FAN FICT: Azure

saracen16

Newcomer

12 years ago

Nov 21, 2012, 6:43:31 PM

After the feedback I got from Meteor, my first Endless Space short story, I decided to write another one, also continuing in the same vein, the story of a Craver invasion and the various civilizations who have come across it... while at the same time trying to portray the beauty of a universe that beckons all of creation towards it. Like the previous entry, I will publish this in parts... Here's part one.

Crushed grass releases its crisp aroma from Arkab’s sandals as he hacks away the thick underbrush before him, pausing to look up as insects scurry from his feet. Leaves descend, gliding on the rays of the system’s blue dwarf that pierce the canopy overhead as native birds soar in a symphony of color and song. Drops of water from last night’s torrential rain trickle through tortuous vines snaking towards the jungle floor, plummeting from roofing palm branches to Arkab’s sweat-drenched forehead. Lizards and felines clamber up the barks of mammoth trees. He heaves a sigh as he treks towards a crashing, roaring sound emanating about 10 meters in front of him. He climbs the slope as the trees and underbrush give way to a vast expanse.

Highland jungle and fetid swampland interlace through rolling hills and mountains, rivers and waterfalls seeping through the valleys of Typhon Secundus. Thick stratus hovers over the lowlands. The roaring sound of a nearby cascade nearly deafens Arkab as it crashes into rocks and foamy rapids downstream, plunging to a 100 meter drop. Flourescent amphibians hop and leap across the bank as antelopes pace towards it to quench their thirst, seeking a break from the chokingly humid air of the lush and tropical jungle climate.

Arkab kneels towards the rushing waters, cupping his hands and smothering his face to wipe off the sweat, dirt, and mud that found solace on his forehead, nose, and cheeks, and beard. He rises, looks towards the landscape. He spots the towers and domes of the Citadel, perched atop a cliff face to the east. A flock of birds flutters from the treetops. He swipes the sweat off his forehead and, with his blue tattooed hands, pulls out his camera.

Praise Allah, Arkab thinks, for creating a universe boundless in its vast, natural beauty yet shrouded in its challenges and dangers. As part of a Muslim expedition to Typhon Secundus, the second planet orbiting Typhon, this is his second foray into the stars beyond Earth, having been to Sheratan III years ago, years before its recent demise to a horde of unstoppable all-devouring aliens. His troupe had joined the Pilgrims since then, self-proclaimed exiles of the lecherous United Empire and devout followers of a religion centered on a precursor society known only as the Endless. The United Empire be damned for their fanatical worship of their power-hungry and unscrupulous Emperor Zelevas.

Unlike most of his brethren, however, he retained his Muslim faith at the time of the joining: “Those who walk amongst the stars,” he was quoted saying by his now ex-wife, “are nothing compared to He who exists on the Heavens and the Earth.” The universe, it was argued, is limitless in its bounty, and those who have extended beyond their homeworlds and conquered the stars are themselves deities who have attained a singularity that all civilizations strive for. Not so, Arkab remembers, for God has Himself created which we know and that which we do not know.

God has created this planet to tell us exactly that.

Just then, the roaring sound grew louder. Only it was now coming from behind him.

Arkab turns around, looks up as a shadow falls over him. A ship, a Sophon ship to be exact, a Deka-class corvette to be specific, slowly drifts over the jungle canopy, heading east towards the Citadel landing port. One scout pod detaches – no, falls – from the corvette towards Arkab’s position, parachuting towards his side of the river bank. Arkab stares at the pod.

The pod opens, revealing a tall Sophon. His features are truly alien, Arkab thinks as he studies the Sophon’s large head, equally large eyes, and the small beak he had for a mouth. A blue liquid seeps from his chestplate, his right four-fingered hand clutching at it. He stumbles towards Arkab.

“H-h-help usss…” the alien whispers, collapsing into Arkab’s outstretched arms as the Corvette lands in the distance. “The C-cravers… are c-coming”

Tredecim

Newcomer

Tredecim

Newcomer

200g2g pts

12 years ago

Nov 22, 2012, 8:10:29 AM

Great! Poor Sophon!

deadmeat1471

Newcomer

deadmeat1471

Newcomer

12 years ago

Nov 25, 2012, 8:54:09 AM

Nice! would read more definitely. I like your descriptive writing style!

I don't usually read fanfic, but somehow ES seems to be a wierd kind of 'fan interactive' game that is improved by stuff like this!

jpwang99

Old Man

-- Jpwang

jpwang99

Old Man

15 200g2g pts

12 years ago

Nov 29, 2012, 1:55:27 AM

YESSSSS I've been waiting for this!!! ^____^ keep it up!

saracen16

Newcomer

saracen16

Newcomer

12 years ago

Nov 30, 2012, 4:02:12 AM

As promised, ladies and gents, the second part, which reintroduces a character from my previous fanfic, Meteor:

Arkab takes off his shirt, bandages the Sophon’s wound. He walks him to his speeder, parked twenty meters behind him in the camouflage of the jungle’s understory. His new friend clambers onto the rear seat as Arkab buckles him, takes the front seat, dons his helmet, and revs up the speeder, dashing towards the Citadel through the arduous jungle paths, over the valley’s tributaries, past the crevasse into the cliff hosting the Citadel.

At the Citadel main gate, Arkab flashes his ID badge as the guard nods and retracts the iron gate. He parks his speeder as a throng of Pilgrims gather around him. He beckons a medic to take the Sophon as he removes his helmet. One of the Pilgrims, his brother Azzam, steps forward.

“Were there any others?” Azzam asks his haggard brother.

“No,” Arkab shakes his head. “What of the ship that just landed?”

“Three Sophons were on board. One was already dead. The other two are fine.”

“And the ship?”

“Barely damaged. Thank the Endless for small fav–“

“Spare me the ‘Endless’ garbage, Azzam.” Pause. “Can this ship fly us all?”

Azzam looks back at the ship, and the squirming faces of the throng. “In two flights it could take us to the spaceport on Typhon Primaris. They have the coordinates of a nearby wormhole which should be able to take us to the center of Pilgrim space.”

“And how long will that take?”

Azzam shrugs. “18 hours.”

“Will that be enough?”

A Sophon walks out of the infirmary as the crowd turns around to him, or her. “Not for all of us,” she says. “The Craver fleet that was in pursuit is only 14 hours out. Given their advanced technology, they may even make it here in half the time.”

“Do the Cravers know of the wormhole?” Azzam asks.

The Sophon’s bulbous eyes widen. “I… don’t know, but we have brought sensor disruptor equipment that can emit decoy signals. We could direct them to any of the nearby star systems.”

“Too risky,” Arkab interjects. “Some of these systems are already inhabited. Are you suggesting we bait them?”

“We either evacuate and have them pick up the scent of the rest of Pilgrim space, or we diverge them away to the nearby inhabited colonies and leave the rest of Pilgrim space intact.”

“What’s your name?” Azzam asks.

“Zabina,” she says. “I was on Sheratan III when I got word that the Cravers were in the system. I departed as soon as I heard from… my sister… on Sheratan IV… I escaped just in time, but… she… my son… my husband…” She collapses on the floor, sobbing.

A Pilgrim picks her up, embraces her. “I’m sorry,” Azzam says, then turns to his brother. “So?”

“We will evacuate our personnel to the nearby star systems.”

“The Cravers are relentless,” Zabina finds her voice. “They will never cease hostilities because their directive is belligerence ad infinitum. Even if we divert them,” she raises a finger, “they will still make it to Pilgrim space.”

Arkab shuts his eyes, his mind drifts over a terrain of rolling hills, blackened with soot, littered with bones and debris, the strong smell of sulfur, the acrid odor of the Hive Fleet landing to pick up its morsels, the hulking insectoid monstrosities lumbering over the bodies of humans and sophons alike, salivating mouthparts and appendages tearing and consuming whatever flesh remains, a hulk of a city reduced to ash and dust in the distance, the green of Earth laid waste to embers, the oceans devoid of life and water.

Looking at the throng, Arkab calls, “We have escaped the United Empire’s evil only to find that evil has taken another form in the stars, one that is more unrelenting than our lost Terran brothers and sisters. The Cravers are an affront to galactic civilization, a monument to the sins of a past society.” He looks around. “If we do not purge this monument, are we not guilty of committing the sin of genocide? Are we guilty of allowing this unholy mission to continue?”

A young Pilgrim interrupts, “They are creations of the Endless! They have come to pass judgement on the United Empire and their ilk! We are not worthy to be in their presence!”

Arkab glares, “Then why do they seek to punish our Sophon brothers and sisters?! Did they,” pointing at Zabina, “not show you the ways of the Endless? No, brothers, these are not the scourge of the Endless. They are the Ya’juj and Ma’juj of old, seeking to sow mischief and destruction in their wake. To submit to them would be to absolve the Endless of their sins.”

“How dare you address the Endless so familiarly?!” Arkab’s ex-wife retorts. “Do you not realize the greater folly of your blasphemy? Such poisonous words you spew! I have no husband!”

“And I no wife!" Arkab spat. "I only recognize the lesser folly of anger. There was a time when you would have understood, Maliha, that saving the life of one man is akin to saving the life of all men.”

“There is no logic,” Zabina adds, anger seething in her voice, “in deifying the Cravers as the harbingers of a dead society’s collective will. Why worship that which consigns you to the footnotes of history, assuming we will have historians to register your complacency with your own destruction once the smoke clears and the dust settles?”

Azzam rubs his temples. “They have favored our path into the heavens with their technology paving the way for us to the stars. We owe them that much.”

“And just who created the stars in the first place?” Arkab clenches his fists. “Who gave the Endless the knowledge to ascend from the primordial muck they grew out of?”

Zabina grabs Arkab’s arm. “There is little benefit in debating this matter now, human. We have a decision to make. Do we take our leave from this world and head to the nearby systems? Do we run to the wormhole into Pilgrim Space?”

A smile flits across Arkab’s face. “We fight, or we die!”

Tredecim

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Tredecim

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200g2g pts

12 years ago

Nov 30, 2012, 11:31:24 AM

Great, your writing is outstanding!

saracen16

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saracen16

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