Ravens of Eternity

191 Hollow Snow

Large flakes of snow drifted lazily down onto the quiet mountain settlement on HDV-502. A thin layer of it gathered up everywhere, but melted quickly along the heated roads and rooftops. Their warmth ensured none gathered too quickly, at least to a certain degree.

Any further than a simple flurry, and the cold would have overwhelmed the settlement’s surface heating systems.

All other places though, in corners and alleyways and secluded zones, snow and ice from previous cycles piled up nearly a meter high. These areas never enjoyed such leisures. Almost all colonies couldn’t enjoy unlimited energy like the Sol system – only the richest solar systems in Federation space were able to employ Dyson Spheres to get power.

Small settlements such as this one had to rely on traditional fusion generators for power, and they had to be careful to ration how much power was being used, and where.

Equally, large icicles hung from every roof and ledge and overhang and bridge. Sometimes they broke off, fell to the ground, and shattered to pieces. There, they melted normally on the warm roads.

Usually, the settlement had workers tasked with the daily maintenance of their streets – they cleared snow and ice with sheer diligence. Given the settlement’s frigid location, it was a necessary and arduous job.

But now, they were nowhere to be seen.

Save perhaps for one. He was out with a multishovel in hand, and swept the sidewalks clear of snow. He pushed them out to the main cobble road, where the light amount of snow melted relatively quickly.

His face was dour, and hardly changed in expression.

.....

Others in the settlement were the same – dour and dismal. The smiles and cheer from before had seemingly vanished. It was as though something of grave importance was taken from each of them. Something that each of them could barely live without.

One of the shopkeepers adjusted his display holograms into the perfect spot using exact and rigid movements, his eyes dull and lifeless.

Others out on the streets with blank expressions and distant gazes looked past each other. Not one spoke to each other, or even acknowledged anyone else. Not a single nod, wave, or smile. Even if they were right beside them.

Their dulled expressions never wavered, never changed.

And everyone looked the same – or at least the expressions on their faces made them look the same. Their skin had gone pallid, their eyes had slightly sunken in, and frowns marred their faces.

All of them moved with the same gait, the same speed, the same intent. As though nothing they did was of any importance at all.

High above the town itself, at the mayor’s mansion, things were significantly different. The grounds were kept nice and clean, and two sets of maintenance teams kept the entire area free of ice and snow.

Their flamethrowers blasted anything that looked remotely cold, and evaporated it.

Of course, their faces and demeanor were exactly the same as all the other colonists – grim, grey, and icy. As though the very meaning of life had been drained out of their souls.

In front of the mansion’s double doors, two settlers were busy loading a delivery hopper with stacks of crates. The crates were all sealed, blacked out, and heavily armored. Lifting them without drones was literally back-breaking work, and the two struggled immensely with each one they loaded.

Even then, their faces never changed, never wavered.

At the very top floor of the mansion, Mia and Callie watched everything that was occurring in the settlement through freshly-installed bay windows. It allowed them a tremendous view of much of what was happening down below.

The rest of the office was also being refurbished. Sleek panes of metal and glass and wood lay stacked against various walls, ready to be installed overtop of the simple brick and cobble walls.

“That didn’t take too long to actually do, did it?” said Callie. “I’m impressed.”

“Sounds more like you’re surprised,” said Mia.

“Figured it would’ve taken us a month to do all the extractions and conversions. But here we are, not even two weeks since we started, and the entire settlement is practically ours. I get why Father chooses you so often.”

“It’s only because I do what I’m told. Nothing more.”

Mia turned away from the window and headed towards a table, where a number of her things had been gathered. On it sat a duffel bag filled with personal effects, a suit of armor, various weapons, hand-held explosives, and a couple of VariSize datapads. Her usual kit.

It was all strewn about on the table, but far from haphazardly. There was a rigidity to it, a pattern. Everything was equally spaced from everything else, and were laid out in an orderly manner in relation to each other.

Interestingly, the items within those spaces didn’t share some form of grouping. At least, not clearly.

Mia began to equip herself slowly and methodically. She strapped on armor pieces and weapons in an exact and precise order and manner. This was something she had done over and over again. Cycle after cycle. Death after death. It had become a ritual by this point, and ingrained deeply in her psyche.

“Why does Father call the extract ‘blood’, anyway?” asked Callie. “I mean, it’s so much more than just blood, right? If we just wanted blood, it wouldn’t take so damned long to make the Cocktail. Am I wrong here?”

“You have it right,” answered Mia. “Father would be the first to agree with you. And honestly, I asked him the same thing months ago. You know what he told me?

“‘Blood’s everything. All the other things we gather – marrow, skin, liver, brain, teeth – none matter as much. Without blood, none of them work. Take yourself, for example. Without my blood, you wouldn’t be as capable and as powerful as you are now. That’s the way it is with the Cocktail.’

“Anyway, that’s what he told me. It’s changed my understanding of all his words since. It’s changed my understanding of him, and of me, and of everyone.”

Callie nodded as the words soaked through her.

“Father is wise,” she said. “I wish he spoke to me with that kind of clarity. I always get these weird sermons and lectures about being and oneness and all that. Gets real tiring, honestly.”

“Father says what he says to whoever needs to hear it.”

Silence filled the room for a while, only interrupted by the soft CLICKS that Mia produced as she clipped her equipment to her armor.

“Alright, I’m off to deliver this batch, then off to the next planet,” Mia continued. “You sure you don’t wanna come along for the delivery?”

Callie shook her head.

“You earned the recognition all to yourself,” she said. “You did most of the work, while I whined all the way through.”

“You’re doing yourself a disservice,” said Mia. “You had a contrarian viewpoint that kept my own in check. That was valuable to me.”

“Not that you listened.”

“You’re wrong. I made tons of adjustments thanks to you. Without your input, our timeline would have been three weeks instead of two... Anyway, I thought you hated it here, so I figured you would’ve wanted to come back regardless.”

Mia picked up her sidearm, the last thing on the table, and holstered it magnetically on her right thigh.

“Oh, I still do hate it here,” laughed Callie. “But right now I’m feeling damn good, damn energized.”

She looked out the window and down at all her drone colonists.

“Having all these people at my command is just...” she began. “It’s the best damn thing ever. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and I wanna enjoy it for a bit longer.”

“Doesn’t matter if they’re... what did you call them?” asked Mia. “Frozen yokels?”

“They’re my frozen yokels, and that’s all that counts now.”

Both of the girls laughed wholeheartedly. Then Mia grinned conspiratorially.

“What if I’m headed towards a beach settlement, like you always wanted?” asked Mia.

Callie’s eyes narrowed, completely unamused by Mia’s teasing.

“Not funny,” she replied. “If the next settlement’s actually a beach, you had better pick me up ASAP!”

“Well anyway, enjoy your yokels and the other toys to your heart’s content,” said Mia. “Just don’t break any. I’m off.”

They waved goodbye to each other, and Mia disappeared into the rest of the mansion.

Callie turned back towards the window and looked out. She watched as everyone worked diligently to keep the mansion in top condition, and smiled widely.

A few moments later, Mia appeared downstairs. The two colonists who had been loading it were hunched over and exhausted. The two were barely able to move, so she picked up the last crate easily and placed it carefully inside the hopper.

Callie watched her sister as she finished up down below. Her smile turned to a smirk, then a frown. Then she bared her teeth menacingly.

“Bitch,” she said. “One day, I’m gonna take your spot, whether you like it or not. And then I’ll be Father’s favorite. I’ll be the whole family’s favorite, and you’ll fall into the goddamned gutter where you belong. Just you wait.”

~

It didn’t take long for Mia’s hopper to get over to the shuttle. There, four of her brothers were prepping everything for takeoff. One was directing a maintenance team as they diligently cleaned the pad of snow and ice, their faces dire and unwavering.

One sat at the pilot’s seat and made all the necessary flight checks, while the other two were waiting for Mia’s arrival. Once she got there, she ordered all of them to load up the shuttle with her crates.

With all five of them, loading the shuttle hardly took a few minutes. They handled the crates easily, as though they were made of cardboard and filled with air. The crates were stacked neatly along the sides of the shuttle, then ratcheted down to ensure they wouldn’t move. After everything was secure, Mia closed up the shuttle’s ramp and ordered their flight to begin.

Soon, the shuttle took off, turned its nose to the sky, and blasted off straight up into the atmosphere.

The shuttle shuddered and shook as powerful winds buffeted against it. But the pilot took it all with stride and kept the little ship steady as they climbed higher and higher. It only took a few minutes, but they soon cleared the planet’s thick atmosphere and reached their frigate, which was orbiting up in the upper exosphere.

The frigate was relatively large, at least in comparison to standard Federation frigates. It certainly boasted a few more guns, and much thicker armor. Its lines were aggressive and sleek.

But its standout feature was the large hangar bay up top and to the rear. Its doors opened up as the shuttle neared.

It was large enough that they had absolutely no problems navigating their way in, and easily landed on one side of the large landing pad inside. On the other side were three mecha bays along the side.

Two of them were occupied by the powerful mecha the Prophets had stolen from the Naval Academy on Mars. And it appeared that they were in the process of being upgraded – armor had been taken down, and their parts were strewn about.

A couple of Prophet mechanics were busy reconfiguring and reprogramming them.

As Mia walked out of the shuttle’s lowered ramp, the frigate’s XO came up to greet her. Like all the Prophets, he was homogeneous and looked relatively like the others. Blond haired and blue eyed. Though his cheekbones were a little sharper, and his ears a little smaller than normal.

“Crusader,” said the XO, “welcome back. Is Sister Callie not with you?”

“She’s having a fit of independence,” replied Mia. “And she’ll be spending a bit more time planetside.”

“Of course. Should we send her any backup?”

“I wouldn’t bother her right now. Besides, there’s nothing she can’t handle by herself down there. And if she can’t... well, she could use a lot of growing up.”

The XO Bowed.

“As you say, Crusader,” he said.

“Report,” commanded Mia.

“All systems stable. We’ve been prepping for your arrival for half a cycle now, so everything is good to go.”

“Let’s get going then. And be sure to send a comm to Father, to let him know I’m arriving. Be sure to include the fact that our mission is a success, and we have much blood to gift him.”

.....

The two then walked towards the bridge as the XO issued his orders throughout the ship.

It was only moments later when it flashed out of the system, and left Callie by herself on the snowy, frozen planet below.