Eternal Galaxy: Phoenix - Intermission

[Cucoo5]

Prosperity

The Umbra visibly winced at the word Demonarc as if prodded with a needle. "It is still a Dei'arc Umbra, so yes, it very well could take on any form it chooses. But the Nihiliod infection alters its abilities so it might not be able to do so as well as it could." She closed her eyes and seemed to relax for a moment. "Though there is a point there: safety is a luxury in this galaxy. The Dei'arc Null is one threat, but you'll soon understand why we are not overly concerned about it than we are of the Nihiliods."

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

"That aside, he's seen what I'm capable of. He'll surely want my body instead. If what I've gathered from the damage done to the colony is accurate, he is cruel and unrelenting. He will do everything he can to make sure his victims suffer. My abilities, I think, are better for that than yours are, Terra. And judging by his hasty retreat upon my arrival... he has a time limit on how often he can use this ability. He wouldn't waste it so readily."

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey

"Yes, I understand. Still, we'll want to be as careful as possible, right? For all we know, that time limit may have passed more than once already. That would give him enough power to take someone else's form and then yours immediately. We have to prepare for the worst."

It was then that Terra's eyes widened slightly, another idea coming to her. "Furthermore, what if he manages to find another vessel that possesses even more destructive power than yours? Then we'll have a completely new threat to worry about. I know that's not likely, but it's a good thing for use to get these possibilities out in the air. This way we can prepare for whatever he might throw at us."

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

"Now that you mention that... It's a good thing Bardock didn't come to the surface with us.. Umbra... is it possible that he could take multiple individuals forms in such a short span of time?"

[Cucoo5]

Prosperity

"Show us an army and we could take on the form of all individuals in it with a glance. That is what is possible." She leaned back, pulled out a thermos and took a drink from what seemed to be a hot beverage. "Remember, Dei'arcs were originally created to be bioweapons, and we were made to be assassins capable of taking down a government from within. We had to be capable of changing quickly to avoid detection."

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

"Mmmm... That's an issue. How exactly can we discern between a Null and an Ally in that case?" Phenom asked.

(I don't really have a lot to write right now.)

[Cucoo5]

Prosperity

"Pray that the Nihiliod infection keeps it from being a perfect mimic. Most of the Nulls I've seen have some telltale feature that gives them away. For instance, one would always have one eye always with a dark red iris." She took another sip of the beverage. "Hopefully it won't be that subtle."

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

"A red iris, hmm? Terra, you told me earlier that he took your form... did you notice any sort of telltale sign that one could distinguish?"

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey

Nope, Terra thought. Didn't pay attention. "Sorry, but no. If he did have one, I didn't notice it. Of course, if he's still in my form, then he'll be pretty easy to spot, won't he?" Terra smiled when she said that.

Suddenly, a look of shock enveloped Terra's face. "Wait... he still looks just like me! He's been out there a full day! Oh, I hope he didn't do anything mean with my face! To think, he might have burned down some other village while looking like me! Ugh, this sucks..." Terra sighed. "Not to mention the fact that he's maybe still going to look like me when we find him. Ugh, that's gonna be horrible in many, many ways..."

[Cucoo5]

Prosperity

A soft cooing laugh came from the Umbra. "The ad'ita sounds like a young Hunteri. You're right to worry, but fretting about it won't do you any good." She was about to take another sip but she then paused. "If it did do anything for the past few hours, the Hunteri would have taken care of it." The box she was sitting on creaked slightly as she straightened up a little and closed her eyes. "Speaking of which, have either of you pieced together why they let you go on with this?" She opened one eye partially to observe their reactions.

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

Phenom thought about the Umbras words for a moment. He put his hand to his chin in thought and contemplated what could have possibly been the reason for him being allowed to undertake this task when there were a number of other, more knowledgeable individuals in this world who could probably handle it in a safer manner than he.

"I can't say I know, Umbra. Enlighten me?"

[Cucoo5]

Prosperity

"Consider this: The Hunteri have a fleet of thousands, a great portion of which are gunships and bombers all equipped with Aura'va cannons and explosives as well as sensors that could easily locate the Null if they put in the time to scan the area. Yet instead of using the resources to destroy it, they choose to eliminate any means of escape for it." To punctuate the end of her statement she took another drink.

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey
BGM: Umineko: When They Cry - Stupefaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X76lu7TCvOg

---

"Hmm..." It hadn't seemed too strange earlier when they only wanted to capture the Null, but that may have only been because Terra hadn't seen what "resources" they had available. Now that this Umbra woman had pointed it out a bit more, suspicion crept through Terra's mind.

"That's certainly a bit odd... I may be way off the mark here, but this Null being - and based on how those people talked about them, maybe all Nulls - are fundamentally evil, am I wrong? It would make sense for them to want to kill it, but when there's still life on this planet, why trap it here? Couldn't that wipe out the rest of the planet? Maybe they have some kind of ulterior motive for doing all this, is that what you mean?"

Instantly in her mind, Terra began running through the possible scenarios. Reading plenty of stories had probably allowed her to become better at this than she might have been otherwise. At least, Terra thought so. Perhaps her first thought was that maybe they intended to harness the Null's power somehow, and maybe that was why they would let him live. Maybe they simply didn't want to waste all their own power trying to kill him. But no, wouldn't imprisoning him be more difficult and costly? That probably wouldn't make sense. He could be immune to their attacks, however. Yes, that could be possible. Although... maybe their goal wasn't to imprison him at all. Could there be another force on this planet even more feared, even more destructive that they wanted to keep locked away? If that were true, then Terra supposed the Null might be their fall guy. But were any of those theories even close to the truth?

[Cucoo5]

Prosperity

"Close, ad'ita. Very close." A smile spread across the woman's face, warmer than her usual cynical one. "They do want to trap it, but leaving it to roam free on the planet would still be a risk due to Oudri'sa and their ships." She paused as she closed her thermos. "If you wanted to trap someone, what would you use?"

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey
BGM: Umineko: When They Cry - Stupefaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X76lu7TCvOg

---

Terra thought for a minute. "Well, I myself would probably use magic, but I'm not sure they have that capability. But there is something else I would definitely need to use. Wit. Traps are traps because they're smart. You don't trap someone by throwing them in headfirst, you trap someone by tricking them into getting as close as possible so you can push them into it when their guard is down. If you're hinting at something else, I'm afraid I don't know what it is."