Volivala, the Journey

Sound waves reverberate and echo throughout the cosmic empty as the Cynosure burns through the ceaseless sky. Explosive rounds and energy projectiles ricochet off the ship's hull, creating a multicolored display surrounding the ship's advance.

*In pursuit of the ship is a gargantuan mech with an imposing black and purple frame, wielding an almost-uncanny amount of weapons. Inside the mech is Deleria, an Extinguisher of Linch's Heat-Death, a harbinger bearing the unstoppable power of annihilation. In the distance, the rest of their squad lies destroyed, but their mech appears to be unharmed, solely pursuing the fleeing Cynosure.

"HOW LONG CAN YOU ESCAPE ME, LITTLE LIGHTS?"

*Numerous lancers from Polaris enter their mechs and detach from Cynosure, firing their engines and engaging the behemoth behind the ship. Even the largest of Polaris' mechs look insignificant compared to the size of the Extinguisher's frame. Deleria swats away the intercepting mechs, firing off missiles and concussive rounds to decommission them at a rapid place.

*However, mysterious little portals open and close as mechs deactivate with each explosion, taking them back to safety within the Cynosure. The source of the portals is clear, though, to both Polaris and Deleria: Volivala, who now stands atop fleeing starship. They wear a pale, male body that glows with a brilliant yellow light; a light that's wrapped around a flowing robe with golden ornamentation. Seeing the ineffectiveness of the lancers' assault, portals take away the remaining mechs to safety, and Volivala faces the pursuing Extinguisher, alone.

"IT'S NOT EVERY DAY I GET TO BRING DOWN A DEITY IN MY SLAUGHTER, YET OUT COMES VOLIVALA--AND NOT EVEN IN A HARDSUIT. THAT MORTAL FRAME IS LESS STURDY THAN YOU THINK, NUMEN."

A searing yellow light streaks across the sky as Volivala speaks:

"Your life is surely more valuable to Linch than to die here, for nothing, right? You surely know you can't kill me, not on your own, or has the Annihilator's arrogance gone to your head?"

The Extinguisher's frame suddenly lights up from within: some sort of weapon is charging up.

*"OHOHO… BIG WORDS, BUT ONLY WORDS I'M AFRAID. MOST OF YOUR POWER IS CONCENTRATED IN YOUR LITTLE SHIP, IS IT NOT? IF YOU EXPEND TOO MUCH POWER, I'LL SURELY CATCH UP TO YOUR LITTLE FOLLOWERS AND SWIFTLY ANNIHILATE THEM."

The gargantuan mech morphs and shifts, and now they wield a 100m long railgun: a weapon of unimaginable power, that could destroy Cynosure, or potentially Volivala, in a single shot.

"SO NOW, YOU'RE LEFT WITH A CHOICE: YOUR LIFE, OR THAT OF YOUR DEAR POLARIS. WHO'S THE HYPOCRITE NOW, VOLIVALA, WHO'S IRRESPONSIBLE WITH THEIR NUMENITY NOW?"

The railgun starts to glow bright red, letting out a grating hum as it charges to full power.

"That's quite the gamble isn't it, Deleria. Perhaps I haven't even began to tap into my power, or perhaps not. Go ahead. Take that chance."

"RESORTING TO BLUFFS NOW, ARE WE? YOU'RE TRULY UNBEFITTING OF YOUR NUMENITY, BUT DON'T FRET: LINCH WILL SURELY MAKE BETTER USE OF IT."

The two monoliths of cosmic power stare, unflinching towards each other. They both hold a look of steadfast determination, two ends of a cosmic dichotomy, unwilling to give any ground. The railgun glows hotter and hotter as it approaches the critical heat. Volivala stares down the barrel. Deleria holds a mechanical finger above the trigger, and prepares to fire in:

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

A cacophonous laughter. A dance upon a lighted stage. Anxiety and fear and burned away in a sudden guest of joyous wind. Exhilaration, madness, and unparalleled delight grip the stars in a chokehold. A crisp and cacophonous sound rips through the seams of the universe. The gaze of another Numen is felt.

One.

"TRALA!"

The railgun fires. However, an explosion of multicolored confetti sprays upon the ship instead of a hypersonic kinetic projectile. The sound of all of Polaris bursting into laughter is heard, coming from within the ship.

"OH, VALA-VALA~, WHAT TROUBLE HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOURSELF INTO THIS TIME?"

In the great cosmic unknown, Volivala is the path forward, the map of uncharted stars. They face the unknowable, let go of the known, and charge into the unknown of the universe. The Journey is the current presiding over the exploration of the unknown, the beholding of the yet-unseen. Volivala emerged from the homeworld of humanity, Earth, and themselves and their waterwalkers made the first trek across the stars, building the great blink-gates along the way to connect the old colonies. Once the old colonies were all reconnected, Volivala continued on into the unknown, finding uncharted worlds and connecting them through blink-gates for further exploration.

Volivala is unique among the Numen, since, unlike their contemporaries, they spend most of their time on the mortal plane. They do this by walking in a mortal disguise, often appearing and disappearing seemingly at random. However, among their followers in Polaris, they have been known to travel openly, guiding them along their journey through the cosmos.

Volivala & Other Numen

Volivala interacts with other Numen more frequently than other Numen, although this may be simply a side effect of their tendency to walk in the mortal plane. They have generally taken a neutral stance in the cosmos, though they took part in Tazarak, The Propagation's imprisonment after the Swarm attacked Polaris. Nevertheless, they seem to interact with some more than others.

While Volivala may always be the first to reach an uncharted star system, they work closely with Rend, the Reminiscence to ensure that they are soon to follow. Since Volivala and Polaris are always on the move, they rely on Rend's waterwalkers to follow their journey, recording all that they have seen.

Volivala has particularly animosity towards Linch, believing them to be a force that ends great journeys throughout the cosmos.

Out of all the Numen, Volivala has the most unique relationship with Trala, The Hedonia. Trala is rather reserved in their interactions with mortals and other Numen, however, in almost a majority of the times they have appeared they have done so in the presence of Volivala. In the pursuit and exploration of new worlds, Volivala and Polaris have found themselves in a variety of precarious situations that even a Numen would fear, such as drawing the ire of the Swarm, having to flee from the Cygnan Accord's fleet, or entering the gaze of Linch, the Annihilation. However, in many of these situations, Trala has appeared to aid the journeymen, saving them from destruction in a variety of colorful ways. The nature of the relationship between Volivala and Trala isn't clear, even to members of Polaris, who are often present for their interactions, but there seems to be some sort of fondness shared between the two--a peculiarity among Numen.

Volivala & Mortals

Volivala, despite walking the mortal plane so frequently, is refrained when it comes to using their divine power. They are believed to be one of the weaker Numen, relying heavily on their followers in Polaris and the lancers they bless.

Volivala blesses an average amount of lancers, favoring those that wish to explore the frontier of the galaxy. Otherwise, they favor those that have a unique path ahead of them—one that has not been walked by others.

Volivala rarely blesses harbingers, and those that they have blessed are typically hard to find, having taken on odyssean interastral journeys.

Follower Factions

Polaris is one of the most famous--or infamous, depending on who you ask--organizations throughout the cosmos, and the primary faction devoted to Volivala. They are the explorers of the uncharted cosmos, sailing the galactic waves on Volivala's ship, Cynosure. They trek across the cosmos, often without a care for valor or money, connecting new worlds with the old through the creation of blink-gates. Polaris is frequently seen as reckless, which is a reputation that is arguably well-earned, as Volivala (or Trala) has had to step in on multiple occasions to save Polaris from disaster due to their actions. However, their Numen ensures that they continue on through the galaxy, finding strange new worlds and meeting every culture that already exists within the cosmos. Volivala has a deep bond with their followers in Polaris, since Voli' typically spends much of their time on the Cynosure, working alongside their followers. While most in Polaris travel onboard the Cynosure, there are some that travel on their lonesome throughout the galaxy, riding the current of the Journey.

A number of followers of Volivala work within the Galaxy Rangers. They believe that the one must uphold justice on any journey throughout the universe, and seek to uphold this ideal wherever they go.