#nightar

His eyes adjusted to the dark and everything was illuminated. Grassy hills as far as one could see. It was a barren plain, a tree here or there. The shadow weakly ventured forward, in search of somewhere safe to eat and rest. Even with the shrouded land, his body wasn’t able to keep up. Not being able to eat for two days was sending his body into shock. And the cybernetics couldn’t keep up. 

One step after the other, each one growing increasingly heavier. Looking to the south, he saw fire and smoke. But it wasn’t inviting. Instead of a gentle, quiet fire, it was one of a failed landing. Fuel cells popping off and causing the flames to roar every few minutes. The figure continued going west, climbing up the hillside. 

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It had been several hours and his body was on the verge of shutting down again. He had only climbed two hillsides and traversed through a relatively small cleft in this time. There was still no predators for him to hunt, or prey for him to see. His vision was blurred as his energy kept dropping. 

This... is the end, isn’t it? Dying on some barren planet? After everything I’ve survived?

The moment the words entered his mind, his legs gave way. Collapsing to the ground, but remaining conscious despite it all. Tiny machines were tingling across his body, attempting to repair the damage but softly burned as they had no energy to transform. His eyelids were twitching as he fought off the urge to fall out of consciousness.

Then, a sound. A loud humming and clanking across the empty hills. He attempted to look up but even craning his neck was difficult. Fear and exhaustion built up inside of him.

Over the hillside, a small, loud, and overall, unsophisticated machine flew out from the top of the hill in the north. It stopped just short of the shadow, lighting him up for just a moment. A boy with pale skin, blonde hair, and a gaudy blue uniform was illuminated in the black of night.  While a being made of pure red light hopped off of the machine, pulling out his rifle and shifting the barrel inches away from the boy’s forehead. 

“Now, who’re you and what’re you doin’ on my planet, kid?” the figure said, with some kind of unfamiliar twang. With his vision blurred, the boy couldn’t make out any features on the being. Just that he seemed to be the antithesis to the very thing that kept him safe; darkness. Using what energy he had left, he gave the mysterious junker a goofy grin.

Before Rose’s surgery, her father had been a kind and warm man. Sometimes distant, but loving nonetheless. Ever since the surgery, she noticed he had been a changed man. Ruthless, methodical, scheming. It was as if something had possessed him. The only thing that reminded her that he was the same man was his appreciation for her. While he wasn’t as whole with his love anymore, it would peak out on occasion.

Her curriculum had changed drastically as well. Instead of modern academics, she was being taught the skills of a murderer, a rogue, an assassin. Language turned into the teachings of social manipulation and hierarchy. Mathematics was shifted to coding and modern computer language. But most of all, her physical development was put under a magnifying glass. Instead of basic exercises to tire her out or teach her new ways to stay healthy, they were intense, all day practices. Any and every form of physical development was pushed on her. The only reason she her muscles had torn or her body wither from constant strain was due to the cybernetic enhancements constantly healing the tissues with little effort. 

Dr Dage Lunaris had done it. After a few years of experimentation, then eighteen years of raising her, he had created the perfect assassin. Rose grew hardened and distant. After seven years of being pushed beyond her limits and being treated like an experiment more than a daughter, it wore on her mind. Even though her training and ‘schooling’ took up much of her life, she figured out Lunaris would rarely notice if she took the ship somewhere. At first, this became a display of freedom. Over time, with Lunaris’ teachings, it became a reminder of the bleakness of the galaxy. The happiest day in her life ended up being the day she ‘graduated’. Her father took her out shopping for a cake, and a blade. 

It hadn’t been a week before her first official mission. She had been sent on errands or simple requests to tail someone, but never something so official. Rose was tasked with murdering a dignitary who, unknown to her, was the very scientist who petitioned to stop Project RISE. The mission had been an immediate success. Clean kill, no witnesses. Again, her father praised her talents and would celebrate. This would become a trend after every successful mission, which was one of the few things Rose had to look forward to in life. 

By the age of twenty-two, Rose had assassinated over fifty-two targets. And even more who were not even targets, but caught in the crossfire. She made few mistakes, but never enough to be outed by the Scarlet Empire. The only thing that was known was a serial killer had been going around, murdering chief scientists and researchers. As well as dignitaries, military officers, and even a foreign ambassador. Lunaris was delighted with her progress. Each kill was either easy and simple revenge or a step towards her final mission.

Lunaris had rushed his plan, his age was getting to him and it left him unsure if he’d see this through. After the successful assassination of an imperial general, Rose was given the final mission. Everything had lead up to this, the murder of Empress Elwinn. This mission would push Rose even further than before. While her previous kills had left gaps and holes in the empress’ defenses, the security was nigh impossible to slip past. 

The Nightar assassin created her own plan based on everything she had learned on Earth. The first part involved her impersonating a nobleman of high repute to create a gala, killing him, and his family to pose further as the nobility. The second was to create a military affair that would leave the empress further exposed. And finally, she planned to slay the empress in front of the entire gala. 

Everything went off without a hitch. Aside from one issue, the escort the empress brought was mercenary. Somewhere along the line, she had hired a group of freelance soldiers to keep her safe and keep eyes within the gala. Worse, they were much more intelligent than the pig-headed soldiers Rose was used to dealing with. Meaning, a public assassination would be even more difficult than before. Though Rose could’ve finished the job then and there, she knew her life would’ve been forfeit. The entire plan was put into jeopardy, every step she had taken, every painstaking detail she organized. 

All was not lost however. Rose caught the Elwinn’s eyes upon exchanging pleasantries. She picked up the empress’ attraction and seized this chance. While Rose had very little knowledge in the way of sexuality or intimacy, she did have a knack for luring men and women using her charms. Over the course of the gala, Elwinn found herself speaking more and more with Rose, who had at this time, taken the name Drivus von Delgada. The two spent the night laughing, toying around, and by the end of the night, in intimate hushed tones. Empress Elwinn extended a subtle, yet, suggestive invite to the Scarlet Spire. To see the ‘collection’ she had amassed in her bedroom. 

Lady Delgada and the Empress said their goodbyes, taking to the Spire. The couple found themselves locked in a night of passion, one of which the Lady Delgada, had never experienced before. After the event had concluded, Delgada made her move, attempting to stab the Empress with one of her letter openers. But to her surprise, Elwinn wasn’t as helpless as she seemed. In a furious scuffle, leading to the calling of guards and soldiers, Rose failed to make her mark. Knowing she couldn’t escape by normal means, she threw herself off of the Scarlet Spire, smashing into a tower below. Her body was ripped apart. But her nanobots went to work, repairing the battered assassin in the short span of an hour. Afterwards, she made good on her escape, returning in shame to her father. 

Lunaris was disappointed to hear of the failed attempt. Especially now, the Empress would surely remember Rose’s face and her guard has most likely multiplied drastically since then. Not only that, but the alias of Delgada was called into question and any similar attempts to seize nobility would be observed immediately. The mad doctor grew cold and distant, believing he had failed. Rose was devastated to see him give up after all this time. They rarely spoke after the events that had transpired. His plan, her plan, it was in flames and they would never get another shot like this. 

Or maybe... they didn’t need another. The things Rose had learned about seduction, attraction, and intimate actions gave her a new idea. A new plan that no human, apex, avian, or otherwise would even consider. 

Doctor Dage Lunaris had successfully completed a project that even the most advanced technology and fifty-something odd scientists couldn’t figure out. Thanks largely in part due his mind. Both for it’s capability to remember the intricacies of this project, as well as it’s ability to dip into the sea of the void without being lost. For the moment.

The infant wailed and she appeared to be in perfect health. The one thing the good doctor didn’t consider was the fact that he would have to raise this child and figure out how to direct her towards his goals. He wouldn’t admit it to himself at the time, but he treasured her as if she were his own. 

Several years went by on the dark planet. Lunaris’ mind edged closer to insanity and he had to do everything in his power to keep himself sane. In the beginning, it was a much more difficult task. Either using old clips he had on a holo-disk or exercising excessively to break free from the void’s grasp. Yet, it continued to whisper to him, every day the words grew clearer than the last. He believed it was inevitable that he would, indeed, succumb. After his first year of dealing with this, he finally got aid.

Rose, the Nightar infant was now a toddler. Becoming vocal and chaotic as all children are wont to do, gave Lunaris a distraction from the whispers. Sometimes it would be a brief respite only lasting a few minutes due to the child’s crying. As time went on, days went by, she became a distraction in his life. One, that would save his mind. 

Rose learned to walk in her first year of life, then very basic Common half a year later. Her development was so quick, that by the time she was no longer a toddler she had full capability to speak and matched the eloquency of her father. Yet, she was still far from understanding. Being stuck on a dark planet for years was difficult when the stories and books she grew up with described a ‘sun’ or cities. Magical far-off places that could not be seen.

Feeling sympathy for the child, on her seventh birthday, he took her to the capital of the Scarlet Empire: Earth. The spires had multiplied in the relatively short time Lunaris was there and he could only feel his hatred reigniting. Although, the hatred would be extinguished upon seeing his daughter’s pure and innocent glow as she explored the streets of Crimson Heart, the largest city. Stopping strangers to ask them random questions, collecting what most would consider trash, and admiring the buildings. 

Lunaris called his desires into question as he watched his daughter. Is this hatred worth it? Do I really need to dismantle this great city? Maybe I should bring her here and we could carve out a life for ourselves. 

After the week of exploring the city, Rose asked thousands of questions about not only Earth but beyond. She had read about so many wonderful things across the galaxy, unique people of all shapes and sizes, robots and plants that could talk. Though sometimes tedious, the doctor found her enthusiasm too great for this dark, secluded planet. Taking the ship to a remote planet very similar to Earth with a society that kept it’s distance, but allowed Rose to learn more about the universe first hand. 

Around her eleventh year, she had come down with an illness. In the past, she had minor illnesses caused by the penumbral radiation or this lush planet’s completely alien bacteria. But the symptoms were quite severe. What started as casual mentions of being warm or hot during cold climates became a burning sensation very similar to that of a fever. Lunaris had begun to panic as she had never shown any serious illnesses before, the genes allowed her body to create the perfect defense against such things. No other child or even adult showed these symptoms on the entire planet which lead the good doctor to one conclusion: This is because of her genetic makeup.

Returning to the Mebsuta system, the penumbral laboratory, he ran as many tests as possible. The routine physical he performed came up with nothing, which led him to begin exploratory surgeries. The thought of hurting his own daughter, especially since he didn’t have anesthetic, pained him deeply. The tests finally discovered the issue, her body was not just overworking itself but overheating. All energy was being diverted just to keep her body alive, the genetic makeup was coming undone and causing her body to slowly collapse.

Lunaris traveled to Earth in hopes of talking to some of his old colleagues into helping him save his daughter. He contacted and met with dozens of scientists but they either turned him down to avoid being caught in the same situation he had years ago or because of her origins. All hope seemed lost, his one and only daughter would die any day now due to an imperfection he couldn’t fix. Or maybe he could. Maybe the very thing that helped create her... could be asked to help save her. 

As fast as he could, he took his overheating daughter who had completely collapsed into a coma back to the penumbral planet. The whispers had never truly ceased, only pauses when his daughter was in his life. Now that her life was on the line, he admitted his mind to dip into the sea of the metaphysical once again. 

And like magic, the answer came to him. Another part of his life’s work was the improvement of nanobots, a subject that he ceased upon his facilities’ destruction. The void gave him exactly what he needed, schematics, memories of his previous life. The bargain seemed to be in Lunaris’ favor as he worked day and night to create cybernetics and nanobots that would recreate the human’s immune system. Said nanobots would replace most of her blood cells, bacteria, and even act as it’s own immune system. Replacing the need for most would consider vital organs. Some parts of the body would go into shock during this procedure and cease to work from not only stress, but a lack of connection to the brain. They had to be cut out and replaced with implants that would perform the same features as the organs or nerves. 

By the end of the gruesome surgery, Rose was revitalized. Her body returned to normal temperatures, ceasing to overwork itself. And thanks to the cybernetics, she had begun exploring her new capabilities. Her energy levels tripled, eating was no longer a chore as it no longer caused ‘weight’ in the stomach, she even felt lighter. She was in perfect health and felt better than she ever could’ve. But the doctor could not say the same. His surgery was perfect, which would’ve been impossible for him if it wasn’t for the void taking his senses. During the surgery, his stress, his pain, his hatred, his fear, grew to such unmanageable level. The man who had fought insanity for so long finally gave in completely.

The years would be difficult for Rose as her warm and caring father had become a fraction of his former self. Losing his mind in all of these emotions changed him into a terrifying exaggeration of his hatred during the years following his fall from grace. Exploration was no longer a vacation, it was a mission. Games went from being simple exercises to deadly practices. Every year, Rose found her hope and light dwindle away. She too, was changing. Instead of the hopeful daughter who saw a bright universe, she had become the antithesis for modern society.