Chapter 12 in my Endless fanfiction.



Ch 1 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16426-fan-fiction-the-duke

Ch 2 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16382-fan-fict-the-missionary

Ch 3 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16383-fan-fict-the-vain-god

Ch 4 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16386-fan-fict-the-chained-chancellor

Ch 5 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16396-fan-fict-the-silver-paladin

Ch 6 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16395-fan-fict-the-doubtful-clerk

Ch 7 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16394-fan-fict-the-mad-emperor

Ch 8 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16399-fan-fict-horatio

Ch 9 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16398-fan-fict-the-war-bird

Ch 10 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16400-fan-fict-the-ice-paladin

Ch 11 https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/38-creations/thread/16402-fan-fict-the-child-of-eaur





Writers Note: In the interest of saving space on this sub-forum, I have decided to write the climax of this story in three different parts, each part will contain several chapters and perspectives on the battle of Xenophros. The strategist board is in place, the pieces are set, and the battle is about to begin. Please enjoy part one in the battle of Xenophros, The Calm Before The Storm. Thanks for reading!



CHAPTER 12 THE PROFIT



The Profit



The yellow sun dipped below the horizon, vanishing while the blue sun hung low in the sky draping the world in its light. The damp air clung hot and still upon the world. Ziecheal breathed deep as he walked along the beach outside Legacy. This may be the last time the leader of the pilgrims could ever be alone with his thoughts. Soon he may be dead, destroyed along with his beloved people.



Six months had past since a forward fleet of Imperial ships breached the slip string node. It was a familiar tactic of the Empire to send a fleet to test the defences of their enemies before their full strength arrived. The Amoeba and Chidi Bedemidi’s fleets drove them from the solar system, but it won’t be long before the real invasion force arrives.



Ziecheal closed his eyes, conjuring up memories of the past. He sees his beloved wife’s face. Her creamy skin, her dark determined eyes, a kinetic rifle gripped tight in her hands.

“You must go Ziecheal. You are the hope of our people,” She had said.



“No. I won’t leave you behind. You are coming with us.”



“I must stay. Someone has to lead Rigel in resistance against the Empire. I can buy you some time.”



Lrhan Amirmoez steps forward beside Ziecheal. They stand among the ashes of a jungle, broken trees scattered around them, blackened and charred. In the distance a city burns. “We must go, Ziecheal. Ubantri has just reported another fleet entered the system. She cannot hold them for long.”



“Go with Lrhan, Ziecheal,” pleaded his wife “I will find our son and make the Empire pay dearly for this world. Take heart, they cannot kill me, not truly. I will see you again, when all is Dust.”



The memory faded. How did it all come to this? Since the beginning there had been war and destruction. Earth, their ancestral home was consumed by it. They fled in a great exodus. Hundreds of colony ships flew blindly through space, looking for a new world. What became of them is unknown. Only one survived. Ancient reports say that the ship slipped through a black hole which lead to a new galaxy. The year they emerged is known as the year of deliverance. 3000 years After Deliverance the earthlings continue to destroy themselves in war, and for what? According to what the Pilgrims know of the other races, their histories are just as bloody and violent. What purpose could all this war serve?



The ground began to rumble. Ziecheal’s gaze followed the source of the seismic activity out onto the ocean. A great splash of water gave way to a great ship cutting out of the sea. An amoebas warship. Their vessels were unlike anything he could have ever thought to exist. They were partly organic, living feelers of the great mind fused with adamantian armour. This ship glowed with a warm blue, yet once it entered combat it would pulse with a menacing red hue signalling its drive for death upon its enemies. His eyes followed the ship as it cut through the water and raced up through the atmosphere, bringing forth a sonic boom like thunder as it sliced out into space.



Far beyond was the moon, not yet visible over the blue light that washed over the planet. There was the Sophon armada, guarding their prize. It has since been revealed that the moon surveys provided by Lrhanmha Amirmoez had been forgeries. The Sophons refused to answer their communications and have threatened to fire upon any vessel that came too close to their moon. Ziecheal’s mouth tightened and his hands clenched into fists. So much for their alliance.

In the distance dark clouds had gathered, black and ominous.



He closed his eyes once more with a sigh, remembering his wife.

“Serena…. I will be with you soon.”

CHAPTER 13 THE COUNCILLOR



The Sophon sat atop his high seat, looking down among the clerks, admirals and captains that filled the mediation chamber within his flagship, The Logical Conclusion. Idaalie Laharaat’s raised seat gave him a vantage point over his petitioners. Behind the councillor great viewports flanked his seat, giving a breathtaking view of dozens of battleships hovering in formation to the backdrop of the barren surface of the moon. So many intelligent beings. Beings that realized that logic and reason were of the highest priority. Let the other races call them cold and mean. Surely from their viewpoint down in the muck, what the Sophons achieved and how they achieved it would seem as such, but how could emotional beings possibly see the bigger picture.



The cravers consume, while the terrans destroy each other, and the hissho remain technologically stunted, as the amoebas insist everyone love one another. It is up to the intelligent race to save them from themselves, to cast their empires down to ashes and raise them up, teaching them to let logic and reason rule their emotions. With their enemies in check they can finally build a pan-galactic society, bringing truth and reason to every corner of the galaxy. It is here where it will all begin, here in Xenophros, or as the ancient Endless had called it, Kyros.



A clerk approached his high seat, breaking Idaalie from his thoughts.

“Councillor Idaalie you have one more petitioner. Presenting to you Commander Aliroe Zeekros. Acting first officer to The Enlightened Truth.”



Idaalie waved the officer forward.

Zeekros stepped forward. His enviro-suit gleamed a polished white. “Hummmm… Logical Councillor Laharaat, thank you for hearing my petition.”



“Commander Zeekros, You have served the Council well. It is thanks to you and your sophons that a great victory stands before us. Please, do not delay. What would you have of me?”



“Hummm… It is thanks to Clerk Amirmoez that we face certain victory, yet I fear she has paid the highest price…”



“Yes, yes. Rest assured Commander that the Council is doing all it can to find Lrhanamha Amirmoez and return her safely to the fleet. Know that her death is yet to be confirmed and before such a time, worry is trivial.”



“Yes Councillor, of course. My worry is not concerned with Amirmoez so much as the pilgrims.”



“Ahhh yes. Again, your worries are unfounded. We have superior numbers, and besides, the tattooed terrans will not dare attack when their own empire is so close to the system.”



“Hummm… you misunderstand me, Councillor. I feel…”



“You feel?”



“I think it would be logical to reopen diplomatic channels with the Pilgrim Nation. Given the situation with Amirmoez it may be prudent to call on them for aid in her rescue, and change our goals in this system to include, hummmm…. A joint operation?”



Whispering and chatter broke out throughout the room. “A joint operation? Need I remind you, commander, of the reason that we are here? Or of the nature of those you would call our allies?”

“The pilgrim people are different, Councillor. I have lived among them, I know…”



“You know little. Indeed, I fear the time you have spent among them has clouded your judgement and invited emotions to rule your mind, Commander. I will hear no more of this. Return to your ship and know that the only reason you will not face disciplinary action is because of the service you and your crew have performed.”



But Zeekros was not yet swayed. “Why lead the Pilgrims here, aid them then only abandon them when enemies arrive to kill?”



As the rank of commander, Zeerkros was not privileged to certain information. He did not know that upon recognisance of this world a probe was found, a terran device with the only marking; Horatio Corporation. An Imperial company. What better way to recruit defenders than to make them believe this would be their new home. The two sides will destroy each other, leaving the Sophon armada to restore what is theirs. “Terran history is clear, Commander. They lust for power, and will not stop until they dominate the entire galaxy. If the pilgrims win, how long do you think it will be before they trade a velvet glove for an iron fist? We stop this cycle here, and now. It is for their own good and the good of the galaxy. You are dismissed.”



With the councillors final word, Zeekros was led out of the chamber, leaving the top echelons of officers to discuss strategy. Idaalie had to admit the progress of the Pilgrims was astonishing. In this short time they had managed to build several great cities, restored the ruins to working order, and had begun production of warships to defend the system. On top of that they have discovered Amoeba living on the planet, something the Sophon had been entirely unaware of, and forged an alliance with them. However, for all their progress they failed to uncover the greatest discovery of all… Xenophros was a hollow planet.



With the pre-schism keys they received from the Pilgrims, they managed to unlock a teleportation device on the moon’s temple. All research points toward a powerful weapon hidden on the other side. A great machine that turns its target to dust. With this tool, Idaalie can finally cast down his enemies and begin the enlightened path. However something happened that Idaalie did not intend.



An advanced machine race was found dormant within the hollow planet. The Sowers from Endless history. Their artificial intelligence is the most advanced ever encountered. In order to find the weapon, he ordered Amirmoez to activate a single machine and learn what she could from it. Lrhan protested the order, but in the end she followed through. Idaalie should have listened to her. More time was needed to study them, but time is a commodity that they do not have. An Imperial fleet had arrived and their timetable had to be pushed ahead. Only too late it was discovered that the Sowers have a neural link between them all, activating one, activated them all, millions of them. Amirmoez dropped out of contact and the Sowers are assumed to be hostile.

What was needed was a show of force in the Hollow. A fleet with an army to neutralize the Sowers and find Amirmoez. The moons teleport only allows transport of small groups of sophons at a time… They need to find a way to power up its frequency so ships can pass through.



After minutes of arguing from his officers, one voice began to rise above the others. A captain who had studied the moon temple extensively.

“We need an Influent. A dust wielder to destabilize the frequency of the teleport and increase the range.” said the captain.



“An Influent?” Questioned an admiral, “where do you suppose we will find one. All Influents were sacrificed in our victory against the craver hives.”



The officers began to argue once more. “Silence!” called the councillor as he rose from his seat. He stepped from his chair and stood before one of the great viewports, looking out on his fleet.

“I fear we were hasty with our good Commander Zeekros… Perhaps the Pilgrims could still yet be of use to us.”

CHAPTER 14 CHIDI BADEMDI





The tracks circled around the great tree and disappeared into the thick underbrush. They were fresh, heavily imprinted on the soft mud. This Xenoboar must be very large indeed.

With his great knife, Chidi cut away the bush to reveal more of the tracks. Somewhere far above him explosions could be heard, he looked up but the sky was blocked by the thick trees. He was suppose to be somewhere, but he couldn’t remember where exactly.



A branch snapped somewhere ahead. Stealthily, Chidi followed the sound, trading his knife for his kinetic rifle.

The source of the sounds and the tracks were one in the same. He was led to the trunk of a great tree, the largest he had ever seen. At the base of a trunk a great opening rose as tall as himself. From out behind the tree a boar appeared. A huge beast whose height rose up to Chidi’s chest. Its two eyes pale and blind, but for its third eye that seemed to shine from its forehead.

Its eye found Chidi, he raised his rifle, but something stayed his trigger finger.



“Ahh… greetings terran.” said the boar.



Chidi’s jaw dropped. The boar could speak. Yet its voice did not pass through its mouth, rather it seemed to come from within its mind, and planted into Chidi’s.

“You… talk?!” Said Chidi, unable to conceal his amazement.



“Talk? Heavens no,” said the boar, “but I do speak.”



Chidi looked around suspiciously. The jungle was vibrant and alive, the greens seemed greener, the colourful flowers and plants vibrant. “What is this place?”



“Do you not know? Hmmmm?”



“The jungles of Xenophros. But it seems…. Different.”



“Xenophros, yes. In a sense.” The boar trotted out from behind the tree, directly in front of Chidi, his eye shining brilliantly. It seemed almost human, yet the iris shone with an ever changing colour.



“Your eye…?”



“Yes, you have one too, you know. Though you have forgotten how to use it.”

Chidi slung his rifle and raised his hand to his forehead, feeling nothing but skin. The boar laughed, “Indeed you have forgotten.”



“Why am I here?” Asked Chidi.



“I have brought you here to give you a warning. You will bring victory and glory to your people, but it will turn sour. What was sweet will become death and misery. Be aware, salvation can be yours, you need only choose.”



“Choose?”



“Follow me into my lair. Drop your weapons and come with me and see the wonders I have to show you.”

The tree seemed dark, the gaping mouth in its trunk was a snarl. “I’m not going in there.”



“Relinquish your fear.”



“You said I had a choice.”



“Yes. Do what you set out here to do. Kill me and eat from my flesh.”



For what seemed like hours Chidi stood, painfully aware of the rifle he had slung across his back. The dark hole in the tree was anything but inviting. Blackness, unknown… what could only be described as his death awaited him within that tree, and he would not have it. He reached for his rifle. The boar let loose a terrible squeal and charged for him. Chidi held up his knife and sidestepped the beast before its tusks could connect, slicing open its throat. The monster fell to the ground, dying. Chidi cut open its body and tossed away the knife. His fingers ripped apart its flesh and brought the meat to his mouth. Never had anything ever tasted so good, the blood ran down his chin as his teeth tore at the flesh. He began to laugh quietly. His laughter soon grew uncontrollable and manic. He began to choke on the meat, The eye of the boar looking on with sadness.



Chidi woke with a start. The jungle gave way to his cabin within The Rigel’s Revenge. He wiped the sweat from his face and threw on his uniform, within a few minutes the memory of the dream faded and he walked to his CIC.



Vice Admiral Shogus was waiting for him. “Admiral, I am pleased to report that the 00RT Satellites are complete. I am transferring the feed to the holo now, sir.”

The Tactical holo whirred to life. Signals began to transmit to the hollow from the slip string. An armada of Imperial and Hissho fleets were bearing toward the system.



It seemed it was his turn to become the prey.

nuff said Thanks for saving this sector!

LMAO!

...nice.

Great Writing btw ^__^

Well done, well done, i wish there would be more Games with such a great FanFic!