawing his Lifeblade as he moved, slid along the floor so smoothly he almost seemed to float, and pierced the interrupting subject through the heart. Green Ranger let the body fall where it would and swirled around to kneel again.
With the annoyance dead, the Watcher of the Heavens spoke to the gathering. He wore the Seal. He wore past, present, and what future there was. These people were his; they should have no doubts now.
"Rise." Groups at a time scrambled to their feet, a few brave people glancing toward Green Ranger and the dead man, most staring at their lord. "For those of you who do not yet know, the most universe-shaking event ever to happen has just taken place. Meridian-Omega went supernova, then imploded merely portions of seconds later, leaving only an empty void where once our homeland was." Some found courage to speak, and some to speak back, but Oriquin continued coldly. He wore the Seal the first lord had worn when he united the planet as one and began its rise to legendary status. "Omnis has fallen to the wrath of the cosmos."
He thought Soleron went tense. "But we on this ship still live. The physical Omnis may have seen its last day, but the Omnis that lives in our hearts has never before been stronger. Know this, and know where my mind is operating, when I announced to you: Meridian-Omega's end was not natural. It was the work of sick, evil men."
This aroused the people more, but Oriquin could tell they were fighting to remain absolutely silent. He wore the Seal that Lady Krismntan wore when she gave the orders for Omnis to enter its first and only galactic war to save their solar system from Master Vile, a dark genius who, though he may have gotten M-51, would never take Omnis. "I believe, and those closest to me believe, that this was the work of the surviving members of the Rapture Legion. As you all recall, the Legion was also responsible for my father Taerys's assassination. For these two unforgivable crimes, the destruction of the two things I cared most for, we aboard Galaxy Hunter will, effective immediately, travel to the last known whereabouts of the Legion, Planet LPZ12190, hunt them down, and I personally will give the orders to slay Corout, D'Aretiv, and Mnsomey, those who wound the clock of my darkest hour. The last member, Arcanza, will be taken into custody, at which point we will decide what to do next."
The people continued their silent appraisal as Oriquin saluted them, turning the outward swing then inward to end with his fist over his heart. "Star-born. Honor bound."
Crew and passengers exchanged uneasy glances. Soleron stepped forward and mimicked the ancient oath-by-action. "Star-born. Honor bound." The three Rangers beside him, and the one across the stage, added theirs instantly. Soon everyone was joining in, pledging themselves to their Lord's vengeful course of action.
On the path of vengeance lies devastation...it leads to nothingness and loss.
Turning to Seraide he took a single breath to clear his mind of the ominous, dreamstate prophecy. Deep down Oriquin could feel that he would never see his home or the area it had once been ever again. "Lineage welcome the world of Omnis into your care," he officially pronounced the death of the greatest galactic empire to exist. Then he officially stepped onto the path of vengeance.
Original Publication Date: 13 August 1999
