well the hull point stuff is how they measure hull ratings and whatnot. maybe ill change it later, idn. and you're not supposed to know who was talking, as it didn't really add to the story either way. much easier to have an unknown Captain and an unknown Private talking to each other than have to come up with two characters just for half of a chapter. and what I'm trying to portray is Kol and Judman's friendship/connection. i assume that's what you were talking about when you said you don't address a superior by his first name. and, if you recall, TOC stands for the Trade Order Council. TEC is the military force that has taken control of the Trade Order to combat the Vasari threat. TOC is like the supreme court. The Trade Order still exists, it's just "ruled" by the TEC. I hope I explained that well.

But another than that, I like the constructive criticism. just because i think something works doesn't mean everyone will, and the different opinions helps me tweak the story to perfection.

that was exactly what i was talking about. when the TEC took over, i assumed they abolished the TOC. but obviously you had a different take. thanks for explaining.

yeah not the TOC was not the government of the Trade Order before the TEC. it was the highest court of law in the Trade Order. For example, in the U.S., you wouldn't abolish the supreme court just because we got a new president. same concept here.

haha, just noticed that, it was supposed to be the abbreviation for executive officer, . obviously that didnt work. but hey! i figured out one of the emoticons

to be honest, all in all this was not my favorite part. i understand why you threw in the actual numbers from the game, but that just cheapens the real action, to me. it makes it too mechanical, too cumbersome, and not the least bit realistic.

where is everyone? its been two days, and no responses other than mine. and nothing else on your mind games forum, except orodum losing his mind.

edit: X... O. maybe that will work

edit 2: nice! got it.

What are you talking about here?

I'm gonna run with it for a little while, then introduce a system the TEC will create that may or may not replace the numbering. we'll see how it goes. and I no, where has everyone gone?!? ridiculous.

"X O" is an acronym for the Executive Officer.  when used without the space (as it's supposed to) it forms

it's a problem I've worked around by using "exec" instead

But where did the quote come from?

Was that a quote from the story? That's what I was wondering. Just what are we refering to.

thanks orodum.

how long until the next part?

OH ok. ha, i had no idea what the whole thing was about. now i get it.

sorry I haven't been on for ages, my birthday 2 days ago and this is the first time I could get on the comp

so what do you think of Part 2: Destruction so far?

Chapter 10, part 3
High One

The Advent

5 years ago, phase space

    Haiti opened his eyes, and immediately cupped his hand to his forehead. Nothing there, no mark, no dried blood. It was contained in the vision, then. He sat up slowly, surprised at the effort in which it took, and surveyed his surroundings. He was in his ship's med bay, that much was obviously clear, but the question was why was he here. He looked down at his other arm, and saw it wrapped in bandages. That reminded him. Veronica had tried to kill him, she had stabbed him with a knife. But she had not known fully of the connection between them, and had inflicted upon herself the exact wound she had caused on him. So if he was here...
    Haiti leaned over and peered at the other bed. Veronica lay there, still as newly fallen snow, her left arm also wrapped in bandages. He looked down at his own left arm. It was only fitting. Getting hesitantly to his feet, he stood over her, flashing back briefly to the time when he was first created, when he could only walk using great effort. It did not rankle him that he was a product of an experiment. The point was that he was created, and he was successful. The High One, after all, had created the Advent in the beginning of time. Haiti was only the next step in their evolution. But he was digressing. Holding out both arms over Veronica, his left arm difficult due to the mound of bandages, he chanted slowly, feeling the power croon.
    "Power of her become power of mine," he whispered, feeling a resonance inside Veronica. He was calling out to Veronica's PsiTech, calling out to all those little gadgets and machinery self-implanted into the Advent cranium. Tapping into those, Haiti could draw out Veronica's full augmented power, not just her original talent that he would get just from invading her mind. This was much, much more. A slight twitch formed in his upper right brow. That was the site of Haiti's most recent self-surgery. Would his own implants survive the transferal process? That was a risk he was willing to take. Without his implants, his skill nearly matched Veronica's at her most augmented. Without his implants, Veronica would be ranked higher than him and replace him as High Coalescence. But it was a risk he was willing to take.
    "Power of her become power of mine."
    Spoken in the language of the High One, this was psionic skill at its best. Merely speaking these words would kill a normal Advent. What Haiti was saying was, "Power of her become power of mine." He was drawing out Veronica's psionic power, drawing out her PsiTech and isolating it, compartmentalizing it, and bringing the chunks of raw psionic power into him. He was stealing Veronica's PsiTech from her.
    "Power of her become power of mine."
    Haiti gasped as Veronica's raw psionic power flowed into him. On the bed, Veronica's body jerked and flopped, as if it was tied down and was trying to free itself. A trickle of blood flowed from her right shoulder. That was where her largest implant was, well, implanted. Down her arm, little pricks of blood formed. Those must have been where she had injected the neurochemicals. Strong doses like the ones the Coalesci were able to manufacture, for no Advent would shame herself, or himself, so to use someone else's neurochemicals, needed only to be injected once every thirty years or so, still often in an Advent's lifetime, but much better than the normal public's every five years, or the children's every week. One last tug, and Veronica's PsiTech was his. Haiti's eyes shone with the new psionic power inside him. There was no need to 'borrow' Veronica's power anymore, now it belonged to him.
    Now Veronica was a Silent One.
    Wake up, dear sister, we have much to discuss.
    Veronica's eyes jerked open, and she sat up with a gasp. Her eyes were dark, no longer infused with the PsiTech that made the Advent unique. She looked at Haiti standing over her and tried to scream, but the sound would not leave her throat. Making a small, choking noise, she flopped back down on the bed. Haiti psionically released her larynx.
    "What a shame," Haiti said smoothly, circling Veronica, "what the Unity will say when a Silent One is discovered on one of their ships! What do you think they'll do to the poor, ignorant fool?"
    "What have you done?!?" Veronica cried, feeling her now smooth face, and the stream of blood flowing down her arm. Gone were the age lines of the Unity. She was cast out, and she could never return. But she didn't know that. Haiti picked up a cloth and wiped the blood from Veronica's arm, speaking while he did so.
    "I have taken from you your PsiTech. It is up to you to decide whether or not you would like me to return it."
    "You are an abomination!" Veronica screamed, futilely trying to hit Haiti. He casually moved out of her reach and psionically forced her back onto her bed.
    "Listen carefully," he hissed into her ear, "you have only one chance for me to return your PsiTech. You will do exactly as I say, or I will reveal you to the rest of the Unity, and you can imagine their...displeasure."
    Veronica gulped, her eyes wide. She took a shaky breath, and seemed to calm herself.
    "Tell me what I have to do."
    Haiti stepped back and studied her as if she was a fascinating work of art.
    "You will infiltrate the aliens."
    "The Traders? I don't understand."
    "Not the Traders," Haiti said calmly, "the other ones. The ones that came from the wormhole."
    "But the phase lane was destroyed!" Veronica protested.
    "I know someone who can rebuild it. All you need to do is be ready to enter it."
    "But I don't look like the aliens! We don't even know what they look like!" Veronica was grasping at straws.
    "I saw them in a vision before you attacked me." Haiti said the words smoothly, yet a hint of coldness entered his tone. Veronica took a step back.
    "Because of you, the rest of the visions will never be known, which could have great repercussions. But for now you will look like these...Vasari."
    "What is Vasari?" Veronica asked, confused.
    "The name these aliens call themselves. That and their image is all I know, yet it will be enough. You will learn all you can about them, and contact me once you have enough information to persuade me to return your PsiTech to you."
    "How will you change my image?" Veronica asked shakily.
    "It is already done." Haiti answered with a smirk.
    Veronica turned slowly towards the full-length mirror that stood across the room from her. She walked slowly forwards. In the mirror, a monster looked back at her. She slowly reached up to touch her face. The monster imitated her. Veronica screamed.


    "I request an audience with the High One," Haiti murmured, alone in his chambers. <I request an audience with the High One.>
    The High One is here. The High One speaks. What is your wish of the High One? A deep voice answered him. <The High One is here. The High One speaks. What is your wish of the High One?>
    "High One," Haiti breathed, dropping to the floor, "I request a favor from you."
    And why should I grant this favor? <And why should I grant this favor?>
    "I need to learn who these aliens are, what their weapons are like, so I can combat them."
    I? Surely you mean we. The Unity needs to know how they fight, not you. <I? Surely you mean we. The Unity needs to know how they fight, not you.>
    "I am the Unity," Haiti responded.
    The High One was silent for a while.
    You are rash and foolhardy. What are you, to the Unity? Just another High Coalescence, which means, if you didn't know, 'pupil to the One.' You are my pupil, and I say you are arrogant. If you died, the Unity would just select a new High Coalescence, after some grieving. You would be forgotten to them. <You are rash and foolhardy. What are you, to the Unity? Just another High Coalescence, which means, if you didn't know, 'pupil to the One.' You are my pupil, and I say you are arrogant. If you died, the Unity would just select a new High Coalescence, after some grieving. You would be forgotten to them.>
    "Without me, the Unity would fail," Haiti argued, "without me, there would be no Reemergence! I am the only Advent strong enough to lead us to victory. I am the strongest Advent in the history of our race! What one does to another, that will happen to him as well. Right, High One? What one does to another, that will happen to him as well. The Advent have given me unimaginable power, and I will return to them their lost home world!"
    You think I have not the power to lead the Advent? I CREATED the Advent! If it is my wish for them to return to our desert planet of old, I will do it! And do not think for ONE moment that I would stop to consult you! You are not my creation, you are an abomination! <You think I have not the power to lead the Advent? I CREATED the Advent! If it is my wish for them to return to our desert planet of old, I will do it! And do not think for ONE moment that I would stop to consult you! You are not my creation, you are an abomination!>
    "I beg your forgiveness, High One," Haiti replied after a pause, pressing himself again to the floor, "I spoke out of haste and foolhardiness, which you said I have, and I agree. You are all-powerful and the one great ruler of our species. Still, would you not help me? Reestablish one simple phase lane, and the entire Unity would thank you. I am acting only in the interest of the Unity, and if I spoke harshly, it is only my foolishness speaking. I beg you to help the Unity, High One." <I beg your forgiveness, High One. I spoke out of haste and foolhardiness, which you said I have, and I agree. You are all-powerful and the one great ruler of our species. Still, would you not help me? Reestablish one simple phase lane, and the entire Unity would thank you. I am acting only in the interest of the Unity, and if I spoke harshly, it is only my foolishness speaking. I beg you to help the Unity, High One.>
    The High One stepped into Haiti's vision, and Haiti blinked in surprise. Normally, the High One was just a dark shadow at the edge of his vision, always just out of sight no matter how quickly he turned. Now though, the High One formed himself into a dark shadowy representation of a human body, and sat himself in one of the great armchairs of Haiti's stateroom. He motioned for Haiti to sit across from him. Haiti did, and a holographic map of the galaxy formed in front of him.
    You speak of Area 305, 741? <You speak of Area 305, 741?>
    "I do, High One," Haiti answered, a glimmer of hope returning to his voice. He had accepted! The Reemergence would succeed!
    I cannot return it indefinitely. You will have one day, twenty-four hours, to enter the wormhole. If you value your lives and the success of the Reemergence, you will return through the wormhole before that period of time is up, or the Reemergence will surely lose. This is no normal phase lane. <I cannot return it indefinitely. You will have one day, twenty-four hours, to enter the wormhole. If you value your lives and the success of the Reemergence, you will return through the wormhole before that period of time is up, or the Reemergence will surely lose. This is no normal phase lane.>
    "What was the phase lane originally? How was it different than normal phase lanes?"
    The original phase lane bent not only space, but time as well. The Vasari craft that entered it came from five years into the past. <The original phase lane bent not only space, but time as well. The Vasari craft that entered it came from five years into the past.>
    "That will do fine, High One," Haiti said, joy bubbling up inside him. His plan would work perfectly! "And I do not plan to enter the wormhole in any case."
    What do you plan to do, then? <What do you plan to do, then?>
    Haiti outlined his plan. The High One's human figure grinned.
    She will not like it. <She will not like it.>
    "She has no choice. You will reestablish a phase lane between the wormholes, then?"
    It is already done. Good hunting, Haiti. <It is already done. Good hunting, Haiti.> The High One vanished.
    Good hunting, Haiti. Haiti smiled. What an interesting phrase. He might start using that himself. Now, to get Veronica onto a ship.

The Vasari

8 years ago, galactic position 411, 814, planet code named OREGION

    "Fleet Admiral Commander!"
    Flankx inflated his vocal strings with a hiss. "This had better be important, Eviscerate!"
    "Fleet Admiral Commander, the wormhole has reopened!"
    "What wormhole?" Flankx asked angrily.
    "Position 305, 741! The wormhole we named Esquian's Fall! It has reopened!"
    Flankx choked.

A NOTE:

The High One and occasionally Haiti speak in what, for now, is known as the High One's language. On Firefox where I post and edit these chapters, the font symbol doesn't appear. Only on Internet Explorer and Impulse can you see the symbol font, but on Internet explorer it does this weird thing with an indent so I wouldn't recommend viewing it on their either. I don't know about Google Chrome or any other web programs, but for now only on Impulse can you correctly see this chapter. If you can read what the High One is saying before the < > stuff, then you are missing out on the great symbol font. Just a head's up to everyone.

you can see it chrome. great chapter btw  keep em comin