4 The dark galaxy

I see a celestial dome flooded with stars. A sky as beautiful and magnificent as the ancient darkness of the universe, which wraps me with its eternal night despite the suns that shine in its firmament. I am looking at galaxies that do not belong to my world and constellations whose names I do not know. I see all this through a large circular window in a high ceiling.

I am lying on a comfortable waterbed that occupies the center of a quadrangular room with white walls. I am wearing hospital pajamas. How did I get to this place? I asked myself.

Suddenly one of the walls opens, like a huge sliding door, and a metal owl floats in.

"You finally wake up!" - Says the robotic owl, while he looks at me carefully. - do not panic, I am an owl-bot and I am here to analyze your capabilities and update you on what is happening in this strange world.

I don't know where I am, although little by little I begin to remember something: Spiral arms… Unknown universe… Oscurantia. What are those memories that I just had? I thought.

"You look pretty sturdy." Surely in your universe of origin, you were some kind of fighter. I like that. We could use someone strong and skilled in combat - Said the owl-bot.

-Where I am? - Ask the robotic owl a little confused.

"You are on the planet Proxima K. This planet is inhabited mostly by humans." Many of them explore this universe in search of tiny white holes. White holes are shaped like spheres of radiant light. All Astral agents come out of one of them. When the inhabitants of this planet find any of those spheres, they bring them to this research center, to keep and care for them until Astral agents come out of them, just like you. - Responds to the owl-bot.

"But I'm not an astral agent." - Affirm.

-Oh no? Well, in this dimension you are. Otherwise, you would not have been able to access this universe. You'll see. You are in this medical room because the transfer from your universe of origin to this other has weakened you a lot. The thing is, I made you call because we need people like you to help us. Astral Agents can cross dimensions, even travel to the past!

This bird is crazy. I thought.

"By the way… what planet are you from?"

"I'm from planet Earth." - I replied.

"Oh!" Planet Earth! It ceased to exist eons ago. It was absorbed by one of the suns of the ancient Milky Way. But don't worry about it. The "humanity" saved its skin by migrating to other planets and other dimensions. That is why in many parts of this Universe they are called Colonizers. Although it is curious. Why was a planet that was 71% covered in water called earth? Shouldn't we call it the Water planet?

"Maybe, but those of us who named it lived on land." - Affirm.

"Typical of his kind." Their life takes place on earth and that is why they called the entire planet that way. I truly believe that any other race with refined linguistic abilities would have done the same. I think it is time that we do more interesting things ... As I told you before, we need people like you to help us.

The robot settled on my shoulder and I turned off the light. His eyes shine in the dark like two flashlights that shine their light on the wall, like a movie theater. Then I saw a movie in which planets, galaxies, Martians, and spaceships appear.

"We are in the year 20 after the extinction of the Amesok system." For millennia, humanity has spread across many universes and mixed with all kinds of weird creatures.

At that moment I looked at the owl-bot. I shrugged and let it continue.

"One day we discovered a distant galaxy." We call it Oscurantia. That galaxy had always been there, but it was so dark that many of our astronomers hadn't seen it before. We only know about her what the advice of Leukologists tells us.

"What's this about the extinction of Amesok?" - I asked for.

-You'll see. Amesok was a nearby planetary system that became extinct about two decades ago, when its central star, called Betelgeuse Beta, became a supernova that ate the entire system. After that Betelgeuse accumulated so much mass that it transformed into a black hole. This black hole is the one that we believe has created the wormhole on the edge of our planetary system.

"What is the Council of Leukologists?"

"The Council of Leukologists is a group of scientists." They are of many races and among them, there are also robots. The Leukologists are the only ones who know the secret to travel at the speed of light ... Or so they say. The symbol of the Council is a sun with a face.

"Where are these Leukologists?" - I asked with great curiosity.

"You never know where they are." It is very difficult to find them, but they can find you if they want. They are students of Light, and if something important happens in this universe they sure know. - The owl answered.

"What else do you know about Oscurantia?"

"According to the Leukologists, Oscurantia is ruled by someone known as Entropy." We don't know what kind of creature it is. Entropy has many servants leaving Oscurantia to wreak havoc and disorder on other planets.

"Are those servers very dangerous?" - I asked with a little fear.

"Many of them are dangerous." That is why it is important that you strengthen yourself and learn more about Oscurantia. And I wanted to get to this part ... We don't want to send anyone else to Oscurantia. The dark galaxy is so far away that it would take several generations to get there. Well, I would rather say that you would never arrive, but maybe your great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren. Fifty years ago we sent out a group of explorers but we still don't know anything about them. Hopefully, their descendants will reach the dark galaxy. So by removing this option there are only 2 ways to get there. The first is traveling at the speed of light, and only the council of Leukologists knows that secret.

"And why don't you ask those Leukologists for help?"

"Because nobody knows where they are." They also keep the secret of light-speed travel with great suspicion. Leukologists are creatures with many secrets. Now that Entropy is back on track, the leukologists' survival depends on their discretion.

"And what is the second way to get there?"

"Through a wormhole." A kind of shortcut through space and time. A short time ago a wormhole appeared near where the Amesok system was, on the edge of our solar system. The entropy servers came out of the wormhole wreaking havoc on the habitable planets of our system, so we believe that on the other side must be the central base of Entropy. However, the entrance is heavily guarded. But we believe that if an astral agent like you enters that space tunnel, he could reach Oscurantia in the blink of an eye and defeat Entropy. It is a dangerous mission, but you will have the best spaceship and the best crew with you.

- Tell me more about this strange Universe.

- You see, in this dimension you will find very strange creatures, and many of them may remind you of those that only appear in the stories of your home planet ... You know: cyclops, elves, gamusinos, polar bears, and stuff.

- Wait ... Polar bears are not fairy tale creatures. Are real. - He answered stunned.

-Yes? Perhaps polar bears were real before global warming melted the poles on planet Earth, but after that, they became fairy tale creatures, as fantastic as dragons, gnomes, or gorillas.

"But gorillas are real too!" - I answered surprised.

-Seriously? I will have to update my database. Gorillas may have been real before hunting and habitat destruction ended them, but after that, they became fantastic creatures, like unicorns, leviathan, or Bengal tiger. - The owl affirmed.

"But the Bengal tiger ...!" It's the same, let's just leave it at that.

- In this universe, there are many ideas from your homeland that have taken a form. That they have a body. Perhaps on your home planet, the word "Entropy" is just that, a word that explains something very rare and complicated. But here, entropy is the empress of the dark galaxy. It's someone. It is a creature. Although we do not know very well what kind of creature. I can also tell you that there are many universes, and they can be traveled through dimensional portals. You see, it is as if your mind were a spaceship, and thanks to it you can travel to wonderful places and travel great distances ...

The robotic bird keeps talking to me, but I lost myself in my thoughts: "dimensional portals?" I whispered. "My mind a spaceship? ... Can my memory palace connect with other worlds at that level?" Everything is very strange and confusing. Little by little I came to my senses, and the bird finished talking.

"... And that's why there's no time to waste." - He concluded.

"We have to go to the Space Station first to measure your combat capabilities and choose a ship."

We left the research center and at last, I saw the landscape of the planet Proxima K. It is a cold planet with great mountains in the distance covered with snow.

"To go to the Space Station we have to take a shuttle," said the owl-bot.

We ride on some strange vehicles that move fast on the ice of that cold planet until we reach the place where the ferries are: a kind of airport with roofs that are dome-shaped. Everywhere I see small special ships the size of a car and shaped like an acorn. The owl-bot calls her "Navellotas." We leave the vehicle that has taken us there and then we get on one of the ferries Spatial.

The boats are very well equipped and easy to handle. Simply give a simple command with your voice and the ship will soon carry out the task.

The mechanical owl instructs the small ship to take off. There is a slight shaking. I buckle up and shortly after the ship takes off.

I felt the pressure of takeoff all over my body and the speed of the ship made my stomach tingle slightly.

A few hours later we reached the space station.

- This is the Chimera Space Station (E.E.Q.) - the robotic owl tells me as the ship lands.

The navellota is attached to the large platform and the hatch that leads into the station is opened. Then we walk down a corridor to another door that leads to a room where a group of people is analyzing us. After reviewing our team and confirming who we are. They welcome us and let us pass.

- They're glad you're with us. Having an astral agent saves us a lot of trouble. And well. Now things are a bit tense on the chimera space station.

"Why is the situation tense?" - I asked indifferently.

- Certain crew members are very pissed off. Here in the E.E.Q. We are mixed with many creatures of many species and different characteristics. A very mixed bag. Sometimes coexistence is not easy. But let's cut the gossip now and go get some weapons before we head to the training ground.

The owl-bot led me to a warehouse full of weapons:

"Perhaps there is something to your liking in this room." - Said the owl. - Warriors like you are good at hand-to-hand combat. The best thing we have here for you is this Energy Sword.

I took the sword and wielded it, a rush of enthusiasm shaking my body. The owl-bot tells me that I can keep it forever.

Then the two of us left that room and walked down a long, white corridor with glowing walls to a circular patio, covered by a glass dome through which the light of the stars filtered. The room is full of plastic robots. They look like test dummies.

"Let's see your combat capabilities." This is the training room of the space station. You will fight one of these mannequins. - says the owl while hovering over one of the plastic robots. - So when you're ready, tell me and I'll activate it.

- Wait ... And you are not going to give me an armor? - I asked the owl.

"You've had armor since you stepped on this world, you just can't see it." As you travel through this dimension, you will be protected by a magnetic field that will help you deflect attacks. "The owl clarified.

- It's okay. Activate the mannequin!

As soon as they activated the system, a mannequin started running towards me. His movements look very real, I have to attack carefully.

He quickly shifted my body to the side of the mannequin and with a single movement of my energy sword, I split it in half.

It has not been difficult at all. The owl doesn't seem surprised.

"Well, you had to start with something simple." Now ... - says the robotic owl.

At that moment a pair of training robots comes running towards me. The owl-bot gives them the order to stop, but the dummies do not obey.

"They are out of control!" - yells the robotic owl.

"Don't worry," I said, "This is a piece of cake."

-Not. I'm afraid you don't understand ...

The lights of the space station go out, leaving only the red alarm light on. A beep sounds from all sides and a synthetic voice does not stop repeating a message over the public address system.

-Danger! Asimov's laws have been broken. Danger! Asimov's laws have been broken ...

The owl-bot looked at me

"The problem is not these simple mannequins." All the robots on the space station have rebelled! - Said the robotic owl in alarm.

When I realized it I had the test dummies right in front of me, ready to attack me and end my life. Without thinking twice he ducked me into a left turn and cut both machines' legs.

The two training robots fall before me. Outside, along the corridor, I hear heavy footsteps approaching where I was at high speed.

"More are coming." - The owl tells me. - And these are not simple mannequins.

- What can we do? - I answered scared.

"We have to go find the mechanic." He will know what to do. But we cannot afford delays. There is no time to lose…

"Go get the mechanic, I'll stop the rebels!" - I said while he armed me with courage.

The owobot flies out of the training yard. There aren't many places to hide, except for the occasional post made of a foam-like material and a far corner of the room that remains dim. The enemy is getting closer and closer to the entrance to the training yard. I have to decide what to do before it's too late.

It filled me with so much courage that I decided to face the threat face to face. So I went out into the hallway and assaulted the enemy, whatever it is.

I left the patio and right in front of me I see a large android made of dark metal advancing in my direction, running at high speed down the hall. The confrontation is inevitable. He is a short distance from me.

The android takes advantage and shoots a laser beam at me that comes out of his eyes. I was going so fast that I couldn't dodge the beam. It hit my left shoulder. It was not a direct hit so the wound is not that serious. The android started recharging his beam again, I had to do something quickly before he shoots me again with his beam. I'm not close enough to make a melee attack. So I threw my lightsaber at him, stabbing it in the eye where he was charging the laser. Taking advantage of that moment I ran very fast in the direction of the android, I jumped and took my light sword again. Just when I took my sword the android took me by the arm and threw me against the wall.

I got up as fast as I could, the android launched itself to attack me again. But this time I can't hurt myself. I slid quickly between his legs, falling behind the android. I made a diagonal cut on his back, which divided him into 2 parts.

If it was that difficult to beat one, I don't want to imagine what would happen if more than one came at the same time. I thought.

I was just beginning to catch my breath when a space trooper from the station approached the hatch to the training yard. He is defending himself against the blows of five dark metal droids, parrying the blows with a kind of long spear. On the other side of the hall, you can still hear metallic footsteps. They were surrounding us. I have no choice, I have to defend myself and help the soldier.

The soldier managed to get rid of an android. I run in the direction of the soldier to help him. I lean on an android corpse that is on the floor and jump, I get very high. I took advantage of that to stick my sword in the head of an android. As soon as I fell to the ground, I cut the right leg of the android in front of me, causing it to fall. I take advantage and stab my sword in his chest. As I pulled my lightsaber from his chest, another android hit me from the back, I fell to the ground instantly. It was such a strong blow that I had a hard time getting up, I turned around and I see the android charging the laser beam. He was ready to go through me and end my life. Will he end up like this? I thought. I closed my eyes and prepared for my imminent end. Suddenly I heard a noise like sparks and metal breaking. I opened my eyes and saw the android pierced by the spear of the space soldier. I save my life right at the last moment.

The soldier was very badly wounded. I fall to the ground after killing the android. He brought me closer to the soldier. The combat has been very hard. His injuries are very serious but he is still breathing, I can not do anything to help him, I could only see the brightness of his eyes fade.

The alarm keeps sounding and repeating the same words: Danger! Asimov's laws have been broken ...

Finally, the space soldier falls into a deep sleep from which it is impossible to wake up. The soldier's spear of light went out with him.

No alternative. I can't stay here it will be crazy, I have to get out of here. I have to find the owl-bot and the mechanic. I thought.

I walked at a brisk pace through the now red corridors of the space station and aimlessly, my wounds were stopping bleeding, but I was still in a lot of pain. I was just beginning my training in this place. I am in an unknown place, without a map to serve as a means of orientation and that damn alarm does not stop ringing.

I hear cries for help. They seem to come from the top floor. I have no better direction to take so I decided to follow the voices, I reached some stairs that go up. Suddenly the screaming stops.

Upstairs I come to a large cabin, although what I see is not what I expected. Scorched clothing and scraps of metal are strewn all over the cabin as if a fight had taken place. Before me, a tall dark metal android stands and watches me. Seconds later his eyes start to glow, but I barely have time to react when a laser shot knocks the android down. Behind him is the man who shot. He is bald, has long sideburns, and wields a ray gun.

"Just about… If that android had ever shot you with his eye laser beam, he would have made you mush."

"I'm looking for the mechanic and…" The bald man interrupts me.

-The mechanic? He is there. - The man points to a pile of scorched clothes. - Or rather he was him. He has been struck down by the dark metal droids that have attacked the room. They have rebelled on a grand scale. Yeah, those types of androids that almost killed you. You're welcome to save your life.

I'm going to thank him but the man interrupts me again Clicking his tongue.

"Come on, there's no time to be thankful for anything." The only way out is to activate the hyper-magnetic field in the main computer room. Come on, we have to hurry.

"I…" The man interrupts me again.

- Pleased to meet you. I am Rocius. Go!

I understood that the situation is critical and that you have to act quickly. There is not much time to talk. I followed Rocius down the stairs and a tremor makes the entire space station vibrate. Then I heard a loud crash coming from the room we had left, followed by a strong feeling of pressure that dragged us back. I feel like I'm short of breath, but we made it to the room below and closed the floodgates that we passed through.

-What was missing. - Rocius says resigned as we run through the corridors of the station, flooded with intense red light.

-What happens? - I asked for.

"They are also attacking us from outside." We are being dragged and thrown off the planet. We will soon have surpassed the layers of the atmosphere and I doubt that the space station will last much longer like this.

I followed the bald man through the corridors of the E.E.Q. Despite the noise of the alarm, I hear Rocius speaking to me, increasing the volume of his voice.

"We're closer to the elevator." Under this floor is the central computer.

The man with the long sideburns guides me to a mechanical elevator. We descend to a large room where a battle is raging. Rebel robots and androids fight and blast lightning bolts against space station soldiers and other crewmembers, who fight using lightsabers, ray guns, and energy bows. This is real chaos and the noise is almost unbearable. The man turns to me and screams.

"The central computer is on this floor!" Get out of this room and go to opening 87! Runs! I'll cover for you!

I left the room in search of opening 87. I crossed the room dodging blows and looking for cover from ranged attacks. I finally managed to put the fight behind me. I have just come to a circular cabin with twenty numbered openings. The openings are shaped like semicircular arches and, although they do not have doors, a force field prevents anyone from entering or leaving them. There are remains of broken robots and charred clothing everywhere.

I'm heading for opening 87. His force field is weakened, but it might be dangerous to pass through.

I dove into the opening and through the force field, although the pass hurt me badly. I find myself in a small room in the center of which a huge black wired sphere levitates with hundreds of mini-screens embedded in its curved surface. It is the central computer. There must be some way to disable the robots. Then I notice that in one of the parts of the computer there are a series of instructions accompanied by strange signs.

Behind me, a group of rogue robots is running towards me. He tried to stay calm. I turn my attention back to the central computer and see that just below these instructions are a series of symbols.

Next to these symbols, there is a numeric keypad. I must type the correct code.

There were three buttons and just above a table that had these symbols

• •• ••• •••• -

The power button has three dots, the reset button has a dot and a line, and the hyper-magnetic field activation button has four dots and four lines. I get it!. I thought.

After typing in the correct sequence I heard a "click" followed by a loud shaking. In a matter of seconds, the central computer overheats, slightly increasing the temperature of that small room. From the floor and ceiling a series of elongated grooves and undulating shapes open, and a strong shock wave lifts me into the air, causing me to fall on my back but without suffering any injury.

The group of androids running in my direction has fallen to the ground as if it were a group of marionettes whose invisible strings have been cut. Some of them even disarm during the fall.

The noises of fighting cease. The rebellion is over! But we can hardly celebrate anything, as the space station is once again shaken up.

"We continue to be attacked from outside!" They are opening fire from different fronts! "I heard someone say."

"We have been dragged out of the planet's atmosphere!" This cannot be the work of space pirates!

Says another voice that I do not know.

"Where are the defenders?" You have to send a message to…!

Another harsh jolt still vibrates the E.E.Q. We all stagger and some fall to the ground. That becomes a "for himself who can." Chaos and lack of control have taken over the space station and all the crew members are running in search of life-saving ships and escape pods.

In the midst of the confusion, Rocius walks over to me.

"Quick, there's not much else to do here." Not many escape pods left. Follow me! You are lucky that Be a good pilot ...

We run to another of the openings near the central computer. Due to the attacks that the E.E.Q. He is suffering, the force fields of the openings have been neutralized and we can easily access one of the escape cabins. The cabins are dark and ovoid, they do not fit more than two people and they only have a screen that serves as a window to see the outside.

We enter one of them and my companion closes the door of the capsule. He sits at the controls and tells me to buckle up.

In a matter of seconds, the capsule is ejected from the space station. Luckily none of the enemy ships that were attacking the E.E.Q. It haunts us, but we can't get very far.

"We only have 2 options." - My bald companion tells me while he pilots the cockpit. - The first one is to terrorize Anaximandra, one of the two moons of the planet Miletus. It is the closest place to where we are. The other option is a little crazier. Enter the Wormhole that will probably lead us to Oscurantia, but we would surely be attacked or shot down by the followers of Diloria who guard its entrance. What should we do?.

"We'd better go to Anaximandra," I said uncertainly.

We headed for the moon Anaximandra. During the trip, my companion struck up a conversation.

—Anaximandra is uninhabited, but the planet Miletus is not. A small area of ​​Miletus inhabits a race of primitive and hostile creatures. When we discovered that, our star government immediately prohibited anyone from landing on Miletus.

-Why?. - I asked for.

- To protect the habitat of the Millennials. It is an unintelligent civilization that is still developing, and the law says that no one should interfere with primitive civilizations, or extract resources or raw materials from your planet. No, at least, for now.

When we have been in space for several hours, an asteroid field appears before us.

- Oh no! - Exclaim. My companion looks at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

-What happens?

- An asteroid field!

-... Y?

"What do you mean" ... and "Let's crash! - I said while my companion burst out laughing.

-LOL! I think you've seen too many science fiction movies. Going through an asteroid field is not as risky as you might think. You could even do it with your eyes closed.

This is certainly the case because when we are closer to the asteroid field, I found that the distance between the huge boulders is very long.

- If it were so easy to collide with any of these large stones, it would also be very likely that they would hit each other constantly. This is soooo easy. - affirmed Rocius.

And with that said, we crossed the asteroid field without any mishap ... or emotion.

At last, we can see the moon Miletus before our eyes.

We experience a soft landing on Anaximandra and Rocius prepares things to go.

"I've captured a nearby enemy base on the radar." - He tells me while we put on the spacesuits to walk safely on the lunar surface. - Maybe we can find something of interest there.

-What's the plan?

-Sincerely? I have no idea. LOL!

This bald man is like a goat. I thought as Rocius kept talking.

"Although we could steal a ship from the enemy camp and go on a crazy journey to Oscurantia to defeat Diloria." You and I. Maybe it is not what you had in mind from the beginning but ... The capsule is no longer useful for making more trips. That is why we have to get another means of transport.

-

So you propose that we infiltrate the enemy base and steal a ship. - I affirmed.

-Exactly! We have to be stealthy as a cat-bot and fast as a photon because surely our capsule has also appeared on the enemy's radar. They may even send space troopers to find the exact position of our capsule and confirm our landing. And then they will start looking for us. But by the time that happens I hope we are a long way from here.

-I understand…

"Well, ready?"

We walked for hours until we saw a dozen small metal bunkers grouped within a crystalline semi-sphere. It is a camp and it is full of enemies.

We hide behind one of the large craters so as not to be seen. From where we are we can only see an entrance to the camp, but it is watched by small drones that constantly fly over the area. My companion comments frustrated that it is impossible to enter.

"Besides ..." he continues, "Where the hell are the ships?" I only see bunkers from here. The camp can't be that small!

I certainly don't see any spaceships around, which is very strange. Then I fix my gaze on the ground. I see with difficulty that a thick black circle surrounds the perimeter of the enemy camp. I keep my eyes on him Traveled in that circumference and contemplated with amazement that it also passes a few meters from the crater where we are hidden.

-Now I understand it all. There is an underground base that extends beyond the enemy camp. This long black line delimits the dimensions of the base hidden under the lunar surface. Maybe the ships are right under our feet. "Rocius told me.

- Does this mean that when a ship takes off from the enemy camp, does this black line open and reveal the interior of the underground base? As if it were some kind of huge hatch through which ships leave the moon? - I asked Rocius.

- Exactly. Any ideas?

"It occurs to me that we can wait until a ship leaves the underground base and then get inside before it closes again." We still have enough oxygen in our suits to last several hours alive.

We stayed hidden behind the great crater. Our special suits announce that oxygen reserves are at 10%

Barely an hour passes when an enemy ship flies overhead and approaches the enemy camp. Then the ground begins to shake and opens a few meters in front of us, revealing a large, circular underground airfield that surrounds the camp.

The enemy ship lands on the underground airfield and almost momentarily thereafter, the ground begins to close before our eyes to once again cover that secret airstrip.

Without wasting time we jumped into the airfield, falling on one of the many ships that are parked there.

Above us, the dirt roof closes and the blue and yellow lights of the secret airfield allow us to see its interior.

The enemy ship finishes landing. From this emerge two humanoid figures dressed in elongated helmets and archaic armor. The figures remove their helmets and we gaze in horror that they are two hyena-like creatures that walk upright. They haven't seen us even though we fell very close to their ship.

Those humanoids can breathe without their helmets inside the airfield, so we tried taking ours off. We can indeed breathe inside those facilities. So we deactivate our spacesuits.

The hyenas make sure to shut down the ship's engines and then start a heated argument in a language I don't understand.

The creatures continue to exchange grunts as they move slowly down the airfield's center runway. Moving further and further away from our position.

We run silently between the ships until we catch up with the hyena soldiers. Then we pounced on them, knocking them out without difficulty.

We hide the bodies and then put on their armor and cover our heads with their helmets.

"Wow!" - My bald companion exclaims - This armor smells terrible.

"Yes, I know," I affirm, "mine also smells a little weird." I think these animals don't know what soap is.

-The fact that?

I looked surprised at my companion.

-Does not matter. - I told.

"I found this utensil in one of the hyena man's pockets I searched."

My companion shows me a transparent object, it looked like a diamond, along whose edges a white light slowly walks. We assume that it is some kind of key or activator.

I propose to draw up a more concrete plan, but first of all, Rocius approaches me.

"I have understood a few individual words from the hyena-men conversation."

"What were they talking about?" - I asked for.

"They were saying something about a captured captain and they were also talking about a very valuable mineral that they haven't found yet."

"Hmm…" I muttered. - interesting.

"Yes ... and very valuable." - Rocius says smiling and raising his eyebrows over and over again.

We left the airfield behind. Now the metallic echoes of our footsteps are lost along with the corrector we walk through, made up of blued aluminum plates.

At the end of the corridor is a hatch guarded by two quadrupeds, green-skinned guards. They are armed with maces. They have not sounded the alarm when they see us approaching, as we have the hyena-man helmets equipped. So we keep calm.

When we are close, one of them looks at us and grunts.

"Gerrr orr unrrg-unr."

I remained in total silence since I did not know what to answer. When I don't respond, the quadruped that has spoken to me squints his eyes in anger, while his companion raises her hand to his weapon.

The angry henchman asks me a question in his language, and since I don't understand him, I keep my silence, but I start to get nervous. So I looked at my partner and noticed that we both thought the same thing. Each one makes a quick attack and we immobilize them. We took down the quadruped minions and used the diamond my partner found to open the door. We pass to the other side and the gate closes behind us.

We accessed a small antechamber With a gate on each side and an elevator in front. Near one of the hatches is a pile of smelly clothing, as well as dented armor and some helmets. They are identical to those worn by the hyena-men.

We ride the elevator and it automatically ascends to the first floor, as there is no more. My companion kills the typical awkward silence of the elevator by giving me some small talk:

"It's being a piece of cake for now." Don't you think

At that moment the doors open and an army of quadruped minions appear before us.

We gulp, but they act like nothing. They are divided into groups. Some play cards, some drink, some laugh. Some sleep and many others fiddle with buttons in an open room full of machines and computers. There are also hyena-men who entertain themselves by wrestling or fighting among themselves.

Without thinking twice I pressed the button for the ground floor and we returned to the antechamber of the airfield and took the door on the right.

We brought my partner's diamond to the door on the right and it opened.

On the other side, there is a ramp that descends to a two-story corridor, on the sides of which we can see a series of cells blocked by electronic and flashing bars. It's surprising there aren't any guards around here.

Rocius walks near the cells, looking into the cells through the gaps between the electric bars. He starts to pick up his pace and I follow him. Almost all the cells are empty and those that do not have only male prisoners ... Except one.

We stopped in one of the cells at the end, in which a woman is lying on the floor. She is sleeping, Rocius approaches and whispers something.

"Captain? ... Are you the captain?"

The woman snuggles closer and whispers something.

"Mmmm ... I don't want to wear the diving suit ... The crew will laugh at me."

Without a doubt, he is dreaming. Rocius finally screams.

"Captain!"

The woman suddenly wakes up, scared. When she sees us she quickly leans back, sticking her back to the far wall of the cell. We take off our helmets and the prisoner looks at us with a suspicious expression.

"You are not like those henchmen." - She says.

-No, we are not. We try to defeat Diloria. - Rocius comes forward. - We come from the E.E.Q. Which suffered a robotic rebellion and a ship attack by Diloria's followers. Our emergency capsule made it to this Moon.

-Yes. - continue telling the story. - We infiltrate this secret base and hear some hyena soldiers say something about a captured captain. We have assumed that it is you.

She affirms with her head.

"If we free you, you could help us get out of here, right?"

The woman looks at us in surprise.

-The enemies of my enemies are my friends. I am candara, one of the captains of the council of leukologists. If they take me out of this cell, we can go after Diloria. For that, you have to go through the Wormhole that is open near this planetary system. I recently overheard a conversation between two guards. They said they were going to send a squadron of ships there, but I don't know why. We could sneak in.

"Where is your ship?" - I asked for.

-I do not know. I also don't know where my belongings are. We will have to capture an enemy ship without attracting attention and leave with the rest when they take off. Do you know any way to get out of here?

Rocius uses the diamond to open the cell, freeing Candara. He then handed over to the captain some weapons and armor that she was wearing on top of her.

"It's not much, but it will be enough to defend me." - Says the captain.

We report to Candara and then run in the direction of the airfield, staying hidden near one of the spaceships.

We use the diamond to unlock the hatch of one of the spaceships at the airfield. Then we go into it and hide.

While we wait for the top of the airfield to open.

"What are Diloria's plans?"

"As far as I know, Empress Diloria discovered the secret place where the council of leukologists meets." Since she got it, she has been capturing all the council members and trying to learn more about the secrets of light and heat. Regarding what she intends ... I'm not sure, but I suspect that she has to do with the end of the universe. She is completely crazy.

"Why is Oscurantia such a dark galaxy?" - I asked.

—Well, Entropy knows the secret to retain light and prevent it from traveling through the universe, that is why her galaxy is the darkest of all, and perhaps also the coldest. It is practically invisible in the blackness of the cosmos. I think Diloria uses gravity to hold the light particles. Did you know that Black Holes are black precisely because of that? They are like places where a great gravitational force is concentrated. And the gravity in them is so strong that not even the light that runs near them Black holes can escape from them. It is as if they were "huge magnets". They gobble it all up!

"What exactly is your proposal?"

"The Empress of Oscurantia has kidnapped the Leukologists." We must find Diloria and make her tell us where she has the members of the Council captured. I know it's not easy, but if we manage to capture her she might reveal information to us. We cannot endanger more people, and the secrets of the Council of Leukologists must remain secret, so this mission is up to us.

A few minutes later we heard the sound of multiple footsteps. A squad of man-hyenas head to their ships. A couple of hyena pilots enter the ship in which we had hidden.

When everyone is ready, the roof of the airfield opens again and the spaceships start their engines.

The spaceships take off, and so do ours. When we see the right moment, we launch a surprise attack on the pilots. We encountered no resistance in capturing them. So we tied them up and took control of the ship.

We followed the rest of the enemy ships and soon we left Anaximandra behind.

Everything is going according to plan.

After thirty hours of travel, we arrive at what we assume to be the wormhole.

Through the windows of the spaceship, we see how space folds over itself, forming a kind of gigantic cylinder made of night canvas and stars stamped on its folded surface. It is strange, immense, and in its own way beautiful. But at the same time, it instills terror.

"Get ready!" - I exclaim.

The ships that make up the enemy squad disappear from view one by one.

I cling to the chair, clenching my teeth, and… We step into the starry blackness of the Wormhole.

We travel for several days, dragged by a powerful gravitational force until we no longer have a sensation of movement. The journey through the Wormhole can take months, or even years, so we enter the cryopreservation chambers and fall into a long, deep sleep.

When we woke up, the blanket of stars that enveloped our ship has suddenly vanished and the wounds on my body had healed, I am as good as new. We take back manual control of the ship. The energy system is momentarily bypassed and all the lights go out, although they soon return to normal.

We had come out of the Wormhole.

"How long has it been?" I asked, "Where are we?"

"It's been six months." This must be obscurantia - responds my bald companion - It is a galaxy devoid of stars. This system is only made up of stardust, gaseous planets, and maybe dark matter as well. That is why it does not emit any light.

Our radar picks up again the squadron of enemy ships, rushing toward a large black elliptical platform. We follow the ships and verify that the platform is actually another type of spacecraft. We can hear some messages from the squad on the radio. My partner tries to translate what he can.

"They're talking about an ancient ship… They say something about Diloria being attacked by enemy scouts from that ship." We are definitely at Diloria's base!

"Enemy scouts?" Are they our allies? - I asked for.

-It is probable. But how did they get to Oscurantia before us? - Asks the captain.

Now is the time to act. She left everything I have and helped with the controls and control of the ship.

We take advantage of the fact that the rest of the squad is attacking the scout ship and we approach at high speed towards the elliptical ship.

On the surface of the ship, there is a covered airfield. We smashed the gates and force shields with our ship's weapons and sneaked inside the Great Elliptical Platform, but an electromagnetic attack caused us to lose control of the controls and we landed crashing in a repair chamber.

We recover from the blow. We get out of our ship and face the coming enemies. We are all determined, nothing will defeat us. Rocius drew her weapon from him and began taking down enemies one by one, one shot one kill, while the captain and I took them out with our laser weapons. The determination in each one is amazing.

After finishing the fight I approach Rocius, who is sitting up.

"Damn boy!" More are coming ... I'll fight them. You go in search of Diloria, capture her and go through the Wormhole again.

"B-but… And what's going to happen to you?"

-Do not worry about me. The fate of this universe is at stake. This is only a very low cost. Go! Go away!

The captain took me by the arm.

"Rocius is right." Go. I'll go with you, we don't have much time.

We race along with different hatches when, suddenly, the lights of the elliptical ship flicker and turn red. An alarm message It sounds all over the place, but I don't understand the language. Candara translates what she hears for me.

"Apparently enemies of Diloria are approaching." They have appeared out of nowhere!

With the captain, he entered a circular space around the perimeter of which a series of gray cubes and supports have installed that act as controls for the ship. It must be the main cabin.

In the center of the room is a woman over three meters tall. Her hair is tentacles and her torso is made up of superimposed layers of an unknown material, much like bone. Dark gears, tubes, and circuits slowly orbit around her. They move with such elegance that at times I think it is some kind of strange cape.

The woman's voice echoes through the room. She is dark and deep like outer space.

"Who are you ?!"

"I am Diloria." Empress of Oscurantia. "She raises her arms slowly. And this is my Palace.

Candara looks at me and says something under her breath.

-But what are you doing? Do you think it's time to chat?

I shot a knowing look at the captain. She keeps pointing her gun at Diloria. I speak again.

—You are the culprit of spreading darkness throughout the worlds

"You can't blame me for something I'm predestined for," Diloria tells me. The universe is expanding. With each passing day, the galaxies move further and further away from each other. Furthermore, we also know that the universe cools down. There are many universes, but this one, like the one you came from, will have a thermal death. To understand us: he will die of cold. The stars will go out and give up light and heat, so most of the universe will go dark, like the Galaxy of Oscurantia of which I am empress. This will happen in a long, long time. When there are no more stories to tell - Diloria cocks her head - I'm just trying to anticipate the inevitable. It is a truth that the universe will die one day. My duty is to accelerate that process.

"Where are the leukologists?"

"The leukologists?" Do you mean that group of creatures who are reluctant to reveal to me the mysteries of travel at the speed of light? I had to kill everyone who came to my power. Seeing that they would never tell me anything, I decided to extinguish the Council.

Candara's eyes blaze with fury.

"You will pay for your crimes."

Diloria shakes her head.

"I don't think you understand." They will never understand. You cannot prevent disorder from occurring.

Candara aims her ray gun at the tall woman and I prepare for combat.

I unsheathe my fantastic energy sword, while the woman gives me an amused smile.

"You may defeat me in combat, but I will reappear in time." Somewhere else. With another way. And everything will repeat itself. You can win all the battles against me, and thus buy time, but the war will always continue.

While asking questions, she was analyzing Diloria at the same time and she just noticed something, because of the large size and weight of her body, I don't think she's very fast. Maybe no one ever noticed that? Do they respect it only for its great size and the power it imposes? Has anyone ever tried to fight her? I don't think because of her posture, no one would be foolish enough to do it. Will she really be as strong as she appears? I have many questions in my head but there is only one way to answer them ...

"Captain!" She shoots her eyes - I screamed as she ran with all my might towards Diloria - AAAAARGH!

The captain without thinking twice started shooting non-stop at Diloria's face, as long as she managed to get close enough to me. Diloria tries to grab me with her right arm, with a single curved movement of my lightsaber I separate her arm from her shoulder. I put my foot on her to help me jump as high as possible, I rose through the air and saw Entropy directly in her eyes, they are full of despair and fear. I felt as if time would stop, everything around me slowed down. It was just her and me, face to face, knowing that today one of us will meet death and that will not be me. With a single horizontal cut to the right, separate the huge and metallic head from her body, indeed Diloria was nothing more than a sham.

Diloria falls before us and vanishes in a cloud of stardust.

The alarm stops ringing and suddenly a group of people enters the main cabin in an orderly fashion. They wear the clothes of the E.E.Q. I am surprised to see an owl-bot among them.

"Alert the rest of the space fleet." We have taken the ellipse ship, "says the owl-bot. And Entropy has been defeated again.

"Good to see you again owl-bot," I say happily.

-I also! We are sorry to have been so late, but it has taken us a long time to dare to assemble a fleet of spaceships and to decide to cross the wormhole. We definitely did not have the means to engage in direct combat against Diloria, but now that you have defeated her we will dedicate the time to investigate the wormhole. Being passable, it may allow us to travel to other universes where the final defeat of Diloria is possible. We have taken a big step in our mission.

"What happened to Rocius? - I asked for.

"The bald man is seriously injured, but he will survive." - Says one of the soldiers.

"I'd like to talk to him," I replied.

-You're sure? When we arrived, we found him shooting and screaming like crazy - affirms the soldier.

He made it clear that Rocius is not dangerous ... at least to me. So they bring me to him. He is sleeping. I thought it best to let it rest. I walk over to Candara and leave a message for Rocius.

"Please ... When he wakes up, tell him I don't know if I'll ever come back." And tell him also ... that I have never met someone as ugly as him and that he is the bravest man I have ever met ...

"Don't worry, I'll tell him," Candara replies.

The robotic bird offers me something with his beak. It is a beautiful layer whose inner part shows an image of nebulae in three dimensions.

-Taking. This is for you. It belonged to a member of the Council of Leukologists who handed it over to the government of our planetary system. Now it belongs to you, for helping us. It is a Cloak of Harmony. Wherever you are, wherever you go, it will make you look like someone from the era you visit. It is essential for an Astral Agent like you.

I thanked him and made preparations to leave. I have no doubt that Diloria will appear again, but by then I will hope that the survivors of the E.E.Q. ask for my help again...