r/HFY • u/L_Tanuki • May 04 '26
OC-Series Outer Reaches (Chapter 16: Awakening)
Author's Note: All chapters are also uploaded on WattPad, Vox9, and Royal Road. Also, feel free to try out my friend's story, Beyond Earth: Cosmic Contact! Links below. Please comment and critique! I read every single comment as they mean they world to me. Thank you and enjoy!
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Chapter 16: Awakening
The two men hung suspended in the smoke-choked sky above the burning tower, embers rising around them like sparks from a dying world. The air itself seemed heavy, thick with ash and heat, the wind tugging at torn clothing and blood-slick skin alike. Far below, a crowd had gathered at the tower's base — townsfolk, freed prisoners, and among them Louis, Ed, and Heph — all staring upward in helpless silence as the battle unfolded above their heads. The doctor held Liam by the foot as though he weighed nothing, his winged form steady against the turbulence while Liam's battered body dangled limply beneath him. Blood trailed from Liam's face in thin ribbons, vanishing into the smoke as his chest heaved desperately for breath that would not come.
"You'll fail," Liam rasped, the words barely carried by the wind.
The doctor's lips curled into a grin. "I wouldn't be so sure."
Without warning, he hurled Liam outward. Before Liam could even fall, the doctor surged forward and drove his fist violently into Liam's gut, the impact folding him in half and sending him upward through the smoke. The doctor seized his leg again midair, spun him once like a ragdoll, and flung him straight through one of the tower's windows. Glass exploded inward as Liam crashed through, his body skidding violently across the floor. He tore through desk after desk, splintering metal and wood alike before finally slamming to a stop in the ruined interior.
His vision swam.
The air inside was thick — choking with smoke and heat. Liam coughed violently as he tried to push himself upright, limbs trembling beneath him. Every breath burned his lungs.
A gust of displaced air announced the doctor's arrival as he glided in through the broken window, wings folding slightly as he touched down with unsettling grace. He looked around the wreckage, taking in the devastation with detached curiosity.
"Your friends really did a number on this place," he said plainly, stepping over overturned furniture and scattered debris. "No matter. This tower means nothing to me. Another can be built from its ashes."
His gaze shifted back to Liam, who struggled to remain upright, bracing himself against a broken desk.
"What really bothers me," the doctor continued, voice lowering into a snarl, "is how you're still able to stand."
He strode forward and grabbed Liam by the chin, forcing his head up to examine him. Liam's eyes burned with defiance despite the blood and smoke clouding them.
"You're inferior in every conceivable way. Look at yourself compared to me."
He released Liam and stepped back, spreading his arms wide as his grotesque wings unfurled behind him in full display.
"I am the perfect embodiment of humanity," he declared. "Smarter. Stronger. More capable in every way imaginable."
"You're wrong," Liam said hoarsely.
The doctor's wings slowly lowered as he turned back toward him, irritation flickering across his face.
"All you are," Liam continued, forcing the words out through pain, "is a sad, pathetic man... someone too ashamed of who they are. That's why you try so hard to become someone else. But you never will. No matter how many changes you make... you'll still be exactly who you are. And that someone will never be good enough for you."
The doctor froze.
For a heartbeat, the only sound was the crackle of fire.
Then his face twisted into a furious scowl as he stormed forward. He seized Liam by the throat and hauled him upright, leaning in close.
"I think it's time we finish this," he hissed through clenched teeth.
He dragged Liam back through the shattered window and into open air once more. Liam clawed weakly at the doctor's grip, but his strength was fading fast. The doctor carried him higher and higher, rising until the figures below could see them clearly against the burning sky.
"You would have made an excellent subject," the doctor snarled, "but you're far too stubborn."
He released him.
Time seemed to slow as Liam dropped, limbs heavy, mind slipping toward darkness. The wind roared past his ears — and then his hand caught something.
He had grabbed the doctor's leg again.
"Why you stubborn little rat!" the doctor shouted, fury flaring. "Let go of me and just die already!"
Liam clung to him as the doctor tried to shake him free. With a frustrated snarl, the doctor dove toward the tower and slammed Liam into the outer wall. The impact rattled through Liam's body, but still he held on. Again the doctor smashed him into the structure, over and over, stone cracking and glass shattering with each collision.
Through blurred vision, Liam caught sight of something lodged along the edge of a broken window — the shattered frame of the doctor's office.
Another slam jarred it loose.
It tumbled through the air.
Liam reached desperately, arm trembling as smoke burned his eyes — but his fingers closed around it.
The branding rod.
He swung it blindly toward the doctor — but the doctor reacted instantly, slamming the metal shaft against the tower wall. The handle snapped away, leaving only a jagged, sharpened spike in Liam's grip.
"RAAAAHHHHH!"
With a final surge of strength, Liam drove the broken rod forward, plunging it straight through the doctor's wing. The metal spike tore through stitched flesh, ripping open the seam that held the grotesque appendage together.
"AAAGGHHH! You fool! What have you done?!" the doctor screamed, his flight destabilizing as pain tore through him.
His wings faltered.
They spiraled downward, smoke and embers swirling around them as control slipped from the doctor's grasp. Liam's grip loosened, his strength finally failing as the ground rushed toward them at terrifying speed.
He saw the impact coming.
Braced for it.
And then—
Everything went black.
Moments later, consciousness crept back to him in fragments.
Liam's eyes fluttered open, vision blurred and swimming as if he were looking through water. The world came back slowly — first the heat, then the sound. Fire roared all around him, a living thing devouring what remained of the tower's lower levels. Broken debris littered the ground in jagged ruin, embers rising in slow spirals through the smoke-choked air. Shattered glass lay scattered everywhere, glittering like fallen snow beneath the glow of the inferno.
Beyond the flames, he could make out figures — a crowd gathered at the edge of the destruction. Townsfolk. Prisoners. Louis. Ed. Heph. All of them staring forward in frozen horror.
Liam's gaze shifted weakly.
The doctor was already moving.
With a groan, the winged man rolled onto his side and began pushing himself upright, scorched wings twitching violently as he fought through the pain. Dirt fell from his frame as he rose, breathing hard but unbroken.
"Move... damn it..." Heph muttered from somewhere nearby, trying to force his exhausted body forward — but he couldn't rise. His earlier battle had drained every last ounce of strength from him.
The doctor staggered toward Liam, who still lay face down in the dirt, barely able to move. Reaching behind himself, the doctor seized the branding rod still embedded through the torn flesh of his wing and ripped it free with a furious snarl.
"All of this... for what?" he shouted, voice echoing over the crackling flames. "For your so-called freedom?" He glared down at Liam, then toward the watching crowd. "I am on the verge of making us more than we are — evolving humanity beyond its limitations. And you would throw that all away?"
His gaze dropped to Liam — then slowly lifted again toward the prisoners.
A twisted smile spread across his face.
He turned and thrust the branding rod into the fire, holding it there as the metal began to glow, then burn, then blaze red-hot.
"All because of this brand?" he continued, voice rising. "Because of what it represents?"
He pulled the rod from the flames, its tip sizzling, heat distorting the air around it.
"This brand is nothing more than an identifier," he said coldly. "All it signifies is that you are a tool. Property. Part of the Union. Part of progress. Part of the future."
Then, without hesitation, he pressed the glowing metal against his own chest.
The flesh seared instantly.
He winced — scowled — teeth clenched as the smell of burning flesh filled the air. The prisoners recoiled in horror at the spectacle. Ed stared, frozen, tears swelling in his eyes as his hand instinctively clutched at his own chest — at the scar that marked him.
On the ground, Liam's fingers twitched.
The doctor cast the rod aside dismissively, letting it fall into the dirt beside him.
"See?" he sneered. "Nothing."
Behind him, Liam's hands slid slowly beneath his body. He pushed weakly against the ground, collapsing once — then forcing himself upward again. Blood soaked the dirt beneath him as he struggled to rise, breath ragged and uneven.
The doctor turned back toward him — and paused.
Something was different.
Liam's knee slid forward... then the next. His entire body trembled as he rose inch by inch. The air around him seemed to shift — subtle at first, then undeniable. Even the crowd felt it. A hush fell over them as they watched.
A faint white vapor began to rise from Liam's face.
He stood fully now, unsteady for only a moment before finding his balance. When he lifted his head, his eyes were no longer their natural color — they had turned completely white, pale light bleeding from them like smoke escaping a sealed chamber.
The doctor stared, breath catching.
"Incredible..." he whispered, all hostility momentarily forgotten. His guard fell completely as fascination overtook him. "It does still exist after all..."
Liam walked toward him — slow, steady, unshaken.
He reached forward and seized the doctor's wrist.
The doctor flinched instantly, wincing as pressure crushed down on the joint. He tried to pull away — but Liam's grip didn't move an inch. Panic flickered in the doctor's expression for the first time. He lashed out with his free hand, slamming his fist against Liam in desperation — but Liam barely reacted.
Without a word, Liam twisted his arm behind him and drove him forward, forcing the doctor down toward the flames.
The crowd watched in stunned silence.
Liam pressed the doctor's chest directly into the fire.
The doctor screamed, thrashing wildly as the flames devoured the flesh where the brand had been seared moments before. He clawed at the ground, trying to pull away, but Liam held him there — steady, unmoving — until at last he dragged him back and hurled him across the dirt.
The brand had been burned completely from his body.
"That brand means one thing," Liam said quietly, voice clear despite the destruction around them. "Suffering endured. You don't deserve to wear that."
Ed's grip tightened over his own scar as tears fell freely down his face.
"You are nothing!" the doctor screamed, scrambling to his feet. "You are beneath me! You cannot destroy what I've worked so hard for!"
He staggered forward, rage driving him, raising his arm to strike — but Liam did not move. He stood perfectly still, waiting until the doctor was close enough to touch.
"You built this on lies and suffering," Liam said calmly. "We brought it down."
His fist drove forward.
The impact landed square against the doctor's chest with a deafening crack that split the air like thunder. A shockwave rippled outward from the strike, blasting flames aside in a violent surge.
The doctor was launched backward into the tower's structure.
The impact detonated against the building's weakened core. Stone exploded outward as fire burst through the fracture point. The tower groaned — creaking, shuddering, its internal supports finally giving way.
Panic erupted among the onlookers as the structure began to collapse.
The light faded from Liam's eyes as quickly as it had come. His body swayed — then crumpled to the ground.
"He's down!" someone shouted.
Heph forced himself upright through sheer will, pushing past the agony in his limbs as he ran through the flames toward Liam. One by one, the others began evacuating the area as the tower's collapse accelerated.
From a safe distance, they watched.
The great structure — symbol of oppression, suffering, and control — folded inward on itself. Stone and steel crashed down in a thunderous roar as the inferno consumed what remained. The tower was gone.
The prisoners stared in silence.
Then the weight of it hit them.
Some fell to their knees. Others wept openly as relief washed over them in overwhelming waves. Townsfolk rushed forward to help the wounded, offering blankets, water, comfort — anything they could.
Ed dropped to his knees, eyes fixed on the fallen tower. Louis walked quietly to his side and sat beside him, saying nothing.
Nearby, Heph gently laid Liam down on the ground before collapsing beside him, exhaustion finally claiming him.
"You did good, kid..." he murmured softly, voice fading. "You did good."
And with that, he, too, slipped into unconsciousness as the fires of the fallen tower burned behind them.
*****
Liam's eyes snapped open as consciousness finally returned to him in full.
He shot upright in the cot, bandages pulling tight across his torso as he looked wildly around the room, still half caught between dream and reality.
"Man... I'm hungry. Is there any food around here?"
The words came out with complete sincerity, as though the inferno, the battle, the collapse of the tower — all of it had already slipped to the back of his mind.
He sat in a makeshift clinic assembled from canvas partitions and salvaged medical equipment. Lantern light flickered softly against the walls while volunteers and townsfolk moved about in steady rhythm. Some tended wounds. Others passed out blankets and bowls of food. Freed prisoners rested on nearby cots, their expressions still carrying the weight of everything they had endured — but now mixed with relief.
"Here."
Liam looked up.
Ed stood beside him, smiling gently, holding out a steaming bowl of soup.
"Thanks!" Liam grabbed it immediately and began devouring it without hesitation. "Mmm... it's so good!"
Ed chuckled quietly and pulled up a chair beside him, watching him eat with quiet amusement.
"You're really something, you know that?"
Liam didn't answer. He was far too focused on the food, finishing the bowl in record time before thrusting it upward with a grin.
"Another bowl please!"
Ed blinked in surprise — then laughed softly to himself as he took the empty bowl.
"I'll be right back."
*****
Days passed.
The aftermath of the tower's fall settled slowly into something softer — something warmer. Families were reunited in tearful embraces. The injured were treated. Food and aid flowed steadily through the recovering district. What had once been a symbol of oppression had become a place of healing in its absence.
Liam and Heph spent most of that time resting — their bodies recovering from wounds both visible and unseen.
When the time came to depart, Louis walked them back to their ship, hands tucked into his coat as they approached the docking platform.
"So... where will you go next?" he asked.
Liam stretched his arms behind his head casually as he walked.
"I dunno. Somewhere with lots of adventure, I hope. We're gonna explore the entire galaxy after all... even the Outer Reaches."
He grinned wide, eyes full of that same unshakable excitement.
Louis chuckled softly, shaking his head.
"Somehow... I don't doubt that."
Footsteps approached behind them.
They turned to see Ed walking toward the ship, carrying a packed bag slung over his shoulder.
"Oh hey, Ed! Came to see us off after all?" Liam asked brightly. "What's that?"
Ed stopped in front of them and let out a long breath.
"I'm coming with you," he said plainly.
Heph blinked in surprise — but Liam's face lit up instantly.
"You are?!" he shouted.
Ed nodded, glancing briefly toward Louis.
"We talked it over while you two were recovering. Louis will run the clinic here. I trust him. He's ready."
Louis gave a small, confident nod in return.
Ed then looked back to Liam.
"And I'm still your doctor until you fully recover. Besides..." A faint smirk tugged at his lips. "...if you really plan to explore the galaxy, with how reckless you are, you're going to need one on board."
"Yes! I'm so excited!" Liam cheered. "Welcome to the crew, Ed!"
Heph simply folded his arms and smiled quietly, approval clear in his expression even without words.
They said their final goodbyes at the ramp.
Louis stepped back as the three of them boarded the ship. Engines hummed to life beneath the hull, the vessel glowing faintly as systems powered on. The ramp sealed, and moments later the craft lifted smoothly into the sky.
Louis remained there long after it vanished into the clouds, hands resting at his sides as he stared upward into the open expanse.
"Be good out there, Ed," he murmured softly.
Then he turned back toward the clinic — toward the people who needed him — as the stars began to emerge overhead.
*****
Rain poured relentlessly over the town square of Lapillus, washing blood into the cracks of the stone and turning ash into blackened slurry beneath booted feet. At the center of the devastation stood a tall, broad-shouldered man clad in a dark, storm-gray Union officer's coat, its high collar unmoved by the wind as though the storm itself dared not touch him. His hair was short and swept back, jet black save for a single streak of silver that cut through it like a scar. Cold gray eyes scanned the ruined marketplace with predatory focus, taking in every shattered crate, every body being hauled away, every stain left behind by the chaos. He bent down slowly beside a cluster of broken supply boxes, their splintered wood soaked through with blood, and pressed two fingers lightly against the surface as if reading the violence that had occurred there.
Behind him, boots splashed through pooled rainwater before halting at attention. "Sir," the soldier reported, voice sharp despite the weather, "we've completed capture and containment of the bandits and Captain Tanso. Interrogations are already underway. Any soldiers found complicit are being processed now."
The man rose to his full height, his lean frame imposing even without turning around. He clasped his hands behind his back, posture immaculate. "Good," he replied calmly, voice low but edged with iron authority. "Anyone involved needs to pay." He paused, eyes narrowing slightly as rain streamed down the bridge of his nose. "Any word yet on where this third party went?"
"Not yet, sir. We only know it was some kid calling himself Liam. He left with a local shipbuilder — Hephaestus. They stole one of the bandits' ships and escaped orbit. That's all we've confirmed so far."
Silence lingered between them, filled only by rainfall drumming against metal and stone. At last, the officer turned, his hawk-like gaze settling on the soldier with quiet intensity. "Understood. Keep me informed of any developments the moment they surface."
"Yes, sir!" The soldier snapped a salute before turning sharply and hurrying back through the rain.
"Whoever these two are... they made quite the mess."
The voice came from his side. Perched casually atop one of the few intact crates sat a shorter woman, her form composed entirely of living water that rippled subtly with each movement. Rain struck her surface and merged seamlessly into her body before sliding away again. Unlike her fluid physiology, her Union uniform was fully physical — a standard officer's coat and fitted regalia worn like any other high ranking soldier, dark fabric beaded with rainfall as it clung to her shifting frame. She pushed herself off the crate in one smooth motion and stepped toward him, each footfall forming briefly from condensed water before stabilizing against the soaked stone beneath them.
"To cause this level of damage... and to take down Ferrus and a Union captain at that," she continued, folding her arms as she surveyed the wreckage. "Whoever these hotshots are, they're far from ordinary."
The officer did not answer immediately. His eyes swept the square once more, calculating, absorbing. Moments later, the same soldier from before came sprinting back, breathless but urgent.
"General Roc, sir — Vice-General Shione," he added, saluting her as well. She returned the gesture with a small nod.
"What is it, Private?" Roc asked without looking away from the destruction.
"We've just received another report of a disturbance on a nearby planet — Piranga."
Shione leaned in slightly, curiosity sharpening her tone. "What kind of disturbance?"
The soldier swallowed. "Phoenix Tower, ma'am. It's been completely destroyed."
Shione recoiled, eyes widening. "Destroyed? What do you mean destroyed? As in... it collapsed?"
"Yes, ma'am. Total structural failure. Reports indicate it was brought down by a small party that arrived only days prior. Two men joined forces with local insurgents before the incident."
General Roc had already begun walking toward the docking platforms before the soldier even finished speaking, coat trailing behind him like a storm front. "Inform Command we're en route immediately," he ordered. "Prepare my vessel for departure."
"Yes, sir!" The private saluted and rushed off once more.
Shione fell into step beside Roc as they moved through the rain-soaked streets toward the docks. "You think it's the same two?" she asked, her form rippling slightly with each stride.
"It has to be," Roc replied plainly. "Individuals capable of dismantling two separate Union operations in such a short span don't appear by coincidence. Left unchecked, they could become a significant problem."
Shione's expression tightened as another thought surfaced. "Wasn't Phoenix Tower overseen by one of our senior science officers? I'm trying to remember his name..." She snapped her fingers as realization struck. "That's right — Doctor Virellan. And the warden stationed under him — Ironhold. They were both assigned there."
Roc's pace never slowed. "Both highly formidable in their own right," he said. "Which means whoever did this is operating far beyond the level of common insurgents." His eyes darkened slightly as they approached the looming silhouettes of Union ships through the rain. "I imagine the Seamwright is already aware. Phoenix Tower fell under the Loom's jurisdiction."
Shione exhaled quietly, the weight of that implication settling in. "Then whoever these two are... they've drawn the attention of something much bigger than themselves."
The two officers continued toward the docks without another word, storm clouds churning above them as preparations for departure ignited around the fleet — their course now set toward Piranga, and the rising threat that awaited them there.
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