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[Luya Oknor]

Prolouge

Date: YC 92, March 25th
Sinq Laison, Gallente space

The Navitas mining frigate, The Fortune, drifted through the expanse near-silently. They had been traveling out here the past three weeks to get to a colony in order to deliver some weapons, ammunition, and supplies, and get paid.

Paid.

The word played itself over and over again in Captain Hector Oknor's mind as he sat within the bridge of his ship. Finally some money. He had missed his own son's birth to come out here into this cold harsh land, so it was going to be damn well worth it. "Ange." He said, looking to his co-pilot, "We almost there?"

"Aye Captain." His friend, navigator and co-pilot said. Yes, good, wonderful. Three days at a run-down hotel in a space station and then one week in space was nothing! Hector jumped to his feet and ran to the star-map that Ange was standing over, sipping his morning cup of coffee. "That's Ith." He said, pointing to a glowing yellow dot not far from their position.

"Do we have any way of getting down there? With the cargo?" Hector asked, unsure if they could properly transfer it all at once.

"Yep. The shuttle can take some stuff down, but it'd have to be two trips." Hector nodded.

"Alright, buddy. You go wake everyone up, tell em to meet me in the bay."

"Aye cap'n..." Ange turned and walked out the door. Hector turned his gaze to a viewport, where the planet was coming into view. Ith was once a lush, jungle-covered planet, but after an asteroid hit it, it became a frozen wasteland. It had been like that before Gallente had discovered it. The crater had an ecosystem of its own, where a rainforest had grown. The Minmatar had since colonized it, and constructed a dome over their tiny rainforest city to ensure no cold air got in.

As he made his way down to the shuttlebay, where a small, four-person shuttle waited to take him and a few others down planetside in order to deliver the goods. He walked into the bay wearing his white t-shirt and Gallente naval coat with the sleeves rolled up, some black pants, and work boots. "Gents." He said, wandering in.

Here was Tyrone, a Minmatar he had picked up a few years ago, who was actually stranded out in the middle of an asteroid field. Ange, his friend, who he had met on a station while both of them were serving in the Navy. Trax, a Gallente soldier, and Eloi, the ship's mechanic. There were others aboard, many. But these were the men who he had trusted on this little mission. "Everything loaded?" Tyrone nodded, crossing his large arms.

"Yes sir. Weapons, food, water, all that. How long ago was this requested?" The Minmatar asked curiously.

"About two weeks. No biggie, hopefully they didn't run out of everything." He chuckled, punching the muscular man in the arm, who winced a bit. Within the hour, they were off, speeding through space and descending like an angel to deliver these goods.

"Sir." Ange said, grabbing hold of Hector's sleeve, "The ship is reporting danger."

"Patch em through, if it's an emerganc-" He heard the comm scream in terror. And then silence. Hector's eyes met Ange's. "What?" Was all he could say as the shuttle jolted violently. Thankfully, they were all strapped in. Another jolt. Eloi's straps came undone, and the man panicked, grabbed for the harness. Another quake in the shuttle, and Eloi went flying, hitting the metal ceiling, his skull smashing against it. Blood and teeth rained upon the others as they burned through the atmosphere, and began to turn on their side. "Ty!" Hector called to Tyrone, who was flying the small vessel. "Get us in safe, please!" He pleaded to his pilot. All Tyrone did in response was give a thumbs-up.

Hector could not see much of the outside from his porthole. He saw snow blinding the glass, there must be a snowstorm. That's what was ruining them. Damn, he thought, hitting himself in the head as he often did when making mistakes. Another jolt, and the ship turned completely upside down. "Hang on." Tyrone muttered, concentrating on the task at hand. "Damn."

The next thing Hector saw was fire engulfing him. He had heard the screams and echoes of tortured metal, and sparks flying everywhere. He saw the lights flicker on and off and then total darkness.

* * *

When Hector came-to, it was dark. He felt dried blood covering his forehead, and tried to stand. He had been unconscious on the side of the ship, his arm resting against the shattered glass of a broken porthole. He stood at his full height, wincing. Looking around, in a flash of light, he could see the body of Eloi draped over one of the bloody seats like a bloody blanket. He looked away, instead looking for a way out. "Captain!" Ange's voice.

"Ange! Where are you?"

"Here!" Hector turned to see a flashlight shining in, and he shielded his eyes with his bloody forearm and walked towards it. He felt Ange grab his arm and drag him from the wreckage. The outside was no better. The entire shuttle was a shredded mess. Fires covered the runway and landing pad. The entire hangar was a mess, and there were barely any other shuttles and landing craft within. Hector then saw Tyrone, propped up against one of the supply crates that they had come to deliver.

"Is he...?"
"He's alive, Hector." Ange responded without thinking. "So is Trax. You've been out for a few hours, we thought you were bloody dead." Hector nodded.

"Right... Where's Trax?" He asked as Ange began dressing his wounds.

"He took a projectile rifle from the supplies and decided to go get help, since no one was coming. He'll be back soon. It's weird, since we got here not one person has shown up, not even a police force of any sort."

"Would they have a police force?" Hector asked, rubbing his oily, bloody hair until Ange stopped him.

"I don't know. Maybe everyone is asleep. Dammit, don't ask me." Hector nodded.

"Right..."

"Captain, you take a nap. I'll keep watch..." He walked over and pulled another rifle from the weapons crate. "If and when Trax returns, I'll be sure to wake you." Hector nodded, and immediately fell asleep.

[Luya Oknor]

I

Hector awoke to the words; "I don't know." He didn't recognize the voice at first, but after sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he realized it was Trax. Trax stood in his military fatigues, a long combat knife on his boot, rifle in hands. A few grenades on his belt.

"Don't know what, Trax?" Trax turned from Ange to him.

"The colony, captain. There's nobody here. It's a ghost town." Hector stood. The sun was shimmering down through the dome high above. He could see very well the gate they had entered had closed shut behind them, and the blizzard that still coursed through the air beyond it. He could hear the rainforest outside the colony's fences, which surrounded the entire airfield. The jungles beyond were dark, and extremely lush. Alien birds squawked, predators roared. A few lizards and snakes scurried across the landing fields in the shadows of vine-covered ships.

"Shit..." Was his only reply, more out of frustration. No money, no colony, no ship. His ship. "What about the Fortune? Any word?"

"None, Cap. Sorry..." Ange replied. Hector turned to Tyrone, who was sleeping still, his chest rising and falling.

"When'll he be up?" Hector asked.

"In a couple hours maybe." Trax replied, nodding. "We should eat."

"Righto..." Hector said, pulling out the crate that contained food. He opened it. MREs, sandwiches, noodle cups, nutrition bars, bottled water and juice. "This should do for now..." He said, pulling a water from the container and unscrewing the cap and sucking down a gulp. "A bit warm..." He said, placing it on an unopened box, and pulling off his military coat and tossing it aside. "Alright, guys, here's the deal." He looked at his audience. A navigator and close friend, a warrior, and an unconscious miner, who he was sure was good in a fight. Good, he thought to himself, yes this would do. "We have crash-landed on Ith, a planet in Gallente space. This at least is good. Will we get help? I don't know. There seems to be nobody else around and this is a ghost-colony. And our ship is gone." He paused for a moment, and took another sip of water.

"Once our friend awakens, we go further into the colony. We look for some sort of communications device with which we can use to contact some aid. Any questions? None? Good. Eat up, gents." He pulled out a sandwich and unwrapped it and bit in. It was better than the water. If worse came to worse, he'd just smoke a lizard. The others began to eat too, and once Tyrone had awoken, they gave him a water and a cup of noodles to eat along with a protein bar. He had two protein bars, the noodles, and three bottles of water and two bathroom breaks.

Once this was done, they packed what they could carry, and grabbed some weapons and walked off into the ruins of the ghost colony.

[Luya Oknor]

II

Trax was in front, a limping Tyrone and Hector in middle, and Ange in the back. They had been walking for at least a half hour through the dense urban area, nearly completely overrun by the native flora. It was a vast city, and the sounds of the rainforest grew more and more distant the further into the urban sprawl they went. In the center of the dome, they could see a massive dome-shamed building. Most windows had no light, but some did, mostly on the eastern portion. Trax pushed aside some vines to look into a lot, only to find a man sporting a fauxhawk, wearing a blue leather coat, and green pants, with no shoes. The man turned, and threw up his arms. "SAVIORS!" He called out, running to them. Trax pulled his gun up to aim down the sight but Hector pushed it down. The man came up to them, and was surprisingly clean, only having some stubble, his clothes were washed. He smelled nice. Too nice.

"What's your deal, friend?" Trax asked, shouldering his rifle. The man scratched the back of his head.

"Oh. Me? Well, I came here on a passenger ship a few months back. Well, was a stowaway on it, actually. I'm bit of an explorer really. I escaped the university of... Begins with a C..."

"Caille university?" Hector asked.

"Ha! YES!" He clapped his hands together. "Brilliant, yes, Caille. I was going to be a starship pilot but, then I could only go to space. Wanted to see everything. The ship began to explode in space so I took a pod down here. Only survivor, sad story. ANYWAYS!" He turned around and threw his hands up into the sky at the brick building behind him. "My home! A habitation-unit. Clean showers, a wash, which you have interrupted me in my laundry duties. Some clothes I've found in the other units, some better than others, and power. I've hacked into a powerplant a few blocks away to give me power." He took a breath, and sat on a chunk of debris. "What brings you here?"

"What the hell happened?" Hector asked, and then realizing his rudeness. "I'm Captain Hector Oknor, these are my crewmates. Trax, Tyrone, Ange. We're the only survivors."

"Survivors? Of whatever happened here? What did happen, eh?" Shit, thought Hector, so he knew just as much as they did.

"No, our ship mysteriously exploded while we were bringing food and suppl-"

"Oh goodie! I'll help you and you can bring them to my house!" He jumped up and ran back the way they came. It had taken an hour, but eventually, all crates were within the man's living room. "Name's John." He nodded, and wiped sweat from his forehead and he opened the food crate to grab a water. "Good H20. Hydrate me please my love!" And he unscrewed the cap like a monster and guzzled it down.

"Right..." Hector said. "What happened to this place? Any idea?" John turned to him, placing the bottle on the wooden arm of a chair and sat in it.

"I'm going to be honest and serious now, Hector. I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't know. Not a soul. Though..." He stood, and walked over to a console on the wall by the kitchen door and activated it and began to type. "There's a forcefield keeping the local fauna from getting in, well, save from lizards and some species of bird but there are some real nasties out there."

"Right, and?" Hector was getting impatient. John turned to him after a moment of silence.

"Right, sorry. A decade ago, it was shut off, and then reactivated. I am guessing that this forcefield, unless somebody somewhere out in the universe is controlling it, it shuts down every now and then, and the colony becomes a sandbox for whoever built this damned place. It's shut down well over ten times since I got here. My only weapons were a wooden spear and a bow. Thankfully, I have you people now to help me."

"What?" Hector asked. "What the hell even?" John sighed, and continued typing on the ancient console.

"I've even found records of experiments run beneath the surface, under that big arcology dome in the center of the city. They were making things. Breeding things down there. Captain, I'm sorry to tell you this..." He looked over at Hector with glassy eyes. "We're in Hell. And there is, as far as I can tell, no way out." Hector sat in the chair. He heard the others talking outside. This was a game? Some sort of sick survival game with no way out? Who made this?? "Get em in, Cap. The sun's going down." He said, sipping his water.

The other three went into the habitation unit, and all doors were sealed and double-locked. John set up a force-field around the house. Hector had one more question, which he went to ask John as everyone else turned into the bunks in various areas of the house. "Did you send that distress asking for supplies and weapons, Johnathan?" hector asked, leaning on the doorway to the living room.

"No, Hector. I did not. Alas, I am thankful for your company, and I am sure we can make it out alive." Hector turned, unwilling to respond, and went to sleep.

[Luya Oknor]

III

John swung across the steel chasm on the strong vine, and landed on the other side. He wore a wool longcoat of black, needed at this time of night, a tank top underneath with his usual green pants and black boots. A bow and quiver hung off his back, and a Caldari Achur sword hung at his hip, of which he grabbed the hilt of when his boots touched the stone of the rooftop. He turned and Ange and Hector swung over with him. "Where're we going?" Ange asked. John placed his index finger over his mouth.

"Shhhh." He motioned for them to follow, and follow they did, jumping over the rooftops like assassins. Eventually, they made it back to the airfield. The wreckage of their shuttle lie not too far away. John checked his watch. "Shit!" He stammered, jumping up and down like an angry child whose parents wouldn't buy him a treat. "Shit shit shit!" he calmed himself. Hector and Ange just stared. "Alright, c'mon..." He led them to the wreckage and John dove into the burnt shrapnel that was once a Gallente cargo shuttle.

The two of them waited a few minutes, and a loud grinding creak like nails on a chalkboard echoed throughout the conglomerate. "SHIT!!" John shouted this time, and fell out with a few pieces of junk, trailing wires and cables. He pulled a bag off of his back and started stuffing it with things. "SHIT, HELP ME MATES!!" Hector and Ange weren't sure it was exactly they were collecting, but they went in and helped stuff the bag of junk with junk. If John said it was unnecessary he snapped at them like a dog. After ten minutes, John was a sweating mess, and he crawled out of the wreck, bag in-hand. "We need to leave!!" He said over the steel-grinding noise that started up again.

"What is that?" Ange called after him as he ran away. John turned quickly.

"THE GATES ARE OPENING! RUN TO THE ROOFTOPS!! THE SHIELD'S ALREADY DROPPED!" Hector and Ange looked at each other and dashed after him. As they reached the brick wall of the first building, they heard stampeding feet. "SHIIIIT!!" John was literally losing his mind as he scrambled up onto the roof. By the time Hector slipped onto the rooftop, he saw that John was arming himself, throwing an arrow onto the bowstring. Ange clambered up. "We have to get back." John began running down across the rooftops, and the others followed suit.

As they ran, some sort of flying lizard thing came in low, opening up its maggot-like maw dripping with saliva. John fired a steel arrow, which passed directly through it and sent it down into the streets, which Hector could tell, were full of life. "What is this zoo crap!?" He called, confused.

"You haven't seen the worst of em yet, Cap'n..." John notched another arrow and they, after twenty long minutes of survival, made it to the habitation unit. John slid open the reinforced door and tossed in the bag, allowing Hector and Ange to pass through and then he shut it after them.

"The bag... is full..." He panted heavily, "has things I need to build a hacking device to get into that damn dome, and get us out. I've been waiting so so long." They were all silent. "It will take a few days to build... You should all remain here. Nobody leaves. It's too dangerous out there. Especially when... They are released..." He himself went quiet.

Within the hour, they were all asleep.

[Luya Oknor]

IV

The next two days were this: Hector and his crew sitting around the apartment complex, playing some old games they had found, drinking some ale, and John putting together his contraption. At dusk the next day he summoned everyone into the living room. "Alright." John wore on his wrist a gauntlet of shorts, covered in buttons and switches, a few colored wires snaking through the entire thing. "Before you say anything, this can help us hack into the arcology." He nodded, sure of himself.

"John, there were hundreds of abandoned ships at the airfield, why'd you need ours?" Ange asked, confused.

"Oh right... They were long-since dead by the time I arrived. I had tried, but most things in those were full of rust and rot and... other things..." He looked down sadly, then snapped back to his eccentric self. Ange just sipped his ale. "Tonight.." He ripped the ale from ANge's hand and placed it on the center glass table, "We break in. Schematics have shown that there's a ship up there. And life. Lots of life. At the tippy top of the tower." He grinned widely. At this point, Hector thought he had lost all sanity. "Get your gear, we leave in thre-fou-TWO MINUTES!" He held up two fingers and dashed off into another room. Hector looked at his crew.

"Alright, boys, let's go. One last shot. I don't wanna be here anymore than you do. When we leave, we all go to my place for some drinks and we get to meet my son." They all nodded, agreeing with this simple yet daunting plan.

* * *

The four of them crept silently, Tyrone limping behind, through the thick underbrush, that was the Main Street of the colony, now full of vegetation, and unfortunately for them, wildlife. The larger beasts, mighty four-legged reptiles with legs like tree trunks, grazed here. Small ones ran around their feet. "John..." Hector asked, tapping his shoulder.

"Yeah?" John replied as they neared the gates of the arcology.

"How do the animals get out when the shield's about to go up?" He asked.

"They get scared out..." Hector lifted a brow. "Scared? By a siren? Scent? Drones?"

"You'll see. Keep quiet..." They got to the gate's panel, and John ripped it free with a gloved hand and began tearing out some of the wiring, plugging in some of his own stuff from the gauntlet. The others waited, rifles in-hand. After ten minutes, the gates ground open slowly, with more sparks than there should have been. A few beasts grazing out on main street took notice, but according to John, they were herbivores, so it was fine. He had hoped.

They walked into the main hall of the arcology. No lights down here. A reception desk, empty. Empty offices, a cafe, bathrooms. John ran into a corridor behind the reception desk. Within ten minutes, the door began to slowly shut again, and John wandered out, bow in-hand. "Gents, this is a really big place. And it might be the last place you ever are in. Let's follow my schematics to the top... And pray." When they got to the second level using the stairs, they discovered that Tyrone was nowhere to be found. This made John more nervous. Trax and Hector ran down the stairs, retraced their steps all the way back to the entrance, and returned to the small 'camp' they had set up in the second floor outside some apartment just outside the local shopping mall.

"John..." Hector said, "I am leader here, right now. And one of my crew mates is missing. What aren't you telling us?" John stood, placing an arrow onto the string of his bow.

"That." Hector turned. On the wall was some sort of lizard, but it wasn't. It was long, and greenish-black, with a long boney whip-like tail ending in a barb like a scorpion, only it moved like a cat. It had four legs. It's hind legs ended in 'normal' clawed feet, like those of a raptor. The middle two ended in suction cups, with which it could adhere to walls and ceilings. The final limbs were the worst: two scythe-like talons. It's head was that of a crocodile, but smoother, with no eyes or nose. John held a finger over his mouth, and silently pulled back on his bow, and fired the arrow. The missile hit the beast in the neck and it fell onto the floor, oozing orange fluid from the wound. After struggling for a while, it ceased, and became quiet. "It hunts by sound. Can stick to walls. Can dismember a man in seconds. I saw it take down a few of the bigger beasties outside. Or, one of em. Maybe not this one..."

"There are more?" Trax stammered, nervous.

"Yup." John said, sweating. "Six left."

"I'm going to make whoever did this pay." Trax replied as the three of them moved on through the shopping mall.

[Luya Oknor]

V

"Shit." Trax said, startled as they moved through the quiet, dim-lit mall.

"What's wrong?" Ange asked, grabbing his shoulder. They were halfway between the entrance where they came in, and the elevator, which would bring them to the top.

"Nothing... It's nothing..." The soldier replied, snorting. John looked up from his gauntlet.

"There's a communications room down that corridor." He said, pointing down a hallway marked for the Security forces. Trax nodded.

"On it." He jogged in, rifle in-hand.

"Trax!" Hector called out to him, but the soldier didn't seem to hear him.

"Let's go, cap." Ange said, pushing him on. The three of them made it to the elevator, a large sphere encased within a glass tube that would take them upward. John began hacking into it. The others waited with impatience, holding their guns out, ready to shoot shadows. Nothing happened, and the door opened, and they entered. The elevator began to ascend.

* * *

Trax peered down at this massive console, at least three decades old. It had lights on, so it had to work, right? He began broadcasting, trying to reach the Federation. Then he heard a purr, and turned around. One of the creatures was there, on the ground, in front of him. He moved his shaking, sweat-slick hand across the console behind him, not taking his eyes off the monster, his other hand tightening around the trigger of his rifle. He flipped the switch, which began to broadcast an SOS. He brought his gun up as the thing pounced, screeching. The muzzle flared and bullets sprayed the beast. Orange blood blasted across the back wall as it fell. He grit his teeth as slime fell on his shoulder. He looked up to see another one above him. It fell like a dropbear, and landed on him. It snapped its long jaws in his face. He struggled, but managed to pull out his knife and stabbed it in the neck. It fell over, wincing and struggling to get back on its feet, its scything arms cutting apart equipment. Trax fired at it once in the lower exposed jaw and it ceased to exist.

He laughed, turning around and another pierced his chest with its long scythe-like talon. He opened his mouth but the only thing to come out was blood, and then it devoured him alive.

[Luya Oknor]

VI

Ange, Hector and John waited in this large elevator for what seemed like hours. They moved upward through this glass tube, staring out at the vast city within the arcology. What was this place? Was this hell? No, it couldn't be.

It stopped, and the gate slid open slowly. A blue glow filled the room and Hector stepped out, followed by Ange. John was hesitant, but drew his sword, and followed suit. This room was immense, a giant computer. Consoles and wires of all different shapes and colors filled the chamber, and in the center was a brain. "Organics." It said, glowing orange gently. "What have you come for?" Hector looked to the others. A brain? What was this? There was a brain in charge of all of this? As he approached closer, Hector noticed many wires and chips and other implants embedded within the pulsing organ. "What have you come for?" It repeated, a bit quicker, impatient.

"We want off of this planet." He said. John's hand increased its grip upon the sword, though he knew it would do little against the weaponry of this age.

"Why?" It asked.

"I have family I need to get back to. I am sure we all do. We need to go back to the Feder-"

"The Gallante? Your Federation? No. You must play my game, and to win you must die. Leave this office at once." Hector looked to the others, and back to the brain, and rubbed his hands together.

"May we please leave!?" He asked impatiently and frustrated.

"No."

"Who the hell are you!?" Hector yelled, angry.

"I am. I was an organic like you once. My grandfather established this colony for the Minmatar immigrants. It grew. We had to establish a larger colony around the initial arcology to hold the population. Then it was my turn." Hector walked back to the others as they awaited a story, but were met by a long, long pause. Ange decided it was his turn, and opened his mouth up to speak, but then there was a whistle and finally it began to speak once more, "I met a woman. She was beautiful, but would not have me. I had become ugly in my youth. If she said no to me, then I did not want her. I did not want anyone. I changed myself. Small implants at first, and then suddenly, this. Only those closest to me were allowed audience. Then the games had begun. I opened the gates, and let every one die. After they were slaughtered, I jammed signals, and created the bioweapons you have.... Met." John's teeth clenched. "I hate organics. I hate you. I have invited so many more to my colony, to my Ith, to slay and rip and tear and grind. None shall survive. None."

The voice itself was emotionless, but Hector could sense the disarray and anger and sadness deep within it. "Do you have an escape?" John asked, stepping forward.

"Yessss..." It hissed, pulsing a bit faster, and then slowing down. "Down the corridor to the right is a single pod... it is experimental in design.... My subordinate will.... Load me in... When the time comes..."

"When the time comes? When what time comes?" John asked, sheathing his sword as the others checked their ammunition just in case. Anything could happen after all and it helped to be safe. "What time?"

"The games find a winner..." It wheezed.

"Can the winners use the pod?" Ange asked, rubbing his chin.

"Yes. Hai. Oui. They may..." Its voice crackled. John waved for them to follow him down the hall, but before they could all leave the chamber, a green laser flashed through and shut Hector off from the rest. He pounded on the door. "You do not leave. You are feast." He pounded, sweating. He heard the elevator start up and begin to descend. The monsters. He was bringing the monsters to him! Shit. He looked to the brain and picked up his weapon.

"Hector!" Ange called out behind the sealed door. "Hector!"

"Go." He said, and fired a shot into the machinery. "GOOOO!!!" Smoke and fire and lightning filled the room and the brain bubbled in its small container. "GET OUT!" He jumped up onto the container, and brought the butt of his rifle down upon the container, cracking it more and more.

* * *

John grabbed Ange's arm and pulled him down the hallway. The corridor led directly into the pod, and it was a small, snug area for at least four or five passengers. Ange sat himself down. "Can you...?" He asked. John looked over at him, and nodded. He began reworking the consoles and machines, activating everything. Steam shot out into his face and he shielded himself from it.

* * *

Hector bashed away the last of the glass container shielding this brain from the outside world, and then shot a single bolt into it, fizzling it for a moment then sending wet chunks splattering over the walls. He couldn't see anything, just smoke, not even his hand if he waved it in front of him. Then a growl. He aimed his rifle out and opened fire. He heard a thud and then a tail whipped his face and he fell. He grabbed the trigger but a claw landed on his arm, and he looked up into the hissing face of a demon of the cosmos. He growled angrily back. "For Luya." He pulled the trigger, and bolt after bolt streamed into one of the larger pieces of machinery, and the entire chamber flooded with flame.

* * *

The pod burst from the arcology, and smashed through the glass canopy containing the colony and burnt through the upper atmosphere into orbit. Once John was sure they were adrift, he took his hands off of the controls. "We wait now. It's all we really can do. Sleep."