EPTI guess I should start with introducing myself. I'm Raktavijan or Rak for short, 22 years old, male and I enjoy quite a bit of things, SC2, gaming in general, music and writing which will be the focal point of this blog.
For the last few months, I've been cooking up a three part scifi short story in a universe that I've created myself. The loose story is based on an exodus from Earth sometime in the 23rd century due to waning resources and climbing tensions between the superpowers. These countries built hundreds of ship to send 1.4 million people into space to look for a new home, a new Earth if you will. However, roughly 14 years into their travel, they come across a very hostile species of mechano-organic beings who, according to them, "have existed for countless millenia". Unbeknownst to mankind, they've infact travelled straight into a massive war between these hostile beings, the Ara'kai, and the Endarians. For 14 long years they haven't encountered a single sentient being and now they are smackdab in the middle of it all.
I've been working on it on and off for awhile, whenever I feel like writing, basically. Lately, it's been a bit slow but I feel like it'll pick up soon enough. I hope you enjoy this snipet from the first part of the short story trilogy I'm working on, called "Revelation".
Shulnha Torakis, ex-Third Hand operative and capable soldier of the Endari Military. He was born into a middle-class family, average in every way possible. Most of his childhood was spent relatively unburdened, mostly focusing on getting through the early stages of his life. Once he finally became old enough, he enlisted with the military. His parents weren't happy of that decision since at the time, the Endari Sovereignity were at war with a hardy and resilient race called the Vorkaar. They were a brutal and, compared to the Endarian, a fairly primitive species. However, their centuries of hardship and internal struggles had trained them hard in the arts of guerilla warfare and ambushing. As the first wave of Endarian dropships arrived at Vorkaraam, the home world of the Vorkaar, only two of the ships survived. Shulnha was one of the lucky ones who survived the landing. The Vorkaar had setup hidden anti-air turrets all around the barren hillsides of the large canyon where the Endari foothold was to be erected. The strategical and tactical supremacy of the Vorkaar had netted them hundreds of kills during the first few hours of the conflict. As the dropships had left, there were only two dozen Endarian soldiers on the ground. With the original commanding officer dead during the bombardment from the Vorkaar, Shulnha was the highest ranking officer on the field. Being so young and having to take responsibility for so many lives, molded his future. He became very patient and a charismatic leader.
For 6 months, Shulnha and his men were staged on Vorkaraam. They had managed to build a forward operating base within the first few weeks with supplies dropped from orbit. During the days they could not retrieve them, however at night, when the fighting calmed down, Shulnha had set up a special reconnissance and retrieval team. This team moved very quickly through the silent and frosty nights of Vorkaraam to retrieve whatever supplies they could find from the orbital drop-pods. With Shulnha's leadership, the endari forces won ground and pushed the Vorkaar further into the mountains. Near the end of the sortie, Shulnha had been promoted several times, now at the rank of Lieutenant. Things looked bright for the young lieutenant and his men.
However, one night, when the fighting had been ceased for days, several Vorkaari assassins had entered the Endarian camp from an unexpected direction. Planning to assassinate Shulnha, they planted several explosive devices in the barracks. With the devices set, they snuck into the commanding officers quarters.
The explosions woke Shulnha up, only to see a bright flash of a blade being stuck into his chest. With the foothold engulfed in flames around him, Shulnha's eyes were wide open. Struggling to breathe in the smoke and with the knife in his chest, blood began sputtering out of his mouth. As he looked around the room, he felt his life beginning to fade away.
Is this it? Is this the end that the universe has chosen me? All my men, dead. A knife, stuck in my chest.
Suddenly, a shadowy character appeared from between the flames.
-”Alright, come on, big boy. Let's get you out of here.” Shulnha could hear the voice, female but with a mechanical undertone. Who was this person?
Before Shulnha could finish his thought, he passed out.
Several days later, Shulnha awoke. Looking around, he noticed he was in a tent of some sort. Trying to get up from the bed, a searing pain coursed through his chest. Not seeing the chance of getting up, he turned his head and tried to focus his eyes in the dim light. A character came through the tent opening.
-”Ah, you're finally awake then. Good. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come out of that.” the person laughed. Shulnha raised his arm towards the tall and slim figure.
-”Who – who are you?” he said with a raspy voice. The figure stepped into the dim lighting near the bed. Shulnha could see her face now, pale like the moon in the nightsky, beautiful.
-”Are you.. a serkasian?” Shulnha blinked surprised. The figure kneeled down to the level of Shulnha's face.
-”Bright little kid, aren't you? Yeah, I'm a serkasian. If you haven't pieced it together yet, I saved your life. Goddamn Vorkaari shot down my shuttle, been stranded on this pile of Harul shit for the last few months.” the person said. Shulnha closed his eyes as another surge of pain crawled up his chest.
-”I'm..” before he could finish his sentence, the figure stood up and looked down at him.
-”Lieutenant Shulnha Torakis. I know. Said as much on your uniform. Now of course you need to know who I am, right?” the figure said as she crossed her arms. Shulnha nodded, with his eyes still closed.
-”I'm Irinon. That's all you need to know. I saw your camp on fire when I was out hunting for Manami, you know? Those huge birds that can't fly? I'm sure you've seen some around here in the months you've been here.” Irinon said. Shulnha cringed as he shuffled his body into a better position.
-”Yes, I have seen them. Why do you hunt them?” he said. Irinon turned around as she grabbed a syringe off of the table.
-”Well.. a girl's gotta eat, now don't she? Hah, besides, I get a fortune from those Vorkaari for selling them the intenstines of those birds. Weird appetite they have but who am I to judge? Anyway, I sell them the guts, they leave me alone. It's a win-win for all I care. Trying to get together enough credits so I can buy one of those ships they have. It's disgusting to even think that someone like me would fly with a nuclear-fuel leaking piece of bolts but what are you gonna do, huh?” Irinon rambled. Shulnha scoffed and looked at Irinon.
-”That armor.. I've seen it before, somewhere. Are you... an assassin?!” Shulnha exclaimed. Irinon smiled inside of her helmet as she injected more painkillers into Shulnha.
-”Correct again. You don't seem like just some grunt they sent here to die just keep their precious Sovereignity intact. You're way too smart.. so what are you doing here?” she said as she pulled the needle out. Shulnha scoffed as he slid his hand across his wound. Irinon shook her head.
-”Yeah, okay. Big military man doesn't want to tell me what he's doing on Vorkamaar. Whatever, I don't even care.” she muttered as footsteps echoed outside. Irinon flinched.
-”Goddamnit. Stay quiet! It's those damned Vorkaari here to pick up their food.” Irinon hissed as she quickly stepped outside. Shulnha knew that if they would figure out that this serkasian was holding an Endarian officer, they would skin both of them alive and feast on their corpses. He closed his eyes so he that he could focus on what they were saying.
-”Irinon! You disgusting wench, where are you?!” the bellowing roar of the Vorkaari echoed in the frosty night.
-”Ah, there you are.. where's our food? You better have been hunting some more, you know we can't catch those fucking birds!” another Vorkaari voice said.
Irinon cringed as the stench of the Vorkaari spread through her little camp. She picked up a huge bag filled with various parts of the dead manami she had been hunting.
-”Here you go, now pay up.” she hissed at the small vorkaari party. Shulnha assumed it was the leader of the party who did most of the talking.
-”Now now, who says we couldn't just walk out of here with all this food and maybe even your tender little body, hmmm?” the leader's voice bellowed. Irinon rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
-”Because, I says so.” Irinon said, clearly unimpressed at the threats. The Vorkaari laughs thundered in the camp. The leader stepped up to Irinon.
-”You really think that me and my men couldn't take you, little one? I'd crush you in a blink of an eye!” the leader yelled. Irinon's pulse increased as the vorkaari soldiers pulled their weapons out. The leader laughed once more.
-”What are you going to do now, little one?” he smirked at Irinon. She stepped forward, but with lightning reflexes, the leader grabbed her throat and hoisted her in the air. The other Vorkaari laughed at the pitiful kicking and gurgling of Irinon. Trying to pull the vorkaari's hands apart, she failed. His grip was stronger than steel and their scaly skin didn't help much as it was slippery. Relaxing her body a little so she could focus, she unsheathed her wristblade and sliced off the arm of the leader. As she fell on her legs, she quickly danced around the stunned vorkaari. The leader's screams of agony howled across the camp and echoing back from the mountains around, dark green blod spewed from the severed arm. The rest ofthe vorkaari began to open fire at Irinon, who was obviously too quick for them to acquire her as a target. She jumped and vaulted around the soldiers as she sliced and stabbed them, one by one. The mass accelerator weapons sound was almost deafening to Shulnha as he covered his ears. Irinon kept dancing around like the most nimble of creatures; dodging the fire from the Vorkaari and killing them off, each on their turns. Jumping up on the shoulders of one of them, she drove the blade into the soldiers head from the top. The others looked horrifically as his eyes rolled back in his head. The whole mass of the soldier crumbled soon after but Irinon was long gone by then. The vorkaari kept shooting their weapons into the nearby forested area, hoping to hit Irinon. However, much to their dismay, they didn't realize that Irinon had a personal cloaking device. Sneaking up behind one of them, she took her blade and sliced his throat open. The dark green blood sprayed like a fountain as his body slowly knelt down before keeling over. The remaning two were completely unaware of Irinon's presence. She turned off the cloaking device and stood behind them.
-”Hey, boys?!” she said and just as they turned around, she twirled around and decapitated one of them and mortally wounded the other.
-”You'll never get away with this, bitch!” the vorkaari who was still alive gurgled as he held his throat. Irinon sheathed her wristblade and knelt down.
-”Oh won't I?” she smirked as she stood up and jumped into the air. Doing a front flip, she landed on the chest of the vorkaari with full force. Shulnha could hear the sternum and several ribs crack all the way into the tent.
-”Irinon?! Irinon!” Shulnha yelled, ”Are you alright? Answer me, goddamnit!.”
She came sauntering into the tent, hushing Shulnha. He looked at her with widened eyes.
-”What the hell happened out there?!” he asked. Irinon laughed as she stepped towards Shulnha.
-”Just a little, mmm, disagreement. Those assholes wanted to take their food and not pay for it. And I couldn't have that. Anyway, I know you're in no condition to be travelling but others will be coming to look for their missing party, so we'll have to move.” Irinon said as she was packing things together. Shulnha sighed.
-”Fine. We'll go. But if I die, my death will be on your head.” Shulnha said as he struggled to get up from the ramshackle bed.
Once the sun came up, they had already travelled for miles. Shulnha struggled to keep up in the pace of Irinon. She stopped and looked back at the wounded Endarian. As he finally caught up with her, she looked to sky and closed her eyes. Shulnha raised his brow as he breathed heavily.
-”What is it? Something wrong?” he asked. Irinon turned her head slowly and frowned. Shulnha tapped her shoulder.
-”Stop it! I'm listening...” Irinon said as she gently punched Shulnha's arm.
Out of nowhere, a small shuttle descended from the low-set clouds. It was heading straight for them.
-”Shit.. run, run!” Irinon yelled as she hoisted her large pack on her back. Shulnha swiveled around and saw the shuttle. He began running but with the chest wound, he wasn't running as fast as he should have.
-”Irinon!!!” he yelled as she leapt over rocks and logs. Breathing heavily, Shulnha tried to keep up the pace but simply couldn't.
-”Damn serkasians, why are they so fast!” he muttered to himself under his breath. The shuttle was still screaming towards them, thin streams of black smoke lining behind it. Irinon stopped briefly to check on Shulnha and the incoming shuttle.
-”Come on, you sack of useless meat!” she yelled and gestured with her hand. They were near a dense tree-line and hoping to lose the shuttle if they would be able to get there in time. Shulnha ran as fast as his legs permitted, grasping his chest as another stream of pain shot through.
-”Hargh! Goddamnit... Irinon! Go! GO!” he yelled as his steps became shorter. Irinon gasped as the shuttle was nearly on them. Turning around, her eyes widened, she quickly thought to herself.
-”Come on, Irinon. Think. Think!” she said to herself. Then, an epiphany hit her. For her contract, she'd acquired a ramjet anti-materiel rifle. It was in her pack, disassembled for easy storage and carry. Throwing her pack on the ground, she opened it and began pulling out the parts to the rifle. Assembling it as quickyl as she could, her eyes wandered up to Shulnha and the ship. Still barrelling towards them, she grabbed a part, then another and within a minute, the rifle was assembled. Loading the magazine, she inserted it and charged the weapon. It whirred as the scope came to life. Shouldering the rifle, she squatted to take a more stable position.
-”Shulnha! Cover your ears, it's gonna get loud!” she yelled as she pressed the rifle to her shoulder. Shulnha dropped to the ground and covered his head as best he could.
-”A little closer, come on... come on... gotcha, you bastards!” she muttered to herself as she pulled the trigger. The rifled charged as the magnetic rails accumulated the charge. The rifle released a massive blast of plasma from the compensator at the end of the barrel as the ramjet powered shell left it. The sound thundered across the large rocks in the plain they were crossing. The round took no more than ten seconds before connecting with the shuttle, penetrating the cockpit window into the rest of the ship. With an explosion, the engines of the shuttle cut out and it veered away from them. Irinon dropped the rifle as she stood up and watched the ship. It bobbled in the air for some few hundreds feet before crashing into a small hill to the east of her. With a joyful scream she ran over to Shulnha who was still laying on the ground.
-”Shulnha, we're safe. I shot those assholes from the sky!” she laughed as she turned Shulnha around. She saw his eyes shifting from side to side as if he was looking for him. As she adjusted her kneeling position, she noticed that blood was coming out of his ears.
-”Shit.. you were too close. The blastwave, goddamnit.. I'm sorry, Shulnha!” she said, trying to pick him up. It was clear to her that he couldn't hear anything, as he just shook his head whenever she spoke. Knowing that she couldn't treat wounds like these, she held Shulnha upright as they made their way to the crashed ship. Irinon tried to gesture with her hands that she was hoping there was a communications system aboard and that she would use it to call help. Shulnha nodded in confusion as he put his arm around Irinon so she could balance him.
As they made their way through the treacherous plains towards the hill, Irinon could feel Shulnha becoming heavier. His legs dragged and weighed more towards her.
-”Come on now, kid. Don't pass out on me.” Irinon said, more to herself than to Shulnha. Struggling to keep him and herself up, they began climbing the hill. Raven black smoke spewed from the wreckage. Both of them breathed heavily, Shulnha more than Irinon.
-”I don't feel too well, Irinon.” Shulnha said, almost yelling. Irinon nodded and set him down on the ground. Opening the uniform, she saw that his wound was bleeding.
-”Shit! You're going septic. If we don't get you a proper medical facility soon, you'll die. Goddamnit.. I'm sorry.” Irinon said, almost too quietly. Shulnha couldn't hear her and just stared at the sky. Irinon changed the bandage and stood up. Gesturing to Shulnha that she'll be back in a moment, she turned around and ran towards the wreckage.
As she crept closer, the smoke became thicker. Her helmet heads-up display noted to her that the smoke was laced with radioactive particles and noxious gases. Sealing her suit, she checked the oxygen supplies.
-”Five minutes. Better get this done fast then.” She sighed to herself as she took direction towards the airlock. It had twisted and ripped from the forces of the crash and there was only a narrow hole she could get through. Breathing heavily from the exertion of coming through the destroyed airlock, she looked around. The entire inside of the ship was filled with black, swirling smoke.
-”Shit, those vorkaari aren't too smart. Flying around with ships like these, idiots.” she muttered as she tried to navigate through the thick smoke. Coming to a bulkhead still sealed, she tried the door controls. Nothing.
She cringed as the door didn't open. Turning around she ran back outside and began climbing the ship to reach the cockpit. Balancing across the black metal surface, she saw the part of the hull faintly glowing.
Stepping closer, she could feel intense heat radiating from it. Her HUD alerted her to excessive radiation.
-”Goddamn reactor's melting down. Figures as much, they can't build anything that isn't made out paper mache.” she sighed as she tried to make her way around the reactor.
Shulnha was still staring into the sky. He saw something flash very briefly up in the clouds. Trying to focus his eyes, he listened intently. For minutes on end it was quiet, he could only hear his own breath and the slight breeze on Vorkamaar. Suddenly, a sonic boom echoed throughout the plains. Even though he was deafened by Irinon's ramjet rifle, he could still discern the sonic boom. Shulnha looked around intently at the sky, trying to see the approaching craft. A bluish-silvery colored ship approached where Shulnha lay on the ground. Relieved to see the ship, he knew he'd survive.
Irinon was still trying to make her way to the cockpit when she heard the sonic boom. Turning around she saw the bluish-silvery ship coming in for a landing. Knowing that she couldn't go back, she ran down the other side of the hill into the tree-line.
The shuttle landed near Shulnha and several Endarian soldiers rushed out. He tried to lift his head to see the soldiers. He noticed one of them had golden stripes on his uniform.
-”Secure the lieutenant and search the area. If you find any hostiles, you are free to open fire. Get to it!” a voice said, Shulnha figured it would be the one with the golden stripes. He heard footsteps nearing. Clammering to get up into a sitting position, he managed to do that just as the soldiers came up to him.
The leader walked up to them.
-”Well then, there you are lieutenant. We sent search parties out as soon as we lost communications with your foothold. What happened?” the leader asked as he crossed his arms behind his back.
Shulnha's hearing had began to return. He shook his head and looked at the sandy ground, then up at the uniform. He noticed that the golden striped one was a captain of the Endari Fleet.
-”Captain, I don't really remember anything. I woke up to explosions and as I opened my eyes, I saw a knife being struck into my chest. The next thing I remember is waking up in some strange camp a few hours walk from here. A serkasian had carried me out of our foothold and to her camp.”
The captain frowned. He ordered the soldiers to carry Shulnha to their shuttle.
-”It is alright, lieutenant. The loss of your men is regrettable, however you are still alive. We expected no survivors when we were sent to retrieve anything that was left of our foothold.” the captain stated. Shulnha nodded as the soldiers carried him to the shuttle.
-”Thank you, sir. I would have not made it out of here alive if it weren't for you.” he said as he smiled. The captain nodded, pleased with himself.
-”There are a couple of issues however. One being that you said there was a serkasian with you and the other is the situation with that Vorkaari ship wreckage. Care to elaborate on those, lieutenant?” Shulnha closed his eyes as he recollected his thoughts.
-”We left the camp very early this morning because of a vorkaari patrol. Apparently, the serkasian had been hunting some indigenous wildlife and there was some parts of these animals that they used as food. From what little I overheard of the conversation, they had a disagreement and the serkasian killed them all. That's all I remember, sir.” Shulnha spoke quietly. The captain rubbed his head.
-”And the ship?” he asked. Shulnha shrugged.'
-”I do not know, sir. I believe I was passed out on the ground. It either crashed or the serkasian shot it down, which is unlikely.” The captain narrowed his eyes.
-”Very well, lieutenant. Did you happen to find out the serkasian's name?”
Shulnha shook his head. The captain nodded as the other soldiers lifted Shulnha into the shuttle.
-”Because of your efforts, we've secured several other footholds in the canyon and surrounding mountains. This war will be over in a matter of weeks. You will be transported to the destroyer Harnahn. There you will recieve all the medical attention and as soon as you're in better condition, the covert operations director will be wanting to speak with you. But in all due time, for now we want you to make a full recovery.” the captain nodded and smiled briefly. Shulnha closed his eyes as he sighed out of relief. The bulkhead of the shuttle closed and with the loud roar of the engines, the shuttle lifted off and flew up to the orbiting destroyer.
This specific part deals with the past events of two of the main characters, Shulnha Torakis and Irinon Muyraka. Now, please note that this is just a rough draft, I haven't proofread anything so there will be errors, missing letters, grammatical errors etc. and also probably contain some stupid continuity misses. If you can be bothered to read it, I would appreciate if you would post your thoughts, constructive preferably.
Thanks and enjoy!
-Raktavijan
