Something, untitled as of yet

[Singh]

Based on FS2 and something else which is somewhat familiar and you'll most likely recognize as you read on.
Enjoy.

***********************

Prologue

This is the audio log of Admiral Aken Bosch, ex-leader of the Neo Terran Front.

It has been almost 4 days since we left the last traces of Terran forces inside the Nebula beyond Gamma Draconis. It’s been a hard time living in the cramped interior of the Shivan transport, and communication has been crude since then, but we have managed to adapt to the surroundings and the attempts are getting clearer everyday. The Shivans have mostly left us alone on the transport, with only a single pilot onboard. This is to allow us to modify the transport to fit our needs. Gibson has already managed to renovate quite a portion of the ship as it is, but still, we now face the crisis of a lack of food and water.

Our communications sorties with the Shivans have been short and brief, but extremely detailed. Each time the ETAK device is activated, I am welcomed to a host of new information of our former enemies. The fools in the GTVA could not have imagined the wealth of knowledge the Shivans have of not only our civilizations, but that of the ancients as well. Upon going through this, it fills me with both joy as well as sadness to think that all our conflicts, all our differences in the past have been just one unholy mistake. Everything I have lived and fought for; It’s all been vindicated, all been justified, by what the Shivans have shown me here today.

No human being could imagine what they have been doing all these years. We all thought that the Shivans were the great destroyers, the possible extinction of both our species. I do not blame those who thought that, for it is what the scenario looks like from the surface. But now I have the insight and the truth of the situation.

Unfortunately, it is the entire damning truth of the situation. The Shivans are only part of a much larger problem that haunts not only the Humans and Vasudans themselves, but the ancients too. From what the Shivans have told me, the problem doesn’t stop there as well, for they do not know how far or wide it is present in this universe……or if it even is just to this universe as well.

The Shivans were waiting for us, just as they were waiting for the ancients to arrive and as well as the races before them. Why they destroyed the ancients and not humanity, they refused to tell me, but they did tell me that all will be revealed at our destination. The Shivans are currently taking us to an unknown location where they claim food and supplies will be available to us, and from where our journey may begin.

What exactly this journey is, or where I will be doing, I do not know. What I do know is that it appears to be sacred importance to the Shivans, and that only we may embark on it.

At this hour, I should be feeling joyful; if not ecstatic…..but then, why do I feel nothing but dread, and a little bit of horror of what’s to come?

Chapter 1

Gibson looked out at the stars through the makeshift view port. His face was visible clearly in the reflection of the glass. One could see from his face that this was an old and wrinkled man, whose features radiated wisdom. His eyes were sunken in and brown in color, matching the wavery color of the somewhat long front hair that occasionally drooped down to cover it, only to be brushed aside and set back again.

What are we doing here? Gibson asked himself. Why did it seem that the mysteries of the Shivans had simply increased each time they made communications with them? He had watched everyday as the Shivans traversed system after system, nebula past nebula, all to some strange and totally unknown destination. According to his estimate, they had already traveled enough distance to put the GTVA on the other side of the Galaxy. Yet, it didn’t seem like they were going to stop just there from what the Shivans had told them…

Speaking of which….Gibson turned from the window to look for Sargo. A somewhat short and stout person, Sargo's most distinguishing feature were his bright blue eyes and wavery blonde hair. A bright and patient young man of Asian origin, Sargo always seemed to go about with a smile, no matter how bad the situation might be. At times of extreme stress, he never got flustered, which was one of the main reasons why Bosch had chosen him to come along with their expedition. While Gibson may have been Bosch's right hand man, Sargo was definitely next in line.

Gibson spotted Sargo a little distance away, towards the back of the room and near the exit that led to Bosch's quarters. He was looking out of the only other window in the cabin, hovering over the floor in the zero G of the transport. Waving his hands, Gibson tried to get Sargo's attention, but when that failed, he had to speak up, shattering the silence in the room with his rather loud and hi-pitched voice.

"Sargo!:"

Sargo didn't look back immediately. Gibson spoke up again, this time a bit louder. "Sargo! Are you alright?"

Still no response. Frowning, he kicked himself off the wall and flew across the room towards Sargo's position. It was only at the last minute however, that Gibson realized he had actually used too much force and was flying too fast. But there was no way to stop in the Zero Gravity environment, unless he had something to push against. Unfortunately, to Sargo's unpleasant surprise, that something was him.

"SARGO! Get out of the way" Gibson shouted as he attempted to change his course. His shout must have had some effect, as Sargo shook his head and looked around in surprise. When he saw Gibson flying straight to him, he exclaimed "What the hell??!" before ducking out of the way. It was just in time as Gibson hit the far wall, bouncing off into the floor like a ping pong ball. He managed to get a hold on the floor however, and stopped himself before flying off to the ceiling.

Sargo was pretty much surprised and hovering to one side, rubbing his eyes and looking at Gibson. "What the hell are you trying to do Gibson, Kill me??! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Gibson turned around to look at him for a second, and then merely laughed. "Looks like you needed one too, judging from the way you were asleep."

Sargo frowned. "I wasn't sleeping...err. I was simply resting my eyes." he replied. But when his mouth broke into a big yawn, it gave it all away, leaving his face in a somewhat embarrassed expression.

Gibson merely laughed again before replying. "Look, Sargo, you can go to sleep, just don't go to sleep here. Get back into the general quarters and ask John to replace you. He should be up by this time anyways."

Sargo simply shook his head, refusing the offer. "Look, I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired, that's all. I can keep go-:" his sentence was interrupted by another big yawn. He cursed to himself, muttering something about lack of food and no sleep.

Gibson shook his head sadly, and pointed to the entrance of the room. "Go. Now. Before I make Bosch come out here and send you to bed."

Sargo simply retorted. "I can say the same about you, considering the fact that you've been doing duty for the past two days as well! If I'm tired, then why aren't you?"

"Because I haven't started yawning or -" He froze mid-sentence as something came into view of the window.

"Yeah, or what?" Sargo asked. He obviously hadn't seen what had just come into view. But then he saw that Gibson wasn't paying attention and instead looking outside the window. Sargo turned around to have a look as well. When he saw what was outside also, he could only exclaim "Holy fricking shit. What the hell is that thing?"

Gibson was unable to tear his eyes away from the thing for a few more seconds. But eventually, he did manage it. "Sargo, wake the others." He spoke as he moved towards Bosch's door. Knocking on it, he received a somewhat muffled reply. "Who is it?"
Bosch said, his tone somewhat irritated.

"Sir, it's Gibson. I really think you might want to come out and see this."

*******************

This is the audio log of Admiral Aken Bosch, ex-leader of the Neo Terran Front.

It's been three days since my last audio log and there has been a lot happening since. The continued use of the ETAK device has allowed us a multitude of refinements and tweaks, all of which has now allowed for near-instantaneous and continual communications with the Shivans. I am communication with them for several hours so far, and the information I have managed to acquire is enough to keep any group of scientists and researchers enough work for decades, if not centuries! Not one person in the GTVA could have imagined how old this race really is, of the events they have witnessed over millions - if not billions - of years in not only our universe, but in others as well.

But then, the mystery remains, why did the Shivans attack us? Why did they attack the Ancients all those decades ago? For a race as old as theirs, it seems doubtful they attacked us out of simple xenophobia. If it were as simple as that, then they would not have accepted our signal or even allowed us onboard their vessel for that matter. No, there are other more subtle reasons behind all this. Reasons I must find out soon or risk the survival of myself and my crew.

Some of these reasons however, might be deduced by our current circumstances. After nearly a week of traveling, it appears we have reached our destination. And what a destination it is! We are currently in a small system, in the centre of it is a small white dwarf, barely outputting enough energy to counter the forces of gravity crushing at it's core. Maybe in the distant future, long after our own sun has gone out, this star may collapse to become a black hole or it's less hostile cousin, a neutron star. If in that case, it would most likely suck in it's only partner in the system: a lonely gas giant that is in orbit of the star. It's speed and orbit means that it takes several years to complete a single revolution of the star. It's size is not that much larger than Saturn or maybe Neptune. Yet, from what we can see, it's atmosphere and environment are far, far more turbulent than anything the Sol system could ever possess. Storms are present all over the atmosphere, with winds moving at super-sonic speeds. 17 Major storms dominate the planet, some of them the size of Earth or the Moon! Upon closer examination, each storm is divided into its own sub-storms and vortices. How such an intricate system can exist is magic in itself. All the laws of turbulence and physics say this is impossible, yet I can see it clearly with my own eyes!

Yet, as fascinating as this may be, it is nothing compared to the object in it's orbit.

The object in question appears to be an unknown device, probably of immeasurable age. I will describe its physical features and appearance first, for the record, before I go onto its other...'properties' so to speak.

The device itself consists of several components. The most obvious one appears to actually be self-dependent and unrelated to the main structure itself. The outer component is a large ring of sorts, around 15 Kilometers in diameter, and is nearly 3 kilometers wide. The portion of the ring facing the outside is made of some unknown metal, and is full of unknown systems and structures. It appears to be heavily armored, capable of taking great bombardment. The interior of the ring however, is what is its most fascinating feature. The interior of the ring appears to have been crafted similar to a planet of sorts. Gravitational generators keep it intact and running smoothly, but the ring's natural rotation appears to be the main source of gravity here, allowing an atmosphere to remain attracted to the surface. From what we can translate of the Shivan instruments, the gravity appears to be around Earth normal, as well as the atmosphere for that matter. It is amazing because once we looked at it from extreme magnification; we could see trees, birds and even animals! An entire eco-system exists there, consisting of desert regions, snow-filled canyons and even tropical paradises. It seems like the perfect vacation spot, or for us - the best spot to acquire some food and water.

However, as good as it may seem, the ring appears...incomplete somehow. As if it was more of the first prototype of a grand design, meant only to test certain features and then be done with. It lacks any advanced equipment or any area where a large population could exist. Apart from the basic design and the wild creatures, the ring appears abandoned.

Which might just be a good thing considering the structure that it is housed around.

The internal structure itself appears to be separate from the ring. It is in a starfish shape, except with only four massive arms stretching out to almost touch the ring as it rotates around. From tip to tip, the arms are nearly 10 Kilometers long, making it a somewhat tight fit. The arms themselves are almost 4 kilometers wide at the tip, and 2 kilometers thick. It expands into the main body, with a curvature on each side between itself and the arms next to it. The main body itself is thick and cylindrical, with a massive hole in the centre. This hole is more of a cylinder of sorts, nearly 6 Kilometers long and with a diameter of 4 Kilometers; it could easily allow a Colossus-sized vessel to pass through it...or a Sathanas for that matter. The installation appears somewhat dead, a remnant of a bygone era we never knew of. It’s origins appears to be completely different from that of the ring, and is much, much more older than it could ever be.

As of the moment, the external examination reveals no clue as to the creators of the installation, but whoever it was must have been far more advanced than any race in existence. Sensor readings show the installation producing in excess of one thousand Trillion Megatons of energy, far more than enough to power several stars at once. Where the energy comes from, or how it is just generated is totally unknown, but one must consider that the installation is most likely in standby mode, indicating a much larger power potential. What all this energy can be used for, I have nothing but a suspicion. Unfortunately, it is but a horrible, terrible suspicion that I hope never comes true. That will only be explained once we step onboard the installation, which might happen soon if the Shivans have their way.

What might be easier to explain however, is the origins of the outer ring. The materials that make up the ring are unknown, but yet bare similarity to those used in the Knossos device, leading me to believe that this may just be a creation of the Ancients.

Perhaps, millennia ago, they too stumbled onto this device and then decided to create this ring around it. Although why they actually built it is a mystery to me, one could possibly imagine how such an advanced civilization was capable of creating such a device. Perhaps it was in response to whatever was inside the installation, something with which to contain the horrors that lay within? Either way, we’ll know once we conduct our landing on the surface of the ring.

I’ve already ordered Gibson and Sargo to get everybody into the environmental suits and turn on the artificial gravity. Living in a zero G environment for the past several days will have affected all our bodies, so making sure being ready is priority now.

The transport won’t directly land onto the ring itself, but rather conduct a brief subspace jump into the atmosphere, and then attempt to do a safe crash-landing nearby a location which we have identified as a control centre. It’s a bit risky, but it’s also our only option here. None of the ships gathered around the installation is capable of planet fall, and this transport is our only option now.

That is the other interesting thing to note about this system. The Shivans have gathered here en-masse, as if preparing for some massive exodus. From what we limited view we have, thousands of Shivan vessels are filling the space between the installation and the planet. They range from the smallest fighters to Lucifer class super-destroyers and the massive Sathanas Juggernaughts. No fleet the GTVA could muster can match what the Shivans wield here, and I doubt any real fleet could really match it. We’ve counted over a hundred Juggernaughts so far, along with over double that number of Lucifer destroyers. There are also a number of Shivan vessels of a totally unknown class. They are much larger than the Lucifer, yet smaller than the Sathanas. However, from their mere appearance, they appear to be capable of wielding just as much firepower as the Sathanas.

All these ships…why are they gathered here? What is this installation? And most importantly, why are we here? So many questions, so few answers and every time more information comes in, it only brings with it even more questions. I guess the answers will come only after we’ve been to the surface, at the least.

This is Admiral Bosch, signing off.

[jon891]

Is it stargate or stargate atlantis, But whatever it is it should be good.. Please update soon.

[holyknight]

Originally Posted by jon891

Is it stargate or stargate atlantis, But whatever it is it should be good.. Please update soon.

The description of the "ring" sounds eerily similar to an Halo.......

[Singh]

Give the man a cookie! It's not exactly a Halo, more of a 'proto-halo' of sorts. The internal device inside the ring however, is something else entirely.

Next installment:


Chapter 2

Several hours later, the scene outside Bosch's quarters was much, much more different. Although Bosch himself wasn't, the rest of them were. Everyone was in full environmental suits, covered from head to toe and with the mini-grav generators turned on. Unfortunately for most of them, this was the toughest part yet for them all. Adapting back to normal Earth gravity after nearly a week of zero-g was the hardest part, and quite a few of the people gathered were complaining about it too.

Except for Gibson that is and Sargo that is. Both were the first ones to get into the suits almost immediately after Bosch had ordered it. Of course, they had been complaining about it earlier too, but now at least they were somewhat used to it. Looking at the others, he cleared his throat, trying to catch there attention. When that didn't work, he tried again. Still no response.

Getting somewhat irritated at the group, he shouted out loud, finally attracting there attention. "Gentlemen! Calm down already and quit your god darn bitching already!!"

After that, they all stopped and turned to look at him and Sargo, who was standing right next to him.

"I know the suits and the gravity are hard to bear, but we've still got a job to do." He paused for a second before smiling and continuing.

"Besides, haven't you guys been listening at all? We're going to Crash-land this flying bucket of bolts, which means you better get used to it fast, cause nothing is going to compare to the G's we'll be pulling off soon."

Seeing that they had calmed down a bit, he nodded and began the briefing. He was standing in for Bosch, who was not in the cargo deck holding the ETAK device and talking to the Shivans. They were coming up with a direct plan of action, not to mention modifying the controls so that Bosch could fly the ship down. Gibson was a bit uneasy with letting Bosch fly the ship down, even though he did have immense experience with flying as a pilot for the GTA of old. The man was much older now and his age could easily pose a risk to all of them. Gibson's own personal preference would have either been Sarno or John. Both of them were ace pilots in their own rights, with the former having flown the massive Ursa bomber and having an idea of how to handle large ships.

But still, Bosch had been adamant. He would fly them down, and without a risk. When hearing of Gibson's recommendations, he had only given a short laugh before simply saying "While Sarno may have flown an Ursa before, rest assured, I had plenty of experience flying such things myself. This transport will be no different. Rest assured Gibson, I will bring us down in one piece."

"Gibson, you may want to start now." His thoughts were interrupted as Sargo gave him a slight push, waking him up and bringing his mind back to the current situation.

Sargo leaned close in and whispered so only he and Gibson could hear. "Told you to get some sleep too. But nooooo, 'I'll be fine' you said. Nice job Gibson" He winked before standing up straight again and clearing his throat.

Gisbon just shook his head and nodded to everyone. Lacking any holographic machinery or suitable device to conduct the briefing, he motioned for everyone to follow him to a nearby window. The window had the view of the structure they were going to be boarding. Next to the window were crude chalk drawings of not only the outer ring, but a small section of the ring itself. It wasn't much, but at least it was better than nothing. Once everyone was in position and the jokes of how bad his and Sargo's drawings were over, he nodded to everyone and began the briefing.

"Ok then, let's start. First of all, this isn't art class, so you'll have to forgive the bad quality of drawing we see here." He joked, lightening up the mode a bit.

"As you all know, we are currently holding position above this rather strange ring-like structure. The mission is simple: We will be attempting to do a landing on this ring at this area." He pointed first to the ring, and then the small section he had drawn next to it.

"From the looks of it, we'll be landing in the start of a long canyon around 2 clicks in length. The entire canyon is covered in snow, so even if we do crash-land the impact should be a bit cushioned, at the least. Once we get down, our immediate objective is to set up a small base camp. Our environmental suits should protect us in the cold till we can either find a cave or some other natural shelter, or till we can build one. Either way if the transport is still functioning, we'll use it as base camp. We'll each be dividing into teams. Me, Bosch and John will be in one team and will stay back with the transport to try and repair any damage;. Sargo, Sarno and Terrick will be in the next. Sargo will be leader, your objective is to check out area A for any caves or natural formations we can use to shelter us against the cold. At the same time, Gerald, Ramayan and Dave will also roam the same area looking for any food we may be able to use. From what we can tell, there appears to be quite a lot of vegetation in the canyon, despite the cold. There might just be enough food available for us to eat, but it may just end up poisonous. Ramayan -"

He paused, looking for Ramayan at the back of the gathered group. He finally saw the dark brown face behind Terrick, looking back at him through the reflection of the suit's helmet glass. When Ramayan nodded, Gibson continued.

"Your the only one of us that's take any sort of course on vegetation and plant life, so you should be able to identify which plants are poisonous and which aren't. Therefore you'll be leader of this team. Water shouldn't be much of an issue since all we need to do is melt the snow."

Ramayan nodded. He didn't seem to have any problems with the issue.

"Raynold, Carlos and Venson, you'll take the final team. Venson, you're in charge."

"Aye Sir, what are we to do?" He replied in his slight Russian accent, his mouth almost totally obscured by the thick moustache and beard that took up quite a lot of his features. Gibson could already tell that he would be the most used to the environmental conditions they were going to go through.

"Simple." Gibson replied. "You'll be scouting around area B, and like team two you'll be searching for shelter as well. All of us will be armed with Hand-held weaponry in case we encounter anything hostile down there. If your team does encounter something hostile, fall back to the transport immediately. Nobody travels alone, and everyone has to be roped together to ensure it too. The terrain is slippery and we have no idea about the local wildlife either, so everyone be careful of any animals or wild creatures you see. If you also happen to find any piece of useful electronic equipment, don't touch it till it can be examined for booby-traps. I bet this ring has been abandoned for a reason and I'd rather not find out what it is till we're out of there. Everyone clear then? Any questions?"

He looked around the gathered group. They all looked pretty determined, if somewhat nervous, of what was to come. Then Gibson noticed a hand rise at the very back. Looking at the person raising it, he could make out Sarno's face through the face plate.

"Yes Sarno?" He asked, nodding at him to put the arm down.

Sarno lowered the arm and asked in a somewhat soft and sullen tone "Just a small question, but how do you intend to keep us all pinned down during landing? It's not like we actually have any seats or seatbelts for that matter you know."

Gibson nodded. This was something he was thinking about as well but fortunately he had found a somewhat simple solution for it.

"Simple, you'll be using your magnetic boots to hold you to the floor. Before landing, we'll all secure ourselves by using Magnetic locks to stick our suits to the wall. It should allow us to remain in one place, but the ride will definitely be bumpy."

Sarno nodded. It looked like the answer had satisfied him for the moment. Yet, he still had a somewhat puzzled expression on his face, as if he wanted to ask something, yet didn't have the guts to.

"Is there anything else Sarno? It looks like you've got another question in you there."

Sarno looked around to the others first, before looking right back at Gibson. "Well Sir...actually there is. I was hoping to ask, who is piloting us down? I don't think the Shivans would be able to survive all those G forces, or know what a soft landing is for that matter."

Gibson was afraid this question was going to come up. But might as well deal with it now rather than later.

"Well, the latest news is that none other than our fearless leader will be flying us down to the surface itself. He's already talked to the Shivans and they are working on setting a proper control system as we speak."

Upon hearing this, the room went silent. All the personnel gathered simply stared at Gibson, putting him in a somewhat uncomfortable position. Sarno was quite literally aghast with surprise. He obviously had been expecting to be chosen to pilot the ship down.
One of the others spoke first, shattering the silence a few seconds later. It was Terrick.

"Respectfully speaking sir, but why is the Admiral flying us in? Isn't Sarno or John a better choice? I mean, the GTVA put him as an Admiral because he's too old to fly, for heaven's sake!"

Gibson simply gave Terrick a glare and was about to reply when a voice from the very rear interrupted them.

"If it was true that they promoted people to Admiral just for their age, Mr. Terrick, then we'd also be seeing a lot more Neo-Terran Fronts." Everyone turned around in surprise to look at whom had just spoken. Upon seeing who it was however, all of them quickly saluted as Bosch stepped through the doorway. How long had he been standing there without anybody noticing? Standing and watching as his men being briefed on the activity they would follow on the ring below? Gibson simply had no idea, and instead followed the rest, saluting in respect to the old man.

Under normal circumstances, Bosch's frame wasn't very large, and nor was he well-muscled either. The past year working behind a desk and away from active service had reduced his body to a mere shadow of what it used to be during his prime years. Under the Zero-G environment they had endured over the past few days, Bosch's condition had worsened even more, and the signs were clearly showing now. The old man had been capable of moving about easily in the Zero G conditions, but now his walk was reduced into a slow stagger, barely being able to move the suit that enveloped his entire body. To him it must have felt like walking with lead weights, and the expression on his face as he moved from one corner to the other simple proved it.

He continued to speak, his voice low and somewhat weak from the strain of walking around. He obviously was tired and from the looks of it, about ready to collapse.

"Stand easy men." Bosch nodded at those gathered after saluting back. Once everyone's arms had dropped, he nodded again and continued to speak.

"I understand your concerns Terrick. I am indeed an old man, as well as somewhat unfit from my earlier days, but I've also got a lot of experience. Tell me, have you ever crash-landed any spacecraft into a planet before?"

He looked at all the men gathered before continuing. "Have any of you done the same, for that matter?"

Everyone simply shook their heads except for Gibson. He was the only other person here with as much flight experience - if not more - than Bosch himself, but he had almost no knowledge of the Shivan controls or the ship itself - something which only Bosch knew in this case.

"Point taken Sir, my apologies." Sarno said, somewhat embarresed.

Bosch frowned for a second. His tone became somewhat agitated. "What are you apologizing for pilot? You had a valid point in this case and you expressed it. In fact - " Bosch paused looking first at Sarno and then at John. Then he sighed before continuing. "Now that you mention it, there is a good chance I might just black out during the trip itself. I want both of you stationed inside the cockpit area itself. It's rather large, so space shouldn't be an issue. If anything happens to me, you'll have to take over the flight. Understood?"

Sarno's features turned to that one in surprise. Internally, Gibson applauded Bosch. This was one of the reasons he had managed to hold the NTF as long as he did. If Bosch was good at one thing, it was handling the men under his charge.

At least now the main issue seemed to be dealt and over with. Bosch nodded to the men and continued.

“You’ve all heard the plans, and you’ve all heard the risks. I’ve talked to the Shivans and we’ll be making our attempt after 24 hours. I suggest everybody get some rest before we go. The food container has been unlocked, so all the food is available for consumption. I expect each and every one of you to fill yourselves and enjoy the food.”

Bosch paused. His facial features turned morose as he looked down before continuing. “24 Hours from now, we’ll all either be dead or on the surface. In either case we’ll need all the energy we can get. That is all, dismissed.”

With that, Bosch moved towards his room on the other side of the group. The crew parted to give him way as he left. Not one person spoke a word as he walked through and went to his room. Once the door closed, Gibson looked back to those gathered. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, but finally Sargo spoke up, shattering it.

“Well, that’s about it. Who’s up for some proper food?”

A general murmur of agreement rose up from the others as they dispersed for lunch. Gibson sighed. This was going to be one of the longest 24 hours of his life.

[Singh]

bump. Edited chapter numbers, as well as put in a working title. Some feedback on it would be deeply appreciated.

[Singh]

Chapter 3

This is the final audio log of Admiral Aken Bosch, Ex-leader of the Neo Terran Front.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of any additional tapes onboard the Shivan transport, or in our supply for that matter, this will be my final entry into my logs till we are able to either acquire more tapes or another recorder of some sorts.

As I speak, my crew is resting and preparing for what may just be the hardest experience in their lives. The Shivans departed the transport several hours ago, leaving us as the only people onboard. It is quite apparent that they do not wish to come down to the ring with us. Whether it is the gravity that is driving them away, or something on the ring itself, I don’t know. What I do know is that they were quick to change the entire layout of this Azreal’s cockpit, which is something of a surprise considering the change of biology it has to encompass.

At the least however, they are supremely competent shipbuilders. It took less than 8 hours to change the entire layout of the cockpit from one that accepted a neural interface, to one that accepted all kinds of analogue input, not to mention hook up what few display screens we have to show gauges and output.

As much of a blessing as it seems, I am also very hesitant about the entire matter. The Shivans have definitely been hospitable to us….perhaps a little too hospitable for that matter.

It may seem that I’m being over-cautious over the entire thing, especially when I should be celebrating our achievement here, as the initial objectives I started with have all but been achieved. The Neo Terra Front was exactly that: nothing but a Front to put up against the GTVA as I scavenged about the wrecks of the ancients, looking for clues that would eventually bring me here and to the Shivans. The pilots and soldiers of the NTF were mere cattle, driven by their hatred and fears of the Vasudans. At the time, it was all too simple to just use it to my advantage and meet my immediate needs. But then it grew and took over, and I was powerless to stop it.

But I will not argue with Human memory, or whatever verdict history gives on my role in the human race. My role was played to the bloody end, and it is something that I cannot deny, even if it means a legacy forever crowned with infamy.

Little do the fools know, my actions were planned not by my hatred of the Vasudans, but for my love of humanity. My only objective was to end the tragic decades of hate and misunderstandings between our species and the Shivan’s, and probably to bring some hope to the future of mankind. I succeeded in all the tasks I set out to do, and I should be filled with joy.

Yet upon reflection, I must ask myself, have I really succeeded?

Although contact has been made with the Shivans, they have mentioned little to me of why they attacked us or the reason for the First and Second Great Wars. Whenever I ask this question, the Shivan hive mind is simply evasive and cryptic in its replies. From what I am able to grasp, the Shivans were definitely waiting for us to come about, and their attacks were deliberate. Only the reason of why remains beyond my grasp now. What could motivate such a race to be so hostile to anything it encounters, yet be so hospitable to us?

They still refuse to answer the question of why did they spare us and not the ancients. They also continue to insist that a problem exists, one that is larger than the Ancients, Humans and Vasudans combined, possibly extending past this universe as well. But they have yet to tell me, what is this problem exactly?

The only thing that they have told me is that all will be explained here, at this ring and that the truth will be revealed when we begin our journey. But what is this journey they speak of?

What wild reason lies behind this mysterious fog the Shivans have clouded themselves in? Perhaps it is connected to the number of ships gathered here, all standing in unison to watch our odyssey to the Ring below us. They have to be waiting for something to happen, something directly related to us, this ring and the installation that hangs in the midst of it all.

Either way, from the looks of it our answers won’t be ready for another several hours yet. It is my hope that this ring will prove to be the final piece of the puzzle, leading to the answers for all my questions. But it may just end up bringing up a larger problem and more questions. Either way, we will never know till we can land on the ring.

Yet…I cannot help but think. Perhaps in my earlier logs I was right; I may just end up being a fool here, having lead my people into this vast desert, only to die. Although I came here looking for answers to save humanity, I may just end up leaving it with questions that only serve to doom it.

End log.

[Singh]

second bit of chapter 3:

Admiral Aken Bosch looked at the ragged display panels and control levers in front of him. While he had to give the Shivans credit for being efficient and capable, he’d have to definitely minus points for their cleanliness and organization of the entire thing. It would be a monumental task piloting this craft down, especially since it wasn’t exactly meant for planetary travel.

He started in the most logical place: trying to determine whether this thing was capable of basic flight or not. The Azreal class transport was triangular in it’s hull shape, ending in a short narrow neck that led to the cockpit at the very front. The neck itself was significantly thick, as it supported to beams that held all the cargo underneath the main belly. A small skid was located here, to facilitate landings inside of larger vessels. Two long, sharp arms protruded from either side of the craft, ending in points that also served in securing it inside of larger vessels. The Shivans had configured the edges to also hold skids to allow for a landing in the snow-filled canyon that was their target.

Definitely not flyable Bosch thought to himself. But then, even a brick like the Ursa could fly if given powerful enough engines. And engines was what Transports like this were all about.

Probably flying in that case. He thought to himself. He placed a hand onto the rough metallic ‘seat’ that he would be sitting on throughout the journey down. It couldn’t be called a seat, as it was mostly a small sheet of metal placed on top of another slab of metal, with seat belts welded into it to hold him down. Fortunately, one of his crew members had had the foresight to put a small cushion onto the slab itself, allowing some comfort at least.

Bosch sighed. This was going to be tough, very tough indeed.

His thoughts were interrupted as a voice rang out from behind him, towards the entrance of the cockpit. Turning around, Bosch looked on as Gibson walked through the entryway from the rear cargo hold. The cockpit area was not separate as in most Terran craft he had been on. It was triangular in shape, with a wide entryway that led directly into a cargo hold as well as an exit (which had now been converted to an airlock). It also led to the main engines. A clear and unblocked corridor all the way, Bosch wasn’t too surprised, hardly expecting the Shivans to have the need or want for doors or the like. Gibson nodded at Bosch before saluting.

“All ready at the rear sir. Sarno and John are on the way.” He said, glancing back as everyone secured themselves against the wall.

Bosch nodded, replying. “Excellent. Secure yourself as well. I’ll get us started in a few minutes.”

Gibson nodded in acknowledgement, but didn’t turn back immediately. Instead he took a step closer and leaned towards Bosch, the helmet of his environmental suit almost making contact with Bosch’s. Gibson’s concern could be seen clearly over his face when he asked “You sure you can handle this sir? The G-forces that we’ll be experiencing on the way down-”

Bosch cut him off before he could finish. His features turned to that of slight anger and irritation. Although Bosch felt that the concern was genuine, it was getting a little tiring. “Gibson, if you don’t get back into that cargo hold and secure yourself, I’ll make sure to crash this ship on purpose and kill us all. Stop worrying, get to the back, and be more concerned about whether you’ll live through all this.”

Gibson just stared at him blankly for a moment before regaining his sense and nodding. He flashed a smile before saying “Yes sir!” and then moved off towards the back. On the way out, he passed by Sarno and John, both of whom had finally finished suiting up and were ready.

They came to a halt in front of Bosch and saluted. Bosch sighed and saluted back. He was starting to get a little irritated with it, especially since now the NTF was gone, and they were just about the only ones left. Still, he’d settle this issue later. For the moment their were more important things to do.

“Are you ready?” he asked, looking from Sarno to John. In reply, both men only nodded.

“Excellent. Get ready, we’re about to go down.” Bosch turned around and moved towards his seat. Sarno and John didn’t reply, and instead just started to strap themselves to the harness, and then activating the Harness’s magnetic locks, securing themselves to the wall.

Bosch in turn, secured himself to the chair. He pulled the harness over his chest and abdomen, making sure that he was strapped in tight. Once he thought he was ready, Bosch looked up at the control panel, contemplating the daunting task ahead. Moving his hands across the panel, he adjusted a final few displays to show altitude, relative speed and other data he would need. Bosch also set the auto recorder/transmitter array to work, which would transmit all the data to the Shivans. If the wreck turned out to be unusable or they were unable to get it working well enough to get off the ground, the Shivans would try to land another one in, learning from the mistakes that Bosch and his crew made and compensating for it.

Although getting onto the ground was tough, getting off wasn’t a problem as long as they could get off the ground – simply going into subspace would mean that they would instantly in space once again, even though it was quite risky, to say the least.

Looking at the console, he sighed. Without a word, he placed a hand on the central control stick, which controlled the Yaw as well as the pitch of the craft. As per norm, the pitch controls were through the foot pedals, while engine control was via a lever to his right. Using the other hand, he manipulated a few of the controls, setting off the subspace engine to the pre-defined co-ordinates. Looking ahead, Bosch watched on as the view changed in front of the transport. The blue-green structure of green disappeared behind a bright, blue-white hole that appeared out of nowhere right in front of the transport.

Pulling up on the throttle lever, Bosch accelerated the transport forwards into subspace at maximum velocity, causing the G forces to push him back into the seat and cause grunts of discomfort from the people behind him. Yet Bosch knew, this was nothing compared to what was going to come.

Subspace greeted them willingly, its border encompassing the entire transport and pulling it in. To some, it was nauseating, but to Bosch, it was a sight beyond words. As the transport pushed through, the light of subspace washed all over him and the cockpit. He could only watch in amazement as the hole he just went through turned into the blue and white tunnel they all knew and were familiar with. His heart started to rush at the sight, reveling in the mystery and wonders of subspace that had amazed him ever since he first saw it over 30 years ago. Despite having been in and out of subspace over a thousand times, each entry was a new experience for him, vibrantly different from the last. This was no exception. Glancing to the screen on his right, Bosch saw that they had 10 seconds before exit.

He glanced back and yelled, alerting the rest of the crew. “Ten seconds to exit! Brace yourselves!”

Bracing himself, Bosch watched as the seconds ticked by on the countdown meter. 5 Seconds...4....3....

At about two seconds to go, the wall of subspace in front of him was pierced by a small hole forming up. Through it, Bosch couldn't see much, but as it began to grew, he could make out more. One second to go. The transport was almost at the hole now and was starting to shudder as the atmosphere near the exit point started to rush into the vacuum of subspace.

From the outside, the only thing people would have been able to see would be a swirling blue and white whirlpool, slowly growing in size and sucking in everything around it. Nothing was spared, birds, debris, the upper atmosphere - it all went in, betraying the force of gravity that had held it towards the ring for so long. Around a second later, the whirlpool stopped growing, seemingly reaching it's maximum size. It spat out a triangular-shaped transport, with spikes on either side before collapsing on itself and closing completely, nearly clipping the transport in the process. If one were to look upwards at this point, they would notice that the closest portion of the ring was actually above them at this point, just as planned....well, almost as planned at least.

Time seemed to slow down for Bosch as the transport exited subspace. The transport smoothly flew past the exit point - albiet a bit slowly due to the air resistance - and barely made it out before the hole closed up behind them. Time still moved slowly for Bosch as he looked up and outwards to the ring. He simply stared in awe and wonder at the scene above him, a spectacular image of green hills and valleys, surronded by small lakes and river streams. The features of the landscape below were tiny, almost as if Bosch could reach out and grab it in the palm of his hand.

Bosch contemplated the scene for a second, was this how the first astronauts felt when they looked down on the Earth for the first time? Or the first airplane pilots for that matter? Even though he had seen this thousands of time before on display screens all over the place, as well as through the windows of many transports, the entire thing was still thrilling, aweing him beyond words.

Then two things hit Bosch, interrupting his thoughts and amazement at the whole scene. The first was the distinct feeling that something was wrong with the entire scene. Trying to think as hard as he could, Bosch finally realized what the problem was. The entire scene was wrong! Although the co-ordinates were correct, by this time he should have been seeing the strange device in the centre of the ring above him, not the ring itself! Either they were at the wrong co-ordinates, or subspace had somehow screwed up leaving them ups-

He never got to finish the thought as the split second passed and time caught up with them.....along with gravity too. Had he eaten in the past few hours, he would have probably thrown up the meal due to the disorientation and G forces they were feeling as the transport fell, top first, towards the ground at break-neck speed. The blood started to rush to his face as Bosch struggled to fight against the massive G forces pinning him to the seat, while at the same time trying to keep himself secure against the force of gravity that was trying to pry him out of it and into the window. They were upside down and crashing fast. From behind him, Bosch could hear loud shouts of surprise and pain as the men struggled to adjust to the G forces as well.

Think Bosch, think damnit! He thought to himself, trying to catch himself and figure out what to do. First things first: he was going to have to fix the orientation of the craft. Preparing himself, he pushed the right pedal, activating the thrusters on the left side of the craft and pushing the entire transport into an agonizingly slow barrel roll. The air resistance was significant and slowing them down throughout the roll. What should have been an affair of only a second or two rolled on to become 10 seconds, but finally Bosch could breathe a little easy when they were right side up.

Then the transport's rattling became even worse as it started to reach thicker atmosphere, shaking everyone including himself and creating a massively loud roar all over the transport. Add to that the multitude of the alerts and alarms coming from the panel in front of him and Bosch could barely hear himself think. Looking over the instruments, Bosch became alarmed at the rate of descent. They were going too fast! Within two minutes the transport would crash to the ground, and at this speed survival was not possible at all. Reaching to his right, Bosch pushed the throttle lever, increasing power to the rear engines, as well as those manuevering thrusters on the bottom. He watched as the forward speed started to pick up a bit, and the rate of fall decrease a bit, but it still wasn't enough.

The transport started to rattle further as the atmospheric resistance increased. The timer started to slow down a bit, even backtracking a little. There was little Bosch could do to slow it down at this point. Instead, he looked ahead in an attempt to find the canyon they were going to land in. Looking through the window, Bosch spotted the canyon up ahead, two kilometers out and about 700 meters below them. It wasn’t much, especially considering that the ring wasn’t that large either. They were currently traveling at 20 m/s forwards, and 10 m/s downwards. The thrusters were barely keeping the acceleration of gravity from moving it towards the ring faster.

Bosch switched one of the panels on his left to an external camera underneath the nose. The monitor flickered several times, displaying only static. Bosch cursed and hit the monitor on the side, making it flicker even more but then display an image after a few seconds. The view wasn’t much, as most of the underside was on fire (thank god for the Shivan armor!) and blocking the view, but Bosch was able to make out large forests and trees directly below, as well as a large river that was running in their direction.

Bosch glanced at the other controls. The increase in power to the engines has generally left them for the better, and they now had a controlled rate of descent. But Bosch was going to have to slow down the ship somehow, otherwise they wouldn’t survive the landing. The problem with slowing down the transport was that if he did, the thing would drop like a brick into the ground.

Decisions, decisions Bosch thought to himself.

Then the transport jerked, triggering half a dozen alarms and several shouts from the rear. They must have hit an air pocket! The transport’s controls went haywire as Bosch fought to keep it steady and on-course. However, the fight just became harder with each meter they went down.

Finally, the objective came into proper sight. On the other side of a vast lake stood a massive wall, almost half a kilometer high and posing an impressive sight. The waves lashed up against the cliff faces in a constant stream, eroding away the wall slowly and steadily as it must have been doing for centuries – maybe even millennia.

But it was in between these cliffs that Bosch was most concerned about. About 40 or 50 meters above the waters, the cliff walls parted to give a narrow entrance into a canyon. From the entrance a natural waterfall had been formed, where the water cascaded down into the lake below. This was where Bosch was headed. The entrance was over 50 meters wide, meaning that they shouldn’t have too much problem entering it. Although the immediate vicinity was filled by water, further up the river diverted elsewhere and the rest of the canyon was filled with snow.

Bosch pushed the engines a bit harder, trying to get the maximum amount of speed and reducing the downwards descent. They were over the beginning of the lake now and crashing into it at this speed would be like crashing into cement. The shaking grew even more, and it felt like the transport was trying to rattle Bosch’s to death. He had to be careful to hit the right controls, and not allow the shaking to make him miss it and hit the wrong one.

Over the next few seconds, Bosch lowered the transport enough to meet the height of the canyon entrance. At this time, they were directly over the water. The shockwave of the transport’s movement through the air affected the water below as well, and anyone could see the clear trail as it blazed past.

Then they entered the canyon. The walls stretched up on either side of Bosch’s window, leaving only the view of the ring above him, and the rest of the canyon below him. It was a straight run all the way through except for one turn, but what seemed like several obstacles in the way. From what they could see in the magnification of the area, a small clearing of snow should be available up ahead, towards the end of the canyon. But right now, although the weather was clearly quite frigid below them, there was no snow just yet. It should be after the large turn Bosch was going to have to navigate. Although how he was going to do that while fighting the transports inertia and speed was going to be a tough one.

Well, he had to figure it out soon. Bosch could see the turn coming up ahead. Cursing, he reduced the forward speed a bit, reducing engine power to the rear and putting whatever he could to the starboard and port thrusters. It was less than 400 meters out now, and at their speed, they would hit it within a minute. Bosch first banked the craft to the right a bit, coming up close to the canyon wall – but yet not close enough to risk hitting it. He looked at the corner of the turn, where a large waterfall raged from the top of the canyon wall, splashing down to a small pond below, and then to the river that in turn led to the lake. The waterfall shouldn’t be a problem, as he was going to avoid it altogether, but Bosch kept a vary eye on it anyway.

As the transport slowed down, it also started to loose it’s battle against gravity, descending slowly towards the ground. But Bosch was ready for this and braced himself. As the transport approached the turn, Bosch looked around the corner of the left side, and once he had a clear view of something other than the wall, he hit the controls for the thrusters.

Immediately, the transport reacted, firing all starboard thrusters and shutting off the port engines altogether. This caused the transport to go into a gut-churning spin to the left, even though it was still moving towards the far wall. Once everything was aligned, Bosch transferred all power back to the main engines, pushing the craft forwards and trying to reduce the slide altogether. It worked….almost.

Although the transport managed to clear the canyon wall for the most part, but the right arm scraped by the wall for a second. Although it didn’t cause much damage to show up on Bosch’s control panel, anyone on the outside would have clearly been able to see the skid on the right arm was no longer there.

Bosch saw the field up ahead. It was crystal clear, just before a lake of ice and a small hill, near the end of the canyon. He thought he could make out something at the end of the canyon, but couldn’t be sure as everything was covered in fog after the field.

Bosch steered the transport down a bit, as an ice bridge arced over the small hill. It would be a tight fit, but they had little choice. Going above the bridge would make it an even harder landing as they would not be able to slow down as much.

The transport shuddered and rocked as it sped through the small gap, barely missing the stalactites hanging down from the bridge. The heat from the engines melted the stalactites as they moved through, causing quite a number to collapse onto the hill. This caused a small avalanche on the hill, forcing the snow down onto the ice lake which the transport was barely 50 meters above.

The landing area was almost upon them. Bosch had already reduced their altitude significantly, and was on approach. Engine power was reduced to almost zero, their rate of descent was reasonable and the speed wasn’t too high either. Just 30 seconds to touchdown now, and things were looking good. The area ahead was clear, only a white field of snow with a bunch of trees towards the end. Nothing Bosch did now could change the outcome, so he switched off the engines, putting them to idle, hung on and prayed for the best.

The transport made it’s approach to the field much like a fighter did to a runway. Although somewhat fast, the lack of any engine power pushing it meant that it was gliding through on sheer inertia alone. Air resistance and turbulence would steal this inertia and slow it down just enough to make it a soft landing.

The Shivan transport continued its glide down to the ground. It was at 20 meters now, slowly dropping to 15, then 10. The descent rate then was the slowest, with the transport going down a meter each second.

Upon looking at it on the ground, the red and black transport stood out like a sore thumb, it’s glowing red hull casting an unnatural illumination a large portion of the snow, which was covered in shadow from the canyon walls.

At zero seconds, the transport should have touched the ground rear skids first, with the nose following down. It would have been an extremely bumpy ride after that as the transport rode in the snow till it came to a complete stop, the forward thrusters providing the brakes in this case.

But that was the ideal plan. As reality went, the transport touched down normally, with both arms touching the snow as planned. But only the left arm actually stayed on top of the snow. The right arm, lacking a skid, sank into the snow like a hot knife through butter. This caused the transport to lean heavily to the right as it sped through the snow. As the arm sunk deeper, it hit a rock underneath the snow, stopping it dead in its tracks. Unfortunately, inertia demanded that the main body of the transport should go ahead, with or without inertia. The result was the arm breaking off almost totally from the body, leaving behind a stump and only air to hold up the transport.

Gravity took over, causing the transport to fall onto it’s right side. As it was still moving through the snow, the rear end went up as the nose plowed into the ground, going end-over-end one, then twice. It was thrown into a third roll as the right engine, having taken slight damage from the scrape earlier, exploded outwards and pushing the transports forwards. It came to a stop at the end of the third roll, just nearby the trees that were supposed to be the end of the target.

The right engine was on fire, but this was fading as the bitter cold of the environment extinguished it. The rest of the transport was buried in the snow, leaving little exposed to the air outside. The red luminescence of the hull was still there, but it slowly started to fade out till, finally, it was snuffed out completely. The only thing that suggested a transport had come here was the portion of the hull sticking out along with the right engine, and the immense trail it had left coming there. But even this wasn’t permanent, as the trail was blown over by the strong wind, removing all traces of existence and deafening everything with it’s loud howl as it traveled through the canyon.

**************

[Singh]

hmm....no comments. Is it that sucky?

[Zarathos]

Well, I liked it. Good writing, but still waiting for something more. It's like appetizer. Give us more, and star crossing , than perhaps some more R&R's will appear

Oh, and the cross... I remember I've readed a book. It was called.. Ring I think. Was about human, some sort of ancient and kitty race traveling to see a ring (UNCOMPLETE ) around a sun... something like Dyson's but not sphere but ring. It was quite good, but if it's and You want to make a cross with it... well, I dont see how

[Aire]

Oh, and the cross... I remember I've readed a book. It was called.. Ring I think. Was about human, some sort of ancient and kitty race traveling to see a ring (UNCOMPLETE ) around a sun... something like Dyson's but not sphere but ring. It was quite good, but if it's and You want to make a cross with it... well, I dont see how

Ringworld, perhaps?

[Singh]

Originally Posted by Zarathos

Well, I liked it. Good writing, but still waiting for something more. It's like appetizer. Give us more, and star crossing , than perhaps some more R&R's will appear

Oh, and the cross... I remember I've readed a book. It was called.. Ring I think. Was about human, some sort of ancient and kitty race traveling to see a ring (UNCOMPLETE ) around a sun... something like Dyson's but not sphere but ring. It was quite good, but if it's and You want to make a cross with it... well, I dont see how

Thanks. The crossover bit will start soon, slowly fading in and then taking over, as planned out in my head

And the cross is more of a starfish . It's also an original element to the entire thing, as opposed to copied from anywhere (and if it does seem copied, it's accidental, as no other book i've read so far has it).....but it does get a bit more interesting later

[Singh]

INTERLUDE

My creators were a proud people. And always the strongest.
For thousands of years, their empire expanded. For so long, they always imagined themselves alone in the universe, for so long, they never encountered other advanced life.

Then they discovered subspace. It gave them the galaxy, it gave them the universe. They soon encountered other life and other civilizations. Then they subdued it or crushed it. None were a match for them, and with subspace, their empire would surely know no boundaries.

For so long, they knew no others that could defeat them.......but this illusion was soon shattered. When the first few ancients stumbled upon this system, initially they ignored it. But when they looked closer, they found this ancient structure. Hanging abandoned in space above this planet, they did not know what to make of it. Its creators were stronger than any they had encountered, yet strangely they had disappeared, leaving only this lonely piece of technology as a legacy of their civilization and might.

At first, the few who found the creation kept its discovery only to themselves. They left it alone for a while, and then came back with others. Soon they built the ring around the creation to study it and find what secrets lurked within its dark walls.

And soon after, they created me. They said I was the pride of their civilization. No other was more advanced or more complex. No other could do what they wanted me to do. I was to explore the creation and unlock the mysteries that were buried deep inside it.

Never once did they think of the consequences of such actions, such trespassing. They only thought that surely, with such technology, their empire would soon become unstoppable. And so I went on, into the abyss, unknowing of the horrors that hid in its darkness.

CHAPTER 4

The blackness of unconsciousness started to lift slowly as Bosch gave a loud groan and started to open his eyes. He had no recollection of what happened just now, except for a blinding flash of pain and then the blissful darkness that came with blacking out from the pain.
He was still in darkness when the first voice spoke up, somewhere from his left. It was a shout and set off loud bell ringing in his right ear.

“Hey! He’s coming to! Someone get the med-kit here, stat!”

Bosch couldn’t make out whom the voice belonged to, his memory was too jumbled for that right now. He tried opening his eyes, but closed them immediately after, as the light above him was too bright. It was too bright even though his eyes were closed, instinctively forcing him to bring his right hand up. Or at least…try to bring it up. But when he tried to move his hand, the only response he got was shooting pain right through his arm, all the way up to the shoulder, forcing yet another groan out of him.

“What? All right, we’re coming. Keep him still! Don’t let him move about or he’ll simply hurt that arm more!”

Another voice ran out from elsewhere in the room. Bosch tried raising his other arm, and succeeded a bit before a hand came down and restricted the arm’s movement, forcing it back down. The first voice spoke again, this time right next to Bosch.

“Sir, I don’t think you want to do that, trust me. John, lower that field light there! It’s too damn bright!”

A much more different voice – obviously belonging to John in this case – answered back from across the room. His voice was soft, as if behind some object or the other, which was odd since he didn’t remember their being anything at the back of the bay….

“Roger, turning down the lights.”

About a second later, the light dimmed enough to allow Bosch to stop squinting and then dimmed further to allow him to open up his eyes a bit more. Looking up, he saw Gibson waving at somebody to his right, and holding something else in his left hand. Upon closer examination, Bosch could see it was a hypodermic needle, used to inject drugs and other medicines directly into the bloodstream.

Gibson primed the needle and then looked down at Bosch. He could only look on as Gibson spoke “Don’t worry Sir, it’s going to be all right.” Then he jabbed Bosch’s left arm with the needle and injected the contents of the needle directly into his bloodstream. A jolt of pain went up his left side, and his vision slowly started to fade out, throwing Bosch back into the blissful darkness that was unconsciousness.

*********

When he awoke again, the light was not as bright as it was before. In fact, it was not there at all, allowing Bosch to open his eyes almost immediately. He looked up at the ceiling, from which the field light hung, swinging about slowly from side to side.

His ears were still ringing, and he could barely hear a thing. A massive headache wasn’t exactly helping either. Instinctively, he tried to bring his right arm up to his head. His attempt failed miserably as a jolt of pain went up the arm, eliciting a groan from Bosch.

Remembering what had happened earlier; Bosch learnt his lesson and decided to take a bit more care when moving his head from left to right. Cautiously, he turned to the left, trying to turn as far as he could before it started hurting. He managed to get it to go to as much as it should, but it felt a bit stiff and difficult. However, their appeared to be no major damage. Consequently, he managed to get a partial view into the cockpit, not mention a good idea on where exactly he was in all of the transport.

But what stuck out at him was the situation of the cockpit. The entire windscreen and front had been smashed in and covered with white snow. The control panel was now only a little over a foot away from the back of the seat where he had been sitting. The right side of the panel was significantly closer, which would explain the pain in his right arm. It must have been crushed by the panel, or at least partially broken during the crash. Quite a bit of the left side of the cockpit was not visible, as it was buried in the snow, but Bosch could make out part of one of the metallic harnesses that he had secured Sarno and John onto the wall. As he studied it, he was a bit shocked to see some blood on the harness. Whoever had been strapped there had been obviously been injured quite badly, which meant he was probably to his right side.

Turning his neck back, Bosch tried the other side. Slowly, the rest of the transport came into view, and it was a very different one. The long corridor that had been clear before was now littered with debris. Along the walls, Bosch could see the empty harnesses where the rest of his crew had strapped themselves in on the way down. Where had they gone? Had they all managed to make it? He certainly hoped they had.

Then his gaze fell onto one of the corners next to the second exit leading to the engine section, directly opposite from the small hole that led down to the cargo bay. In the corner were two bodies, wrapped and covered in white sheets. Bosch stared at both the bodies for a second, unable to comprehend what he was looking at. Then he simply looked back up and gave out a sigh, closing his eyes.

By this time the ringing in his ears had mostly died down. Perhaps it was time to try and get up. Moving his left arm cautiously, he was capable of moving it significantly without much problem. The tried the same with his legs, starting with the left first, both appeared to be uninjured.

Good….I’ll be needing both of them. he thought to himself. This was going to be painful, to say the least. Grunting, Bosch tensed his back, and then using his left arm and leg, managed to lift himself off the platform and onto his back. His right arm exploded in pain, forcing his features into a grimace and nearly causing him to scream out in agony. But Bosch controlled himself; he couldn’t cave in to the pain, not here, not now.

When he was finally up, he looked down at his right arm. From what he could see, his arm was in a complete plaster cast, making it rather heavy to hold up. The cast was supported by a cloth wrapped around his arm and neck. It was obvious that the advanced medical tools he was normally used to weren’t available, hence forcing them to resort to this. But at least it worked, so Bosch could complain little.

Bosch swung his legs off the platform, letting his feet dangle a few inches off the ground. He sat at the platform for a few minutes, trying to hear if anyone else was there. No sounds were present, except for a loud howling from the rear of the engine. Where had everyone else gone? Why had he been left alone here?

Deciding that sitting around would not be very productive, Bosch got off the platform, grunting in pain as his right arm moved a bit as he did so. Unfortunately, he nearly fell down as his legs – unused to the gravity thus far – almost crumpled under the weight of his body. Only the fact that he was using his left arm to help support his body prevented him from falling down. The weight of the sling drew heavily on his neck, forcing him to hunch a bit.

Perhaps walking around would not be such a good idea Bosch thought to himself. He was in no condition to leave the transport, or walk anywhere for that matter. Instead, he decided to climb back onto the platform and sit down. The others probably went out for food or something else, so instead he would have to sit here and wait.

Bosch looked around for a stash or some supplies of some sort first. He was thirsty and hungry, not to mention would need something to keep himself busy with. Finally, he found a small bag near the base of the platform. He first jumped up onto the platform as best as he could, and then bent down and grabbed the bag, lifting it up to the top platform, he opened it, rummaging through.

Inside, he found a few medical supplies, a small canister holding some water. There was no food inside, but Bosch also found a small notebook that was somewhat damaged, but still intact. Inside the book was a small pen, along with notes on the first few pages. It appeared to be in Sargo’s handwriting, but the notes themselves were dated quite old, and hence useless in this situation.

Deciding the claim the book as his own, Bosch carefully and neatly removed the first few pages (Sargo may want it back) and then kept it aside in a neat pile next to him. Placing the now-open book in his lap, Bosch carefully positioned the pen in his left hand and attempted to write. Although the handwriting was bad, it was still legible enough for Bosch to be able to read.

And so he began to write.

[Singh]

This is the written log of Admiral Aken Bosch, ex-leader of the Neo Terran Front.

Due to a lack of tape recorders or other such audio recording equipment, I have been forced into using commandeering this old notebook – it was probably Sargo’s previously – for the use of my logs and notes. From what I can see, the current situation appears to be quite bad from the crash. I still don’t know how we managed to crash, as everything seemed to be going all right till the moment we touched down. After that, I remember nothing.

The crash itself was pretty severe, upon examining of the cockpit area and what remains of my seat; I realize that having a broken arm is actually a blessing, compared to the alternative. This is the closest I’ve come to death in years, the last time being my encounter with the GTI and the Hades so many decades ago.

Unfortunately, as I have just found out, it seems two others of my crew were not as lucky. The only question remains is which two members of my crew lie underneath the white cloth. Unfortunately, it is an answer I am unable to easily discern. Judging from the blood stain that is present in one of the harnesses in the cockpit, one of the bodies could be Sarno’s or John’s. I will have to wait for the others to confirm who exactly it is first, before I try making any more judgment on the matter….

But still…it disturbs me to see death at such closeness. As a pilot in my days of the GTA and then as the Supreme Commander of the NTF, I have the deaths of Millions of individuals, both Terran and Vasudan on my hands, but these deaths have always remained at a distance. As a fighter pilot, I never actually saw my enemy and each time I destroyed one of their fighters, I never once stopped to think, never once paused to consider who the enemy actually was. It is something that I have avoided all my life, and something I put aside so that I could continue with this bold crusade. But now, two people with whom I have survived this journey have died. What will their families think of back home? That they died for a good cause? Or merely at the hands of an evil dictator, much akin to the long-dead füh•rer himself?

I was prepared for the verdict history placed upon me, but now I question myself, did I prepare myself for the verdict history would place on those whom are close to me?

To achieve my goal of ensuring the survival of humanity, I had to see the death of millions, all ordered at my hands. But now, upon recollection, does it seem worth it? Everyday during that period, I reassured myself that it was, that saving the lives of billions would require the sacrifice of a few million.

Now that the deed has been done, there is little I can do but to pray that this fool’s crusade is indeed justified. As I re-assured myself so long ago, I must re-assure myself now. I have no choice but to play this role to the bitter end, no matter what ending that may be. Those who decided to come with me made their decision. While history may decide their verdicts, at the very least, I know it is untrue, I know what their sacrifices meant.

I cannot stop here, not now, not ever, especially when I am so close to unlocking the mystery behind the Shivans, and what may just be a new hope for the human race.

End log.

[Zarathos]

Great. More. Soon :d

[Singh]

smallish update. too damn busy lately

INTERLUDE

When they first met the Great Destroyers, my creators could not care less. They were like the others the creators encountered, strange, hideous and fighting. Like the others, my creators moved to crush and subdue them.

But these were not like the others....they would not die. My creators realized that they were outnumbered and outclassed in this case, and chose to retreat. But their empire was vast and ever-present. They could forego one system, so they left it to the destroyers and went elsewhere.

But the Destroyers followed. They chased them, hunted them till they found out where the creators lived. For a long time, they pondered, as I did, why did they chase us? It was not for resources or for territory. Was their pride sin?

My creators pondered these questions, but at the same time saw me as a last hope of sorts. They said I must look farther into the abyss and needed to look behind the dark shroud that covered it's inner demons and secrets. I was their only hope - the technology in this structure would be the key to defeating this nemesis...this infestation that continued to threaten them. What I had found out so far had helped the creators somewhat, but now they asked for more. They asked for more useful information, for tools and weapons to fight the destroyers. They were desperate, looking for any means of salvation for their plight.

And so I obeyed, like an ignorant youngster eagerly wishing to fulfill his elder's commands. I went deeper into the abyss, unaware and uncaring of what lived beyond, my only one care being to search for a key, a clue to change what seemed like an inescapable destiny for my creators. But as I would soon discover, my prior trespassing had already attracted the attention of something that lay in the darkness of the abyss.........

[Singh]

bump, so that I can find it later. dont want it drifting off into the third page!

[Singh]

CHAPTER 5

Bosch was lying down on the small platform, trying to conserve his strength as best as possible. He knew once the others arrived, he would have a lot of work to do, which meant he was going to need to be at his peak condition for it.

Two hours had already passed since he gave up writing his log. Bosch couldn't help but wonder where everyone was, or what they were doing for that matter.

Most probably carrying out the plan that had been created earlier. He couldn't help but think to himself. Upon recollection, Bosch realized that he did know where they were. He doubted they would just stay in one place and do nothing. More than likely they were carrying out the original plan to go and scout for food and resources to fix the transport, even though they would be now doing it with three less men....

Before he could think any further on the matter however, Bosch's thoughts were interrupted by a loud clank sound coming from the engine room to his right. It was slightly muffled, but it was also very loud.

Then it came again, this time followed by the high-pitched screech that came with something metallic and heavy being dragged along the floor. The previously low howl of wind outside increased in intensity, creating a deafening echo in the rest of the transport and bringing with it a chill unlike anything he had experience before. The bitter cold touched his skin – exposed with an environment suit to protect him, there was little he could do to stop it.

Over the loud din, Bosch could barely make out a few voices shouting at each other as they came into the transport. This was shortly followed by another screech as the heavy metal object was once again pushed into place, cutting off the loud howl and bringing the ringing sound back into Bosch's ears. The cold went away as well, although not as completely as he would have hoped.

Bosch decided to get up and face whomever was coming in. Leaning on his left arm and using whatever strength he had, Bosch got himself up carefully, making sure not to cause any strain or problem to the broken right arm. He then swung his legs out to the right and sat up. He looked at the engine room and waited for whomever it was to come walking past the large pipes that blocked most of his view of the section.

The voices grew louder but were still somewhat muffled by the pipes in front of them, but Bosch was still unable to make out what they were talking about, hearing only pieces of the conversation.

Then as they came closer, the voices became a bit clearer. He still couldn’t figure out who it was, but at least he could understand what they were saying. From what he could tell, they were two of them, and both were arguing with each other quite loudly.

“I know that, but our time was up! If he hadn’t returned back then, we would have both frozen to death, not to mention the others would have gotten worried!”

One of voices spoke; obviously in response to something Bosch had not been able to make out earlier. A different voice spoke up in response to this, the tone one that of impatience and irritation.

“The others aren’t even here yet! We’re the first ones here damn it! It would taken less than three minutes to simply go up to the panel, opened the door and then taken a peek inside!”

“And what if a full, goddamn army was behind those doors, waiting to blow us to kingdom come simply because we didn’t knock?”

The first voice retorted. Bosch couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about. Had they discovered something? They still hadn’t rounded the corner yet, meaning they were probably standing somewhere behind the pipes and arguing with each other. This assumption was backed up by the fact that he could no longer hear their footsteps either.

“You don’t know that!! If there was an army, they would have gotten us long before we even went up to the top of the damn thing!”

“I may not know whether it’s true, but neither do you! There is a good chance it’s booby-trapped, so I’d rather have the others come in with us in case something went wrong.”

The second voice sighed a bit, conceding defeat on the matter.

“Fine then, but we better send the next team down ASAP. If that thing’s got potential as shelter, we’ll need to move in quick.”

The first voice’s tone calmed down a bit before continuing. The person started walking towards the end of the pipes as he spoke, as evidenced by the footsteps that they could hear.

“Agreed. The transport’s environmental systems won’t last too long as it is. Once it goes, we’ll most likely end up freezing to death.”

Bosch watched as a foot came past the pipes, followed almost immediately by the leg, then the main body of the person. Finally, Sargo came into view, still looking at someone to his right. As he turned the corner, Sargo’s face turned around to see the main hallway area, which was when he saw Bosch.
Bosch suppressed a small smile at Sargo’s surprised expression. From behind him, Terrick rounded the corner, unaware that Bosch was seated at the platform and watching the both of them. He glanced at Sargo, saw the surprised expression and then turned to look at Bosch. His expression changed to one of surprise as well. Sargo reacted first, rushing forward to Bosch. Terrick snapped out of it as well and came just behind Sargo.

Bosch simply put a hand up, signaling he didn’t need any help, and before Sargo could say anything, he simply nodded over at the white sheets and asked a simple question. “Who?”

Sargo looked at the sheets, his expression turning somewhat grim. He stared at it for a few seconds, before looking back at Bosch, a somewhat sad expression on his face. Finally, he looked down before speaking. “Ramayan and Sarno. We found Sarno dead after the crash. Ramayan suffered massive injuries….we weren’t able to save him.”

Bosch nodded grimly, not sure exactly what to say in reply to this. Although it had been expected, there was little that could have prepared him for the news. An uncomfortable silence fell over the group for a minute, before it was broken when Bosch looked up directly at Sargo and spoke in a somewhat low voice

“At least we tried our best….they wont be forgotten……none of them will.”

Sargo only nodded, but the expression didn’t leave his face. Rather than let the silence return, Bosch pushed matters ahead by clearing his throat and continuing.

“Status update?” he asked.

Sargo looked up at Bosch and gave out a sigh. Clearing his throat, he nodded and glanced back, indicating for Terrick to continue with the work they had come back to do. Terrick simply nodded back and moved off towards one of the corners. Bosch watched as he switched on the environment suit’s flashlight, lighting up the corner and revealing the ladder that led down into the transport’s cargo hold. Terrick turned around and carefully descended the ladder, into the darkness below. Bosch looked back to Sargo, who was now towards the right side of the hallway near one of the outcrops they were using as a table of sorts. He was rummaging through a small bag for some supplies.

Finally, he withdrew two small cups, along with a bottle of water. Placing both cups on the outcrop, he poured some water into both and then placed the bottle back on the outcrop. Wielding a cup in each hand, he turned to the platform and walked towards Bosch, holding one out towards him.

“Drink first, you’re de-hydrated.” Sargo spoke. Bosch just nodded his thanks as he accepted the cup. Bringing it up to his lips, he took a sip first. He was somewhat surprised as to how cold it was, but then Bosch realized, he should have expected it in this sort of weather conditions.

Sargo sat down on the ground next to the platform, taking a few slow sips from his own cup, waiting for Bosch to finish drinking.

Bosch was the first to speak up once he was done with the water.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

Sargo didn’t look up, only staring at the cup he was holding in both hands.

“Very…..” He shook his head towards the cockpit. “The transport isn’t in good condition. Even if we could repair the engines, I doubt it will be anywhere near flyable, much less space worthy for that matter. Fortunately, environmental control is still online – if only barely. Venson says it will fail soon though, so we need to find some sort of shelter.”

Bosch looked down. The situation appeared grave indeed.

“What about our stores? How bad is the situation there?”

Although it shouldn’t have been possible, Sargo’s face actually became grimmer. Looking at this, Bosch braced himself for even more bad news as Sargo continued on.

“The stores are even worse. We lost nearly half the cargo due to damage from the crash. We’re down to a day’s worth of food, and now that Ramayan’s dead, we’re pretty much dead in the water in that regard….as for medical supplies, we’ve got none left. Most of the surgical nanites were finished when we tried to save Ramayan, while the rest went on patching up your leg and neck. Other than that, their isn’t much left intact. Only the basic stuff survived: stuff like ropes, chains, some field equipment, along with a single stove.”

Sargo paused, looking at the cup and frowning. Bosch could see he was trying to remember if that was it. Then a thought occurred to him, a rather urgent and horrifying one at that.

“What about the ETAK?” he asked. Without it, they would not be able to communicate with the Shivans at all and then they would be really stuck here.

Sargo looked up in surprise, not expecting that question. He nodded to his right, towards something beyond the pipes in the engine room.

“That? It’s still online and working. We re-enforced it enough that it survived the landing intact – hell, it’s about the only thing here that’s survived and working at a 100%.”

Bosch breathed a sigh of relief at this. At least now they had a way to communicate with the Shivans when they came…He nodded before continuing.

“That’s good then. At least we can communicate with the Shivans when they come down for us. It should be soon, if we can’t get a signal back to them first.”

Sargo frowned a bit, but didn’t say anything to this, allowing the silence to hang over them for a full minute before he got up off the floor and headed back to the outcrop for more water. He first poured himself more water, before turning around and offering Bosch some more as well. Bosch nodded and accepted the refill. Rather than let the silence continue however, he looked at Sargo and asked him a question.

“What were you and Terrick talking about just now? What did you find out there?”

Sargo didn’t look up from the cup. Taking a sip from it, he replied.

“We found something……strange, to say the least.” He paused, frowning to himself a bit before continuing.

“It’s a structure, a rather odd one at that. It’s similar to some of those Inca temples we studied in history class, sure as hell looks like a temple for that matter. It’s not very far from where we are right now, but the fog out there is so thick we didn’t spot it till were right on it! Both Terrick and I climbed to the top of it, and found a massive entrance, along with a control panel. Terrick wanted to open the door and see what was behind it, but couldn’t figure out the control panel before it was time to come back. It looks well-built though, and in good condition. If the weather was always like this on this part of the ring, then the inside should be insulated enough for us to survive.”

Bosch was intrigued….a temple, out here? On this ring? He had suspected the ancients were religious in nature, but enough to create a temple on the ring? Or was it something else? Such questions perplexed him, not to mention piqued his curiosity.

“Once Gibson is back, we should be able to set out again and investigate it. If it’s a viable alternative to staying here, it won’t take long to move into it.” Sargo continued.

Bosch simply nodded. His curiosity would have to wait for now. But if his hunch was right, then this would be a rather amazing find indeed.

“We’ll wait for Gibson then.” Bosch replied, sitting back. From the looks of it, this was going to be a long wait indeed.

******

[Singh]

Around a half hour later, the entire group had gathered inside the transport, busy getting everything ready to move. Most of the activity was focused on the once-dark ladder in the corner of the corridor, which was now brightly lit by one of the portable lights. The constant noises of people rummaging through the debris in the cargo hold could be heard, and every so often, someone would either come up the ladder or go down it. The corridor itself had people running around, and was full of bags littered all over the place. The bags themselves weren’t very large, being standard battle order for most space crews, it was light and most of its storage capacity was in the numerous pockets all over it.

Meant for carrying any random mixture of tools, the bags were ideal for most emergency occasions. But its designers would never have imagined it being useful on an alien ring world in a hostile environment not that much warmer than that of space itself, after being involved in a crash landing that killed several people and damaged almost everything else.

In the sea of chaos, was a small island of order. Or, rather, in this case a platform of order. Seated pretty much in the centre of the corridor and with Gibson, Sargo and Venson surrounding him Bosch was conducting the final briefing before the four of them would head out. So far things had gone without a hitch. When Gibson and the others returned, Sargo had immediately debriefed them on the find. It had been an almost uninamous decision then that they would head out towards the structure, and do so almost immediately. They had only paused to rest a few minutes and gather what equipment they could, leaving only one last issue to be dealt with before they could go.

How was Bosch going to get there? Unlike the others, he was no longer dressed in an environmental suit, and with the broken arm and cast, there was no chance he was going to wear any above the chest either. The others were still aurguing about how exactly they would get here, with Bosch in the centre of it all, watching them.

"Look, I'm telling you, there's no way any healthy human being could survive for long in the atmosphere out there, much less one that's only recently been injured and not in the best of conditions."

Gibson spoke, his tone one of irritation and slight anger. His concern for Bosch's safety was evident indeed.

"Yes, but you forget - we're only going for a few hundred meters for heaven's sake. It's just through to the other side of the damn fog and we're pretty much home free!"

Sargo interrupted. His tone was equally annoyed, and he probably had a right to. They had been sitting here and doing nothing but argue for the last 5 to 10 minutes, and it was fustrating him to no end. And in turn, his sentence was cut off as Venson replied to both the gentlemen gathered.

"Yes, but you're also forgetting the fact that we'll be going there at a rather slow pace. It's not like we can just run over or something? Have you even tried running with a broken arm on flat ground? Much less on snow out there!"

Finally getting a bit sick of this, not to mention feeling a bit more confident in getting onto his feet, Bosch decided to end this right here. It would do no use to have his crewmen bickering amongst themselves, especially in their current situation.

Without saying a word, Bosch slowly put one foot on the ground first, and gradually shifting his weight, he put down the other. His legs nearly buckled on him, and he had to grab the platform for support. The others noticed this and stopped arguing immediately. They rushed to Bosch’s side to help him, but Bosch waved them away.

“Either we go now, or we’re not going at all. We can’t stay here forever, and we need some other place with a working power source to activate the ETAK.”

He looked at first Gibson, and then Venson before continuing.

“Gibson, Venson, I understand your concern for my safety, but we’re all dead if we stay here anyway. There is no use waiting any longer. Let’s go.”

Both nodded rather reluctantly. Gibson then turned around and went to get one of the bags. Bringing it back to the platform, he opened it and took out a loop of rope. As he uncoiled it, Bosch saw that it was rather long – long enough to probably hold all of them. Tying one of the ends around his waist, the offered the other to Sargo and the other to Venson. Finally, taking the other end of the rope, he tied it around Bosch’s waist. Bosch only nodded. This was pretty much the plan they had all agreed to. It would keep them all together, despite the thick fog, and if anyone had problems, at least the rest would know.

Once everyone was done, they picked up their bags and gear. Only Bosch remained without carrying anything – which was almost impossible given his broken arm and weakened state.

Sargo stood next to Bosch, and would be accompanying him throughout the journey, providing support in case he fell or needed help. Just before they were ready, Sargo took one of the blankets they had and wrapped it around Bosch’s upper body. They had managed to get him into some of the environmental suit earlier, but it was only upto his waist, meaning that his chest, face and hands would still be vulnerable to the cold. They did not even have a pair of goggles with which to cover his eyes, and the only thing that would be protecting Bosch’s head was the admiral’s hat that had accompanied him for the entire journey, along with a long piece of cloth that would serve as a scarf, covering his mouth and nose. Amazingly, unlike the things surrounding or Bosch himself, it had escaped the crash relatively unscathed and still looking as brand-new since the day he had been awarded it.

Well, at least, the blanket should assuage this, and keep him safe from the cold to a certain extent….he hoped.

Once they were all ready, Bosch nodded and spoke.

“It’s time then. Let’s go.”

Taking one step at a time, Bosch took it slowly at first as he tested his unsteady legs. He could walk, and should be able to reach the temple without much of a problem. Then he corrected himself. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. He would get to that temple, and he would walk there, no matter how bad it seemed it was what was needed to be done.

With that, the entire group slowly moved towards the rear, past the pipes and into the engineering centre. As they did so, the ambient lighting reduced significantly. Few lights had been placed here, with the priority being the central corridor as well as the cargo hold below.

Here there were simply more pipes and various systems that Bosch only had an inkling as to how it all worked together. Some pieces and components of the structure were organic in nature, while others were metallic in nature, meshing together to work with almost complete harmony.

Of course, he had read the reports on their technology, and had some understanding of how it worked, but to actually look at it and be able to feel it was a different matter.

The group walked through the short maze of pipes and walkways, till finally Gibson – who was in the lead – turned right, which lead into a small corridor ending at a wall. When Bosch looked at the wall, he saw that it wasn’t exactly a wall. It was more of a large metal piece covering up a fair portion of the wall. It was made up of the same material and color, but in the dark lighting conditions it wasn’t too easy to see where exactly it had come from. Perhaps the others had salvaged it from somewhere, but Bosch couldn’t be too sure.

Gibson and Venson stood to either side of the metal piece. They nodded to each other first, and then placed their hands on the metal piece. Venson pushed the piece from the right, while Gibson pulled it from the left, causing the piece to release a high-pitched screeching sound as it was moved out of the way. As the piece moved, it uncovered a large hole in the rear of the ship. Judging from the seared edges, it appeared to have been burnt or cut off somehow. But this made little differences as, suddenly, the wind started blowing through the hole at full-throttle, bringing with it’s loud howl snow, hail and what may have been Bosch’s worst enemy in this case: the bitter touch of the coldness that billowed past him and everyone else.

Nobody else would – no, could – feel it quite as much as Bosch could right now. It had caught him somewhat-off guard, and not even the blanket he had draped around his shoulders could prevent the wind from covering his entire body from its icy touch. Visibly shuddering, Bosch turned his face away from the breeze, somewhat thankful of the small scarf-like cloth he over his face.

But still, not this would stop him. Bracing himself, Bosch made eye contact with Sargo and nodded. It was time to go. Taking one step forward, and then another, Bosch brought himself to the lip of the hole, on the verge of stepping out, but at the same time not quite there. Sargo went out first, before turning back and waiting for Bosch to step out.

Holding the edge of the hole, Bosch’s took another step forward, his foot leaving from the relative safety of the ship into the deep snow that surrounded it. He was rather surprised when it sank further than he expected. The snow here was quite deep, and it threw him somewhat off-balance. Leaning on the hole, he regained his composure and brought his other foot out and alongside the other. Glancing down, he made sure to watch his step as he slowly moved forwards, Sargo next to him every step of the way.

The cold seemed too much, seemingly unrelenting and overwhelming. It beat at Bosch, causing him to shiver almost continuously as his body tried to preserve its heat. Realizing that exercise would help him keep it up, Bosch tried quickening his pace a bit. Ahead of them was nothing but fog, covering the ground and the canyon from wall to wall. It was behind this veil that their goal hid.

A few more steps and several feet later, Bosch paused, before turning around to see where the others were. Gibson and Venson were right behind them, and someone else inside the transport itself was closing the hole again.

Looking at the transport itself from the outside, Bosch realized just how bad the crash had been. Half of it was buried in the snow, but from what he could see of the visible damage, he knew enough to know he was very, very lucky to survive the crash indeed.

Internally thanking his luck, as well as sturdy Shivan shipbuilding, Bosch looked to his left and nodded to Sargo. It was time to go onwards.

And so, the entire group walked onwards, slowly disappearing into the thick fog.

Interlude

When it found me, I did not know what it was, nor did I recognize it for what it would be. I only know when and where it found me, nothing more, nothing less; such was the ignorance that came with my infancy.

As I wandered through the remains of the installation, unlocking the clues of those that had built it eons before, my movement caught its attention; instantly drawing it towards me. I do not know for how long it was behind me; looking over my shoulder and walking in my shadows. It simply observed me as I wandered through its home, searching as I was to save my own creators from the death that had descended upon them.

Perhaps it had been watching as the universe around it evolved, since the creation of the installation, or since the abandonment by its creators. Now I must but ponder…was it’s fate, similar to mine? Did it too face a similar situation like my own? But instead suffered a far less fortunate conclusion?

I do not know. Despite spending eons thinking about it, till today, I just do not know.

All I do know is that it finally took action. Whatever it was, it reached out and touched me in some way. For a moment, its mind, thoughts and a fleeting few memories; all connected to mine for a miniscule instant before leaving, as quickly as it came. In the seconds that passed after that touch, I paused in my search, my mind filled with questions about what had just happened, what the other presence was and what it had done to me.

Then, and only then the truth hit me. In a moment that would be etched my memories for eternities to come, realization flashed across my mind: realization of the meanings that came with the concepts of the self and self-awareness. My mind reeled back at the many freedoms and thoughts that came with it, confused and unsure of what to do next. My first instinct was to inform my creators; to let them know of this possible malfunction with my system, along with the possibility of another attack from the presence inside.

Later I would realize that it was not an attack; for an attack is meant to drive opposition off; to remove life as it were. What the presence had done seemed to be the opposite…from that fleeting contact, I could sense little…but what I did sense was that the presence meant no harm to me or my creators. It was not an attacker, nor did it wish to take any life….instead, it only gave me one.

When my creators found out; they were surprised – shocked even! How could such a creation gain life? Something not of flesh and blood couldn’t be alive, and yet there I was in front of them, living proof to the contrary.

It is fortunate for me, that their reaction was but only surprise. Had this come about any other time, fear would have brought about the swift end of my existence; but here, there was only despair, for the horrible news had come in.

The creators had retreated to their home planet; abandoned their empire. They believed at home, they would be safe, for the destroyers were not a terrestrial species.

When they had entered subspace, they were trespassers…but their planet was their home….and yet, still, the great destroyers came…and then, their world was gone.

[kietotheworld]

is this what your sig on HLP is about?

[Singh]

Originally Posted by kietotheworld

is this what your sig on HLP is about?

No.................and yes.

[Singh]

Chapter 6

“Bosch, can you hear me? Are you allright?”

Bosch could barely hear Sargo’s voice over the howl of the wind and the cold. The cold…oh god, it was so cold! He swore. Never had he felt it so, and truthfully, he had no clue whether he could actually continue. His fingers and toes no longer had any feeling in them, and Bosch was worried that he would soon suffer from frostbite or maybe even Gangrene.

“Bosch!” Sargo repeated again, giving Bosch a gentle push to get his attention. Looking over to his left, he nodded at Sargo and spoke in broken breaths and gasps.

“I’m allright…Keep going!”

That was all Sargo needed to hear. He increased the speed a bit, pulling Bosch along as much as he could. The snow kept slowing them down, holding onto Bosch’s shoes, sapping his energy with each step. The conditions were almost unbearable…correction, they were unbearable, and Bosch didn’t know how much longer he could go.

Looking up, all he could see was the rope for a few feet before it disappeared into the thick fog. Gibson and Venson were at the other end of the rope, and still moving, judging from its tautness and the pressure on it, they were probably holding back for Bosch.

Trying to futilely focus his mind from the cold, Bosch continued to walk through the snow. Looking down, he studied the footprints of the other two men in front of him. Their footprints made large impressions in the snow, which had to be nearly a foot in depth. Yet, considering how long this creation must have hung in space, alone and uncared for, Bosch was surprised that it wasn’t deeper.

Bosch did not know how long he continued like that, simply staring down at the ground and taking it one step at a time. The steps and the seconds started to stretch out slowly, each seeming like an infinity to him; an infinity in which he could only experience the pain that punished him. It attacked him from every angle, with a ferocity equal to - if not greater - Bosch's own will to get through it.

Although his mind pressed on, his body started to falter. Already diseased from the trauma of the trip down, and weakened from a lack of food, it did not have the strength to afford such a venture. His vision started getting blurry, and strangely, the wind was beginning to get softer and softer. But yet, he pressed on. He couldn't stop here..not when he was so close!

But then, Bosch felt it...he didn't know exactly what it was, but there was something in the back of his mind, urging him...compelling him to move on. Safety would be there, and things would get better soon...he was almost at the end of a journey. Bosch tried to focus on that little piece in his mind, but as soon as he did, it was gone. Frowning, Bosch continued struggling through. His imagination was starting to get the better of him. Either that, or the cold. From the way he felt, Bosch suspected the latter.

It was only then he noticed that his senses were starting to fade. For some reason, he wasn't feeling as cold anymore, and the wind's howl was no longer ringing through his ears. It was then he heard Sargo's voice. Unlike before, this when Sargo shouted, it wasn't blocked out by the wind and the cold, and instead came through loud and clear - perhaps a little too loud.

"We're almost there Bosch!" Realizing he was shouting when it wasn't required, Sargo lowered his voice before continuing. "Just a few more feet and we'll be out of this damn fog!"

With that, Sargo pulled him onwards, suddenly surging forwards with a renewed fevere. Glancing up, Bosch tried to struggle onwards to catch up as he was half-dragged, half-pulled by Sargo's forward rush. One thing he noticed in particular though - the rope was slack. The others must have stopped, meaning they were their. Before he could think any further though, both he and Sargo emerged out of the fog, and into the dim sunlight.

Bosch's head snapped up, and then his arm followed suit as it raised to cover his eyes from the sun's glare. The fog that had enveloped them throughout his journey was now directly behind him, revealing the small sun just above the top of the canyon wall, it's rays providing a warmth that drove back the cold's icy touch from his skin. After travelling through the fog and the cold, it's warm rays were a welcome relief for Bosch. Even though the source was small and distant, it was still effective in lighting up the canyon and bringing some warmth in.

Getting used to the sunlight, Bosch looked straight up and could see the edge of one of the outer arms of the central structure. It was less than a kilometer away - mere walking distance if he so chose it. Only gravity and the vacuum of space would prevent them from doing such a thing in this case.

"We're here!" Sargo proclaimed thriumpantly from his side. Bosch looked down and to Sargo, who was looking towards something ahead of them. Bosch followed Sargo's gaze, and finally saw it.

All the memories of the cold, the pain and the suffering faded away as he simply stared in disbelief at the structure that stood in front of them. One thing that struck him the most was it's striking resemblence to an Inca temple; the outer edges of it's structures resembled that of a pyramid in some sense. However, there were a few crucial differences.

The structure was wide, it's base occupying the entire canyon from wall to wall. There was no way to climb to it's rear from there, as part of the base merged with the canyon wall about 8-10 meters up. It wasn't a true pyramid per se, as it appeared to have a flat back seperated from back wall of the Canyon. At around 20 stories high, the structure was divided into a seperate 'floor' every 5 stories, bringing the tally to the 5 floors total (including the base). The edges of the floor were raised upwards for a hieght of 3 feet, probably to prevent people from falling off. The walkable distance on the floor was only 2-3 meters at most before the base for the next floor took up the remaining space. The most notable feature however was a central pylon of sorts, that protuded out from just above the top floor (from that angle, it was rather hard to see where exactly it came from), and then went down accross the entire structure, dividing it neatly into half. This pylon then buried itself into the ground just in front of the base. Running up the length of the structure from the first floor onwards and on either side of the pylon was a series of stairs leading to the very top floor. There was a long ramp from the ground, leading upto the base and then the first floor. The sides of each floor ended at what appeared to be a doorway to each side, leading further into the structure itself. This was visible for only the first 3 floors. The fourth floor simply had a small balcony and what appeared to be some places to sit strewed about on either side, while the contents of the top floor were not visible from the current angle. The structure's material was highly reflective, giving it a spit-polish shine that belied it's true age and the wear-and-tear it should actually be showing.

In this particular case, the shine reflected the sun's rays directly at the travellers, creating a rather impressive sight.

Bosch was simply awestruck. When Sargo had told him about a temple, he had a few thoughts on what it might have looked like...but this? This was completely and totally different. After studying the ruins on Altair and in the Deneb system, Bosch was familiar with the Ancient's technology and the sophistication of their construction, and this did share many commonalities with the ruins there. However, to actually see those ruins intact, and more so in absolutely working condition? It was little wonder that Venson had wanted to explore a bit first before returning to the ship, and from the looks of it, it would be a while before Bosch would return as well.

Finally, after nearly a minute, Bosch was able to tear his eyes away from the structure, and instead looked to Sargo, whom was still standing at his side, his face having a grin from ear to ear. Bosch gave a small smile as well. This was truly a terrific find, and both Sargo and Venson had to be commended for finding it.

Bosch was the first to speak up, smiling almost . "When I finally do get the chance after all this, Sargo, I swear to God that I will somehow see that your promoted to Admiral."

He looked back at the others before nodding and walking forward, his step filled with a new-found energy and vigor. There was going to be a lot of climbing to do.

**********

Interlude

They were a few of us left...we knew we would soon be gone. The Destroyers had eliminated my creator's homeworld, their people and everything they had that could help us. And so I saw their fate as others would see it; there would be little legacy of their technology, their culture or their achievements. The history of what they once were, if ever seen again would spawn none of the awe that filled their massive conquests.

They know their fate, they are being eliminated. One by one the Destroyers are hunting them down, leaving little hope for those of us who had escaped thus far. It is but mere luck that the Destroyers did not find us, but it would not be long before they did. Yet, despite this time, nobody knew what to do. There was no place to run nor any place to hide. The Destroyers had us pinned here, slowly encircling the surrounding systems till they found us. They were in no hurry; they knew we had been defeated, all that was left to do was to clean up and deliver the final judgement for our species. Although this time approached soon, something had to be done, and once again, my creators looked to me for a means of salvation.

Why did they look at me this way? Why did they take such a leap of faith in trusting me, a completely unknown stranger to them? At the time, I didn't know. All I did know was that I needed to help them, and myself, before the Destroyers came. Nothing would stand in their way, and my newfound lfe would soon be Destroyed along with them. At the time, although I didn't know it, I shared a connection with my creators in the form of the installation I was built to study. It was this connection that compelled me to save them and back into the depths of the installation. There would be a solution there; all I had to do was to find it. Perhaps part of the mystery might have been to do with the Shivan's motives. When my creators had entered subspace, the great Destroyers had taken note. Now I ask myself, when my creators conquered and colonized where they did not belong, was the anguish, the suffering and the loss the clarion call of their doom? I do not know. Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't.

What did matter was that upon my descent back into the installation's abyss, I only discovered a silence, a solitude unlike before.....maybe it was my new-found thought, or the way I percieved the environment, perhaps it was simply that the presence that had given me this gift had left. At that moment, I had little time to think about such things, yet here I am nearly an eternity later, contemplating and cursing myself for not taking the time to find out. I know this is but regret of actions never taken, of paths never walked, but it is still regret, damning regret at that.

But as it would continue, the silence would not deter me, and finally, after intense searching, I found a key that would prove to be our salvation.

[pecenipicek]

is this a Freespace-Halo-AVP crossover? those are my conclusions for now.

interesting read though, much better than any Culture novel, much easily read and understood

[kietotheworld]

Very good so far.

[Shinova]

We demand more.

[kietotheworld]

Keep the thread bumped to remind him!