Chapter One
Typically the prestige forests of Hyporous were lush with the life of mosses, tall timbered trees and animals. However there was an anomaly among the boulders of the forest floors, a crashed and smoldering wreck of a light-fighter class starship. Its smoldering debris filled the fresh clean air with the smell of burnt oil and other chemicals. Inside the cockpit was the dead pilot despite the bloody body, the onboard A.I finally managed to reactivate. Causing a series of sparks and fizzing, that startling off the song birds.
[INITIATING REBOOT…]
[RECONNECTING WITH HOST LIGHT FIGHTER SUCCESSFUL, CHECKING SYSTEMS.]
[LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM, OFFLINE… WEAPONS SYSTEM AT 53%… FLIGHT SYSTEMS OFFLINE….]
[CHECKING HOST… HOST STATUS DECEASED FOR 9.7HRS… HOST RETESTATION FAILED…]
[CHECKING FOR NEW HOST… NO SIGNALS DETECTED… CHECKING FOR OPTICS SYSTEMS AND RADAR…]
[OPTICS CRACKED, OPERATING… RADAR OFFLINE, REPAIRABLE… CHECKING FOR DRONE.]
[WARNING, MOTION DETECTED, PRIMING WEAPONS SYSTEMS, POWERING OPTICS.]
Out of the smoldering wreck of the RZ-3L fighter extended the probe branch. It searched rapidly through the rugged forest terrain casted in the early glow of morning of the approaching movement. Its optics settled upon a small female humanoid. Its plasma cannon rotating with a groan as it’s tousled parts barely allowed a full rotation.
“Identify yourself immediately or face termination.” The monotone onboard A.I commanded, as the plasma blaster audibly primed to blast away the female.
The woman stopped, a frown forming on her features as she paused, looking puzzled “Me?”
There was a long pause before whilst the A.I processed the stupidity of the question. “No, the command was meant for the insect next to you.”
The woman nodded, going to step forward before a large explosion in front of her startled her back with a squeak. “H-hey! You could have hit me!” She protested from behind a moss covered boulder.
[RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS OF WEAPON ACCURACY…]
“Consider that a warning shot, halt and Identify yourself immediately or be terminated.” The A.I monotone, robotic voice repeated.
The woman puffed up her cheeks as she fixed her glasses. she glared at the ship while slowly leaving her cover she dove behind. dusting off her dress she spoke with an offended tone. “My identification hardly concerns you, stupid bot. But, If you must. I’m a messenger sent by, The Great Dia.” She finished as she snubbed her nose, her amber eyes never leavening the ship.
[CHECKING DEBT LOGS… CHECKING WANTED POSTERS… CHECKING IOU’S… CHECKING CLIENTS… CHECKING NOTES…]
“This name isn’t in my data banks. Vaycate in five seconds or be terminated.”
“W-what! Really?!” Her question answered by the hum of the plasma cannon primed. “W-wait! I’m here to help your owner!” The woman yelled nervously, she started to back away when a sudden realization enlightened her features. She sighed as she remembered she could just hack the system…
[FOREIGN PRESENCE DETECTED- ACCESS DENIED- ACCESS GRANTED, GREETINGS NEW USER.]
The ship’s weapons system started to retract with a groan as the cracked optic watched her approaching before retracting as well into the smoldered wreckage.
“Heh, heh… stupid bot, you need to update your fire walls.”
and the cockpit hissed open as it depressurized, slowly yawning open its cracked glass. The woman walked over to the ship’s open cockpit and peered into the cockpit where the dead owner layed bloodied and limp.
“Ew...” the woman grimaced as she hesitantly reached to touch the bloodied chestplate of the man. She did have a mission, despite her not wanting to touch the bloodied corpse, she rather not mess up her first day on the job. “I should have worn gloves…” she sighed.
As her hand made contact with the cold worn steel, she started to speak, her soft and young voice. perfectly reciting her master’s words as instructed. Suddenly the corpses gasped as it jolted forward, startling the angelic beauty back as her amber eyes widened, she knew the prayer would work, but she also was suprised it did. But her shock would have to wait as the man before her coughed on his own blood as he struggled to rip off his broken helmet.
“O-oh! Let me help you!” The young woman chirped, her shock giving way to excitement, everything was working perfectly so far!
The man seemingly shocked as well wasn’t able to say anything as the petite hands pressed the button on the neck of the battered helmet and slipped it off to reveal the man’s rugged face, his wiry brown beard matted with dried and wet blood as his emerald eyes shone with confusion. The two looked at each other in slight shock at seeing one another. firstly the woman hadn’t ever seen so much blood before and the man never seeing well... a glowing woman!
“Who the hell are you-” the man finally broke the silence, his gloved hand swooshing back his tangled and messy chocolate locks out of his eyes.
“Me? Oh! Right me!” The young woman chirped as she bounced out of her squat into a tall stand as she pressed a hand to the top of her chest as she outstretched her hand to the sky line. “I have been sent by the Great Dia! He sent me with the authority. To revive and offer you a deal!”
“A deal?” He asked a bit skeptical, completely missing the fact she said revive him.
“Yup a deal!” She grinned at him as she tilted her head slightly, causing her glasses to slip down her nose.
The mercenary looked down to his holster which held his rotiliary plasma revolver, then the girl before standing shakily out of the cockpit. “What kind of deal.. wait a second, did you say revive?”
The woman stared a bit confused at him before it clicked. “Yes! You were dead! I thought you knew!” She said with such certainty it seemed stupid to ask. Of course he was dead. She continued just as gleefully. “Anyway, The Great Dia-” she was sharply cut off. By the now startled man.
“I was dead? What do you mean I was dead?!” He nearly shouted. As his legs wobbled a bit.
The girl giggled as she nodded. “Of course! Who’d survive such a fall!” What truly bothered the man was not the fact he died, but rather this random lady’s energetic disposition despite the morbid situation. Nothing made sense, what was she crazy?
Despite this, he cleared his throat and continued. “And you revived me…” he wanted to make things clear… it wasn’t good to question a crazy person, but he was a bit crazy himself.
“Nope! I was just the point of contact! The great dia revived you!”
“And who is this great Dia?” He asked, as he looked back at her.
The mercenary looked the woman over, she was younger. Maybe 23 at most, she wore a simple white sundress that blended well with her skin. Her freckled face dawned a oversized round pair of glasses that sharpened her ember eyes. Lastly her blond-pink hair was left Down and had a slight curl. Sebastian knew a lot of people, learnt a lot of faces, this women lacked any emblems from any faction he knew that would want him dead, so he relaxed only slightly.
There was a slight pause when the angelic beauty thought of a way to explain things. But a monotone voice from the cockpit cut her off from needing to. “Match found, the great dia is a deity of the old Irish colonies, translation comes out as God.”
The mercenary slowly turned back to the girl, studying her for a second. “So, let’s get this straight, I died and God sent you. I assume an angel to revive me, a wretch. and is now offering me work?”
“Precisely! Though I will state you aren’t a wretch! Dia has found your moral furver commendable! And whatever has fallen out of said furver is covered by the contract you made twenty years prior.” The girl drooled with an exasperated breath, after she finished it all in a single breath she took a deep breath and rocked on her heels with a warm smile.
“Woah, woah. I would have remembered making a contract with someone, I never signed anything or pledged any oaths.”
“You are incorrect! You pledged to slánaitheoir at four and a half! And the great Dia doesn’t forget those who pledge to him!” The girl nearly scolded before she fixed her glasses.
The man stared blankly at the supposed angel, he recalled his memories and did remember being a young boy and pledging allegiance to the savior of his world, which was a figure found in the old byd texts as an ancient deity figure. But that was so long ago… no matter, if he did die and was revived by this great cosmic force, which now offered him work… his interest was peaked.
“So, why would a God need to hire a mercenary? And what type of work would this be?”
“Technically he wouldn’t be hiring you, you’d be servicing your Lord, but you may choose to not! It’s a quest of sort! A holy mission if you will!” She nearly bounced and slipped off the wet nose of the ship before righting herself, she just bursted with overwhelming excitement, what surprised the merc was the fact she pulled out some papers from her bag, which hung from her shoulder and rested on her hip.
“Sir Sebastian Young! I have remembered my word and henceforth revived you. I now lay before you a chance to serve me, you will be rewarded greatly with eternal rewards, this commission shall be full of great horrors, great deeds and many blessings. If you do choose to accept, which I implore you to do, my servant who carries this message will be at your service for this task and will answer all questions you might have.” The girl paused, taking a winded breath before continuing.
“As I’m sure you are greatly curious of what this mission entails, I’ll give a simple overview which I’ll explain in greater detail in person if you so choose to accept. This mission will entail slaying our enemies, forging footholds back in lost territory and recruiting allies to our cause. I will highlight again the risk of death, which you will greatly be compensated for, but such risks are not foreign to a man of your profession. You will be compensated for all resources, you also will be paid for your service. Please consider me resurrecting you as not a favor, rather an act of good will for your earlier good deeds and unwitting service before hand remembering your oaths. This commission can be forsaken at any time.”
The mercenary would be lying if he didn’t admit that great eternal blessings and rewards didn’t intrigue him, and the risk of death was always a thing… but he wasn’t so sure this girl wasn’t just some grifter trying to send him to a death world for some sick crime lords pleasure, she could have revived him with a revival kit, used some sort of illumination cloak to make herself glow. But something told him she wasn’t lying… he’d been a gun for hire for a long time which granted him the practice to read people. Her bright amber eyes and overall demeanor showed zealotry for her task and not a hint of lying, so if she did sucker him, she’d be in his boat of reprisal.
A idea struck him to test her and this supposed ‘great Dia’
“Oi, program, read medical logs.” After a few minutes of audible processing and awkward silence Sebastian added. “Uh, just a second. It’s programming probably got a bit jostled.”
“Right…” the angel said, shifting a bit as she looked around, her dirty blonde locks changing to a lighter hue in more direct sun.
The A.I finally broke the silence.
[MEDICAL DATA LOG, 76760/8/16. 08:23PM. OWNER HEALTH, 100%-]
With a sigh Sebastian cut the A.I off. “Program, use terms I understand.”
“Proper and logical procedure demands the usage of percentiles for the human anatomy due to its complexity, and ease of processing to code for medical frames.”
“Yet, the human body can survive without its big left toe! What’s that!? 83%. I’m not a computer! So read me the dang logs in anatomical terms!” The mercenary snapped as he crossed his arms.
“I detect high levels of annoyance and sarcasm. Using simpler terms for stupid processing units such as the human brain.”
“Hey I am not-“ before Sebastian could finish the program started to list off the medical records.
[LAST NIGHT AROUND 8:23PM. NO BODILY HARM AT START OF SKIRMISH WITH, BLUNOCK WARLORD. 8:54PM SHIPS MAIN THRUSTER WAS HIT, CAUSING MAJOR BODILY DAMAGE DUE TO SHRAPNEL, MULTIPLE BROKEN RIBS, PIERCED LUNG, MAJOR BLOOD LOSE, HEART STOPPED. STARTED AUTOMATIC CPR, 8 ATTEMPTS FAILED BEFORE CRITICAL CRASH, OWNER PASSED AT 9:28PM APON CRASH. CURRENT TIME 6:43AM. DEAD APROXMANTY 9HRS. REVIVED ABOUT 6:30AM]
There was a long bout of silence. Before the angelic girl with a thoughtful look asked. “What’s a blunock?”
Sebastian with a raised eyebrow looked at her for a second before responding. “It’s a hairless alien, kinda blue in color, leathery skin, sticky and stinky and about as stupid as a rock. Oh it also breeds like mice.”
By Sebastian’s description, the girls amber eyes widened, clearly shocked she went to speak then stopped and frowned. “nach bhfuil ciall leis!”
“Can you please, stop speaking Irish, you aren’t even Irish! Speak the superior language, English.”
“But! English is so boring! And makes no sense! How is it, night is a lunar cycle and knight is an armored individual. But both sound exactly the same! Why don’t you pronounce the K in knight!? But the k in kit!? But not in knit!?”
“I- what?”
“Exactly! It makes no sense.” The angel said with an angry expression before pouting.
Sebastian sighed heavily before placing his hand over his forehead, slowly slicking his messy locs back. “Oh dear lord help me.” Sebastian clapped his hands together as he started to address the situation again. “Okay, Let’s get this straight one last time. You, an angel, who’s name is-?”
The angel’s countenance fell as she grimaced. “I don’t have one.” She said as she looked down at the crumpled nose of the fighter.
Sebastian didn’t know what it was about those sappy eyes or depressed facial expressions. But it didn’t fit, not one bit. He sharply cleared his throat. And spoke in a much calmer and level tone. “So… I died in a crash and the Great Dia, sent you, Selah, to revive me and Offer a contract to work for him?”
Maybe it was the use of her favorite language, or the new name. But, Selah. Perked right up. “R-right! But I didn’t revive you, He did! I was just the point of contact for him to work through me!”
“Right… so, now he wants to discuss this contract further with me, if I’m interested, and you’ll be my guide of sorts during the process and after?”
“Yes sir!” She chirped and beamed at him.
Sebastian sighed and grumbled softly. “Oh why the hell not.”
The AI system sharply debated, ‘why the hell he shouldn’t’. “There are multiple reasons why you shouldn’t trust or accept this contract. Firstly, she could be lying. Secondly you already have multiple contracts and accounts to settle before you have time for another, might I remind you, that you are currently trying to settle a contract and account right now as well. Not to mention the debts you’ve collected.”
Sebastian raised a finger and opened His mouth to speak when Selah quickly interjected. “Dia is a Dia of integrity and keeping of promises, His commission will allow you to cancel and finish all current jobs and take others if they flow with His contract. As for your debt I personally have a few suggestions on how you can settle and get back the money you were cheated out of.”
“How did you know I was cheated?” He inquired with a raised brow.
Selah gave a slightly smug grin as she pointed skyward. Which earned an eye roll form Sebastian.
“Well, fair enough.” Sebastian looked around, thinking a bit more before nodding. “What’s the next step in getting more information for this holy contract with, God. Or as you say, Dia.”
Selah nearly jumped for joy in her excitement as she started. “Well! Firstly we need to-“
Selah was cut off by the loud rumbling of multiple cruiser class landers soaring overhead. Both the man and angel watched them soar by, a grim frown forming apon Sebastian’s stubble covered face.
“Warning, multiple Blunock landers making landfall a click away. We’ve been triangulated.”
Sebastian cursed harshly before he snapped his fingers and jerked his wrist up in a finger gun motion, which gave the signal for the A.I to dismount the ship’s system. Selah flinched a bit at the harsh language before inquiring as she watched the A.I dismount in a flurry of cubic blue bits that spiked towards Sebastian.
“Must you cuss?”
“Must you speak Irish?” Sebastian retorted as he reached into the crashed cockpit and grabbed his bloodied helmet, sliding it on and locking it onto his flight suit. “We need to get moving, Selah, The Blunock won’t hesitate to kill us both.” He watched the angel through his damaged visor as it fizzled back to life to give read outs and motion tracking.
Selah shivered a bit before smiling. “Don’t worry about me, Mr Young. I’m a spirit, Not a physical being. Alien abominations cannot harm me.” With a nod she suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a soft flurry of flower peddles which caused the moss on which she stood to spark with new life.
“The hell…” Sebastian intoned as he watched the spectacle left behind.
“Grunts closing, four hundred yards and closing.”
Sebastian grunted in response to his A.I as he ripped his plasma revolver from his worn holster. “No time to dwell on that.” He sighed and shook his head as he jumped off his wrecked ship and began to run towards the boulders that overlooked his wrecked ship. “Program, Ready to rock?”
“Affirmative, Let’s water the forest with their bodily fluids.” There was the typical rare hint of one might call excitement under the A.I’s monotone voice moduler which had an ability to bring a grin to Sebastian. There was something amusing about how the old salvaged battle programs excitement at the prospect of carnage and bloodshed.
[Chapter break]
