VI | Explosion “Now,” said Valdus. And before there was even a sound, there was light. Not a light such as the kind created by a lantern, nor the green-white light—so harsh and so harmless—of a hologram, nor even the dazzling, yellow fire of a fully-functioning sun orb (of which so few remained); rather, this was a light that cancelled the world, a light so complete that it annihilated every color, line, and form, and for a fleeting moment matter itself seemed to cease to exist. Then it quickly faded and the sound came—a sound like a thousand shields being activated all at once, a sound that crackled and vibrated and caused the glass in the lanterns and the porthole windows to rattle and clink into fine fractures—accompanied by a pulsing, flickering, ragged-edged blue beam, which didn’t