================================== Part of SivCorp's Role-playing series The Kingdoms. ================================== Azreon and Neza are operatives of the Avali Exploration Fleet, tasked with exploring and marking stars and planets of interest outside of Avali controlled space to offer more knowledge to the Oracle back on Avalon. Prologue - New Star Pack It’s been over a year since Neza and I decided to enlist in the Exploration Fleet. We were naïve recruits then, thinking that our fame and fortune would come among the stars rather than back home on Avalon. We endured months of training simulations, physical exhaustion, and examinations with one goal in mind. Finally, on that day now long gone, we stood proudly as we received our insignia, the three-feathered symbol of the Avali. As official operatives, we were prepped for surgery soon after. Our bodies were enhanced with augmentations designed to keep us alive and comfortable in various environments, even those well above the cold temperatures of Avalon and different in atmosphere. Five months ago we were assigned our own starship and tasked with exploring various stars and planets, documenting them for the Oracle and Data Miners back on Avalon. A week later we finally took off. We had been expecting it, having seen it hundreds of times in the piloting sims. Still, there was nothing quite as breathtaking as seeing Avalon, our home for almost all our lifetime, falling away till we could see its entire surface. We were abandoning everything we had ever known, and as we engaged the FTL drive, we thought about our star Ria, and how many others like it and how many others vastly different from it we would jump to. Presently however, we were drifting aimlessly towards a nearby planet. We had been running low on supplies and were planning to jump back towards the direction of Avalon, to rendezvous with a Supply Freighter stationed for all Exploration Fleet teams in this sector. Trouble all started a few days ago when we jumped into this system. We were planning to tag some nearby planets of interest and head back to resupply when we picked up another FTL emanation besides our; another ship had jumped into the system. The Illuminate government back on Avalon wanted to establish better diplomatic relations with the other space faring races, and ordered all teams to establish communications with other vessels if possible to allow for better knowledge of Avali presence. We traced the jump location, and upon making visual contact of the other vessel, attempted to open a communication channel. They did not respond to our request, and we wondered if they had the capability to communicate, or even understood what we were trying to do. We had never personally seen any of the other intelligent races among the stars, though we had heard descriptions and stories of them from the higher ups. Given that some time had passed, we grew confused at the lack of any response, until they suddenly opened fire on us. Neza quickly reacted and jumped into the pilot’s seat, engaging in evasive maneuvers. Avali ships were designed with speed in mind, and with a capable pilot in the seat it was nearly impossible for them to land another shot on us. We had given them a single hit, but unfortunately it was a good hit. Alarms were blaring and warning messages flashed on holographic displays as the ship assessed its damage. The hull wasn’t breached but the FTL drive suffered a direct hit, and fuel reserves were currently leaking out into space. They were keen hunters apparently, trying to immobilize their prey, hoping to get us to surrender perhaps so they could strip our ship of any value. Our thrusters still had some functionality, and we were able to circle around them as I jumped into the weapons terminal and returned fire. Their ship was large and cumbersome to turn around, their flank offering a presenting target. Small explosions lit up across their hull as the rounds connected. Eventually they turned to face us and opened fire again with their forward guns. Neza treated the battle as though a dance, weaving elegantly through their firepower. At one perfect moment I had a direct line of sight to their bridge, and switched to the heavy railgun. One shot, and the other ship began to spin as the force of the projectile at sub-light speeds tore through the length of their ship. Their bridge immediately exploded and depressurized, a few bodies twisting and coming to rest as they were torn away into the empty expanse of vacuum. The ship fell silent, still spinning and drifting away from us as it grew smaller and smaller. How excited we were to make contact, how stupid of us to not think of the possibility of conflict rather than peace. We were caught off guard and now we paid the price for it. Our FTL drive and communications were damaged, meaning we had no way out of this system, and no way to contact anyone. Back on Avalon they would realize we were missing when the updates from us ceased to come, and would track us out to the last star system we reported on. That was two days ago, and we spent those two days well, jumping hundreds of light-years to various stars trying to cover as much ground as possible before resupplying. It was unlikely that a rescue team would locate us any time soon, and I estimated it to be another two or three days before anyone noticed we weren’t reporting back. We didn’t want to put any additional stress on the thrusters after that conflict, so we used them sparingly to point ourselves towards the closest habitable planet picked up by our scanners, and allowed the ship to drift. It took three days, during which we went through the last of our supplies and were down to emergency supplies which we carried for situations like this. We had enough food to last us a week, a PD-1 Frostbite heavy pistol, some spare survival gear, pillows for operative comfort, a spare Avali beacon tag to signal planets of interest, and some emergency lighting. However, we were now in orbit over the planet. The only things left to do were beam down and explore our new home until rescue came. Stats? What stats, we just got here!
DAY 1: We headed towards the west, leaving the rising sun behind us. It wasn't long before we came upon a sign of civilization, a well long overgrown. Given how frayed the rope was and how rotted the bucket and surrounding support, it looks to have been unused for a very long time. Still, it was a sign that someone inhabited this planet once, and hopefully, still do. After eating some breakfast and collecting some nearby crops that our scanners analyzed as edible, we continued onwards. The majority of the trip was rather uneventful save for some quick ventures into exposed caves to gather up some coal and other needed resources for survival. Eventually, we came upon what appeared to be a campsite beside a dug out hill. It was relatively small, composed of only two tents and a few chairs next to some storage crates. It was all maintained, and there was a fire cheerfully burning. A single human was seated before the campfire, roasting something at the end of a stick. We observed the camp for a few minutes more to make sure that he was indeed alone. We were still wary of making new contact given how we ended up here in the first place. Neza offered to stay hidden in the trees and provide overwatch with her bow. I stepped out of the foliage and stood upright, easily visible. I was tense, but the human offered no threatening gestures and continued his cooking. He looked surprised to see me but waved his hand at a nearby seat. He was smiling as I approached, and believing that he offered no ill-will, I chirped to Neza to come join us. He pointed to himself and simply said "I am Cecil" and nothing more. I responded with our own introductions and thanked him for his hospitality. He seemed surprised and quickly apologized if he seemed rude. He wasn't aware that the Avali would know English given how limited the contact between our species and the Terran Protectorate was. I explained that our mission was the explore nearby star systems to our own to find useful and strategic planets, as well as establish communications with other races if we encountered them to expand diplomatic relationships. As such, our neural jacks were uploaded with all currently known languages and information about the other races. He listened intently and asked if we had come to this planet because it offered something valuable to the Avali. I recounted to him the battle that occurred in space and how we eventually drifted here and beamed down to await rescue. We were running low on supplies and were hoping to establish a shelter until our distress beacon was located by the AEF. He nodded gravely and said that he wasn't very much aware of how to fix starship engines, but he has been living on this planet for the past 3 years and would be happy to offer any assistance he could. I thanked him and asked if he knew of somewhere that we could take shelter. He replied that he had many hidden locations dotted around the area for his own use that wouldn't be a good fit for more than one person, but if we wanted a more permanent shelter there was a small ruin over the hill to the west that we could use as a starting point. I thanked him once more and prepared to set off, though before leaving I asked him if there were any other people present on this planet. He looked distressed for a moment, then composed himself. He said that he had come to this planet as a programmer for a mining company that wanted to start resource extraction here. He pointed over to the dugout hill and continued talking. Apparently, the operation was going successfully for over four months until at one point they dug into a cave that contained a monster nest. Within a half-hour they had lost over 20 miners and the mineshaft was getting overrun. The company cut their losses, quickly packed up their assets above ground, and fled. He was out camping for fun when the incident occurred and was left behind. He explained that he had experience for camping from when he was younger and managed to survive off the land relatively well for over a year now. The mineshaft was still full of useful materials and ores that were dug up, though he never dared venture inside. The monsters would only come out at night time, but he was usually safely in one of his hidden camps for the night by then. He looked up at the sun overhead and said that we should probably get to work on that shelter if we wanted to be protected when it turned dark. I nodded at him, thanked him again for everything, and set off with Neza. We managed to find the ruin that Cecil told us about and set off to repairing it into a rudimentary shelter. It took us the rest of the day to set up a shelter, but we were protected by the time night came around. We set up some of the emergency lighting and put down the pillows to rest on. After discussing our plans for tomorrow, we decided to sleep off the rest of the night. DAY 2: The majority of our second day on this planet was uneventful. We spent the early morning foraging for nearby crops and exploring a nearby cave for additional materials, which we then used to work on expanding the shelter for the rest of the day with Cecil's help. We managed to establish a small farm with our collected crops and a small rain catcher as well to collect fresh water. While we now had a supply of food for the future, we still were running low on supplies right now. Neza, almost quivering with excitement, suggested that we go out on a hunt to stockpile some meat until our crops managed to grow. The taste of fresh meat was a luxury both of us had sorely missed, and I readily agreed, though we still had to find a suitable location to hunt in. Neza suggested that we clear out the mineshaft since Cecil said it was so infested anyways. There would be a large concentration of monsters so close to home to hunt from. Cecil tried to protest this idea, citing all the dangers associated with the mineshaft and how risky it was to go in without even knowing what was down there but gave up when he realized that he was trying to dissuade two armed predators essentially from doing what came naturally. I reassured him that the Avali's main sense was hearing and that even if we couldn't see the monsters down in the darkness, we would still know exactly where they were. He threw his hands up and said that he was going to go for a hike, and would see us tomorrow morning. DAY 3: We spent the early morning preparing for our hunt today, crafting salves to ease pain, sharpening our weapons, and sparring to get the adrenaline going. After eating a hearty meal of rations and some fresh crops we had collected the other day, we headed towards the campsite. We met with Cecil and exchanged hellos. He didn't bother trying to dissuade us from the hunt this time, and simply wished us luck and safety. Cecil wasn't wrong about the intensity of the monster infestation. We could easily hear the sounds of dozens of different monsters moving. There were wings flapping, the sounds of slithering, and the sound of claws clicking against rock. We had crafted some torches the day before to help light up the way. As soon as we sunk one into the soft earth walls, providing illumination into the tunnel ahead, we heard the coming towards us. Killing individuals wasn't a problem, but they were swarming us. At one point some bat-like creatures swooped down at us from above and one managed to drag its long tongue along the length of my arm. From the tingling sensation I received, I would guess their tounges had some sort of paralyzing agent, though my Guardian Nanites should be able to easily filter out the agents from my blood. As we ventured deeper into the mine, we could hear a lumbering sound growing louder. We proceeded carefully until we came upon what appeared to be a ledge overlooking an overgrown portion of the mine. Below was by far the biggest monster I had ever seen. Unfortunately, the monster also saw us. We saw many smaller monsters crowding around the big one and realized that his must be the monster nest we were warned about. The mother roared a terrible sound that echoed in the open cavern, and swung at the supports for the ledge we were on. The entire structure shook as I fought to regain my balance and avoid falling into the pit. She was readying another swing at the ledge supports, so we decided to jump down and engage the beast on our own terms before she managed to kill us in a collapse. It simply shrugged off the spear blows I was delivering as Neza peppered its back with arrows, but grew more and more enraged as we worked on killing her babies that were trying to attack us as well. There were a few close calls, including being knocked off my feet as the creature tried to slam its massive frame into us. Eventually, it seemed that the constant wounds the creature was suffering were having an effect. It slowed down more with each passing blow sustained, and its attacks grew weaker too. It finally collapsed, panting heavily and streaming with blood. Neza and I were both panting heavily as well, near to the point of complete physical exhaustion. We had managed to clear out the majority of the mine, and on our way back to the surface we collected all the ores and tools left behind, as well as meat from the dozens of carcasses that littered the mineshaft floors. It was well into the night by the time we emerged, exhausted and battered, but thrilled by the sensation of the hunt. Cecil was nowhere in sight, most likely hidden away in one of his holes to sleep till day. Wanting to do the same, Neza and I decided to beam back to our ship in orbit, and wearily crawled into the soft embrace of our hammocks. (Will edit Day 4 and Kindgom Status in today, just needed to write all this down for now)
This is a promising journal series: keep at it! Wish I could be with these two :/ You think maybe we could switch it up to multiplayer a little later in the story? I'd love to have my OC meet up with these guys, and it seems very likely they would based on their situations.
Haha, I'd love to, but I'm having a few mod troubles. Seems something wasn't too happy with Starbound updating to 1.1 and I've not had time to go through the mods one by one to figure out the trouble maker.
This is a really cool intro! I hope you can fix your mod conflicts, so that you can write more of the story The house you've started to build looks cute, half wood and half stones.
