Project Solaris 2: Hero Rising Read Online Free PDF

pursued by grey men. There was a battle. They lost two shuttles, we lost one."
    "That's hardly a victory," Osiris said, frowning. "They have far more material than we do. We cannot afford to lose vessels."
    "We lived," Marcus bristled, leaning in closer to Osiris. "Barely. We're fighting a goddamn war while you sit around eating steak and drinking wine. Wars have losses, and if it takes having a shuttle blown up for us to survive, then that's what it takes."
    "It was a victory," Summers said, touching Marcus on the hand again. She gave him a supportive smile. "A costly victory to be sure, but it sounds like the team did their best in bad circumstances."
    I set my fork down, meeting Osiris' gaze. "This is the fifth time we've gotten wind of a super. Every time, the grey men beat us there. They're gathering soldiers, while we're left holding the bag. You're not wrong about losing the shuttle, and while I'm happy we finally saved someone, it isn't enough. We need to find out how they're getting there first. We need an edge, or this is going to be a very short war. I suspect you know that, or you wouldn't have requested a face-to-face."
    There was a tense moment of silence while Osiris considered my words. The pause stretched, then he finally spoke.
    "As you've correctly surmised, I invited you here to discuss just that situation," Osiris said, swirling his wine. He sipped before continuing. "I debated a long time over what I'm about to reveal, but given the deteriorating situation with saving supers, I feel we have no other choice. Have you discussed the existence of the Great Arks with your team?"
    "No, I haven't," I replied, sipping my own wine to buy time. I'd learned about the Arks when Jillian, Kali, and I had met Ka in the Nexus, but it was the previous night's vision that came to mind. The entire team was watching me now, only Jillian having any inkling what Osiris was talking about. "For those unfamiliar, there are seven massive structures that predate human existence. One under each continent. Apparently these Arks were created by the grey men's ancestors, millions of years in the past. The grey men's plan, when they returned a few thousand years ago, was to use these Arks to contact their masters."
    "Where are these Arks now?" Marcus asked, setting down his knife. His steak had all but disappeared, though he hadn't touched the potatoes. 
    "The same place they've been for the entirety of modern history," Osiris supplied. He reached for the wine bottle, topping off his glass, then doing the same to mine. "They're in a state of hibernation, where they husband their power. This process occurs because the Arks can only charge when the sun produces sufficient energy for them to do so. This energy is cyclic, appearing in roughly thirteen millennia cycles."
    This part was new to me. I understood that the sun was undergoing some sort of change, not how or why.
    "I was born during the beginning of the last such cycle, roughly twenty-two millennia ago." Osiris dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, then dropped it on his now-empty plate. "My tribe discovered one of these Arks, and used the technology we found inside to modify our own DNA. We became...more than human, in much the same way each of you was made greater by the grey men. In the process we changed the course of human history, spreading out to take control of the Great Arks. Empires were founded around each, and the Ark Lords warred upon each other for millennia. Until the sun's energy receded and the Arks were forced into hibernation."
    Everyone was silent for long moments, until Jillian finally spoke. "David and I entered a place called the Nexus, which links all seven Arks together. We met a being there, a hologram like David's mother. It explained that when Osiris and his contemporaries took control of the Arks, they inadvertently screwed the grey men. The grey men can't get into the Arks, because the Arks have been modified to only work for humans."
    "Then what do we