Castaway Planet

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

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Unknown Island / Ruin/ Closing Doors

Galactic Standard Time / 0900

The doors were at most fifteen feet apart now, and closing slowly by the second. Je’ndra, Tar’lroia, and Ro’borlar were holding off the strange beings, the spider centaurs, and the flyers. Despite everything the three had done, the beings were still attacking the three, trying to get by. Je’ndra figured that the enemy thought they could stop the doors if they got by the three. But then they didn't know that her team had destroyed the console.

So far, they have been able to handle the creatures and the cultists. But what had caused them to be knocked out for that second? Was that monster the ‘Great Starlsia’? That anciently armed human said it was, and that was even more worrying! Who was he, just what was he after and where did he come from? The spider centaurs alone were worrying, but then this man appeared as they were trying to escape. And he wanted the ‘potion’ that turned Starlsia’into that form, so he wasn’t working with her. But then why was he here? And all those creatures with him, were they being directed by the Controlled?

And then she had to ask herself the one most important question. Just how had the Aether Forbidden even been used here!? Was the theory How had the Aenther Forbidden even been used in the first place!? How had those abominations ever been found here?! Had one of their own crashed here? One of the outcasts? But she would have heard about one of them disappearing, so just how? How had all these things been created in the first place!?

But as she fired at one of the armored figures that made it closer, it held up an arm. To her shock and horror, the Knight created an Aether shield buckler to block her shock.

“[Boss, did that person do what I thought they did!? I mean, is it one of us]?!” Tar’lroia asked in shock.

Je’ndra stayed silent as she looked at the being. This was the answer to where the Forbidden had come from. These that being in the armor could use Aether. So then it had to be one of them, but who was this being? But as the knight kept moving she realized that this wasn’t the time to think, it was the time to act! So she kept firing at the lone knight, the knight kept coming, blocking all the shots. As Tar’lroia and Ro’borlar joined their weapon fire to hers, the knight just kept blocking the shots.

It was when one of the flyers almost made it through and Je’ndra killed it with one shot. The body fell onto a spider centaur that had made it five feet away.

“[We need to do something about that one! But what]!?” Tar’lroia asked anger in her voice.

“[Good question. Wish I had the answer],” Je’ndra said as she looked at the knight as he stalked closer. The fact that this one was a traitor attacking them was horrifying. Whenever the team had to fight against their kind, Aether to Aether, it was the worst. Every battle left wounds on her team, and some teams died fighting corsairs. And with the monsters following after the Knight, she saw nothing but pain ahead. How could they hold the doors?

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“[Oh, is this a challenge!? For me]!?” Ro’borlar asked with manic glee in his voice as he walked forward, his two sickles appearing in his hands. He looked at the knight as he stalked closer. He was already planning the perfect way to get the traitor.

“[NO! Not you]!” Je’ndra snarled as she fired at the knight again.

Ro’borlar winced and sighed. The way that he had thrown himself into danger, was expected from Je’ndra. But this was different, his team had died to scum like that one. This time he could make sure that there wouldn’t be any more deaths. He had to do it! And then a plan opened up to him as thoughts connected. Then and there, he knew how to get her to let him do this.

“[What is I fight him here? In the hallway? There’s a way that I can do it, boss. Please, trust me],” Ro’borlar said softly over the comm channel.

“[Boss, that doors closing! Not fast enough to keep that one from getting here! And he’s the best short range of the three of beside you! And he’s got the techs to do it],” Tar’lroia said as she fired at a flyer.

“[Fine! But one chance to get that one here! Then get back here! That’s an order]!” Je’ndra snarled as she fired again.

“[Thanks boss. Here I go]!” Ro’borlar snarled. He forced aether to his leg muscles and ran at the knight. As soon as the knight saw him, they tried to slash down at Ro’borlar.

But Ro’borlar only dodged the blow, ran beyond him for a few feet, and then turned. He charged at the knight and jumped, moving aether to his feet right before he hit. The blow sent the knight flying, straight through the door and over the girls heads. He just smirked, the ‘Far Blow’ his father taught him before he enlisted worked every time! And now the only thing he had left to do was get back through the doors. A scream from the side caused him to jump and spin overhead, flashing out his sickles as he spun. He forced some Aether into his blades and felt them start to heat up.

He slashed through the charging spider centaur and took its head off in one blow. He landed next to the body and looked around. As he moved his arms in a circle, he saw that over ten of the spider centaurs were glaring at him. “[Want to try me]?”

The creatures couldn’t understand his words, but he felt they understood his meaning. They all roared and would have charged at him but then one of the Bulky figures was there. It slammed its weapon through one of them, sending the rest scattering. It looked at him and before snorting, charged at the spider centaurs roaring.

So far from the door, Ro’borlar could see that the two forces were still fighting each other, shocking him. All in all, he had rarely seen such stupidity before. When an enemy of two others appears, let them fight. He thought of a joke he heard a few years ago, how the Federation had a reward they gave. Always when the ‘winner’ was dead, something about removing themselves from the gene pool.

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Zalorix looked at Starlsia and shook his head in awe. The fact that he was seeing this was something that he had never expected. When that flying creature had appeared, he hadn’t expected it and Starlsia to fight.

The flying creature was as big as Starlsia was. But unlike her, this one had red feathers all over its body. Its body was large and shaped like a flying predator with four wings. The first pair was normal and the other was on the beast's back and seemed to be positioned to fan backwards. Below the body were four bird-like red-skinned legs, each one ending in five black talons

With each screech, it threw the spider monster Starlsia had become around. Starlsia never stayed down, and her 'flights' were destroying their ‘temple’. And Starlsia would spit some kind of blob at the giant flyer in response once she got back to her feet. Most of the shots hit the ceiling, but the last one hit the Flyer’s wings. When the blob hit, it exploded into lines that covered the wing, keeping it from flapping. This caused the Flyer to crash at the other side of the cavern, and then the worms attacked it. But to his horror, Zalorix watched as the monsters broke their mouths biting at the Flyer. The Flyer would grab the worms and throw them at Starlsia, and this time the worms would break the skin.

Seeing the carnage of the two giant monsters, was all Zalorix could do from grinning. When he had heard the traitor’s words, he had expected just to find a few bodies to sacrifice. But this, this was everything that he needed. Once his other followers brought back the alchemist, he would rule!

But the problems weren’t just those. Presently the strange armored ones were holding the door, which was closing. He remembered that the other console that would open the doors was below with the Alchemist. All he needed was to get his hands around that one being, that place and he would win. But to keep that up, he had to let the armored ones deal with his other problem. All around him, most of his forces were keeping the area around him ten feet a circle of peace. And around them, flowed the spider cultists, breaking against them and going to the door.

“Sir, we have a problem,” One of his men said suddenly.

Zalorix looked up and saw one of his men in his birth form next to one in his Flyer form.

Zalorix just laughed and shook his head. “What could that be? Those two will kill themselves, and we’ll leave with the prize! Once we make it to my base, then everything will be perfect! What could threaten that in all this?”

“One of the Knights that went to the door? He was a power user,” The Flyer said bluntly.

Zalorix looked at him and then he felt his face go red as his anger started to rise. “WHAT?! Send everyone now! I want the armored one and that Knight on their knees before me!”

With a roar, Zalorix raised his sword and pointed, his men roaring with him. He knew who every one of his men were, and what they could do. None of his knights were able to use the Power. That meant that the Knight was a spy. And whoever had dared to spy on him would burn next to their scum! By the time Zalorix was done rending the fleets of the traitor, only the spy’s master would suffer worse!

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When he heard the roars, Ro’borlar turned and looked towards the trident complex. Cresting the ridge were the rest of the knights and the second force, their leader in their center. From the scowl on his face, Ro’borlar knew that something had gone wrong for him.

Ro’borlar wasted no time, running back towards the doors as another screech echoed off the walls. And then there was an answering roar, and this one sounded familiar. Looking up, he saw that the doors were now only six feet apart. They would close soon, and then there was the knight.

The Knight had gotten back to their feet and was standing there.

“[Hold young one. Just hold],” Ro’borlar said as he dropped his sickles and they disappeared into his ‘pocket’. He looked at the knight, trying to think how to get them to stand down. He couldn’t even start to think about how the being had come to work for the forces behind him. The only way that he could think of was that the being was the last of his group of crash victims. And the fact that the poor soul had survived however long they had been stuck here, was amazing. “[We’re your own. We can talk about this, you don’t have to fight us. We can just fight together].”

The Knight looked at him then its face turned towards the destroyed console against the wall.

Ro’borlar followed the Knight’s eyes and grinned behind his mask. “[Yeah, those people back there, they won’t ever hurt you again]!”

The knight just screamed wordlessly and charged at him, his blade raised and glowing.

Ro’borlar felt horror as he resummoned his sickles and forced aether into them as he caught the blade. As he buckled under the blow, he felt an incredible weight in the blow. He couldn’t understand it! Any of their own who would hear what he said would be happy! What had happened to this one?!

“[Kindred, please! Don’t make me kill you! Please]!” Ro’borlar begged before he kicked the Knight away. The Knight only roared again and charged, slashing down with its blade. And to Ro’borlar’s shock, a wave of blue energy shot from the blade.

Ro’borlar didn’t stare, he just moved. The Knight had proven that he was beyond taking alive. There was no choice, it was now the Knight or Ro’borlar. “[FOR FATE]!”

With his battle cry ringing in his ears, Ro’borlar charged at the Knight. The Knight brought up its free arm and a blue energy shield appeared in Ro’borlar’s path. Ro’borlar didn’t crash, he just moved Aether to his leg muscles and jumped over the Knight. As he spun overhead, he saw that Je’ndra and Tar’lroia were falling back. He gritted his teeth behind his mask, he knew that he was done holding back.

As soon as he landed he charged at the Knight who swung his blade down at him. Ro’borlar just dodged the blow and swung his sickles through the Kinght’s neck. As the head fell, he dashed towards the doors. Dropping his sickles, he summoned his sniper rifle and linked with the scope. He saw the leader of the other forces looking back towards the complex at something. The door was only four feet across now, within minutes they could leave this battle.

But not let, not let. There was still time for two more shots. As one of the Bulky figures moved to stop the door, it took up his shot and he fired. The bolt caused the Bulky figure’s head to pop, and the body fell back as blood gushed out. The bolt kept flying and the leader of the second group moved aside moments before it would have hit him. Instead, it hit the right eye of the giant spider centaur and drilled a hole through the monster’s head.

Zo3 just blinked as the door closed to two feet. One of the spider centaurs came towards the door, and Je’ndra shot it dead.

As the doors slammed shut, Zol3 looked at his comrades. He knew that they wouldn’t take the fact that he had to kill the Knight, but he had no choice.

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As Starlsia’s giant body started to twitch as it fell, it turned to slime. Zalorix looked at the slime as it flowed down the ‘ramp roof’. He just wondered what had happened when he heard the doors slam shut. He was about to turn when he saw something moving in the slime.

“Sir?” One of his followers asked as Zol3 moved towards the slime. The other spider centaurs had all fallen back when Starlsia had moved away, and the giant Flyer was gone. It had gone into the tunnels, and Zalorix wasn’t worried. The traps there would catch it sooner or later, and that was enough. Especially if he was right about this.

As soon as he reached the moving part of the slime, he looked at it and reached into it. As his hand closed around something, whatever it was tried to fight back. But the weak blows only landed on Zalorix’s armor, and he pulled the mass free.

As the slime dripped away, the mass was revealed to be a naked woman with short green hair. She was looking at him with angry red eyes and he grinned back at her. Zalorix only grinned as he laughed, finally understanding everything. “So you live Starlsia! And this wonderful potion is just what I want!”

“So I was right! You are betraying those fools!” Starlsia spat at Zalorix.

Zalorix only laughed and shook his head. “Of course I am! Those people just want their own power! Like me!”

Zalorix looked at her, and then at the spider centaurs farther below. All of them were the descendants of those that the Followers had made outcast. Most thought they had died, but they had lived. And they had shared all their knowledge and created wonders that Zalorix wanted.

“So why are you here!? What purpose do you serve now!?” Starlsia asked with a sneer.

“Well, that traitor of yours was going for the Grand Temple. If I wasn’t here my dear, the High Priest would have known about your discovery. And then comes the Holy War to get it. Frankly, I want it! For myself!” Zalorix said with a sneer.

“Your bargain then?” Starlsia asked with a purr. “You haven’t killed me for a reason.”

Zalorix looked over her body with his eyes and grinned. “The survivors and mine will work together, under me! We will reopen the doors, and then we’ll storm the Home Realm! Together with your powers and the strength of my Outpost, we’ll conquer all the Realms!”

“And I alone know how to make the potion you want. The old Alchemist died a while back. And the door will take a few days to open again. But I want equality with you,” Starlsia said, her voice low.

Zalorix laughed and leaned over, kissing her with passion. She returned it and Zalorix knew that for now, she would follow him.

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As she looked at the corpse, all Je’ndra could feel was a sinking feeling. “[Did you have to kill him]?”

Ass Ro’borlar sighed and shook his head, Je’ndra only felt anger. With this death, she was no closer to understanding this horror. With the Aether Forbidden in play, that had to be stopped.

“[The punk could use range Aether attacks. I didn’t have a choice]!” Ro’borlar said with anger in his voice. “[I tried to get them to stand down, I really did! But nothing worked. It was like they couldn’t speak our tongue]!”

“[He couldn’t]!” Tar’lroia said with shock in her voice.

They all turned and Je’ndra looked at what was in Tar’lroia’s hands in shock.

Je’ndra felt her breath leave her body. The head her friend was holding was that of a human! The ears told her all she needed to know, the Knight had been a human!

“[How!? How could a human create the Aether Forbidden!? Just how]?!” Ro’borlar asked in horror.

“[The rumor was true, that has to be it. There’s no other explanation that makes sense]!” Je’ndra said with a hard tone.

“[What rumor!? Wait….. the Aether skills found in the Ruins! The Forbidden were found in one of them]!?” Ro’borlar asked in horror.

Je’ndra only nodded, her mind going dark places. The legend said that the power of Aether was found first in a Ruin. And sometimes, ways to learn skills were found in the Ruins. She had heard a rumor that the Forbidden of Aether were found in a Ruin, but she had never believed it.

“[Look alive! Isn’t that one of the kid’s drones]?” Tar’lroia asked.

Looking up, Je’ndra stared at the machine flying towards them. She just knew that something had happened to the three she had sent away. She just had to hope that they had found the prince.