"Where are we?" Rakal drew her weapon and spun around fiercely. All she could see were green forests, bushes, while she could hear the chirping of many different kinds of bird. Neku put his hand on her arm.
"We won't know until nightfall, Rakal. Not until the stars are in the sky. I know we are not on the Holy Planet though. There are no forests, or wildlife on the planet of origins." He looked up at the massive muscular woman, and saw how her eyes jumped from place to place. She needed an enemy, or something to focus on. "Rakal?" She turned and looked at him. He watched her eyes focus, and become almost gentle.
"Yes, Neku?"
"What should be your primary objective? We are on unfamiliar terrain, far from our last known location, and Major Ori is gravely injured." She looked to her side, saw the major laying on the ground, and her superior, Captain Jokrah, on her knees beside him. She nodded when she saw the obvious.
"Soldiers! Fan out! Determine a place for base camp, with defensive positions! Secure water and food!" Neku watched as disciplined soldiers went out and did their jobs. He turned towards the major, and sighed sadly. He looked at the instrument in his hand, and took a reading. The major flashed a bright white flare from within his body, which then dampened to nothing.
"Neku?" He approached.
"Yes, Major. I am here."
"I hear....birds. Where are we....." Neku looked into his eyes.
"You can not see, can you?" The major shook his head.
"Not like before. My eyes don't work, but I see. Jokrah kneels beside me. Rakal stands two meters away. The rest are on the move through....trees? Are those trees?" He grimaced, and flared again.
"We are not on the Holy Planet, Major. I won't know where we are until nightfall." He turned to Neku.
"We're not?" He frowned. "But...can't you feel it? Can't you feel the heart of the Order?" Neku frowned, while Jokrah turned to the major, showing confusion.
"Ori? The heart of the Order? What do you mean?"
"The Holy Planet. Its alive again. The core fed the lines of power that ran through the planet. Doesn't your instrument show you those lines, Neku?"
"I see them as radiation bands, but you can feel them?" He took out the instrument again, and his eyes grew excited. "Its real. I don't believe it!" Jokrah turned to the scientist.
"What's he saying?"
"We're on the Holy Planet! Canaan!" He fell backwards, and tears streamed down his face. "Canaan! The planet of our origins!" He looked up at Rakal.
"How is that possible?" She asked, then looked around. "This planet is alive! Canaan has been dead for over two thousand years!" The major chuckled, then grimaced.
"We traveled the lines of Canaan's life. It brought us back, to a time before the Order, and before men." He turned towards Jokrah, and smiled sadly. "I only wish I could see it like you do." He held out his hand, which she took. Her face was lined with tears, and misery. "Don't cry. I shall be with the Patrons soon." He closed his dead eyes, and smiled. "There. I can see it now."
"What can you see, Major?" Neku asked solemnly.
"Something you will see before you come with me. Guide them well, Neku." He turned onto his side, grasped Jokrah firmly and pulled her close. He then laid his hand on her abdomen, and smiled. "There. A seed. A future to protect, Jokrah. And make sure you destroy the traitor's body. No trace must be left behind. No name. Just his armor. Just like before." He opened his eyes again and smiled.
"Bare him strong children, Rakal!" He said, although he was gripped by agony. His body flashed once more, and disappeared.
"NO!" Jokrah screamed, like she had once before. It felt like her soul was shattered with that scream.
"What just happened, Neku?" Rakal asked him shakily. Her mind couldn't make sense of what she just witnessed. Neku looked at the readings on his instrument, and shook his head.
"I....I'm not sure. I'll need some time to think." He looked at Jokrah. "We need shelter. And a place to preserve his armor." Rakal looked down at him, a tilt to her head.
"What do you mean?" Neku began to smile, and held out his hand. It shook something terrible.
"I can't be sure just yet. But we need shelter for the captain." He smiled down at the captain. "I believe she was given a parting gift, something he didn't have a chance to give her before. I won't know for a few weeks though." Rakal took a deep breath.
"Are you saying...."
"Maybe." He looked up at her and smiled. "I need your strength, Rakal." Her lips firmed up, and the tremors fled.
"You'll have it. Always."
"Ugh, why am I so sick?" Jokrah wiped her mouth and involuntarily retched again. "The food was good, but I'm still sick!" She looked up as Neku knelt beside her.
"I thought you might be. It took a few weeks to show up, but there is no doubt." She frowned.
"No doubt of what?"
"You are pregnant with Ori's child." She held her middle, her eyes wide open in shock.
"But...that wasn't a dream? He touched me....we spoke in the light....he said it was a gift!" She looked down at herself again, and let go of the shock. She began to smile. "I'm pregnant. Ori's child." Neku smiled softly.
"The first of the children born on Canaan. The first seed of the Order." He closed his eyes as he tried to remember his history lessons. "Its been many years, but if I remember correctly, there will be a modest colony thriving on Canaan when the first ones from Old Earth arrive." Jokrah hissed in displeasure.
"Monsters of Chaos!" He nodded.
"Chaos does follow the First Ones, but it was Chaos that destroyed Old Earth with their 'development', and refused to stop. They came here, integrated, and eventually influenced the colonists. They eventually kill this planet too. The Order learns this lesson, but Chaos does not." He sighed sadly. "There is nothing we can do to prevent this future from happening, but we can offer guidance." She snarled angrily.
"They will destroy Canaan, and you want to offer guidance?" He nodded.
"It is our job, captain. We can not interfere until Ori tells us to." She stopped her angry snarl, and frowned.
"What? Ori is...." Neku smiled.
"Dead? Haven't you felt his presence these last few weeks?" Jokrah's jaw dropped open.
"What....I....but..."
"Close your eyes, captain, and let me help you to see him." She closed her eyes, and felt the small man's hand cover her eyes. "Your eyes can fool you. Make you see things that aren't there, and miss what is right in front of you. Now see." She felt a warmth envelop her, and a white light pass over her eyes.
"Ori?" She asked softly as she saw a figure clad in light walk passed her.
"He's here. Watching. Waiting." She frowned as the image faded, and he pulled his hand away.
"Waiting for what?" Neku smiled, and gripped his hand to stop it from trembling.
"For us to make the leap with him. Or waiting for you to bear him a son. You and I will be the first." She frowned, and looked up. The colossal woman known as Rakal pressed her lips firmly together to stop them from from trembling. She never knew how hard it would be to hear Neku speak in this manner.
"Us? Why?" He smiled sadly.
"We were the closest to the entrance. The Major was already on his way with the first blast, but the second pushed him beyond the boundary of life and death." She closed her eyes.
"How long?"
"A year? Maybe two? I do not know, to be honest." He closed his eyes. "I have a lot to do before the inevitable happens." He shivered slightly. "I have much to write down. Many instructions to give. And a family to start." Jokrah looked up at Rakal in surprise. She had been so wrapped up in her own misery, she failed to see how close the two had become.
"A family?" She smiled shyly.
"We were given a task by Ori." Neku chuckled.
"Yes, we were, but its our choice, is it not, Rakal?" She colored brightly.
"Yes, our choice. Though I am not keen on sharing you with the others." She growled lightly, at which he smiled.
"I will father a child for them, but that is it." Rakal growled louder.
"You have to father two at least! That's the only way the gene pool will be diverse enough to grow into a colony!" She growled again, and looked into the sky. "I hope you're happy, Ori! I have to share my mate with the others!" Neku colored, and turned away. Jokrah watched them, and felt a shiver go down her spine. She repeated the words in the writings of the Patrons, and ones she knew by heart.
"Neku, a father of many, generation after generation, and the first to join Ori in the light. Neku left the Order with many instructions, which in turn became the Holy Writings, after he entered the light with Ori. The Patrons of the Order are ever watchful over their family on Canaan." Her lip began to tremble.
"Neku? Are we...." He smiled sadly.
"Maybe, but we can not change who we are, Jokrah. Neither can you. You must be who you are in order to be who you will become." He closed his eyes. "I wonder if the Matriarch knew."
Jokrah's memories returned to the far flung future, and her recent past.
"You called for me, Matriarch?" The older woman smiled and beckoned her in.
"Yes, I did, captain. You've been permanently assigned to Major Ori's team, correct?" Jokrah smiled involuntarily.
"Yes, Matriarch, I have. He is an amazing leader, and always yields to the wishes of the Patrons, and the Order." The Matriarch smiled.
"Its good that he has such loyalty, but tell me, Jokrah, how would you feel if he decided that something the Patrons did wasn't quite right?" She frowned.
"He always defers to the Patrons, and the Holy Writings." She nodded.
"True, he does, but what if, for some reason, he had to do something that went against a more obscure part of the writings, but you knew that it did? Would you still follow him so loyally?" Jokrah frowned.
"I....to be honest, I am not sure. He's earned my loyalty, Mistress. It would feel like an elementary betrayal if I didn't, but at the same time, I would have questions as to why." The Matriarch smiled.
"And so you should. If his reasons were good, would that allow you to rest your conscience?"
"I...I don't know. It would have to be an incredibly good reason for me to betray the Order, or the Patrons. From the Holy Writings, I like to think I know Ori quite well. The Major mirrors him so much, its almost frightening." The Matriarch smiled softly.
"I understand your feelings, captain. He's been under my spiritual care since he was born, and I was merely an acolyte. I taught him as he sat on my knee, and he never once deviated from what he was taught. In fact, he emulated his Patron so well, he is almost a mirror image of him. From my own standpoint, it would be almost unthinkable for the Major to betray the Patrons, but I wanted your thoughts as well." She smiled again. "I'm glad he has such a loyal follower to help him when he needs it." She looked at her slyly. "By the way, you've never received the ritual sterilization for soldiers, have you?" She shook her head.
"None of our unit is sterilized. The Order has mandated that anyone given the names of the Patrons must remain intact in every way. That included the ones who volunteered to be in service to the Patrons in their military." She nodded.
"Its been that way since the beginning of the Order. Which must make it difficult. Ori is a powerful virile man, and one who would catch the eye of many within our military ranks. He's not as small as most men these days, and could easily match many of our female soldiers for sheer strength, and willpower." Jokrah blushed a bit, and nodded.
"He's had ample opportunities presented to him, Matriarch, but he is polite, and refuses all calls for sexual relief. I've never known a man to remain celibate like that." The Matriarch smiled, like she had a secret she might be willing to share.
"Do you know why he remains chaste after all these years?" Jokrah shook her head. "He once told me that just like his Patron had waited patiently for his Jokrah, he would wait patiently for her as well. His own Jokrah. A fiercely loyal soldier of the Order who would never betray him, or the Order." She smiled benignly at the captain. "Remember who your first loyalty belongs to. If you remain loyal to the Patrons, you may in fact find your Ori."
Jokrah held her stomach, and closed her eyes. She smiled serenely as Ori walked in front of her and smiled.
"I shall remain patient, my love. My Ori."
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