Nucleus 1: The Dust of Moon [Mature Sci-fi Romance]

[Eight years before the Crystal's discovery]

The path to the Moondust Crystal was paved with smaller choices. As Lorna learned to hide her true identity and find her place in the Alliance society, Xin toiled through the Imperium's oppression. Meanwhile, a much younger man in Ghana was about to trade his textbooks for plasma rifles and mechs — setting him on a collision course with humanity's salvation.

14:37, March 15, 2287

7 Osu District, between Kinbu Senior High Technical School and Kɔmfo Anokye Fusion Plant, Accra, Emerald Directorate territory

Another day of skipping school. Jabari Adomako walked through the heart of Accra. Towering spires of gold and emerald glass reached toward the heavens, their curved, dome-topped structures catching the sun's rays.

He put on a pair of large steel gray wireless headphones clamping over his ears and clicked the button. Pop music flooded his senses.

Below the elevated walkways, hover cars with aerodynamic bodies glided by, while gyro-bikes zipped between them.

To hear the teachers at Kinbu Senior High say it, Accra had 'risen from the ashes of the Digital Age to become one of humanity's crowning achievements', powering the African dreams and ambitions that had carried the Directorate to Mars and beyond.

Yet what good was living in one of humanity's greatest achievements if he couldn't find his own purpose within it?

A simple white tee was worn over his muscular frame. His loose-fitting trousers fit well. He wandered, the music in his ears drowning out the sounds but not easing his worries.

As he rounded the corner, a crew of figures huddled around a shimmering vat of contraband Helionite, its green glow catching his attention.

"Bring this to our usual spot down Jamestown..." The gang's leader stood, a skinny woman with a bald head and spikes all over the jacket she wore, her voice serrated. "...and the buyers will crawl from their holes!"

"Hey!" Jabari ran towards them, yanking the headphones from his head. "You smuggling Helionite? Shouldn't that be sent to the nuclear waste processor?"

Laughter erupted from the gang.

The bald woman turned, her eyes narrowing into slits as she looked at him. "You would speak to Adwoa that way, boy?"

"Helionite is not private property," Jabari held his ground. "I'm calling the DSC. You should —" he reached for something in his pocket.

Before he could act, a fist slammed into his jaw. Hands clawed at him, tearing at his clothes, dragging him down.

"The D-S fucking C!" someone spat as Jabari's headphones were snatched away, squashed to bits by a boot stepping into the concrete. "Too busy on Mars to give a shit 'bout you and me. Fuck them, and fuck you!"

Onlookers scattered like startled birds. Pinned on by Adwoa's minions, Jabari panted, unyielding.

The gang leader leaned down. Her skin looked like overripe fruit, pocked and sallow, a jagged scar running across her cheek. She grinned, rows of yellowed teeth in her mouth.

"Hmm. Now that I've looked at you, pretty boy," she crooned. "You got spirit — and looks to match." Her hand slithered toward the waistband of his pants to grasp at his manhood crudely.

Jabari tensed and recoiled from her touch. He was immobilized and helpless.

"S-s-stop!" he shouted. But Adwoa cackled as her fingers lingered.

"Look at you, all shy," she taunted. "Let's see if I can make your little brother stand..."

"Thought you could talk to boss Adwoa like that, huh?" barked one of the gang members with a sneer. "Useless high school brat."

"Oh, he'll be more than that when I'm done with him," Adwoa declared like a predator. "I'll take him back. Make him shoot his Aether like a sprinkler, watch him spurt his innocence away!"

The gang erupted into vile laughters. One of them clapped his hands together. "Hear that, boy? You're gonna get schooled the fun way!"

Just then, high-pitched growls reverberated through the streets, a cacophony of snarls and screeches. The Helionite's luminescent slurry, shoddily concealed, throbbed with sharper green glow.

Monsters descended upon the boulevards. Civilians scattered as the creatures lunged, serrated claws and teeth flashing. Mutated hounds skittered across the cobblestones, their jaws snapping on anything that moved.

Above, a dark brown mutated octopus with three eyes loomed, its arms trailing in the sky like a wraiths' fingers.

"Ekwensu! Radi-Mons in Accra?" Adwoa's voice, now shrill with fear, came again. "Get the Helionite!"

Gangsters scrambled, clutching at the glowing canisters. But a Radi-Mon pounced, its mouth agape. It seized a gangster, his cries gurgling as flesh was rent from bone, blood spilling out.

Jabari flinched, his muscles tensing.

From her belt, Adwoa drew and swung a makeshift weapon — a thermal knife glinting under the sun. But it was no use.

The hounds' razor-sharp claws slashed through fabric and flesh with ease, piercing Adwoa's spiked clothes as if they were tissue paper.

"No! — please — " she spat in a whimper.

Jabari watched as the monsters shredded her into crimson fragments.

Jabari surged to his feet but stumbled, his foot catching on a piece of what had been human moments ago.

Just then, the air crackled as he looked to the sky. "They've come. The DSC has come! Someone's called them!"

The Directorate Space Corps descended upon the scene like a storm, arrival heralded by the whine of machines and thump of boots hitting the ground.

A group of Ologun marines clad in dark green fusion-powered exosuits showed up. At their forefront stood a particularly stalwart man, his suit sporting silver edges and symbols along the shoulder plates, indicating a squad leader status. "Kill the Bone Fiends!"

Jabari barely had time to catch his breath when the marines raised their angular, olive black Plasma Rifles, the weapons humming. The Radi-Mons turned towards these new challengers, shrieking.

Jabari's hands trembled as the Bone Fiend lunged. Time seemed to slow, and suddenly he wasn't alone. A blonde girl with terrified blue eyes. A thin man behind glowing screens. A woman in black crimson silk robes. They were with him, somehow, in this moment of terror.

Who are you? he wanted to ask, but reality crashed back as plasma fire erupted around him.

Around him, the Ologuns stood their ground. Bolts of superheated plasma tore through the air, each verdant shot landing on the Bone Fiends with accuracy.

Jabari felt a shiver of awe as the marines' exosuit whirred, marching forward.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Get up, kid. A true Maridian never gives up," a voice came, breaking through the chaos. The squad leader reached down, his gauntleted hand gripping Jabari's arm firmly.

The man lifted Jabari from the ground, setting him back on his feet.

"T-thank you, sir! I'm Jabari!" he said between pants.

"Keita. Sulayman Keita," the man replied, his eyes scanning the vicinity even as he spoke.

Before any further words could be said, a cacophonous roar shattered the lull. Sulayman's head snapped, his body coiled, ready to spring into action.

"Jabari. Get to safety when you can. My men and I will handle these Bone Fiends," Sulayman ordered before turning away.

"Okay! I will, sir. I will…" Left standing, Jabari watched Sulayman's retreating back, his mind racing.

Jabari's eyes darted, the sounds of thudding exosuits and monstrous shrieks ringing in his ears as the dust and smoke stung his nostrils.

The Ologun marines moved like phantoms, their Plasma Rifles spitting green death at the encroaching Bone Fiends.

Suddenly, an explosion nearby sent shockwaves through the ground, and a building groaned as it collapsed, and from its dust emerged a Bone Fiend loping forward.

"Shango's schlong!" An Ologun marine lay pinned beneath rubble, his dark green exosuit compromised, a hand reaching out desperately.

The Bone Fiend turned towards the warrior, its jaws parting in anticipation.

"Hold on!" Jabari shouted, his fear forgotten. Instinct overtook hesitation as he lunged forward.

He charged towards the marine, his hands outstretched. His fingers grazed the edges of broken concrete and twisted steel.

Summoning his strength, Jabari's arms bulged as he heaved at the debris. A grunt escaped his lips.

The weight shifted, just enough, just barely. The marine, seizing the chance, dragged himself free with a gasp.

"I've got you!" Jabari shouted again, the word torn from his throat as the Bone Fiend bore down upon them.

"Anansi bless you, civilian!" The marine rolled aside, his gauntleted hands finding his Plasma Rifle. Time seemed to stretch. The marine's aim was true, and with a volley of viridescent light, the Bone Fiend's form disintegrated into a pile of green slush.

Jabari fell back and watched as the soldier he'd aided scrambled to his feet, a grim smile visible through his visor.

Suddenly, the sky darkened as a massive, mutated three-eyed octopus descended from above. The creature's head was bulbous. Its skin was a sickly copper-brown, slick with a viscous, iridescent fluid.

Eight colossal arms, each as thick as old baobab trees, unfurled from its body. Rows of serrated suckers lined the underside of each arm.

The creature's "face" was a nightmare made flesh. Where one would expect to find eyes, there were instead three burning orbs of molten orange. The abomination hovered.

In response, a pack of Bone Fiends emerged from the shadows, their skeletal forms circling Jabari and the Ologun. The monsters closed in, guided by the psionic will of their tentacled master.

Just then, the earth trembled with approaching mechanized footsteps. From behind the debris emerged a colossal, beetle-like mech, its emerald carapace gleaming in the golden sunlight. The mech towered over them both, its standing height similar to a bus, its six articulated legs moving with a surprising grace for such an enormous machine.

"Our Scarab is here!" The Ologun turned to Jabari, voice tinged with pride. "That Kraken and its fiends won't live to see tomorrow."

The Scarab's rounded, beetle-like shell was adorned with intricate aureate patterns. Its "head" swiveled, locking onto the swarming Bone Fiends. Suddenly, twin barrels extended from the mech's face, humming, building energy. With a deafening roar, it unleashed a barrage of green superheated projectiles, reducing Bone Fiends to bubbling puddles of slush.

"By Anansi!" Jabari watched in awe as the Scarab moved. The mech pivoted, sweeping its verdant fire across the battlefield while its two frontal limbs rose, slashing at any Radi-Mon coming in melee range.

The Kraken attempted to retreat as the Scarab's shell began to shift. Plates of armor slid apart with hisses, revealing a massive cannon housed within its back. The weapon, pulsing with energy, charged up, targeting systems locking onto the fleeing Kraken.

With a blinding flash and a thunderous boom, a lance of blue energy erupted from the cannon. The beam struck the Kraken with pinpoint accuracy, engulfing the creature.

As the Kraken's dying shriek filled the air, Jabari felt a strange sensation wash over him - a moment of vertigo that had nothing to do with exhaustion. For just an instant, he saw:

A blonde woman with a blue blade, fighting in an unfamiliar city.
A thin man at a computer, data streams reflecting in his glasses.
A dragon banner burning.

Then it was gone, leaving only the acrid smell of burnt monster flesh and his own racing heartbeat.

"You alright, boy?" Sulayman asked.

"Yeah," Jabari lied, pushing the strange vision aside. "Just tired."

Charred fragments rained down, sizzling as they struck the pavement. The acrid smell of burnt flesh hung heavy in the air.

Jabari stood transfixed. "I've never... That was..." He struggled to find words as the massive Scarab turned toward him, its armor plates sliding back into position.

"Not every day does a civilian witness the Sun Moon Cannon, hey?" called a voice from within the mech, the words carrying a crisp, distinct British accent that stood out from the typical West African dialect.

The Scarab's leg joints hissed as it went into a stable position, towering over the marines gathering around it.

A section of the mech's belly slid open, revealing a cockpit. From it emerged a tall, fair-skinned man in a pilot's suit, his close-cropped blonde hair damp with sweat. He jumped down with confidence.

"Lieutenant Wilhelm van der Merwe," the Valoran man announced, landing on the debris-strewn ground. Jabari noted how this man's accent carried distinct South African tones, refined. His blue eyes surveyed around, then focused on Jabari. "Now who might you be, young man?"

Before Jabari could answer, Sulayman approached, his exosuit bearing the marks of combat.

"This civilian helped save Ebo when he was pinned," Sulayman said, gesturing toward the injured marine being attended to by his comrades. "Showed unusual courage."

Wilhelm's eyebrows rose. "Did he now?" He turned to Jabari with interest. "That's no small feat, lad. Those Bone Fiends would have made quick work of our man if you hadn't intervened."

Jabari straightened, finding his voice. "I couldn't just... I mean, I had to do something." He gestured toward the Scarab. "Your mech. It's incredible. You control that entire thing yourself?"

Wilhelm chuckled. "Indeed I do. Though the Scarab's just my occasional dance partner these days." He patted the mech's leg affectionately. "She's a beauty, eh?"

"I've never seen anything like it," Jabari admitted, then with sudden determination, added, "I want to learn. To pilot something like that, to make a difference."

Sulayman's expression hardened. "Life in the DSC isn't about fancy mechs and glory, boy. It's about discipline and duty." He looked Jabari up and down. "Shouldn't you be in school at this hour? Kinbu Senior High, judging by your location."

Jabari winced but held his ground. "That life is not for me," he said, meeting Sulayman's gaze. "I want purpose, sir. Something real. Something that would make my grandmother Kisi proud."

"Your grandmother?" Sulayman's tone softened.

Jabari's jaw tightened, the memory still raw despite the years. "She raised me after my parents disappeared. Two years ago, Radi-Mons attacked our village outside Kumasi. She locked me in a storage cellar to keep me safe." His voice dropped. "I heard everything. Couldn't do anything to help her."

"The Kumasi Incident. Fenris Horde. I read the reports." Sulayman's expression shifted, his tone measured now. "The Radi-Mons have been getting worse. Intel says attacks are up 300% worldwide since the Nordic Commonwealth fell. Something's stirring them up."

"Sir, I've spent two years in that classroom thinking about what happened. Every day I sit there is another day doing nothing." Jabari's hands clenched at his sides. "I promised Grandma Kisi I'd protect others. I can't do that from behind a desk."

"Sergeant Keita," Wilhelm interjected, studying Jabari, "I recall a certain brave man from Mali who joined up before finishing his formal schooling. Turned out rather well, if memory serves."

A muscle twitched in Sulayman's jaw. "Different circumstances, Lieutenant."

"Perhaps," Wilhelm smiled, turning to Jabari. "But I recognize that look in his eyes. Same one I had when I first saw an Anioma soar through the clouds." He addressed Jabari directly. "What's your name, lad?"

"Jabari. Jabari Adomako, sir."

Wilhelm nodded. "Well, Jabari, not every day a civilian jumps into the fray against Radi-Mons. Most run the opposite direction, and rightfully so."

Gathering his courage, Jabari pressed. "I want to join the Directorate Space Corps. To fight like you guys do." He glanced between the two officers. "I know it won't be easy, but I'd rather try. I need to make sure what happened to my grandmother doesn't happen to anyone else."

Sulayman crossed his arms, the exosuit whirring softly. "Boy, life in the DSC is full of hardships. You could die, or worse." His tone grew grave. "We're not just fighting to protect citizens. Our enemies are many. The Terra Alliance. The Imperium of Dragons. Terrorists who smuggle Helionite. And above all, the Radiation-Induced Monsters you've seen today. Radi-Mons."

"I know," Jabari insisted, stepping forward. "But I'd rather be out here making a difference than sitting in a classroom all day."

Wilhelm exchanged a look with Sulayman, then clapped a hand on Jabari's shoulder. "Got to admire the spirit, eh, Sergeant?"

After a moment of contemplation, Sulayman's stern expression softened slightly. "Fort Osu has a recruitment center. Walk with us, and we'll see if you have what it takes." He turned to Wilhelm. "Lieutenant, can you finish the cleanup here while I escort our volunteer?"

Wilhelm nodded casually. He turned to Jabari with a grin. "Good luck, Adomako. Perhaps we'll see each other again, should you make it through."

As Sulayman led him away, Jabari cast one last glance at the impressive Scarab and its charismatic pilot. A future beckoned: perhaps one where he could fulfill the promise he'd made in that dark cellar, listening to the sounds of his grandmother's sacrifice above.