“And did they show you it happen?”
“Yes. We all saw you die,” someone else said.
“But it didn’t look right,” another added. “You didn’t fight the same way as before.”
“Did they show you the entirety of my combat there?”
“Yes they did. It is known to all Neofan. Your death was legendary.”
“It was faked,” Plausious said, stating the obvious. “And I do not expect them to kneel down before me when I return. If you choose to come with me, there may be a war between Neofan to fight. If you do not wish this, then go to Yenoiv and I will not consider you enemies. But I will be summoning all Neofan from Yenoiv here, along with all exiles, to rally to the Endgame war. As of now, I am disbanding House rule and assuming personal command over our entire race. That may anger Mutavi enough to accept you in Yenoiv. And they may travel here to destroy me. If so, then I will fight them here and I will fight all that I need to, but I will free our race from the darkside legacy that shackles us. You have a choice to make, but you will make it as free Neofan, not in this prison…unless you want to stay with Star Force and join their empire. If you do you go with my blessing, for they are wise and you can learn much from them, but I have greater things for us to accomplish and need all who remain loyal to swear allegiance…and all those who are not loyal need to simply leave this galaxy never to return unless you do so to submit yourselves to my lightside rule.”
“What is this lightside?” someone asked. “Will it take us out of alignment?”
“I imagine I have gone far outside alignment, and it is that measurement that shackles us to the darkside. It forces us into apathy, and through apathy we are dragged into a state of horrors without even knowing it, for apathy is a dulling of our senses, and our internal warnings. Mine are clear now, and I see the dangers before me and in my past, but I am no longer bound to the darkside. My marooning on the Hadarak world allowed my eyes to be opened, and though I nearly died thousands of times, I discovered what the lightside truly was.”
“It is superiority incarnate,” Plausious said with such awe and reverence booming in his voice it had a visible effect on the Neofan. “And it is the only power that will allow the Neofan to survive what’s coming. We must harness this power before it is too late, and I have seen the way to do this. The changes will be radical, yet I will not kill anyone who wishes to walk another path. But you must do so outside this galaxy. Not because I condone what you do, but because this is where the Endgame will be fought, and I will not have time to travel to Yenoiv or elsewhere to deal with the misdeeds there. I must deal with those here and now and ready us for what’s coming. Lightside does not kill lightside, and in this basic principle is its greatest strength. And because of this I can trust Director Davis and Star Force fully, for they are lightside, and it was he who taught me the first lessons of it, and those lessons are what allowed me to survive the Hadarak.”
“And this one,” he said, pointing to the Ren’mak. “It chose to defy the Hadarak’s orders, and because of that they sentenced it to immediate death. If it can find the courage to defy their will, what excuse does a Neofan have for the cowardice to reject the path I have placed before you?”
That insult rattled many of them out of their stupor, and the fact that they had never seen a Hadarak that would not attack them on sight made this whole setting seem even more surreal.
Plausious raised his left hand and the Ren’mak took to the air again, hovering above him as the Reignor pointed to the side wall…then disintegrated it, pushing the debris outward so it did not cloud the chamber within.
But when the dust cleared the other Neofan saw it was not just that wall…but every wall between them and the outside, with the open air now visible through all the rubble as he shoved the last of the dust outside more than a half mile away. Even the Essence-absorbing armor had somehow been pushed through.
“Go to the portals. Star Force will not stop you. If you choose to follow me, go to Installation 0193. If you do not follow me, go to the Zotav and leave this galaxy, for if you seek to oppose me here, I will not be as merciful as Star Force was. Go now, and make your decision along the way.”
The Neofan barely moved at first, almost as if they didn’t believe they could leave…or that Plausious was truly alive. Some feared this was a gigantic illusion set up by the red tails to mock them, but once a few began to stagger step their way towards and through the first hole, the rest eventually followed, with Plausious being the last to walk out.
Then in a long line they ran or walked across the desert, finding the closest information terminals and getting their bearings, then heading off in a few different directions to the portals of their choosing, deciding to scatter in case Star Force would be following to round them up again.
Plausious let them all go ahead of him, then he and the Ren’mak made their way underground and into Caretaker territory as they reprovisioned for the journey ahead, and what would most likely be a fight to come…for he had inquired of the destination of the portal activity, and more
