Infinite Crisis

          The group finally reached the cloaked ship Osiris, which was big enough to accommodate everyone. It was a classical flying saucer type spaceship, but with no glass dome that showed its cockpit. Its size was not apparent since it was cloaked, but it was clear that the ship was a medium-sized ship able to accommodate at least 50 people.

          Inside, they found the rest of the crew, each from different races of alien out there. Interestingly, they were all named based on ancient deities, including Anubis, forming the ‘God Squad’, as Pritchard put it.

          “I haven’t told you my name, have I,” said the cat person. “I’m Bastet, of planet Maudan.”

          “I’m Horus,” said the eagle person. “Of the Pegrin sovereign.”

          “I’m Pritchard Belford, captain of St. Vincent, and Terran. He’s Lunera, a Lunarian…wait, I just realized something.”

          “What is it?”

          “This planet is Terra’s counterpart, but why didn’t Lunera…”

          “Now that you mentioned it, I totally forgot about it,” said Lunera. “But you got a point. Somehow I can cope with the planet’s gravity.”

          “Everyone can cope with any gravity after that tear formed,” said Bastet. “Strange, but it’s true. If not, most of us here will not be able to get out of the ship.”

          “I needed a suit to compensate Geb’s homeworld,” said Anubis. “Now, I don’t think so.”

          He then approached an avian person, but this time having a different head and body composition, appearing like a slender ibis.

          “What’s the ship’s status, T?”

          “I’ve given it a minimum repair, we can break atmosphere, but I don’t recommend it. Apophis’s armies are guarding the solar system, and more to come after that tear formed up there.”

          “Can you keep it cloaked?”

          “I can, but their proximity sensor is a hassle. Anyway, who are they?”

          “They, uh…it’s hard to explain, really,” said Anubis. “It has something to do with the tear.”

          “And…that blind jackal behind you…your twin?”

          “No, uh…it’s hard to explain, but…he’s my counterpart.”

          “Counterpart. Now, what’s the chance of meeting yourself like that? Anyway, I’m Thoth. Nice to meet you.”

          Thoth extended one of his wing-arms towards the blind Anubis, with the alternate Anubis helping him to shake hands with the ibis.

          Meanwhile, Seraphor and Avila, who were stuck with the bridge crew after saving them, were looking around the flying saucer’s interior, which, unlike what Seraphor knew, did not look very clean and smooth. He had no idea how the exterior looked like, but the interior looked grimy and old, as if the ship had been around for years, if not decades. The fact that the main crewmembers were named after ancient Egyptian deities did not help, either. It just gave that one movie’s theory about ‘gods’ being aliens some credit, even if it was kind of nonsense for the silver red dragon-turned-draconian.

          What was more frustrating for him was that he was basically in a science fiction setting, with him, Avila, and the hellhounds being the only ones who were so out of loop. The crew of St. Vincent understood most of what the saucer’s crew was talking about, even going so far as to help some repairs, given that they were far more advanced than the ship.

          Just then, they felt the ship started lifting off, with the sound of humming engine being the indication. Nearby, they saw Anubis (the blind one) sitting on a bench in what looked like a mess hall. The two walked towards him, and he could hear their steps.

          “Who’s there?” said Anubis.

          “Sera and Avila,” replied Avila. “How are you keeping up?”

          “I’m coping. I’ve never been blind this long all my life. How about you?”

          “Personally, all these spaceship shit and such is starting to annoy me,” said Seraphor. “I mean, I like it when it’s in the movies, but if it’s for real? I’ll pass. Being a draconian is enough surprise for my life as it is. Also, I don’t think our presence here is needed.”

          “You’ll just have to work it out somehow. I don’t believe all presences are unaccounted for,” said Anubis, smiling away from where Seraphor and Avila were.

          “I guess you and I are still the same, after all, despite differences,” said the alternate Anubis, who walked into their conversation.

          “I want to ask you something. How different are you and I? And…what made you decide to regain your eyesight?”

          “Hmm…let’s just start with Ifrit’s condition. I know you’re my past, one where you and a group of rebels descended Hell to destroy the Deep Hell, and I know that at this point, you are already in Deep Hell when the tear opened. But, I know you’re not my exact past.”

          “How so?”

          “Ifrit. My Ifrit lost one of his arms and his eye during the first length of our travel, then Anarim sacrificed his own freedom to ensure our journey. Then…oh, well, I can’t tell you more than this.”

          “Everything turns out to be different from your reality, so I think it’s fine. But, I love surprises, so let’s leave it at that. I don’t know about taking your eyesight back, but I thought we don’t want to?”

          “You don’t want to. I longed to have my eyes back, to see the faces of my friends and my love, and the color and everything that have robbed me of my light. The moment we reached that clinic, I quickly asked for them to repair my eyesight, and with it…I traded my senses.”

          “Won’t it restart the curse, though?”

          “Guess it does, just not with me.”

          “And, uh…am I going to…”

          “Let’s hope not,” said Anubis with a sigh. “My life’s been a misery ever since I come aboard the Osiris. I won’t give you the details, but at least the crew has a synergy to it, if it wasn’t rather rowdy sometimes. I mean, a band of unlikely fellows, stuck on a saucer-shaped spaceship that’s clearly older than me, roaming the galaxy trying to find jobs, and ended up getting trouble with the empire of snakes.”

          “That’s one hell of an adventure you got there,” said Seraphor. “Any wacky things going on? Maybe accidentally pressing the infinite probability button?”

          “Infinite-what?”

          “Never mind. That’s far too absurd.”

          “Ani, come here,” said Bastet’s voice.

          Alternate Anubis walked towards where Bastet was. She was sitting in front of a console with a monitor in front of her.

          “What have you got?”

          She then pushed a button. Something was shown on the screen. Near the gigantic opening of the tear, there was a ship, which Lunera (who was standing nearby) immediately recognized as the St. Vincent.

          “That’s it! That’s our ship!” said Lunera.

          “Your ship? Now I understand why it can be registered on all sensors.”

          “What do you think?”

          “Never seen one that big before.”

          “We’re hardly the biggest. Anyway, don’t mind the size. Can you get us there without raising an alarm? I can see some ships near it.”

          “Wait. What is that?”

          Anubis pointed towards unknown ships that started shooting at both St. Vincent and the surrounding ships. This quickly caused alarm to both officers.

          “Oh, shit!” exclaimed Lunera. “They again!”

          “They are going to destroy the ship,” said Pritchard. He then turned to Bastet. “Get your ship near St. Vincent and try to establish communication with it.”

          “Hey, don’t bark out orders like you own the ship!” protested Bastet.

          “And I suggest you follow my orders carefully or we will all be killed, unless you have any idea what we’re up against.”

          “Tell me.”

          “The universe,” said Pritchard short. “The end of it, in fact, and we are its fixers.”

          “Are you delusional?”

          “You’ll change your mind after this. Who’s the pilot?”

          “I am,” said a short humanoid with slight lupine features, yet with no fur and blue skin.

          “Like you said, Bastet. I’m not in command.”

          There was reluctance forming on her face, before she shook it off and said, “Take us to the ship, Webby.”

          “Aye, aye, captain,” said Webby while returning to his post.

          Pritchard turned to her. “I guess I’m right.”

          “What do you mean?”

          “That you’re the cap.”

          Bastet smiled before walking towards a chair near the console she had been looking at. Pritchard then turned towards Lunera and said, “Get ready. I don’t think we’ll reach the ship without any opposition.”

          “Even with a functioning stealth mode?” said Lunera.

          “Expect the worst, especially now.”

          The silent ship flew amidst the chaos and confusion that started. It was quite a balanced fight, but the invaders were clearly far more technologically advanced than the Apep Empire’s ships. Their energy weapons tore the empire ships apart as if there were no shields on them, but then it did not cause St. Vincent much damage.

          The bridge crew on the Osiris tried to regain communication with St. Vincent, hoping that no one was having a problem inside that ship. They finally found their communication, but it was a written one. Lunera quickly realized who got the message.

          “It’s Atho,” said the draconian. “He got the message.”

          “Tell him we’re approaching him from the starboard side, 35 degrees down.”

          Pritchard then turned to Bastet.

          “How big is this ship?” he asked.

          “Quite big. 50 meters in diameter,” said Bastet.

          “It barely fits. Do you have a navigational computer?”

          “Of course, we do! We’ll be drifting in space if not for it!”

          “I’m not talking about star charts. Do you have a navigational computer or not?”

          “What he means, ma’am,” said a nearby bridge crew. “Is the autopilot. It will chart the course for you and the angle of attack for your destination.”

          “We don’t have one,” said Webby. “I know what you mean, but this is an old ship.”

          “Can you try flying us into the hangar bay with your own eyes?”

          “I’ll try, but I need someone to point me out for reference.”

          “I can help,” said a nearby Aquros. “I’m the captain’s helmsman.”

          Webby nodded. He then extended his hand. “Wepwawet. Call me Webby.”

          “Acrida,” said the Aquros, shaking hand.

          “Now, Bastet…you need to disengage the cloak,” said Pritchard.

          Bastet knew what Pritchard was talking about, so she commanded the others so. The ship quickly disengaged from cloak, showing its glossy dark grey color that looked seamless, but adorned with details such as lights and ports for weapons.

          As soon as it disengaged, the ship became everyone’s attention. They all quickly diverted their attention towards the smaller saucer-shaped ship and started shooting. Luckily, Webby and Acrida’s skills were clearly exceptional, and they even managed some dangerous maneuvers that sliced through a ship like a bladed disc, courtesy of its unique weapon system that used the ship’s body for a devastating attack.

          It was quickly apparent that the ship’s defense system wasn’t all that great, as it was built for offence. The ship lost its shield quicker than Pritchard thought, and it started sustaining hull damage.

          Realizing that they were on final approach, Pritchard approached the pilot seat and said, “Acrida, can you manage it?”

          “I can, but we need to turn off the slicer if we want St. Vincent intact! It’s a tight fit!”

          Bastet commanded so.

          “Pritchard then turned towards the comm station and said, “Pritchard to Atho. Begin FTL drive sequence and start opening the hangar bay. On my signal, get us through that tear!”

          “What?! You can’t risk this ship!”

          “I’m also risking my ship! Trust me on this. It’s the only way to get out of all this madness!”

          “How can you be so sure?!”

          “No time to argue! Acrida!”

          Acrida and Webby shouted in unison as they piloted the ship into the bigger ship’s hangar bay, which barely opened. Their manual control and attempt to steer the ship proved to be the riskiest job they had ever undertaken. The hangar bay barely opened to fit the whole saucer, and the ship, with its tips hitting the St. Vincent’s body, went in. It went in with such speed that it almost overshoot the runway and hit the engineers standing by, but they managed to get out of the way.

          Pritchard walked out of the ship and ran to a nearby console. He then said, “Computer! Activate emergency navigational interface in hangar bay! Clearance, Pritchard Belford, captain!”

          The screen in front of him quickly changed into a set of interfaces. Acrida walked towards the console and put in the desired coordinates before his finger hit the ‘engage’ button.

          “FTL drive online,” said the computer.

          “Get us out of here.”

          Acrida then pushed the ‘engage’ button, and the ship quickly boosted into FTL, towards the tear. In just minutes, it reached the tear and crossed it, somehow into a familiar space and with the fleet waiting for them.

          “Hello, St. Vincent!” said Palesa’s voice. “This is the Sha’kren speaking. Pritchard, are you there?!”

          “This is the Culax,” said Selis’s voice. “Report, captain.”

          “We’re fine,” replied Pritchard, out of breath. “We’re fine.”

          “You should look at this, Pritchard,” said Kalesa’s voice. “Open your main viewscreen.”

          Pritchard did so, and he gasped.

          There were countless tears, like lacerations, in front of the ship. The fleets were facing it, and everyone stopped dead in place so as to not be caught in one.

          “By the ancestors,” said Lunera as he was dumbfounded by it. The crew of the Osiris, who saw it, were also surprised and were in a loss of words.

          Just then, there was a garbled noise, and everyone was drawn to it. The garbled noise slowly became clear. Then, the next thing they realize was Dairyu’s voice.

          “Hello, St. Vincent. Are you there?” asked Dairyu.

          “We’re here, Dairyu,” replied Pritchard.

          “We’ve been trying to contact you for a while. Your signal went out for a moment. Did you stumble into one of those tears?”

          “I think so,” said Pritchard. “How about you?”

          “We managed to get away from some of the tears, but it is hard to avoid any of them. We need to get to the center now,” said Dairyu. “I’ve relayed our findings to the Aquran and Saurian fleets. It’s best if we go straight and not visit anything.”

          “Why?”

          “Remember the mission, Pritchard. Avoid the tears and keep going. I hope we live to see the end of it, but if not…well, let’s hope we do something.”

          Dairyu then closed his connection. The next thing Pritchard knew, however, was Atho’s telepathic signaling hit his head. He turned to Lunera and said, “Help the saucer’s crew. I’ll be in the comm room if you need me.”

          Lunera looked at Pritchard, wondering what would take more priority than trying to relate to the crew of the Osiris, but shrugged it off. He needed to make the newcomers a sense of home in a ship clearly bigger than their now de-cloaked saucer, which was a generic-looking saucer one could mistake for a frisbee with a ball in the middle of it.

          Pritchard walked towards the comm room to meet with Atho. The insectoid sensed his arrival and telepathically said, “Ah, so you’ve come.”

          “What news do you bring? I have a sense that it’s urgent.”

          “It is. We’re…having a bit of a problem here.”

          “We’ll be there shortly after we…”

          “Then I hope you know who’s who,” said Dairyu. From his end, he saw a nearly identical ship, one that was clearly the Wind of Change on his viewscreen. The rest of the crew also tried to believe that the ship in front of them was, in fact, the Wind of Change’s sister ship, but everyone knew it was impossible considering the complex nature of the ship itself.

          “I hope you know our ship better than we do,” said Dairyu.