3.5 Light Years from Earth - 2197 - Vega
Sometimes I wonder what might have happened if we hadn’t discovered what we had 2000 years ago. It was a strange discovery, one none of the workers really understood. It never helped that soon after the discovery, the drones swept it under the rug for another 1000 years. Once they had finally been told what it truly was, it was already too late. The drones had been paying the engineers and mechanics to design both highly advanced tools, and world ending weapons.
It was called Resygnium. A metal stronger than high density steel, and more conductive than copper. Its fascinating temperature regulation abilities allowed for insulated armor and high voltage weapons. Houses stood strong against earthquakes, storms, and even meteors. Land vehicles could reach speeds of 30,000 mph, and airships twice as fast. The vehicles could manage these speeds all while remaining completely stable inside. You could put a level on the dashboard of a hover car and the bubble wouldn’t move, no matter how rough the terrain. But even with the advancements that we had made, we still couldn’t combat our home planet’s destruction.
Due to the intense radiation produced by the high amounts of uranium used for energy, the core of our planet began to react and overheat, leading to the planet’s ultimate destruction. Our last ditch effort was to create over a hundred vessels to allow the escape of our race into the open sky. Only 23 vessels made it out of the atmosphere before the core’s combustion. A funeral was held, honoring the 6.5 billion who were lost in our escape. Now only 1.5 billion remain. It’s been 150 years since the rupture. Our queen has been struck with grief and is neglecting her duties. With the consistent rise in our population, we can no longer afford the lack of space and resources.
I woke up in my pod next to my love-ling, who’s been with me since we left our solar system. It’s been nearly 200 years since we met, and we’ve both ranked twice since our arrival into the open sky. The black void surrounding us brings no comfort or consolation, so we can only rely on each other.
“Vega… VEGA!”
“Huh? Yeah, what? What do you want?” I exclaimed, lost in my imagination.
“We need more Resygnium, The inner temperature keeps dropping.”
He was an engineer, it was rather common for them to interrupt me with trivial matters. It would be nice if they would leave me alone from time to time so I could focus better, but they never do. This time was no exception.
“Fine, send some workers to go fetch some, I’m busy.” I said impatiently.
“Yes sir, I’ll have them sent as soon as possible.” Said the Engineer
“good…ugh, they always trouble me with such trivial matters. Can’t anybody do anything for themselves?” I said, annoyed with the constant interruptions.
I’ve been working with the other engineers to create a spacecraft capable of reaching other planets to better understand our surroundings. Each spacecraft must be capable of holding 10 workers, 5 mechanics, 5 engineers, 2 Watchers, and 3 Overseers. With these advancements, they must also be capable of traveling up to 10 times faster than the mothership, thus to perform recon and return with the collected data before it travels 150 billion miles. Unfortunately, my work was interrupted by an announcement that rang throughout the entire ship.
“BUZZZZZZZZ…” The Announcement speaker blared.
“What the fuck do they want now?” I said, annoyed by yet another distraction.
“All ranks report to the council hall. I repeat, all ranks to the council hall.”
We halted our progress and began making our way down the tunnels. It seemed this day would never end, and I’d never be able to get the chance to finish my projects. I left the laboratory, and my love-ling caught up with me shortly after. She was a beautiful brass colored Insidean, holding the rank of watcher. Her eyes were all I could focus on, and it made having to drop everything at least a bit more bearable.
“You seem stressed, my love. Is something on your mind?” She asked, her voice as soft as silk.
“I hate distractions. You should know that by now,” I teased, holding a slight smirk.
“Always the busy bee, it’s a wonder how you can even relax during the off hours of the day.” She said, leaning to kiss my cheek.
“You make it all the more relaxing, Verinity.” I said, as I wrapped my arm around her.
“What do you think the meeting’s about?” She asked me.
“If I had to guess, it would probably be her weekly speech. Can’t say I’m all too excited, she’s probably just going to mope around again, or she’ll be gloating about her rank.” I guessed, still annoyed
“Well, I heard a Valkyrie challenged her…” She said, with an excited expression.
“Huh, that would be most interesting, wouldn’t it?” I joked, still doubting anything exciting.
We passed through the corridor until we made it to the grand hall. The Grand hall is a large room at the center of the ship, at the highest level. The Grand Hall floor is made of clear glass, which allows the Queen to watch over the work we do consistently. The Queen’s throne sits at the center of the furthest wall, surrounded by council seats, which wrap around the room like a snake. The lower ranks remain on the lower level, as to avoid confusion and distraction among the higher ranks. Lights illuminate the upper floor to reveal the Queen in all her glory. Our current queen is Zegasim, who has been in charge for the last 500 years.
Her golden exoskeleton glistened against the light, while still hidden by her Resygnium armor. Her voice boomed and shook the ground as she spoke…
“It has come to my attention that the livelihood of our ship has been less than enjoyable for you. And thus a Valkyrie has challenged me for the throne. I have no intention of abandoning my throne. Therefore, to honor tradition, we must fight. Approach, Renagnon.”
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Sure as shit, a Valkyrie flew upon the upper floor, landing a few yards from the Queen. Her voice was even louder than hers. Many could feel the rage burning within her, which transferred when we heard her reasoning for challenging the throne. The crowd roared as she spoke, Her words piercing like daggers to the chest.
“Queen Zegasim, you have neglected your duties as our Queen to not only govern the Insidean race, but to improve and sustain the morale of the citizens of our fleet. You have neglected to aid the other ships, and have abandoned 3 entirely. These 3 ships were found by a group of workers, wrecked upon a desert planet. There were only 2,000 survivors of the 196 million that were aboard those ships, which were destroyed due to your insolence. Do you abandon your throne?” Renagnon boomed, unsheathing her weapon.
“I do not, Renagnon. Do you understand the consequences of your rebellion against my throne if you lose this duel?” The Queen asked, drawing her scepter.
“I understand the consequences of my loss, which is why I don’t intend to lose.”
Renagnon spun her chain blades quickly and gracefully, attempting to intimidate Zegasim. The blades slashed against the metal bracing of the thick glass floor, sending sparks into the roaring crowd. As the Valkyrie prepared to charge, the Queen lifted her scepter, sending a bolt of electricity toward her. As the electricity made contact with Renagnon’s blade, it began to spark wildly. She then slammed the blade down nearby the queen, sending an electric current toward her. The electric currents danced across the metal floor, speeding toward the queen and striking her.
The Queen screeched in pain, as she took off into the air. She grew higher and higher, but the Valkyrie flew as well, swinging her chains toward the Queen. The blades pierced deep into the Queen, which allowed the Valkyrie to pull Zegasim toward her. Renagnon buried her second chain blade deep into the queen’s back. Soon after the Queen crashed to the ground. She quickly grabbed her scepter and struck the valkyrie with another bolt of electricity. This time, the bolt landed, locking the Valkyrie in place. The valkyrie shrieked, enraging the Queen. The queen shot her twice more, but the last shot missed, hitting the Valkyrie’s blade.
Once she regained control of her body, Renagnon threw her blade toward the Queen. The blade pierced her chest, sending 2,000 volts of electricity through her. The Queen dropped to her knees.
“Stop! I yield. I give my throne to Renagnon.” The Queen proclaimed, still recovering from the final blow.
The Queen placed her scepter down on the ground. Soon after, Renagnon began to grow, and her silver exoskeleton began to fade to gold. Spider-like appendages began to sprout from her back, and her wings grew larger. She took the scepter, and raised it in triumph.
“See me, citizens of Intosia, see how I have defeated your queen. Speak now, how shall I relieve the Queen of her duties?”
The crowd roared with a powerful hunger, only quenchable by one thing…
“OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!” The crowd yelled.
Renagnon looked toward the council and smiled before she spoke.
“From this day on, you all answer to me…”
Renagnon swung her blade. Everyone watched in anticipation, as the blade made contact with the former queen’s neck. Her head flew with a barrage of teal liquid, spraying across the floor. Her head seemed to stay airborne for what felt like an eternity, the queen’s final shriek of pain drowned out by the raging crowd around her. Zegasim was dead, and Renagnon was our new queen.
There was something about the way she stood. Something powerful, and ominous. It was like she had been working towards this goal for longer than we had anticipated. Her movements were precise and thought out. We knew that she was too powerful to be Queen, but none of us had the power to stop her. Something within told us that she was going to either be our savior, or our absolute destroyer. She sat upon the throne, and dismissed everyone. All except the Overlords and the Watchers. The Commanders, Valkyries, and Generals all remained.
“I have an important message for the leader ranks. We will soon have a need for a band of workers to make contact with a strange planet within Sector 12. We have been watching this planet for some time, and we have noticed the presence of intelligent life upon that planet. They are ill advanced, but they hold a similar mental structure to us. We will need 1 Overlord, 2 watchers, and 5 workers. Who is willing to make first contact?”
I raised my hand, and my love-ling joined hands with me. This seemed to please the queen.
“Very well, Vega and Verinity will be in charge of first contact, and Albizar will accompany you as well.” The Queen proclaimed
“Yes, your majesty. Thank you.”
The Queen’s expression then changed, and she pulled up a hologram of the planet we were instructed to visit. It was a beautiful oasis. A luscious green planet abundant with both flora and fauna. The best part was that even the oceans had dense life signs. It was bound to be an adventure for sure.
“The residents are very territorial, they often fight amongst themselves because of it, so be cautious when meeting them. They may take offense to you and some may even try to kill you. I will be sending you each with a universal transmitter, which will allow you to communicate with them. Their language is much different than ours, so don't bother learning it unless you have the time and resources to do so. One last thing, did you finish the plans for the spacecraft?”
I was excited, but frightened at the same time. I hadn’t seen combat in over 200 years, who knew what could happen? But my curiosity outgrew my fear, and my anxiety quickly turned into excitement and ambition. But, with the need for a ship, I had to be patient. The previous queen held so many ceremonies that I never had the chance to work as often, so I had never gotten the chance to finish the spacecraft, or work out the kinks.
“I’ll need at least a couple weeks to work out the kinks, but I’m confident that me and my workers can pull it off with ease.” I said, proudly.
“Very well, take the time you need to finish the spacecraft, and then report to your commander once you’re finished.”
“Yes, your majesty.” I bowed to her, and left the upper floor.
I hauled ass back to my lab, which was already being put to work. I sat with the other engineers to fix the several problems with the spacecraft. First, was the temperature drop which became a problem soon after launch testing. We would have to find a way to keep the inhabitants inside from freezing to death, due to the extreme temperature drop.
You see, Resygnium has strange properties. When exposed to heat, the spaces within the metal become colder, and the opposite happens when exposed to cold. So we would have to find a way to burn fuel without superheating the metal surrounding the shuttle. We eventually settled on an inner insulation, which regulated the temperatures within the shuttle, and kept the interior from becoming too hot or too cold. We also fitted the shuttle with defensive weapons, to defend against both meteors and human attacks.
3 weeks pass, and everything's in place. We load the chambers with the workers, and Me and Verinity make our way to the captain’s deck. Albizar stays back with the passengers to address conflicts between passengers. Soon after everyone settled, we began the launch preparations. Each passenger secured themselves in their seats, and Verinity began the countdown.
The longest 10 seconds I had ever sat through. All I could think about is the feeling of dirt and rock underneath my feet. The smell of life, the sensations around me, all of it I missed dearly. Finally, I had the chance to experience it again. The Shuttle rumbled violently as the fuel burned within the engine, sending the shuttle into space. We would travel for 2 years before making it to our destination.