Secrets of Kni’thokon

[crisrko]

Discovery of the Delta Reactor has once more brought the Galaxy to the precipice. With the fall of the Ouijanese Empire, the Great Galactic Human Empire stumbled upon ancient blueprints and matrices of technology long lost to even the Fallen Empires. Unlocking some of their secrets, the Empire re-created the ‘Delta Reactor’, a superior version of the Dark Matter reactor, using what is dubbed ‘Dark Energy’.

With this newfound technological advantage, Emperor Assen declared a great Galactic Crusade to bring all the disparate states together under Humanity. An event that would kick off the Coalition War.

On the eve of their victory, with but a few to stand before them, the Mirati Imperium awoke from its isolationism, reigning fire upon the Human Empire and destroying the emperor’s great void station, the ‘Star Throne’.

With the Empire defeated, its worlds destroyed and their warriors on the run, the human worlds were absorbed by the victors of the Coalition War, while the remaining fleets were either hunted down or fled to Dark Space, never to be seen again.

As the Mirati Imperium stands as the unchallenged leader of the Galaxy, forces all over known and unknown space move to break the stalemate once again…

---

​

Chapters
Hyperlinks will be added as chapters are posted... but you can always use threadmarks!

Fractured Worlds

Spoiler: Chapters

Aleksander: Ch. I
Aleksander: Ch. II
Aleksander: Ch. III
Aleksander: Ch. IV

The Order of Psion

Spoiler: Chapters

Anastajia: Ch. I
Anastajia: Ch. II
Anastajia: Ch. III
Anastajia: Ch. IV
Anastajia: Ch. V
Anastajia: Ch. VI

United Galactic Peacekeeping Mission - Stavanger

Spoiler: Chapters

Rodi Tieberg: Ch. I
Rodi Tieberg: Ch. II
Rodi Tieberg: Ch. III

Interlude - Lorkan

Spoiler: Chapters

Interlude: Lorkan

Act I - The Order of Ecclesia

Spoiler: Chapters

Act I: Ch. I
Act I: Ch. II
Act I: Ch. III
Act I: Ch. IV
Act I: Ch. V
Act I: Ch. VI
Act I: Ch. VII

Interlude - Fall of the Foundation

Spoiler: Chapters

Interlude: Doubts
Interlude: Empire Asunder - Ch. I
Interlude: Empire Asunder - Ch. II
Interlude: Empire Asunder - Ch. III
Interlude: Empire Asunder - Ch. IV

Act II - The Origin of Power​

Spoiler: Chapters

Act II: Fracturing Alliances - Ch. I
Act II: Fracturing Alliances - Ch. II
Act II: Fracturing Alliances - Ch. III
Act II: Fracturing Alliances - Ch. IV
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. I
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. II
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. III
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. IV
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. V
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. VI
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. VII
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. VIII
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. IX
Act II: Reclamation - Ch. X​

​

---

Character glossary

Anastajia Grezeiros - Mirati Imperium​

Spoiler: Description

Anastajia is an orphan discovered and raised by the Psion Plume of Silver on a space station within Dark Space.

Unfortunately, her origins are unknown, as her family was lost at an early age; she has no recollection of her parents or any siblings. Until her discovery by the Psion, she used to be a child servant of one of the local pirate gangs.

Her affinity towards psionic powers was quickly discovered by Plume, though it did not come without issues. She could not properly control her powers, often spiraling out of control and causing severe devastation due to their intensity. After joining the Mirati Order of Ecclesia, her powers appear to have been stabilized, or subdued.

She is now entering her mid-twenties.

It is revealed later on that she was adopted by Idrithrel Grezeiros as her daughter.

Aleksander Cordero - Human Republic​

Spoiler: Description

Aleksander Cordero, an indentured soldier of the Qwumx Autocracy, was the Commodore of the Autocracy’s Fifth Murder; a small fleet tasked only with conducting special operations, generally reconnaissance and espionage.

Like other foreign species living within the Autocracy, Aleksander was a free man in name only. Descending from a family of refugees fleeing from the Coalition War, he is riddled with debt by the autocracy and toils away for the rest of his days in its service.

His life took a turn during the Fifth Murder’s mission to the Dark Space, when they were captured by the Mirati Praetorians tasked with observing the area. Now, he is an uneasy spy in the heart of the Human Republic itself.

He is in his late twenties.

Iris Cordero - Human Republic​

Spoiler: Description

Iris Cordero, an indentured soldier of the Qwumx Autocracy, was part of the Autocracy’s Fifth Murder; a small fleet tasked only with conducting special operations, generally reconnaissance and espionage.

Like other foreign species living within the Autocracy, Iris was a free woman in name only. Descending from a family of refugees fleeing from the Coalition War, she is riddled with debt by the autocracy and toils away for the rest of her days in its service.

Her life took a turn during the Fifth Murder’s mission to the Dark Space, when they were captured by the Mirati Praetorians tasked with observing the area. Their misfortune brought her closer to Aleksander Cordero, her now husband.

Now, she is an uneasy spy in the heart of the Human Republic itself.

She is in her mid twenties.

Idrithrel Grezeiros - Mirati Imperium​

Spoiler: Description

Grand Executor of the Order of Ecclesia. A master psionic, and the only former Psionite to lead the Ecclesian order.

A veteran of many wars, including the Coalition War, where she fought under both the Order of Psion and later on, the Order of Ecclesia. After the end of the Coalition War, she seized control of a reformed Order of Ecclesia with the assistance of her former apprentice, and now empress, Kryszorwyn Larian.

Idrithrel has an unhealthy relationship with her former apprentice; her worship of her borders on that of a deity.

Her exact age is unknown, but based on Mirati physiology and documented events, she is somewhere between two and three hundred years old.

​

---

Mods disclosure
I use some tech concepts introduced by the mods below

Ancient Cache of Technologies
Ancient Cache of Technologies: Extra Defines and Changes
Ancient Cache of Technologies: Override
Ancient Cache of Technologies: Secrets Beyond The Gates
Secrets of the Shroud [Ancient Cache of Technologies submod]
Guilli's Planet Modifiers and Features
More Events Mod​

 

[Nikolai]

Yes! @crisrko is back with a new story. Following.

 

[crisrko]

Great seeing you all again @Nikolai I have been sort of lurking around here and there, reading some AARs from time to time; mainly in the Stellaris subforum since it's more or less my preferred genre. Glad to see people have been holding down the fort.

I've found myself with quite some spare time over the months (years?), and dabbled in some writing here and there. I've never been the best at it, but it's fun, and it's fiction, so why not give it a shot again.

Before I start the actual updates, I just wanted to preface that I will most likely be using a few short stories to describe the setting. Ultimately, the setting sort of came from a combination of some previous Stellaris playthroughs (as well as peak unadulterated fiction). It has reference from all sorts of playthroughs with all sorts of mods and you will probably remember some names, or technologies, or even events. First few chapters might be abit of "exposition dumps", but hey. I will play around with the "chapter sizes" as I go along and gauge what is most comfortable for both me and readers; so I love to have feedback, be it positive or negative.

 

[Nikolai]

Great seeing you all again @Nikolai I have been sort of lurking around here and there, reading some AARs from time to time; mainly in the Stellaris subforum since it's more or less my preferred genre. Glad to see people have been holding down the fort.

I'm always writing something it seems. Doing a CK3 and a Victoria 3 AAR now. Been a while since I wrote a Stellaris AAR, last one was last year. The one about Ersh na-Filvan, won a few awards. Did you read it? It's in my inkwell.

 

[crisrko]

I'm always writing something it seems. Doing a CK3 and a Victoria 3 AAR now. Been a while since I wrote a Stellaris AAR, last one was last year. The one about Ersh na-Filvan, won a few awards. Did you read it? It's in my inkwell.

I have read part of it, but I can't say I read through it all. It's definitely on my list.

 

[crisrko]

“We stand on the precipice of defeat. Our people have dispersed to all the edges of the galaxy. Our most fervent faithful retreat into the dark space, where they may escape prosecution. Countless others will have to spend the rest of the days in these accursed xeno empires”.

Hakeem Peresi, Supreme Commander of the Human Imperial Navy

---

Aleksander Cordero, Qwumx Autocracy
Fifth Murder
Pit of Hopelessness


Pang, the Superhabitable World of the Qwumx, a species of bipedal avian humanoid. Located close to the center of the Sdi System, Pang was home to many humans taken in by the Qwumx Autocracy after the fall of the Human Empire during the coalition war. Though it was a vastly different world compared to the continental and crag worlds that humanity was used to, it was better than drifting through space endlessly. Pang was merely a new page in the long history book of humanity; ultimately, it would endure.

While autocratic, the Qwumx were fervent xenophiles, encouraging the cooperation between different species to the point that it was part of their governance. Grand Leader Phu Qets Smiks, the ruler of the Autocracy, is a retired Fleet Admiral of the Autocracy and had served during the height of the Coalition War. He was there when the Imperial Fleet of Emperor Assen was broken by the forces of the Mirati Imperium and the rest of the coalition.

Before his appointment, he spoke at length of the courage displayed by the many species of the Galaxy in defeating the evil empire. Hypocritical, coming from a former fleet admiral of an autocratic state that itself was guilty of the same crimes as the Human Empire, though to a lesser extent. I suppose this was part of why the Autocracy agreed to take in many refugees; to riddle them with debt and place them in servitude to the Autocracy for the rest of their lives.

Pang itself was a beautiful planet ruined by rampant industrialization at the hand of the local government. Unlike other species within the galaxy, they were individualistic and competitive, with a great focus on amassing wealth. Fierce capitalists, the Qwumx had built some of the greatest alloy forges the galaxy had ever seen, and now they had the workforce to sustain them.

Of course, that didn’t mean that this fate awaited all the Empire’s refugees. Aleksander Cordero, descended from a family of refugees assigned to Pang after the end of the Coalition War, was a Commodore in the Autocracy’s Armada, serving as the aide of the Admiral of the Fifth Murder, a small fleet of Strike Cruisers meant for special operations, like reconnaissance and strategic strikes.

And at this moment, Commodore Cordero was in one such operation…

---

Three hours until impact...

---

“How are we looking, Commodore?” inquired the tall avian creature. “Are we going to get through this nebula?”

“Based on our calculations, Admiral, we should be out of it within the next two hours.” Aleksander responded. “We’ll be entering Dark Space in no time.”

“Baha. Were it so easy my boy. No one has ventured this far since the Coalition War, and we can see why. Those nebulas make my skin crawl. They’re unnatural.”

“Admiral Buwks-Be, if I may speak freely?”

Buwks-Be wafted his hand, granting him permission.

“I believe that these nebulas are artificial. It’s an extremely high concentration of gas, with most of its composition being unregistered in any of our databases.”

“What, so you think that someone made these to keep us out of the Dark Space?” Buwks-Be sounded unconvinced. “Though it may make sense, given the sparse number of hyperlanes connecting Dark Space and this arm of the Galaxy.”

“A chokepoint. Sort of. Normally, reaching this area would be impossible through normal Hyperlanes. But, given that we’ve jumped over the Mirati outposts…” Aleksander added on quickly after.

Buwks-Be pondered silently for a moment before giving out his instructions.

“Keep a close eye on our scanners. While those Strike Cruisers are equipped to take a beating, I don’t want us to get into any sort of fight blindly. Especially not with the Imperium.”

“I’ll relay your command.” Aleksander replied. “I’ve also taken the liberty of instructing all vessels to arm their Minotaur Rocket Systems in advance, just as a precaution.”

“Good. Maintain our current trajectory and notify me whenever something comes up.”

“By your will.”

Aleksander saluted his Admiral and quickly retreated from the Captain’s Deck into the communications room.

Minotaur-Class Strike Cruisers, creatively named by their iconic rocket systems, were the Qwumx’s solution to the need of a modern, updated ship design that would replace the aging Corvette platform. While maintaining the maneuverability and raw speed, these Strike Cruisers present a far stronger hull and armor than anything a Corvette could possibly field.

With the vast technological progress resulting from thousands of years of research, the experience gained from the Coalition War, and the freebies surrounding black matter reactors from the Mirati Imperium, the Qwumx had succeeded in developing a modern fleet of ships, larger and stronger than their traditional counter parts. Those ships also required a far smaller crew; to be more specific, a Qwumx Strike Cruiser was similar in size to a traditional Cruiser, though only required enough crew to fit a Corvette.

Though not as nimble and maneuverable as Corvettes, the Strike Cruisers have proven to be a fantastic replacement appreciated by many empires across the Galaxy.

Returning to the story, it has been two weeks since the Fifth Murder was dispatched by Grand Leader Phu Qets Smiks to investigate one of the hyperlanes connecting into the Dark Space; situated deep within the ‘Pit of Hopelessness’, as it was named by the explorers whom discovered it, it was a very thick nebula at the very edge of the galaxy.

While nebulas typically do a number on sensor systems, recent advancements in technology have made travelling through them virtually the same as travelling through clear space. This was not the case of this nebula however, as it is completely impenetrable by sensors or any sort of radars. Coupled with the pure mysticism surrounding the Dark Space, this prompted the new Grand Leader to send his men to investigate.

Fifth Murder was a very small fleet. As previously mentioned, it was only tasked with special operations. Consisting of only four strike cruisers, this fleet is capable of traversing through four systems within ten days, as well as jumping dozens of light-years in a single jump. Extremely mobile, equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and led by one of the greatest active Admirals of the Autocracy, it was the pride and joy of the Fleet.

---

One hour until impact...

---

“We should be exiting the nebula as we speak, Admiral.”

“Now then…” Buwks-Be said as he pushes himself off his seat. “Let us see what is beyond the Pit of Hopelessness…”

Within a few moments, the ship finally exited the nebula, entering into an unknown system.

It was a B Class star, brightly shining from within the center of the System. It was huge, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Murmurs erupted on the deck, though some could be distinguished by Aleksander.

‘Is this it?’ ‘I thought there’s going to be some scary monster…’ ‘So this is the Dark Space? It doesn’t look any different.’

“I don’t know what it is, Commodore, but I have a very bad feeling.” Buwks-Be complained as he instinctively shuffled out his wings in a rather defensive motion. It was an evolutionary quirk of the Qwumx that they never really got rid of.

Aleksander swiped the screen of his P.A but nothing would appear to come up.

“Our sensors aren't seeing anything, Admiral—”

Alarms started to blare violently on the deck. One of the officers on the deck quickly reported.

“We’re detecting a large swathe of energy travelling towards our fleet at extremely high speeds!”

A huge purple ball of death tore through the space, hitting one of the four Strike Cruisers dead center and causing the hull to tear apart immediately. As the hull was exposed, the ship slowly collapsed, descending into the void of space.

“It’s a hit! Beta is down! I repeat, Beta is down!” “What the hell was that?!”

The bridge erupted in panic. A Minotaur-Class Strike Cruiser was destroyed in a single blast. And what’s more, that blast was unlike anything covered by their intelligence. Weapons that could tear apart a Minotaur-Class S.C in a single blast exist, but most of them are employed only by the Mirati Imperium. No other state, at least to Aleksander’s knowledge, possessed such fire power.

“All ships spread out immediately. I don’t want you to bunch up!” Buwks-Be barked his orders as quickly as he could, but he was already too late.

Another eerie ball of flame shot out from the same direction, dispatching another Minotaur Cruiser with ease.

“Delta is also down, Admiral!” Aleksander immediately reported. “I advise activating our emergency jumpers now!”

“With this much interference its akin to signing our own death sentences, Commodore!” Buwks-Be complained.

“With all due respect, Admiral, whatever that thing is took out two of our ships within the span of sixty seconds. If we don’t jump now, we’re dead anyway!”

Buwks-Be grit his beak loudly and violently smashed his fist into his armrest.

“Very well! Go ahead!”

Aleksander nodded and pressed a few buttons on his PA, opening a direct channel between him and the navigators on both ships.

“Prepare your emergency jump drives and get ready to jump on my mark!”

A third ball of flame was coming in their direction at frightening speed. Within a few seconds, it was already a few hundred kilometers away.

Aleksander roared. “Engage! Engage!”

As the floor rumbled loudly, space itself distorted around the two Minotaur Cruisers, jumping them into an unknown system.

---

Twenty minutes until impact...

---

Slowly but surely, the rumble decreased as the engines ground to a halt and entered their mandatory period of inactivity. Jump drives allowed instantaneous movement between immense distances but there was one significant drawback. It could not be used in quick succession. Sure, the Minotaur Cruiser was equipped with a Translocator Drive, an improved version of the classic Jump Drive, but it still had a significant cool down period, and until that period expired, the crew could only rely on their thrusters.

“Status report, Commodore!”

“Give me a moment…” Aleksander sighed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. After a quick few touches at his PA he spoke out: “We appear to be deeper within Dark Space, three dozen light years away from our previous location.”

“What about Gamma?” Buwks-Be asked.

“Status unknown. They do not seem to be in the same system as us and we are unable to contact them. All communication systems appear to be down. We're on our own.”

“System malfunction?”

Aleksander shook his head. “No. I think something’s causing it. We’re being jammed.”

Buwks-Be furrowed his eyebrows and pushed himself off his seat, walking closer towards the navigation deck.

“Aleksander… Look.” Buwks-Be muttered as he pointed through the pane.

Chatter broke out on the deck once again.

“What in the hells is that?” Aleksander inquired as he approached the Admiral.

It was a planet. Or at least, it resembled one. No, it couldn’t really be called a planet anymore. It was an ominous blue ball of death. Humongous storms raged on the surface; storms so large they were visible from the deck of the ship.

“I’ve seen this before…” If a bird could turn blue, then that’s how you would describe Buwks-Be’s face right now. He was utterly horrified. “I’ve seen it during the Coalition War, when the Human Empire bombarded Akkanar.”

“Are you talking about the Gamoran homeworld?” Aleksander inquired.

“Yeah… during the height of the Coalition War, the Human Empire let loose their dark energy cannons on Akkanar as punishment for the Gamoran’s rebellion. By the end of the day, the planet itself was fractured. An eerie green hue, raging thunderstorms and monstrosities created out of dark energy.”

“…Green? Not blue?” he pondered.

“Mhm. But I’m willing to bet you a thousand credits that what caused this was no different from it—”

Alarms blared violently again, and one of the engineers quickly cried out.

“We’re detecting a large subspace rupture! Something is about to enter the System!”

“On screen!” Aleksander instructed quickly.

It was a… ship? But it was too big, Aleksander thought to himself. It’s easily the size of a moon. What sort of ship is this?

A jet-black vessel erupted from hyperspace and was heading into their direction at immense speeds. It would take less than twenty minutes for them to reach their location, and their weapons even less. Its huge, armored panels began to open wide at the center as a blinding light started to gather at the center of the ship. It was already readying its weapons.

‘Is this a sick joke? It's larger than even a Mirati Hyperion.’ Aleksander thought to himself as he dropped onto one of the seats. The noise around him began to muddle and he began to feel sick. An enormous pressure was crushing him at this very moment. Panic was beginning to seep in.

Noticing this, Buwks-Be rushed over to Aleksander, violently striking his fist with his cheek, sending him tumbling down and out of his chair.

“Get a hold of yourself, Cordero! You do not have the right to give up yet!” The Admiral roared angrily as he made his way to where Aleksander fell. Grabbing him by the collar, the Qwumx pulled him up to his feet and gave him a good shake. “Snap out of it. We’re not dead yet.”

With this, Buwks-Be rushed back towards his seat and quickly brought up communications to all decks.

“This is Admiral Buwks-Be speaking. I want you to divert all energy to our thrusters and shields. We’ll use that blue ball of death to escape our pursuers.”

“But sir!” one of the younger officers cried out. “We cannot get any sort of reading on that planet. Those storms will completely incapacitate our systems! We're going to get torn about!”

Buwks-Be immediately shot that down. “Quiet! It’s either that or we die here, Officer! Now power those damn thrusters!”

The young officer clenched her fist and complied with the Admiral’s instruction. Minotaur-Class Strike Cruiser Alpha was now heading at full speed towards the unknown planet, quickly followed by that hostile ship.

“We’re at full speed yet they’re still gaining on us, Admiral…” Aleksander stated with clear uneasiness in his voice. “I think we’re going to make it to atmosphere before they’re in range, but…”

“But you think those storms will tear us apart, don’t you?”

Aleksander nodded affirmatively.

“Even though I’ve never done it, I heard that the Mirati Empire had successfully touched down on one of these planets before.” Buwks-Be explained. “Granted, they have a better grasp of all this dark matter dark energy stuff than we do, but if they did it… that means we can do it too.”

“In theory.” Aleksander retorted.

“This planet also has something different about it. It appears to be in a far worse state than what happened to Akkanar, so I dread to know what we’re going to find on the ground.”

“Let’s hope we don’t need to stay down there for long.” Aleksander sighed. “If those storms are as violent as they look, they might tear the ship apart.”

---

Five minutes to impact.

---

“Hostile ship has fired upon us. I repeat, the ship has fired upon us!”

Alpha shook violently as the beam clashed with the ship’s deflectors. With a single blow, the energy shields were toasted, and a hole was punched clean through the engine compartment.

“Energy shields are down! Hull breached! Initiating lockdown of the impacted areas.”

All the officers and engineers were going ballistic. Is this all the Minotaur Class amounted to in face of this unknown ship?

And what’s more, they were about to enter the atmosphere without anything to shield them from the storm! If anyone on the ship believed in any God, it was high time they started to pray, because only such a power could save them now.

Alpha shook violently once more, as another energy beam collided with the ship, blowing another hole through some of the ships xentronium armor. It wasn’t quite strong enough to pierce the hull as well, probably due to the angle at which it hit, but the cruiser was on its last legs.

“Entering planetary atmosphere now—” Aleksander grunted loudly as he presented the situation, glued to his chair by the enormous gravitational pull. Whatever that storm on the surface was, it was bringing the Alpha down, fast!

“What about…” Buwks-Be gasped. “…the other ship?”

“It seems to have broken off pursuit! They’re not following us!” Aleksander replied.

“That’s good news my boy but I don’t think we’re going to be able to get through this one in one piece!” Buwks-Be chuckled loudly as the ship continued to descend quickly towards the planet’s surface.

“Brace yourselves! Imminent emergency landing! Whatever you do, do not let go of your seats!” the navigator cried out.

As moments passed, the ship got closer to the surface faster and faster.

“Thank you for the opportunity, Admiral!”

As Aleksander gave his regards, the Alpha crashed into the planetary surface, tearing itself apart on impact.

 

[Nikolai]

Well, that was bleak. Seems there are some really strong powers in action. But are they really malevolent? Or merely protecting themselves against the outer world?

 

[HistoryDude]

This AAR looks fun. Subbed.

Were there human states besides the Human Empire?

Did the Mirati betray their allies in the coalition, or does everyone else just want to challenge their newfound hegemony?

Will those human refugees in Dark Space emerge into normal space again? It looks like they're willing to attack vessels that venture to their new home... or were the aggressors in that scene not human?

Are there any other Fallen Empires besides the Mirati? Was the Mirati Imperium a Fallen Empire? Its denizens are described as people who "awoke from" their "isolationism", after all, which brought that idea to mind.

 

[crisrko]

Well, that was bleak. Seems there are some really strong powers in action. But are they really malevolent? Or merely protecting themselves against the outer world?

I suppose Dark Space is uncharted for a reason. Whoever it was, they don't like seeing military vessels.

This AAR looks fun. Subbed.

Were there human states besides the Human Empire?

Did the Mirati betray their allies in the coalition, or does everyone else just want to challenge their newfound hegemony?

Will those human refugees in Dark Space emerge into normal space again? It looks like they're willing to attack vessels that venture to their new home... or were the aggressors in that scene not human?

Are there any other Fallen Empires besides the Mirati? Was the Mirati Imperium a Fallen Empire? Its denizens are described as people who "awoke from" their "isolationism", after all, which brought that idea to mind.

Glad to see you're intrigued.

So, without going in too much detail, since a lot of those "questions" are covered in future chapters...

"Were there human states besides the Human Empire?"
No. It absorbed/annexed all human states before the Coalition War. Now, after the Empire splintered, there are a few human "states", though they are governed by other empires.

"Did the Mirati betray their allies in the coalition, or does everyone else just want to challenge their newfound hegemony?"
Yesn't. In the end they did not betray the coalition, however the issue is pretty straightforward: they have complete technological advantage, and this makes everyone nervous for a repeat of the Coalition War.

"Will those human refugees in Dark Space emerge into normal space again? It looks like they're willing to attack vessels that venture to their new home... or were the aggressors in that scene not human?"
Dark Space isn't just "loyalist" territory. At least in my vision, Dark Space is a combination of uncharted star systems, as well as systems that were lost during the Coalition War. As far as who the aggressors were exactly, it'll be revealed later on.

"Are there any other Fallen Empires besides the Mirati?"
Yep, there are. Unfortunately, the Coalition War wasn't really a war to end all wars, and all this technological advancement is bound to wake up a fallen empire. (rip the ouijanese)

"Was the Mirati Imperium a Fallen Empire? Its denizens are described as people who "awoke from" their "isolationism", after all, which brought that idea to mind."
Mechanically, no. It was a super advanced empire with an origin from a mod. It's also sort of a reference to my first AAR. As far as the narrative goes, it was more of a "stagnant" empire. They have peaked technologically and were just minding their own business, until a certain someone decided to come find out.

 

[crisrko]

"A gift, from us to you. With this, you will be able to fight the Empire on equal grounds. All you have to do is take it."

Vaklan IX Larian, Emperor of the Mirati Imperium, before members of the Galactic Coalition

---

Aleksander Cordero, Qwumx Autocracy
Fifth Murder
Pit of Hopelessness
Unknown planet


Only a few hours had passed since the Alpha Strike Cruiser was engaged by an unknown ship, causing it to ultimately flee into an unknown raging ball of storms. Despite its state-of-the-art construction, the vessel could not survive the planet’s atmosphere and was torn apart upon crashing on its surface.

By what could only be called a miracle, some of the crew had managed to survive. Commodore Aleksander Cordero, now the highest-ranking officer, assembled his small team of survivors to secure their crash site.

One of the survivors, a young male Dannian known as Hine Pita was tasked with maintaining watch while the rest of the group salvaged whatever supplies and equipment from the ship they could. Formerly a member of the Autocracy’s Marine Corps, Hine Pita had chosen to switch careers after serving for two years in a garrison on a fringe system. His ability to tinker with things and engineering prowess had seen him fast tracked by Admiral Buwks-Be into the Fifth Murder’s engineering division.

“Hine Pita to Commodore Cordero, come in.”

“I hear you loud and clear, Pita, what’s going on?” Aleksander replied while overseeing the last two members of his ragtag crew disassembling one of the nutri-replicators.

“It’s not like I can see well anything beyond ten meters, but it feels like the storm is getting worse.” The young Dannian explained while tightening his grip on his dark energy rifle. “Remind me what the plan is after we gather supplies?”

“Good news is that we managed to salvage the quantum beacon.”

“And the bad news?” Pita sighed loudly before asking.

“It can’t get through the storm. If we’re going to send out a distress signal, we’d need to get somewhere high. Preferably out of the storm.”

A moment of silence.

“Are you shitting me?” Pita blurted out. “Through that storm?!”

“You’ve a better idea, Engineer?” Aleksander retorted.

A longer moment of silence followed before Aleksander continued.

“We’ve got two dark energy rifles, a gauss rifle and four plasma pistols. If the storm doesn’t get us, our equipment and supplies should do. We’ll be out there in a second.”

Aleksander disconnected his communication device before slinging the gauss rifle over his shoulder.

“Thon-Tlau, Iris, are you two ready?”

Thon-Tlau, an older male Qwumx, was the only surviving navigator from the crash. Having served on the Fifth Murder for over a decade, he had become the primary navigator for the Alpha and one of Admiral Buwks-Be’s most trusted friends.

Iris on the other hand, was human female. Much like Aleksander, she was the descendant of a refugee family from the planet Pang and the only other engineer serving on the Alpha along with Hine Pita.

Together, these four made up the remaining crew of the Alpha Strike Cruiser and the only known survivors of the Fifth Murder.

“Equipped and ready to go, sir.” Iris responded.

“Same here, Commodore.” Thon-Tlau also responded.

While a good chunk of the equipment was blasted out by the impact, a few environmental suits remained on the ship. Built out of a special neutronium alloy, they were the state-of-the-art military combat equipment available to the Autocracy, and the only chance to survive inside the environment itself.

As the trio exited the torn hull, Pita dropped down from his location and next to them.

Wading through the storm, the high winds tore about at their environmental suits, leaving deep, visible scratches onto their surfaces. It was getting worse by the minute. Whatever limited visibility they had was already dropping and they were not going to be able to survive much longer out there.

Hine Pita and Cordero aside, the trip itself was extremely strenuous for the group. Thon-Tlau and Iris never received any sort of military training beyond basic equipment training, so they did not have the stamina necessary to travel this harsh terrain. The surface was slippery and uneven, a desolate sight. Most rock formations appear to have been almost carbonized, while the ground felt like glass. Massive chasms spread throughout the land, causing Iris to almost fall into one.

“We need to find cover now, Commodore!” Thon-Tlau shouted. “We need to wait out this storm! We won’t make it much longer!”

“We’ve been going for hours, Commodore. I agree with the bird.” Pita nodded in agreement.

Aleksander heaved as the wind clawed at his throat. It seems that the suit was also being overwhelmed.

“I can’t see anything to take cover in… but that path seems to be heading higher up. Worth a try, I reckon.” Iris interjected.

“Okay. Let’s follow that path, hopefully we can find some cover.”

Slowly but surely, the group started moving forward again. Climbing higher and higher, even losing one of their supply bags as Thon-Tlau slipped and almost broke his legs. He stepped on an unstable rock formation and caused it to break off, him falling down with it for a few meters.

Thankfully, Pita and Iris were quick on the uptake and managed to catch him before he fell down into the endless blue void. A pity for the plasma grenades they lost with that bag though.

---

A while longer?

---

“I can see a cave! Hey, do you hear me?!” Iris cried out to the others, waving her hands in the air.

Aleksander, Thon-Tlau and Pita rushed up after her, and the four made their way inside the structure. Unlike other structures on this planet, this one didn’t seem to be carbonized. It’s floor was extremely slippery, but it was nothing like the glass outside.

“This should keep us covered from the storm.” Pita noted as he reached into his waistline, retrieving a glowstick. Turning it on, he waved it around, inspecting the walls. “It looks better than nothing. It doesn’t seem to have any holes leading down deeper.”

“Then we can take a break here.” Aleksander nodded as he dropped his bag on the floor, collapsing next to it.

Thon-Tlau remained by the entrance to keep watch, gripping his dark energy rifle close to himself.

Iris opened one of the supply bags, removing some nutrient paste and a few packets of crackers. Nutri-paste, as it’s colloquially known, was nothing short of disgusting, but it never spoiled; it never went bad, and it could last for decades before drying up. If you could bear the taste, it provided enough vitamins and minerals to nourish even the most physically active soldiers. And the crackers. The crackers were just better than nothing.

“It’s been getting colder.” Pita complained. “You think this is the latter part of the day?”

“I don’t know how days work on this planet.” Aleksander replied. “It seems to be stuck in a perpetual storm.”

“Will it ever end?” Iris inquired as she curled up next to Aleksander, helping herself to a nutrient paste cracker.

Aleksander and Pita shrugged their shoulders in unison. Neither of them had seen anything like this in their lifetime. Nothing of the sorts is taught at the Academy, in basic training, anywhere, really. As far as they were concerned, this sort of thing didn’t even exist until today.

“Admiral Buwks-Be told me he saw something similar back during the Coalition War.”

Iris and Pita shifted their attention to Aleksander as he began to retell the Admiral’s story.

“It was during the Gamoran revolt. You guys know how the Gamorans used to work with the Human Empire, but ultimately turned on them as the war turned bad for them, right?”

“Sort of. Haven’t heard much about it during history lessons.” Iris replied.

“Not that many Gamorans left around the galaxy.” Pita continued. “Ye lot wiped almost all of them out.”

Aleksander bobbed his head slowly.

“Akkanar was punished by the Human Empire for their betrayal. Buwks-Be said that they unleashed all their dark energy weapons in a hellish bombardment.” Aleksander sighed before continuing. “In the end, it turned into something similar to this planet, apparently.”

“So this planet suffered a similar fate, eh? Someone bombarded the living hell out of it?”

“It kind of makes sense.” Iris replied. “It’s all… eerie and ghastly. Not a trace of a living soul. Permanent storms. We don’t completely understand this whole technology anyway. It was a hand-out from the Mirati to help the war effort.”

“Well we shouldn’t have been using technologies we don’t understand, don’t ye think?” Pita puffed, unclipping his helmet and resting it in his lap.

Aleksander let out a defeated chuckle. “You say that as if the Autocracy should've turned down technological parity with the Empire. Either way, they have an endless stream of soldiers to pick from; equipment mishaps won't bother them much.”

A momentary silence befell the group. Aleksander words rang true. All of them had been indebted to the Autocracy. Iris and Aleksander were indebted to the state since their ancestors first arrived on Pang, while Pita was bought from a bunch of pirates and released by a government official. His freedom would not be free however, becoming indentured to the Autocracy like all the other non-Qwumx.

“You think they’re looking for us, Commodore?” Pita enquired.

Aleksander shook his head lightly.

“Unless Gamma escaped, I don’t know. We’re a pretty specialized fleet. It’s only four ships… And most of us were ‘owned’ by the Autocracy anyway. I don’t know.”

“Well then you’ve a damn plan or are we all going to wallow in self pity before dying to the weather?”

“Stop it. Now’s not the time to argue about this. We’re alive for now, and that’s all that matters!” Iris interjected quickly, pushing herself up to her feet and staring down at the two.

Aleksander rolled his eyes while Pita scoffed and pushed himself up to his feet like an angry, spoiled child.

Pita slowly made his way towards the entrance to the cave before furrowing his eyebrows and raising his weapon.

“Commodore!” he called out. “Wasn’t Thon-Tlau meant to be standing guard at the entrance?”

Aleksander immediately came to his side with Iris in tow. Thon-Tlau was nowhere to be found. His dark energy rifle and his helmet were on the ground, but he wasn’t. Did he run into the storm by himself? It was the first thing that the group asked themselves, but it wouldn’t make sense.

“Did any of you hear anything?” Aleksander inquired.

“Haven’t seen or heard anything, ya git. I was with you, remember?” Pita hissed.

“No…” Iris replied, frantically looking around.

The group called out to him, even leaving the cave for a few brief moments to look around. But he wasn’t there. He was nowhere nearby. They couldn’t find him, ultimately returning to the cave to wait for better weather. Aleksander, Pita and Iris would sleep through the night with one eye open.

Three left.

 

[Nikolai]

Three left.

Uh oh. That doesn't bode well.

Excellent ending on the chapter!

 

[HistoryDude]

Where did Thon-Tlau go?

Are we 100% certain that this isn't Akkanar?

 

[crisrko]

Where did Thon-Tlau go?

Are we 100% certain that this isn't Akkanar?

Bro vanished.

We're not; but its not like Akkanar was the only fractured world in the war.

 

[crisrko]

"Defeat is not an option. We cannot allow the Imperium to reach Kni'thokon before the device is ready. Now go."

Emedev Assen, last Emperor of the Human Empire

---

Aleksander Cordero, Qwumx Autocracy
Fifth Murder survivors
Pit of Hopelessness


“We’ve been walking for hours with no progress, Aleksander!” Pita complained. “We’ve crossed through chasms, dodged just as many sinkholes, but ultimately we’ve made no progress!”

Tensions were running high. After Thon-Tlau disappeared, the group had been unable to get proper rest. Everyone was alert, alert for whatever caused him to disappear. Mistakes were now slowly bound to happen.

“Keep moving, Pita. We need to keep moving.” Aleksander pressed forward unfazed, moving past Pita.

Frustrated, the Dannian lunged forward, grabbing Aleksander by his shoulder to twist him around and shove him back. Losing his footing, Aleksander stumbles back, falling to the ground.

“Keep moving?! Keep moving where?!”

Pita screamed out in frustration, spreading his arms out wide as he motioned to their surroundings.

“We can’t see further than a few meters. Thon-Tlau disappeared out of nowhere. We’re running on fumes and our supplies will run out soon! What’s your damn plan?! Care to share with us?!”

Aleksander pushed himself to his feet, rushing towards Pita and tackling him to the ground. Something inside him finally snapped. He’s had enough of all the complaints and his childish behavior. He was in just as much trouble as he was.

Knocking him down, Aleksander straddled the man and began to unleash a series of punches. As the scuffle between the two devolved into a brawl, Iris looked at the two and cried out to them in frustration:

“Stop it! Stop it!” Iris was on the verge of tears. After Thon-Tlau disappeared, everything just spiraled out of control. With a new storm approaching, it was impossible to find him; for better or worse, he was dead.

“I’m sick of you, Pita. I’m sick!” Aleksander huffed as he threw another punch in the Dannian’s visor. “I’m sick of your complaining. You got a better idea, you moron?!” He cried out, his frustrations oozing out. “I’m all for it you stupid dwarf, come on. You think you can get us off this hellhole?!”

Pita caught that punch square in the face, the impact between the reinforced knuckles and his visor causing the glass to crack. As Aleksander slowed down his assault, Pita grabbed onto his suit, throwing him onto the ground and reversing their positions. Pita began to strike down at Aleksander, going for his liver, his throat, even trying to tear his helmet off.

‘Those two completely lost it.’ Iris thought to herself as she stared at her companion’s brawl.

But the brawl was getting worse and worse. Aleksander and Pita were actively trying to harm each other. If it wasn’t for the armor plating of the environmental suit, they’d probably have hurt one another by now. Iris knew that she would have to break it up, lest those two idiots probably end up killing each other.

And thus, Iris grits her teeth and cocks back her dark energy rifle with determination.

“Stop it you morons!” she screamed as she fired two shots in the air.

Aleksander and Pita instinctively split away from each other and focused their gaze on Iris. They had finally regained their senses, and the two collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

“Gah. What am I doing…?” Pita mumbled under his breath as he held his head in his palms. For a faint moment, the Dannian rocked back and forth before rushing to his feet once more.

Pita was a prideful fellow. He was quick to anger, and this environment did nothing to help his worse tendencies. It was only a matter of time until he would have snapped and caused a fight with Aleksander. Deep inside he knew that this was not his fault. Poor man was doing the best he could, and he knew that.

But Pita would not apologize, at least not openly. Shaking his head a few times, Pita turned towards Aleksander and their two gazes locked. A momentary pause. Pita nodded to the man before pulling his rifle off the ground.

Aleksander returned the nod and heaved a loud sigh.

Iris looked at the two idiots and relaxed, lowering her weapon: “Come on… Let’s keep going.”

As the girl slowly turned around, a loud scream came from the duo’s direction.

“Iris!” “Get back!”

An ominous blue monster. A large floating eyeball, a long tail stretching out from what would be its socket. Atop its ‘head’, a small formation of crystals. Did the commotion attract this beast? Was it the dark energy rifle she fired?

By turning around, she was now face to face with it. Was it there all this time? How did none of them notice it until now?

Pita and Aleksander raised their weapons and cocked them back before aiming at the floating monster, but they were too late. The monster let out a blood curdling shriek before revealing an immense set of razor-sharp teeth. Ferociously, the beast latched onto the girls shoulder, shattering the environmental suits armor within a second.

Aleksander let out a guttural scream as Iris began crying out in pain, shaken from left to right in the mouth of the monster. Chunks of her armor plating flew out, revealing the gushing blood from her brachial artery.

Immediately, the two men rushed forward, unleashing a flurry of bullets in its direction. Instinctively, the monster let go of its prey and avoided the strike. Circling around with large speed, the beast attacked once more, knocking down Pita with great force. Enough force to make the Dannian drop his weapon, before circling the group once again ready to pounce.

Aleksander shot blindly around him until his clip ran out, unable to inflict any visible damage on the monster. Did the gauss rounds not do any damage to it, or was he that lousy of a shot? It couldn’t be the latter, he often trained with the Qwumx Marine Forces.

As the clip ran out and the weapon clicked loudly, the monster charged once more, this time towards Aleksander. Pita, however, was able to regain his composure and armament, breaking off the monster’s attack with a well-placed flurry of dark energy rounds and winning Aleksander a few moments.

Aleksander cursed and reloaded his weapon while charging towards Iris. The floating monster shrieked in pain, creating some distance between itself and the group.

“Get her on your shoulder! We need to run!” Pita shouted out as he continued to ward off the monster with his shooting.

Aleksander dropped down on his knees next to the girl while removing a small first aid kit from his duty belt.

‘Fuck. This is not good.’

Iris’s shoulder had a good chunk missing out of it. Bone tissue was exposed, and she had severe frostbite on the skin surrounding the opening. At this rate, she only had a couple of minutes left.

“I need to apply a stim, else she won’t make it out of her, Pita! Buy me a few more seconds!”

The floating eyeball circled once again before charging at Pita.

“Die!”

Thud, thud, thud.

After a series of direct hits, the monster collapsed to the ground. Without delay, Pita rushed forward, emptying the rest of his magazine in its head.

“I think… I think it’s dead. Aleksander, what’s Iris’s status?”

Aleksander lifted Iris on his shoulders and quickly stood up, holding his gauss rifle in his free hand.

“I’ve stabilized her with a stim and applied a nanite repair kit to seal her suit. It seems to be holding for now, but she'll need time to recover.”

Pita breathed a sigh of relief.

“What now? We’ve caused a huge commotion. If there’s more of these things, we’ve made sure they know we’re here.” the Dannian asked before prodding the dead monster with the tip of his rifle.

“Storm seems to be clearing up. We keep marching on to a higher vantage point, but we need to tend to her wounds properly.”

“Fine. We need to find another cave then.” Pita prodded the monster again with his foot before slinging the rifle around his back.

---

After walking for a an unknown amount of time...

---

Aleksander and Pita have finally come across a structure. A tall, obsidian-like rock formation with a hole big enough for a human sized adult to squeeze through. It seems that the trio have lucked out for now.

After they successfully made their way inside, it was clear that this cave expanded in several directions. To the right of the entrance, the cave seemed to descend underground. Walking forward, the cave turned into a large opening. It was deep enough to shield them from the storm.

“I think this will have to do for now.”

Aleksander concluded while lowering Iris onto the ground. Pita rolled out one of their sleeping bags, using it to warm her up.

“She’s still alive?” Pita asked.

“Yeah. Stim did the job. We were quick enough, looks like the nanites were able to repair her artery.”

“Good thing we managed to salvage the stims from the ship.” Pita nodded. “So, what now, then?”

Aleksander pondered for a few moments.

“We need to wait for her to regain consciousness. I don’t want us to run into one of these things again while carrying her. “

Pita bobbed his head before plopping himself down. He started rummaging through his bag, retrieving a few rations; he’d hand one out to Aleksander and the two would begin to wait in silence.

A few more hours would pass; Aleksander and Pita remain by Iris’s side, making sure to feed her and give her water as her body fights to regain consciousness.

 

[HistoryDude]

Oh, hey! A monster appeared... that probably helped paper over the differences between the survivors of Fifth Murder.

Is it a coincidence that the creature targeted the voice of reason?

 

[Nikolai]

So there IS life out there. What else, I wonder?

 

[crisrko]

Oh, hey! A monster appeared... that probably helped paper over the differences between the survivors of Fifth Murder.

Is it a coincidence that the creature targeted the voice of reason?

Voice of reason lit up the sky with her pistol to stop two morons from killing eachother out of a mental breakdown. No good deed does unpunished - some random Mirati somewhere

So there IS life out there. What else, I wonder?

More twisted life... the Imperium did safeguard these areas for a reason.

LE: I forgot to mention that next chapter will be wrapping up this short story, and then I will be focusing on another one, to explore other parts of the galaxy

 

[crisrko]

"By orders of the Emperor. Begin bombardment. Initiate code Annihilatus."
Unknown Fleet Admiral, during the siege of Akkanar

---

Aleksander Cordero, Qwumx Autocracy
Fifth Murder survivors
Pit of Hopelessness

It was the third day on the planet for the group. After losing an entire day to tend to Iris’s wounds, supplies were starting to run somewhat low. Food on the ship was created by a nutrient replicator, so it was not stocked up in excess. Assumptions by the Qwumx Navy were, to put it bluntly, that if the ship were destroyed, there would be no need to carry any food.

Stranded survivors on an unknown planet were not a scenario that was even under consideration when the ships were designed, nor would they expect that the four ships would be decimated the moment they skipped the Imperium starbases and entered the Dark Space.

“We need to start moving. Cave’s been all cozy and everything, but we need to get that beacon up before we run out of food.” Pita said while wiping clean the tub of nutrient paste.

“Can you walk now?” Aleksander asked, looking at Iris.

Iris nodded confidently before pushing herself up and making a show out of rotating her injured shoulder and stretching her legs.

“As good as new.” she said, as Aleksander offered her a plasma pistol.

“Use this. Ideally, we’d use a ballistic weapon, but we only have a single Gauss rifle.” Aleksander explained. “I hope we don’t run into another one of those things.”

“Else we’re screwed.” Pita added while getting up to his feet; he’d go on to clear his Gauss rifle before showing an OK to Aleksander.

Iris picked up one of the bags from the ground after setting the plasma pistol in her holster. “What about the storm?”

“Storm cleared up, somewhat.” Aleksander explained. “We won’t be walking blind anymore, but it’s not like we’re going for a nice summer stroll.”

“You sure you don’t want to explore that underground path?” Pita asked.

“We can try leave a marker here for… well, if we ever get to explore this planet. For now, I just want to get off this thing.” Aleksander responded.

Iris raised her hand before chiming in. “I really want to get off this planet, as well.”

Pita just shrugged his shoulders and exited the cave. Aleksander and Iris followed quickly behind him, exiting into the storm outside. The air was heavy, and the wind pressed against their throats even with the protection of their environmental suits. Blinding flashes of lightning split the sky in two, followed by deep, rolling rumbles of thunder that would vibrate through the ground beneath the trio’s feet.

“…Storm cleared up, he says.” Iris scoffed.

A few hours of walking later the group come across a narrow, winding trail. After quick deliberation, or rather, desperation, Aleksander instructs Pita and Iris to follow him through the trail. As they continued to ascend, the thick air started to thin and the dense fog that plagued their steps before was also dissipating.

Unfortunately, the trail was strewn with loose rocks and loose boulders, making every step a potential death sentence. A stim could repair a torn artery, but this would mean nothing to a fall from this altitude; suit or not, an impact from this height would mean certain death.

In perhaps their first stroke of good luck, they made it through the trail, nearing the summit of what appeared to be the remains of a mountainous formation. You couldn’t really tell anyway, considering almost everything was for better or worse, glassed by dark energy.

“I suppose this is the best we can do.” Aleksander said, as he continued to move forward, rotating his body as he surveyed his immediate surroundings. “We should be pretty high, no?”

Pita nodded in agreement as he took off his backpack and removed the beacon from a small metal box.

“Aye. We’ve been walking up for at least an hour. It’ll have to do.”

“Guys… It feels like we’re being watched, don’t you think?” Iris complained while hovering her hand over her holster. “I had this feeling ever since we entered that trail, but right now, it’s the worst.”

Aleksander tapped a few buttons on the side of his left bracer, initiating a scanning sequence of their immediate surroundings; but the scan could not detect any other lifeforms nearby.

“I’ve nothing on the reader.” He explained. “Are you sure it’s not just the exhaustion?”

“Don’t be thick, Aleksander.” Pita chimed in from the side after finalizing the deployment of the beacon. “Our scanners haven’t worked so far, and let’s not act like they detected that… that…” Pita could not really find his words. “Aberration.”

“I’m sure.” Iris nodded confidently as she unholstered her weapon.

Pita and Aleksander stood up to their feet while the beacon continued to hum and readied their weapons, scanning their immediate surroundings.

A few moments passed, though it felt like eternity. Aleksander could feel the hair on his body standing up as the tension mounted, unable to rationalize the dread he was feeling. His body screamed at him to run, even though there was nothing. His breathing became heavy, as did the others.

A few more moments passed, and a single figure became visible on the trail they came from. Slowly but surely, it made its way towards them. It was a single, humanoid figure, with pronounced avian features. Its armor was dented, torn apart at the collar and breast, and their helmet was missing.

“No way…” Pita mumbled under his breath.

“Thon-Tlau? He’s alive?” Iris asked, the hand holding her weapon shaking slightly.

By the time they snapped out of their shock, Thon-Tlau stood at the edge of the trail. A battered and bloody body; his gaze was deadpan and there was no real emotion on his face. Any signs of age were gone from his face, it was as if he was completely rejuvenated.

“What the hell happened to him?” Pita asked, as he grew visibly more distressed. His finger was hovering over the Gauss Rifle’s trigger as he aimed down the avian.

“Guys, I don’t think that’s Thon-Tlau. He looks… weird.” Iris commented.

Aleksander carefully took a few steps forward, bridging some of the distance between himself and Thon-Tlau; he maintained his posture and kept his weapon aimed at him.

“Buddy? Is that you?” he asked.

But the avian would not answer back. Thon-Tlau continued to stare back at him, deadpan, motionlessly. Temperature around them dropped quickly, the environmental suit blaring an almost deafening alarm inside their helmets.

‘Temperature critical. Temperature critical.’

Aleksander could see his breath turn into fog inside his helmet. Whatever was going on, the suits could no longer keep up with the temperature in their immediate surroundings. A faint shriek could be heard in the distance. And then another, and another, until a cacophony of bloodcurling shrieks drowned out all the noise in the area.

Pita shuffled around uneasily, taking his eyes off Thon-Tlau and instead scanning the skies. Iris did the same, taking a few steps back towards the beacon. Only Aleksander kept his aim on the avian, unable to do anything but trust that the two would have his back.

Thon-Tlau stepped closer once again, his movements rugged, but oddly fluid at the same time. An oppressive dread came over Aleksander, intensifying with each step; the temperature continued to drop until Aleksander could feel frostbite around his fingers and toes. His weapon became unnaturally heavy, and he started feeling dizzy.

Thon-Tlau stopped just short of him, staring at him with blue, glowing eyes. The cacophony of shrieks settled, as if the world itself was holding its breath in anticipation. Within a moment, the avian creature lunged at Aleksander, causing him to open fire.

A burst of dark energy shot out of his rifle, hitting the creature dead in the center, causing it to stumble back and collapse with a loud thud. Whatever remained of the suit’s breastplate burned away, revealing the melting flesh beneath. It was a horrid stench. Burnt and decayed flesh. If there was any sort of doubt that Thon-Tlau was dead, it was dispelled now. He’d been dead for days.

Aleksander took a step forward, intending to dump the rest of the energy clip in the body, but the creature stood up once again. Pieces of the armor dropped down on the ground with a loud clang, burned by the dark energy. Aleksander’s breathing was heavy as he began to step back, releasing another burst of dark energy into him.

“It’s not working!” Aleksander cried out to the two behind him.

“Guys, I don’t want to be the one stating the obvious, but do we even know if someone is going to find us?!” Iris cried out. “Let alone that, are we going to hold out until then?”

Pita stepped forward from Iris’s side and slowly approached Aleksander as he began to unload his Gauss Rifle into the avian creature. Each strike shook its body, but it pressed on, undeterred by the pain and flying chunks of its flesh. A single loud shriek escaped its mouth, causing Aleksander to stumble back and fall on his butt.

Immediately, the shriek was returned from the distance. Once again, their surroundings were drowned out by the shrieks of other unseen aberrations. And slowly, the noise grew louder, and louder, and louder, until it was upon them. Humanoid bodies came up the trail behind the avian; decayed, battered. Armored and unarmored, symbols of different species and ages now past.

Aleksander could make sense of some of them, even though their appearance was affected by the passing of time. Gamorrans, Humans, Dannians, even a few Mirati and other species he could not recognize. By now, dozens of such creatures surrounded them and their beacon. In the sky, flying aberrations like the one they encountered previously began to circle their location.

Pita cursed and mumbled under his breath as he shot up in the sky, trying to deter the floating monsters from swooping down upon them. Iris stood before the beacon, shielding it with her torso while shooting down each body that got too close.

Aleksander fired his Dark Energy rifle blindly into the group of monsters, taking one down with each burst. Unlike Thon-Tlau, these ones seemed to be taking damage. Was his rifle actually effective? Or did the passage of time, amplified by the searing heat of the energy, make those walking corpses unrecoverable as their limbs and torso were destroyed?

Each destroyed corpse was replaced by another; and endless stream of corpses rose from the ground, walked up the trail; an unending horde. If they all charged them at once, they’d be dead. But they didn’t. In front of this army of monsters, Thon-Tlau’s body stood still, mockingly, mocking their friend’s memory, mocking their struggle. It enjoyed watching them try to stay alive and protect that beacon.

However, this would not be Aleksander’s grave. When all seemed lost, his helmet rang. It was a communication channel. It came from an unknown frequency; at least it was not a recognizable Qwumx frequency.

“…come in.” it crackled. “Do you—” it crackled again “us?”

Aleksander pressed a few buttons on his bracer quickly, trying to narrow down the frequency.

“…area”. It crackled again. “Jump… imminent.”

A jump? But before Aleksander could register what exactly the voice meant, a rift tore open above their beacon, a single ship hovering above them. It was a Imperium Escort-Class. In the next moment, its dark energy cannons turned towards the beacon, the light at their tip slowly gathering, amplifying. It was ready to fire.

“Initiating beam.” The voice said once again, as Aleksander, Pita and Iris were frozen in place for a moment then slowly pulled up in the air. The cannons opened fire, unleashing a hellish bombardment upon the surface, melting the monsters into the glass beneath them. For a moment, he locked eyes with Thon-Tlau’s corpse. A sneer, he thought, appeared on the monster’s face, before the blue light in his eyed dimmed, collapsing into a mess of flesh and bone that would burn under the bombardment.

As the beaming sequence ended, the three found themselves in the hangar of the Imperium vessel. It was large. A single Imperium Escort-Class vessel was larger than a Qwumx Battlecruiser. A sheer display of superiority in both wealth and technology between the Imperium and the rest of the galaxy.

As they collapsed to their knees on the cold neutronium deck, three Mirati Praetorians stood before them. Their violet armor could not be mistaken for anything else; these were the single most dangerous fighting force in the Galaxy, the elites of the Mirati Imperium. Battle hardened psionics recruited through the Order of Ecclesia, reporting directly to the Royal Family of the Imperium.

Before Aleksander could speak, a harrowing pain pierced through his head. An anguish unlike he’s ever felt before. They were prodding through his mind with their psionic powers, unraveling his memories. He could feel them searching for answers.

It wouldn’t take them long to get what they wanted. One of the praetorians spoke gravely.

“Commodore Cordero. We’ve tracked your beacon from our outpost a few systems away. I don’t think you understand how lucky you are to be alive.”

Aleksander dropped his helmet to the ground, gripping his head in pain. A few moments later, as he regained his composure, he answered him.

“What… was that?”

The Praetorian visibly scoffed, looking at the other two beside him.

“You had no business entering this part of the Dark Space, human. Your Autocracy shall sorely pay for this transgression.”

With a single flick of his wrist, the weapons by their sides were flung towards the Praetorians; they were disarmed within a moment. He did not oppose him, nor show any resistance. Pita was quick to rise to his feet, but he was compelled to drop down to his knees once more by the psionic forces wielded by them.

“I have no doubt you already know everything.” Aleksander explained. “Do you know what happened to our other ship?”

“Destroyed.” He answered.

Aleksander froze for a moment before nodding.

“Was it your doing?” he asked.

“No. We are bound by the Treaty to safeguard these lands, but we do not require to kill you to stop your vessels. I believe they were destroyed by the same thing that chased you down to the planet.”

Aleksander nodded once more while Iris and Pita sighed in the background.

“As far as what you saw on the ground… I believe that you already know what it is.” He wafted his hand around, pulling them up to their feet with his psionic powers. “A fractured world. Destroyed during the Coalition War.”

“And what of those… things?” Iris asked.

The Praetorian paused for a moment.

“We call them Voidwraithes. Monsters spawned by the indiscriminate use of Dark Energy on the surface of the planet.” He answered. “Monsters that consume the soul and flesh of those they come across. A fate worse than death.”

Immediately afterwards, he crossed his hands behind his back, interlocking his fingers. Aleksander, Iris and Pita followed him, covered on the side by the other two Praetorians. A while later, after traversing through corridors and elevators on the ship, under the watchful gaze of the Mirati crew, they arrived at their cells.

“You and your crew are hereby under arrest, by the authority of the Mirati Imperium. You will be transported to Miresh Marr where you will await your fate.” The Praetorian declared. “I suggest you pray that your government cares about your lives.”

 

[crisrko]

I have updated the main post to update with all the threadmarks. This wraps up the short story for Aleksander (for now); next update will probably be tomorrow, to start the next short story.

 

[HistoryDude]

At least they're still alive at the moment.

Poor Thon-Tlau. How much did he feel while the Voidwraith took over his body? The Mirati did say it was a fate worse than death.