Purpose
A vast sea of sand was all he saw, after hours of advancing. If it wasn’t for the ship that seemed to go further away he wouldn’t notice the progress he has made at all. Everywhere he looked there were dunes after dunes of sand and each step become hotter than the previous one as the twin suns on the sky were still mid-day, before nightfall when the three moons took over the sky making the planet an ice kingdom. The man advanced at a slow pace, the injury he sustained after the crash was still fresh and except for the pain, blood loss did not help the ships only passenger stay sane for very long.
The ship, an old model of the Star Fighter Ignite was damaged beyond repair, upon crashing onto the desert planet of Sadu. A remote entity avoided by all but handy if you want to hide away from someone like the government as he, the injured and mysterioustraveller, was now trying to avoid. The Star Fighter he took and crashed was in order to run, at the same time the ship was not really his, the owner was his great, great grandfather’s. It was one of the ships in his collection, a relic from the old age when the colonies of Earthwere still young and in the middle of the Great Galactic War. It was used by Captain Grant his mother’s great, great grandfather. It was his pride and joy, and the only thing cherished besides his family. A treasure that he now destroyed out of need. The only remaining keepsake from Captain Grant was now his passion for ships, which he inherited from Grant and also, his deceased mother. The only material keepsake that he still had was a locket with their family crest on it, or so he thought what he knew for sure was that the locket belonged to his parental great, great,grandfatherwho wasthe oldest known owner of it. Ownership which was passed onto him at an early age. Not even now was he aware of its importance, after someone from high command demanded to have it. This keepsake was the reason of his current predicament. Him on a deserted planet, hours to go before reaching the oasis he saw upon falling, or he just saw a mirage, the only thing he knew was that he had to keep going even with his now numb legs and blurry vision. He did not get too far ahead as fatigue took a swing at him and the man collapsed on the hot golden sand, his life left to the faiths.
A week had passes sincethe man had crashed on the sandy planet of Sadu and was found on the brink of death by one of the planet inhabitants. A dweller of the past sovereignty that survived the harsh climate of the planet. He awoke in a room with walls of brick, no window, just handprints in different colours arranged on each wall.
The floor was made of wood, old and unpolished. The bed he stood on was just a mattress put on a metallic support. It felt more like a prisonthan a medical room,even withitscolourfulwalls and many medical instruments. The door was metallic and from what he could see it would be opened from the outside as it did not have a door knob. His leg was patched up and his clothes were not the ones he remembered wearing. The only item in his possession was his medallion. It was made so only the wearer could touch or manipulate it. This was the only reason he still had it, which was good. He spent the next few hours thinking of his star fighter and how he must proceed from now on. His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by the loud squeakingnoise made by the opening door. Aman, half human half machine walked in. He was twometers tall, his feet were purely mechanic made from old technology engineered to sustain heavy objects. The same applied to his left eye which had laser sensors. His right hand, the same as his legs, made of a metal he had not seen before. His flesh was dark and his features were oldandtired, with bangs under his eye and an unshaved beard. His human eye as red as his artificial one masking the true colour of the iris, a pale greenthat fade away. Around his hips he carried a hand gun, the firstmodelof aKatrina 01 a modified prototype of it. His clothes were blueish green with brown patternsexcepthis pants whichwere dark brown. Over his shirt he wore a vest made of a strong element he did not recognize and had many pockets full of gadgets.
′Finally awake I see.′ The man’s voice was strained and deep.
'I woke up a few hours ago, if that is what you have asked...or said.'
The sensor in the man’s artificial eye twitched, he had realized the difference in dialect and if he was correct the device was searching through data bases for a language match which come not too soon after.
'I had hoped you died over night when we found you, but you refused to surrender to the god of death.'
'And that is wrong? How? Why?'
'For one, we spent more resources on you than intended as we are short on medical equipment at the moment.'
'And the other reason? There has to be one, no?'
'We will now have to dispose of you.' He said narrowing his human eye.
'Then why have you saved me in the first place? It would have been less tiring to let me die, why waste your time if you believed I would not make it?'
'One of the children found you, they insisted for you to be healed, if someone else had found you, we would off not have had this conversation.'
'That my friend is something new to me. But you are not the first one to ask for my head. May I know why you want me dead after you went to the trouble of saving me/my ass?'
'Does an outlander like you know the history of my people, of our planet?'
'I don’t know much. What I know is that in ancient times it was a green thriving planet.'
'True, our planet was once prosperous and green. Do you know the reason it is like this now?'
'I’m guessing the Great War had something to do with it?'
'That is correct. Sadu was once green and full of life with peaceful cities and fruitful lands. The empire was the ruler of all, fair...and just. We did not cross path with those beyond our sky only us mattered. But they did not think the same and soon our peaceful life turned into chaos as war was upon us, and one by one we fell along with the holy generals that kept on fighting for our people and planet. But even they were not immortal and soon only the mighty capital of Khaar remained standing in a desert world drained by war. The invaders left eventually after there was nothing left and our holy city was buried deep under the dunes never to be found.'
'I see, what I saw while crashing was not an oasis but...'
'...was the entrance to Khaar. Now you see, the reason why we have to kill you. We cannot risk to have the Great Galactic Alliance find us.'
'Would it change your mind the fact that I myself am running from them?'
'Hmmm...stubborn, aren’t you? If you are running from them that means they will be on your tail and we do not want unwanted attention to our planet. Then again, it all depends on your reason of running.'
'This medallion that I have around my neck is the main reason, but I have a vague idea you already knew this, am I wrong?' He said grinning. 'After all, you would off have killed me already before faith could decide whether I live or die.' He was now chuckling his voice deep and warm echoing in the chamber.
'Yes...said the man leaving the doorway. I would have left you to the faiths.'
'May I ask why you decided otherwise?'
'I recognized the medallion you bear around your neck, the previous owner helped us long ago and in order to repay a debt I chose to give you a chance and see if you resemble that man or not...I hope you shall never prove me wrong.'
'The previous owner? So, Captain Grant had come to Sadu at some point then, how curious.I will try my best not to disappoint. Of that I can assure you.'
And that was the end of their discussion. He followed the mysterious man out of his imprisonment and into a world long forgotten, ruins of a city, once a mighty capital full of life. One of the colonies of the old empire, out of many he was to find, after years of living among them and gaining their trust.
It was years later that he departed from Sadu with their secret and teachings, bestowed on him and start his adventures beyond the stars.
