Castaway Planet

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Uninhabited Island / Ruins / Security Room 2

Galactic Standard Time / 0500

As he looked around the room, Rodolphe sighed. When they found another security room, he had almost been shocked. But looking back, he had to admit this made sense. A modular construction process was the fastest way to design a building after all.

So far, they had slept safely. The way behind them hadn’t ever done anything since they locked the door again. He had to say that it was more than he expected really. After whatever they found when they opened the door it broke down, he had expected a chaser. But then they didn’t know anything about the jungle they found. Something else must have attacked them, or even the robots the three of them had escaped from.

“Of course, them,” He muttered with a slight shudder. To say that the revelations that they had bothered him was like saying space was cold. A Ruin was still active, after millions of years. The robots found in the Ruins were all that kept the places going. Plus there was the fact that the Ruins found had such effects even damaged. as they were…… and this one was still fully active. Who knows what this place did? Was it just for making bio weapons?

The very idea of such a thing was beyond fiction, but the robots had been brand new. It was the only thing that made sense.

“Ready to move?” A sleepy voice asked.

Rodolphe looked up and saw Bryce slowly waking up and nodded. As Zane got up as well, Rodolphe gave the room one last look. He hated how this place just had two doors, this whole Ruin was too cut off. He had survived by always having space to move, it was his whole way to fight. But

“Yeah, so we’re not going backwards, right?” Rodolphe asked as he got his pack on.

Zane snorted as he and Bryce were getting ready, a haunted look on his face.

“No. We gotta keep moving forward, and I mean it. there’s nothing for us back there,” Zane said as Bryce got out his data miner.

“Yeah…. If I’m reading this right, then that’s all we can do. I think we’ll reach another gallery like the one that we left. And if I’m right, the door will be a view of the forest until the next one. And there’s another way into the greater Ruin if I’m right,” Bryce said before he put his device away.

Rodolphe got out the bones they had used as a key and walked away from the door they had entered through. He wanted to argue, but the others were right.

With a sigh he led the way, opening the door. As they entered the chamber, he moved his blaster around as Bryce and Zane did the same. They had come out in a chamber just like the one they had escaped into, a large glass window on one side. Unlike the one they had left, the glass here was covered by a black substance. The only light here came from a large round crystal on the ceiling, and he frowned as he looked around. There was one small doorway barely four feet wide on the other wall a good twenty feet from the window. On the other side of from where they entered, Rodolphe saw a door a good forty feet away. He made a quick movement with his right hand and started to walk towards it, the others following behind.

“Nothing here to sit on,” Bryce muttered softly as they moved.

Rodolphe wanted to say something but Bryce was right, this place was empty. There was nothing, it was like someone had moved out and nobody had moved in.

“Not our problems man, we just need to get out. Then the others can find out what’s gonna happen after I punch that bastard Jones!” Zane snarled.

“I get as a member of the underworld, you know a lot about torture,” Rodolphe said softly.

“What me? No! most of the business is just smuggling really. And it's just over-the-counter stuff and spirits that the local law doesn’t want in. Stuff like pain medicine and nanites. All in all, nothing too bad. But the Federation’s laws about self-government and all,” Zane said with a chuckle.

Rodolphe looked at him over his shoulder as he stopped, a bit confused. “What about the laws of self-government?”

Zane looked at him and then winced. “Oh, your world bro? No, that’s so wrong! People can get modern medicine, that’s a right. But some planets want to be ‘ all natural’ and force their people to leave to get treatment. They can’t keep people from having them, but they don’t have to give it out on their world. Kind of a grey area, but one that’s profitable.”

“Yeah, I learned about that. Everyone is allowed to be governed how they want. Like this. If someone on a planet wants to bring back nobles, make a planet-wide petition! If it gets at least three-quarters, it passes. But they have to follow the General Rights charter,” Bryce explained with a smirk.

Rodolphe looked at him and tried to keep calm. Since he and his people had escaped they had been among pirates or on rogue colonies. If that was the way most planets were governed, why did the Corp that ruled his home do what they did? It would have been so much easier to just hire miners to work there. Why did they enslave his home and force them all to mine that mineral?” And the monsters from the deep desert, what were they?

“Hey, you okay?”

Rodolphe looked up. Bryce and Zane were looking at him and Rodolphe laughed a little.

“Sorry guys, just caught up in my mind. Old memories, old thoughts you know?” Rodolphe asked.

Zane laughed a little and shook his head. He opened his mouth before something hit the window.

They all turned and looked, shocked at what they saw. Something was hitting the windows and as they watched the window was every few seconds.

“Time to move you two! The natives are restless!” Rodolphe said as he turned and ran. Looking back, he jogged over to the door. As he reached it more sounds of something hitting the windows were heard.

“What is this!?” Zane asked as he looked around. By luck, they were near a window that was still clear. As Rodolphe tried to find the bone key, Zane walked to the window and looked out. “Mother of Stars!”

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Bellow, a large catapult made of dark blue wood was cracked back. Two humans in grey leather armor, and each one had green hair pocking out of their helmets were standing by it. The two of them were moving a wheel that pulled back the catapult's neck. There were three more catapults with two armored humans working on each one.

“Perfect! Thinker Yogix, you did it!” A hearty voice called out in awe. The speaker was a tall human man with long green hair. His blue eyes looked at the catapult in awe. He was wearing grey leather armor that covered his whole body, and he had on red leather boots. On his back was a large black metal war axe with a handle over his left shoulder.

He was speaking to an old human with short light green hair and a long beard over his chest. He was wearing a strange white robe with tribal designs on it.

“The old tales were hard to figure out Master Rogix, but I finished it at last. Still, I wonder if before they're sent to the Front Lines, we try something. Perhaps we try and break into the Captor’s Lair?” Yogix, the old man asked.

All Yogix could feel was hope and fear in equal amounts. When he had created his prototype for these weapons, he had big dreams. He had always seen his clan’s work to escape as lacking force. They could talk a good game, and plan it out as best they could but they lacked power. Now there was a chance to use what he built why he built it, a chance to finally take the fight to the True Enemy.

“I asked the Emperor personally, and he said that this batch will go to the front! I want you to oversee the creation of three more sets of four each of these! You can keep the first batch for trials to breach into that hell!” Rogix said with a hard look.

Yogix only clasped his hands and bowed to Rogix, tears leaving his eyes. “Thank you, sir! I know how much you must have argued to allow that!”

“Hey, hey. No tears old one. We are both members of the Returners, we hold the ancient knowledge. With this old power you’ve built, I kow…… I know…..” Rogix trailed off as he looked up.

Yogix looked up and saw Rogix’s eyes glowed the Power. Turning and calling the Power to his eyes, he followed Rogix’s gaze. Yogix gasped in shock at what Rogix found. There, looking down at them was a human in strange clothing! “WHAT TRIBE IS THAT MAN FROM!?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll ask! Soldiers, aim at that window there!” Rogix bellowed as he looked around. “And someone get my chasing lizard! First Raiders Mount up!”

Yogix could only look at the man, tears leaving his eyes. Someone had found a way into that hell, it was possible! After all the trials and how the very walls kept them from digging into it, he started to lose hope. The faith of his tribe had started to sound false to him, and the Worshipers had been very loud.

“You’re coming with us Yogix!” Rogix’s loud command caused Yogix to blink before nodding. “And get the Viewer ready!”

“Thank you, my lord!” Yogix bellowed as he ran towards where the beasts were. He could barely keep his smile from splitting his face in two. A human had made it into the Captor’s place! If they could talk with him they could learn so much. Finally, they would be able to take Revenge on the monsters who left them with nothing! It had been hard, but they had devolved their culture and survived! But now they had found others who had done what they couldn't. "Revenge is ours!"

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“What is it?” Bryce asked as he walked over to Zane.

After not hearing anything, Rodolphe looked up. He saw Bryce staring down in the same direction as Zane. Frowning, he walked over and looked down, and then he felt his eyes widen in shock. They were looking down at what looked like a medieval war camp, one populated by humans. Everywhere he looked, he saw humans with green hair in grey, white, or blue clothing.

“Who are they!?” Zane asked as he stared through the window.

All Rodolphe felt was fear and horror. He was looking at people who lived in worse conditions than even his home. And what were they even doing on this strange world? Had they been captured from old Earth? Were they castaways like the trio were? He activated a nanite strain and zoomed in, trying to understand this. “Okay, from what I can see, the people in grey down there are wearing some kind of armor, I think. Most of them have weapons….. and something is happening.”

“Stars, I see it! they’ve seen us!” Bryce said in shock.

Before Rodolphe could say anything, his vision went black before he heard the sound of the window being hit. “VOID!”

As he stepped back, he deactivated his nanites. Looked around, he saw Bryce and Zane on the floor, staring in shock at the window. Turning towards it, Rodolphe saw a large rock hit the window and bounce it away. “What in the? They’re doing this? Why!?”

“Who knows man!” Zane said as he got back up. “For all we know those fools worship the builders or something! This might be forbidden grounds!”

Rodolphe looked at the window as another large rock hit. How strong was the material the window was made out of? And how big was the area beneath it?

“Start looking for a security room!” Bryce called out as he looked around.

“Bryce,” Rodolphe began only Bryce kept talking.

“If I can get some data we can find out where those people came from! I refused that they could have been created here!” Bryce said as he took a step to the side.

Rodolphe threw out his arm and grabbed him. “BRYCE! We can’t stay here now.”

“What?!” Bryce exclaimed and Zane sighed and shook his head.

“He’s right. We gotta move. We can find the others and come back, but we can’t let stop. We’ve gotta tell the others about Jones, that’s the mission. It’s gotta be,” Zane said as another stone hit the window.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Bryce looked at them and tried to find fault in what he heard, but he couldn’t. he knew that he was too close to this. Looking out the window, it was like he was back on the School. Everything he had told him to help those people, but the guys were right. “Fine. You’re right. But we’re going to come back and help.”

“Of course,” Rodolphe said as Zane nodded.

Bryce looked around one last time as the others went to the door. After a few moments, the door opened on a long corridor.

“Let’ssss AAAAHHH!” Zane cried out in shock.

Turning, Bryce and Rodolphe could only stare in shock. A human was standing there, on a wooden platform. He was dressed in grey leather clothing and wielded a long spear. He stabbed at the window a few times then waved his weapon at them.

“And that means go!” Rodolphe bellowed and ran through the door. After a moment Zane and Bryce followed after him, both of them feeling fear for what the native had done.

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“They’re running General!” The soldier on the Viewer platform called out.

Rogrix grabbed the reins of his riding lizard. It was five feet tall and had a lean body five feet long. Its scales were a dark brown and its eyes were blue. It had a black short horn above its muzzle, the mouth being covered by a muzzle connected to the reins its rider held.

Rogrix turned his lizard until he was looking at Yogix on a similar beast. Around them were ten people in grey leather armor on identical lizards around him.

“Why do they run?! Can’t they know we want to help them!?” Rogix asked anger in his voice.

Yogix only shook his head and sighed. “Then these people must be from another culture old friend. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Maybe our way of saying we’re here to help means we want to kill you to them?”

“General! They're running along the clear way!” The soldier above called out.

Rogix looked at the Viewer and nodded. It was a single tower on a ten-foot wide platform being pulled by two teams of four riding lizards each.

He looked around at the others and whistled. “Riding team, follow me! Viewer team follow!”

“YES SIR!” As one the others all cried out and with that, they rode off.

All Yogix could do was think as he followed after General Rogix. This was the first contact with other humans ever! The tales of the Ancestors told of how Merchants once grew so strong that they rose in rebellion. Their ancestors had been soldiers for the government, and had been sent to guard a founding group. Then they had been captured by the Monsters of this place while on route to the new colony.

Thrown into this place, they had survived for generations. Using the values of their people, they lived and grew strong. Still, they wanted to return to the void. They needed to claim vengeance on those who killed so many of their own when they had been thrown here. And now they had found other humans! They had to have been some of the Lost, that was the only thing that made sense. That meant those they thought dead had been alive, in another place!

“Keep riding!” Rogix called out with a savage glee. “Soon the monsters who took us all will pay in blood! Soon we will find the Glorious Redemption’s hull! When that happens we we’ll make right our shame!”

Everyone, even the scholar Yogix roared in agreement. Yogix looked up and saw the new humans running through the Devil’s land. And he felt his smile grow wider. His fist went to the mark of the Scholars, a wheel with wedges on it. He could only hope that they kept more of the old stories alive than the People did. It would be so good to know what this symbol meant during the Before!

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“Keep running!” Zane called out as he looked down. Seeing the people below follow them, he cursed. The fact that the people below were chasing them so much meant only one thing. Zane, Bryce, and Rodolphe had violated a taboo. Either that or a religious law, but the result was the same. As soon as those people caught the group, the deckhands would be killed.

Until that happened, he would fight! He had lived a hard life, but he had always kept fighting. That was the one thing he knew, and he never gave up. As long as life was there, then so was hope. So he would keep fighting until he died. And if this was the last fight, then he would meet it and die standing!

“Yeah! We’re just running into the unknown after all!” Bryce said, a note of wonder and joy in his voice.

“You’re happy for this!?” Zane demanded in shock.

“Of course!” Bryce exclaimed with joy in his voice. “Since I broke out, everything was new! And now this? just keep walking! That’s the only way to live! And things might be worse or better, but keep moving for tomorrow is new!”

Zane stopped for a second and Bryce ran by him. He looked at his friend, shocked still for a moment. Then he laughed as he felt a savage joy bloom. “What the Nova! For tomorrow!”

“For the Unknown!” Rodolphe yelled ahead.