Another dimension 10.2

Another Dimension Ch 10.2-”Renewal”

Earth sovereign space, approx 15 miles from last known transponder signal of The Repentance…
9 years, 364 days, 14 hours ago

“This is bravo unit 1325, everything checks out here. We’ve confirmed no signs of the prison ship or anything else, permission to return to base?” Asked the squad leader.

“Permission granted, come on home boys.” their CO responded.

“Sweet, now we can stop this crazy ghost ship and go home.” He said turning off his communicator.

“Sir what do you think we’ll ever actually find the Repentance, or do you think it’s actually gone?” His wing man asked curiously as they turned to head back to the battleship.

“It’s probably been destroyed or something, which is just as well…that scourge Plague was on board. He’s caused a lot of problems for the military in the past.”  He responded sternly.

“I see, well I’ll take your - SIR WATCHOUT!” The wingman shouted to warn his CO as a translucent form shot overhead.

The commander reacted too slowly as the form passed overhead. Both pilots feared for the worse as a glow appeared somewhere along the third party and scanned over his plane, followed by a brilliant flash which blinded them both. When they regained sight, the form was gone and everything was back to normal. Both planes stabilized and ignited their main thrusters then hightailed it back towards the battleship.

“Sir are you ok?!”

“Yes, I’m fine sergeant. Let’s get back now, we could be under attack.” The CO responded trying to exhibit calmness.

“Yes sir! Any Idea as to what the hell that thing was?” He asked excitedly in response.

“No clue, but we’ll make full report when we get back.” The CO replied as they flew off.

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U.E.D. Forces Space Destroyer Catalyst
5 hours later…

“Sir we have an unconfirmed craft initiating a docking procedure.” one of the navigation crew spoke up.

“We’ll hail it the usual 3 times, if it doesn’t reply then we will act accordingly.” Said the chief navigator.

“Unknown craft, this is U.E.D. Destroyer class Catalyst please confirm your intent or we will fire.” The navigator said acting as instructed.  “Unknown craft, this is U.E.D. Destroyer class Catalyst please confirm your intent or we will fire.” He spoke a second time. “Unknown craft, this is U.E.D. Destroyer class Catalyst please confirm your intent or we will fire-this is your final warning…” he warned for the last time.

<……>

“There’s no response, but a series of boarding codes and permits have been sent through. It could be communication issues.” He said turning back to the head navigator. “Should we bring him in?”

“Hold on just a moment.” Another one of the navigators intervened. “The data from this ship matches one of the Repentance’s escorts-how could a ship like that have just been floating around undetected until now all of a sudden?” he asked confused.

“Good point…” The head navigator spoke up. “Have an escort sent out to meet him, and bring him in. We can’t risk things if this is a set up. When we have the craft on board we will analyze it and go from there. “ He added turning back to the main screen.

“Attention unknown space craft, an escort is coming out to meet you, if you try anything outside of following them we will kill you. That is all.” The navigator spoke sliding back from his screen. “I have a feeling something major is about to go down.”

Within moments 2 fighters were out and beside the lone fighter returning to the ship. Upon closer inspection by one of the pilots, the cockpit of the new craft was totally black, making it impossible to see in, and the markings were of a different language-despite the fact this fighter was identical to theirs. He also noticed that despite the age that the craft they were escorting should be, it was in near mint condition as if it’d just left the assembly line. He shrugged it off and simply followed it to the hangar along with his wingman. After all it wasn’t their job to ask questions, just follow orders. It took no longer than 10 seconds for the new craft to be surrounded by armed guards and a few of the sentry drones.  The ranking officer stepped forward to speak but never got a chance to as a strange voice came over the intercom.

“Leave this place at once if you value your lives…a creature roams here the likes of which you could never defeat…leave now or you will share the same fate as the crew of the Repentance, to end in the belly of a warp angel. You have been warned…” the voice trailed off.

“Warp Angel…here?! That explains how a whole crew could vanish…we need to warn the bridge so we can get -out- of here. It only takes one of those she-demons to wipe out a whole crew!.” he said as he turned to go to the exit.

“I don’t think that will be necessary boys…seeing as none of you will be leaving here alive.” One of the female soldiers said stepping out from the group. “I’m going to personally enjoy all of you until I’m full-my name is Angelica, and I’ll be your hostess this evening. It’s a real pleasure to EAT you.”

The ranking officer went to reply but was quickly silenced as he floated mysteriously into the air. Everyone backed away deathly afraid as Angelica began to glow a bright white, eventually revealing her true self. With a quick flick of her wrist she sent the helpless marine flying towards the roof of the hangar. The shock became even wore as he began to shrink before their very eyes, until he was no more than an inch or so high. With an evil grin Angelica turned looking up at him, licking her lips before she dashed up towards him, her mouth now gaping open. All seemed lost for the prone man until a laser blast hit her full on sending her into the wall, followed by several more. The snared marine fell slowly to the ground  and returned to his normal size once he concentration had been broken. After awhile the dust and smoke from the impacts cleared, and her glowing eyes became the first hint of her anger. The second hint was when she got up growling and slowly stalking towards the group.

“Which one of you mongrels decided to prolong your own demise? Speak quickly and you might only have to suffer for a little while.” She asked irately eying each of the soldiers now.

“Some questions are better off without answer.” Replied a voice familiar to her.

“You…you eluded my stomach once but you wont get away again…where are you razor beast?! Stop hiding, cowardice is very unbecoming and leaves a nasty after taste.” She responded looking around anxiously.

“I’m right in front of you…” It replied.

Angelica looked back at the group of marines angrily now wondering where the fool was who’d dare taunt her. She’d find him and make him a slow painful example to rest of her meal. The marines however, now knew exactly where the voice came and they began to back away from the strange craft. The image of the pilot inside began to flicker slowly before it vanished, revealing an unconscious woman in the seat. Suddenly the sound of machinery coming to life could be heard as the seat shifted and she disappeared back within the craft and the transformation began. The nose of the jet split up the middle, turning into long, slender, and powerful arms while his hands unfolded from the ends of each arm. The miniature stabilizers that had once been along site the cockpit slid back to the elbows to become long spines. The cockpit darkened and raised up revealing his face at the front end, while a crest formed along with several horns along the sides of his head.. The landing skids at the rear split into 2 large clawed toes as the afterburner portions reformed, repositioned, and extended into legs, a portion covering over the ankle like armor plating.  The center portion extended and widen into a chest plate, as his wings moved up onto his back.  What had once been an extension of the fuselage rear, now stretched and lengthened into a long, segmented, and spiked tail. The air intake openings flipped and folded over to form large shoulder plates. Spines formed along his back, and his eyes took on their familiar glow as he stared intently at her.

“What…the…fu-” The ranking officer started.

“Get your worthless hides out of here now…this is the last time I’m going to tell you.” Plague interceded.

“Ye-yes sir!” He replied hurriedly as the marines began to flee.

“YOU!” Angelica growled. “I’ll rip you apart for this!” She added as she dashed at him.

“You lack the means necessary to back your threats creature…” he replied callously as she neared. “This time it’s over.”

Angelica smashed into Plague like a space freighter, knocking him back into the wall and enlarging to his size as she did so. She drew back to punch him with a furious growl, but was interrupted when he lunged forward with a head butt. As she flew back disoriented, he lunged forward and backhanded her into a row of jets, following up with a devastating eye laser attack. A direct hit on the one of the plane’s reactors cause a chain reaction, fueling the explosion caused by his own attack. As he stood waiting, movement caught his senses and he shot backwards out into space from the hangar, just as a brilliant flash of light hit where he was. Angelica roared furiously seeing she missed him, and shot out into space; her swords drawn and at the ready.  The first collision cast a bright light over the ship as her swords collided with Plague’s arm blades. Soon after the two pushed from on another and a dogfight out in space ensued. From the bride the captain watched as the 2 streaks of light collided into one another; a brilliant flash happening each time. Now would be their time to escape, while Plague kept the fearsome predator busy, or they could try and take her or both of them out. The ranking officer burst in through the door and gave a full report soon after, quickly changing the captain’s mind about the correct course of action.

“He told us to leave I see. I will honor his request, as it would be a shame to let his sacrifice be in vain.“ The captain said thoughtfully. “Quickly, engage the main thrusters and take us into hyper drive immediately! He ordered.

“Aye aye captain!” the head navigator responded as he began barking orders to the others.

“The humans listen for once…ha I love it.” Plague said watching the ship slowly turn in space.

“The fools! When I’m done with you…I’ll hunt them down and eat them one by one; kicking and screaming. I’ll look them in the eyes and smile before I end their miserable lives!” Angelica shouted out telepathically.

“Living is a perquisite to devouring them. One you will NOT meet!” He replied as he braced for her attack.

“You wont be so smug when you’re being dealt with by stomach acid razor beast…” she replied as she slowed to a stop in front of him. “I’ll give you a fair shot though. Meet me down on that space debris, and we will settle this once and for all.” She said as she floated down landing on the rock.

“With pleasure..” Plague replied landing as well.

There was a brief staring contest between the 2 before Angelica made the first move, dashing at him with her blades drawn. Almost instantly, one of Plague’s knee joins opened and the hilt of a sword shot out into his hand.  A brilliant red light erupted from it and took on the shape of a large great sword. With his other hand, a long red erupted from the back of his wrist-this one he’d use to fend off her extra blade. There was a large explosive force when her swords collided with his, which jarred the entirety of the rock they were fighting on. Angelica’s swipes were growing more brutal with each passing moment as she was intent on harming him to a point she could eat him. After awhile she began to bear down on him with her swords, pushing him down into the rocky surface as she attempted to break through his guard. Sparks flew creating small explosions across the ground due to the tremendous amount of energy being released from the two. With a growl Plague began to work on pushing her back slowly until she acted with a surprise attack using eye beams of her own. They impacted solidly leaving her the opportunity to plunge her swords straight through him; or at least she thought so. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Plague had an extra pair of arms witch had unfolded from the back of his main pair, each armed with a red glowing forearm blade-which were holding off her attack. She growled furiously and leapt back, opening fire on him with a series of blasts. No longer did she care to eat him, now she just wanted to rid herself of the mechanical thorn in her side. Plague parried each of her attacks with his four blades as he worked his way towards her. When the blasting stopped he dashed through the smoke only to find her gone. He stepped cautiously, swords at the ready, as he looked for her. Suddenly she burst through the ground in front of him in an attempt to impale him with one of her glowing swords. He put up a defense quick enough, but there was not need because the real attack came from behind, Angelica’s sword pierced through his back and out through his chest. While this didn’t hurt Plague too much, the blood he saw told him that Mia had also fallen victim to the attack as well, and he could feel her life force faltering through their link. The blade began to glow and siphon his energy as well as send a sensation of agony through all of his sensors. He dropped down onto one knee growling as the blade worked it’s horrible curse. Angelica didn’t even bother pulling it out, but instead just appeared before him with a contented grin on her face.

“Oh how the mighty have fallen. It’s a real shame you fell for the illusion trick, else we might still be fighting.” She taunted. “Once you’ve lost enough energy, you’ll turn back to normal…and be as weak as a child…then I will eat you.”

“Mia…MIA are you ok?!” Plague asked ignoring Angelica for now.

“Yes…yes I am ok Plague. I am sorry I did not foresee her attack…this is my fault. She replied meekly

“No it’s not…I should have left you with the humans…it’s my fault.” Plague replied with an uncharacteristically affectionate tone.

“No…My place is at your side, always and forever. We’ve been together all these years, and if we are to die today, it will be together.” Mia responded weakly.

“Oh how touching…you two are just too much.” Angelica said with a smirk. “Don’t worry…I’ll take my time with you both so your last memories will be happy ones. You needn’t worry about her dying on you razor beast, the sword I stabbed you with carries healing properties, so it’s radiation will sustain her as long as it is nearby.” She said drawing closer.

“That’s really helpful information..” Plague spoke in a pained tone standing up.

“You should save what little strength you have…else you wont be any fun to eat.” She replied mockingly. “Would you like to be dipped in caramel or chocolate first?”

“How about ashes…cause that’s all of you that’s going to remain!” He growled as his 2 lower arms reached around behind him and snapped her blade off. “This will come in handy for awhile…” He said as his wings flipped up and over his shoulders, pointed straight at her.

“Oh the little mechanical razor beast thinks he has enough energy left to kill me?” She spoke tauntingly. “Fine. Go ahead and waste all your precious energy. It just means less of a wait until dinner.”

Plague locked onto her direction with his wings, making sure to brace himself. Suddenly his wings folded back, leaving two long rails pointed at her where they’d been. A powerful blue glow began to crackle and shine between the rails as he geared up for his ultimate attack-the Armageddon Cannon. He was still gathering  power when Mia made a slight adjustment to his aim. Plague said nothing, as he trusted her with his life the same way she did him. As the attack neared completion, Angelica braced herself; years of experience had taught her prey on the ropes was even more dangerous then when healthy and at full power.

“This is it Mia…I will do my best to protect you, as I failed the rest of my team, you are the last thing I hold dear. I WILL NOT lose you.” He growled.

“It’s been my esteemed honor to be by your side al these years, and It will be my honor to die by your side.” Mia replied.

“Oh get on with it already…I hate food that takes so long to go.” Angelica growled a bit irritated now.

“ARMAGEDDON CANNON FIRE!” He shouted suddenly.

At first there was a blue flash, then a large blue pillar of light exploded from his rail gun and sped towards Angelica. She put up an energy shield to take the brunt of the attack, which did work for awhile. Slowly but surely it began to eat it’s way through to her. With a grimace, she yelped as the light washed over her and began to singe her all over. Soon after she heard the same sound from earlier, and through a cracked eye she saw Plague as he leapt into the air spinning; eventually transforming back into the space fighter and shooting towards her. She wanted to react, but his last attack was still bearing down on her to the point where it was taking everything she had to hold it off. She could only watch as he shot by her, and into what appeared to be a rend in the spatial fabric behind her-almost like a warp gate. It seemed as though his blast had created it; which was part of the reason why it didn’t hit her full force, because she was never the original target. She growled at the fact that she, one of the mightiest and most feared warp angels, had been tricked so easily by her prey.  She wanted badly to chase him and personally rip him limb from limb, but to do so could be quite unpleasant, so she could only watch as he disappeared through the rend, which closed at about the time his attack finished running it’s course. She turned and roared out in anger at the shame that had been put on her. She looked down at the ground where her broken sword lay and a slow grin came across her face.

“Go where ever you want Plague…but I will find you; even if I have to scour every dimension.” She said as she squatted down to pick it up. “Then I will make you pay for dearly for this.” She added as she turned looking to the stars.

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Plague shot through the wormhole at full speed dodging and weaving the massive energy surges that erupted from the walls. All went well till a freak surge came out of no where and shot through his body, wracking him and Mia with unimaginable pain. This also caused him to spiral out of control and hit off several of the walls till he finally broke through the dimensional fabric again, now careening through space towards a large planet. With everything messed up as bad as it was, it was impossible to tell that they were about to crash into Felarya. As Plague began to enter the atmosphere, he created a brilliant glow through the night sky drawing much attention from the inhabitants.

One such inhabitant was the elder dryad of a small forest by the name of Myria, who was thought to be very wise. She welcomed this event, as it fell in line with her vision of a hero and heroine who would come from the stars, to aid their forest and many others in future times.  Finally all of her visions had come full circle, and she could rest knowing that all would soon be ok. It is at that point she passed from the living world, to continue watching over her beloved from afar. Her massive body collapsed slowly back onto the soft earth with a peaceful thud, to which a lot of the local wildlife, and the tribe of people who dwelled nearby seemed to lament for the rest of the night. Only one more event remained to happen.

In a large ball of flame Plague shot through the sky as clouds became clearer, and the ground could be seen. He couldn’t pull himself from the dive, he couldn’t even really move, yet all his thoughts remained on Mia. He couldn’t let anything happen to her, yet he knew she would not leave him no matter if it meant certain death. There was an awkward silence for the longest until he saw the reflection of the moon on some water below-if he could hit it just right, Mia might survive even if he did not. It was then he put full effort into landing there, fighting pain and numbness in some places to turn his body towards his new landing zone. Things went according to plan, at first anyway. He managed to hit the water, skimming of the surface an skipping across like a large rock. This lead to him finally shooting onto land and through trees uncontrollably, bouncing off each one until finally he became entangled in a mass of vegetation upside down. Bruised, beaten, and now totally out of energy his body began to glow as it had when he changed, returning him back to normal, and ejecting Mia from his body. Both of them plummeted several stories to the ground below. Plague landing in the soft soil, and Mia landing on something large, soft, and green. The last thing Plague saw before he blacked out was a bright glow next to him. Mia felt her whole body begin to tingle, she thought she was dying and that the light all around her was the light that people had always talked about from near death experiences. A smile crossed her face, she felt warm, happy, and fulfilled that she’d go beside the one closet to her. She never noticed the sword shard glowing in her chest, or that the glow was coming from all around her, or even the fact that she was sinking into the “ground”. She had no idea that what she thought was the end for her and Plague, was only the beginning…

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Felarya, Myria’s resting place, Yhobtor Forest
Present…

“Ugh…my head…it hurts so much. Wait...my head…does that mean I’m not…dead.” Mia opened her eyes slowly as the thoughts went through her head. “Everything...seems weird now.  I remember the crash and…Plague…PLAGUE?!” She shouted as she began to look around frantically.

“Why are you yelling so…I’m still close to you, though I don’t know where. Are you ok Mia?” Plagues words echoed in her mind.

“Oh Artimius you’re still alive…you scared me…I thought I’d lost you.” Mia replied a bit calmer.

“Mia…well…I suppose now’s not the time to care about anyone using my real name…I’m just glad we’re ok.” He replied in a more upbeat tone. “Though I don’t know where either of us are.”

“I’ll get up and have a look around, I’m starting to feel better and better now…better than I’ve ever felt before.” She replied standing up.  “Everything looks different now…like I’m floating in the air.”

“I can see it all, and it’s weird. I thought the trees were gigantic when we came here, now I can see the tops of some. Something is amiss here. Perhaps we should retrace everything back to the lake…there might be some clues we passed or something.” He replied thoughtfully.

“Sound’s good, I could use a drink and I’m starting to get kinda hungry.” She said as her stomach growled some.

Compared to the time it took them to crash where they did, it was actually a very short walk to the lake. During which time, Mia could feel out and hear a lot more then normal; a fact which made her begin to feel uneasy. She knew something was off now and it was just going to be a matter of figuring out what it was. When they reached the lake she was definitely sure something was different as along the way she’d heard the sounds of humans running and screaming along the way. Mia got down on all fours to get a drink from the water, but when she saw her reflection she nearly screamed. Her skin had changed to a light shade of green,  along with her eyes which were a dark color of green. Her hair was now a mass of leaves and vines, with large blossoms of her favorite flower here and there. Her facial features remained the same and she was relieved to still be as beautiful as she was before this all started.  She raised up a bit more to see a necklace of sorts, made from entwining vines and blossoms that had formed around her neck. She was a bit more shucked to see that the center piece was an amber gem that was about human sized which held her companion. He was curled up into a ball and in a state of suspended animation, as well as in the lowest power state a razor beast can take. Most of his reptilian features were gone and he now closely resembled a human, bar his small horns, claws, and spines here and there. His head was covered in something resembling hair, though it seemed more like feathers, and like Mia he was stark naked. There were also vines that ran into the amber around him like somewhat of an umbilical cord to help restore and sustain him. She stood straight back up and admired her reflection in the water more closely. She noticed her unclothed body quick enough, which answered why she felt such a draft. She also noticed that she was now gigantic, standing about 90-100 ft she estimated. Other things she noted were here dramatically increased bust size-something she’d always been self conscious about, and the vines which wrapped themselves about her ankles and wrists. She began to wish she could at least cover her more private areas, especially now that she was so large. To her surprise her body began to sprout vines which enveloped themselves around her to fashion somewhat of a bikini on her; it even had flowers and everything. She smiled at the change and looked around a bit trying to decide which direction to go.

“This certainly is an interesting development, but I suppose we should move from this spot and do some exploring.” Mia said.

“You’re sounding a bit more chipper now.” Plague replied. “I take it you like the most recent series of events?”

“Not totally, but I’ll adapt. I do however like the fact that I have you close and safe, like you did for me.” She replied with a giggle.

“Yes I know. Maybe you should find some locals and as them about this place, although the way they ran looks like it might be somewhat difficult.” He said teasingly.

“Whatever, you know for a centerpiece you sure are being mean-but right now I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She said with a grin. “As a matter of fa-” She stopped noticing something hit her foot.

She looked down noticing the man laying on his back now after having plowed into her full force. Upon looking up and seeing her he began to panic now fearing the worse and turned tail to run. He wasn’t fast enough however, as Mia quickly and carefully scooped him up. She brought his trembling for up to her face for closer inspection. He was dressed like an explorer of some sort and had a good bit of traveling equipment to support this idea. What she couldn’t figure out was why he was so scared so, sure she was large, but she was also covered in flowers of all things.

“Why are you so scared? I’m not going to harm you; I just wanted to ask you a few questions.” Mia said breaking the silence.

“Please don’t e-wait…you’re NOT going to eat me?” He asked looking into her big green eyes now.

“Uh no, why would I want to do that? You’re a human being not an animal.” Mia replied still trying to ease him.

“But you’re a dryad…they eat humans and every other thing smaller than them like most the other predators of Felarya.” the man replied.

“I see…so that’s where we are and why you’re so scared.” she replied thoughtfully. “You say other predators, what do you mean by that?”

“Welll dryads, nagas, fairies, elves, dridders, mermaids, giantesses just to name a few-and those are the onese who can talk-most love humans and they all like to play around with us before they eat us. From what I’ve heard, and seen…the people are alive when they swallow them, and they enjoy every moment of it. From the eating, to the swallowing, to the last struggles from within their stomachs…all of it.” He said starting to relax some.

“They sound like the Amazons from where we’re from-except it doesn’t sound like they spare women or anyone for that matter.” Plague said thoughtfully. “We’d better exercise caution here.” He added.

“Oh you just sit in there and work on getting better, I’ll worry about things out here-it’s my turn to protect you for a change.” She said speaking through their link. “Well don’t you worry mister; I have no intention of eating you or anyone else-but I would like to find something to eat-so I can sustain myself and my friend. Perhaps you know a way out of here?”

“Well yes, there’s a village not too far from here, which used to worship the local dryad-sorta. She kept mos things away from their place, and things grew well. The only thing they had to remember was not to wonder out of town. To do so was to end in her belly, but she passed awhile ago, so you could probably get favors from them for awhile, least till you’re ready to move on your way.” The explorer replied.

“Thank you, your kindness shouldn’t go without reward, tell me what you were running from?” She asked curiously.

“A giantess…she caught my expidition party by surprise…we begged, pleaded, but all to no avail-everyone save myself was devoured.” he said lowering his head. “I just ran and ran, then I ran into you and I thought for sure I was a goner. The only known merciful dryad lives someone where called the jungle bowl. I believe her name is Cyrpress.”

“Hmm, after I find this villiage, perhaps I should find her. Maybe she can teach me some about being a dryad, because I’ve no idea of what to do.” Mia replied with a smile. “I will take you to safety though, since you gave me so much information.

“You don’t know what to do?! Wha did you do, sprout over night?!” The man asked bewildered.

“Not a clue, I passed out a beautiful young woman, and woke up a giant sexy tree lady.” She said winking at him as she started walking in the general direction of the villiage.

“…Well…this day just get’s weirder and weirder…” He said with a sigh as he flopped back into her palm looking up at the sky.

“Humans…” Plague grumbled.

Mia only laughed abit at the small man in her palm as she walked; today was the first day of a new life for her her love, though she’d never tell him that right now. Nor would she tell him how much she enjoyed being the protective one right now. All that matter right now was the fact that they were both alive, healthy, and together…