Story Sotiris~ A Space Odyssey

[Blood Born Angel]

Hello everyone,

This is a piece of work I've been sitting on for some time. It's quite short right now, but if people like the few chapters I've completed then I may continue in my spare time. ^~^ I may also be open to role-plays within the universe, but that's if I have time with work and my other projects. I hope everyone enjoys, and please feel free to leave me feedback or advice on my profile.

Thanks for your time~

 

[Blood Born Angel]

Chapter I:


Clang! Clang! Click!

"Are you after fy-rats up there?" A voice called. More creaks and groans rang out. Looking up, the speaker saw they came from the battered hull of a- where the hell did he get this? Oei.

The ungodly sound of metal striking metal continued.

"Seriously, Feo, what's going on? What’s all this?" This time the speaker was graced with the man in question slipping down a long strip of low-grade metal, only to get caught halfway down on a loose-ish nail and end up hanging helplessly by his ankle in the scaffolds.

"Oh, hey, Risi! I was just… uh, fixing up a hole,” he said, waving his arms to the right, “in the quarters over here." He frowned up at his foot and grunted as he tried to pry it off and not fall on his head as a result. His interrogator exhaled impatiently, her arms crossed and a justified scowl settling onto her sharp features.

"You don’t understand. What's with the ship, Feo?" He struggled for a moment longer with his foot before flopping back with a sigh of defeat. His light brown hair blew in the gentle breeze, and his dark eyebrows scrunched quizzically.

"Oh, I, um, bought it from that one guy that works the late shift at the recycling plant. Ya know, Gorsh? Grort? Groot? G-something." The look on Risi's face turned from serious to something along the lines of 'an electromagnetic storm brewing in the middle of a meteor shower with more anger added' to put it poetically. He stuttered fearfully, "U-uh, I swear it was a good deal! I-I still have plenty of creds left for this m-month’s rent too!"

Her glare didn't abate. One quick stride had her nearly face-to-face with the helpless floating man in the scaffolds. "You had better make this months rent. You still owe me credits for the one before! Nah, you’ll just sit here buying spaceships instead! I mean look at this thing! There are holes bigger than-than engines! What were you thinking Feochadan!?" His ice blue eyes stared back into her irradiated green orbs for a moment as he felt the sting of her words. It wasn't like it was his first stupid purchase, but when it came to ships… damn.

"Don’t worry, Risi,” he pleaded fearfully, “I've started putting in overtime at the workshop. I have enough for this month and by the second term I'll have last month’s credits for you. I thought this one through hard and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. You know what this kind of thing means to me." She held his gaze for a moment longer before her anger disintegrated before his mild mannered passion.

"Yeah, yeah... bloody hell, I'll never understand you humans and your fascination with ships and space." Her gaze focused on the floor as a slight blush colored her pale cheeks. She always got like that when he spoke poetically or passionately. It was cute, and Feochadan enjoyed teasing her about it even if she could beat him to a pulp if she desired. A previous arm-wrestling contest had proved that.

A grin spread over Feo's face before he gave a sharp grunt and lifted himself back up into the scaffolds. Once he had a firm grip above the point his foot was stuck in it was easy to dislodge himself and he hopped down to ground level with his companion. "It may not look like much, but I can make it soar again. I'm positive. It just needs some patching up. You know I can fix anything." Rolling her eyes, she turned away and waved her hand dismissively.

"Sure, like you fixed that hydrogen pump last summer."

Feo’s mouth hung open a little. “Hey, I only burnt off one of your eyebrows!” He protested.

"There”, she said, beginning to walk away, “was a crater in the middle of the shop. Not to mention my face looked lopsided for weeks."

He glared at her receding figure, mildly annoyed at her quick retorts. It was often like this. One moment he had her in his palm, the next she had him under her thumb. It was why they were such good friends.

"I'm heading back now to start supper. You better be there when it's ready."

"You got it. Just need to put my tools away." Feochadan leaned against the tarnished hull of his ship as she flashed him a wry smile and left the warehouse containing his “projects”. That woman could scare a man’s teeth out one minute, and charm him irrevocably the next. He really wondered if all the females of her species were like that. He certainly hoped so.

Feochadan packed away his battered welding and soldering tools into a duffel bag and cast a critical eye at his not-necessarily-new ship before he left. Ugly would not be an inaccurate description. The pile of scrap was a relic from the Old Empire, apparently. The base model was used as a heavy bomber back in its prime, but this version underwent heavy modification courtesy of it’s smuggler captains. Now it looked like nothing more than badly corroded scrap metal, but Feo saw much more. In it he saw his future, and he would make this bucket o’ bolts fly if it was the last thing he did. Leaving with a smile and a spring in his step, Feochadan stepped outside into the fading sunlight. Tomorrow was waiting.

 

[Blood Born Angel]

Chapter II:


The desert canyon was shrouded in an early morning shadow. The unforgiving sun not yet peering over its edges, leaving the rocks Risi perched upon cool against her skin. The metal trigger under her finger was chilling to the touch. Her shoulder ached mildly under the pressure of a firm stock, and her eyes burned staring down the crystalline scope. Her left arm trembled ever so slightly under the weight of the two meter long device she held with absolute professionalism. Risi's palms were clammy. A bead of sweat dripped down into her eyelash, and her heart drowned out all other sounds in her ears.

Bah-dump, bah-dump, bah-dump...

Seconds became minutes in her concentration.

Bahdump, bahdump, bahdump...

Her breath came in shallow rasps, her breast hardly rising or falling.

Bahdumpbahdumpbahdumpbahdump...

The world froze. Her finger pulled back. The mechanism pulling a magnetic spring-lock that in return spun the weapon core. Energy sparked in the chamber as the core spun at incredible speeds, the material generating a vast amount of power instantaneously. The energy produced charged the projectile loaded in the chamber, and Risi grit her teeth as the stock dug deeper into her shoulder from the kinetic force being created.

One second; that's all it took. The world sped back up as the crack of the rifle thundered through the canyon. Super-heated gas in the form of plasma blasted out from the holes along the heat shield, its proximity making the hair on her arms singe lightly. The shockwave left a ring of dust in the air around the barrels exit, and she watched as the sand parted on the ground while her bullet sailed through the canyon.

500 meters... 900 meters...

Her eyes stayed glued to her target in the distance. Her body a statue even as the sun finally rested its rays upon her raven black hair.

1200 meters... 1800 meters...

She was getting near the optimal range, but her target was still farther. Practically outside of the canyon entirely. She wouldn't move until she had confirmed the hit.

2200 meters... Closer.

2500... Almost.

3000... This was it.

A cloud of stone and debris erupted from the impact of the bullet. The kinetic discharge blasting through 10 meters of solid stone and metal. A plume of dust and smoke rose slowly in the wind, and Risi let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The sheet of metal she painted her target on was hit. Now all that was left was to go see her accuracy.

With a smile Risi hopped off her perch and took a stroll out of the canyon. She had fired from 3324 meters away. 324 meters outside the optimal range of the railgun. It was a known fact that these rifles were extremely powerful, but after three kilometers their kinetic force started to severely diminish, causing irregularities in their trajectory. Every morning Risi would come out and increase the range by a dozen meters and see if she could hit the mark exactly. If not, she wouldn't increase the range until she could.

Once she had reached the decimated stone she crouched and picked up the 1x1 square sheet of metal alloy, examining the gaping hole in it. Her lips pursed as she ran a finger over a corner of red paint that was still showing. Her bullet must of been a few centimeters off, the whole bullseye should have been missing. Oh well. Tomorrow she'd just have to hit it dead on. With a sigh she unloaded the rifle and folded it up for travel. Then she made her way back to her sand-skiff and started it up for her trip home.

Although the need to carry a weapon like her railgun wasn't needed on this side of the galaxy, Risi made it a point to polish her skills ritually. She might have a peaceful life here on Valen 9, but she was a soldier through and through. Her specific skills may have been undervalued on this planet, but she was sure the residents appreciated a veteran among them. Her trip through the desert was a calming one. The feeling of the young sun warming the endless sands on her back. The dust and wind whipping through her dark mane. She enjoyed the rural feeling of this system, even if it was still a part of the core. Once she had arrived back in the city she parked the craft just behind the workshop Feo and herself were employed too. It was quite early still, but she could already hear her human companion bumbling about in the garage.

"Feo! You better not be breaking anything!" She called while she put on her overalls and tied her hair up in a bun.

"And you better not be blowing up more innocent rocks out there in the desert, Risi!" He retorted. A smirk spread on her lips as she pushed open the back door of the shop. She wove her way into the mess of mechanical parts and industrial tools finding Feochadan replacing some solar panels on another skiff. "Hey.. hand me that thing.." He vaguely pointed down at a box stuffed full of tools of all sizes and shapes. His eyes not leaving the panel he was attaching. Risi gave him an exasperated look before taking a look in the box.

"You'll have to be a bit more specific than that." He waved his hand animatedly as he tried to split his focus between the work and explaining the tool to her.

"Gah! The thing! You know? With the.. the crook in it... Makes it easier to reach in at an angle." She pulled out a set of unorganized allen wrenches that vaguely matched his description.

"One of these?" She offered. Oei.

"Yes! Umm.. This one.." He tapped one of the many wrenches and Risi put it in his waiting palm. Immediately he went back to tightening some of the bolts under the panel, and she watched with a bit of fascination at his attention toward the machine. Feochadan had been good at fixing things as long as anyone in this settlement could remember. He was apprenticed to this workshop at the age of eight, and had begun growing his skills without any signs of stopping. At first, many residents weren't too keen on having a human around. Human's were a rare sight in this part of the galaxy. So rare in fact, that you probably couldn't find another one for several systems in any direction other than Feo.

Her eyes grazed over his defining features. His body was thin compared to most other humans, but still a lot larger than hers. She could see the muscles in his arm working as he made sure the panel was secure in its place. His shoulders were broad and his jawline quite defined. A light patch of stubble on his chin showing he had recently shaved. His face had a youth to it as well that she wasn't familiar with in most humans his age. All the ones she had seen were gruff. Hardened and cold. Yet his was alive, warm and cheerful. Especially his eyes. That bright blue that positively sparkled when he was doing something he loved was an inspiring sight. This was probably why he was so accepted now among the residents on Valen 9. There was no one more outgoing and cheerful than their helpful human mechanic.

"Hey, Risi. You're staring at me again." His sly grin as he stared back down at her from up on the skiff made her cheeks sting, and her eyes darted back down at the box of tools. By the Maker, I'm going to kill this man if he spouts one more word... "Admiring my dashing features again were you? I know when I'm really into my work you get all hot and bothered just watchin-" He was cut off as a large pipe wrench flew past his head, just barely grazing his ear and clanging on the other side of the garage.

"I swear on Solaris, Feo. Say anymore and I'll put you six-feet under." He raised his hands in surrender with a mock look of shock. Miming a motion of zipping his mouth shut.

"Alrighty, I won't dwell on the subject. Don't want my brains all over these freshly polished panels." She could tell he was still amused, but there was no helping that. Nothing seemed to be able to foul his mood. Unlike her. Where half of the words that came out his mouth made her want to bash his skull in. How come humans were so chaotic? One moment he was sweet enough to make any woman swoon, the next he could be starting a bar brawl with only a couple words.

"Just watch your tongue boy, I still have my rifle out back." That at least, made him grimace a little.