Castaway Planet

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 152 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 1

Unknown Island / Unnamed Ruin

Galactic Standard Time / 1800

“[FREAK!]”,

“[HONORLESSS!]”,

“[ABOMINATION!]”,

Olv’xic blinked awake, panting as he woke from the nightmare of his old memories. All he could think of for a few moments was the anger and pain he had felt then. But he would be a better being than they would, he had sworn it. Once he…. Wait, where was he? For a second he wondered where he was, but then he felt his armor and everything came rushing back.

He remembered everything and tried to move as his gear came back online. A quick check of his body showed that nothing was broken, and his gear was starting to boot up. But it was a blinking light at the right corner of his mask’s HUB caused him to pause as he gazed at it. Seeing it was from his lost drone, he activated the window to see what his drone did, losing his breath as he saw what it saw. For a second all he could do was stare in shock and horror. If that was there, then this whole situation made more sense and none at all. This was bad, very bad. There might be more of those Constructs coming at them any….. he stopped and started to think. None of this made sense, he needed to talk to the others, maybe Je’ndra knew something, or the guard.

He looked at the window for another time and frowned when he saw how close they were. The Construct that attacked them came from outside, which was…… promising. If that was true and it wasn’t returning, then they had another way to go. But first, he had to wake the others up, and the best way to go was top down. He called up his mask’s visions and with a thought, switched to night vision.

Looking around he saw that the back of the corridor had caved in like they planned. Je’ndra was farthest back, the others were all spread out. After a few seconds of looking, his eyes found the prince. Seeing him not moving sent a rush of fear that died. A quick call to the prince’s armor from his own showed Olv’xic that Prince Ar’thor was fine. He felt relief rush through him and he relaxed a little. Now that he knew his prince was safe, it was time to take stock of where they were.

Once he was sure they were safe, he began to look around. Moving away from the cave-in, he moved slowly away from the others. He hadn’t been able to see much before the explosion, but this looked good. From his experience in caves, this seemed to be strong. His mask told him there was an airflow, so there was that at least. There had to be another way out, if they could move through it, that was another story. At worst, they might be able to break it down, but that was the best. At worst the air source was too small, and they would need to find another way out. Still, this was better than fighting a Destroyer….. he stopped as he reached a cave mouth. He stared at his HUB, the signal from his broken drone was even stronger.

So there it was, this was the way down. Time to wake the others, and with that thought he turned around. As he slowly got up, he moved toward his commanding officer. As he walked he took stock of the others, feeling a bit of relief that they weren’t hurt. He might have been acting like one of those Sects because of his heritage lately. But he knew the others would kill him if they knew, but he respected them. They had fought back to back, putting their lives in the other hands many times, they were his friends. But he knew it wasn’t to last, his luck wasn't that good. And he couldn’t ask them to ignore everything they believed in. Once they made it back he would leave, best to retire on a high note after all. With his service done, he would be able to retire to a lone border world and disappear into the wilderness. And then he would be able to do what he wanted to do, gather others like him.

Reaching Je’ndra, he squatted down and shook her, stepping back after a few seconds in case she struck him.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

As Je’ndra moved her body as she woke, she frowned. Her face wasn’t against her pillow, something was wrong with this. Opening her eyes she saw darkness and wondered what had happened. As the mask slowly regained power and her HUD came online, she frowned. She had slept in her mask? Why?

At that thought her mind went blank as everything that happened came back to her. As her mask’s vision came back, she looked around, seeing Olv’xic making signs to be quiet. Her sight told her enough, and seeing her prince down almost made her move towards him. It was only the feed from his armor that kept her calm. Looking at the others, she saw they were in the same state, and reasoned that they were all okay.

Without a word, she made a few signs and moved towards Tar’lroia.

As she reached down, she forced a spark of power to Tar’loria’s mask, muting the external radio. With a smirk, she nudged her friend with her right foot and jumped back two feet. Tar’loria reacted, jumping to her feet and summoning her glaives. Je’ndra could only giggle as she saw her friend look around, finally stopping when she saw Je’ndra. Then Tar’loria started to make grand gestures but after a few moments went still and then hung her head.

“[Why do you always do this Je’ndra?]”, Tar’loria asked and Je’ndra just smiled as she chuckled.

“[Because you always have the best reactions! Come on, we need to wake the others,]”, Je’ndra said with a laugh as she turned around and moved towards Kon’gric as Olv’xic woke up Ken’tricx.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

A few moments later, they all gathered together, Prince Ar’thor in the middle of their huddle.

Ro’borlar only looked around, seeing the missed faces of the others from their team. All he could do was hope the others had made it through whatever had caused this to happen. But the information he had to share, wasn’t anything good.

“[So, I just checked, we are blocked completely from going back the way we came,]”, Ro’borlar said bluntly as he looked around. He saw Je’ndra only nodded, and he frowned. He was glad his mask hid his reactions, he wouldn’t want the boss to know he hated this. Oh, he knew they didn’t have a choice really, the Firsstborne Construct had forced the Elders to do what they did. But it just went against everything he knew to just go deeper into the earth. An old tick from his civilian life he guessed, and the Construct didn’t help them.

“[Well that was what we planned. So we have no choice but to go forward. So why aren’t we moving on?]”, Tar’loria asked as she looked around at the others.

“[There’s a problem,]”, Olv’xic said abruptly. When everyone looked at him he looked down and took a deep breath. “My drone, the one I sent into the hive? Well, it’s still transmitting, and there’s a double door into a Firsstborne Ruin down there. And if I’m not wrong this tunnel will lead right there.”

Ro’borlar felt the ground shift beneath him. That there were ruins wherever they had ended up, they knew since they saw the Construct. But the fact that they had no choice but to go at it, was a problem.

“[I was wondering where that thing came from. And it looked to be a pretty high model. Whatever’s in there must be the dregs so we could…],” Kon’gric said as he looked around, a not of hope in his voice.

“[Nope! No way,]”, Ken’tricx interrupted him, shaking his head.

“[He’s right, we could tell,]”, Ro’borlar said as he looked at the Guard, his expression hidden.

Kon’gric looked around, and everyone nodded or made gestures that they agreed with Kon’gric and Ken’tricx.

“[How?!]”, Ken’tricx demanded, his hands clenching.

“[The bugs. That hive was too set up for a Firsstborne Construct to have passed through there. Which means that the Ruins are a lot bigger than just this cave. And that means there has to be another way out through it,]”, Je’ndra said.

Ro’borlar felt a grin form on his face as he chuckled. A chance to tear up a Ruin, destroying anything that still moving was always a good day! The only bad thing was this time they would have to do a speed run.

“[But will that Destroyer still be the worst down there?]”, Kon’gric asked, a note of hope in his voice.

Ro’borlar only laughed darkly as he looked at the Guard. The man was so beyond even knowledge of the family of Ruin Raiders that it wasn’t funny. There had to be something worse than the Destroyer in the Ruins. Whatever mind was down there had to be keeping its strongest unit as a defender. But that was good, they could use that. The only way that they could get out of this was if they moved along the outskirts of the Ruin. If they did that, they could try and find the way out then run. If they could find the rest of the team or even the crew of the Spirit, then they had a chance.

It might show their greatest secret, but they were told by their Emperor that it wasn’t worth their lives. He didn’t know if that was the right choice, but that was beyond his level of authority. All in all, he had to hope that the Emperor was making the right choice and that history would look fondly on them all.

“[Then we can’t go that way! If you even think I’ll take the prince through that horror!]”, Kon’gric began and he seemed to be starting to get worked up.

Ro’borlar only looked at him and tried to keep a sigh down. This was why he hated working with Guards, they had one-track minds. It was important to protect their charges, sure. But when they didn’t have a choice about where to go, they were hard to convince.

“[My Guard!]”, Ar’thor’s cry caused even Ro’borlar to stop talking.

They went still and looked at the prince. The prince’s mask was glowing white, and even Ro’borlar felt his breath catch in his throat. To see the Prince using his Aether like this, was something. Most people his age didn’t have the skill to do this, but the Prince could. It had to be another reason that his grandfather had sent him.

“[I have heard that everyone has said, and I agree,]”, Ar’thor said softly.

Ro’borlar felt his mind blank. He hated having nobles along even more than Gaurds, but he expected better from the prince. The emperor was said to be someone who saw reality as it was, not what he tried to make it. That skill had let him lead their people to even higher heights than his father. It was a bitter pill to swallow that the young prince was nothing like his grandfather.

“[I agree with the others Kon’gric,]”, Ar’thor said softly.

All Ro’borlar could do was blink, not expect that at all. He hadn’t ever been on a mission with the Royal family before, and he liked that. But it seemed that the great tree that was the emperor had a good and solid inheritor after all.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Kon’gric looked at his prince and tried to keep calm. He had watched over the young prince for years, and this was just like him. He had seen the way Ar’thor talked and explained his point of view many times. And each time it was amazing to see, but never when he was on the other side.

“[My prince, please. A Ruin? It could kill you!]”, Kon’gric said and he saw Ar’thor look at him.

“We go, we starve or those things attack us from that way. Those are the only options Kon’gric,]”, Je’ndra said softly.

Kon’gric looked at her, a scowl on his face. He stopped when he understood everything and looked around at the tunnel walls. His mask’s sensors went over them, and within seconds he saw how hard they were. He wanted to keep looking, but he knew that what they told him was true. The drone the operator had lost had gone through the insect hive’s main chamber. They were right, he didn’t like it but they had no choice.

A window appeared on his HUB, it told him that Je’ndra was sending him a private message. Opening the channel, he saw an image of her mask appear in a small square.

“[We’ll do everything to keep the Prince alive, but there isn’t any other way to go. We have no choice,]”, Je’ndra’s soft voice caused Kon’gric to look down and sigh.

“[The Prince and I will be in the center or the back as we move. And if it’s one of you or he Prince, I will save him,]”, Kon’gric said and Je’ndra’s mask disappeared.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Tar’lroia looked around, feeling excited despite herself. She had wanted to be Ruin Raider once she was done with her service, and this was great. She knew how to read Firsstbornee runes, and where to hit to disable some of the more common Constructs. The only problem was that her weapons weren’t the best for this run. She was kitted out as a ‘short or long range’ fighter, and most Constructs were middle range. Still, she could stay with the Prince as another defender.

As the group got ready to move down the tunnel, she tried to keep calm. As her grandfather once said, ‘to go into the Ruins with a clouded mind courted death’. But no matter what happened, she prayed they would survive. If the mind was one of the ‘hide and defend’ types, their raid would be perfect as long as they didn’t go too deep. And if this place wasn’t a factory, that would make everything so much worse.

If she had to be honest, she was hoping this was a ‘radar installation’, that would be easy. The three that were known had been studied extensively. She knew what to expect, what kind of Constructs were there, and traps.

But for the mind to have sent out a Destroyer to handle them….. that didn’t make sense. What kind of complex could there be down there in the depths? The Destroyer class was the strongest that their people had ever encountered, but how the team faced it bothered her. To send it out as a lone unit, that showed nothing good about the mind here. Destroyers were normally used as hunter killers, but they were very rare. If this place was more advanced or stronger Construct within it, then that was bad. If theses Construct even existed, then why did this place have them? What was it built for, what function was this place made for.

She just hoped that she would be able to translate enough to let them know what was down here. If they had used a new dialect as well, she didn’t know if her translations would even help. But she had to do everything to help the others. If her work did it, then that was fine. She would just have to use all her knowledge and hope that all her studying had been worth the time.

As they passed deeper through the tunnel, Tar’lroia tried to keep her mind on her surroundings. But something about them bothered her, something she just couldn’t see. She had experienced that feeling a few times before. And each time she looked back, what she couldn’t see was so easy to see once she knew what it was. but this time, she doubted it would be that easy.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Ar’thor looked over Kon’gric’s shoulder, his mind going dark places. He didn’t like the facts he saw. He didn’t think Kon’gric knew, but he also liked to study the more deadly beasts, and insects in particular. He had seen data on three separate species that had traits of the things behind them. And to make it worse, each one was on a world of the Firsstborne.

As a member of the royal family, he had access to many secrets. He liked to look at declassified reports on the Firstborne, specifically their planets. He had gone over everything he could, and everything he knew told him something was wrong. One of the scholars of the past had written a report based on something he saw in a Ruin once. It resulted in a paper that proposed a theory, one that that had caused the scholar to be sent to prison. Ar’thor had seen the resulting report and he hadn’t slept right for weeks. But he couldn’t pay attention to his fears, he had just seen one species, and that didn’t mean anything. If it was true, then they might find evidence ahead.

Part of him didn’t want to even believe it was possible, but if it was….. then everything they thought they knew was wrong. He couldn’t even begin to think what else that meant.

Ar’thor shook his head and tried to think of anything else. He looked over the others over Kon’gric’s shoulders. When the mission into the Federation had been planned, they hadn't planned for any one team. Each one had been tested, and this team had scored the highest points was chosen as his guards. Every one of them was a perfect warrior, a loyal and honored being. And more to the point, everyone was those who would only follow lawful orders. That was the most important thing, the one thing that was vital.

He still remembered his grandfather’s orders. This mission was more than seeing if the Federation deserved the alliance of the Elder Ones. It was to talk to them and see what kind of Firsstborne Ruins they had access to. If they had seen things that the Elder Ones hadn’t, and handled them then they might be worthy. He hadn’t been able to talk to any of the Federation’s contact officers about it, he couldn’t even figure out how. If the Federation could help them seal away that one Ruin, then showing all their secrets would be a low price to pay.

But he had to wonder just how everyone would react, both their own and the Federation. That one secret was beyond anything their people knew, it went against everything they all thought they knew. But that one secret was something that could be the bridge between their peoples.