Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
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Fantasy Starfallen
- Thread starter Corrosion
- Start date
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- Tags
- science fantasy
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Prologue
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
UEG COLONY WORLD TRIBUTE, IOTA DEVOLIN SYSTEM
JUNE 14, 2848
FOUR YEARS AFTER FIRST CONTACT
The colony world of Tribute was considered by many to be a great green jewel. Terraformed more than three hundred years ago, the once-barren and lifeless world had been transformed into a lush paradise. The barren rock and rolling sand dunes were now covered in vibrant meadows, great lakes, and breathing forests that stretched on for miles and miles. And then there were the cities. Hundreds of them, ranging from small settlements to massive megacities that went on for many miles and skylines were dotted with towering spires of metal and glass that split the clouds.
It was a prosperous colony at the fringe of human space, home to billions. Its landscape and economy made it a popular holiday destination for all. Many memories were to be made on this vast, peaceful paradise located in an otherwise lonely and isolated star system lightyears away from any other colony.
That was before the vaskrans came.
Its pristine surface had been ravaged by weeks of nonstop fighting. Untold millions of soldiers on both sides of the conflict fought tooth and nail to gain an advantage over the enemy. Human soldiers of the United Earth Government fought the invaders, the lizard-like race of aliens known as the vaskrans. Entire cities were turned into battlefields, soldiers fighting in the rubble of fallen buildings as they did through burning forests and mountainous peaks. The detonations of fusion and plasma warheads could be seen from space, bright flashes of light appearing all over the planet as their massive mushroom clouds erupted through the clouds, shockwaves rippling through the atmosphere.
The battle in space above the planet was just as messy and chaotic. Hundreds among thousands of missiles streaked through the vacuum, as did thousands of Gauss cannon rounds. Lines of point-defence rounds snaked and waved around each human ship as they intercepted enemy missiles and small craft. Most obvious were the massive red beams of light that shot through faster than the eye could see. Returning were the red-white streaks of vaskran energy weaponry and pencil-thin beams from laser defence systems.
Every now and then, a ship would take a finishing blow and erupt into a massive explosion of blue and white ripped through the darkness of space, creating an intense miniature star for a few seconds, before receding. When it did, all that was left in its wake were several pieces of red-hot metal and the charred and broken skeleton of a warship. Several bodies tumbled out into the vacuum; the hull of the ship their grave. The remains of the ship began to fall into the atmosphere of the planet down below as it was pulled into it due to its gravitational field, burning up as it did. Several of the smaller and lighter components went the other way, shooting off into space. Several others that were in orbit around Tribute remained, their lifeless wrecks staying there until their orbit decayed.
A human ship, one of the largest of the ships in the battle at more than five kilometres long, sat behind the front lines. The Filial Piety, as an Accolade-class assault carrier, wasn't meant for direct combat like the frigates and battleships and cruisers. Rather, it was designed and built to transport and support troops planetside. Despite its primary role, it was still equipped with a fair amount of weapons such as several Gauss cannons, missile pods, and a single Mark VII Particle Cannon with a total output of some five hundred megatons at full power.
On the remarkably spacious bridge of the Filial Piety, Captain Anthony Decker stood behind his command holotable. It displayed a holographic three-dimensional representation of the ongoing battle, projecting accurate representations of the ships moving around as several blinked out of existence. Further in front of him, through the large windows of the bridge, was the battle in full detail. While other commanders would be coordinating their fleets, that wasn't his responsibility. His orders were to oversee the deployment of troops and provide them with orbital support.
"Miller," Decker spoke. "Status on the troops?"
"Kicking lizard ass, sir." A voice spoke, accent reminiscent of that from the Massachusetts of the the United States of old Earth. A second later, a miniature army green hologram of a young man dressed in World War II-era US Army fatigues appeared. "Everything's going according to plan. The 281st and 414th Battalions are moving in to rendezvous with the 36th Division to retake Chimis. They've sustained minimal casualties so far, but then again, there aren't a lot of vaskies in this area."
Decker nodded. "Proceed with phase two."
"Aye, sir."
However, before that could happen, in the space behind the Filial Piety, several pinpricks of white light appeared. They seemed to pulse once. Then a second later, half a dozen enemy ships blinked into existence. Alarms immediately went off in the bridge of the assault carrier as the bridge crew frantically went to work analysing the situation. "Sir!" An ensign cried out. "New contacts right behind us!"
Decker glanced at the report and cursed. Behind his ship were six vaskran ships: one cruiser and five frigates, a strike group. A typical vaskran technique the aliens seemed to love. In layman's terms, the vaskrans would hyperdrive several ships directly behind enemy lines at a less-defended spot, taking human ships by surprise. Since UEG ships were particularly vulnerable from behind due to the lack of weapon systems there, it was easier to disable shields by concentrating at a single spot.
And that was exactly what the vaskrans did.
They opened fire with everything they had, missiles streaking towards the lone human ship along with energy weapons fire. The Filial Piety's point-defence guns (PDGs) immediately sprang to life, the network of guns swivelling to face the threat. Then they opened fire.
A massive torrent of magnetically-propelled 30mm armour-piercing high-explosive rounds was spewed forth from each PDG turret's twin barrels. The turrets were computer-controlled, and could react and respond faster than a human ever could. They jerked here and there, adjusting their aim and picking new targets. The APHE rounds pierced through the relatively unarmoured vaskran missiles and detonated inside, destroying them before they could reach their target.
However, while the PDGs were incredibly effective, the vaskrans loved to send out massive swarms of missiles, even more than the UEG. As such, the PDGs were simply overwhelmed, unable to successfully intercept each one, and several made it past the defensive grid.
Yet the moment the missiles seem to find their mark, they suddenly detonated harmlessly as a grid of translucent blue hexagons suddenly flared to life. The ship's Generated Intelligent Defence (GRID) shielding activated, protecting the ship from harm. The shielding technology was designed to absorb and dissipate energy across the shield. It was highly effective against kinetic weapons.
Unfortunately, it didn't fare as well against directed energy. The energy lances had a far more adverse effect on the shield. Arcs of electricity seemed to form with each hit, unlike the calmer ripples of kinetic fire.
The entire ship shook rather violently from the impacts. While it wasn't enough to throw someone off their feet, it was enough for the crew to hastily grab on to something to avoid losing their balance. "Shields at seventy-four percent!" Miller reported.
Captain Decker cursed under his breath and hastily sat down. "Get some retaliatory fire on those ships!" He barked. "Open up with the Gausses and launch missile pods C-7 through E-4!"
The massive Gauss cannons swivelled to face the vaskran ships and opened fire. A series of powerful electromagnets in the barrels of each turret propelled a single ferromagnetic tungsten projectile down a long shaft, increasing the projectile's velocity until it carried an incredible amount of kinetic energy. The projectiles were launched out of the barrels at a fraction of the speed of light, so fast that they appeared to be bright bolts of pure energy. They streaked towards their targets.
But just like the UEG vessels, a golden shield flared to life around each enemy ship, more bubble-like and spherical in shape compared to the second layer of the human ships. A frigate's shields flickered and died in the opening volley, before a second barrage of hypersonic rounds pierced right through its armour. One must have hit its power generator, as it erupted into a massive fireball. However, the strike group still outnumbered and outgunned the lone assault carrier.
Captain Decker gripped the armrest of his command chair as he watched the battle. "Turn this ship around now!"
As the massive warship slowly began to swivel on the spot, Miller suddenly flashed red with alarm. "Captain!" He cried. "I'm picking up a massive amount of energy originating from the cruiser! It's an energy disruptor!"
Decker's eyes widened. "Brace for impact!"
A massive bolt of arching energy streaked across the void at the speed of light. The moment it struck, it covered the entire surface of the Filial Piety.
The effects were instant. The massive surge of energy immediately overloaded the assault carrier's shield capacitor, causing it to explode, taking several unfortunate technicians with it. With the power cut, the shield generator ceased functioning, and the GRID shield that surrounded the vessel vanished in an instant. With its shields gone, it only had its duratanium battleplating for protection, and while the heavy alloy was tough and durable, it wasn't indestructible.
"We've lost our shields!" An officer cried.
A second barrage struck the bare armour plating of the ship, carving ugly streaks of molten metal across the drab grey surface. Some shots melted right through the thinner sections and punched holes into the inside. Several crewmen were blown through the holes to suffer an ultimate fate to asphyxiation before the blast doors sealed.
"Hull breaches in multiple sectors!"
Decker gripped the armrests with white knuckles. He knew his ship couldn't take much more punishment. "Emergency RIFT, now! Get us to the nearest colony!" He cried.
"Aye, sir."
In front of the ship, a tear suddenly seemed to appear, a jagged line of blue light. Then, it ripped open, tearing a hole in the fabric of space itself. Inside was a void of black and blue. The Filial Piety's massive engines glowed even brighter than before as they pushed the massive weight of the assault carrier into the hole.
However, just before it could enter, the bridge shook incredibly violently, and this time, crew members were thrown about. "What the hell was that?" Decker barked.
Miller materialised in front of him. "We just took a direct hit to the RIFT drive! It's setting us on a random course!"
"Shut it down, now!"
"I can't!"
Decker could only watch helplessly as arcs of lightning began to cross the surface of his ship from the portal itself, the ship unable to stop itself now that it was beginning to enter the tunnel itself. "Aw, hell."
And just like that, the Filial Piety vanished into the RIFT tunnel, the portal itself ceasing to exist a second later.
JUNE 14, 2848
FOUR YEARS AFTER FIRST CONTACT
The colony world of Tribute was considered by many to be a great green jewel. Terraformed more than three hundred years ago, the once-barren and lifeless world had been transformed into a lush paradise. The barren rock and rolling sand dunes were now covered in vibrant meadows, great lakes, and breathing forests that stretched on for miles and miles. And then there were the cities. Hundreds of them, ranging from small settlements to massive megacities that went on for many miles and skylines were dotted with towering spires of metal and glass that split the clouds.
It was a prosperous colony at the fringe of human space, home to billions. Its landscape and economy made it a popular holiday destination for all. Many memories were to be made on this vast, peaceful paradise located in an otherwise lonely and isolated star system lightyears away from any other colony.
That was before the vaskrans came.
Its pristine surface had been ravaged by weeks of nonstop fighting. Untold millions of soldiers on both sides of the conflict fought tooth and nail to gain an advantage over the enemy. Human soldiers of the United Earth Government fought the invaders, the lizard-like race of aliens known as the vaskrans. Entire cities were turned into battlefields, soldiers fighting in the rubble of fallen buildings as they did through burning forests and mountainous peaks. The detonations of fusion and plasma warheads could be seen from space, bright flashes of light appearing all over the planet as their massive mushroom clouds erupted through the clouds, shockwaves rippling through the atmosphere.
The battle in space above the planet was just as messy and chaotic. Hundreds among thousands of missiles streaked through the vacuum, as did thousands of Gauss cannon rounds. Lines of point-defence rounds snaked and waved around each human ship as they intercepted enemy missiles and small craft. Most obvious were the massive red beams of light that shot through faster than the eye could see. Returning were the red-white streaks of vaskran energy weaponry and pencil-thin beams from laser defence systems.
Every now and then, a ship would take a finishing blow and erupt into a massive explosion of blue and white ripped through the darkness of space, creating an intense miniature star for a few seconds, before receding. When it did, all that was left in its wake were several pieces of red-hot metal and the charred and broken skeleton of a warship. Several bodies tumbled out into the vacuum; the hull of the ship their grave. The remains of the ship began to fall into the atmosphere of the planet down below as it was pulled into it due to its gravitational field, burning up as it did. Several of the smaller and lighter components went the other way, shooting off into space. Several others that were in orbit around Tribute remained, their lifeless wrecks staying there until their orbit decayed.
A human ship, one of the largest of the ships in the battle at more than five kilometres long, sat behind the front lines. The Filial Piety, as an Accolade-class assault carrier, wasn't meant for direct combat like the frigates and battleships and cruisers. Rather, it was designed and built to transport and support troops planetside. Despite its primary role, it was still equipped with a fair amount of weapons such as several Gauss cannons, missile pods, and a single Mark VII Particle Cannon with a total output of some five hundred megatons at full power.
On the remarkably spacious bridge of the Filial Piety, Captain Anthony Decker stood behind his command holotable. It displayed a holographic three-dimensional representation of the ongoing battle, projecting accurate representations of the ships moving around as several blinked out of existence. Further in front of him, through the large windows of the bridge, was the battle in full detail. While other commanders would be coordinating their fleets, that wasn't his responsibility. His orders were to oversee the deployment of troops and provide them with orbital support.
"Miller," Decker spoke. "Status on the troops?"
"Kicking lizard ass, sir." A voice spoke, accent reminiscent of that from the Massachusetts of the the United States of old Earth. A second later, a miniature army green hologram of a young man dressed in World War II-era US Army fatigues appeared. "Everything's going according to plan. The 281st and 414th Battalions are moving in to rendezvous with the 36th Division to retake Chimis. They've sustained minimal casualties so far, but then again, there aren't a lot of vaskies in this area."
Decker nodded. "Proceed with phase two."
"Aye, sir."
However, before that could happen, in the space behind the Filial Piety, several pinpricks of white light appeared. They seemed to pulse once. Then a second later, half a dozen enemy ships blinked into existence. Alarms immediately went off in the bridge of the assault carrier as the bridge crew frantically went to work analysing the situation. "Sir!" An ensign cried out. "New contacts right behind us!"
Decker glanced at the report and cursed. Behind his ship were six vaskran ships: one cruiser and five frigates, a strike group. A typical vaskran technique the aliens seemed to love. In layman's terms, the vaskrans would hyperdrive several ships directly behind enemy lines at a less-defended spot, taking human ships by surprise. Since UEG ships were particularly vulnerable from behind due to the lack of weapon systems there, it was easier to disable shields by concentrating at a single spot.
And that was exactly what the vaskrans did.
They opened fire with everything they had, missiles streaking towards the lone human ship along with energy weapons fire. The Filial Piety's point-defence guns (PDGs) immediately sprang to life, the network of guns swivelling to face the threat. Then they opened fire.
A massive torrent of magnetically-propelled 30mm armour-piercing high-explosive rounds was spewed forth from each PDG turret's twin barrels. The turrets were computer-controlled, and could react and respond faster than a human ever could. They jerked here and there, adjusting their aim and picking new targets. The APHE rounds pierced through the relatively unarmoured vaskran missiles and detonated inside, destroying them before they could reach their target.
However, while the PDGs were incredibly effective, the vaskrans loved to send out massive swarms of missiles, even more than the UEG. As such, the PDGs were simply overwhelmed, unable to successfully intercept each one, and several made it past the defensive grid.
Yet the moment the missiles seem to find their mark, they suddenly detonated harmlessly as a grid of translucent blue hexagons suddenly flared to life. The ship's Generated Intelligent Defence (GRID) shielding activated, protecting the ship from harm. The shielding technology was designed to absorb and dissipate energy across the shield. It was highly effective against kinetic weapons.
Unfortunately, it didn't fare as well against directed energy. The energy lances had a far more adverse effect on the shield. Arcs of electricity seemed to form with each hit, unlike the calmer ripples of kinetic fire.
The entire ship shook rather violently from the impacts. While it wasn't enough to throw someone off their feet, it was enough for the crew to hastily grab on to something to avoid losing their balance. "Shields at seventy-four percent!" Miller reported.
Captain Decker cursed under his breath and hastily sat down. "Get some retaliatory fire on those ships!" He barked. "Open up with the Gausses and launch missile pods C-7 through E-4!"
The massive Gauss cannons swivelled to face the vaskran ships and opened fire. A series of powerful electromagnets in the barrels of each turret propelled a single ferromagnetic tungsten projectile down a long shaft, increasing the projectile's velocity until it carried an incredible amount of kinetic energy. The projectiles were launched out of the barrels at a fraction of the speed of light, so fast that they appeared to be bright bolts of pure energy. They streaked towards their targets.
But just like the UEG vessels, a golden shield flared to life around each enemy ship, more bubble-like and spherical in shape compared to the second layer of the human ships. A frigate's shields flickered and died in the opening volley, before a second barrage of hypersonic rounds pierced right through its armour. One must have hit its power generator, as it erupted into a massive fireball. However, the strike group still outnumbered and outgunned the lone assault carrier.
Captain Decker gripped the armrest of his command chair as he watched the battle. "Turn this ship around now!"
As the massive warship slowly began to swivel on the spot, Miller suddenly flashed red with alarm. "Captain!" He cried. "I'm picking up a massive amount of energy originating from the cruiser! It's an energy disruptor!"
Decker's eyes widened. "Brace for impact!"
A massive bolt of arching energy streaked across the void at the speed of light. The moment it struck, it covered the entire surface of the Filial Piety.
The effects were instant. The massive surge of energy immediately overloaded the assault carrier's shield capacitor, causing it to explode, taking several unfortunate technicians with it. With the power cut, the shield generator ceased functioning, and the GRID shield that surrounded the vessel vanished in an instant. With its shields gone, it only had its duratanium battleplating for protection, and while the heavy alloy was tough and durable, it wasn't indestructible.
"We've lost our shields!" An officer cried.
A second barrage struck the bare armour plating of the ship, carving ugly streaks of molten metal across the drab grey surface. Some shots melted right through the thinner sections and punched holes into the inside. Several crewmen were blown through the holes to suffer an ultimate fate to asphyxiation before the blast doors sealed.
"Hull breaches in multiple sectors!"
Decker gripped the armrests with white knuckles. He knew his ship couldn't take much more punishment. "Emergency RIFT, now! Get us to the nearest colony!" He cried.
"Aye, sir."
In front of the ship, a tear suddenly seemed to appear, a jagged line of blue light. Then, it ripped open, tearing a hole in the fabric of space itself. Inside was a void of black and blue. The Filial Piety's massive engines glowed even brighter than before as they pushed the massive weight of the assault carrier into the hole.
However, just before it could enter, the bridge shook incredibly violently, and this time, crew members were thrown about. "What the hell was that?" Decker barked.
Miller materialised in front of him. "We just took a direct hit to the RIFT drive! It's setting us on a random course!"
"Shut it down, now!"
"I can't!"
Decker could only watch helplessly as arcs of lightning began to cross the surface of his ship from the portal itself, the ship unable to stop itself now that it was beginning to enter the tunnel itself. "Aw, hell."
And just like that, the Filial Piety vanished into the RIFT tunnel, the portal itself ceasing to exist a second later.
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
“Fawkes I swear to the Gods if you don’t get back here!”, Anice cried out with an exasperated sigh as her younger brother darted ahead of her.
“Catch me if you can!”, was the boy’s reply, pausing only to turn around and stick his tongue out before darting away again.
From her perch on the back of her horse, the princess scowled, watching as her brother cavorted about in the fields, they were supposed to be practicing his riding technique, instead Fawkes was content to chase after lumenflies all bloody evening.
She’d been patient, oh so very patient, Fawkes has insisted he wanted to do his practice in the evening, just as the sun was beginning to go down, so long as he agreed to participate the princess relented. She wasn’t unreasonable, despite what her brother might think.
Of course, now she could see the only reason he’d delayed so long was due to his desire to chase after the lumenflies, and generally waste both of their time.
He was such… child.
“Fawkes, I’m not going to tell you again, come over here”, she snapped, this was not how she’d envisioned her evening going. She was supposed to be on watch and yet here she was, frittering about with her kid brother.
The boy simply laughed as he chased after a particularly large lumenfly, the moth like creatures were about the size of a bat and sported large translucent wings that glowed softly, they came in several colors, most notably green, a light hazy blue and a soft warm yellow. The creature in question flapped it’s wings lazily as it hovered just above Fawkes’ reach; the prince leapt into the air trying to catch it, only to have empty air between his fingers as he landed roughly in the grass.
The Divine Palace was located in the heart of the city, so the stables were located outside Windcrest’s walls, the sprawling green landscape was currently marked with delicate pink and red blooms, as was the custom for the
The rolling hills were truly a sight to behold, a gentle breeze on the wind rustled the grass, casting more lumenflies into the air.
Fawkes’s eyes were wide as dinner plates, he watched from his position on the ground as the creatures lazily flittered about in the air above him.
“Oh come on Sis, you have to admit, this is waaaay cooler than riding ettique”, he looked back over his shoulder, smirking as Anice dismounted.
She pat the side of her steed’s neck, her steed was was a tall and regal looking mare with a jet black coat and a single, diamond shaped patch on her snout.
Her name was Ada, and she was the sweetest creature in all of Arcadia as far as Anice was concerned. The princess felt bad for dragging her from her stable, given it was clear Fawkes wouldn’t be practicing any time soon.
“You know father will be beside himself when he finds out you’ve been neglecting your practicing”, Anice sighed as she approached her brother.
“The lumenflies are a common sight, if you wanted to watch them we could’ve gone to the garden, rather than come all the way out here”, she took a seat in the grass beside the young prince, smirking.
“Yeah, but it’s quieter out here...and besides...”, Fawkes fidgeted with some shredded grass. “I get tired of being cooped up inside”.
Anice frowned, she couldn’t really chastise him for that. Her gaze briefly shifted to the boy’s elongated ears, out here he didn’t feel the need to hide them. At home and in the city, he had to. It was understandable he’d want to take a breather, she just wished he’d be more honest about it.
Child or not such tactics were unbecoming of a prince.
“Next time you want a break from the palace just say so, don’t tease me with the hope of you finally developing a sense of responsibility”, she smiled and gently shoved the boy.
Fawkes just laughed. “Alright sis, I’ll keep that in...mind”, the boy’s gazr was fixated upwards, on something flickering in the sky.
“What’s that?”, he pointed up, toward a rapidly growing bright spot of white. It almost looked like a shooting star, if the star was falling directly toward them.
Anice frowned and got to her feet.
“I have no idea little one”, she spoke softly, eyes fixated on the sky. She'd never seen anything quite like it, but somehow the dazzling display left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Catch me if you can!”, was the boy’s reply, pausing only to turn around and stick his tongue out before darting away again.
From her perch on the back of her horse, the princess scowled, watching as her brother cavorted about in the fields, they were supposed to be practicing his riding technique, instead Fawkes was content to chase after lumenflies all bloody evening.
She’d been patient, oh so very patient, Fawkes has insisted he wanted to do his practice in the evening, just as the sun was beginning to go down, so long as he agreed to participate the princess relented. She wasn’t unreasonable, despite what her brother might think.
Of course, now she could see the only reason he’d delayed so long was due to his desire to chase after the lumenflies, and generally waste both of their time.
He was such… child.
“Fawkes, I’m not going to tell you again, come over here”, she snapped, this was not how she’d envisioned her evening going. She was supposed to be on watch and yet here she was, frittering about with her kid brother.
The boy simply laughed as he chased after a particularly large lumenfly, the moth like creatures were about the size of a bat and sported large translucent wings that glowed softly, they came in several colors, most notably green, a light hazy blue and a soft warm yellow. The creature in question flapped it’s wings lazily as it hovered just above Fawkes’ reach; the prince leapt into the air trying to catch it, only to have empty air between his fingers as he landed roughly in the grass.
The Divine Palace was located in the heart of the city, so the stables were located outside Windcrest’s walls, the sprawling green landscape was currently marked with delicate pink and red blooms, as was the custom for the
The rolling hills were truly a sight to behold, a gentle breeze on the wind rustled the grass, casting more lumenflies into the air.
Fawkes’s eyes were wide as dinner plates, he watched from his position on the ground as the creatures lazily flittered about in the air above him.
“Oh come on Sis, you have to admit, this is waaaay cooler than riding ettique”, he looked back over his shoulder, smirking as Anice dismounted.
She pat the side of her steed’s neck, her steed was was a tall and regal looking mare with a jet black coat and a single, diamond shaped patch on her snout.
Her name was Ada, and she was the sweetest creature in all of Arcadia as far as Anice was concerned. The princess felt bad for dragging her from her stable, given it was clear Fawkes wouldn’t be practicing any time soon.
“You know father will be beside himself when he finds out you’ve been neglecting your practicing”, Anice sighed as she approached her brother.
“The lumenflies are a common sight, if you wanted to watch them we could’ve gone to the garden, rather than come all the way out here”, she took a seat in the grass beside the young prince, smirking.
“Yeah, but it’s quieter out here...and besides...”, Fawkes fidgeted with some shredded grass. “I get tired of being cooped up inside”.
Anice frowned, she couldn’t really chastise him for that. Her gaze briefly shifted to the boy’s elongated ears, out here he didn’t feel the need to hide them. At home and in the city, he had to. It was understandable he’d want to take a breather, she just wished he’d be more honest about it.
Child or not such tactics were unbecoming of a prince.
“Next time you want a break from the palace just say so, don’t tease me with the hope of you finally developing a sense of responsibility”, she smiled and gently shoved the boy.
Fawkes just laughed. “Alright sis, I’ll keep that in...mind”, the boy’s gazr was fixated upwards, on something flickering in the sky.
“What’s that?”, he pointed up, toward a rapidly growing bright spot of white. It almost looked like a shooting star, if the star was falling directly toward them.
Anice frowned and got to her feet.
“I have no idea little one”, she spoke softly, eyes fixated on the sky. She'd never seen anything quite like it, but somehow the dazzling display left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Falling Skies
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
CHAPTER ONE
FALLING SKIES
"Bring this damn ship out of RIFT!" Cried Captain Decker, gazing out the massive viewscreens at the swirling mass of colours.
Miller was frantically typing on a set of holographic panels. While he didn't actually need them, they served as a representation of what he was actually doing, just like his avatar itself. "I can't!" The A.I. grit out. "The RIFT drive isn't responding. The hit must have severed its connections or something, because I can't get a read on the system." He squinted his eyes. "Wait, I'm detecting the exit." He said, looking over to Decker. "Coming out of RIFTSPACE in five... four..."
The ship suddenly began to shake, unusual and a clear sign that something was terribly wrong. Normally, the most that would be felt when a vessel exits a RIFT tunnel would be a very slight vibration. The violent shaking meant that the Filial Piety's stabilisation fields were malfunctioning or even offline. Though given the current status of the RIFT drive, they probably were.
In front of the ship, the tunnel split open suddenly, a tear to the black void of realspace at the end, growing larger and larger as the ship rapidly approached it. A second later, it was launched out at great speed. The portal disappeared moments later, leaving the Filial Piety floating in space, surrounded by millions upon billions of twinkling stars. However, directly in front of the ship was a planet, a continental world of lush green and deep blue shining in the light of the solar system's star.
The ship was also hurtling directly towards the planet, having exited in the planet's gravitational field.
"The planet's gravity is pulling us in, sir." A bridge officer reported as the planet began to grow larger and larger.
Decker gripped the rests of his chair. "Reverse thrust, now!"
"Engines are offline!" Miller shouted over the panic.
The exterior of the Filial Piety began to burn and glow red-hot as the ship entered the planet's atmosphere, becoming a vibrant fireball as it streaked forwards. Several chunks of armour were ripped right off as a deafening boom that resonated for miles was produced by the ship breaking the sound barrier.
It shot over the rolling hills and forests, lighting up the evening sky like a second sun.
"Estimated time to impact: ten seconds," The Filial Piety's A.I. reported as impact sirens went off. "You might want to hold on to something."
The captain nodded as he strapped in. "All crew, brace for impact!"
The ship slammed into the grasslands and kept going, carving a deep trench longer than the width of the ship in the soil and scorching the surrounding grass. It left bits and pieces behind, ripped off from the impact. Finally after more than a kilometre, the Filial Piety came to an uncomfortable stop next to a winding stream. It sat there, smoking and steaming with fires burning in exposed portions.
Captain Decker coughed once, as did the rest of his crew as they slowly got to their feet. Some didn't at all, attended to by fellow crewmates. Others were slumped over at their stations, unmoving. There were also a few lying face-down, pools of crimson forming beneath them. "Is everyone okay?"
The reactions were mixed, with some replying affirmative, others muttering a negative, and others merely groaned.
Decker unlatched himself at got to his feet, stumbling slightly. He slowly made his way to the holotable and leaned on it with one hand, the other massaging a pain in his side. "Status report."
"Not good, sir." Miller appeared in front of him. "Catastrophic damage to multiple areas, fires on basically every deck, antimatter generator primary is gone. Ship's royally fucked, pardon my French."
The captain rubbed his temples. "Casualties?"
"Two hundred and twenty-three at the moment. Oh, make that two hundred and twenty-four. Estimated two hundred and thirty-one in the next hour even with medical support."
Decker sighed. "Could have been worse." He muttered. "Where are we?"
Miller paused for a second, seeming unsure himself. "I have absolutely no idea, sir." He said, glancing around. "I can't pinpoint our stellar position anywhere on the galactic map. I don't know where the RIFT spat us out, but if there's one thing for certain is that we're a long way from home."
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
“Whoa!”, Fawkes eyes went wide as the sky split open. Space itself seemed to bend and stretch, distorting the image of the stars twinkling above their heads.
“What IS THAT!?”, he looked to his sister for an explanation, but much to his shock, she looked just as dazzled as he did. Anice’s gaze was glued to the sky as something seemed to rip through this...this fold in space, and it was racing toward the ground.
A massive glowing red mass streaking toward the planet was more than enough than to kick Anice’s overprotective instincts into over drive.
“Fawkes”, she grabbed the boy by the collar and hauled him up and off his feet, despite his protests.
“Anice put me down!”, Fawkes cried as she slung him over her shoulder, he continued to watch as the unidentified object plummeted lower still.
“Silence boy, we’re leaving”, she snapped as she returned to her steed’s side. Ada pawed at the ground nervously, clearly the beast was able to sense the unease of it’s master. Reaching into the saddle bag the princess grabbed a pair of pristine black gloves enblazened with an intricate magical circle.
Anice pat the horse on the neck and issued her command.
“Ada, return to the stables, now”, she spoke sternly, the horse bobbed it’s head and then turned and sped off for the stables.
“Huh?”, Fawkes looked over and spotted the horse bolting, his stomach twisted. That could only mean…
“No! Put me down, I hate it when you-”, the boy’s cries of protest were cut off as Anice snapped. “Quit your whining”.
She pulled the gloves on and Fawkes groaned. “Don’t puke”, Anice smirked and in a flash of light, the pair disappeared in a flash of golden light.
They reappeared in the main foyer of the castle, just outside the throne room. Anice set a queasy Fawkes on her feet and strode through the massive double doors into the throne room, where her father was sitting.
Standing at his side was a stern older man with light brown hair slicked back from his face. His light blue eyes regarded Anice coldly as she stood before her father. Euain Morlock was a decorated solider and Anice’s mentor, as the current captain of the guard he was in charge of Arcadia’s army, he was also head of the Paladins of Light, a guild of fighters devoted to the Goddess of Light and Healing, Fos.
“Father...Captain Morlock”, Anice bowed.
“Skip the formalities my child, we’ve received word of something strange happening high above us”, the king replied curtly.
“Had you reported on time you might’ve been present when word arrived”, Euain added.
Anice bit back her desire to answer with her own barbed words. “...Yes...my apologies Father...I was with Fawkes”.
The king sneered. “That child, whatever for?”.
Anice visibly bristled, her father’s dismissal of his youngest son always got under her skin, mainly because now Fawkes was old enough to recognize the man’s distaste.
“That hardly matters at this moment Father. But if you must know I was assisting Fawkes with his riding etiquette. We were out near the stables when...a glowing white hole that seemed to fold the very stars themselves, and then...this...thing came through it. It was falling toward the surface when we left”.
“SIRE!”, Anice turned as a servant came dashing into the throne room, the young man came to a skittering stop just behind her and bent low in a hasty bow.
“Speak boy”, both Anice and the king spoke in unison.
“W-we just received word from Keota via paragraph, something has crash landed in the farm lands!”.
Anice’s eyes widened, Keota was the closest settlement to the Windcrest, even so it would be a days ride or so before their men could reach it. unless they used the circles help might arrive too late.
“I’ll go ahead and investigate”, she turned and faced her father, who seemed less than thrilled at the notion.
“Alone, what good can you accomplish?”.
“I can send updates on the situation, and direct the men we have stationed there”. She looked to Euain.
The man nodded in agreement. “She’s right sir, it will take time for be to mobolize our troops to head through the circle, so it’s best to send Lady Anice ahead of us”.
The circle? Anice was surprised Euain would be implementing the teleportation network, given he was known for his distaste for magic. Cleary he understood the gravity of the situation mean setting this aside. Duty and country came before such nonsense she supposed.
Ramus sighed and sat back in his throne.
“Go then girl, prepare and depart immediately”.
Anice bowed and took her leave. Her night had just gotten far, far more interesting.
She quickly returned to her room, put on her suit of armor, which bore Arcadia’s official colors, blue and gold. She strapped her sword to her belt and pulled on her gloves, when Fawkes walked in...through her shut and locked door.
She scowled as the boy seemingly materalized out of nowhere, leaning against her door.
“You and your blasted illusion magic will be the death of me”.
He smirked. “I wanna come too!”.
Anice arched an eyebrow. “You loathe teleportation magic...and it’s a much farther jump to Keota than it is from the stables to the palace. That aside, it’s dangerous”.
Fawkes crossed his arms. “You don’t know that, it’s probably a big old rock or something, I want to see it!”.
The boy had a point, it was likely some sort of rock...at least she hoped that’s what it was. Truth be told Anice didn’t know what to make of the situation, and that made her nervous. She couldn’t expose her brother to a potentially dangerous situation, she just couldn’t.
“I’m sorry Fawkes”, she sighed and pulled her gloves back on. “But your staying here, where it’s safe”.
The boy scowled. “Safe is boring”.
Anice couldn’t argue with that...so she didn’t. She snapped her fingers and was gone.
_+_+_
She reappeared inside a small building made of weathered stone.
“Lady Anice!”, a young girl with mousy brown hair jumped up from her chair, she’d been sitting at a desk furiously writing on a scroll when the princess appeared.
“What’s the sitation scribe?”, she asked as she stepped out of the circle beneath her feet.
“Last update...well uh...”, the girl faltered, which annoyed the princess.
“Spit it out child I don’t have time for this”.
“Uh, I’m sorry my Lady it’s just I...I don’t really know how to explain it. The last report...it...it indicated something large, black and uh...shiny fell from the sky and crash landed in the fields...the soldiers are working on keeping the public away. They await your orders”.
“Where is this strange object?”.
“Three miles out, in the fields”. The scribe blinked and the princess was gone, off to access the situation.
“What IS THAT!?”, he looked to his sister for an explanation, but much to his shock, she looked just as dazzled as he did. Anice’s gaze was glued to the sky as something seemed to rip through this...this fold in space, and it was racing toward the ground.
A massive glowing red mass streaking toward the planet was more than enough than to kick Anice’s overprotective instincts into over drive.
“Fawkes”, she grabbed the boy by the collar and hauled him up and off his feet, despite his protests.
“Anice put me down!”, Fawkes cried as she slung him over her shoulder, he continued to watch as the unidentified object plummeted lower still.
“Silence boy, we’re leaving”, she snapped as she returned to her steed’s side. Ada pawed at the ground nervously, clearly the beast was able to sense the unease of it’s master. Reaching into the saddle bag the princess grabbed a pair of pristine black gloves enblazened with an intricate magical circle.
Anice pat the horse on the neck and issued her command.
“Ada, return to the stables, now”, she spoke sternly, the horse bobbed it’s head and then turned and sped off for the stables.
“Huh?”, Fawkes looked over and spotted the horse bolting, his stomach twisted. That could only mean…
“No! Put me down, I hate it when you-”, the boy’s cries of protest were cut off as Anice snapped. “Quit your whining”.
She pulled the gloves on and Fawkes groaned. “Don’t puke”, Anice smirked and in a flash of light, the pair disappeared in a flash of golden light.
They reappeared in the main foyer of the castle, just outside the throne room. Anice set a queasy Fawkes on her feet and strode through the massive double doors into the throne room, where her father was sitting.
Standing at his side was a stern older man with light brown hair slicked back from his face. His light blue eyes regarded Anice coldly as she stood before her father. Euain Morlock was a decorated solider and Anice’s mentor, as the current captain of the guard he was in charge of Arcadia’s army, he was also head of the Paladins of Light, a guild of fighters devoted to the Goddess of Light and Healing, Fos.
“Father...Captain Morlock”, Anice bowed.
“Skip the formalities my child, we’ve received word of something strange happening high above us”, the king replied curtly.
“Had you reported on time you might’ve been present when word arrived”, Euain added.
Anice bit back her desire to answer with her own barbed words. “...Yes...my apologies Father...I was with Fawkes”.
The king sneered. “That child, whatever for?”.
Anice visibly bristled, her father’s dismissal of his youngest son always got under her skin, mainly because now Fawkes was old enough to recognize the man’s distaste.
“That hardly matters at this moment Father. But if you must know I was assisting Fawkes with his riding etiquette. We were out near the stables when...a glowing white hole that seemed to fold the very stars themselves, and then...this...thing came through it. It was falling toward the surface when we left”.
“SIRE!”, Anice turned as a servant came dashing into the throne room, the young man came to a skittering stop just behind her and bent low in a hasty bow.
“Speak boy”, both Anice and the king spoke in unison.
“W-we just received word from Keota via paragraph, something has crash landed in the farm lands!”.
Anice’s eyes widened, Keota was the closest settlement to the Windcrest, even so it would be a days ride or so before their men could reach it. unless they used the circles help might arrive too late.
“I’ll go ahead and investigate”, she turned and faced her father, who seemed less than thrilled at the notion.
“Alone, what good can you accomplish?”.
“I can send updates on the situation, and direct the men we have stationed there”. She looked to Euain.
The man nodded in agreement. “She’s right sir, it will take time for be to mobolize our troops to head through the circle, so it’s best to send Lady Anice ahead of us”.
The circle? Anice was surprised Euain would be implementing the teleportation network, given he was known for his distaste for magic. Cleary he understood the gravity of the situation mean setting this aside. Duty and country came before such nonsense she supposed.
Ramus sighed and sat back in his throne.
“Go then girl, prepare and depart immediately”.
Anice bowed and took her leave. Her night had just gotten far, far more interesting.
She quickly returned to her room, put on her suit of armor, which bore Arcadia’s official colors, blue and gold. She strapped her sword to her belt and pulled on her gloves, when Fawkes walked in...through her shut and locked door.
She scowled as the boy seemingly materalized out of nowhere, leaning against her door.
“You and your blasted illusion magic will be the death of me”.
He smirked. “I wanna come too!”.
Anice arched an eyebrow. “You loathe teleportation magic...and it’s a much farther jump to Keota than it is from the stables to the palace. That aside, it’s dangerous”.
Fawkes crossed his arms. “You don’t know that, it’s probably a big old rock or something, I want to see it!”.
The boy had a point, it was likely some sort of rock...at least she hoped that’s what it was. Truth be told Anice didn’t know what to make of the situation, and that made her nervous. She couldn’t expose her brother to a potentially dangerous situation, she just couldn’t.
“I’m sorry Fawkes”, she sighed and pulled her gloves back on. “But your staying here, where it’s safe”.
The boy scowled. “Safe is boring”.
Anice couldn’t argue with that...so she didn’t. She snapped her fingers and was gone.
_+_+_
She reappeared inside a small building made of weathered stone.
“Lady Anice!”, a young girl with mousy brown hair jumped up from her chair, she’d been sitting at a desk furiously writing on a scroll when the princess appeared.
“What’s the sitation scribe?”, she asked as she stepped out of the circle beneath her feet.
“Last update...well uh...”, the girl faltered, which annoyed the princess.
“Spit it out child I don’t have time for this”.
“Uh, I’m sorry my Lady it’s just I...I don’t really know how to explain it. The last report...it...it indicated something large, black and uh...shiny fell from the sky and crash landed in the fields...the soldiers are working on keeping the public away. They await your orders”.
“Where is this strange object?”.
“Three miles out, in the fields”. The scribe blinked and the princess was gone, off to access the situation.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Steel blue eyes shot open as their owner struggled to sit up, coughing and sputtering and groaning. Slowly, steadily, and rather shakily, Sergeant Elias Conway got to his feet, only to stumble slightly towards a wall. He put his hand on it and heaved, although nothing came out. Blinking and wiping away his dizziness, Conway took a look around to regain his bearings.
He was in a corridor, that was for sure. The drab grey metal walls surrounded him, the path shaped like an elongated hexagon. Several electronic lights built into the ceiling blinked, while others were completely dark. Thankfully, there was enough light to see. There were a few openings in the walls and ceiling, which produced irregular sparks of electricity, casting flashes of light onto the surrounding surfaces every now and then. Conway could detect the faint smell of smoke in the air if he tried hard enough.
What happened? He remembered moving down the corridor as he made his way towards Hangar Bay Primary in order to take a dropship planetside. Then the Filial Piety came under attack by vaskran ships, getting damaged enough to warrant an emergency RIFT jump. He felt the usual transition to RIFTSPACE. However, when the whole ship began to violent shake during its exit, that was when he knew that something was wrong. Impact alarms went off shortly after, Conway remembered, and he could feel the ship entering the atmosphere of a planet. The last thing he could remember was Miller telling the crew to brace for impact, and then nothing.
He must have lost consciousness then, and given by his position on the floor and brewing headache, he probably hit his head on something. He found that rather odd, since his helmet should have taken the impact.
However, as he reached upwards only for his hand to touch his short brown hair instead of the metallic surface of his helmet, he realised that he wasn't wearing it at all. Had he hit his head so hard it was knocked right off? No, he recalled, he wasn't even wearing it in the first place. It was clutched under his arm by his side. Scanning the area, he found it lying on its side not too far away. Picking it up, he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflective golden visor.
His hair was messy, even more than it normally was in his helmet, and there was a bruise forming on his cheek and a small cut in his forehead that trickled small drops of blood. Minimal damage. He turned the piece of headgear and put it on, magnetic locks securing it to place.
Its HUD came to life immediately, taking a second to boot up and scan the surroundings. Conway checked his vitals, noting that he was physically fine, with the most damage being a minor concussion. Stims weren't needed for this little injury.
Shaking his head, he stepped forwards. There were several Marines gathered up ahead, seemingly talking to themselves. They were all facing the same direction. Raising a brow, he made his way towards them. None of them seemed to take note of his presence. "Hey," He began. "What're you all... looking... at..." He trailed off as his eyes widened.
The Marines were all gathered in the same spot, looking through a gaping hole in the side of the ship, out towards a lush pasture and rolling hills. There were several ancient-looking structures and buildings in the far distance.
He was in a corridor, that was for sure. The drab grey metal walls surrounded him, the path shaped like an elongated hexagon. Several electronic lights built into the ceiling blinked, while others were completely dark. Thankfully, there was enough light to see. There were a few openings in the walls and ceiling, which produced irregular sparks of electricity, casting flashes of light onto the surrounding surfaces every now and then. Conway could detect the faint smell of smoke in the air if he tried hard enough.
What happened? He remembered moving down the corridor as he made his way towards Hangar Bay Primary in order to take a dropship planetside. Then the Filial Piety came under attack by vaskran ships, getting damaged enough to warrant an emergency RIFT jump. He felt the usual transition to RIFTSPACE. However, when the whole ship began to violent shake during its exit, that was when he knew that something was wrong. Impact alarms went off shortly after, Conway remembered, and he could feel the ship entering the atmosphere of a planet. The last thing he could remember was Miller telling the crew to brace for impact, and then nothing.
He must have lost consciousness then, and given by his position on the floor and brewing headache, he probably hit his head on something. He found that rather odd, since his helmet should have taken the impact.
However, as he reached upwards only for his hand to touch his short brown hair instead of the metallic surface of his helmet, he realised that he wasn't wearing it at all. Had he hit his head so hard it was knocked right off? No, he recalled, he wasn't even wearing it in the first place. It was clutched under his arm by his side. Scanning the area, he found it lying on its side not too far away. Picking it up, he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflective golden visor.
His hair was messy, even more than it normally was in his helmet, and there was a bruise forming on his cheek and a small cut in his forehead that trickled small drops of blood. Minimal damage. He turned the piece of headgear and put it on, magnetic locks securing it to place.
Its HUD came to life immediately, taking a second to boot up and scan the surroundings. Conway checked his vitals, noting that he was physically fine, with the most damage being a minor concussion. Stims weren't needed for this little injury.
Shaking his head, he stepped forwards. There were several Marines gathered up ahead, seemingly talking to themselves. They were all facing the same direction. Raising a brow, he made his way towards them. None of them seemed to take note of his presence. "Hey," He began. "What're you all... looking... at..." He trailed off as his eyes widened.
The Marines were all gathered in the same spot, looking through a gaping hole in the side of the ship, out towards a lush pasture and rolling hills. There were several ancient-looking structures and buildings in the far distance.
Last edited:
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
Anice wasn’t sure what to expect, but something about this situation had the princess on edge. She was glad she’d left Fawkes back at the castle, on the off chance something dangerous had fallen from the sky she didn’t want her little brother anywhere near it.
Her mother and Terran, the elder prince and heir to the throne, were currently visiting Rovinger, so they weren’t in any immediate danger.
No, the one’s at most risk were the people of Keota, who were not equipped with the means to defend from any sort of large scale attack.
It was a peaceful farming community, equipped with Circles to make it easy to transport their product throughout the kingdom. They were luck this thing had landed near a town equipped with the teleportation spell, else wise it could be days before a sizable force showed up.
Anice expected a small faction of soldiers to be arriving within the hour, in the meantime she would stake out the site of the crash, and find out what the hell had fallen.
She hoped to any God listening that it would be just a rock.
As she reappeared on the outskirts of the town, she realized that the scribe hadn’t given her a proper direction. However, there was a trail of dark black smoke just visible against the darkening sky, so that wasn’t much of a concern.
Something was burning...oh that wasn’t good.
“Gods protect me”, she muttered to herself before snapping her fingers, a few onlookers gasped as the princess disappeared once again.
She reappeared three miles out, beside the derelict remains of what might’ve been a house at one point.
Arcadia was built on the soil where the heart of Empire of the Sun once resided, the elven kingdom spanned the majority of the continent. During the rebellion many buildings were leveled and most of the remains were left where they were.
So when the fields were laid out, the rubble left behind from an ancient age were simply worked around, the crumbling sections provided shade for workers on hot days, and there were few enough of them so they didn’t cut into farming space much.
And now, these remains provided Anice cover as she crept closer to the source of the smoke, and the crash.
The closer she got the worse the devastation got. The smoke was thick in the air, and the land beneath her was scorched and upturned, as though a massive plow had turned the dirt. She knelt and picked up a clump, aside from the char there was nothing strange about it.
She took a breath and pressed on, there was a small stream ahead, normally used to irrigate and water the crops.
She hoped whatever this was hadn’t demolished it.
“...What could have done this?”, she mused aloud as she worked her way up a small hill. Judging from the thickness of the smoke she was nearing the crash sight...she could hear the fire crackling ahead of her. Her heartbeat steadily rose the more she climbed…
One final breath and she reached the top of the hill, and looked down on something truly...alien.
She, she didn’t know what to make of it, a massive, mangled black structure that was burning on some parts. It was buried deep in a crater, and smoke steadily rose from the wreckage. Judging from the way it seemed to gleam in the fading light, she could tell it wasn’t a rock.
No, this...this was something else.
“What in the name of the Gods...”, she whispered quietly, eyes wide with wonder, and just a hint of fear.
Standing at the top of the hill in her shining armor she looked down upon this fallen vessel, wondering what ill omen had brought this thing to her country.
Squinting, she could just make out something moving around one of the larger holes.
Anice tensed, her hand went to her sword, there was something on this thing…
She needed to wait before charging into combat, if she were to be injured or exposed to something...other worldly it could have dire consequences.
Still, she didn’t hide herself from whatever it was, in fact she was rather hoping it would come out, so she could get a closer look at it.
Her mother and Terran, the elder prince and heir to the throne, were currently visiting Rovinger, so they weren’t in any immediate danger.
No, the one’s at most risk were the people of Keota, who were not equipped with the means to defend from any sort of large scale attack.
It was a peaceful farming community, equipped with Circles to make it easy to transport their product throughout the kingdom. They were luck this thing had landed near a town equipped with the teleportation spell, else wise it could be days before a sizable force showed up.
Anice expected a small faction of soldiers to be arriving within the hour, in the meantime she would stake out the site of the crash, and find out what the hell had fallen.
She hoped to any God listening that it would be just a rock.
As she reappeared on the outskirts of the town, she realized that the scribe hadn’t given her a proper direction. However, there was a trail of dark black smoke just visible against the darkening sky, so that wasn’t much of a concern.
Something was burning...oh that wasn’t good.
“Gods protect me”, she muttered to herself before snapping her fingers, a few onlookers gasped as the princess disappeared once again.
She reappeared three miles out, beside the derelict remains of what might’ve been a house at one point.
Arcadia was built on the soil where the heart of Empire of the Sun once resided, the elven kingdom spanned the majority of the continent. During the rebellion many buildings were leveled and most of the remains were left where they were.
So when the fields were laid out, the rubble left behind from an ancient age were simply worked around, the crumbling sections provided shade for workers on hot days, and there were few enough of them so they didn’t cut into farming space much.
And now, these remains provided Anice cover as she crept closer to the source of the smoke, and the crash.
The closer she got the worse the devastation got. The smoke was thick in the air, and the land beneath her was scorched and upturned, as though a massive plow had turned the dirt. She knelt and picked up a clump, aside from the char there was nothing strange about it.
She took a breath and pressed on, there was a small stream ahead, normally used to irrigate and water the crops.
She hoped whatever this was hadn’t demolished it.
“...What could have done this?”, she mused aloud as she worked her way up a small hill. Judging from the thickness of the smoke she was nearing the crash sight...she could hear the fire crackling ahead of her. Her heartbeat steadily rose the more she climbed…
One final breath and she reached the top of the hill, and looked down on something truly...alien.
She, she didn’t know what to make of it, a massive, mangled black structure that was burning on some parts. It was buried deep in a crater, and smoke steadily rose from the wreckage. Judging from the way it seemed to gleam in the fading light, she could tell it wasn’t a rock.
No, this...this was something else.
“What in the name of the Gods...”, she whispered quietly, eyes wide with wonder, and just a hint of fear.
Standing at the top of the hill in her shining armor she looked down upon this fallen vessel, wondering what ill omen had brought this thing to her country.
Squinting, she could just make out something moving around one of the larger holes.
Anice tensed, her hand went to her sword, there was something on this thing…
She needed to wait before charging into combat, if she were to be injured or exposed to something...other worldly it could have dire consequences.
Still, she didn’t hide herself from whatever it was, in fact she was rather hoping it would come out, so she could get a closer look at it.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Most of the fires had been brought under control in the minutes following the crash, but the damage was still pretty catastrophic. Smoke was still spewing out of several gaping holes, coolant was leaking from several ruptures, and the interior was still a mess. At least the ship didn't immediately disintegrate when entering atmosphere. UEG ships were built to withstand uncontrolled high-velocity atmospheric entry, but that still didn't stop them from suffering a serious case of rapid unplanned disassembly when damaged enough.
The ship was still (mostly) intact and in one piece, so that was a plus.
Most of the bridge crew who were in working condition had returned to their stations, some manning bandages for minor wounds. The once with more serious injuries had been moved to the Filial Piety's medbay. The ship's medbay was already filled with injured crew, most naval personnel who lacked the sturdy full-body powered armour the Marines wore. Thankfully, the injured were quickly getting restored to full health by the minute. Bioheal worked wonders to heal even the most severe of wounds, thanks to the UEG's advanced nanotechnology.
As for the deceased, preparations were already being made to give them a traditional burial.
"I've finished scanning the surrounding area, sir." Miller reported to Captain Decker, who was currently looking through the images picked up by the ship's high-power cameras. They were built to capture images from thousands and even millions of kilometres away with crystal clarity. Most of the images had the surrounding landscape, consisting of rolling hills and green pastures. However, a large number of them also contained ancient-looking buildings on them with smoke coming out from gas stacks. Furthermore, the ship had appeared to have crashed into farmland.
"Interesting," Muttered Decker, scratching his chin. He waved his hand over the holotable, causing a three-dimensional map of the area to appear. He tapped a house, enlarging it and studying it. "This planet is inhabited."
"Yes it is, sir." The A.I. brought up a series of diagrams, showing atmospheric conditions. "Day-night rotations are identical, with a twenty-four hour day and three hundred and sixty-five year cycle. What's more is that the planet's atmosphere is practically identical to that of Earth in its medieval period, before the Industrial Revolution. Not only that but the native wildlife is an exact match of Earth fauna and flora. I'm getting pine trees, grass, deer, hell, even long-extinct species like the red wolf." The images of the various plants and animals appeared.
Decker paused as he seemed to consider how the hell that was even possible. "That can't be possible." He said. "These species... they couldn't possibly evolve here independently. Next you'll be telling me that the intelligent natives are human."
Miller suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable. And that was really saying something for an artificial intelligence program like him. "Uh, they are, sir." He brought up several images and live feeds showing what were unmistakably humans milling around the settlements, while others were staring at the wreck of the Filial Piety from afar. Most were wearing clothing that resembled that of Earth in its Middle Ages. Some were wearing shining metal armour.
The captain stared at the images, then at Miller, then back at the images. His mouth opened and closed, trying to find words. After a whole minute of this, he rubbed his temples and leaned on the holotable. "That... how is that even possible?"
"I don't know." Miller admitted. For an advanced A.I. capable of processing over a sextillion calculations per second and essentially able to think at the speed of light, that was rather worrying. "The odds of humans evolving elsewhere that Earth are improbably small. A planet with an atmosphere and biosphere identical to that of Earth, no less."
Decker seemed to think for a minute. "Is it possible that the humans here descended from a lost colony ship?"
When humanity was first expanding towards the stars after the discovery of faster-than-light travel hundreds of years ago, the old governments of Earth launched massive colony vessels loaded with thousands of cryogenically frozen colonists to neighbouring habitable planets. Due to the unstable and unreliable nature of early RIFT drives, many of them didn't make the journey.
"Negative," Miller shook his head, shooting the theory out of the air. "This star system is uncharted. It's not in the records or anything, and I've dig through the whole archive a dozen times over. We're in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, if you'll pardon my French."
Decker sat down in his command chair and leaned on an arm, feeling a headache coming on. That was made even worse when Miller flashed red in alert.
"Sir, you may want to see this," He said. Groaning, Decker got up and stood over the holotable. There was in image showing a young, ostensibly human woman in shining armour of blue and gold standing at the top of a nearby hill. "It's one of the... uh, natives, sir."
The captain frowned as he formulated a plan. "Launch a recon drone. Initiate contact with the native."
"Aye, sir."
A hatch on top of the Filial Piety popped open, revealing hundreds of small, metre-long drones packed with sensors and with a single large optic at the very front attached to the sides. A single drone was released, flying upwards and propelled by a tiny repulsor thruster. It spent a second calibrating, before shooting off towards the native. It reached her in seconds, hovering a short distance from her face in a non-threatening way. Its glowing blue optical sensor studied her for a second, before Miller's Boston-accented voice came from several speakers on it.
"How you doin'?"
The ship was still (mostly) intact and in one piece, so that was a plus.
Most of the bridge crew who were in working condition had returned to their stations, some manning bandages for minor wounds. The once with more serious injuries had been moved to the Filial Piety's medbay. The ship's medbay was already filled with injured crew, most naval personnel who lacked the sturdy full-body powered armour the Marines wore. Thankfully, the injured were quickly getting restored to full health by the minute. Bioheal worked wonders to heal even the most severe of wounds, thanks to the UEG's advanced nanotechnology.
As for the deceased, preparations were already being made to give them a traditional burial.
"I've finished scanning the surrounding area, sir." Miller reported to Captain Decker, who was currently looking through the images picked up by the ship's high-power cameras. They were built to capture images from thousands and even millions of kilometres away with crystal clarity. Most of the images had the surrounding landscape, consisting of rolling hills and green pastures. However, a large number of them also contained ancient-looking buildings on them with smoke coming out from gas stacks. Furthermore, the ship had appeared to have crashed into farmland.
"Interesting," Muttered Decker, scratching his chin. He waved his hand over the holotable, causing a three-dimensional map of the area to appear. He tapped a house, enlarging it and studying it. "This planet is inhabited."
"Yes it is, sir." The A.I. brought up a series of diagrams, showing atmospheric conditions. "Day-night rotations are identical, with a twenty-four hour day and three hundred and sixty-five year cycle. What's more is that the planet's atmosphere is practically identical to that of Earth in its medieval period, before the Industrial Revolution. Not only that but the native wildlife is an exact match of Earth fauna and flora. I'm getting pine trees, grass, deer, hell, even long-extinct species like the red wolf." The images of the various plants and animals appeared.
Decker paused as he seemed to consider how the hell that was even possible. "That can't be possible." He said. "These species... they couldn't possibly evolve here independently. Next you'll be telling me that the intelligent natives are human."
Miller suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable. And that was really saying something for an artificial intelligence program like him. "Uh, they are, sir." He brought up several images and live feeds showing what were unmistakably humans milling around the settlements, while others were staring at the wreck of the Filial Piety from afar. Most were wearing clothing that resembled that of Earth in its Middle Ages. Some were wearing shining metal armour.
The captain stared at the images, then at Miller, then back at the images. His mouth opened and closed, trying to find words. After a whole minute of this, he rubbed his temples and leaned on the holotable. "That... how is that even possible?"
"I don't know." Miller admitted. For an advanced A.I. capable of processing over a sextillion calculations per second and essentially able to think at the speed of light, that was rather worrying. "The odds of humans evolving elsewhere that Earth are improbably small. A planet with an atmosphere and biosphere identical to that of Earth, no less."
Decker seemed to think for a minute. "Is it possible that the humans here descended from a lost colony ship?"
When humanity was first expanding towards the stars after the discovery of faster-than-light travel hundreds of years ago, the old governments of Earth launched massive colony vessels loaded with thousands of cryogenically frozen colonists to neighbouring habitable planets. Due to the unstable and unreliable nature of early RIFT drives, many of them didn't make the journey.
"Negative," Miller shook his head, shooting the theory out of the air. "This star system is uncharted. It's not in the records or anything, and I've dig through the whole archive a dozen times over. We're in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, if you'll pardon my French."
Decker sat down in his command chair and leaned on an arm, feeling a headache coming on. That was made even worse when Miller flashed red in alert.
"Sir, you may want to see this," He said. Groaning, Decker got up and stood over the holotable. There was in image showing a young, ostensibly human woman in shining armour of blue and gold standing at the top of a nearby hill. "It's one of the... uh, natives, sir."
The captain frowned as he formulated a plan. "Launch a recon drone. Initiate contact with the native."
"Aye, sir."
A hatch on top of the Filial Piety popped open, revealing hundreds of small, metre-long drones packed with sensors and with a single large optic at the very front attached to the sides. A single drone was released, flying upwards and propelled by a tiny repulsor thruster. It spent a second calibrating, before shooting off towards the native. It reached her in seconds, hovering a short distance from her face in a non-threatening way. Its glowing blue optical sensor studied her for a second, before Miller's Boston-accented voice came from several speakers on it.
"How you doin'?"
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
The princess stared down at the downed craft, unable to find the words to describe what she was looking at. It looked like a vessel of sorts, it was mostly in tact, despite it’s rough landing. How something as large as this could ever fly was beyond her, it had to be some kind o magitech.
She failed to see how anything else could explain what she was looking at. More importantly however, was this thing was looking at her, or rather, something within it was.
She could feel eyes on her, and that made the princess even more tense. She didn’t sense anything outwardly hostile, but there was no telling what could be hiding in the depths of this unusual vessel.
Princess Anice.
The woman blinked and closed her eyes, she could sense a presence at the back of her mind, a familiar one that that. Telepathic communication was a specatility of Captain Morlock, using it on the field of battle prevented one’s enemy from discovering your plans.
Currently the captain, along with a group of fifteen armed guards, were mobilizing and departing from Keota.
Captain Morlock, are you close?
Yes, I have a small group of men, I was hoping you could update us.
Anice blinked. It seems some sort of...vessel has fallen to the surface. It...it almost looks like a ship, though not one I’ve ever seen before. It is black in color and I...believe that something is inside it, though at the moment nothing ha-
The grip on her sword tightened as there was movement down below. Something was happening, she narrowed her gaze as a hatch opened on the back of the strange vessel, from it came…
Anice took a step back as the strange contraption flew toward her. Eyes wide with shock she stared at the hovering machine, unable to formulate a response.
And then, to make things even more confusing, it spoke. Even more alarming than that...it spoke common…
How was that possible?
In an instant Anice drew the sword on her belt and pointed it at the drone, she knew not what the thing was, but it was speaking to her. In an incredibly casual tone at that, such insolence.
Either this contraption possessed some kind of sentience, or...more likely.
Something was controlling it...and watching her.
Princess, has something happened?
Morlock’s voice in her head shook Anice from her thought.
Yes...the vessel has...issued a...a...Sir I’m not sure what it is. It’s...floating before me right now...and it spoke. Do I engage...or should I destroy it. I am fairly certain it is not a...living being.
There was a few moments of silence, then Morlock replied. We are close, engage but do not destroy. Inform this thing...of it’s precarious situation.
Anice grinned. Yes sir.
She nudged the drone with the tip of her sword.
“You there...whatever you are...”, she spoke slowly, still somewhat unsure if it, or the entity listening in, could understand her.
“You’re addressing the crown princess of Arcadia, and you will show me the respect my station deserves”.
She glanced past the drone down to the fallen vessel, and then back again.
“...Whatever is listening to this...heed my words. My men are en route to this location, whatever...or whoever you are, you are to vacate this...vessel, and make your presence known. Properly...not through this...thing”.
She lowered her sword.
“Refusing these orders shall be viewed as an act of war, and you will not like the consequences of that".
She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
She sheathed her blade, if she was going to attempt diplomacy she ought to abandon intimidation tactics.
"...Also...to answer you're earlier question, I am doing...fine. You are the one in a...precarious predicament".
She failed to see how anything else could explain what she was looking at. More importantly however, was this thing was looking at her, or rather, something within it was.
She could feel eyes on her, and that made the princess even more tense. She didn’t sense anything outwardly hostile, but there was no telling what could be hiding in the depths of this unusual vessel.
Princess Anice.
The woman blinked and closed her eyes, she could sense a presence at the back of her mind, a familiar one that that. Telepathic communication was a specatility of Captain Morlock, using it on the field of battle prevented one’s enemy from discovering your plans.
Currently the captain, along with a group of fifteen armed guards, were mobilizing and departing from Keota.
Captain Morlock, are you close?
Yes, I have a small group of men, I was hoping you could update us.
Anice blinked. It seems some sort of...vessel has fallen to the surface. It...it almost looks like a ship, though not one I’ve ever seen before. It is black in color and I...believe that something is inside it, though at the moment nothing ha-
The grip on her sword tightened as there was movement down below. Something was happening, she narrowed her gaze as a hatch opened on the back of the strange vessel, from it came…
Anice took a step back as the strange contraption flew toward her. Eyes wide with shock she stared at the hovering machine, unable to formulate a response.
And then, to make things even more confusing, it spoke. Even more alarming than that...it spoke common…
How was that possible?
In an instant Anice drew the sword on her belt and pointed it at the drone, she knew not what the thing was, but it was speaking to her. In an incredibly casual tone at that, such insolence.
Either this contraption possessed some kind of sentience, or...more likely.
Something was controlling it...and watching her.
Princess, has something happened?
Morlock’s voice in her head shook Anice from her thought.
Yes...the vessel has...issued a...a...Sir I’m not sure what it is. It’s...floating before me right now...and it spoke. Do I engage...or should I destroy it. I am fairly certain it is not a...living being.
There was a few moments of silence, then Morlock replied. We are close, engage but do not destroy. Inform this thing...of it’s precarious situation.
Anice grinned. Yes sir.
She nudged the drone with the tip of her sword.
“You there...whatever you are...”, she spoke slowly, still somewhat unsure if it, or the entity listening in, could understand her.
“You’re addressing the crown princess of Arcadia, and you will show me the respect my station deserves”.
She glanced past the drone down to the fallen vessel, and then back again.
“...Whatever is listening to this...heed my words. My men are en route to this location, whatever...or whoever you are, you are to vacate this...vessel, and make your presence known. Properly...not through this...thing”.
She lowered her sword.
“Refusing these orders shall be viewed as an act of war, and you will not like the consequences of that".
She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
She sheathed her blade, if she was going to attempt diplomacy she ought to abandon intimidation tactics.
"...Also...to answer you're earlier question, I am doing...fine. You are the one in a...precarious predicament".
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Decker stared at his A.I. with an incredulous expression. "Did you really ask the native how she was doing?" He asked with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Miller merely shrugged and turned to his captain with an innocent look. "Hey, she probably doesn't speak English, anyway." He said. "I mean, what are the chances of the natives of this planet being human and speaking English? Zero to none, I tell ya."
The captain seemed to consider the statement and seemed to agree with it, as he folded his arms and turned to continue watching the footage. The woman had drawn a sword and was pointing it at the drone. Scans indicated an increased heart rate and dilated pupils, a clear sign of fear. Yet there was also a trace of curiosity and wonder in her eyes, which was very likely considering that the UEG was at least two thousand years ahead technologically by estimate. She likely hadn't seen anything remotely like it.
The woman nudged the drone with the tip of her sword, causing it to hover further backwards and upwards to a safe distance. The drone had no chance of getting destroyed or even damaged by the primitive weapon since it, like most other human machines, was built with a combination of duratanium and durasteel. The drone was hardly meant for combat, but its plating ensured that environmental factors wouldn't be much of a problem, and it packed a set of dazzlers meant to stun possible predatory creatures on various planets such as the acraghols on Umbra. Other than that, it had no offensive weaponry to speak of.
"She's getting pretty nervous, sir." Miller turned to Decker. "Pretty sure she doesn't understand."
"That I can tell." Decker nodded. "I want a full survey of this planet. Get the drones and recon --"
He was cut off when the woman began to speak in clear, unmistakable English.
Decker's eyes widened as his arms fell to his sides in shock. Miller held the same expression. Immediately, he scrambled for a transmitter. As it extended out of the holotable, Decker leaned into it. "This is Captain Anthony Decker of the United Earth Government Naval Command vessel Filial Piety. We have crashed on an unknown world."
He frowned as the woman, the crown princess of Arcadia, apparently, demanded to be shown 'the respect her station deserved'. Decker muted the microphone and turned to Miller. "She said Arcadia."
Miller already had an answer to that. "Before you ask, yes, I've already double checked. This place isn't Arcadia. The colony, I mean. The landscape, biosphere, and chemical makeup are completely different."
The captain nodded, and then turned back to the live feed. The princess was currently in the process of threatening war if the crew didn't step out. He turned back to Miller. "Give me a rundown on the Marines."
"We lost a fifth of the Marine complement when we jumped, left them planetside on Tribute." Miller reported. "That said, we still have almost twenty thousand left along with combat vehicles. Most of the ship's weapon systems are still online and ready. With the level of technology the natives seem to have, we'll have no problems at all. Hell, I'm pretty sure we only need half that number to conquer this entire world."
Decker closed his eyes. "If push comes to shove..." He muttered. He opened them and activated the mic. "We do not desire war, but will defend ourselves if need be. We only want assistance."
Miller merely shrugged and turned to his captain with an innocent look. "Hey, she probably doesn't speak English, anyway." He said. "I mean, what are the chances of the natives of this planet being human and speaking English? Zero to none, I tell ya."
The captain seemed to consider the statement and seemed to agree with it, as he folded his arms and turned to continue watching the footage. The woman had drawn a sword and was pointing it at the drone. Scans indicated an increased heart rate and dilated pupils, a clear sign of fear. Yet there was also a trace of curiosity and wonder in her eyes, which was very likely considering that the UEG was at least two thousand years ahead technologically by estimate. She likely hadn't seen anything remotely like it.
The woman nudged the drone with the tip of her sword, causing it to hover further backwards and upwards to a safe distance. The drone had no chance of getting destroyed or even damaged by the primitive weapon since it, like most other human machines, was built with a combination of duratanium and durasteel. The drone was hardly meant for combat, but its plating ensured that environmental factors wouldn't be much of a problem, and it packed a set of dazzlers meant to stun possible predatory creatures on various planets such as the acraghols on Umbra. Other than that, it had no offensive weaponry to speak of.
"She's getting pretty nervous, sir." Miller turned to Decker. "Pretty sure she doesn't understand."
"That I can tell." Decker nodded. "I want a full survey of this planet. Get the drones and recon --"
He was cut off when the woman began to speak in clear, unmistakable English.
Decker's eyes widened as his arms fell to his sides in shock. Miller held the same expression. Immediately, he scrambled for a transmitter. As it extended out of the holotable, Decker leaned into it. "This is Captain Anthony Decker of the United Earth Government Naval Command vessel Filial Piety. We have crashed on an unknown world."
He frowned as the woman, the crown princess of Arcadia, apparently, demanded to be shown 'the respect her station deserved'. Decker muted the microphone and turned to Miller. "She said Arcadia."
Miller already had an answer to that. "Before you ask, yes, I've already double checked. This place isn't Arcadia. The colony, I mean. The landscape, biosphere, and chemical makeup are completely different."
The captain nodded, and then turned back to the live feed. The princess was currently in the process of threatening war if the crew didn't step out. He turned back to Miller. "Give me a rundown on the Marines."
"We lost a fifth of the Marine complement when we jumped, left them planetside on Tribute." Miller reported. "That said, we still have almost twenty thousand left along with combat vehicles. Most of the ship's weapon systems are still online and ready. With the level of technology the natives seem to have, we'll have no problems at all. Hell, I'm pretty sure we only need half that number to conquer this entire world."
Decker closed his eyes. "If push comes to shove..." He muttered. He opened them and activated the mic. "We do not desire war, but will defend ourselves if need be. We only want assistance."
Last edited:
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
The princess wasn’t sure if anyone was really listening, it seemed unlikely this strange device was sentient, but given how bizarre the entire situation was, she supposed she shouldn’t discount any possibility.
She knew not if these entities were hostile or not. What she did know was she was growing impatient, perhaps whatever was on the other side didn’t understand common?
If that was the case a simple translating spell could fix the communication barrier...assuming the things ever came out of their vessel.
The princess was debating issuing her command again when a voice came out of the strange contraption. Anice’s head cocked to the side, looked the drone up and down, but was unable to determine where the voice was coming from.
“Ah, so you do understand me, that makes this much simpler”, she nodded up at the drone.
“...Captain...Decker...”, she crossed her arms. “I do not desire war, simply the safety of my people...and yours...ah, I...do not mean to assume that you and yours are in fact...people”.
Hell, she had no idea what race this voice belong to, but the fact they spoke the same tongue meant they were sentient, and that was all that really mattered.
The thundering of hooves on the dirt drew the princess’s attention, as she turned around she spotted Morlock and his men approaching fast on horseback.
“Ah, the cavalry has arrived”, she looked back to the drone as Morlock dismounted his steed at the base of the hill. He jogged up the hill, and was followed by his fifteen men. All paused for a moment, mouths agape as they took in the sight of the downed vessel. All except Morlock, who’s attention was on the drone.
“Princess, report”.
“This...odd contraption is serving as a line of communication Captain...someone has introduced themselves as Captain Anthony Decker”. She looked to the smoldering ship.
“They claim to represent an organization called the United Earth Government Naval Command..this...thing...”, she motioned to the crashed ship. “Is called the Filial Piety. I’ve asked the captain and any remaining survivors to exit the...vessel so we may speak...”.
Morlock nodded in approval, and looked to the drone.
“I am Captain Euain Morlock, Leader of His Majesty’s Guard, protector of the Kingdom of Arcadia. I trust our princess has also informed you any hostile moves will not be tolerated”.
Anice nodded. “The captain has asked for aid, I can only assume this means there are injured persons abord the...ship?”, she looked questioningly to the drone.
“...It is a ship of sorts...correct?”, she sighed. Talking to this contraption was somewhat unnerving, she couldn’t read the intent of the speaker on the other end.
Morlock was surprised anything survived the violent landing, the ship had dug a massive crater into the terrain.
“If you have injured parties captain, you will need to either bring them out here...or grant us access to your ship”.
Morlock waved one of his men over, the two exchanged hushed words before Morlock looked back to the drone.
“We will need a rough estimate of the number of injured. I need to know how many clerics we need to teleport here”.
Judging from the size of the vessel, Anice speculated on those numbers...odds are they were far too large for the local healer at Keota to handle. They would have to send word to the palace...and perhaps the neighboring holds as well.
This was going to be a mess...and that wasn’t even considering reporting this to her father...and to the council.
But all these things could be worried about later, at the moment they needed to know who they were dealing with...and how grave their situation was.
Anice wished to save as many as they could, partly because doing so might endear these things to them, and partly because it was simply the proper thing to do.
With Morlock here the princess’s role was to represent her nation’s interest, but the deaths of potentially hundreds of...people did not benefit anyone. So long as these outsiders followed their rules...then things could run smoothly.
Her gaze moved back to the ship, the massive contraption was both awe inspiring and terrifying. Anice could only imagine the sort of destruction it could bring to her people…
Her gaze focused on one of the many holes in the side of the vessel, she could’ve sworn she’d spotted movement there before.
She knew not if these entities were hostile or not. What she did know was she was growing impatient, perhaps whatever was on the other side didn’t understand common?
If that was the case a simple translating spell could fix the communication barrier...assuming the things ever came out of their vessel.
The princess was debating issuing her command again when a voice came out of the strange contraption. Anice’s head cocked to the side, looked the drone up and down, but was unable to determine where the voice was coming from.
“Ah, so you do understand me, that makes this much simpler”, she nodded up at the drone.
“...Captain...Decker...”, she crossed her arms. “I do not desire war, simply the safety of my people...and yours...ah, I...do not mean to assume that you and yours are in fact...people”.
Hell, she had no idea what race this voice belong to, but the fact they spoke the same tongue meant they were sentient, and that was all that really mattered.
The thundering of hooves on the dirt drew the princess’s attention, as she turned around she spotted Morlock and his men approaching fast on horseback.
“Ah, the cavalry has arrived”, she looked back to the drone as Morlock dismounted his steed at the base of the hill. He jogged up the hill, and was followed by his fifteen men. All paused for a moment, mouths agape as they took in the sight of the downed vessel. All except Morlock, who’s attention was on the drone.
“Princess, report”.
“This...odd contraption is serving as a line of communication Captain...someone has introduced themselves as Captain Anthony Decker”. She looked to the smoldering ship.
“They claim to represent an organization called the United Earth Government Naval Command..this...thing...”, she motioned to the crashed ship. “Is called the Filial Piety. I’ve asked the captain and any remaining survivors to exit the...vessel so we may speak...”.
Morlock nodded in approval, and looked to the drone.
“I am Captain Euain Morlock, Leader of His Majesty’s Guard, protector of the Kingdom of Arcadia. I trust our princess has also informed you any hostile moves will not be tolerated”.
Anice nodded. “The captain has asked for aid, I can only assume this means there are injured persons abord the...ship?”, she looked questioningly to the drone.
“...It is a ship of sorts...correct?”, she sighed. Talking to this contraption was somewhat unnerving, she couldn’t read the intent of the speaker on the other end.
Morlock was surprised anything survived the violent landing, the ship had dug a massive crater into the terrain.
“If you have injured parties captain, you will need to either bring them out here...or grant us access to your ship”.
Morlock waved one of his men over, the two exchanged hushed words before Morlock looked back to the drone.
“We will need a rough estimate of the number of injured. I need to know how many clerics we need to teleport here”.
Judging from the size of the vessel, Anice speculated on those numbers...odds are they were far too large for the local healer at Keota to handle. They would have to send word to the palace...and perhaps the neighboring holds as well.
This was going to be a mess...and that wasn’t even considering reporting this to her father...and to the council.
But all these things could be worried about later, at the moment they needed to know who they were dealing with...and how grave their situation was.
Anice wished to save as many as they could, partly because doing so might endear these things to them, and partly because it was simply the proper thing to do.
With Morlock here the princess’s role was to represent her nation’s interest, but the deaths of potentially hundreds of...people did not benefit anyone. So long as these outsiders followed their rules...then things could run smoothly.
Her gaze moved back to the ship, the massive contraption was both awe inspiring and terrifying. Anice could only imagine the sort of destruction it could bring to her people…
Her gaze focused on one of the many holes in the side of the vessel, she could’ve sworn she’d spotted movement there before.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
"New contacts detected." Miller informed, showing a live feed of a new group approaching the princess. Sixteen men riding on horseback, all racing forwards like the knights of ancient Earth. The one leading them seemed to be garbed far more intricate gear than the rest of them, likely an officer of commander of some sort. He dismounted his horse at the base of the hill and jogged his way up to where the princess was standing, followed closely by his men.
"Must be reinforcements." Decker assumed, watching as the princess took a few steps towards the leader. The two of them exchanged a few words, which were all picked up by the drone's sensors. The leader then turned to the drone and introduced himself as 'Captain Euain Morlock, Leader of His Majesty’s Guard, protector of the Kingdom of Arcadia'. He also proceeded to warn Decker than any hostile moves would not be tolerated. Once that was out of them way, the princess asked if the Filial Piety really was a ship.
"An assault carrier, to be precise." Came Miller's more casual Boston accent, a rather stark contrast to Decker's gruff and commanding one. "Accolade-class, designed and built to rapidly transport large volumes of troops planetside."
"We have injured, yes," Decker's voice replaced Miller's. "But they are all accounted for thanks to the medical systems of my ship. We do not need any further assistance in terms of medical care."
He turned to Miller. "Status on the injured?"
"Currently around 67% of the injured so far have been fully healed. Of course, the ones with critical injuries got priority. No more deaths reported. The crew's holding, but the medbays are still pretty full."
Decker nodded as he turned back to the mic. "The injured crew of my ship are getting healed to full health as we speak." A statement made by the princess caught his attention. "Teleport? Interesting..." He swiped upwards at the air in front of him and brought up a panel showing several units that were combat ready. "I'll dispatch a squad of Marines to meet you on the field."
Conway gripped his Advanced Coil-operated Assault Rifle 38 (ACAR-38) in both hands. The magnetic weapon was powered by a series of powerful electromagnetic coils which propelled the bullet to speeds exceeding mach five, more than enough to pierce through flesh and bone without any issue. The magnets were powered by an efficient microfusion power cell that only needed to be swapped after years of continuous firing. The rifle was one of the most recognisable and mass-produced weapons the UEG had at its disposal, being so ubiquitous and commonplace it, and many other variants and derivatives, could be found in practically every weapon shop for a decent price. His rifle had the standard underbarrel 25mm airburst grenade launcher, though it could be swapped for either a shotgun, electrostunner, or energy bayonet.
The rifle weighed nearly eight kilograms fully loaded, but his armour made carrying it feel like nothing. Standard Marine Powered Combat Armour enabled its wearer to lift in excess of a metric ton, so an assault rifle was practically nothing in comparison.
Conway's squad was waiting for him up ahead. Seven of them, all in armour like his. The moment they caught sight of him, they stood up straight, the ones sitting on loose crates or the floor immediately getting to their feet.
Guess it was time to say something.
"Alright, guys," He began. "As you all know, we've crashed on some uncharted world that just so happens to be populated by a primitive race on par with that of ancient Earth during the Middle Ages. The captain himself has given us a special mission: meet with the locals." The Marines glanced at one another. While their expressions were hidden behind their visors, it wasn't hard to tell that they were quite surprised.
"What if they're hostile?" Private Jasper Torres asked. "Do we shoot 'em?"
"And screw up our chances of a peaceful first contact with an alien race not out for blood?" Questioned Corporal Michael Reyes. He was Conway's second-in-command, and tended to be more uptight than he was. "What if that sparks another war?"
"They're a bunch of primitives!" Torres retorted. "What are they gonna do? Hit us with pointy sticks?"
"That's enough." Conway silenced both of them. He paused for a bit as he prepared to deliver the startling revelation. "The thing is, the natives are, well, human."
His squad went dead silent immediately, not quite believing. "Yeah, pretty goddamn unbelievable, huh? Well, they also speak English, apparently." Conway glanced over his squad, all of them not sure what to say. "I'd rather not think about it too hard. I mean, we just came from fighting a bunch of six-eyed walking lizard people with an affinity for lasers, so are you really gonna question this?"
The men seemed to agree with that. Satisfied, he turned around and walked over to a waiting SLV31 Pitbull Scout/Transport Vehicle. He got in and powered up its engines. Its plasma-hydrogen generator came to life, growling with power. Reyes took the seat next to him as the rest of the squad entered through the back and took their seats.
A boarding ramp lowered, allowing the evening sun to flow through, the orange rays mixing with the white artificial lighting of the vehicle bay. Several of the Marines and other personnel in the bay stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the rolling hills outside. Conway, meanwhile, gripped the wheel and stepped on the accelerator pedal, sending the scout vehicle forwards.
And the men of Apex Squad, 227th Infantry Battalion were off, driving towards the hills for a meeting of a lifetime.
"Must be reinforcements." Decker assumed, watching as the princess took a few steps towards the leader. The two of them exchanged a few words, which were all picked up by the drone's sensors. The leader then turned to the drone and introduced himself as 'Captain Euain Morlock, Leader of His Majesty’s Guard, protector of the Kingdom of Arcadia'. He also proceeded to warn Decker than any hostile moves would not be tolerated. Once that was out of them way, the princess asked if the Filial Piety really was a ship.
"An assault carrier, to be precise." Came Miller's more casual Boston accent, a rather stark contrast to Decker's gruff and commanding one. "Accolade-class, designed and built to rapidly transport large volumes of troops planetside."
"We have injured, yes," Decker's voice replaced Miller's. "But they are all accounted for thanks to the medical systems of my ship. We do not need any further assistance in terms of medical care."
He turned to Miller. "Status on the injured?"
"Currently around 67% of the injured so far have been fully healed. Of course, the ones with critical injuries got priority. No more deaths reported. The crew's holding, but the medbays are still pretty full."
Decker nodded as he turned back to the mic. "The injured crew of my ship are getting healed to full health as we speak." A statement made by the princess caught his attention. "Teleport? Interesting..." He swiped upwards at the air in front of him and brought up a panel showing several units that were combat ready. "I'll dispatch a squad of Marines to meet you on the field."
--------------------------------------
The doors to Vehicle Bay 15 slid open and Sergeant Conway stepped through. The bay was just one of several dozen, an area that functioned as the storage area for numerous ground vehicles, and where they would remain on standby. Most of the vehicles were clamped to a set of rails that ran the entire area, designed to carry the smaller vehicles to awaiting heavy transport craft such as DVT-102 Manticore Vehicle Transports or HTC-21 Harpy Heavy Transports, among many others. There were also several hatches on the floor that could be opened for a transport to pass through in order to pick up a vehicle or several. Of course, since the Filial Piety was currently grounded, very likely permanently, the hatches were all but useless.
Conway gripped his Advanced Coil-operated Assault Rifle 38 (ACAR-38) in both hands. The magnetic weapon was powered by a series of powerful electromagnetic coils which propelled the bullet to speeds exceeding mach five, more than enough to pierce through flesh and bone without any issue. The magnets were powered by an efficient microfusion power cell that only needed to be swapped after years of continuous firing. The rifle was one of the most recognisable and mass-produced weapons the UEG had at its disposal, being so ubiquitous and commonplace it, and many other variants and derivatives, could be found in practically every weapon shop for a decent price. His rifle had the standard underbarrel 25mm airburst grenade launcher, though it could be swapped for either a shotgun, electrostunner, or energy bayonet.
The rifle weighed nearly eight kilograms fully loaded, but his armour made carrying it feel like nothing. Standard Marine Powered Combat Armour enabled its wearer to lift in excess of a metric ton, so an assault rifle was practically nothing in comparison.
Conway's squad was waiting for him up ahead. Seven of them, all in armour like his. The moment they caught sight of him, they stood up straight, the ones sitting on loose crates or the floor immediately getting to their feet.
Guess it was time to say something.
"Alright, guys," He began. "As you all know, we've crashed on some uncharted world that just so happens to be populated by a primitive race on par with that of ancient Earth during the Middle Ages. The captain himself has given us a special mission: meet with the locals." The Marines glanced at one another. While their expressions were hidden behind their visors, it wasn't hard to tell that they were quite surprised.
"What if they're hostile?" Private Jasper Torres asked. "Do we shoot 'em?"
"And screw up our chances of a peaceful first contact with an alien race not out for blood?" Questioned Corporal Michael Reyes. He was Conway's second-in-command, and tended to be more uptight than he was. "What if that sparks another war?"
"They're a bunch of primitives!" Torres retorted. "What are they gonna do? Hit us with pointy sticks?"
"That's enough." Conway silenced both of them. He paused for a bit as he prepared to deliver the startling revelation. "The thing is, the natives are, well, human."
His squad went dead silent immediately, not quite believing. "Yeah, pretty goddamn unbelievable, huh? Well, they also speak English, apparently." Conway glanced over his squad, all of them not sure what to say. "I'd rather not think about it too hard. I mean, we just came from fighting a bunch of six-eyed walking lizard people with an affinity for lasers, so are you really gonna question this?"
The men seemed to agree with that. Satisfied, he turned around and walked over to a waiting SLV31 Pitbull Scout/Transport Vehicle. He got in and powered up its engines. Its plasma-hydrogen generator came to life, growling with power. Reyes took the seat next to him as the rest of the squad entered through the back and took their seats.
A boarding ramp lowered, allowing the evening sun to flow through, the orange rays mixing with the white artificial lighting of the vehicle bay. Several of the Marines and other personnel in the bay stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the rolling hills outside. Conway, meanwhile, gripped the wheel and stepped on the accelerator pedal, sending the scout vehicle forwards.
And the men of Apex Squad, 227th Infantry Battalion were off, driving towards the hills for a meeting of a lifetime.
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
An assault carrier? Wonderful, just wonderful. A frown crossed the princess’s face, but Morlock remained as impassive as ever, despite the fact like Anice, he only understood bits of what was being said.
What was clear was this ship was meant for war...and as such, was most likely armed to the teeth.
This was troubling news, Arcadia and all of the countries of Edreign were enjoying a period of peace, but these outsiders could attempt to see an end to that.
Morlock had little doubt that Captain Decker had already contemplated these sorts of actions, because Morlock himself had thought on it as well.
If it came down to a fight, it was going to be between these advanced arms...and their honed magic.
Of course, the Arcadian’s would have the home field advantage, and Morlock suspected that these men probably thought little of them.
They would underestimate them...and that they could use to their advantage.
Whether or not these strange mechanical creations would stand up to the might of their magic was another issue entirely, ideally things wouldn’t come to blows.
Anice didn’t see how anyone aboard the ship was still breathing, let alone receiving medical care, but this knowledge presented some interesting insight to Morlock. The fact they could provide their own medical care meant the ship was still in decent working order.
That would be a problem if these outsiders became hostile.
“I am glad to hear it captain, we would like to avoid unnecessary casualties on both sides”, he spoke evenly to the drone.
When Decker mentioned sending a squad of “marines” out to meet them, Anice stiffened.
She disliked the notion of these outsiders leaving their vessel, as far as she was concerned the sooner they left the plant the better.
Sir, we can’t have these...outsiders running around, gathering intel on us, she thought as she glanced to the man.
I am aware of the risks Princess, but we need to know what we are dealing with. I would like to keep this situation neutral, and that is difficult without face to face contact.
She frowned, he made good points, but that didn’t make this any less dangerous.
And what do we tell my father?
That a proper representative of the kingdom greeted our...guests with the poise and dignity of her station.
He cast the princess a serious look, as the only member of the royal family present it fell on her to take the lead here.
As much as she hated the very notion.
Fine then, but if these outsiders so much as look at one of our own the wrong way, I will send a thousand volts coursing through them.
Morlock smiled at that.
“We have established a small camp nearby”, he pointed to a hill, about a mile back. “Please refrain from having your men go anywhere but this location, as we are trying to avoid a panic. The princess will meet your people there”.
Anice looked to the ship once more, eyes widening as she spotted some sort of vehicle exiting the craft.
“...Well, I best be going then huh?”, she looked to Morlock and then the drone.
“...Tell your men not to daddle”, she smiled, snapped and disappeared.
Reappearing a mile over at the makeshift camp, the princess found that the soilders had set up a few tents, it wasn’t flashy, but it would be functional.
“Princess, our reports indicate that the...outsiders are approaching fast, in some sort of strange cart”.
Lovely, she walked to the premiter of the camp and scanned the horizon, she wondered who the captain had sent ahead to meet with her.
She was mildly insulted he hadn’t come in person, given he was the one in charge.
Such a slight would warrant some sort of retribution if not for the unusual circumstance.
She wondered what Morlock and the remaining men were doing at the crash sight, setting up a permiter no doubt. The vessel needed to be hidden somehow, though the spell needed to conceal such a large creation would require a couple casters.
Princess Anice wasn’t the most patient woman, she paced as she waited for this envoy to appear, debating on what to take if they became hostile.
She could imbolize them with a stun spell, allowing her soldiers a moment to strike.
Or she could teleport them all several hundred feet into the air and send them crashing back down to the ground...though that would take considerably more energy.
No, all signs pointed to keeping this as peaceful as possible.
_+_+
With the princess off to meet this envoy, Morlock turned his attention to the vessel. As it was, the thing needed to be hidden, or moved, the very sight of it would be more than enough to terrify the people.
“Captain Decker, given the current condition of your ship...I’m assuming it needs some serious repair. How long do you think that will take?”.
The sooner the better, for both parties, Morlock doubted these people wished for this little visit to be over soon. And the sooner they left, the sooner Arcadia could begin to clean up this mess…
What was clear was this ship was meant for war...and as such, was most likely armed to the teeth.
This was troubling news, Arcadia and all of the countries of Edreign were enjoying a period of peace, but these outsiders could attempt to see an end to that.
Morlock had little doubt that Captain Decker had already contemplated these sorts of actions, because Morlock himself had thought on it as well.
If it came down to a fight, it was going to be between these advanced arms...and their honed magic.
Of course, the Arcadian’s would have the home field advantage, and Morlock suspected that these men probably thought little of them.
They would underestimate them...and that they could use to their advantage.
Whether or not these strange mechanical creations would stand up to the might of their magic was another issue entirely, ideally things wouldn’t come to blows.
Anice didn’t see how anyone aboard the ship was still breathing, let alone receiving medical care, but this knowledge presented some interesting insight to Morlock. The fact they could provide their own medical care meant the ship was still in decent working order.
That would be a problem if these outsiders became hostile.
“I am glad to hear it captain, we would like to avoid unnecessary casualties on both sides”, he spoke evenly to the drone.
When Decker mentioned sending a squad of “marines” out to meet them, Anice stiffened.
She disliked the notion of these outsiders leaving their vessel, as far as she was concerned the sooner they left the plant the better.
Sir, we can’t have these...outsiders running around, gathering intel on us, she thought as she glanced to the man.
I am aware of the risks Princess, but we need to know what we are dealing with. I would like to keep this situation neutral, and that is difficult without face to face contact.
She frowned, he made good points, but that didn’t make this any less dangerous.
And what do we tell my father?
That a proper representative of the kingdom greeted our...guests with the poise and dignity of her station.
He cast the princess a serious look, as the only member of the royal family present it fell on her to take the lead here.
As much as she hated the very notion.
Fine then, but if these outsiders so much as look at one of our own the wrong way, I will send a thousand volts coursing through them.
Morlock smiled at that.
“We have established a small camp nearby”, he pointed to a hill, about a mile back. “Please refrain from having your men go anywhere but this location, as we are trying to avoid a panic. The princess will meet your people there”.
Anice looked to the ship once more, eyes widening as she spotted some sort of vehicle exiting the craft.
“...Well, I best be going then huh?”, she looked to Morlock and then the drone.
“...Tell your men not to daddle”, she smiled, snapped and disappeared.
Reappearing a mile over at the makeshift camp, the princess found that the soilders had set up a few tents, it wasn’t flashy, but it would be functional.
“Princess, our reports indicate that the...outsiders are approaching fast, in some sort of strange cart”.
Lovely, she walked to the premiter of the camp and scanned the horizon, she wondered who the captain had sent ahead to meet with her.
She was mildly insulted he hadn’t come in person, given he was the one in charge.
Such a slight would warrant some sort of retribution if not for the unusual circumstance.
She wondered what Morlock and the remaining men were doing at the crash sight, setting up a permiter no doubt. The vessel needed to be hidden somehow, though the spell needed to conceal such a large creation would require a couple casters.
Princess Anice wasn’t the most patient woman, she paced as she waited for this envoy to appear, debating on what to take if they became hostile.
She could imbolize them with a stun spell, allowing her soldiers a moment to strike.
Or she could teleport them all several hundred feet into the air and send them crashing back down to the ground...though that would take considerably more energy.
No, all signs pointed to keeping this as peaceful as possible.
_+_+
With the princess off to meet this envoy, Morlock turned his attention to the vessel. As it was, the thing needed to be hidden, or moved, the very sight of it would be more than enough to terrify the people.
“Captain Decker, given the current condition of your ship...I’m assuming it needs some serious repair. How long do you think that will take?”.
The sooner the better, for both parties, Morlock doubted these people wished for this little visit to be over soon. And the sooner they left, the sooner Arcadia could begin to clean up this mess…
Brave New World
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Both Decker and Miller watched with amazement as the princess suddenly disappeared from all visual feeds with a snap of her finder and a flash of light. She hadn't cloaked, that was for certain, as she would emit at least some form of emissions that could be picked up by the ship's scanners. No, she had literally vanished into thin air. "What in the..." Decker began, only for the princess to reappear a second later at a small makeshift camp of several tents around a kilometre and a half away.
The two stared, obviously amazed. "Quantum position displacement," Miller began, breaking the silence. "Particles transmitted from one exact location to another. Teleportation, in layman's terms." The A.I. brought up several reports on the subject. "It's a topic our best minds have spent decades working on, yet still haven't gotten anywhere. We've tried, but we still can't transport anything larger than molecules."
Decker was of course impressed. He'd never seen anything like it. Of course, he'd read research reports and articles about researchers on various scientific institutes experimenting with functional teleportation technology and if the rumours were true, SHADE operatives getting deployed through miniature atmospheric RIFT portals, which explained how they seemed to be able to be anywhere at any time.
But these primitives having access to that? Perhaps they weren't so primitive after all.
"Incredible." Was all Decker could say. He almost didn't notice Captain Morlock inquire about the status of his ship. Decker brought up a report on the ship's status.
The Filial Piety had suffered some serious damage from both the prior battle and crash, but all the fires that had broken out on the affected decks had been put out, although exposed sections were still spewing columns of black smoke. Repair drones had been dispatched, the lot of them racing about both inside and outside. Smaller ones repaired damaged sectors on the inside of the vessel, while larger ones swarmed the ship on the outside, cutting away broken and wrecked areas and replacing them with new ones.
By Miller's estimations, the factories only had enough materials to repair 72% of the vessel, which wasn't very good. Once they run out, the crew had to start harvesting materials from outside sources, and that would probably mean talks with local leaders if they wanted access to the planet's natural resources. There was no duranium here, although titanium alloy could do the trick, if somewhat less effective than duratanium.
Supplies were also an issue. A number of supplies such as ammo and weapons were destroyed in the crash. However, the ship, being an assault carrier, still had a plentiful supply, but even that could run out. The factories had enough resources to produce at least a million 8.41x63mm AP rounds for the assault and battle rifles, half a million for the PDGs, and a couple hundred Gauss cannon projectiles. At least food wasn't, however. The ship had enough food supplies to last the crew six months, in access of a year if rationed properly. The abundance of fauna and flora around them meant that food could be hunted, harvested, and collected. Military vehicles such as Pitbulls and Pumas could be repurposed to suit the needs.
Positrons for the antimatter generator could be easily harvested from lightning bolts, although it was nowhere near the amount spaceborne vessels collected from radiation belts and solar winds. However, the Filial Piety was on a low-power state, and the current amount of energy the generator was producing could power the ship for at least a century at the rate it was going. That was taking into account the magnetic weapons that drew the most power after the engines and particle cannon weren't fired once.
All in all, things were looking pretty optimistic, all things considered. The crew could probably consider themselves lucky that they didn't exit in front of a star or something. That would be an awful way to go, although quite a few crewmen found it awesome to die by getting incinerated in the solar flares of a sun.
"My ship doesn't have enough resources for a full repair, but with what we have, repairs should take a little more than a week. The fact is, we've been grounded, permanently, from the looks of it." Decker told Morlock. "Even if we were to get off the ground, we'd still have no way of getting back to UEG space, since our faster-than-light drive is damaged beyond repair, and we lack replacements."
The Marines were beginning to set up shop around the perimeter of the ship, mostly moving vehicles and supplies outside before they could set up proper emplacements and fortifications.
Captain Decker turned back to the holodisplay. He glanced at the rough map of the area. "Deploy Argus squadrons one and two. Get they to cloak immediately and survey the planet's surface."
Miller nodded. "Aye, sir."
Twelve drones much larger than the smaller recon drones and much more comparable in size to a Warhawk fighter were vertically launched from the top of the Filial Piety, cloaking as soon as they left. They split up a second later, climbing upwards until they reached the upper stratosphere, and then they deployed their scanning and recording equipment.
Its headlights were on, illuminating the path ahead in the setting sun. In low-light conditions, its low-visibility mode would activate, highlighting the path ahead and obstacles. The entire view would also be shown bright as day. There was still enough sunlight not to warrant any of those, so the vehicle kept cruising forwards in the fading orange glow.
The Marines had mostly traded jokes on the short journey, as was tradition. It also helped take their minds off the fact that they were effectively stranded on an uncharted world with possibly no chance of going back home.
Ever.
Conway didn't find the situation that bad. Back home on Pavonia, he didn't have much purpose, constantly drifting between jobs. His relationship with his parents were also rather strained, and he hadn't been in contact for years. When the vaskrans invaded Cascade in '43, he finally found something worth fighting for. He joined the Corps, and the rest is history.
The designated meeting point was practically a single jump away, so the Pitbull arrived in only a minute. It pulled into the campsite, and came to a stop right in front of it.
"That the princess?" Private Samuel Pierce asked in the backseat through squad comms. His British accent was quite distinctive. A much more regal-looking woman dressed in full plate armour minus the helmet with blue and gold highlights was standing in front of the vehicle.
Conway checked the image that had been given to them. "Yeah, she is."
Pierce whistled quietly. "She's quite a looker, isn't she?"
Conway had to admit, she was. She was quite attractive with her long and braided platinum blonde hair that was accented by her blue eyes. Her armour seemed to perfectly compliment her slender figure. "She is." He agreed after a moment.
Switching off the headlights, Apex Squad exited the vehicle, rifles gripped. They moved, Conway in the lead and flanked by Corporal Reyes and the rest in tow. "Alright, guys." He said over the squad comms. His external speakers were muted, so the natives couldn't hear a word. "I don't want any incidents, so keep your ACARs powered but your safeties on. Only shoot in self-defence and if your life is in danger." He paused and glanced at the primitive weaponry. "...Which I don't think will happen. But be ready for anything."
He moved towards the princess in a non-threatening way, his rifle lowered. "Greetings, Princess." Conway greeted. "My name is Sergeant Elias Conway, commander of Apex Squad, 227th Infantry Battalion, United Earth Government Marine Corps." He introduced, gesturing to the rest of his squad. "I'm the acting representative of Captain Decker and the crew of the Filial Piety."
The two stared, obviously amazed. "Quantum position displacement," Miller began, breaking the silence. "Particles transmitted from one exact location to another. Teleportation, in layman's terms." The A.I. brought up several reports on the subject. "It's a topic our best minds have spent decades working on, yet still haven't gotten anywhere. We've tried, but we still can't transport anything larger than molecules."
Decker was of course impressed. He'd never seen anything like it. Of course, he'd read research reports and articles about researchers on various scientific institutes experimenting with functional teleportation technology and if the rumours were true, SHADE operatives getting deployed through miniature atmospheric RIFT portals, which explained how they seemed to be able to be anywhere at any time.
But these primitives having access to that? Perhaps they weren't so primitive after all.
"Incredible." Was all Decker could say. He almost didn't notice Captain Morlock inquire about the status of his ship. Decker brought up a report on the ship's status.
The Filial Piety had suffered some serious damage from both the prior battle and crash, but all the fires that had broken out on the affected decks had been put out, although exposed sections were still spewing columns of black smoke. Repair drones had been dispatched, the lot of them racing about both inside and outside. Smaller ones repaired damaged sectors on the inside of the vessel, while larger ones swarmed the ship on the outside, cutting away broken and wrecked areas and replacing them with new ones.
By Miller's estimations, the factories only had enough materials to repair 72% of the vessel, which wasn't very good. Once they run out, the crew had to start harvesting materials from outside sources, and that would probably mean talks with local leaders if they wanted access to the planet's natural resources. There was no duranium here, although titanium alloy could do the trick, if somewhat less effective than duratanium.
Supplies were also an issue. A number of supplies such as ammo and weapons were destroyed in the crash. However, the ship, being an assault carrier, still had a plentiful supply, but even that could run out. The factories had enough resources to produce at least a million 8.41x63mm AP rounds for the assault and battle rifles, half a million for the PDGs, and a couple hundred Gauss cannon projectiles. At least food wasn't, however. The ship had enough food supplies to last the crew six months, in access of a year if rationed properly. The abundance of fauna and flora around them meant that food could be hunted, harvested, and collected. Military vehicles such as Pitbulls and Pumas could be repurposed to suit the needs.
Positrons for the antimatter generator could be easily harvested from lightning bolts, although it was nowhere near the amount spaceborne vessels collected from radiation belts and solar winds. However, the Filial Piety was on a low-power state, and the current amount of energy the generator was producing could power the ship for at least a century at the rate it was going. That was taking into account the magnetic weapons that drew the most power after the engines and particle cannon weren't fired once.
All in all, things were looking pretty optimistic, all things considered. The crew could probably consider themselves lucky that they didn't exit in front of a star or something. That would be an awful way to go, although quite a few crewmen found it awesome to die by getting incinerated in the solar flares of a sun.
"My ship doesn't have enough resources for a full repair, but with what we have, repairs should take a little more than a week. The fact is, we've been grounded, permanently, from the looks of it." Decker told Morlock. "Even if we were to get off the ground, we'd still have no way of getting back to UEG space, since our faster-than-light drive is damaged beyond repair, and we lack replacements."
The Marines were beginning to set up shop around the perimeter of the ship, mostly moving vehicles and supplies outside before they could set up proper emplacements and fortifications.
Captain Decker turned back to the holodisplay. He glanced at the rough map of the area. "Deploy Argus squadrons one and two. Get they to cloak immediately and survey the planet's surface."
Miller nodded. "Aye, sir."
Twelve drones much larger than the smaller recon drones and much more comparable in size to a Warhawk fighter were vertically launched from the top of the Filial Piety, cloaking as soon as they left. They split up a second later, climbing upwards until they reached the upper stratosphere, and then they deployed their scanning and recording equipment.
----------------------
CHAPTER TWO
BRAVE NEW WORLD
----------------------
Apex Squad's Pitbull continued on its drive through the hills at roughly eighty kilometres per hour. The grassy terrain was not a problem for the vehicle, as it was built for these kinds of conditions. Through thick and thin the Pitbull had remained in service for more than sixty years, upgraded countless times. It was perhaps an icon of the Marines, as the UEGMC was the branch that operated the largest number of Pitbulls, the Federal Army coming in second place.CHAPTER TWO
BRAVE NEW WORLD
----------------------
Its headlights were on, illuminating the path ahead in the setting sun. In low-light conditions, its low-visibility mode would activate, highlighting the path ahead and obstacles. The entire view would also be shown bright as day. There was still enough sunlight not to warrant any of those, so the vehicle kept cruising forwards in the fading orange glow.
The Marines had mostly traded jokes on the short journey, as was tradition. It also helped take their minds off the fact that they were effectively stranded on an uncharted world with possibly no chance of going back home.
Ever.
Conway didn't find the situation that bad. Back home on Pavonia, he didn't have much purpose, constantly drifting between jobs. His relationship with his parents were also rather strained, and he hadn't been in contact for years. When the vaskrans invaded Cascade in '43, he finally found something worth fighting for. He joined the Corps, and the rest is history.
The designated meeting point was practically a single jump away, so the Pitbull arrived in only a minute. It pulled into the campsite, and came to a stop right in front of it.
"That the princess?" Private Samuel Pierce asked in the backseat through squad comms. His British accent was quite distinctive. A much more regal-looking woman dressed in full plate armour minus the helmet with blue and gold highlights was standing in front of the vehicle.
Conway checked the image that had been given to them. "Yeah, she is."
Pierce whistled quietly. "She's quite a looker, isn't she?"
Conway had to admit, she was. She was quite attractive with her long and braided platinum blonde hair that was accented by her blue eyes. Her armour seemed to perfectly compliment her slender figure. "She is." He agreed after a moment.
Switching off the headlights, Apex Squad exited the vehicle, rifles gripped. They moved, Conway in the lead and flanked by Corporal Reyes and the rest in tow. "Alright, guys." He said over the squad comms. His external speakers were muted, so the natives couldn't hear a word. "I don't want any incidents, so keep your ACARs powered but your safeties on. Only shoot in self-defence and if your life is in danger." He paused and glanced at the primitive weaponry. "...Which I don't think will happen. But be ready for anything."
He moved towards the princess in a non-threatening way, his rifle lowered. "Greetings, Princess." Conway greeted. "My name is Sergeant Elias Conway, commander of Apex Squad, 227th Infantry Battalion, United Earth Government Marine Corps." He introduced, gesturing to the rest of his squad. "I'm the acting representative of Captain Decker and the crew of the Filial Piety."
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StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
Decker’s word were not encouraging. It was good that the ship was capable of making it’s own repairs, Morlock wasn’t even sure where they could begin to assist them in that regard. The dwarves were the most advanced race in Edreign when it came to technology, they were pushing their enchanted magitech to new heights.
Oh the dwarven ambassador would have a field day if she ever saw this thing. But even with the dwarves cooperation, there was no gurentee that they would have the means to assist them...and that assumed the King and council would allow such action.
The more worrying point Decker made was the fact they didn’t have a way to return to where they came from, as they lacked the necessary part to get them back home.
That would mean one of two things.
Option one, was the people of Arcadia and the surrounding nations did their best to get this vessel airborne, so Decker and his men could leave. What they did after that was up to them, so long as they were gone.
Option two...meant recognizing the fact there was a chance these men would be stuck in Arcadia, and in Edreign for the remainder of their days, and that brought on a slew of headaches Morlock didn’t want to think about.
One of the biggest ones would be whether or not these outsiders would be allowed to live on the surface…
And if they were, where would they live, how would that adapt to society, could they tap into the magical forces which rule Edreign?
Too many questions, with uncertain answers.
“What sort of materials would be needed in order to fully restore your ship? I don’t pretend to understand a thing about any of this, but if anyone in the entire realm can, it will be the dwarves”, he looked to the drone, curiously, however his attention was called away as there was movement on the ship.
Morlock’s eyes widened as twelve larger oddities were released from the crashed vessel, they shot into the sky so fast he barely got a good glimpse of them before they seemingly disappeared.
“...I’ll thank you not to send out more...contraptions. I don’t need any of them causing a panic”.
If someone were to see one, there would be wide spread worry and chaos.
“As it is, we the rest of your people to remain here, the group you sent to meet with the princess will likely be brought before the king, so they may explain what happened to him”. Whether or not the king came to them, or the other way around, Morlock had no idea. Bringing these outsiders into the city was dangerous, but bringing the king to them was just as dangerous.
Hell, having Anice speak with them directly was dangerous, nothing about this situation was without risk.
He wondered how the princess was doing, he hoped she was cordial to these outsiders. Mainly he hoped she didn’t send them flying into the clouds.
_+_+
Anice debated on sending the entire vehicle to the clouds the moment it came to a stop outside the camp. Everyone stopped when the strange contraption came to a halt, just outside the row of tents.
The thing they arrived on, it was some sort of self powered carriage, and just as gawdy as the rest of the ship had been. She could only imagine how excited the dwarves would be when they got a look at it, she knew that if anyone in the world could help to fix that strange vessel, it would be them.
Whether or not they would be willing to help Arcadia in the matter was another issue entirely, as the dwarves were very independent beings. Those who choose to leave the holds to live out in the world were not allowed back…
And all the best of their advances were kept stashed away in underground vaults.
She couldn’t dwell on these thoughts however, as her guests exited the vehicle.
Though she was shocked at the fact they were indeed human, she hid it well. Some of the others not so much, there were gasps and pointed fingers, all clutched their weapons tightly, unsure what to make of these outsiders.
One of Anice’s hands was rested firmly on the hilt of her sword, but she did not draw it as the group approached.
One man came forward, he seemed to speak for his squad, as well as for the rest of the people on the ship.
Elias Conway, she filed the name away and offered a short bow.
“Greetings Elias Conway”, her voice was fairly flat as she looked the man up and down.
“I am Princess Anice Delyon Pyre… currently I represent the kingdom of Arcadia...and to a lesser extent, the world of Edreign”.
The rest of the camp was watching the group intently, which only made Anice more antsy. In spite of this, she kept her composure.
“I’m sure you have plenty of questions...as do I, but before we get to that, I’d like to lay down some...ground rules”, her gaze shifted to the weapons the men carried.
“I’m not foolish enough to think you’ll surrender your..weapons, but I do ask that they remain sheathed. I also ask that you and your men remain in this camp as we plan out our next course of action. Ideally, either you or your commanding officer will be meeting with the king...my father, though at this time such a meeting is off the table”.
Her father wouldn’t be coming here, and bringing these outsiders to the palace was far too dangerous. She was thankful that Fawkes was safe at home, no doubt Terran and her mother were en route to the palace as well.
At least she hoped that was the base, because after this was said and done Anice was going to want to see her.
“I will answer any of your questions to the best of my ability...and ask that you do the same, Sergeant Conway”, she crossed her hands behind her back and looked the group up and down once again.
These men looked perfectly human, they spoke the same language too. How was it they could speak common...did they truly come from beyond the stars?
She had so many questions, it was somewhat dizzying. She could only imagine how excited Fawkes would be. He’d be shrieking with excitement.
“OHMYGODS!”
Yea, it would sound something like…
Anice paled, she whipped around, just in time to watch as Fawkes come barreling towards her, with the biggest smile plastered across his face. He was pursued by a couple of guards, who all stopped dead when they caught sight of the look on the princess’s face.
“Sis! Sis, oh my Gods! I TOLD YOU IT WASN’T A ROCK!”, the boy laughed cheerfully as he grabbed her by the arm.
“Look, look look LOOK!”, he pointed to Conway and his men.
“It’s people, people from space! From SPACE! Can you believe it!?”.
The boy looked to the outsiders, smiling.
“Hi space people! I’m Fawkes!”, he grinned, though the smile fell as Anice placed a hand on his head.
“...My….foolish little brother...what, in the name of all we hold sacred, are you doing here?”, her voice was low, her glare could’ve sliced through stone.
Fawkes gulped.
“...I just wanted to see...”, he replied meekly.
She blinked, took a breath, and sighed. “...Child, I swear, you shall be the death of me”.
Oh the dwarven ambassador would have a field day if she ever saw this thing. But even with the dwarves cooperation, there was no gurentee that they would have the means to assist them...and that assumed the King and council would allow such action.
The more worrying point Decker made was the fact they didn’t have a way to return to where they came from, as they lacked the necessary part to get them back home.
That would mean one of two things.
Option one, was the people of Arcadia and the surrounding nations did their best to get this vessel airborne, so Decker and his men could leave. What they did after that was up to them, so long as they were gone.
Option two...meant recognizing the fact there was a chance these men would be stuck in Arcadia, and in Edreign for the remainder of their days, and that brought on a slew of headaches Morlock didn’t want to think about.
One of the biggest ones would be whether or not these outsiders would be allowed to live on the surface…
And if they were, where would they live, how would that adapt to society, could they tap into the magical forces which rule Edreign?
Too many questions, with uncertain answers.
“What sort of materials would be needed in order to fully restore your ship? I don’t pretend to understand a thing about any of this, but if anyone in the entire realm can, it will be the dwarves”, he looked to the drone, curiously, however his attention was called away as there was movement on the ship.
Morlock’s eyes widened as twelve larger oddities were released from the crashed vessel, they shot into the sky so fast he barely got a good glimpse of them before they seemingly disappeared.
“...I’ll thank you not to send out more...contraptions. I don’t need any of them causing a panic”.
If someone were to see one, there would be wide spread worry and chaos.
“As it is, we the rest of your people to remain here, the group you sent to meet with the princess will likely be brought before the king, so they may explain what happened to him”. Whether or not the king came to them, or the other way around, Morlock had no idea. Bringing these outsiders into the city was dangerous, but bringing the king to them was just as dangerous.
Hell, having Anice speak with them directly was dangerous, nothing about this situation was without risk.
He wondered how the princess was doing, he hoped she was cordial to these outsiders. Mainly he hoped she didn’t send them flying into the clouds.
_+_+
Anice debated on sending the entire vehicle to the clouds the moment it came to a stop outside the camp. Everyone stopped when the strange contraption came to a halt, just outside the row of tents.
The thing they arrived on, it was some sort of self powered carriage, and just as gawdy as the rest of the ship had been. She could only imagine how excited the dwarves would be when they got a look at it, she knew that if anyone in the world could help to fix that strange vessel, it would be them.
Whether or not they would be willing to help Arcadia in the matter was another issue entirely, as the dwarves were very independent beings. Those who choose to leave the holds to live out in the world were not allowed back…
And all the best of their advances were kept stashed away in underground vaults.
She couldn’t dwell on these thoughts however, as her guests exited the vehicle.
Though she was shocked at the fact they were indeed human, she hid it well. Some of the others not so much, there were gasps and pointed fingers, all clutched their weapons tightly, unsure what to make of these outsiders.
One of Anice’s hands was rested firmly on the hilt of her sword, but she did not draw it as the group approached.
One man came forward, he seemed to speak for his squad, as well as for the rest of the people on the ship.
Elias Conway, she filed the name away and offered a short bow.
“Greetings Elias Conway”, her voice was fairly flat as she looked the man up and down.
“I am Princess Anice Delyon Pyre… currently I represent the kingdom of Arcadia...and to a lesser extent, the world of Edreign”.
The rest of the camp was watching the group intently, which only made Anice more antsy. In spite of this, she kept her composure.
“I’m sure you have plenty of questions...as do I, but before we get to that, I’d like to lay down some...ground rules”, her gaze shifted to the weapons the men carried.
“I’m not foolish enough to think you’ll surrender your..weapons, but I do ask that they remain sheathed. I also ask that you and your men remain in this camp as we plan out our next course of action. Ideally, either you or your commanding officer will be meeting with the king...my father, though at this time such a meeting is off the table”.
Her father wouldn’t be coming here, and bringing these outsiders to the palace was far too dangerous. She was thankful that Fawkes was safe at home, no doubt Terran and her mother were en route to the palace as well.
At least she hoped that was the base, because after this was said and done Anice was going to want to see her.
“I will answer any of your questions to the best of my ability...and ask that you do the same, Sergeant Conway”, she crossed her hands behind her back and looked the group up and down once again.
These men looked perfectly human, they spoke the same language too. How was it they could speak common...did they truly come from beyond the stars?
She had so many questions, it was somewhat dizzying. She could only imagine how excited Fawkes would be. He’d be shrieking with excitement.
“OHMYGODS!”
Yea, it would sound something like…
Anice paled, she whipped around, just in time to watch as Fawkes come barreling towards her, with the biggest smile plastered across his face. He was pursued by a couple of guards, who all stopped dead when they caught sight of the look on the princess’s face.
“Sis! Sis, oh my Gods! I TOLD YOU IT WASN’T A ROCK!”, the boy laughed cheerfully as he grabbed her by the arm.
“Look, look look LOOK!”, he pointed to Conway and his men.
“It’s people, people from space! From SPACE! Can you believe it!?”.
The boy looked to the outsiders, smiling.
“Hi space people! I’m Fawkes!”, he grinned, though the smile fell as Anice placed a hand on his head.
“...My….foolish little brother...what, in the name of all we hold sacred, are you doing here?”, her voice was low, her glare could’ve sliced through stone.
Fawkes gulped.
“...I just wanted to see...”, he replied meekly.
She blinked, took a breath, and sighed. “...Child, I swear, you shall be the death of me”.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Captain Decker brought up some schematics on a holographic panel. It displayed several charts and diagrams, along with images taken from far above ground. The Argus drones had already detected several titanium and iron deposits despite their short time in the air, resources vital for repairs and resupply. He turned back to the mic. "Titanium," He said. "Titanium is the resource we require the most, as it will be able to fill in for duratanium, which we lack. Second would be iron and carbon. We need these to manufacture titasteel."
He scratched his chin at Morlock's words, that the squad Decker had sent to meet with the princess was going to meet with the king. King, huh. An archaic term that hadn't seen use in centuries. Still, Apex Squad was quite capable in their own right, but he wasn't sure if a single squad should act as envoys for the UEG. Decker wasn't trained in diplomacy, and his diplomacy mostly entailed ordering his men to kill the enemy.
They were soldiers, not diplomats. They were trained to kill, not involve themselves in politics.
Then again, conducting diplomacy was probably the only way to acquire the vital resources the ship needed for repairs. He didn't want to come to a point where he had to take them by force.
"So it shall be." He said after a moment's deliberation. "I will make an appearance myself, but I will not leave my ship."
He turned to Miller. "What's the status on the distress beacon?"
"Started transmitting once we crashed, sir." The A.I. reported. "But me having no idea where we are in the galaxy, it may take a while for us to be found, if we are at all."
----------------------
Several of his Marines were snickering in their helmets at the natives' rather comical reactions. While Marines in full powered armour had a tendency to evoke reactions of awe from civilians, this was something else entirely. The native soldiers' reactions ranged from childlike awe to sneaking suspicion, some grasping their ancient melee weapons even tighter than before. Conway rolled his eyes and went back to the princess, Anice Delyon Pyre, apparently.
Quite a strange name, if he was being honest.
"Arcadia?" Torres spoke up upon hearing the name of the kingdom the princess belonged to. "Hey, Adler, weren't you born on Arcadia?"
Private Tyler Adler turned to him and nodded. "I was. Although I'm pretty damn sure this place ain't Arcadia."
He was proven right when the princess then told them the name of the planet.
"Edreign?" Conway asked with a slight tilt of his head. "Huh." His eyes slowly drifted to her hand that was resting on the hilt of her sword as the princess requested to lay down some ground rules. It literally had a zero percent chance of piercing either Marine duratanium armour or the graphene jumpsuit worn under the layers of plating, but he didn't want to provoke anyway. The first rule being that their weapons had to remain 'sheathed'.
"No worries, ma'am." He said with a reassuring nod. "I've instructed my men to keep the safeties of their weapons on. That way our weapons are harmless even in our hands." He paused, realising that the princess probably didn't understand what he had just said. "That means our weapons are completely unable to fire... shoot? Whatever you call it." Still, he placed his gun behind his back. His armour's magclamps automatically activated, magnetically locking his rifle to his back.
He listened to the princess' next few words. "Ma'am, we have orders to return to the ship as soon as we finish this meeting," He said. "My squad and I are only here as impromptu representatives. We're soldiers, not diplomats. Captain Decker does most of the talking."
Hell, those were his orders. He was ordered to make an appearance just to let the princess get a better idea of who they were, and to gather some additional information such as the name of the planet. The decisions weren't up to him to make, and he had no doubt the captain or Miller were listening in. A drone was not needed as the feed from the each of the squad's helm-cams were being transmitted directly to the ship itself. Conway had also little doubt that Miller was looking at the footage from every video feed and analysing each and every detail.
"Well, I do have some questions," He nodded, considering the most practical question to ask. "How good is your understanding of --"
He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a young boy sprinting towards them, with several more soldiers in tow. In fact, all the Marines were taken by surprise. "What the fu..."
Torres, being rather overeager to kill things on the battlefield, immediately raised his rifle, only for it to be shoved downwards by Corporal Reyes and earning him a stern glare from said corporal.
The boy enthusiastically grabbed the princess' arm and immediately began to point at Conway and his men with childlike wonder (well, he actually was a child), declaring how the ship 'wasn't a rock' and how they were people from space.
"They must have seen the ship's atmospheric entry." Noted Private Nathan Grader, the quiet one in the squad. He didn't talk much, which was great when most of the squad talked too much, bad when it was kind of creepy sometimes.
"Oh. My. God." A somewhat scratchy female voice squealed. "He's fucking adorable!" Private Valerie Ashworth was the only female member of the squad, and was also predictably the one who got hit on most often. Of course, she mostly politely declined advanced from males with a kick to a balls and a punch to the gut. Also, completely lesbian. And yet she practically melted around cute things.
Conway found it awfully cliche.
The boy then turned to the squad with a huge smile on his face and loudly introduced himself as Fawkes.
"Uh..." Conway was at a loss for words. He hadn't expected a kid to be here. "Hi, I guess?" He regained his bearings. "I'm sorry for asking, princess, but is your brother supposed to be out here?"
He scratched his chin at Morlock's words, that the squad Decker had sent to meet with the princess was going to meet with the king. King, huh. An archaic term that hadn't seen use in centuries. Still, Apex Squad was quite capable in their own right, but he wasn't sure if a single squad should act as envoys for the UEG. Decker wasn't trained in diplomacy, and his diplomacy mostly entailed ordering his men to kill the enemy.
They were soldiers, not diplomats. They were trained to kill, not involve themselves in politics.
Then again, conducting diplomacy was probably the only way to acquire the vital resources the ship needed for repairs. He didn't want to come to a point where he had to take them by force.
"So it shall be." He said after a moment's deliberation. "I will make an appearance myself, but I will not leave my ship."
He turned to Miller. "What's the status on the distress beacon?"
"Started transmitting once we crashed, sir." The A.I. reported. "But me having no idea where we are in the galaxy, it may take a while for us to be found, if we are at all."
----------------------
Quite a strange name, if he was being honest.
"Arcadia?" Torres spoke up upon hearing the name of the kingdom the princess belonged to. "Hey, Adler, weren't you born on Arcadia?"
Private Tyler Adler turned to him and nodded. "I was. Although I'm pretty damn sure this place ain't Arcadia."
He was proven right when the princess then told them the name of the planet.
"Edreign?" Conway asked with a slight tilt of his head. "Huh." His eyes slowly drifted to her hand that was resting on the hilt of her sword as the princess requested to lay down some ground rules. It literally had a zero percent chance of piercing either Marine duratanium armour or the graphene jumpsuit worn under the layers of plating, but he didn't want to provoke anyway. The first rule being that their weapons had to remain 'sheathed'.
"No worries, ma'am." He said with a reassuring nod. "I've instructed my men to keep the safeties of their weapons on. That way our weapons are harmless even in our hands." He paused, realising that the princess probably didn't understand what he had just said. "That means our weapons are completely unable to fire... shoot? Whatever you call it." Still, he placed his gun behind his back. His armour's magclamps automatically activated, magnetically locking his rifle to his back.
He listened to the princess' next few words. "Ma'am, we have orders to return to the ship as soon as we finish this meeting," He said. "My squad and I are only here as impromptu representatives. We're soldiers, not diplomats. Captain Decker does most of the talking."
Hell, those were his orders. He was ordered to make an appearance just to let the princess get a better idea of who they were, and to gather some additional information such as the name of the planet. The decisions weren't up to him to make, and he had no doubt the captain or Miller were listening in. A drone was not needed as the feed from the each of the squad's helm-cams were being transmitted directly to the ship itself. Conway had also little doubt that Miller was looking at the footage from every video feed and analysing each and every detail.
"Well, I do have some questions," He nodded, considering the most practical question to ask. "How good is your understanding of --"
He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a young boy sprinting towards them, with several more soldiers in tow. In fact, all the Marines were taken by surprise. "What the fu..."
Torres, being rather overeager to kill things on the battlefield, immediately raised his rifle, only for it to be shoved downwards by Corporal Reyes and earning him a stern glare from said corporal.
The boy enthusiastically grabbed the princess' arm and immediately began to point at Conway and his men with childlike wonder (well, he actually was a child), declaring how the ship 'wasn't a rock' and how they were people from space.
"They must have seen the ship's atmospheric entry." Noted Private Nathan Grader, the quiet one in the squad. He didn't talk much, which was great when most of the squad talked too much, bad when it was kind of creepy sometimes.
"Oh. My. God." A somewhat scratchy female voice squealed. "He's fucking adorable!" Private Valerie Ashworth was the only female member of the squad, and was also predictably the one who got hit on most often. Of course, she mostly politely declined advanced from males with a kick to a balls and a punch to the gut. Also, completely lesbian. And yet she practically melted around cute things.
Conway found it awfully cliche.
The boy then turned to the squad with a huge smile on his face and loudly introduced himself as Fawkes.
"Uh..." Conway was at a loss for words. He hadn't expected a kid to be here. "Hi, I guess?" He regained his bearings. "I'm sorry for asking, princess, but is your brother supposed to be out here?"
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
Morlock recognized the names titanium, but everything beyond that might as well have been spoken in Baxi, which was the native tongue of the tabaxi. He knew titanium was a metal, that the dwarves were found of using. In fact, there were some mines in Arcadia where this and other minerals were dug up, but Morlock didn’t know the specifics of them. But duratanium and titasteel?
He had no idea, and for a moment a confused look came over the man.
“There are some mines where we and the dwarves work to mine titanium and other minerals, we will see about acquiring some for you”.
That was assuming that such measures were approved, and that ultimately rested with King Ramus and the council. Morlock looked forward to seeing that meeting come to fruition, whatever happened it would be a truly historic moment, not only for Arcadia but for all of Edreign.
It would’ve preferrable for the captain to make an appearance rather then his men, a sentiment that Decker seemed to share.
“...Very good Captain...though I...cannot help but wonder how you’ll make an appearance without going in person?”, Morlock sighed.
No doubt there was some sort of technoligical marvel that would allow such a feat, Morlock would have to convince the king that such a measure wasn’t disrespectful. An audience with the king was revered as an honor, for someone to do so without actively engaging physcially would be...interesting.
Truthfully, Morlock understood why Deck wished to remain with his ship, it was all these men had, and it was their key to any hope they had of leaving.
Though according to Decker, it didn’t sound like they could return home, assuming they could get the ship off the ground.
That was a worrying notion, but now was not the time to be worrying about it.
“I will send one of my men to Windcrest so we can set up a meeting, as well as update his majesty on the current situation”.
Morlock wondered how Anice was farring with the envoy, hopefully she would manage to get some information out of the visitors.
_+_+
The second that the gun went up toward Fawkes, Anice tensed. Eyes narrowed she tightened the grip on her sword, and had it halfway out of it’s sheathe when another one of the Sergeant's men shoved the rifle back downward. In the tense moment that followed, Fawkes beamed as the woman soilder gushed over how cute he was.
And truth be told, she wasn’t wrong, with his messy hair, gap toothed smile and bright, excitaed eyes, Fawkes was the picture of adorable and endearing child.
And one of these men’s first reaction to said child had been to fucking shoot him.
Still, he didn’t so Anice didn’t draw her sword. No doubt these men didn’t think her, or any of her men, capable of harming them, thanks to their advanced weaponry and armor. Even though Anice wasn’t sure how any of it worked, their gear looked as advanced as the ship, so what damage could a sword possibly to do it? Oh, she was just itching for a chance to prove them wrong, how would that armor fair against a bolt of lightning dropped from the sky, or a fire storm.
Oh by the gods she wanted to find out, but this was meant to be a peaceful meeting.
Sensing his sister’s irritation, Fawkes grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“Sis…?”, he cocked his head to the side, frowning. He hadn’t meant to upset her, or anyone for that matter. He’d just wanted to see… A frown crossed his features and his gaze moved to the ground.
Anice took a breath.
“...No, he is not Sergeant”, Anice replied, her tone far less friendly now. “He is supposed to be back at home, awaiting my return...”. She sighed and cast a disgruntled looked toward the boy, it softened a bit as Anice realized how upset Fawkes was.
She couldn’t fault a child for being curious, especially about something as big as this. She could, a would, fault him for putting himself in danger.
“...But children are impulsive little things, I can only imagine they are as curious and...reckless where you come from”, she sighed and placed a hand on his head.
“But given he is here, and likely won’t leave us be, keep your questions appropriate...”, she smiled.
Fawkes perked up as he realized he wasn’t being sent away, he peeked up at the group, wonder apparent in his eyes.
“Be advised sergeant, if any of your men raise their weapons again, you won’t like the consequences. I understand Fawkes’ arrival was abrupt...and startling, but such threats against a child, or any of my people won’t be tolerated, even if it was a knee jerk reaction”.
Oh Anice would bring the wrath of the Gods down upon anyone who wished harm against her little brother, she didn’t need much of an excuse.
Fawkes blushed. “Oh come on Sis, it wasn’t that big of a deal...”, he shuffled nervously. “I mean, I guess I was a little...over excited...so I’m sorry...”, he mumbled, looking up at her and then Conway and his men.
“I promise to be quiet and stay out of the way!”, he beamed. “...Starting...now”, he ran his fingers over his lips, as if he was zipping them closed, and then tossed away the “key”.
Anice knew full well that was liable to last for about, five minutes.
“Now then...what are your questions sergeant?”. She was thinking of her own, if these men weren’t going to go before her father, she figured she ought to ask some on his behalf. Ideally, their leader would meet with the king, that would make more sense anyway.
He had no idea, and for a moment a confused look came over the man.
“There are some mines where we and the dwarves work to mine titanium and other minerals, we will see about acquiring some for you”.
That was assuming that such measures were approved, and that ultimately rested with King Ramus and the council. Morlock looked forward to seeing that meeting come to fruition, whatever happened it would be a truly historic moment, not only for Arcadia but for all of Edreign.
It would’ve preferrable for the captain to make an appearance rather then his men, a sentiment that Decker seemed to share.
“...Very good Captain...though I...cannot help but wonder how you’ll make an appearance without going in person?”, Morlock sighed.
No doubt there was some sort of technoligical marvel that would allow such a feat, Morlock would have to convince the king that such a measure wasn’t disrespectful. An audience with the king was revered as an honor, for someone to do so without actively engaging physcially would be...interesting.
Truthfully, Morlock understood why Deck wished to remain with his ship, it was all these men had, and it was their key to any hope they had of leaving.
Though according to Decker, it didn’t sound like they could return home, assuming they could get the ship off the ground.
That was a worrying notion, but now was not the time to be worrying about it.
“I will send one of my men to Windcrest so we can set up a meeting, as well as update his majesty on the current situation”.
Morlock wondered how Anice was farring with the envoy, hopefully she would manage to get some information out of the visitors.
_+_+
The second that the gun went up toward Fawkes, Anice tensed. Eyes narrowed she tightened the grip on her sword, and had it halfway out of it’s sheathe when another one of the Sergeant's men shoved the rifle back downward. In the tense moment that followed, Fawkes beamed as the woman soilder gushed over how cute he was.
And truth be told, she wasn’t wrong, with his messy hair, gap toothed smile and bright, excitaed eyes, Fawkes was the picture of adorable and endearing child.
And one of these men’s first reaction to said child had been to fucking shoot him.
Still, he didn’t so Anice didn’t draw her sword. No doubt these men didn’t think her, or any of her men, capable of harming them, thanks to their advanced weaponry and armor. Even though Anice wasn’t sure how any of it worked, their gear looked as advanced as the ship, so what damage could a sword possibly to do it? Oh, she was just itching for a chance to prove them wrong, how would that armor fair against a bolt of lightning dropped from the sky, or a fire storm.
Oh by the gods she wanted to find out, but this was meant to be a peaceful meeting.
Sensing his sister’s irritation, Fawkes grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“Sis…?”, he cocked his head to the side, frowning. He hadn’t meant to upset her, or anyone for that matter. He’d just wanted to see… A frown crossed his features and his gaze moved to the ground.
Anice took a breath.
“...No, he is not Sergeant”, Anice replied, her tone far less friendly now. “He is supposed to be back at home, awaiting my return...”. She sighed and cast a disgruntled looked toward the boy, it softened a bit as Anice realized how upset Fawkes was.
She couldn’t fault a child for being curious, especially about something as big as this. She could, a would, fault him for putting himself in danger.
“...But children are impulsive little things, I can only imagine they are as curious and...reckless where you come from”, she sighed and placed a hand on his head.
“But given he is here, and likely won’t leave us be, keep your questions appropriate...”, she smiled.
Fawkes perked up as he realized he wasn’t being sent away, he peeked up at the group, wonder apparent in his eyes.
“Be advised sergeant, if any of your men raise their weapons again, you won’t like the consequences. I understand Fawkes’ arrival was abrupt...and startling, but such threats against a child, or any of my people won’t be tolerated, even if it was a knee jerk reaction”.
Oh Anice would bring the wrath of the Gods down upon anyone who wished harm against her little brother, she didn’t need much of an excuse.
Fawkes blushed. “Oh come on Sis, it wasn’t that big of a deal...”, he shuffled nervously. “I mean, I guess I was a little...over excited...so I’m sorry...”, he mumbled, looking up at her and then Conway and his men.
“I promise to be quiet and stay out of the way!”, he beamed. “...Starting...now”, he ran his fingers over his lips, as if he was zipping them closed, and then tossed away the “key”.
Anice knew full well that was liable to last for about, five minutes.
“Now then...what are your questions sergeant?”. She was thinking of her own, if these men weren’t going to go before her father, she figured she ought to ask some on his behalf. Ideally, their leader would meet with the king, that would make more sense anyway.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Decker nodded, mostly to himself. "Very good. The mining equipment on my ship will make acquisition much easier for us, and will surely benefit your people along the way." He told Morlock. The Filial Piety came equipped with a full set of mining equipment. While not as much as a dedicated mining vessel, it still carried the equipment needed to mine asteroids and planetary bodies for resources, and as such came packed with a laser drill and powerful grav-tethers.
He checked the status of the drones. The further they went, the more they scanned. They were mapping out the landscape and capturing images of other settlements and geological structures that may become strategically important. Once they reached the peak of their trajectory, each Argus would release a tiny recon satellite into orbit. They would then provide constant surveillance and allow for better communication across the planet, and would also help the drones with mapping the surface.
His attention was turned back to the guard captain, who pondered just how Decker would make an appearance without actually leaving the ship. "You'll see." He said, grinning slightly. It was also due to the fact that a ship's captain was usually the most important person on board, as he was the one who issued the most important orders and handled strategic decisions. It was standard procedure too, anyway, since when there needed to be meetings, ships would often be spaced far apart, and wouldn't make much sense for every commander in a fleet to be in one place.
"So it's final, then." Decker said. "My men will act as envoys for now."
----------------------
"...Okay?" Conway asked, still reeling from the boy's sudden entrance. However, he couldn't help but crack a small smile as the princess' anger seemed to fade, replaced by tender love and care for her brother. Kids did seem to all act the same way, no matter how advanced their parent civilisations were.
"You'd be surprised..." He muttered. He frowned at the princess' warning, that there would be consequences if the kid, Fawkes, apparently, was harmed. He understood the princess' protectiveness for her sibling, and he would too, if he had one.
"Apologies, ma'am. You'll have to excuse my men, princess. They're a little..." He glanced at Torres. "Jumpy." He turned back to the princess. "We did just come from a war, after all. Rest assured, that won't happen again. You have my word."
Ash was probably melting in her armour at Fawkes mimicking zipping his mouth shut and promising to keep quiet. Though knowing the promises made by kids (he would know), kids could only remain silent and sit still for so long. Give or take, that would last around five minutes. Six, if he had self control.
Once that was settled, he opened his mouth to ask a question. However, he was interrupted by a transmission from the ship.
He looked away and answered it. "Command, this is Apex 0-1. Go ahead, over. Us, sir? Yes, sir, I understand, sir. Copy, out."
Conway turned back to the princess. "Ma'am, I've just received word that my squad and I will be meeting with your, uh, king, in behalf of Captain Decker and the crew of the Filial Piety."
He checked the status of the drones. The further they went, the more they scanned. They were mapping out the landscape and capturing images of other settlements and geological structures that may become strategically important. Once they reached the peak of their trajectory, each Argus would release a tiny recon satellite into orbit. They would then provide constant surveillance and allow for better communication across the planet, and would also help the drones with mapping the surface.
His attention was turned back to the guard captain, who pondered just how Decker would make an appearance without actually leaving the ship. "You'll see." He said, grinning slightly. It was also due to the fact that a ship's captain was usually the most important person on board, as he was the one who issued the most important orders and handled strategic decisions. It was standard procedure too, anyway, since when there needed to be meetings, ships would often be spaced far apart, and wouldn't make much sense for every commander in a fleet to be in one place.
"So it's final, then." Decker said. "My men will act as envoys for now."
----------------------
"You'd be surprised..." He muttered. He frowned at the princess' warning, that there would be consequences if the kid, Fawkes, apparently, was harmed. He understood the princess' protectiveness for her sibling, and he would too, if he had one.
"Apologies, ma'am. You'll have to excuse my men, princess. They're a little..." He glanced at Torres. "Jumpy." He turned back to the princess. "We did just come from a war, after all. Rest assured, that won't happen again. You have my word."
Ash was probably melting in her armour at Fawkes mimicking zipping his mouth shut and promising to keep quiet. Though knowing the promises made by kids (he would know), kids could only remain silent and sit still for so long. Give or take, that would last around five minutes. Six, if he had self control.
Once that was settled, he opened his mouth to ask a question. However, he was interrupted by a transmission from the ship.
He looked away and answered it. "Command, this is Apex 0-1. Go ahead, over. Us, sir? Yes, sir, I understand, sir. Copy, out."
Conway turned back to the princess. "Ma'am, I've just received word that my squad and I will be meeting with your, uh, king, in behalf of Captain Decker and the crew of the Filial Piety."
Last edited:
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
Morlock blinked, as far as he knew, they weren’t in need of any raw materials, but he supposed that wasn’t the issue at hand.
What was important was the captain intended to go before the king, though how he’d do this without leaving the ship was a condrum.
It didn’t seem Decker was going to share either, which could pose a security risk to the king. The more he thought about it, the less likely this seemed, perhaps he had possessed some sort of...projection ability?
Some powerful mages could project themselves in the astral plain, a spiritual level of existence which co existed with their own…
He doubted this was the case, but assumed it would be something equally as wondrous.
“Our king is no doubt eager to speak with you and your men, I pray all goes well”, he gave a short bow to the drone, though doing so was quite, strange.
“Our princess shall arrange the meeting, in the meantime I shall return to the palace to prepare. If there is nothing else to discuss, I shall...see you there”.
This floating contraption was unnerving, Morlock would be glad to get away from it.
_+_+
So, they had come from some sort of conflict, Anice had suspected as much, why else would these people be so heavily armed.
She wondered who they had been fighting...more humans, or something else.
Given the variety of life found in Edreign, it seemed plausible that more might exist outside it.
Or at least, it was more plausible now that she had undeniable proof in the fact life did exist outside her world.
There was no denying what was right before her, and she knew many would not be happy with the revelation.
The notion that life existed beyond their world flew in the face of most lines of faith on Edreign, the most common belief was that it was the gods who granted the races sentience, and life itself.
Arcadia referred to the beings as gods, others referred to them as the Divine Dragons, others simply the Drakes.
Anice herself wasn’t particularly religious, she preferred to place her faith in herself and those she trusted, but even she couldn’t help but wonder if all this was some sort of cruel joke, beset upon them by the gods.
Only time would tell she supposed.
“I’m glad we have an understanding”, she spoke curtly, her gaze flickering back to the twitchy man before returning to the sergeants.
She was prepared to answer any questions they might have, so long as they remained appropriate, didn’t cover any sensitive topics, and were within her power to answer.
She couldn’t speak for her father, and it was up to him whether or not these men would receive any sort of aid...or acceptance.
However, it seemed that it wouldn’t be necessary, as the sergeant received updated orders. They were to act as a liaison and meet with her father.
“Ah...well, then we have much to prepare”, she sighed and looked down to Fawkes.
“We’re heading back to the palace little one”.
Fawkes’s grin immediately fell, he frowned and crossed his arms, shaking his head. Anice blinked.
“Fawkes, now is not the time for this. You’re a prince, you need to act like one, especially in front of our...guests...”, she gestured to the outsiders, the boy glanced over at the men and then back to his sister.
After a moment he seemed to relent, he sighed and nodded.
“Good, and cheer up, it’s not all bad”, she grinned. “We get to take these outsiders through the circles, and I bet that’ll be fun”.
Fawkes eyes lit up and he looked to Conway and the others.
“Really, they get to come...”, he frowned and pointed to their vehicle.
“...They’re not going to ride in that…?”, he looked to Anice.
The princess placed a hand on his head and addressed Conway.
“You and your men are familiar with teleportation magic correct? It’s a much faster trip than...riding in your...strange carriage. Not to mention we can’t have you riding in that through town, we are trying to avoid a panic”.
Not to mention having them taken directly to the palace meant that they could immediately keep the team under watch, and move them to a secure location until it was time for the meeting.
Fawkes was watching the group with curious eyes, though he switched between them and their vehicle.
“Sis, what kind of magic does that run on?”, he pointed to the vehicle.
“...I haven’t thee foggiest idea little one”, Anice answered with curious frown. “But you’re asking the wrong person”, she pointed at a nearby solider, and waved them over to the group.
“I need you to head to the palace and have them prepare for our guests. Give my father an update on the situation, and tell him we should be arriving shortly”, the solider nodded, bowed and then headed off for the larger tent in the makeshift camp.
That was where the circle had been drawn, it was large enough to take ten men, so it could handle Conway’s group plus the two royals easily.
What was important was the captain intended to go before the king, though how he’d do this without leaving the ship was a condrum.
It didn’t seem Decker was going to share either, which could pose a security risk to the king. The more he thought about it, the less likely this seemed, perhaps he had possessed some sort of...projection ability?
Some powerful mages could project themselves in the astral plain, a spiritual level of existence which co existed with their own…
He doubted this was the case, but assumed it would be something equally as wondrous.
“Our king is no doubt eager to speak with you and your men, I pray all goes well”, he gave a short bow to the drone, though doing so was quite, strange.
“Our princess shall arrange the meeting, in the meantime I shall return to the palace to prepare. If there is nothing else to discuss, I shall...see you there”.
This floating contraption was unnerving, Morlock would be glad to get away from it.
_+_+
So, they had come from some sort of conflict, Anice had suspected as much, why else would these people be so heavily armed.
She wondered who they had been fighting...more humans, or something else.
Given the variety of life found in Edreign, it seemed plausible that more might exist outside it.
Or at least, it was more plausible now that she had undeniable proof in the fact life did exist outside her world.
There was no denying what was right before her, and she knew many would not be happy with the revelation.
The notion that life existed beyond their world flew in the face of most lines of faith on Edreign, the most common belief was that it was the gods who granted the races sentience, and life itself.
Arcadia referred to the beings as gods, others referred to them as the Divine Dragons, others simply the Drakes.
Anice herself wasn’t particularly religious, she preferred to place her faith in herself and those she trusted, but even she couldn’t help but wonder if all this was some sort of cruel joke, beset upon them by the gods.
Only time would tell she supposed.
“I’m glad we have an understanding”, she spoke curtly, her gaze flickering back to the twitchy man before returning to the sergeants.
She was prepared to answer any questions they might have, so long as they remained appropriate, didn’t cover any sensitive topics, and were within her power to answer.
She couldn’t speak for her father, and it was up to him whether or not these men would receive any sort of aid...or acceptance.
However, it seemed that it wouldn’t be necessary, as the sergeant received updated orders. They were to act as a liaison and meet with her father.
“Ah...well, then we have much to prepare”, she sighed and looked down to Fawkes.
“We’re heading back to the palace little one”.
Fawkes’s grin immediately fell, he frowned and crossed his arms, shaking his head. Anice blinked.
“Fawkes, now is not the time for this. You’re a prince, you need to act like one, especially in front of our...guests...”, she gestured to the outsiders, the boy glanced over at the men and then back to his sister.
After a moment he seemed to relent, he sighed and nodded.
“Good, and cheer up, it’s not all bad”, she grinned. “We get to take these outsiders through the circles, and I bet that’ll be fun”.
Fawkes eyes lit up and he looked to Conway and the others.
“Really, they get to come...”, he frowned and pointed to their vehicle.
“...They’re not going to ride in that…?”, he looked to Anice.
The princess placed a hand on his head and addressed Conway.
“You and your men are familiar with teleportation magic correct? It’s a much faster trip than...riding in your...strange carriage. Not to mention we can’t have you riding in that through town, we are trying to avoid a panic”.
Not to mention having them taken directly to the palace meant that they could immediately keep the team under watch, and move them to a secure location until it was time for the meeting.
Fawkes was watching the group with curious eyes, though he switched between them and their vehicle.
“Sis, what kind of magic does that run on?”, he pointed to the vehicle.
“...I haven’t thee foggiest idea little one”, Anice answered with curious frown. “But you’re asking the wrong person”, she pointed at a nearby solider, and waved them over to the group.
“I need you to head to the palace and have them prepare for our guests. Give my father an update on the situation, and tell him we should be arriving shortly”, the solider nodded, bowed and then headed off for the larger tent in the makeshift camp.
That was where the circle had been drawn, it was large enough to take ten men, so it could handle Conway’s group plus the two royals easily.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
"I'll see to it that it does," Decker said. "I have my trust in my Marines. With that said, I hope to meet you in person some time in the near future. If you need anything or want to discuss anything else, simply call. The ship's sensors will pick up your words and a drone will be dispatched." With that, the transmission was ended and the drone made its way back to the ship, quickly disappearing into its storage bay.
Back on the bridge, Decker turned to Miller. "Status on the envoy team?"
"Green, so far." Miller reported, displaying some images from the meeting. "We nearly had an incident when the younger brother of the princess appeared. Kid just came outta nowhere. "Didn't get violent, thankfully. The princess' now taking the squad to something apparently called 'the circle'."
"The circle?" Decker asked.
"Pretty mysterious, if you ask me. Point is, I'm getting some crazy energy readings from that thing." Several charts were brought up. "Quantum fluctuations. My sensors ain't liking it."
It wasn't much of a surprise, really. When humanity's first contact with an intelligent alien race was one that seemed hellbent on the total destruction of all of humanity, it was easy to hate and demonise the enemy, especially if the aliens were a horrendously ugly race of six-eyed reptile people who resembled Earth's desert lizards if they walked on two legs.
Actually, on second thought, his attitude was entirely justified.
He decided to shove the thought aside for now and focus on the more important matters at hand. "Palace?" He asked. "I assume that's where your government operates from."
Oddly enough, the young prince seemed extremely reluctant to return. Typical kids. He seemed to be disappointed that the Marines wouldn't be using their Pitbull, instead using something called 'the circles'. Conway opened his mouth to ask, but before he could inquire, he princess asked if he was familiar with 'teleportation magic'.
"Teleportation magic?" Conway was clearly unfamiliar with the term, and also sounded quite skeptical. "Ma'am, instantaneous teleportation is still being researched by numerous institutes around the colonies, and has yet to be fully understood." He told her.
And yet despite the trillions of credits spent on such research, little progress was made. The closest thing the UEG had to teleportation were microrifts, although that was still subject to heavy speculation.
Well, there was apparently a case of a teleportation accident which phased a research facility halfway into the ground, and another which fused several researchers together into a horrible mass of flesh and organs. That was conscious. And also screamed.
Probably why teleportation research didn't receive quite as much funding as it did during its heyday.
The vaskrans also had a kind of personal teleportation technology that was issued to more specialised units. It allowed them to 'blink' from one area to another within a certain radius near-instantaneously, though with a very short delay. However, that was discovered to be based off their hyperspace technology, which the UEG still had little understanding of.
"Besides," Conway followed up. "Magic isn't real."
Back on the bridge, Decker turned to Miller. "Status on the envoy team?"
"Green, so far." Miller reported, displaying some images from the meeting. "We nearly had an incident when the younger brother of the princess appeared. Kid just came outta nowhere. "Didn't get violent, thankfully. The princess' now taking the squad to something apparently called 'the circle'."
"The circle?" Decker asked.
"Pretty mysterious, if you ask me. Point is, I'm getting some crazy energy readings from that thing." Several charts were brought up. "Quantum fluctuations. My sensors ain't liking it."
----------------------------
Conway couldn't blame the princess for giving Torres that look of distrust, even more than she already did to the other Marines. The private was jumpy, very jumpy. He wasn't particularly nervous or anxious on the field, he was just pissed off half the time and wanted to shoot something. He had declared that he joined the Marines to 'kill some fucking aliens'. Xenophobic, just like many other human citizens.
It wasn't much of a surprise, really. When humanity's first contact with an intelligent alien race was one that seemed hellbent on the total destruction of all of humanity, it was easy to hate and demonise the enemy, especially if the aliens were a horrendously ugly race of six-eyed reptile people who resembled Earth's desert lizards if they walked on two legs.
Actually, on second thought, his attitude was entirely justified.
He decided to shove the thought aside for now and focus on the more important matters at hand. "Palace?" He asked. "I assume that's where your government operates from."
Oddly enough, the young prince seemed extremely reluctant to return. Typical kids. He seemed to be disappointed that the Marines wouldn't be using their Pitbull, instead using something called 'the circles'. Conway opened his mouth to ask, but before he could inquire, he princess asked if he was familiar with 'teleportation magic'.
"Teleportation magic?" Conway was clearly unfamiliar with the term, and also sounded quite skeptical. "Ma'am, instantaneous teleportation is still being researched by numerous institutes around the colonies, and has yet to be fully understood." He told her.
And yet despite the trillions of credits spent on such research, little progress was made. The closest thing the UEG had to teleportation were microrifts, although that was still subject to heavy speculation.
Well, there was apparently a case of a teleportation accident which phased a research facility halfway into the ground, and another which fused several researchers together into a horrible mass of flesh and organs. That was conscious. And also screamed.
Probably why teleportation research didn't receive quite as much funding as it did during its heyday.
The vaskrans also had a kind of personal teleportation technology that was issued to more specialised units. It allowed them to 'blink' from one area to another within a certain radius near-instantaneously, though with a very short delay. However, that was discovered to be based off their hyperspace technology, which the UEG still had little understanding of.
"Besides," Conway followed up. "Magic isn't real."
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
Morlock was more than a little relieved when the drone issued it’s goodbye and returned to the ship. Still, he chose not to express this relief, as he could sense he was still within the gaze off the ship.
He nodded toward the fallen vessel before turning on his heel and walking down the hill, where he met up with some of his men.
“Sir”, one stepped forward.
“I want you and your men to remain here, and keep watch on the ship. Send word via scribe if anything else happens. I must return to the palace and converse with the king. We must prepare for this envoy’s arrival”.
“Sir, we’re letting these...things into the palace?”, one man asked, an incredlous look on his face.
“We ought to confine them to their ship, we ought to be eliminating them!”.
There were murmurs of agreement among the troops.
Morlock was unphased.
“...These...things son, are intelligent. I don’t know how that’s possible, given they come from a place far beyond our world, but the fact is, they are intelligent beings with immense power. It’s foolish to charge into an already dangerous situation with such a small minded outlook”.
They knew very little about these people, it would be foolish to charge into battle against them.
“We will continue to play the part of...an accepting and skeptical host until the situation becomes more dire. Now, remain at your post, and do NOT converse with the outsiders”.
He waited until all the men gave him a nod and salute before carrying on, he needed to get back to the palace.
He wondered if the princess was already there with the envoy.
_+_+
Fawkes was the first to break the silence that followed Conway’s ludicrous statement. And he did so with a laugh. A short, barking laugh that soon devolved into a full fledged fit, he fell onto his butt and held his sides as he doubled over in a fit of the giggles.
Anice, taken aback by Conway’s words, merely blinked, a small smile came to her face.
“...You, you can’t be serious...”, she looked around him to the vehicle. “That thing...isn’t powered by magic?”.
Then how in all the realms did it move on it’s own.
“Sis, Sis c-can I...I show them?”, Fawkes peeked up at the princess as he wiped tears from his eyes. “If they don’t believe in magic, then we have to show them!”.
She supposed that made sense, but even so, she didn’t want Fawkes doing something foolish.
“Fine, but a small trick, nothing more”, she looked down at him, Fawkes jumped to his feet excitedly.
“Okay! I’ll uh...I’ll do...no...no that’s not small...”, he paused for a moment, contemplating what he wanted to do.
“...Sis...I...can’t think of anything...”, he frowned “I can’t do cool stuff like you...oh, OH!”, he snapped and looked to Anice excitedly.
“Call lightning down! That’s the coolest thing ever!”.
It was also the opposite of a small trick. Anice sighed.
“...You...outsiders must derive your energy from some other source...but here...magic is the backbone of out community. For you to simply disbelieve it’s existence...I...I can’t even begin to tell you how...ridiclous that is”. She shook her head and held out her hand.
“There are all kinds of magic in Arcadia...no, in the world of Edreign itself, and nearly all walks of life here can be trained to use it”.
She snapped her fingers, and there was a spark, before a small ball of electric energy crackled to life in her palm.
Fawkes crossed his arms, pouting.
“That’s not as cool as calling it down from up there”, he pointed up toward the clouds.
Anice rolled her eyes and closed her fist, extinguishing the crackling ball.
“Yes, but it’s much safer. Now, back to my point, teleportation is a means of transportation throughout Arcadia, and it is done with the circles. Which are literally magic runes carved into a surface, allowing for travel between them”.
Of course, she could teleport outside the circles, but that wasn’t the point.
Though if more proof was needed...
“Is a more extravagant display needed, because that can be arranged. I’m not going to force you and your men to accompany me until your at least semi comfortable with the notion”.
Fawkes crossed his fingers. “Please please PLEASE need a more extravagant display”, he grinned.
He nodded toward the fallen vessel before turning on his heel and walking down the hill, where he met up with some of his men.
“Sir”, one stepped forward.
“I want you and your men to remain here, and keep watch on the ship. Send word via scribe if anything else happens. I must return to the palace and converse with the king. We must prepare for this envoy’s arrival”.
“Sir, we’re letting these...things into the palace?”, one man asked, an incredlous look on his face.
“We ought to confine them to their ship, we ought to be eliminating them!”.
There were murmurs of agreement among the troops.
Morlock was unphased.
“...These...things son, are intelligent. I don’t know how that’s possible, given they come from a place far beyond our world, but the fact is, they are intelligent beings with immense power. It’s foolish to charge into an already dangerous situation with such a small minded outlook”.
They knew very little about these people, it would be foolish to charge into battle against them.
“We will continue to play the part of...an accepting and skeptical host until the situation becomes more dire. Now, remain at your post, and do NOT converse with the outsiders”.
He waited until all the men gave him a nod and salute before carrying on, he needed to get back to the palace.
He wondered if the princess was already there with the envoy.
_+_+
Fawkes was the first to break the silence that followed Conway’s ludicrous statement. And he did so with a laugh. A short, barking laugh that soon devolved into a full fledged fit, he fell onto his butt and held his sides as he doubled over in a fit of the giggles.
Anice, taken aback by Conway’s words, merely blinked, a small smile came to her face.
“...You, you can’t be serious...”, she looked around him to the vehicle. “That thing...isn’t powered by magic?”.
Then how in all the realms did it move on it’s own.
“Sis, Sis c-can I...I show them?”, Fawkes peeked up at the princess as he wiped tears from his eyes. “If they don’t believe in magic, then we have to show them!”.
She supposed that made sense, but even so, she didn’t want Fawkes doing something foolish.
“Fine, but a small trick, nothing more”, she looked down at him, Fawkes jumped to his feet excitedly.
“Okay! I’ll uh...I’ll do...no...no that’s not small...”, he paused for a moment, contemplating what he wanted to do.
“...Sis...I...can’t think of anything...”, he frowned “I can’t do cool stuff like you...oh, OH!”, he snapped and looked to Anice excitedly.
“Call lightning down! That’s the coolest thing ever!”.
It was also the opposite of a small trick. Anice sighed.
“...You...outsiders must derive your energy from some other source...but here...magic is the backbone of out community. For you to simply disbelieve it’s existence...I...I can’t even begin to tell you how...ridiclous that is”. She shook her head and held out her hand.
“There are all kinds of magic in Arcadia...no, in the world of Edreign itself, and nearly all walks of life here can be trained to use it”.
She snapped her fingers, and there was a spark, before a small ball of electric energy crackled to life in her palm.
Fawkes crossed his arms, pouting.
“That’s not as cool as calling it down from up there”, he pointed up toward the clouds.
Anice rolled her eyes and closed her fist, extinguishing the crackling ball.
“Yes, but it’s much safer. Now, back to my point, teleportation is a means of transportation throughout Arcadia, and it is done with the circles. Which are literally magic runes carved into a surface, allowing for travel between them”.
Of course, she could teleport outside the circles, but that wasn’t the point.
Though if more proof was needed...
“Is a more extravagant display needed, because that can be arranged. I’m not going to force you and your men to accompany me until your at least semi comfortable with the notion”.
Fawkes crossed his fingers. “Please please PLEASE need a more extravagant display”, he grinned.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Decker was hunched forwards on the holotable with his hands pressed on the surface. He was surveying the composite scans from the Argus drones and ship-based surveillance equipment. On a smaller window was a live feed from the envoy team. However, there was also audio and video feed from Morlock and his men.
"Sir, I don't think the natives know that the crew's human." Miller said.
"I've noticed." Decker glanced upwards. There was a live transcript that came with the audio, and from what the men were discussing, quite a number of the Arcadian captain's men were quite against letting the Marines meet the leader of the nation.
Decker couldn't blame them. If a warship belonging to a technologically advanced civilisation centuries ahead crashed to land lying within a nation's boundaries and sent out a team of heavily armed and armoured soldiers wanting to meet with said nation's leader, he'd be quite skeptical as well.
However, Morlock was quick to defuse the situation. He'd analysed the situation and pointed out that attacking the Filial Piety and its crew would be a horrible idea, given the wide technological gap between the two peoples.
Perhaps the natives were lucky. In the event hostilities did break out, the Filial Piety only contained enough munitions to raze half the planet. Dedicated capital warships such as battlecarriers or battleships, among many others, were normally equipped to conduct saturated orbital bombardments that could go on for days. Single shots from even the light Gauss cannons could turn smaller cities into rubble instantly.
Fawkes falling to the ground in laughter was met with looks of confusion from the Marines. For whatever reason, he found Conway's offhand remark dismissing the existence utterly and extraordinarily hilarious. It was as if the sergeant had just made the funniest joke in the world since President Cohen. Even Princess Anice, who had otherwise not shown much emotion yet, seemed to be ridiculing him.
"I am being serious!" Conway cried above the laughter. "The Pitbull's powered by a plasma-hydrogen reaction engine." He explained. "Science, not... magic."
The royal siblings still seemed intent on proving the existence of magic. Like how Fawkes suggested showing the Marines a small trick by 'calling lightning down'.
If that was what the natives considered a small trick, he wondered what a bigger one would be like.
As he pondered over this, the princess sighed. She explained that magic was apparently an all-encompassing force on Edreign, that it was the backbone of all civilisation. She then held out her hand. Conway was rather confused for a second. Was he supposed to shake it?
He was answered a second later when the princess snapped her fingers, causing a small ball of electricity to appear in her palm. She further explained that everyone on the planet could use magic.
The Marines weren't exactly impressed just yet. Conway himself had seen the defibrillators used field medics do roughly the same thing.
"And we've realised that magic was a load a bull centuries ago." Torres spoke up suddenly, much to the chagrin of Conway. "I'm sure everything you've just done has a perfectly rational explanation."
"Stow it, private," Corporal Reyes chided. "Don't think command will be very happy if they found out you fucked up first contact."
That seemed to shut the private up.
Conway sighed. "No, I think that's all we need." He said, glancing at his squad. He really just wanted to get this over and done with already. "These... circles. They'll work, right?"
"Sir, I don't think the natives know that the crew's human." Miller said.
"I've noticed." Decker glanced upwards. There was a live transcript that came with the audio, and from what the men were discussing, quite a number of the Arcadian captain's men were quite against letting the Marines meet the leader of the nation.
Decker couldn't blame them. If a warship belonging to a technologically advanced civilisation centuries ahead crashed to land lying within a nation's boundaries and sent out a team of heavily armed and armoured soldiers wanting to meet with said nation's leader, he'd be quite skeptical as well.
However, Morlock was quick to defuse the situation. He'd analysed the situation and pointed out that attacking the Filial Piety and its crew would be a horrible idea, given the wide technological gap between the two peoples.
Perhaps the natives were lucky. In the event hostilities did break out, the Filial Piety only contained enough munitions to raze half the planet. Dedicated capital warships such as battlecarriers or battleships, among many others, were normally equipped to conduct saturated orbital bombardments that could go on for days. Single shots from even the light Gauss cannons could turn smaller cities into rubble instantly.
----------------------------
Fawkes falling to the ground in laughter was met with looks of confusion from the Marines. For whatever reason, he found Conway's offhand remark dismissing the existence utterly and extraordinarily hilarious. It was as if the sergeant had just made the funniest joke in the world since President Cohen. Even Princess Anice, who had otherwise not shown much emotion yet, seemed to be ridiculing him.
"I am being serious!" Conway cried above the laughter. "The Pitbull's powered by a plasma-hydrogen reaction engine." He explained. "Science, not... magic."
The royal siblings still seemed intent on proving the existence of magic. Like how Fawkes suggested showing the Marines a small trick by 'calling lightning down'.
If that was what the natives considered a small trick, he wondered what a bigger one would be like.
As he pondered over this, the princess sighed. She explained that magic was apparently an all-encompassing force on Edreign, that it was the backbone of all civilisation. She then held out her hand. Conway was rather confused for a second. Was he supposed to shake it?
He was answered a second later when the princess snapped her fingers, causing a small ball of electricity to appear in her palm. She further explained that everyone on the planet could use magic.
The Marines weren't exactly impressed just yet. Conway himself had seen the defibrillators used field medics do roughly the same thing.
"And we've realised that magic was a load a bull centuries ago." Torres spoke up suddenly, much to the chagrin of Conway. "I'm sure everything you've just done has a perfectly rational explanation."
"Stow it, private," Corporal Reyes chided. "Don't think command will be very happy if they found out you fucked up first contact."
That seemed to shut the private up.
Conway sighed. "No, I think that's all we need." He said, glancing at his squad. He really just wanted to get this over and done with already. "These... circles. They'll work, right?"
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
Morlock was riding back to the temporary base camp, unlike the princess he lacked the ability to use the teleportation spell which allowed for faster travel. But utalizing said spell outside of the circles could be quite taxing, though one wouldn’t guess it from how easy Anice made it appear. But it had taken years of pratice for her to be as confidant as she was now, though as it stood she can only take one other person with her on her solo jaunts.
She was a talented and dedicated solider, and Morlock was confidant she could handle this squad of outsiders...whatever they may be.
She was going to have to, it was up to her to represent the kingdom of Arcadia with dignity and grace until her father stepped into the picture.
Morlock wasn’t looking forward to explaining this to the king, who was wary enough of outsiders as it was.
The fact a sentient race had crashed landed on their land wasn’t going to go over well with him, Morlock would do his best to ensure that things remained peaceful.
He didn’t want to start a war they didn’t have a guarantee of winning. There would be senseless loss of life on both sides, and it could potentially draw the entire civilizaed world of Edreign into battle.
Such a thing hadn’t happened since the Great Civil war, where humanity and the other enslaves races fought back against the elven empire.
_+_+
“Plasma-hydrogen reaction engine?”, Anice arched an eyebrow. “...Yes...because that sounds far more plausible than a simple spell”, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Fawkes giggled. “It sounds cool, hows it work?”, he looked the machine over, a new interest shone in his eyes.
“We don’t have time for an explanation little one, we need to return to the palace”.
So long as these people were willing to accompany her willingly, she supposed it didn’t rightly matter if they believed in magic or not.
But the way they dismissed it’s very existence...especially the mouthy one who’d aimed his gun at Fawkes, it was more than a little insulting.
One’s magical prowess was a source of great pride in Edreign, and Anice had been honing hers throughout her life.
The idea that some outsider would dare dismiss her accomplishments…
it was maddening.
“...The circles are perfectly safe, we’ve used them for time now for fast and easy travel around the kingdom”. She address Conway.
“...You’ll find all matter of spells, incantations and potions guide the daily lives of the citizens of Edreign...and while I cannot make you believe, I can promise you this”, her gaze shifted to Torres.
“If you try to think up a “rational” explanation for every little seemingly impossibly thing you see while you’re here, the only thing you will accomplish is giving yourself a large and unyielding headache”.
She didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in her voice as a smirk crossed her face. “But, don’t worry, if that does happen, our healers are some of the best in the realm, and I’m sure they’ll have a potion or spell to fix it”, she chuckled lightly before turning around.
“Now then, come along, no sense in waiting any longer”.
Fawkes seemed disappointed that there wouldn’t be more showing off, nor would there be any riding in the strange vehicle, but he fell in step with his sister as she lead the group to one of the tents, all the while being watched by the other men stationed at the camp.
The outsiders were a sight to behold, and once the group had disappeared inside all manner of whispering began.
Anice inspected the circle carved into the dirt, it glowed faintly a white color and the air above it shimmered slightly.
Once she was satisfied that things were up to par, she looked to Conway and his men.
“This is simple, all you have to do is stand in the circle...like so”, she looked to Fawkes, who blinked and required a bit of a nudge to do as Anice had instructed.
“And then from there, normally, you specify your destination, there are several circles all connected across the kingdom, but this specific circle only goes to the palace. So all you need to do is speak the incantation and away you go” She nodded to Fawkes, who grinned and waved.
“See ya there”, he beamed, waved and then spoke. “Lacus nal suh!”.
The circle beneath the boy’s feet began to shimmer, as did the surrounding air, Fawkes let out a laugh and then disappeared in a small flash of light.
Once he was gone, the circle returned to it’s dull shine. Anice stepped in this time, and motioned for Conway and his men to do the same.
“Come now, I’ll recite the spell and we’ll be on our way”.
An observant person might notice that her gloves bore a smaller variant of the circle on the ground, embroidered with white thread over the black gloves.
She was a talented and dedicated solider, and Morlock was confidant she could handle this squad of outsiders...whatever they may be.
She was going to have to, it was up to her to represent the kingdom of Arcadia with dignity and grace until her father stepped into the picture.
Morlock wasn’t looking forward to explaining this to the king, who was wary enough of outsiders as it was.
The fact a sentient race had crashed landed on their land wasn’t going to go over well with him, Morlock would do his best to ensure that things remained peaceful.
He didn’t want to start a war they didn’t have a guarantee of winning. There would be senseless loss of life on both sides, and it could potentially draw the entire civilizaed world of Edreign into battle.
Such a thing hadn’t happened since the Great Civil war, where humanity and the other enslaves races fought back against the elven empire.
_+_+
“Plasma-hydrogen reaction engine?”, Anice arched an eyebrow. “...Yes...because that sounds far more plausible than a simple spell”, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Fawkes giggled. “It sounds cool, hows it work?”, he looked the machine over, a new interest shone in his eyes.
“We don’t have time for an explanation little one, we need to return to the palace”.
So long as these people were willing to accompany her willingly, she supposed it didn’t rightly matter if they believed in magic or not.
But the way they dismissed it’s very existence...especially the mouthy one who’d aimed his gun at Fawkes, it was more than a little insulting.
One’s magical prowess was a source of great pride in Edreign, and Anice had been honing hers throughout her life.
The idea that some outsider would dare dismiss her accomplishments…
it was maddening.
“...The circles are perfectly safe, we’ve used them for time now for fast and easy travel around the kingdom”. She address Conway.
“...You’ll find all matter of spells, incantations and potions guide the daily lives of the citizens of Edreign...and while I cannot make you believe, I can promise you this”, her gaze shifted to Torres.
“If you try to think up a “rational” explanation for every little seemingly impossibly thing you see while you’re here, the only thing you will accomplish is giving yourself a large and unyielding headache”.
She didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in her voice as a smirk crossed her face. “But, don’t worry, if that does happen, our healers are some of the best in the realm, and I’m sure they’ll have a potion or spell to fix it”, she chuckled lightly before turning around.
“Now then, come along, no sense in waiting any longer”.
Fawkes seemed disappointed that there wouldn’t be more showing off, nor would there be any riding in the strange vehicle, but he fell in step with his sister as she lead the group to one of the tents, all the while being watched by the other men stationed at the camp.
The outsiders were a sight to behold, and once the group had disappeared inside all manner of whispering began.
Anice inspected the circle carved into the dirt, it glowed faintly a white color and the air above it shimmered slightly.
Once she was satisfied that things were up to par, she looked to Conway and his men.
“This is simple, all you have to do is stand in the circle...like so”, she looked to Fawkes, who blinked and required a bit of a nudge to do as Anice had instructed.
“And then from there, normally, you specify your destination, there are several circles all connected across the kingdom, but this specific circle only goes to the palace. So all you need to do is speak the incantation and away you go” She nodded to Fawkes, who grinned and waved.
“See ya there”, he beamed, waved and then spoke. “Lacus nal suh!”.
The circle beneath the boy’s feet began to shimmer, as did the surrounding air, Fawkes let out a laugh and then disappeared in a small flash of light.
Once he was gone, the circle returned to it’s dull shine. Anice stepped in this time, and motioned for Conway and his men to do the same.
“Come now, I’ll recite the spell and we’ll be on our way”.
An observant person might notice that her gloves bore a smaller variant of the circle on the ground, embroidered with white thread over the black gloves.
Corrosion
ur lite fades awey
Decker grasped a steaming mug of coffee in both hands. It bore the insignia of the Filial Piety: the ancient Chinese word xiào inside a yin-yang circle, which was of course bordered by the eight points of a compass. He reflected over intermittent sips of the bitter and unsweetened caffeinated beverage.
Apex Squad was by no means elite or distinguished or decorated. The squad was nothing special, really. They were essentially just another Marine squad, out of over a thousand to choose from. But the squad was capable, Decker had seen that himself. They'd been on quite a number of missions together, and he knew that Conway was a capable leader. The sergeant was a reasonable and logical man, loyal to a fault. He held the positive traits of a Marine, and few of the more negative ones.
Conway may be a soldier and not a diplomat, but Decker trusted he wouldn't do anything rash.
Decker took another sip and grimaced slightly. The grounds were fairly high quality, since the ship had stocked up on the agricultural world of Stanza before coming to Tribute. Problem was, they were terribly bitter. Some liked them, those with more... refined tastes did. Decker himself enjoyed his slightly sweetened.
He'd other things to worry about, however. Bigger things than bitter coffee.
A whole lot bigger.
The princess' reassurance that the circles were perfectly safe didn't really do anything to make Conway or his men feel any better. Teleportation was still far from understood, and he was sure to have second thoughts if someone came up to him and told him some fancy new teleportation rig was perfectly safe, top researcher or no. He really didn't want to get stuck outside the boundaries of reality itself and die out there, just like some poor engineers during the early days of interstellar travel, when RIFT drives were brand new and quite unstable.
"... I'll take your word for it." He said at last.
Torres still seemed on edge and skeptical. He seemed quite ready to argue about the healers remark, but he remained quiet. Conway was quite pleased with that.
The squad followed the princess into the tent. There was a set of circles carved into the dirt in the middle, faintly glowing a mystical white. The air above it seemed to shimmer ever so slightly.
As Conway moved closer, his heads-up display seemed to start flickering and, for lack of a better term, spazzing out. He reached up to his helmet and tapped the side, frowning. "Princess," He began, observing as Anice inspected the circle. "The circle... it seems to interfering with my HUD." His minimap and vitals were also going crazier the closer he got to it. "Sensors, too."
He received a transmission from the ship. Miller was on the line. "Apex 0-1, this is Miller. How copy?"
"Solid copy, Miller. Go ahead." Conway said.
The helmeted avatar of the A.I. appeared in his vision. "I'm getting a whole host of weird readings from this circle thing."
"Affirmative, Miller," The sergeant nodded. "It's interfering with my HUD and sensors."
"Quantum fluctuations, from the looks of it." Miller informed. "Proceed with caution. Miller out."
Conway turned back to the princess as soon as the transmission ended. She was explaining how it worked, allowing Fawkes to do a demonstration. The kid was staring at the Marines again and needed prompting from her sister to snap him out of it.
According to the princess, this particular circle led to the palace, and there were several others arranged around the kingdom that worked as a sort of teleportation network.
Once she had finished her explanation, Fawkes smiled and waved. Then he said... something in a language Conway didn't recognise. The area around him seemed to shimmer. And then he disappeared in a flash of light.
At the very same moment, Conway's HUD freaked out. It just couldn't comprehend what had just happened. "Whoa! What the --"
His squad seemed to be affected in the same way. "Hey, sarge?" Came the rather grainy voice of Private Chris Erickson. "I just detected a massive surge of energy."
"I've noticed." Conway turned back to the princess. She was standing in the middle of the circle, which had returned to its inactive state as before. She motioned for the squad to do the same.
He frowned, and after a moment's hesitation, apprehensively stepped into the circle, followed by the rest of his squad. As he did, his HUD was definitely messing up even more than before. The holographic elements was flickering and his compass was spinning wildly, along with his minimap showing hostiles everywhere. "Princess, you sure this is safe?"
Apex Squad was by no means elite or distinguished or decorated. The squad was nothing special, really. They were essentially just another Marine squad, out of over a thousand to choose from. But the squad was capable, Decker had seen that himself. They'd been on quite a number of missions together, and he knew that Conway was a capable leader. The sergeant was a reasonable and logical man, loyal to a fault. He held the positive traits of a Marine, and few of the more negative ones.
Conway may be a soldier and not a diplomat, but Decker trusted he wouldn't do anything rash.
Decker took another sip and grimaced slightly. The grounds were fairly high quality, since the ship had stocked up on the agricultural world of Stanza before coming to Tribute. Problem was, they were terribly bitter. Some liked them, those with more... refined tastes did. Decker himself enjoyed his slightly sweetened.
He'd other things to worry about, however. Bigger things than bitter coffee.
A whole lot bigger.
----------------------------
The princess' reassurance that the circles were perfectly safe didn't really do anything to make Conway or his men feel any better. Teleportation was still far from understood, and he was sure to have second thoughts if someone came up to him and told him some fancy new teleportation rig was perfectly safe, top researcher or no. He really didn't want to get stuck outside the boundaries of reality itself and die out there, just like some poor engineers during the early days of interstellar travel, when RIFT drives were brand new and quite unstable.
"... I'll take your word for it." He said at last.
Torres still seemed on edge and skeptical. He seemed quite ready to argue about the healers remark, but he remained quiet. Conway was quite pleased with that.
The squad followed the princess into the tent. There was a set of circles carved into the dirt in the middle, faintly glowing a mystical white. The air above it seemed to shimmer ever so slightly.
As Conway moved closer, his heads-up display seemed to start flickering and, for lack of a better term, spazzing out. He reached up to his helmet and tapped the side, frowning. "Princess," He began, observing as Anice inspected the circle. "The circle... it seems to interfering with my HUD." His minimap and vitals were also going crazier the closer he got to it. "Sensors, too."
He received a transmission from the ship. Miller was on the line. "Apex 0-1, this is Miller. How copy?"
"Solid copy, Miller. Go ahead." Conway said.
The helmeted avatar of the A.I. appeared in his vision. "I'm getting a whole host of weird readings from this circle thing."
"Affirmative, Miller," The sergeant nodded. "It's interfering with my HUD and sensors."
"Quantum fluctuations, from the looks of it." Miller informed. "Proceed with caution. Miller out."
Conway turned back to the princess as soon as the transmission ended. She was explaining how it worked, allowing Fawkes to do a demonstration. The kid was staring at the Marines again and needed prompting from her sister to snap him out of it.
According to the princess, this particular circle led to the palace, and there were several others arranged around the kingdom that worked as a sort of teleportation network.
Once she had finished her explanation, Fawkes smiled and waved. Then he said... something in a language Conway didn't recognise. The area around him seemed to shimmer. And then he disappeared in a flash of light.
At the very same moment, Conway's HUD freaked out. It just couldn't comprehend what had just happened. "Whoa! What the --"
His squad seemed to be affected in the same way. "Hey, sarge?" Came the rather grainy voice of Private Chris Erickson. "I just detected a massive surge of energy."
"I've noticed." Conway turned back to the princess. She was standing in the middle of the circle, which had returned to its inactive state as before. She motioned for the squad to do the same.
He frowned, and after a moment's hesitation, apprehensively stepped into the circle, followed by the rest of his squad. As he did, his HUD was definitely messing up even more than before. The holographic elements was flickering and his compass was spinning wildly, along with his minimap showing hostiles everywhere. "Princess, you sure this is safe?"
StarryKnights
A Spastic Collection of Characters and Ideas
It didn’t seem Conway and their men were feeling very confidant about using the circle, but it was the most efficient way to get them to their destination. Still, at least Conway was willing to trust her judgment, she was an expert on teleportation after all. Of course, there was no real way of these people knowing that, and Anice didn’t feel like explaining.
Anice arched an eyebrow as Conway mentioned his “heads up display” and “sensors”, were disrupted by the circle. If that was the case, then the magic must interfere with some part of their machines, a useful tid bit of knowledge.
It seemed they could affect these machines, and that was valuable knowledge in case things went south.
“I’m not sure why that’s happening sergeant...perhaps your machines can’t comprehend what they are...uh...reading?”.
There was something comical about the idea that these odd creations were unable comprehend the magic as well, perhaps they inherited that trait from their creators.
“But rest assured, no matter what your uh...contraption says this is perfectly safe”.
She waited until everyone was standing in the boundaries of the circle before continuing.
“Now, as a heads up. It is common for people who are not used to teleportation to experience a number of small side effects. Mainly, nausea, vertigo, headaches and sometimes, all three, which tends to lead to vomiting...”.
She opted not to mention that in a very, very small number of times, people’s bodies failed to arrive all in one piece. Such an event hadn’t happened in years, and was typically caused by caster error.
Anice wouldn’t allow such a tragedy to befall these men, ignorant as they were, they were the representatives of their people. Allowing harm to befall them wouldn’t look good.
“If you experience any of these symptoms we will pause and wait for you to get your bearings...if it is particular bad we can take a detour to the castle healer”.
These were trained soldiers, honestly if they were so easily disrupted by such a routine spell Anice’s respect for them might manage to drop.
“Now then, it’s suggest for first timers to close their eyes, though this is up to you. Ready?”.
She didn’t wait for a response, she barked the magic words and the circle began to glow, much brighter this time around.
The familiar tingle of magic raced down Anice’s spine, a small smile came to her face as she felt the spell take effect.
In essence, this spell broke down and transferred the people or objects in the circle and reformed them at a different circle.
It was an incredibly fast process, and while one did remain aware the entire time, Anice didn’t find the temporary moment of intangibility to be all that distressing.
If anything, that brief moment of being incorporeal gave her a bit of a rush.
In a matter of seconds the princess and company were reformed, as the unit took in their surroundings they’d find they were in a dimly lit room made up of thick stone bricks. The floor beneath their feet was bare, and bore a much, much larger variant of the circle they’d used to arrive here.
There were some wooden tables and chairs pushed against the far wall, and surrounding the circle was a group of armored men, similar to the ones in camp.
And there was Fawkes, who beamed as they all appeared.
“Hey! You made it. Good job!”, he cheered excitedly as Anice stepped outside the circle.
“Yes, they did”, she turned to access how Conway and his men were handling the situation.
_+_+
By the time Morlock made it back to the camp, the princess and the envoy of soldiers were gone. He assumed they’d made tracks to the capital, a report from one of the station soldiers informed him Anice had managed to convince the outsiders to take the circle into the palace directly.
This was a bold, but smart move, as it meant the people of the city wouldn’t get a glimpse of their visitors.
It also meant the outsiders could be under heavy guard from the moment of their arrival, no doubt they’d arrived to an envoy of waiting soldiers.
Morlock knew he would need to wait a bit before engaging the circle, as the spell didn’t work if there was someone or something blocking the way.
He went to the scribe of the camp, and had two messages sent to the palace, one addressed to the princess, and the other to the king.
Princess Anice, take the outsiders to a secure location and await further instructions. I’ll send for you, and them once I have conversed with your father.
A simple order, though Morlock imagined that the princess wouldn’t be happy, being stuck baby sitting the outsiders.
Your Highness, the outsiders have arrived at the palace. I shall arrive shortly so we may discuss our best course of action for this first meeting. I recommend sending summons to the representatives to the other countries, so we can prepare for a meeting at Simul.
A courtesy warning, so the king wouldn’t be caught unaware.
This meeting would be integral to the successful formation of positive relations between these outsiders and Arcadia...no, the entire world.
It was imperative that it went smoothly.
Anice arched an eyebrow as Conway mentioned his “heads up display” and “sensors”, were disrupted by the circle. If that was the case, then the magic must interfere with some part of their machines, a useful tid bit of knowledge.
It seemed they could affect these machines, and that was valuable knowledge in case things went south.
“I’m not sure why that’s happening sergeant...perhaps your machines can’t comprehend what they are...uh...reading?”.
There was something comical about the idea that these odd creations were unable comprehend the magic as well, perhaps they inherited that trait from their creators.
“But rest assured, no matter what your uh...contraption says this is perfectly safe”.
She waited until everyone was standing in the boundaries of the circle before continuing.
“Now, as a heads up. It is common for people who are not used to teleportation to experience a number of small side effects. Mainly, nausea, vertigo, headaches and sometimes, all three, which tends to lead to vomiting...”.
She opted not to mention that in a very, very small number of times, people’s bodies failed to arrive all in one piece. Such an event hadn’t happened in years, and was typically caused by caster error.
Anice wouldn’t allow such a tragedy to befall these men, ignorant as they were, they were the representatives of their people. Allowing harm to befall them wouldn’t look good.
“If you experience any of these symptoms we will pause and wait for you to get your bearings...if it is particular bad we can take a detour to the castle healer”.
These were trained soldiers, honestly if they were so easily disrupted by such a routine spell Anice’s respect for them might manage to drop.
“Now then, it’s suggest for first timers to close their eyes, though this is up to you. Ready?”.
She didn’t wait for a response, she barked the magic words and the circle began to glow, much brighter this time around.
The familiar tingle of magic raced down Anice’s spine, a small smile came to her face as she felt the spell take effect.
In essence, this spell broke down and transferred the people or objects in the circle and reformed them at a different circle.
It was an incredibly fast process, and while one did remain aware the entire time, Anice didn’t find the temporary moment of intangibility to be all that distressing.
If anything, that brief moment of being incorporeal gave her a bit of a rush.
In a matter of seconds the princess and company were reformed, as the unit took in their surroundings they’d find they were in a dimly lit room made up of thick stone bricks. The floor beneath their feet was bare, and bore a much, much larger variant of the circle they’d used to arrive here.
There were some wooden tables and chairs pushed against the far wall, and surrounding the circle was a group of armored men, similar to the ones in camp.
And there was Fawkes, who beamed as they all appeared.
“Hey! You made it. Good job!”, he cheered excitedly as Anice stepped outside the circle.
“Yes, they did”, she turned to access how Conway and his men were handling the situation.
_+_+
By the time Morlock made it back to the camp, the princess and the envoy of soldiers were gone. He assumed they’d made tracks to the capital, a report from one of the station soldiers informed him Anice had managed to convince the outsiders to take the circle into the palace directly.
This was a bold, but smart move, as it meant the people of the city wouldn’t get a glimpse of their visitors.
It also meant the outsiders could be under heavy guard from the moment of their arrival, no doubt they’d arrived to an envoy of waiting soldiers.
Morlock knew he would need to wait a bit before engaging the circle, as the spell didn’t work if there was someone or something blocking the way.
He went to the scribe of the camp, and had two messages sent to the palace, one addressed to the princess, and the other to the king.
Princess Anice, take the outsiders to a secure location and await further instructions. I’ll send for you, and them once I have conversed with your father.
A simple order, though Morlock imagined that the princess wouldn’t be happy, being stuck baby sitting the outsiders.
Your Highness, the outsiders have arrived at the palace. I shall arrive shortly so we may discuss our best course of action for this first meeting. I recommend sending summons to the representatives to the other countries, so we can prepare for a meeting at Simul.
A courtesy warning, so the king wouldn’t be caught unaware.
This meeting would be integral to the successful formation of positive relations between these outsiders and Arcadia...no, the entire world.
It was imperative that it went smoothly.
