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ES01 - Eternal Sunder (part 01): Prologue
Posted By: Wado<wyamauchi@msn.com>
Date: 11 March 2003, 9:20 AM
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Note: This is part 1 to Wado's Eternal Sunder series.
Prologue
After the last Great Holy War and the defeat of the Insane Ones, this galaxy foresaw a time of peace and understanding unprecedented in hundreds of thousands of years. Long time enemies had united and never again would they allow corruption, tyranny and greed to oppress the peoples of this galaxy. Hope burned eternal and the long and often disappointing task of finding survivors had begun.
The war had not been without its casualties. Only three of the elder nations still existed, the rest scattered or destroyed. The foremost nation of the Praetor, whose ancestors spawned the great fortress ring worlds throughout this galaxy, was the most politically dominant of the three, having risen again in the last war as an alliance of many younger races, including the humans of Earth. Close behind and always meddling in the affairs of others was the nation of Archon, whose people were of such beauty as to be compared to angels and whose wrath was as swift and vengeful as a new star's birth. Last but not least of the three elder nations was Nomdia, the most advanced in the lines of technology, the Nomdian people were cool and calculating telepaths of immense power.
At first the search for survivors brought great happiness. Praetorian cruisers guided to survivors by the mystic powers of the Archons and the Nomdian telepaths, headed to all arms of the galaxy. Lost refuges were united with their kin and forgotten worlds rediscovered.
However, this is a cold and uncaring galaxy, none could foresee the coming of a new enemy -- Risen from the remains of rampant human AIs and the fusion with a race of creatures so horrid as to have caused not one but seven Great Holy Wars, it came. Referred to as the Biomechs, they were the fusion of creature and nano-machine. What they truly wanted no one really knew, but none ever came back from their domains.
Humanity was scattered, mostly wiped-out by the Biomechs, and the three elder nations could do nothing but hide behind the protections of an ancient race so long gone as to be known only as the Old Ones.
So begins this story, in the mist of a dreadful new enemy, three familiar beings, whose faces are now wrinkled from centuries of aging, travel aboard a starship to meet with the Great Council of the Elder Nations.
"Sirs, excuse me, but the commander would like you to be awake for this," shouted the Praetorian Grunt.
An aged man opens his eyes. "I may be the oldest human alive, son, but I'm not deaf," replied John as he nudged a frail old man-sized reptilian creature that had fallen asleep in the chair next to him.
"I'm awake already," said the reptile man. "What's all the commotion? I need my Sauran beauty rest."
"Sir John and Sir Croaker, we about to exit the Web of Mira," stated the Praetorian Grunt. "The commander would like you all to be awake. What am I to do about Sir Max?"
Next to the reptile man was a statuesque and very old Imperial Elite with the colors and marking from the mighty House of Rellius. His eyes appeared closed.
"Go ahead and splash a bucket of water over him," snidely said Croaker with a big reptilian smirk. "Of course, I wouldn't stand too close when you do it."
The Grunt looked to John for some sign of confirmation. The Grunt was not accustomed to human body language; he had no idea what a raised eyebrow meant. He reached for a pitcher of water.
The sound of a phased plasma discharge set off alarms. Security forces escorted the ship's commander into the room. "What's going on here?" demanded Commander Muk-a-luk, but he did not have to wonder long. Before him stood a shaking Grunt, too scared to move. In the Grunts hands was an empty pitcher with a large hole blasted through the bottom. There was no water around; the plasma had cleanly boiled all the water away while it was still in the air. Commander Muk-a-luk looked at the Sauran, Croaker.
"Don't look at me Commander," said Croaker as he gestured towards Max. "Besides, I don't even like plasma weapons, I prefer my good old slug throwers."
Max's eyes opened and the mighty Elite looked at the Grunt saying, "Never disturb an Imperial Elite especially one that is meditating, now go change your undergarments."
"Yes sir," said the Grunt. A distinct sloshing sound came from the Grunts pants as he ran off.
"That's the third one this month," remarked Commander Muk-a-luk. "Sirs, I have to say that it has been an honor to have you aboard, but I can't say I won't be glad to see you go. I'm running out of crew."
"Understood Commander," said John. "How long now?"
"Less than thirty minutes," replied Commander Muk-a-luk. "We have just exited the Web of Mira and our light sails are retracted. Our engines could get us to Mira sooner, but we need to pass through several security checkpoints."
"Mira," muttered John. "It's been too long, I have so many memories from there."
"I don't know if you'll get to see it again, Sir John," said Commander Muk-a-luk. "Now that it's the new Seat of Power for the Great Council, we are not allowed to set foot on the planet surface. Not only are they worried about spies but also the danger of nano-viruses."
"Yes I've heard of those," said Max. "The latest weapon used by the Biomechs against us."
"Affirmative Sir Max," replied Commander Muk-a-luk. "I have orders to dock with the satellite Titan III. That is all I know."
Titan III was one of the largest defensive satellites that protected the world of Mira. Besides its awesome 77-kilometer wide mass drivers, the newly added stellar converter, and full compliment of defensive weaponry, the satellite now housed Valahundra, a magnificent crystal palace.
John, Croaker and Max are summoned to Valahundra. There in the Chamber of Ancients, they now stand amongst the holograms of the Great Council. The Nomdian known as the Eldar leads the Tribunal, the three highest seats in the council; beside him are the Praetor Janius and the Archon Princess Katrina.
The Eldar speaks, "Long has this council welcomed the great heroes three, but today is not a welcome but a sending. Sir John, Sir Croaker, and Sir Max, the council beseeches you to partake a holy quest to retrieve a Biomech Core."
Praetor Janius continues, "The Biomech plaque is upon us, and for us to stop it, we must understand it. The Biomech Cores control the many Biomech warriors, but that is all we know. Will you accept this quest."
Max and Croaker look to John for words. John ruffles his long beard and turns to Croaker saying, "Croaker, you are the oldest among us, perhaps you could explain?"
Croaker nods and turns to the Tribunal. "We are honored, however, we are not as young as we used to be. I am the oldest, I have been ancient longer than I can remember, but I'm still aging better than these two. Everyday, when they get up in the morning, their bones creak and their backs ache. They forget things, like what they ate for dinner last night and whose turn it is to go into town. Are there not others more capable than us."
"Sir Croaker," softly stated Princess Katrina, "Those are such petty matters in this company. Of course there are others, but the Shadowguard is on a long mission to rescue our Queen and the rest are busy protecting our territories. Do you accept the mission?"
The three did not hesitate this time. They unanimously answered an affirmative, "Yes."
"Good," proudly spoke the Eldar, "and you will be the leader Sir John, that we have already decided. Now much preparation is needed, we will start with the Archons."
"The Archons have long held the secret to immortality," said the beautiful Princess Katrina. "Aging is in the natural order of things, and all that is natural is the realm of the Archons." As she spoke a song, the multi-colored magic of the Archons surrounded the three.
John, Croaker and Max feel the surge of life's energy infusing within them. Their frail wrinkled bodies transform into vessels with bulging muscle and young faces.
Max clenches his fingers into a fist. "I feel the power," Max shouts, "Life's energy is summoned from the well of time, I am young again." Croaker raises his arms and cries an ancient Sauran battle cry. John stares at his body in amazement, flexing his muscles and rolling his shoulders.
"There will be plenty of time on your journey to reacquaint yourselves with your younger bodies," stated the Praetor Janius. "You will need more than your younger bodies for this quest. Behold, your armor."
Before the three appeared one suit of armor for each of them. The armor was the likeness of their old armor that they each wore through many campaigns, but it was obvious that this armor was much more advanced.
"We designed the armor specifically to look like your old armor, we felt you would feel more comfortable wearing it," said the Praetor Janius.
"Yes, thank you," replied John.
"This is more than we could ask for," added Croaker and Max.
"And there is still more," came a graceful and penetrating voice from the shadows. John was the first to be revealed the figure behind the voice. Eyes as gray as a northern sea on a moon full night, hair as dark as a starless night, and beauty beyond description by mere words, it was her. Princess Kira of the Archons spoke once more, "John, it is so good to see you again. You have wondered why I was not here before at the council to greet you. Well, you see I have stepped down from my position in the Tribunal, my sister has taken my place so that I may accompany you on this journey. Oh, and there are others."
From the shadows appeared another figure, this one much shorter and with the distinctive black and purple robes, green skin and tentacle-faced body of a Nomdian, a very young Nomdian -- a child. "I am the Lady," said the Nomdian. "Do not let my young age deceive you, I have all the memories of the previous Ladies, including the great Lady who you knew well. It is the Nomdian tradition to pass our memories from generation to generation as you already should know."
Before John could say a word, a familiar blue light appeared. "Greeting, I am 343 Guilty Spark. It is an honor to have been chosen to accompany you, Reclaimer, on such an important mission."
"Sparky, you old tin can, I thought you would be scrap metal by now," said John.
"Why I have you know I'm not even made of regular metal, I am a construct of the highest order," replied 343 Guilty Spark who paused for a moment to see that Princess Kira and the Lady were smiling. "Oh, I see, scrap metal is a term of endearment to humans, my translation circuits are fully functional, you know."
"All we need now is a way to get to where we are going," commented Max.
"Ask and thou shall receive," replied the Eldar. "Your new ship, Eternity's Sunder, waits for you as we speak. It is a marvelous vessel, the combination of Old One, Nomdian, Archonian, and Praetorian technologies. You shall leave immediately."
"And so it begins," whispered John to himself.
"Yes, old friend," said Max. "You shall don your armor and be called Spartan once more, and I shall again be called Imperial Maximus Elitus."
"What about me?" asked Croaker. "Do I get a noble title."
"Yes, you shall be known as Croaker the Sturdy; have you already forgotten what we used to call you?" said Max.
The conversation continues as the party boards Eternity's Sunder. Croaker looks at Max saying, "Croaker the Sturdy is good, but I think I'd rather be known as Croaker the Invincible."
"You still don't get it Croaker," replied Max. "You can only be known for titles you were actually called. No one ever called you Croaker the Invincible. Croaker the Cheat, Croaker the Back stabber, Croaker the Sneaky -- yes, but never Croaker the Invincible."
John interrupts the conversation saying, "Princess, why did the Council select me to be leader? Max is a great general and you are the leader of the Archons. The Lady has the thoughts of 200 Nomdian generations. Even Sparky has led legions of Sentinels."
"Such an answer cannot be taught, it must be learned," replied Princess Kira. "Shall we start with this ship, Chief?"
"I never can expect a simple answer from an Archon," said John. "Alright what do we have here."
"I thought you would never ask, allow me," interjected 343 Guilty Spark. "First we start with the Old Ones. This ship does not have conventional shields; its outer hull is surrounded by a null-field, this means virtually all the energy from an incoming attack is absorbed leaving only the momentum to do damage. However, phased weapons are not absorbed as efficiently as standard energy weapons. The null field also allows us to travel through the Web of Mira without the need of light sails for power. The outer hull is the finest Archonian living armor, with full regenerative capabilities and the ability to adapt to incoming attacks as well as anti-phased shielding. The hull is also interlaced with Nomdian neural shielding to prevent unwanted mental intrusions. We are also very agile and quick; the normal space engines are designed from Nomdian and Old Ones technology with full inertialess drive capabilities. The star drive is a Praetorian inter-phased engine capable of the fastest Slipstream speeds as well as instantaneous phasing into and out of normal space while traveling at Slipstream speeds. This ship is also equipped with an Archonian Stargate projector. I don't think I can stress enough the importance of not allowing this ship to be captured by the enemy. If the Biomechs were to acquire Stargate technology to this level, we would lose a huge strategic advantage over them."
"So we are fast and have defenses, what about our weapons?" asked John. "We don't plan on running away from every encounter, or do we?"
"Certainly not," said the Lady. "We must not only engage the enemy, but we can't allow them to escape the battle with any valuable intelligence about us. This ship is equipped with a full and effective arsenal. Allow me to give the overview."
343 Guilty Spark moved his blue light up and down to signal a nod.
The Lady continued, "For starters we have a full array of point-defense Praetorian anti-matter phased-plasma cutter beams. We have a new Nomdian weapon called a tremor pulse sphere (TPS), which emits a violent sphere of gravity waves that can both knock surrounding ships out of Slipstream in a 900,000 kilometer radius and effectively shake apart most other objects, including incoming missiles in a 300,000 kilometer radius. Our standard weapons consist of six Nomdian disrupter cannons, as you know disrupters are super-effective at taking down enemy shields and overloading electrical systems. We also have 24 standard mount, Praetorian anti-matter, phased-plasma cutter beams. Our heavy weapons consist of two spinal mount inter-phased mass drivers that are capable of launching anti-matter plasma torpedoes, neutronium bombs, and dumb ordinance through normal and Slipstream space. In addition, we have one heavy Nomdian PSI booster that will come in very handy against the Biomechs. And finally, we have one Archonian Flux device capable of destroying most unshielded fleets of ships as well as causing whole stars to explode in one shot. That ought to do it."
"I certainly hope so," said Croaker who was now quite fascinated and excited at the thought of examining all this new technology. "John, to think all of this is in a ship smaller than most of your human light cruisers."
Without provocation, the mighty Elite Max spoke, "I see why John was chosen to lead us."
"Please tell me then Max," remarked John.
Max put his hand on John's chest. "John, we have a saying that translates to 'fight fire with fire' and that we can do, for every weapon the Biomechs have, we have something as good or better, but the Biomechs have something we don't, they have unlimited numbers and time. We can fight and destroy world for world, but in the end, we will lose. The Biomech nano-viruses can affect both machine and living flesh; their hatcheries produce the horrid creatures of flesh and machine that spread the disease and with the disease even our own allies and creations can be turned against us. We can never take back what they have taken; we can only burn those places in hopes that no life can ever live there again. Glassing worlds it was called and you are quite familiar with that term for in the past Great Holy War, it was the human worlds that suffered this fate more than any other race. Meeting force with force is not the answer on this quest, we have another saying more appropriate, it goes, 'be like water' and that is what we need to do. To be like water, we must adapt to the human ways; the elder races are too fixed in their methods this is our downfall. It took the humans merely a few thousand years to create AIs that surpassed even the constructs of the Praetor and their ancestors, the Forerunners. Humanity has long been called the 'Key to Gates of Eternity' by the Archons and such a fitting name that our ship is called Eternity's Sunder...(Sigh). John, I have served at your side for many centuries and I knew from the very beginning that your leadership allowed us to adapt to the enemy -- to be like water."
"Thank you Max," said John. "I have always sought leadership through example, I ask only that you all speak freely with me, all suggestions are welcome. Princess Kira, what is our first destination?"
"John, there is hope that we can find a seventh member of this party; an old friend of yours."
"You mean Cortana?"
"Yes, reports are that she may be near a remote human colony in the Sindar spoke," said Princess Kira, "and the people there might know of her exact location."
"Did not she go rampant many years ago, after the death of her daughter?" interjected 343 GS.
"You should speak of rampant, Guilty Spark," said the Lady. Her words were like rust and corrosion to the little construct. "But I forgive you Sparky, such times are in the past. To answer your question, Cort or Cortana as she is more formally known, was said to have gone rampant, having traveled too far in the realm of insanity on her journey to godhood, but by many accounts, it is said she did not join the Biomech collective. Whether she is rampant or not, or even capable of going rampant like other constructs is not our concern because any construct that does not join the Biomechs is their enemy, and that makes Cortana the enemy of our enemy."
"What is it John?" asked Princess Kira.
"You must know that Cortana and I did not separate on the best of terms," reluctantly replied John. "Even if we do find her, I'm not sure she will help us."
Croaker, the sturdy Sauran stood up straight next to John. "What does it matter, really what does it? We are here now together and I see great adventure ahead of us."
As all the others gathered close around, John seemed distant in his own thoughts. Next stop would be the Sindar spoke. Truly, this was just the beginning.
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