Chapter 2 in Endless Space Fan Fiction, please read Chptr 1: The Duke https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16426-fan-fiction-the-duke



The Missionary

Part 1



Therna slid out of bed, the soft linen bed sheets wrapped lazily around her body as she stared through the port window of the cabin, scanning the ships floating serenely in formation. From the bed Gero admired her naked shoulder as it peeked through the folds of the blanket. She had aged beautifully while Gero was in cryo sleep. Her hair shone with silver, matching the luminous Endless glyph tattoos that marked her body, her eyes still kept their vibrant blue flecked with gold. though he detected sadness in them.



Since waking from his cryo chamber six hours ago, he has spent every moment with Therna, lost in each other’s arms. Only now, both of them exhausted, do the countless questions of the events of the past ten years beckon to Gero’s mind.

“I can’t believe it’s been ten years,” he said awkwardly, looking for a way to approach one of his many questions. Therna only continued watching the beauty of the ships, their undertow humming with a magnificent blue of their Sophos designed drive cores.



Gero sighed as he smoothed his damp salt speckled auburn hair back from his face. “What news of Rigel?”



“Lost,” Therna said finally, not breaking her trance from the port hole.



The Errant Fleet left 1.2 million souls back on the Rigel star system, tasked with the grave mission of waging a guerrilla war against Imperial forces with the hope of buying time for the Errant Fleet to settle a new world. Gero had no illusions of the fate that awaited the Rigel remnants, but he had hoped for another ten years of keeping the Empire busy.



“What do you mean lost?” Gero hated when Therna was so cryptic.



Therna turned her head toward Gero, lying naked on the bed. “All will be revealed at Ziecheal’s council.”



Gero rose from the bed, slipping on underclothes from a compartment in the cabin wall. “Everything that old man promised has gone awry.”



“Ziecheal promised nothing”

One hundred years ago Ziecheal led his colony in rebellion from the United Empire, denouncing their god of commerce and rejecting their vain, commercial way of life. Emperor Maximillion Zelevas did not take kindly to Ziecheal’s sedition and has led an aggressive war for his extermination ever since. Though Therna had great confidence in Ziecheal’s ability to lead, Gero was not so certain.



“He promised the Endless,” countered Gero



“Have faith, Gero,” said Therna, finally turning from the window “Our war is not lost, not yet.” Her beautiful blue eyes gleamed of determination, and a secret.



Gero couldn’t help but smile. “You have something up your sleeve.”



Therna smiled and let the blanket fall to the floor. “Sleeve? I see no sleeves.”



Gero stepped toward her. “It’s another six hours before the counsel,” Gero reached for her waist but she slipped away playfully into the cabin washroom. He watched her step into the shower. “I suppose we must prepare for the summit,” he said and joined her in the shower.

Part 2



Hours later, the leaders of the Errant Fleet convened in Ziecheal’s briefing chamber. Ziecheal is a large man with dark skin and black hair tied back into dreadlocks. White glyph tattoos stretch up from his neck to the side of his grim face. He sits at the head of a large table, around him are scientists, engineers and military leaders, the best minds in the fleet, a dozen in all. To Ziecheal’s left sits Chidi Bademdi, admiral of Ziecheal’s military arm of the fleet. His ability to keep cool under pressure after countless battles with Imperial fleets earned him the nickname Iceberg. To the right of Ziecheal sits Lrhanmha Amirmoez, a Sophon scientist, tall beside Ziecheal, making him appear small by comparison. Gero takes his seat beside Therna at the far end of the table.



“Welcome, brothers and sisters,” begins Ziecheal in his deep, resolute voice. “Ten years ago we set out from Rigel, ahead of the Imperial invaders. Finally we have arrived at our destination…”



“Which is where?” Interrupted Gero.



“The star system of Xenophros,” replied Ziecheal as he types commands in his chair side console. A holo at the center of the table whirrs to life. A projection of a planet lit up. A green planet with a great ocean separating two large continents. “A jungle planet , out of the reach of the Empire. Given the events of our exodus from Rigel, I know you will all forgive the secrecy,” Ziecheal turns toward Lrhanmha and nods.

Lrhanmha’s purple eyes visible through a visor of her green helmet, regarded the room warmly. “My friends,” she says. “Welcome to Xenophros, Sophon’s gift to you. Her long slender fingers type rapidly into her console, the holo zoomes out from the planet to the surrounding constellations, revealing the location of Xenophros in relation to Rigel, the former Pilgrim capital system on the border of United Empire space, Xenophros is on the other side of the galaxy. An overwhelming feeling of loss creeps through Geros. So far from home.



“Why bring us here, brother Ziecheal, to the fringe of the galaxy?” Asks Gero.



Ziecheal does not answer. Instead Lrhan types commands zooming the holo back on Xenphros, past its yellow and blue suns, through its rich carbon atmosphere, skimming along its diverse jungles to reveal a dark ruined city on the planets surface, choked by the jungle foliage. “This brothers and sisters,” said the Sophon, “is an Endless ruin.”



There was a collective gasp of excitement from the table, except for Iceberg, who showed no emotion. The room is abuzz with simultaneous conversations of the possibilities of such a find. To Gero, it seems to good to be true. “Are we to believe that the Sophons are giving us this planet for the charity of the Esthetes, Sister Lrhan?” Asks Gero after the chatter softened.



Ziecheal and Lrhanmha exchange looks. It is Ziecheal that speaks this time. “I have given the Sophon Council the endless pre-schism artifacts.”



The excitement in the room transforms into disbelief and doubt from all but Iceberg, who continues to show no emotion. Even Therna speaks her dismay. Ziecheal let them all voice there shock and even anger until finally he raises both hands above his head and his voice booms over them all. “I am sorry my brothers and sisters, let us keep these artifacts. We shall gather them all, encase them in glass and display them to the masses as a monument to the glory of the Pilgrims. Perhaps we can sell tickets.” For years the artifacts had sat under heavy guard, neglected as all their secrets had long since been yielded to Pilgrim researchers. All agreed that there was no more to learn from them, but still the thought of losing the ancient tablets weighs heavy on them all. “If any of you still cling to such petty urges of vanity, then I dare say you made a mistake leaving the Empire.” His point is well received and shame silences the room.



The rest of the counsel was concerned with the events of the past ten years, while 12 million Pilgrims slept in cryo and Admiral Therna Ubantri led a fleet to harass the UE, hitting military targets and jumping from system to system, managing to stay ahead of UE police forces and Ministry of Security with the help of a dubious informant high up in the UE hierarchy. Hours were spent debating whether this agent could be trusted. Therna’s insurances seemed to be enough for Ziecheal, not to mention the informants latest cache of schematics for a dreadnought battleship.



Finally Ziecheal ordered Gero to command a frontier mission twelve kilometers from the deserted city of the Endless. He would land a Missionary Vessel, clearing away a vast jungle and begin a survey for valuable resources and pave the way for the Errant Fleet to commence the colonization of Xenphros. As the youngest member of the counsel, Gero always gets the worst jobs.



“I hereby name you Missionary of the Errant Fleet,” decreed Ziecheal at the close of the summit, “and charge you with sacred trust of ensuring the faith on Xenophros.”



“May the spirits of the Endless grant you strength,” said Admiral Bademdi, cold as ice.



“May they grant you wisdom,” added Lhranmha Amirmoez.



“And may they grant you the Serenity to find Them,” concluded Ziecheal.



With that Gero began preparing his ship, overseeing inspections and drills, loading, and repairs. Therna wished him luck with a kiss goodbye, Admiral Bademdi told him to keep his guard up and Lrhan bored him with Sophon proverbs about diligence or some such nonsense.



Twenty-four hours after the summit a Missionary class vessel departs from the Errant Fleet and enters low orbit over Xenophros, their new home. His ship hovers over the banks of a vast ocean, surveying the land below. Gero was ordering the release of their probe units when lights and alarms on the bridge of his ship went haywire.



“Incoming bogies! Counting five, closing fast!” Screams a pimpled youth at the survey terminal.

Gero had time to blink in disbelief as the bogies impacted the hull of the ship. The shock throws Gero from his command console to the lower level of the bridge.



“Report!” he yells as he rises to his feet.



“Fires on decks 5 through 12, engines unresponsive, we‘re falling fast. Captain” someone says.



“Hull breach on decks 10 and 11, heavy casualties!” Cries another.

Gero runs to his command console and sends a distress call to the Errant Fleet then orders the evacuation. He carries the pimply youth to the evac site, knocked unconscious from the impact. Letting the medical officer care for him in an escape pod and presses the release switch himself, watching as the pod bursts out to the crimson sky outside.



After ensuring that the entire bridge crew was safely away, Gero climbed into his personal pod, and strapped himself in. He was about to hit the release when the Missionary crashed into the ocean. His teeth rattled, the walls of his pod groaned in distress. Geros thanked the Endless that he was strapped in when the ship hit the water.



Geros entered commands on his console and closed his eyes to brace for launch from his dying ship. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes, and typed the commands again to the same result. Outside his pod the ocean had risen above him. Deep blue water stretched out infinitely into blackness.



In the abyss a light appeared, growing brighter as it grew larger, coming closer. Within seconds the light grew into a creature, shapeless, emitting a strange light. Beautiful yet terrifying. The creature pressed itself against the view port of his pod, the bright white light filling the pod as Gero stared in helpless awe. A crack emerged across the port. Water began to trickle into the pod, pooling on the floor around his feet.

A strange thought snuck into Gero head and he laughed. “I was going to pick some flowers for Therna.”



The port shattered, the cold water hit Gero like a wall. Something wrapped around his leg and pulled him through, somehow freeing him from his straps. Down, and down the thing pulled him, now emitting a menacing red light. The deep abyss weighed heavy on Gero, pressing him from all sides. He could feel his head splitting from the pressure. He wanted to scream. He opened his mouth and swallowed water. He tried to cough, but only swallowed more of the cold, cold water. He was drowning,



Darkness took him. In the end he felt warm and was enveloped by a soothing blue light.



Death isn’t so bad, he thought.

Another interesting story. ^^ Although, I have one question...If the Pilgrims rebelled one-hundred years ago, how are figures like the Emperor and Ziecheal still alive? Do humans simply have vastly greater lifespans in your world?

Yes, due to advaned technology some humans can live for up to two hundred years, that is when enhanced with dust to keep their minds sharp. Those that dont have access to dust must rely on regular treatment and some can be lucky enough to reach 150.

Alrighty then. I was simply curious if that was something you thought out.



Either way, still a very interesting story. Good work!

thank you very much. I love games like this, the possibilites are almost endless and any question can literally be explained with 'technology n stuff' lol

The next chapter...

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