Unknown Dusk Moon

Gideon

His rest was disturbed by the sudden argument. Shindow and Baxter were quarreling over something.

“You diverged them?!“ Shindow grouched at the dog, “Baxter, do you even know what you did?”

She sounded furious.

Diverged them? Does she mean Excertius?

Baxter spoke up with a quiet chuff, “yes, I made it less confusing. Steak and Pat are easy to remember, not like Elevenerstuck.”

“Excertius,“ Shindow corrected, “This- This hasn’t happened before. Their strength is in their single uniform mind. What you did could change their personality, which could change their fighting effectiveness!”

There was a quiet whine from Baxter, “I am very sorry. Can we change them back?”

Gideon blinked his eyes open, still feeling the weighted fatigue.

“I’ll try. After all, they may simply accept their names and refuse to change back,” Shindow explained.

Tap clacking rang out as Baxter began to trot around the bridge.

“Don’t tell Gideon. He’ll be mad and…” Baxter stopped and sat down, head drooping.

Gideon quietly cocked his head, seeing the exchange. He got up, swinging his feet over the edge of the medical stretcher, still feeling like a massive anform had stepped on him.

Baxter hurriedly glanced from Gideon to Shindow, his eyes wide with guilt as he looked for a way out. Gideon spoke, trying to alleviate him.

“Hey Baxter, we’re all out of our element here. We should’ve been heading back to Karmmrak from Lo IX by now- unless the Empire of Dusk had more for us to do… And we should have been feasting, too.”

Shindow clasped her hands, smiling back at him.

“The bad guys. I will bark and bite them,” Baxter let out a whining chuff.

Shindow giggled at that, continuing.

“See? Gideon’s not mad. We’re all in this together. Including Steak and Pat.

What?

“Uh, Who is Steak..? And Pat?” Gideon asked, even more confused by the events.

“Oh- yeah, that,” Shindow replied, giving him a sheepish look, “Baxter renamed Excertius. They are now named Steak and Pat…” Shindow explained as she palmed the side of her head.

Gideon glanced from Shindow to Baxter, shrugging, “and?”

Shindow cocked her head to Baxter, adjusting her glasses before turning back to Gideon.

“Oh... Well- problem solved!” She announced as she ceded her argument. She shook her head, palming her cheek.

Why would that matter? If they can still fight, we’re good. Unless they decided to become engineers or… Philosophers… Ok- Well Ok, I could see why Shindow is concerned.

“Gideon,” Shindow began as she adjusted her glasses, “Going off of the Dusk satellites, we can safely assume they have stolen our tech. However these Rumblers are different. Just a visual glance tells me that much. And they’re different than their own vessels at Kraken nebula-”

It all goes back to that shitshow...

“-Which I theorize is that we have been looking at it all wrong,” Shindow stated, brushing the loose strands of hair back.

Gideon cradled his casted arm, eyes darting around the bridge at what she was implying.

“Gideon, we’ve had a human and anform centered galaxy. Yes the Proturan are in the mix as well, but we don’t hear how they interact with the Empire of Dusk!”

Gideon squinted as he scratched at his head. Now he felt lost.

“So where are you going with this?”

Shindow darted to him, tapping his cheek.

“We’re not their first contact. Or their first race they’ve stolen from apparently. The galaxy is a big place, so who knows how many other species they’ve conquered?”

Gideon nodded as understanding flooded him.

“The Rumblers are another race’s technology,” Gideon surmised, filling in the blanks.

“Yes!” Shindow replied almost too happily, “that must mean there are other races that are as strong or possibly stronger than the Dusk!”

He felt at his cast, not entirely persuaded.

“And yet, they have the tech and we’re stuck on their planet. I won’t hold out much hope for an alien rescue,” he replied with a shrug.

He felt he was taking it relatively well, despite being marooned on a Dusk moon and almost crushed by a planetary automata.

Don’t think of anything other than escape. The number one most important thing is hope. Lose that and we lose everything. Focus on the mission. Find the Decima. Everyone is depending on me.

“...And that cast gets to come off, the nanites are complete!” Shindow announced, tapping his cast.

His heart leaped at the news. Time to confirm the dream.

Don’t be ridiculous. It was just a dream.

“But Baxter didn’t sign it!” Gideon protested jokingly as he sat down on the medical stretcher.

The dog scurried to Gideon, sitting by his feet. He grabbed at the dog’s ears with his good hand, massaging them.

“I miss your other hand,” Baxter mutered, letting out a soft grumble.

“Don’t worry, Baxter, we’re taking it off now!” Shindow encouraged.

Gideon tested his hand, flexing his fingers and forearm. Nanites were a wondrous invention, capable of accelerating healing. In his case, repairing the bone fractures of his wrist and cracked ribs. Gideon propped his right up with his left, bracing his elbow. Shindow floated in, lightly touching the cast. Orange pixelated light surrounded the cast as broke down into quantum bits. Gideon squinted his eyes, turning his head away from the glare.

“Uh, Gideon? What’s that?” Shindow asked.

His stomach dropped. He knew in a heartbeat what she meant. The orange spots in his eyes began to clear as he flexed his arm, finding it stiff, but well again. He breathed out a sigh as he turned to look at the back of his right hand. And there he spotted it again.

יהוה

The Seal of the Tetragrammaton. He furrowed his brows at the confirmation. It was all real. The dreams were not some sort of space madness, but actual visions affecting his reality.

Lucifer, Earth and Chamuel, that strange anform head, the nun Ruth, the boy and the sacrifice.

The demons.

“Shindow. Remember those dreams?” Gideon asked, giving her a strained smile.

The AI nodded, understanding flooding her.

“How did you get the Tetragrammaton marked to your hand? It was casted!” She in turn asked.

He barked a quiet laugh, feeling at the smooth seal. Of course she knew what it was.“You won’t believe it-”

“Try me,” She stated seriously.”

Gideon explained the dream, the Seal, the choice, and the events. Shindow palmed her chin, blinking profusely.

“Huh, I wouldn’t think you’d take an offer from Adonai so easily,” she retorted

“Hey!” Gideon began to protested.

“Now hear me out; you’ve said you never felt close to God. You’ve always felt like an outsider. I actually find it odd that you accepted that,” she explained as she gestured to the seal.

Gideon lowered his head, pursing his mouth, “Well, for one, I thought it was just a dream. Second, when He stated it would be needed to protect you all…”

I would throw pride in the dump to protect my family…

Shindow floated in, planting a small kiss on his cheek, “You’re sweet.”

Gideon blinked vacantly as he glanced down at the tiny AI.

“That explains it for me. If this Seal can help us escape, then who are we to not use every option? I mean, I’ve heard of weirder things- I guess even God himself has enmity with the Dusk!” Shindow exclaimed.

Suddenly, the galaxy didn’t feel as daunting.

“Gid!” Baxter barked as he wiggled his rump.

Gideon cracked a smile, reaching down with both hands to squish the dog’s ears. He rubbed at Baxter’s side, causing him to fall limp on his back, kicking with his hindleg. He thought to the mission. With the terrain now mapped and the Decima’s signal still being broadcast, they would only need to track it the enemy’s hangar bay. They would probably expect intrusion if the Dusk caught on the ship was not derelict. The missing bridge would be a dead giveaway. With Excertius to support, they could tag the Decima and then scout out patrols at their leisure. They could then raid the hangar or the Decima, scavenge nacelles as well as galactic maps, flee the sector, and then find their way home. Of course, it depended upon a million and one ‘ifs’. If the Decima tracking wasn’t being spoofed. If they could find compatible nacelles. If they could interface with the Dusk systems and grab star charts. If they could even escape.

“So that makes three strange things that have happened,” Shindow announced.

“Three?” Gideon asked, squishing at Baxter’s face.

“Well the first would be the flight going wrong, the second would be arriving at the dusk moon, and the third is that thing on your hand-”

“-There was four,” Gideon interrupted as sat back. Baxter scrambled to, rolling to his paws.

“Four?” Shindow asked, absently brushing at the Seal.

“I saw something. In all that black nothing we traveled through. I’ve dreamed of it, too. It uh… Licked me,” he regaled, running his hand through hair.

Baxter perked his ears up, sitting attentively, “Gid, I saw it too! I was trying to bark at it!”

“And I couldn’t really see anything…” Shindow admitted.

“Whatever dimension that was, someone or something lives in it,” Gideon surmised.

“Maybe it- or they caused the flight to go wrong?” Shindow floated to his shoulder, sitting atop it.

“I’m still holding onto the idea the Dusk led us here. And who knows if vessels are enroute to collect us,” Gideon retorted.

He got to his feet with Shindow taking flight.

“What are you doing now?” Shindow inquired.

He searched his QSD inventory with, finding the gear he needed. If it were him, maroon the target and then collect with ships at a later date. Although why the Dusk wasn’t waiting with vessels already in orbit apart from the satellites was beyond him. He flexed his wrist, back, and abs, feeling fresh again. He stood still, keeping arms and legs apart as he called the item in question. Orange glowing light surrounded him, blinding his vision for a brief moment. The combat armor materialized around him, sealing Gideon in the pressurized suit. He raised his left leg, letting the boot materialize before raising his right. There were some things that not even QSD programming could compensate for; bare feet on a solid surface. He sealed the angled helmet shut, testing the vacuum seal. He finally materialized one of the pulse rifles from storage, catching it as it dropped. The black minimalist

long-gun sported built-in sites, barrel camera, compact design, and a modular kit. He preferred the pistol grip and collapsible stock.

“Me? You mean we. We’re going to find the Decima!” Gideon declared.

Shindow sputtered, trying to talk them out of it, “right now? But Baxter only got back-”

“-Let’s go outside!” Baxter interrupted as he danced from paw to paw.

Shindow palmed her cheek as she shook her head, “Alright, I’ll be here to support. Take Excertius with you, though!”

“Steak and Pat? Oh boy!” Baxter chuffed loudly. Blue light nearby announced the two anforms and Hind power armor being materialized. Baxter scurried to the power armor, scrabbling his way inside. Steak and Pat armed themselves as they made their way over to Gideon.

Gideon whistled at seeing the forest green power armor. It was everything Baxter wasn’t: large intimidating, and heavily armed. And also sporting a tail.

“Good Gideon, we will escort you to the target,” Steak expressed as his singular eye tracked him.

“And transport you,” Pat added.

Transport? Oh, I need to see this.

Gideon nodded, glad he had two anforms with thousands of years of combat experience; practical and theoretical. The Excertius transport configuration he remembered from video recordings. He always wanted to take a spin on one.

“Shindow, we’ll be back. Let us know what you find for the samples,” Gideon valedicted as he hefted his rifle, making his way to the outside. He marched to the lift, his heart fluttering at facing the grey death of the moon. He had no choice if he and his crew were to survive. He stood on the lift, closing his eyes as he mentally prepared for the journey.

And conflict.

The lift began its ascent, with Gideon glancing to Baxter’s suddenly armored form. The dog was sitting, gently wagging his tail.

“I am going outside! twice! In one day! This is the best!” Baxter announced with a bark, his voice distorted to a lower pitch, which sounded ridiculous.

The pointed dome roof of the lift began to spin, scattering ash dust before scissoring open like an iris. He could hear the soft tinkle of loose dust drifting to the deck. The lift finished its ascent, with Gideon surveying the outside, seeing only the rusted crystals and fine ash. The view alone sobered him to the nearly hopeless situation. The temptation to just go back inside was stifling. He looked down, seeing the swirling dust in front of him. He pressed his boot to the ground and pulled back, seeing the fine print staring back up at him.

He swallowed hard, steeling himself for the mission.

He took his first step, out into the grey ashen moon of death, with the peeking of Rumblings along the horizon. He hoped the Decima was nowhere near any of them, but knew better than to deceive himself. The signal went in their general direction; of course, it would be inside one of those apocalyptic death machines.

Damned Rumblers.

He took his first steps, finding his footing was unstable in the loose ash. It would be an issue if he had to run quickly.

He spotted the massive circular crevices in the ash the size of skyscrapers, dotting the landscape. If he fell into any one of them, he’d be lost forever.

Yeah, I’m going nowhere near those. Any second they could collapse; sending my ass down with it.

He gave a quick glance over to Baxter, his heart stopping instantly. The power armor lowered down to the ground and opened up, letting one diminutive corgi out and running about the grey ashen moon. He had just committed the almost always fatal mistake of taking off one's suit in an alien environment. Casually. He just stared on as Baxter plopped into dust, kicking up a cloud as he galloped through the terrain towards a rusty crystal outcropping. He then proceeded to lift his leg, claiming his territory.

Gideon shook off the shock, unable to contain himself, “Baxter! What the hell are you doing!? It’s dangerous! There’s no… Atmosphere,” he trailed off, finally realizing that the dog had just proved him wrong.

“Uh, I’m going outside,” Baxter stated matter-of-factly.

“We don’t know of any pathogens! Toxins! Radiation!” Gideon countered in a panic, triggered by a dozen of protocol breakages from Baxter’s actions.

“Good Gideon, we have studied the soil samples and air molecules, finding it safe to breath, barring you do not inhale the dust itself,” Steak interjected to de-escalate.

Pat cocked its head to Baxter, “And to also not ingest the crystals…”

Baxer let out a soft whine at the chastisement before scurrying back into the power armor. The larger form rose to its feet, trotting to Gideon as he let out a sigh, nodding at the ridiculous scene.

“Good Gideon, because navigating by foot is the least advantageous, we shall travel by Scabbard,” Pat declared.

Both anforms were enveloped in blue light, revealing two halves of a vehicle. The berylite framed antigrav personal transport was meant for a single individual, couching them to the sole seat. The side wings carried weapon mounts, making it a light attack or reconnaissance vehicle. The main tube fork connected to an antigrav sphere in the center, with more antigrav nodes in the back for ascension and acceleration.

There was nothing really aesthetic about it, but he did appreciate the engineering. Baxter wagged his long tail at seeing the new vehicle.

“Uh, where is Steak? And Bat?” Baxter asked, forgetting once again the name of the anform.

“You mean Pat? They’re right there,” Gideon gestured as he climbed aboard, feeling the vehicle was built for an armored pilot.

Baxter poked his nose closer, trying to smell the new craft.

Gideon’s mind was updated to the information on how to pilot the Scabbard, the features, and limits. It took all of his processes to parse through the information, but within moments he felt he had spent weeks riding it. He took the controls, the vehicle responding to his touch.

“Good Baxter, you should be able to keep chase,” Steak explained as the scabbard began to rise.

“Chase? Oh boy!” Baxter barked, wagging his tail as he crouched down, ready to sprint.

Gideon activated the veiling, vanishing from view as the energy-based camouflage refracted the light around him. Baxter activated his mantilla, the active-camo blending him in with the terrain. Baxter suddenly took on the appearance of the grey ash dust. He revved the engine and took off, leaving no disturbance in his wake. Baxter happily chased along, his power armor moving as fast as a cheetah. Gideon’s Heads-up-display blinked alive, overlaying his route to the Decima’s signal. His heart sunk upon seeing the glowing trail flowing in the direction of the northern Rumbler. He grit his teeth, gripping the dual handlebars hard. He couldn’t stop now.

They rode off.

And another followed.