The Decima, Watcher’s Tesseract, Lo-Nine

Gideon

He sat in silence at the revelation that everything in his life had been manufactured. His family, Primetech, all of it. Manipulated by the Watchers. He was a product of centuries of conspiracy. Most of all, Father knew the truth. He didn’t know what to think. From his old life, the Dusk- the Watchers were wicked. But how could Adonai make something evil? Aoife certainly didn’t fit that scary stereotype mold of a dark crooked hand from the shadows. But their calling to prevent Great Filter events were their driving force- the possibility of his ancient ancestor Julius McDonough saving millions if not billions of lives was relevant. The idea that his life and agency was never his own weighed heavily on his mind. Everything was pre-planned without his consent. Emptiness reigned. The ship shuddered as it landed in this strange new system. His previous dream had been correct in that the Watchers had claimed Lo-Nine, it appeared his dream was of Lo-Nine in the past, based off of the still normal system with the beginning blossoms of Watcher tech.

“Gid, Are you OK?” Shindow asked off to his right.

He glanced at her worried smile, then to the rest of the gawking crew. Baxter’s ears lowered. Deborah was as placid as ever.

He couldn’t afford to feel anything right now. He took a stim hit and immediately felt the burdensome emotions vanish, replaced with a slight undertone of bliss. This revelation was just another added to the pile. As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t the biggest. He would set aside time to process this news. If he ever met Julius, his great grandfather of seven generations, he’d ask him for the truth.

“Me? I’m fine… I just found out that my family- that my life was all a lie,” he chided.

The foundation for his hope and nostalgia had fallen away like wet sand. The hangar went silent as some averted their eyes.

“Gid, everything will be OK,” Shindow replied as she touched his shoulder. A brief tingle ran through his nerves at her touch.

“I know… It’s just one more thing. I just want to go home. Enjoy some home cooked meals. Spend time with the family. Go back to my life before. Not this.”

This time Deborah spoke up.

“Gideon, the time of the past is precious and to be treasured, giving thanks to God for his many blessings. The Watchers did their best to protect humanity from itself. You of all people should know how difficult a feat that was. With that said, you cannot use the nostalgia as a way to escape the here and now. The troubles will remain and increase as you hide from it. And all of us will be doomed for it as you are our leader- our captain.”

Her words shook him. He did everything possible to prevent his burned ego from lashing out. She was right. To hide in thoughts of the past, wishing to flee elsewhere with a bottle of aged whiskey would be leaving his friends to the dark creatures pursuing them.

He nodded, gesturing for them to continue.

“Let’s gear up!” she shot back as everyone got to their feet.

Patricia moved to the center of the room, gathering everyone’s attention.

“I have made functional upgrades for most of those present,” she addressed Deborah first.

“Good Deborah, You have already seen our laser lance, based on your preferences and style. I have also modified a pulse cannon for use as a long rifle. The pistol braces have remained the same apart from a few minor upgrades and attachments.”

Blue light materialized her armaments. The angel stepped in close, bowing before equipping her weapons. One was a glinting berylite lance with two mini laser diodes just behind the blade triangular blade, in recessions inside the handle. The pulse cannon appeared like an enlarged version of his own long gun, a testament to the scalability of pulse weapons. As small as rings and as large as cruiser artillery, such weaponry was unmatched in its adaptability. One only needed the right sized sphere ammo.

She strapped on her pistol braces, one on each side and then holstered her rifle. She gripped the lance, feeling the balance.

"These are excellent weapons. Many thanks, Patricia," she said with a bow.

“Next is Baxter. I have fully repaired the damaged Hind Canis Power armor MK-A.”

Blue light announced the corgi’s old power armor appearing. Baxter wiggled his rump in excitement as he scurried around the Hind.

“Oh boy! This is just great!”

He settled under the armor’s jaw, tucked in between the crouching legs, opening his mouth wide in a dumb doggy grin.

“This is a good day!”

“Even better than double steak Mondays?” Shindow replied with a snide look.

Baxter’s ears perked up as he suddenly looked alert.

“Good Baxter,” Patricia interrupted, gaining his attention, “Let us test out the Hind, shall we?”

Baxter hopped to his paws, scampering up the Hind and scrabbling his way inside the opened neck cockpit. He righted himself once nestled in and allowed the machine to enclose him. The eyes lit up as the Hind began to shuffle and move. The long metal tail whipped about the hangar as Baxter began to prowl around. He started to lope into the sparring arena, traveling the edges.

“This is just great. Having a tail is great,” his bassy voice resounded.

He hopped to the middle, suddenly stopping as he bent down to pounce. And then the head of the Hind exploded outward, sending a baying tumbling corgi into the farside of the hangar. Everyone recoiled as metal fragments showered the area.

“Baxter!” Gideon shouted with sudden panic.

Everyone began clamoring to the fallen dog. Baxter lay still on his back, legs splayed and tongue out. Gideon arrived first, kneeling down to check his friend. Baxter kicked out his legs, righting himself and glancing about, ears lowered with a face full of guilt.

“I… Do not know what happened. Why did the Hind break?”

“Good Baxter,” Patricia began, “I believe you were overcome with excitement and used your considerable strength on accident. I admit I did not account for that. I regret to inform you all that there is no armament in current inventory that wouldn’t be damaged or destroyed if you were to wield it.”

Baxter’s ears drooped as he whined.

“Am I… a bad boy?”

Gideon scratched Baxter’s scalp.

“Of course not- no one knew a corgi possessing a former demon could bust their way out of power armor. But that’s also because I don’t think anyone has ever said those words before… So there’s that.”

“That’s settled then, Baxter. You’ll just have to go naked!” Shindow replied as she swooped down atop the dog’s head.

Baxter let out another whine. They got his square stitched vest and QSD equipped as the sad corgi huffed and sighed.

“Good Gideon, We have improvements for your power armor,” Patricia stated as she beckoned him over.

She materialized a suit of power armor, much larger than his previous suits. It was more a light mecha than anything. The domed head merged with the chest, dotted with dozens of microcameras. It glimmered and sheened with new paint, refracting off hard and soft angles alike. It sported twin shoulder mounts, dual tempest cannons on the back of the wrists for each arm, and back mounted swivel arms. Scans indicated antigrav nodes for ease of movement and speed. It would be far more maneuverable than expected.

The larger suit opened up, revealing his power armor from the Skylon. It was a nesting doll of armor. His breath was taken away at the sight of it. Amplified by the stim, his excitement burned in him.

"Incredible…"

"I took the liberty of examining those enchanted weapons you obtained from the Skylon. Prosine, Shindow, and I discovered you can remove enchantments with a special transposition method we invented. We now have several enchanted chipsets that can be placed on a weapon or even a power armor suit."

She held out her hand as glowing light revealed a crystalline hex chip with a black wafer in the center.

"We have a selection of holy, fire, electrical, protection, and haste for you to choose from and swap out at will. I can't duplicate these at the moment, but we're confident a breakthrough is imminent."

He imagined the entire crew capable of wiping out that Breatherman in a blink.

"So stronger class demons like the Compiler can be blasted now," he surmised.

"Correct. I have increased and fine tuned sensor outputs for any cerebral based entities to prevent the mistakes of the Skylon adventure."

He was glad everything worked out with Patricia. She alongside Prosine were the engineers he had been hoping for and more.

He tentatively stepped to the suits, brushing his hand against the dense armor.

"How many suits of armor do we have now?"

"I've manufactured up to seven personal suits and two mecha.”

The armory was steadily growing. He only wished he could get fabricators for mass production. Primetech could rise again within the year with the right assistance. He touched the smaller armored suit, storing it away in orange light.

1 - Ternicier power armor - Modified by Patricia

Equip armor?

Yes

He was caught up in pixelated light, donning his armor, lifting his legs to allow the boots to manifest. His skin prickled with static as the suit’s sensors came alive.

“Steak, also has his new sparring body as shown before, on top of his Excertius armory.”

Steak stepped forward being caught up in a pillar of blue light. He was using his Excertius bulwark armor from the previous adventures.

“I will begin the excursion in the Fortress power armor configuration, using my new additions as we explore and encounter.”

“Oh and don’t forget about me!” Shindow chimed in. Her form blinked and flashed, replacing her garb with a giant floppy conical hat, a robe, a tiny sword at her side and a stave in her hands.

“Just call me Shindow the Orange!”

She rushed to Gideon, storing herself inside his QSD.

AI uplink with - Shindow - Complete

“Alright, Gid. Good to go here!”

This was it. They were prepared.

Prosine appeared above them, eye darting from one to the next.

“Good crew, you will all explore this new Watcher realm. I will hold down the Decima. Each with QSD will have their own squadron of DINEs and a single Mini-Rumbler in case you are separated. They will be programmed to support you in your journeys. Be blessed, and Adonai’s grace upon us all.”

Despite the stims, he still felt nervous for what was to come.

The hangar bay began to open, revealing darkness beyond. Everyone clicked on their lights as Steak led the way forward. Patricia materialized her own weapons, a nanite cane and three auto pulse pistols for each arm. Aoife serenely marched with them through the exit.

Steak trundled forward with tower shields raised as he scanned the surface.

“No threats detected. Moving out.”

Gideon followed behind, touching down onto the strange world. He spared a glance at Aoife, seeing her confident yet alien features. They moved into the blackness. Shindow appeared, an orange sun in a world of surrounding darkness. The ground felt warm. He knelt down, feeling the pure black surface.

“Scanners aren’t picking up anything besides us. I think we’re alone here!”

He exchanged glances with Deborah.

“I’ve never explored the Watchers like this before!” the angel announced.

Aoife spoke up.

“A Tesseract can branch dimensions into a single cube. Based on this particular one, Oodeen is up to thirteen hundred separate realms. As one gets closer to the center, the split realities merge until there is only one. I shall see you all there.”

Gideon paused at that statement.

“See us in the center? And whose Oodeen? You mean the name of the Tesseract?”

He turned back to address her, seeing that she was gone. He snapped back to the crew, finding no one around. He was suddenly alone. He breath caught at the sudden disappearances. He calmed his breathing scanning for any lifeforms. He found none but his own.

“Shindow- come in!”

He checked his QSD.

Shindow - Status - OK

Error - Unknown Error

“Unknown error? What the hell?”

To have the pinnacle technology of mankind bark out anything as unknown was a rare occurrence. In the land of the Watchers, an error was presupposed.

He gripped his pulse rifle close. Head on a swivel. Shoulder mounts darting to and fro in his blind spots. Everything would be okay. He had some DINES and a mini-Rumbler just in case. But who knew if they would get forked to another pocket dimension as Aoife stated?

He had to trust they were all well.

He heard a rasping breath up ahead. It sounded like the rattling gasp of a dying man. He knew that noise well. His light caught sight of the Brawler imp as they exchanged glances. His shoulder mount fired a silenced volley of sabots, erupting the demon’s head like a fountain. It slumped over, splattering to the ground. He continued ahead, his heart rate spiking at the sudden encounter. He remembered Amy and her wicked mischief in gutting the Skylon.

Scanners blared as another target appeared ahead. It was talk and white, sporting four arms jutting from its elbow. It turned, revealing no other facial features apart from its gaping zipper maw.

A Pale Jammer.

Its maw opened wide for a scream. His mind whirred in overtime, equipping his fire enchantment to his pulse rifle. He noticed the instant the trigger pulled. Radiation alarms blared. The rifle kicked harder than before. The magic released. The rifle screech-cracked. He let loose a fifteen round burst, spotting the orange glowing sabots as they struck true. The demon half exploded, half detonated into a ball of flame as its upper torso vanished. It thrashed on the ground before going still, burnt to ashes from the attack.

A sense of pride and achievement welled up in him. During the Skylon, these were his bane. But now, they were cannon fodder like the rest. Sensors picked up strange energy signals ahead and behind. They were all moving towards him. He kept his rifle level, breath steady as he prowled ahead at a joggers pace. His shoulder mounts swiveled behind, giving him two other eyes in his blind spots.

Shadows and forms rushed around in the darkness. The noise of shouting and fighting began to ring out.

Stealth mode activated

He clicked off his lights, letting his suit activate veiling. It refracted light, making him invisible to the naked eye. Aided by the darkness around him, he was practically untraceable. He began to prowl ahead, his suit dampeners muffling his foot falls. He stored away his fire enchantment, setting the rifle to silent.

His HUD activated night vision, revealing the chaos in front of him. Even the slightest ember would be amplified to brighten a room. With the algorithms set, the brightest light would be dimmed to match and prevent blindness. He adjusted the color spectrum to white, keeping the color palette definable to his own eyes.

A small figure in green robes had lept atop a Brawler, gripping to its back while it slammed a wavy dagger into its spine repeatedly. The Brawler let out a death-rattle gasp, attempting to free itself. A second Brawler had decided that friendly fire was of no issue and swung its massive oaken arms, battering both the tiny figure and demon alike, shattering them both in a single blow. The smaller body rolled and flopped at his feet, revealing a strange being with green skin, a child-like face, large pointed ears, and a thin body. Half of its head was crushed as its good eye stared lifelessly.

What the hell is all this?

More green robed beings like the one on the ground rushed from the darkness, mobbing the last Brawler and stabbing it to death with sharp daggers. They screeched, laughed, and screamed in a bedlam madness he hadn’t seen before. His heart rate spiked as he gripped his rifle, his shoulder mounts aiming for two of the robed beings.

“For Neon!”

“The glory of the emerald god!”

“Death to unbelievers!”

Their shrieking cries rang out as they continued to stab the crumbling ash of the demon. They rose to their feet, red eyes tracking the darkness.

“You smell that?” One asked in a scratchy, squeaky voice.

Gideon got a good look at one, realizing they would have looked cute if it weren’t for the bloodlust and murderous intent.

“I do! A human! Where? Do you see him?” another rasped.

They sniffed the air, heads swiveling around them. They were searching for him.

How? The suit should contain any scents!

“He’s a sneaky one- that is!”

“He’s close…”

“Invisible!”

They all knelt down, grabbing handfuls of ash and began tossing it into the air.

Oh.

Shit.

He began to back away, only to feel the impact of something slamming into his back. He fell heavily to the ground.

“Oi! Was tha’?” Someone bellowed from behind.

He snapped to the figure, spotting a very large and fat, robed individual sporting grey speckled skin, a moon face, shark teeth, a pencil nose, with long bat-like ears. He was so off put by the creature's form he hesitated. A ball of ash dust caught him, revealing his veiled suit.

“There he is!” one shrieked as Gideon got to his feet, trying to get away. The fatter one roared a challenge.

And then they all screamed in terror as a Pale Jammer sprinted into the group shrieking madly as it tore into them. It gripped the small green man and tore it in half as easily as one ripped paper, using it to beat another into the ground. They screamed in fury and fear alike, stabbing the Pale Jammer as the fat one smashed into it with a club.

Gideon ran from the fight just as he saw another green child-thing get stuffed down the zipper maw of the Pale Jammer.

“Jesus Christ!”

He couldn’ help but say aloud. It was becoming more and more like a warzone. He frantically tried brushing off the dust, unable to truly tell if it was cleaned off. He stalked deeper into the darkness. Nothing made sense in the wolrd of the Watchers. He heard the roaring echo of pulse fire up ahead. Five black clad men were marching along casually firing into the darkness. Shrieks of agony and dismay rang out. He stood stock still, knowing instantly by their demeanor and actions that these were highly trained individuals. Bodies littered the area around them. One of the black clad soldiers stomped down on a moving body, crushing the skull of a green robed figure. It was so casual a gesture that it shocked him. He knew if he opened fire, he’d be dead in an instant. He could have taken down three, but the other two would snap-shoot him in a heartbeat. The central soldier was armed with a hip mounted pulse cannon, the roar-crack of the gun unsettled his stimmed nerves.

“For the glory of Lucifer!” one of them cried in a digitally distorted voice.

Oh my God… They’re here… Oh God they’re really here. How??

They marched off into the darkness, vanishing from sight, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.

They tracked us on our flight… She must have calculated where we were going like how she discovered I was on Karmmrak. It’s safe to assume she’s here too.

He prowled along, seeing a change of scenery from the flat, black plains before. A stoney wall of black met him. Off to the right was an opening fit for two at the shoulder. The edges of the corners looked flat and edged, as if someone carved it all with a straight razor. Tight quarters. He’d be in trouble if he met resistance in such closed spaces. He peeked around the corner, seeing a long hallway.

He scanned carefully, listening for noise. Sensors picked up movement behind him and it was closing in fast.

He sprinted down the hall, eyes darting into the crevices of layered hexagonal steps of rock. There he exited the hall into an open room, covered in light sand and tall thin stones of hex-rocks. Sensors appeared clear.

He sighed as the heat of the chaotic battle died. He sat down, back up against a stone.

“Where is everybody?”

He glanced down the hall, spotting two red eyes glowing from the dark. His heart spiked instantly at the sudden appearance. He gripped his rifle, shoulder mounts aiming towards the foe. The eyes swiveled about, as if inspecting the area. He hesitated as it got close. It was small- way too small to be much of a threat. He lowered his rifle keeping his veiled suit on to hide.

It halted at the entrance, kneeling to feel at the sandy floor. It stood, moving more akin to a clumsy toddler than a demon. It was made of ornate filigreed adamantite, standing only eighteen inches high. It had a right hand with slender digits and a left arm with a long utility spike. It was stunning craftsmanship. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was so small and fragile that it should have crumpled upon itself with even the slightest provocation. Then the forehead. He knew that symbol well. He breath caught upon witnessing an impossible thing.

יהוה

The Seal of the Tetragrammaton upon the chassis of an adamantite doll. He knew that face. It couldn’t be her, though. She was only a head. And large. This couldn’t be the same Sol from before.

Her eyes snapped to him, her head tilting back and forth.

“Curious. Is someone there?”

He stayed perfectly still, more in shock that he was spotted.

“Hello? Who are you?” she asked.

He took this one phenomenal risk only on the basis of the Seal staring back at him. He unveiled in front of her. She retreated a step, eyes flashing at his sudden appearance. She took two more forward gripping her spiked arm in what he could only describe as a tentative and meek gesture.

“Uh- hello, my name is Soltana! Who are you?”

He lowered his rifle, slowly raising up his hand to his helmet. With a tap, he stored it into his QSD.

“Sol?” he asked.

“Oh! It is you, Gideon who is also a McDonough!”

She rushed to his side dancing from one leg to the next, like a child ready to receive a treat. He couldn’t help but smirk at her

“It has been so long!”

“Yeah it has, Sol,” he stated wryly. He felt genuinely relieved and happy. It was finally happening.

He finally met Soltana.

“So many things happened! I got repaired,” She twirled in a perfect pirouette, “My full name is Soltana and-”

Gideon snapped back behind her, seeing a Brawler shuffling towards them, letting out a death rattle gasp.

“Soltana- behind you!” Gideon cried, fumbling with his rifle.

She turned, spotting the demon. With but a casual motion, she raised her spiked arm, firing a bright red beam of energy, sweeping it across the demon. The upper torso burst, severing from the bottom as demon guts, flesh, and blood steamed and expanded. In the briefest nanosecond, she had slagged the foe.

“Oh. It has been defeated,” she matter-of-factly said. He had underestimated her ability based on size alone. She was more than capable of defending herself.

She turned to address him, eyes flickering as she spoke.

“I suspect many things have changed since we last dreamed of one another,” she added. She sat down next to him, mimicking his stance.

“Please tell me,” she asked.

He sighed and nodded. Hopefully they’d have time to go over back stories without interruption.

“I guess formal introductions are in order. I’m Gideon McDonough, pilot, Seal holder, and the last CEO of Primetech.”

He lowered his armored hand to her. She looked at it, then flashed her eyes back up at him. She raised her fingered limb to him, which he gently took in his own, like a father to an infant. Her fingers were so small and thin, it was like holding threads of glass. She was a real, in the alloy Anform. His dreams weren’t madness.

Little did they know such a simple handshake threaded their fates together.

He released her hand, leaning back with a sigh, “well, it all started with that flight- you know, Karmmrak?”

“Well, it all started with that flight- you know, Karmmrak?”

She silently listened to him, giving him her full attention. He felt hope fulfilled in ways he had never experienced before in the old life- or new. Another feeling blossomed in his heart. Something close to optimism. He couldn’t explain it- not yet anyway.

He told his story to Soltana in the dimensional labyrinths of the Oodeen Tesseract on Lo-Nine.