Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Unknown Island / Ruin/ Internal Corridors

Galactic Standard Time / 0900

As he stalked forward and fired his weapon, Olv’xic tried to keep calm. He had barred his deepest secret and everyone was part human! He had thought that he would be killed by torture if anyone found out, and it wasn’t even that bad! Once he had a chance to talk to his team, he’d get answers, and he would give them. If that thought at the edge of his mind was right, his birth world would have many problems in the future. At least after they made contact with the Throneworld.

As he kept moving towards the large and bulky beings, Olv’xic wondered what these brutes were. The fact that they could speak meant that these weren’t Chimera, and that was very worrying. If these weren’t, then why were the things behind them, Chimera? Was the monster behind those poor souls a criminal? But what was this “Beast” they were talking about?

“[Nothing makes sense! Nothing at all! What is with this planet!? How did such a Ruin survive]!?” Olv’xic snarled within his mask, keeping the ‘sending’ function silent by force of will.

Next to him, Kon’gric and Ken’tricx kept up their fire, and the enemy was dying as the three moved forward. Something about this was bothering Olv’xic, something he couldn’t see. The way these things were trying to get closer, it was like they didn’t know about blasters. The humans and other races might not have been as advanced as the Empire, but they knew about guns! The only way…….

“[[Stars of the void]!” Olv’xic bellowed as the last of the bulky figures fell. “[Could these wrenches been created by the Ruin!? Is that possible]?”!

“[No way kid! These things would have had…… I mean this place]……” Ken’tricx trailed off as the last of the creatures died. He looked around the corridor, taking in everything he saw and then he nodded. [Yeah that might be, that might be. His is going to be bad].”

“[Tell me about it! I mean what could this place have been working toward? And what did they want the Prince for]?!” Olv’xic asked, feeling horror and terror in equal amounts.

They had to find the Prince, there was no other outcome that Olv’xic let happen. If the nightmares that his thoughts had conjured up were true, then no person deserved that. Olv’xic wouldn’t let that horror happen to Prince Ar’thor, he wouldn’t!

“[Keep moving! We’ve lost some time handling these things! We must move now]!” Kon’gric bellowed over the open channel.

As they moved on, Olv’xic looked down at the creatures for a moment. Something about them was bothering him, something that he couldn’t understand. There had to be an answer to how these things could talk! And with how big they were, he wondered how they replenished their numbers. The gestation cycle for something like this alone, the strain it would place on the body of a female? He just couldn’t see how that was possible.

“[Keep moving kid! We gotta find out the answers to your questions]!” Ken’tricx called over the comms line.

Olv’xic looked up and saw that the others were already ten feet away from him. He shook his head and head and nodded, moving swiftly to catch up. His thoughts could last, all he had to do now was take the rear. They had to move faster, and his weapons were all long-range. Not for the second time, he cursed that he didn’t have a short-range option. Plus the reason was to keep anyone from finding out about his heritage! Something everyone had!

If he could ever get justice for his pain, he would drink deeply that night!

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As he led the way, Kon’gric kept an eye on the Prince’s tracker. So far, they were having great time. The beacon was there, and he could lead them to him. But should he? This was the perfect way for his dilemma to be solved without even raising a finger. His family would survive, and he wouldn’t have to kill his charge.

But was letting something kill him not the same? He had helped raise the boy, he saw him as a kind of nephew! And his wife loved the boy as well!

“[……. Kon’gric? Kon’gric! Hey, I’m talking here]!” Ken’tricx bellowed.

Kon’gric looked up, seeing the icon for Ken’tricx blinking heavily. The man must have used an override to force a connection. He felt his face flush as he realized that the Ken’tricx had been trying to talk to him. “[My mind was on what could be happening to my prince. What is it]?”

“[Just wanted to know which path to take. And by path, I mean the intersection. The one back there. Or is our prince the way you were going? We need to know this Kon’gric],” Ken’tricx said as he pointed back over his shoulder. Olv’xic was standing there, watching both directions for enemies.

Kon’gric felt his face flush. He was usually better than this. His dark choice was weighing that heavily on him, wasn’t it? Looking at the map on his HUD, he nodded as he turned around. “[Yes, he was carried that way. I……. I was just….. sorry].”

Ken’tricx just shrugged, his body seemed to give off a somber feel.“[Don’t be, I’ve been there. A mission a few months back. We were sent to guard a research mission on this planet with a weird ecosystem. Giant hunting insects! Carried a scientist to their lair, we had to fight our way through and we were still almost too late. But we saved them and the planet was declared Quarantined. And like then, we’ll save the Prince! That’s my promise to you]!

Kon’gric felt his heart seize. The very fact that Ken’tricx was trying to help make him feel better made him feel even worse. This man was a loyal soldier, and here Kon’gric was, thinking of how to let his charge die. Kon’gric shook his head and squared his shoulders as he walked to the intersection. Once there, he looked down the right way and took a deep breath. “[He’s that way. Sorry again, but the walls are making it hard to follow the signal. This way].”

As he led the way, he almost let his mind wander again. He needed to keep calm, he would not let the prince die this way! He might have to think about killing the prince himself, but the boy deserved to have his end be a fast one.

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This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

As he followed after Kon’gric, Ken’tricx looked at the man’s back. Something was wrong with Kon’gric, something was weighing down his mind. He had seen it before, times when people were forced into impossible situations. Things when they were forced to make a choice, and that choice went against everything they were. He didn’t know how Kon’gric was involved, but there was something wrong with him. Maybe his wife was pregnant and he was thinking of transferring to palace duty. From what he knew from the briefing, the man had protected the Prince all the boy’s life. If his own family was growing, leaving the boy might be for the best. But if the Prince had been his charge that long, then Ken’tricx could understand what was bothering the man.

“HOLD STRANGERS!” A voice called from ahead of them.

Looking up, Ken’tricx stared. Standing twenty feet ahead of them was the most unique group he had ever seen. Five humans with green hair and eyes were before more of the bulky large figures. By each of the bulky figure's shoulders were two humanoid beings each. They all had wings that they were using to hover there, watching the three of them. All of them had on purple clothing, and each human held a black blade.

“[What!? More of them]?!” Kon’gric demanded.

“[Let me talk! Just stay there and keep aiming at them],” Ken’tricx said as he thrust out an arm and slowly pushed Kon’gric behind him. “We want no trouble with you all! We’re just looking for one that was taken from us! Let us find him and we’ll leave you all in peace!”

“We know of who you seek! The priest flew over our heads before you came here!” The human in the middle called out with a hard glare

“[I don’t like that. Get ready to fight you two],” Olv’xic muttered, and Ken’tricx felt the same.

“Your priest took one of ours with him. I’ll let it slide, maybe he was trying to save him. I’d do the same. But we need him back,” Ken’tric said with a hard edge to his words.

“That is impossible. For that one has been chosen to give his life,” The leader said with a note of jealousy in his voice. “To be chosen to feed the Great Beast’s spawn is the highest honor! To dare to stop after the offering was chosen is beyond heresy! Celebrate his passing, and join in worship to the Great Beast!”

All Ken’tricx could feel was his heart stopping as Olv’xic swore under his breath. That one word, sacrifice, changed everything. Before now, there was a chance that they could talk their way out of this. But now, that door had closed. The only thing to do now was kill and fight until they found their prince.

“[So we fight, right? Nothing else to do],” Olv’xic said bitterly.

“[No, but give me a minute. I’ll try and talk, but they move, take out the walkers. I’ll summon my canons],” Ken’tricx said bitterly. “Friend, you just said something terribly wrong there. I’ll give you a chance to take it back. But only this one time. After that, I’ll have no choice but to kill you all.”

“There is nothing to take back! If you cannot see the honor that was offered to the young one, then you will feed the Beast! To the afterlife, send them there!” The middle human roared. The flyers screeched and shot forward, while the others roared and charged.

Ken’tricx just stood there and summoned his rotatory canons and fired them and his riffle. As the shots hit the flyers, Kon’gric and Olv’xic fired at the humans. As the shot killed them, some of the flyers dropped in the way of the chargers. They all tripped over them, and the crash of one of the bulky Figures caused a crunch that the three could hear. Nothing caused the fanatics to stop, they just kept charging until they all died.

Kon’gric took a step forward before Olv’xic grabbed him, pulling him back. As Kon’gric turned his head, this was when Ken’tricx spoke up.

“[Hold! Let’s see if any of them is still alive]!” Ken’tricx said with a hard edge to his voice as his rotary canons disappeared. Walking forward, Ken’tricx summoned his axe and moved among the bodies. Within a few moments, he was among the corpses. His Mask scanned the bodies, and after a few moments, he nodded as he found there was no chance any of them were alive. “[Come on you two, see if you can find anything that we can use to tell us what the Blackhole this is]!”

As Olv’xic and Kon’gric moved to look over the bodies, Ken’tricx pushed the Bulky figure that had fallen over. Looking at the human body with its neck at a loose angle, he sighed as he put his hand on the body's spine. A quick check found three broken places, and he shook his head as he moved away. All he could do was hope that this was quick, nothing deserved to die slowly like this.

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Olv’xic looked down at the corpses and shook his head. To think that these had been living moments ago was staggering. The way they had just charged showed that they had no idea what they were up against. But was he right? Had the Ruins created these ‘humans’ from a source template? Or was he wrong? But all he knew, was that all the ones here followed the orders of the human.

He looked down at one of the human bodies and picked up one of their swords. As soon as he touched it, it released a blue fish of light! “[WOW! What the Stars]?!”

As the others all turned to look at him, the sword dimmed, but the blade still glowed softly.

“[Is that aether? How is that sword glowing]?!” Kon’gric demanded as he and Ken’tricx gathered around Olv’xic.

Ken’tricx looked at the blade before picking up his own, and it too released a flash of light.

As they looked at the blades, it was all Olv’xic could do to keep from gasping. He could feel a resonance from the blade, and it was as if it was using his own aether to ignite its spark. All in all, it led to one answer that was shocking.

“[This thing, it was made for Aether users! But how]?!” Olv’xic stammered in shock.

Never before, had the Empire ever found anything like this. he knew of researchers working on Aether metal, but this was beyond that. This blade was able to channel Aether and his own spark was making it in the metal. This was amazing, and he couldn’t believe it was possible.

But then he went still and slowly looked down. His mouth dropped as he saw there was one sword for each human, and each one was made from the same metal. “[How did these people make these weapons]!?”

“[What is here is fact, and we have to deal with them. These just got that much worse. We can’t let these things get in close range],” Ken’tricx said as he looked at the bodies.

Without a word, Olv’xic nodded as he looked down at the sword in his hand. Without a word, he activated his armor’s system and the sword disappeared. Looking at it as it fell into his armor’s ‘pocket’ he smirked. “[Well at least I’ll have a close-range weapon now. Shall we move on]?”

Kon’gric took a step forward, two swords disappearing into his own ‘pocket’. “[Yes we shall]!”

As they ran along the corridors, Olv’xic put everything that had happened into one of his messenger drones. Summoning it, he sent it back to the others and nodded as it flew away. While he didn’t want to think how the others would react. But he hoped that they took some of the swords for themselves. Fight against evil with their own weapons, and that was the best thing sometimes.

He had learned that a long time ago, when he had escaped off world. The best thing that he could do was hope. Hope that they will be able to save the prince.

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As he ran with the others, Kon’gric tried and failed to understand what was happening. The blades he had taken were strong, and their metal could channel or create Aether! He had never even heard of that being possible! And the people behind this were able to outfit everyone back there with them? That spoke that these people had so much of it, and that was bad. Who knows what these people were able to make, or where it came from.

All in all, if he could find that secret, he could offer it to his forced patron! If that didn’t buy his wife’s life, then nothing would. And this would keep the Prince alive! He might have to kill the others who were in that one’s employment, but he would keep his wife alive.

He looked to the side and saw something that made him stop in his tracks. He just stood there, looking into the open doorway.

“[Kon’gric, what is it]?” Ken’tricx voice asked.

But Kon’gric only walked through the doorway, into a forest of purple wood trees with golden leaves. All he could think was this looked like his wife’s favorite painting.

“[What is this place? I’ve never seen anything like this before],” Olv’xic said in wonder.

Kon’gric looked beyond the trees and saw that above them a few hundred feet was a source of light. He could see that to his left was a large lake and to the right was a hill that led to a forest that went on for miles.

“[Wasn’t thee a door about ten feet away from here? I’m not wrong right]?” Ken’tricx asked horror in his voice.

Kon’gric blinked then he slowly looked at Ken’tricx and looked at the others. All he could do was wonder what this meant, and the horrors that this might mean. If he was right, then they were in even worse shape than he thought.

“[Yeah, you were…… Kon’gric move to the right now]!” Olv’xic bellowed.

Kon’gric didn’t ask, all he did was move. A second later he heard the sound of something crashing to the ground. He looked up and saw a horror pulling itself out of the water. The creature was large, at least twenty feet tall. It didn’t have a body, but instead a single sphere that was its body and face. Its skin was the color of blood, and its face was the most horrific he had ever seen. It had six eyes in two rows, and in the center was a beak that opened into a cross. In the center of the beak was a hole that had needle-like teeth around it. It had nine large tentacles, three of which were holding it up from the water. It looked around and screeched as it moved onto land.

For a moment, Kon’gric didn’t do anything “[You two, move away now]!”

“[Are you serious!? Move away]!?” Ken’tricx demanded as he summoned his rotary canons.

“[Do it big guy. I think I know what he means],” Olv’xic said in a soft voice.

Kon’gric was hoping that this thing was just a herbivore. He was hoping that this thing was just attacking him because he was in the way of it eating. It was a small hope, but a small hope was better than nothing. If they could let this creature eat while they escaped, then that's enough. The impossibility of this place could be a mystery for later. That was enough for him.

For a second, all he could do was stare at the beast as it moved onto dry land. It looked around and then he heard a snort from his left. Kon’gric looked down, seeing an insect around three feet high with twenty legs and a body made of five segments. It moved around before a tentacle slammed into it. Kon’gric stared as the struggling insect was pulled into the spherical creature’s mouth.