"Is that what I think it is, Neku?" Rakal asked softly at his ear. Her swollen belly bumped against his shoulder. He smiled, turned in his seat and laid his head against her. He smiled as he felt the child kick energetically against his ear.
"Just like all children of the Order. Strong and healthy." He smiled up at her then turned back to the drawing. "Yes, its the Core. I thought about what will happen to this planet in the future, remembered some of the details of what I already knew, and what I now know." She tilted her head slightly.
"Now know?"
"The lines of power that encircle this planet are its life lines. The Core is to keep this planet fed for the future not yet written. It will generate power on a scale I've never before heard of, and absorb ambient radiation from the emptiness of space around the planet as it orbits the sun." She looked down at the complicated drawing.
"It seems to intersect with those lines you speak of. What will it do with that radiation?" He smiled.
"Good eyes. Its stores the energy for the future. When its ready to be used, it will have a massive amount stored, and at hand."
"Ready to be used?" He leaned back and let himself rest against her still muscular form. Rakal was extremely proud of how he managed to balance his life as the father of many children, and remain loyally faithful to herself, and his duty to the Patrons. She still couldn't quite grasp that he was being loyal to himself, and to her.
"As Ori sees fit. I believe he has a plan, but one that I will only fully know when I stand beside him." She watched him shake and tremble, before being gripped by one of the convulsions that ended in a burst of white light. She always stayed close to him for just this reason. Just in case he ascended when she was not there.
"How long?" He smiled sadly.
"Soon. I'm almost finished the writings. The Core design is complete. The preservation cages are designed, and ready to be built. All that remains is to put our armors in them, and lock them away. I still have to come up with a way so that only those of the Order are able to open them. Genetic keys, I think." She smiled.
"What about the Song of the Matriarch?" Neku frowned slightly.
"What is the Song of the Matriarch? I've never heard of it." She chuckled.
"That's right, you wouldn't have. Its only taught to the females, the ones who might become acolytes, or soldiers. Its a song of her lineage. The Matriarch is chosen from among the descendants of the Patrons, the first ones, and only direct descendants. No one of mixed blood, from among the men of Old Earth, are allowed to take the role. If there are questions in lineage, the line has to be removed from the line of succession. It was why the Matriarchs were the only ones who could open the preservation lockers that held the armor of the Patrons." Rakal closed her eyes. "I never thought we would actually be the ones who would plan out our entire future, the future of the Order." Neku smiled.
"Its humbling, isn't it? To know that your own actions, the ones in the ancient past, are the ones that built the entire future of our people, our children, and our family down through the centuries, and for thousands of years." She nodded.
"And scary. I worshiped the Patrons as my gods, and now I find out that I am one of them." She closed her eyes and watched Ori walk passed her. "I see him more often now." Neku sighed softly.
"He spoke to me last night. I don't have much time left, love. We'll be together in a year or so, but the others must survive long enough to give our children time to mature. I'll see if there is a way to slow it down." She shook her head.
"We'll train them thoroughly, Neku. I will hold on as long as possible, and get the others to do the same, but we shouldn't interfere or we may change things for the worse." He thought for a moment, and looked up. Ori stood in front of him and pointed to Rakal.
"Ori agrees with you. We'll have to do our best while we are in our physical bodies, and leave the rest up to them. I wonder if we can affect the physical world while in that state?" Rakal smiled softly.
"I've always believed that the Patrons could affect our lives, Neku, so I will continue to believe that we can when we've made the leap. We are the Patrons, after all."
"How does it go, love?" She smiled.
"I can't tell you that, Neku. We just have to put the directions for acolytes on how to choose a Matriarch, and how to disallow those who do not qualify. It was what the Matriarch told me in one of my training sessions. I believe all female soldiers get this training, as our unit was fully instructed. Only children of the Patrons and first ones can enter the sisterhood, and become Matriarch. The ability to open the armor lockers is proof of pure blood." He turned slightly as he struggled to concentrate, and write it down in such a way that it was instructive, rather then simple orders.
"Were you able to open them?" She smiled.
"Yes, the entire unit was able. Even Ori." She laughed. "He was barely five when he first saw the armor of the Patrons, and rushed over to the one that held his. He put his hand on the poly carbon fiber glass, and it opened to his touch. The Matriarch was incredibly angry on the surface, but she couldn't keep her pride out of her eyes. The acolytes still talk of that day as though it was a major step towards their goal." Neku nodded, and smiled.
"It was. Its part of the history, and tale of how they would know him." She turned slightly.
"You're putting that in." He nodded.
"Its something to know. A sign of the times they are in. Each of us will be able to open our respective cases, as though it was our own. A back up key, if you will. I've been able to isolate Ori's DNA from his child's, and that is how they will know." He smiled softly, and continued to write. "Think of it as a series of signs. Only if we are all there will the mission go ahead. I still can't believe that enough of the materials we needed to build these armor cages was transported with us."
"Almost as if Ori.....wait! You think Ori....." Neku smiled.
"He already had some power when we transferred through time, and he could feel the planet's lifelines. I would almost say that Ori brought us all here, to a safe time, but accidentally. He didn't think of a year, or a place. Just somewhere safe for all of us. The only place he could think of was Canaan, back before the Core. Before Chaos and men." He chuckled. "And most likely, since we are all there too, not just our physical selves, but all of us after we ascended to him, then they could have assisted him to funnel that energy to this time." A lone tear trickled down his cheek. "Think of it. Friends and family for fifty thousand years." Rakal put her hand on his shoulder, and squeezed it gently. He felt pain in his body much more easily as the transfer time approached.
"Then I shall not be upset at the brief time we are apart. Though you have fathered many children, you are my mate. The others have already become family units, each couple watching over their children, and helping to watch over the others. They will never get a better start." Neku was wracked by another convulsion, and a blinding flash of white light.
"I'd better hurry. Bring the others. I don't know how long I have, and I must say goodbye to my children. And my wife last of all." She turned away, and her face fell. She kept it clear of her sadness while she was with him, but when she didn't need to be strong, she nearly fell apart every time.
Neku was her life now. Her own reason for living. Something she would never have thought possible on that journey to Canaan, when all she wanted to do was shove her gun in his face and blow his head off.
She never once thought about how much she would come to love that little man. But the Matriarch had.
"Rakal?"
"Yes, Matriarch?" The older woman smiled benignly at the massive woman who approached her in her new armor.
"How does it fit?" The woman smiled.
"Its a perfect fit, Matriarch. Almost as if the Patrons knew my size." The Matriarch smiled.
"It was a design by Neku, so that's not surprising." The soldier frowned.
"The Patron? I had no idea." The Matriarch shook her head.
"No no, the scientist who studied and built all the armor for your unit. Even Ori's. Even in the preservation cages, there was some expected degradation, but he managed to remake those power armors exactly. It was said that Neku had a special fondness for his mate, Rakal, and spent an enormous amount of time on her armor. Just as your armor took a tremendous amount of time to complete, as it was the first one completely analyzed, he took special care to make sure yours was exactly as the Patrons desired." The soldier blushed lightly.
"I'm surprised a male has so much knowledge." The Matriarch bristled, and caused Rakal to step backward.
"Be cautious, Rakal. Both Neku and Ori were males. The first of the Patrons to cross over into the light of the Order! Even Jokrah, the most loyal soldier to cross over into the light of the Order, served Ori first!" Rakal lowered her eyes.
"My apologies, Mistress. I mean no disrespect to the Patrons, or Neku. I am just surprised is all. We were all taught about how females of the Order are stronger, faster, and smarter then any male of the Order. It was a gift of the Patrons." The Matriarch smiled softly.
"Those are the words of our writings, but that is just genetics, Rakal. And it was not always so. The men of Old Earth were much larger then their females, and we only exist because we have a long ancestral line that reaches back to Old Earth. A hidden tribe left that planet with their best warriors, and brightest minds." Rakal frowned.
"I thought the writings told us that we were from the Patrons, the Order, not Old Earth." The Matriarch smiled.
"The acolytes were wise to make sure only the most loyal knew of our true ancestry. The Order is a complicated web of time, and space that started in a hidden part of Old Earth, where a small tribe of warriors were visited by our Patrons. They saw how men were wicked at the time, and agreed to follow their ways." Rakal frowned.
"Does that mean the Patrons existed way back then too?" The Matriarch smiled.
"Not quite. The Patrons walk through time as we cross a room. They found those warriors, where men and women shared responsibilities equally, defense and hunting as well, and slowly, the tribe conformed to the laws they were given. The tribe recruited strong women among the other tribes, and some of their beliefs traveled out into the world. That is why the pantheons of gods appeared in the ancient cities of Old Earth. After a time, when the women grew stronger, due to selective breeding, the men grew smaller, but more intelligent. That was when they were taught advanced technologies, that eventually led them to the stars. And to three different colonies. Canaan was the first." Rakal scratched her head.
"But that doesn't line up with our history." The Matriarch chuckled.
"Neku left us the Holy Writings while he was in physical form. The other writings, the history of our people, were guarded and protected by the first ones. They were entrusted to the acolytes, and therefore to the Matriarchs. We kept this part quiet, as we weren't sure how the rest of the Order would take that we have a common lineage to Chaos if you go back far enough." Rakal sighed.
"Probably as well as I did. It makes sense though. If the Patrons were the first of the Order, how did the Patrons come to be? There had to be a true origin even before the Patrons." She smiled at Rakal.
"That is true. After Neku and Jokrah join the light, the first ones from Old Earth will arrive. Our tribe. It will be about two thousand years before Chaos follows them." Rakal frowned again.
"Wait, then that means there will be a substantial population already there!" The Matriarch nods.
"Yes. Which is why Chaos and Light come to blows. They infiltrate, try to sow their seeds of hate and destruction, and eventually, they violently force their ways onto the planet. A select group hides where the Core will be built, but again, they force their way in. The Order has to abandon the planet, but not before they build the Core, and then temporarily retreat to the other two colonies. They build up their strength, and force Chaos off Canaan. But the damage is done. The planet is dead, the Core continues to function, but is unable to sustain any real life there. Chaos retreats, but attacks in smaller skirmishes for centuries. They have no idea how long the Patrons have planned, or what they have planned." Rakal held her hand to her head.
"This is too much, Mistress! Plans within plans! I can't take it all in!" The Matriarch gave her a look that said it all. She had no choice, but she was sorry for the damage it did.
"The Patrons have been with us since that humble beginning, gods among us as it were. They tried to reason with Chaos, but ended up deploying a plan that was longer then the fifty thousand year history of Canaan." Her hand shook and trembled as she contemplated all she learned from those texts, found in a ritual chamber no one had been in for a thousand years, and given to her by the hand of the boy who would become her god.
"You see, The Patrons are almost ready." Rahal lifted her eyes.
"For what?" She smiled, her eyes filling with fervor.
"For war on Chaos."
"What's the word from the Holy Planet?" The Matriarch asked a passing acolyte.
"The ship that dropped off the Major has said there was an emergency broadcast from the planet. The Core has gone critical." She smiled and nodded.
"As it was foretold. Is everything ready?" The acolyte nodded.
"The Armada stands ready to enter the system, and your ship is ready to be boarded. I can't believe it! We stand on the edge of war with Chaos, after they strike a blow at the Holy Planet, proof that their ways are evil, and the day we've been waiting for!" The Matriarch smiled.
"The Patrons have waited thousands of years for this day. We shall not make them wait any longer." She watched a light flash in front of her eyes, and saw the beings she worshiped standing before her. She's always known they watched over her and her ancestors, and now she had proof. Familiar eyes, and warm smiles made her tear up.
The acolyte immediately fell to her knees in reverential fear. This was her first time, but not the Matriarch's, or the rest of the acolytes. Stories had circulated for the last fifty years, that the famine of visions was over, but now she saw it with her own eyes. The Patrons let her see them for the first time, and it was awe inspiring!
The famine was over. The time for hiding was over.
"Its time to go home. To Canaan. To Ori, and the Patrons."
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