Ravens of Eternity

461 Dark Communion, Pt Thanatos flashed into open space above Dendrus IV, just inside of its gravitational pull. Its all-black hull contrasted distinctly against the numerous mirror satellites that still covered the planet. Mirrors which immediately shifted their position and turned Godeater’s reflection towards the vast drogar devastator.

As the mirrors adjusted themselves, Raijin split her nanite swarm and diffused into the ship’s circuits and modules and systems. That shard of her consciousness dove into the ship itself and connected to every node possible.

Just as Freya filled the ship through a telepathic connection, so too did Raijin, albeit through a purely digital connection. She inhabited Thanatos’ intelligences and engines easily, and in doing so connected to Freya as well.

Both of their thoughts and ideas coalesced together into a swirling storm made of fire and lightning, bridged by the imposing darkness that was Thanatos. Thoughts that were made of their individual selves spun around and formed whole by their joined selves.

Once together, both their awareness of each other, and of the ship, and of the galaxy around them became exponentially clearer. Their fundamental understanding of mechanics and biology and self became solidified, and both became able to see things from multiple perspectives and angles and layers all at once.

For the first time, both felt the organic mechanisms and fundamental laws of the galaxy that bound them together – along with the ship that focused their consciousnesses into one. Both grew a significantly greater understanding of Thanatos.

Raijin saw the ship as far more than a complex machine and began to understand that it was a living, breathing ship just as her friend did. Conversely, Freya’s understanding of Thanatos also expanded greatly thanks to Raijin. She saw its strengths and capabilities from a mechanical and engineering standpoint beyond her in-depth biological equivalence.

Every part and every connection suddenly found greater meaning and purpose in their mind’s eye. They better understood how each part interrelated to each other, and how to better optimize those connections. As their understanding and consciousness spread ship-wide, they made little adjustments to everything they passed.

And in turn, solidified and strengthened the ship as a whole.

.....

Both also pored through Thanatos’ underlying codesets with a more complete understanding of their purpose. They equated it to their own genetic code, which regulated and controlled and guided their own bodies.

It was from that understanding that the ships’ disparate parts and mechanisms were all tied together by that code. Which was exactly how their own bodies worked – different parts bound and guided by shared helical threads.

To them, this was very similar to entering Promethean Mode and taking direct control of their piloting core through their minds. Except, elevated to the nth degree. Unfortunately, inhabiting a devastator was thousands of times more complex than any skirmish vessel. And so too was the mental stress of the connection.

Thankfully, neither were strangers to this kind of merging and oversight.

Freya and Lucifer enjoyed doing so countless times both for business and pleasure. Her memories of them joining spilled into her surface thoughts, which Raijin read and absorbed easily.

Of course, Raijin had also done this as well, but mostly with code rather than other conscious beings. Usually various intelligences that she was invading or studying. Sometimes her own engines, when she wanted a deeper understanding of her own builds.

Either way, and through either method, both were more than familiar with sharing their consciousness with another. As they absorbed each others’ experiences through their thoughts, their coming together at this point became smooth and seamless.

They slipped into each others’ minds with incredible ease and formed into something else, something new. Something more, some conglomeration of Freya and Raijin, one that they didn’t have a name or a label for. Both agreed that they didn’t need one.

And more than that, they gained a far greater understanding of each other. Both better understood each others’ hopes and dreams and desires. They better understood the empathy they felt for each other, and what they felt for their families, and their friends, and the Republic, and the Einherjar, and everyone around them.

Whatever affection they held for those closest to them became amplified significantly, along with their dire need to keep them safe. No matter the cost.

Everything felt more defined and nuanced and clarified.

Including their darker, more lethal, and more vindictive sides, of course. Both were already well aware of what the other was capable of, emotionally and physically and intellectually. Especially against any who opposed them.

Freya and Raijin already shared a mutual deep dislike of those who imposed themselves on other people, of those who took other peoples’ lives for granted. Or worse, for their own profit. They had witnessed so many people like that in the galaxy – and in their old lives as well.

It was one of the things that brought them together in the first place – their shared animosity towards That Idiot aka Nightmare.

And now that they were merged, that feeling solidified even further. It felt practically impenetrable, indestructible. Since that was a trait that ran deeply in both of them, that impenetrability and indestructibility seeped out and infused everything around them.

Years and years of constant conflict had honed the both of them to sharp edges. With them combined, those edges became atomically sharp, and impossibly resilient.

More importantly, both became highly aware of their ultimate place in the galaxy, of what it was they were meant to do. That was to oppose Godeater, whatever it was, and stop it from taking everyone and everything they cared about. At least, more than it already had.

Armed with the resilience and strength of their fused consciousness, they faced the void with grim determination and undying perseverance. They simultaneously braced themselves for its attack, its takeover, and hardened themselves mentally, digitally, biologically, mechanically. In every way possible.

Their transformation took all of nanoseconds to complete – more than enough time before the first of Godeater’s reflections hit Thanatos’ surface.

Every mirror turned towards the vast devastator pointed the reflection on a single spot on its hide. Though, oddly, that shadowy spot didn’t spread like it usually did. Instead, it stayed fixed in place, seemingly captivated by the ship that was in front of it.

On realizing that it was stalled, Freya and Raijin reached out telepathically and electronically in an attempt to connect to Godeater. And in that moment, they felt its massive consciousness brush up against their own.

It came with an overwhelming feeling of curiosity and fascination at their own shared consciousness.

They quickly realized that what they were doing gave Godeater pause – it had briefly stopped spreading itself across the galaxy and turned all its attention on them.

Perhaps it was because of their shared existence. Perhaps because they were bold enough to reach out. Or maybe because they were there at all.

Freya and Raijin’s consciousnesses were then beset with blinding pain as Godeater accepted their requests, as it clutched their open connections and completed the link. Freya’s physical mind was wracked with a stabbing needle-like pain while Rajin’s communication systems spiked and scattered.

A sweeping darkness fell across both their minds even as their communication intelligences were overrun with voided code. More than that, Godeater’s presence began to overwhelm every sense and sensor they had, and filled them with a brief moment of pure galactic noise.

It echoed in their psyches with wild abandon, as though everything that had ever existed in the galaxy cried out to them. And then vanished. Or maybe, just quieted down.

The storm that they inhabited was suddenly surrounded by ink-black clouds that rumbled with arcs of dark purple energies. It swirled all around them, even as they held themselves together amidst endless shadow.

Godeater’s very presence was so vast that it threatened to completely suffocate the two of them, despite how hardened and unyielding they had become. It was akin to facing the rough winds of a sub-zero typhoon, and felt as though their selves were eroded just in its presence.

Their heart thumped in their chest as the dark purple energies lashed out and tore at their storm from every angle. Pain came with every strike, which felt akin to being pierced by the most powerful weapons any navy could bring to bear.

But they both understood that Godeater wasn’t attempting to destroy them, but rather to understand them.

Unlike either of their previous attempts to speak with Godeater, this was far more visceral. Of the two, Freya really did experience Godeater most, but they were just hints of emotions or thoughts that she translated through her own understanding of the galaxy, and of herself.

But now, fused with Raijin, and connected to Godeater at a more fundamental and technical level, they could actually feel its surface emotions and understand its intent at the same time.

Every strike of its purple energies was an extension of its expression, of its attempt to communicate with them. Each one had different tones and volumes and vibrations and feelings and ideas attached to them.

Both got the sense that Godeater was probing them in some way, that it was attempting to understand their means of communication. Raijin and Freya quickly understood that it was forming an interface for which all of them could speak.

They were incredibly excited by the prospect, and completely opened up their storm. Both allowed Godeater’s energies to scour them, despite how painful each strike was.

The purple energies whipped at them more and more, and from every angle. It seemed that their combined storm was torn to shred with each one, but never did it actually falter and fade. Not even when it became constantly wracked by purple energies, like one massive plasma globe.

Both were hit with so much pain that their psyches’ screams reverberated all through Godeater itself. All they saw was blinding white for some time.

And then, the pain ended suddenly and without warning.

When they opened their eyes, they found that they were in the same body. It felt odd and familiar at the same time, as though they had never worn this body before. Yet it also felt as though they had worn it all their lives.

It was, physically, something that was somewhere in between Freya and Raijin.

They looked down at their hands, which felt both larger and smaller than normal. Then down at their body, which seemed both skinny and athletic at the same time.

Even odder, they felt their cells were somehow biological and metallic at the same time.

They felt a soft fabric on their skin – a simple white cotton sundress that came down to their ankles. The way the dress fell on them felt oddly soothing, despite neither ever having worn any kind of dress in the past.

A light wind swept around them as they looked up and observed their surroundings.

They were standing in the middle of a grassy field dotted with bright yellow dandelions, all of which swayed gently in the breeze. The sky above them was bright blue, with few clouds. Right in the center was a bold yellow star, just like Sol.

Its warmth embraced their body, and made them feel at home.

Only a moment later, a voice echoed all around them as though they were in the center of a grand amphitheater. The voice itself shifted and echoed as it spoke, as though it was attempting to find its own identity.

“Hello,” said Godeater.