327 The dark systems

"No idea admiral, the anomaly is not showing up on any of our sensors. Lazarus is reporting the same, it seems they can't identify it either."

Looking at his scanner for the nth time Simmons still doubted what he was seeing, it was like his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the fact that his subordinates were just as confused made him confident that he was not hallucinating. Having just jumped to the first system which could be considered part of the dark systems propper, the only light came from a lone red dwarf star, it's binary partner shielded inside a gigantic metal shell which collected all it's emitted radiation for use in heavy industry which had been the dark systems' expertise before the war. Getting back on topic, Simmons realized he was trying to escape reality as he returned his focus back on the detected anomaly which enveloped the systems only planet. Visibly, it looked like some sort of blue haze which enveloped the small otherwise unremarkable ball of ice and rock, extending out several thousand kilometres from its surface and blocking any and all attempts at scanning. As this was hostile territory, Simmons was not dumb or naive enough to close in on the literal smokescreen which deflected all attempts at scanning it, that would be like turning around and grabbing his own ankles waiting to be attacked, but still, he couldn't ignore it either.

"Sir, Lazarus is requesting they approach the anomaly, it seems they might have a way of dealing with it."

Luckily an opportunity to investigate the anomaly without risking his own forces quickly presented itself.

-

"It is definitely not atomic in nature, as it isn't showing up on grav scans."

"Agreed, it's some sort of particle. It might be some sort of mana, the question is why it is inhibiting sensors like that…"

From the second they had entered the system, Ra and Mu had been busy analysing the anomaly and in the few hours which had passed since they had started the pair had gotten relatively certain at what they were looking at.

"So it might be more lost technology?"

While Ra and Mu had been looking at the situation from a scientific angle, Dax was taking a strategic approach, if whatever created that haze was lost technology they needed to secure it.

"It most likely is, we need to secure it."

Luckily Ra also agreed with Dax's assessment, and so the lone Lazarus battlecruiser went into a high orbit above the anomaly. Sending down multiple probes, Ra and Mu quickly determined their hypnotists was correct, the blue haze was created by some sort of mana, so Dax quickly started assembling an away party to go take a closer look.

"Solaris, Lux, Alice and Mu with me. Phillipa you have the conn."

"Sir, yes sir. Stay safe out there."

���Go on ahead without me."

"... Sure, good luck."

Offering her sympathy in the form of a friendly pat on the shoulder, Lux lead the others to the armoury while Dax stared silently at Ke, the end of her tail slapping repeatedly against the ground and her frown showed her anger and or annoyance, Dax wasn't quite sure which emotion it was yet.

"I heard you're having some sort of issue with something to do with mana?"

"Yeah, I'm deploying now to investigate, but it seems that it is some sort of elemental mana so we don't really know what to expect when we hit the surface."

While Dax believed being honest and calmly while clearly explaining what he was doing would calm Ke down, of course, Dax was known for not being very bright when it came to these sorts of situations.

"Oh really, elemental mana?~ Then why didn't you ask for my help?"

The second Dax saw, Ke's 'smile' he knew he had fucked up, but as he was a skilled black ops operative he knew how to appear calm even though he wasn't. Instead of giving an immediate verbal answer, Dax closed in and gave Ke a hug, gently stroking her hair before answering her question.

"You know I can't ask you to join me, I don't want you in any sort of danger Ke. Now I am aware that it was my mistake that I didn't think to lean on your expertise. If you want I'm happy to have you on comms, but I can't allow you to join me, at least not this time."

Seeing straight through Dax, Ke returned Dax's hug.

"... You've gotten better at lip service lately."

Only Ke's hug wasn't out of affection, it was to restrain her prey.

"I'll be sure to make this up to you when I get back."

With no other option available, Dax immediately surrendered as he had become quite aware over the last few weeks that Ke was far stronger than him, as she was hugging him he had no hope of escaping unless she allowed it.

"Fine, but I'll remember this. Good luck out there.���

"Thanks."

Giving Ke a quick kiss, Dax set off towards the armoury in a run so he could quickly catch up with the others, leaving Ke behind with her mixed feelings.

"... Idiot."

While Ke wanted to help Dax, she also didn't want to be in the way or be a bother either, so she didn't quite know what to do with herself.

"You want some help with this?"

Luckily Ra had that figured out for her.

"Help with what exactly?"

Turning around to look at Ra who seemingly had listened in on Dax and Ke's conversation without either of them noticing, Ke once more felt conflicted emotions brew inside. On one side, Ra was acting quite rude, but on the other Ke knew for a fact that she had hers and Dax's best intentions in mind.

"Dax is quite overprotective, but if you can prove that you won't slow him down he'll allow you to follow him on combat operations. Being able to do that means studying this world's way of war, and possibly allowing me to build you some armour, can I help you with all this?"

"... Sure."

Seeing now apparent downsides to Ra helping her, Ke accepted her proposal, unknowingly starting her progress to become the last Hellwalker in the history of the Galactic Empire.