Galactic saga

[Baneblade]

(Alright, this is just a preview... if you guys like it, and WANT to read everything else I have for it, for it is made up of MANY MANY MANY pages... I will post the rest, only if you guys enjoy. It is actually part 3 in a four-part saga of a single demigod trying to lead humanity to survival and success.)

I: Rise

Prolouge

Humans. That is what we are, that is what we shall remain, all on the inside. For years, on our homeworld, Earth, we have lived, warring and fighting each other. In the year 2545, directly after World War IV, which had destroyed almost half of the planet, peace was made. World-wide peace. Earth was united under one government, the Human Empire, led by a man known as Arc. This Arc was a powerful man, of unknown ascent. He was a leader during the 4th world war, and demanded all listen to him. Those who did not join this newly made faction were destroyed. Pockets of resistance were picked out one by one by assassins and clans of bounty hunters. Eventually, it all stopped, and we moved on with this new regime.

Later, in the year 2600, the planet was covered entirely by city. Heat rose, due to global warming. Vast skyscraper-arcologies crammed the planet, broken only by whatever sources of water there were left. These skyscraper-arcologies housed billions of people each, their families, pets, coworkers, etc. Entire steaming jungles would be built within them for big game hunters. We had also discovered more space flight options. The Spacetech corp. had built devices to bring Humanity to the stars. In doing so, we needed protection, and thus, the Imperial Marine Corps were forged. All the Imperial infantry went through many new drills and learning of all this new technology.

At the same time, colonists from Earth left the planet behind to colonize the new Human Space Empire. Eventually, the only ones left on the planet were homeless and those that were too poor to afford a trip offworld, and thus, were trapped in these gargantuan empty hives that once teemed with life. Earth, the moon, Jupiter, Mars, all were left behind, to venture beyond Sol.

Some worlds, like Mars, still had factories built upon them, called Marstech. They were packed with enough power to defend Humanity's ex-homeworld from attack, and themselves. It was also up to them to discover and make new technologies for the Empire to use.

So, now, it is the year 3008. Humanity now owns many different worlds, of many different kinds. Technologies, beyond imagination have been formed and processed and were given life by the smartest people in our Empire. Civil wars have been quelled. Emperors have lived and died. Along with this, many other things have occurred. Sciences have been improved to stop sicknesses, and disease. Arms and armor have also evolved with it's birthgiver, and will never cease to stop.

My name is Ace Macarthur, age 28, Imperial marine aboard a ship within the Imperial Marine Corps, known as the Scythe. For the past 10 years, I've been fighting pirates off from the outskirts of the Empire. Welcome to the Empire.
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1

The planet of Retto X. The planet was covered entirely by jungles made up of thick gnarly trees. The forest was teeming with life. Exotic bird songs echoed throughout the trees, alien beasts swung through the vines and roots. Predators stalked prey. Waterfalls splashed upon rocks in the deepest areas. The world was colonized not too long ago, around 2990. Being such a treacherous place, it was colonized using an Aircity.

Aircities were a somewhat new technology, just introduced in the late 2970's. Each one was a disc with a small city built atop it. Around the rim, gun defense turrets bristled. Within, it was heavily packed with merchants, marines, civilians, but most of all, scientists. They were kept afloat by something Marstech had created called FLOAT. It did not stand for anything, it didn't have to. FLOAT was also installed in all vehicles of all kinds the second it was made, mass-producing the technology. If it could move, it had it. FLOAT allowed vehicles to hover in one place, but, the way that Aircities worked, they would stay afloat.

Alien birds flew over the city, squawking like seagulls at a beach. They were crowding the landing pads, where shuttles sat. Several flew away to make way for a newly-arriving ship. The shuttle was boxy, with four revolving engines at each corner, a single defense turret. Each had enough room for ten passengers, one pilot, and one co-pilot. The ship touched down, the boarding ramp unfolding slowly, and then reached down to touch the artificial ground. Boots of several people began to step off.

Ace Macarthur looked at this world. It had been his second visit this year. He immediately wandered over to the railing, staring out at the foggy jungles far beneath. Ace was tall, with brown hair. He was well-fit, an athletic too. He had a muscular upper-body beneath the marine armor he wore on his chest. On his belt, was a Blaze pistol. Blaze technology was introduced in the year 2560, when scientists began to mix lasers with bullets. Each bullet is coated with energy, heating and softening upon impact, with a probability of setting the target on fire. It was simply combining the word "bullet" with "laser" thus, "blazer", or more simply, "blaze". Ace had hazel eyes. His combat boots were clean. They had just left their ship to meet with the governor of Retto X.

"Excuse me?" He heard a voice say as a hand hit his shoulder. "Ace, stick to the mission, pal."

"Sorry, got caught up in this world's paradise."

"Not gonna be a paradise any longer if those pirates keep attacking the cargo lanes to it..."

It was his long-time friend in the marines, Joe Fox. Joe was a recon member, so mostly everyone called him Fox. He had been transferred to the Scythe three years ago to loosen the infantry up more so that more could join it.

The two of them made their way out of the landing area, into the main quarter, filled of merchants and buyers and guardsmen. They wandered for a bit, and came to a hotel. This quarter was full of apartments as well as hotels for offworlders. The hotel room was simple. It had blue walls, a holoscreen, a computer connected to the galagweb (new form of the internet). There were two bedrooms and a bathroom. A window provided an amazing view of the city and the jungle beyond. By now, it was dark. They both got into civilian clothing, and went to bed for the night. Tomorrow, they would work. Lots of work was to be done...

*****

The Aircity was cold at night. The capitol building, located in the very center of the city, at the tip of a tall spire, was the governor's office and suite. It had to be the most elegant place in the city. Inside it had a comfortable temperature. Small disc-shaped cleaning robots scanned the floors, hunting for tiny scraps of food and other rubbish that could be tossed about.

The governor himself, Charles Retto the second, was a middle-aged man, plump and short. A small beard covered his chin. He was smoking a cigar, staring out at the mountains and jungles clouded by the night fog beyond his large viewport within his suite. He watched a small personal shuttle take off from the landing pads below, and fly up into the bright night sky. He stared upwards at all the bright lights dotting the black ocean that was space. He saw a large spec that was the orbiting space station.

Charles turned, almost accidentally tripping over one of his cleaning robots. It had been a long day, but, with the Imperial marines finally arriving, they could help investigate his troubles. He sat down on his large leather couch, and switched on the holoscreen embedded within the wall. He flipped it to the Imperial news, news from around the Empire. There he sat, watching. On the planet Metropolis, a world with a bad atmosphere, so all the cities are built within massive dome-like structures, the Emperor having an entire dome to himself, and it was also humanity's new capitol planet, Emperor Tens was giving a speech about discovery, and that they had discovered a new world that gave off signals which meant alien life. Charles leaned to the edge of his seat. Sentient alien life! Tens explained that there was a research team, led by the expert scientist Drino Braun and his military bodyguard, Bek Gruff, along with a contingent of Gruff's men. Bek Turner Gruff was a burly, thick-muscled Elite Marine commander. Bek had been mentioned several times before, and was a military hero, who had saved two farm worlds from the onslaught of a renegade pirate fleet. Elite Marines were a step-up off of normal marines.

While normal marines were normal men, who sign up to become soldiers for the Empire, Elites were those, taken at birth, their parents being told that the child had died. They were given extremely hardcore training, making them almost perfect soldiers. They were just men encased within thicker, and slightly more bulkier powered armor. Power armor evolved from the original astronaut space suits from the 1900's. All of it was white, and filled of servos with a life-support backpack. These men were basically machines.

Charles sat, continuing to watch an interview with Braun, who was aboard his research vessel. Braun went on about all his technology, and it played the signal over twenty times throughout the interview, along with adding some ridiculous music in between. Then it went from that to commercials, the first being for some new Japanese food, which was full of bright colors and animated characters dancing around a can of the food. Charles switched it off, not wanting to deal with that kind of thing at this moment at night. He got up, heading into his bedroom, and went to sleep. Tomorrow, he would meet with the marines, and get this thing over with.

*****

The lab aboard Braun's research vessel, the Shining Prince, was bright with lights and computer screens flashing with data. Braun was an old man, wearing stereotypical scientist clothing. He had been listening to the signal for nights on end. A marine walked in, his large boots clamping on the metal floor.

"Time to get some sleep, sir. We're going to be arriving at the planet tomorrow. The admiral wants everything ship-shape, and that means the people too." Said the marine in a rough voice.

"Is all my equip-" Replied Braun, in his quivery old voice.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. B. Everything's all set and ready to go for the landing. Congrats on your discovery, by the way." The marine smiled, waved, turned perfectly on his heel, and left the lab. Braun was sweating, he was even more famous now. An entire new alien species! His mind raced, but he stopped it. He went into his small quarters, and fell asleep.

*****

Ace and Joe got up early the next morning, leaving to the governor's home. The walk there was tough, as the streets were literally packed to explode. They got to an elevator, which took them all the way up.

"Be easy on the guy, I heard the pirate troubles cause him a big deal of stress." Joe said, doing his best to stifle a yawn.

"Don't worry, I know his type." Ace smiled. The elevator stopped at the top floor, and slid open. They were at a bridge made almost entirely out of glass. They could see the entire Aircity from here. They made their way across and into the governor's home. He was setting up a breakfast for them. He pulled a chair for them. "Care to sit?" He asked, smiling.
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[Baneblade]

The planet of Retto X. The planet was covered entirely by jungles made up of thick gnarly trees. The forest was teeming with life. Exotic bird songs echoed throughout the trees, alien beasts swung through the vines and roots. Predators stalked prey. Waterfalls splashed upon rocks in the deepest areas. The world was colonized not too long ago, around 2990. Being such a treacherous place, it was colonized using an Aircity.

Aircities were a somewhat new technology, just introduced in the late 2970's. Each one was a disc with a small city built atop it. Around the rim, gun defense turrets bristled. Within, it was heavily packed with merchants, marines, civilians, but most of all, scientists. They were kept afloat by something Marstech had created called FLOAT. It did not stand for anything, it didn't have to. FLOAT was also installed in all vehicles of all kinds the second it was made, mass-producing the technology. If it could move, it had it. FLOAT allowed vehicles to hover in one place, but, the way that Aircities worked, they would stay afloat.

Alien birds flew over the city, squawking like seagulls at a beach. They were crowding the landing pads, where shuttles sat. Several flew away to make way for a newly-arriving ship. The shuttle was boxy, with four revolving engines at each corner, a single defense turret. Each had enough room for ten passengers, one pilot, and one co-pilot. The ship touched down, the boarding ramp unfolding slowly, and then reached down to touch the artificial ground. Boots of several people began to step off.

Ace Macarthur looked at this world. It had been his second visit this year. He immediately wandered over to the railing, staring out at the foggy jungles far beneath. Ace was tall, with brown hair. He was well-fit, an athletic too. He had a muscular upper-body beneath the marine armor he wore on his chest. On his belt, was a Blaze pistol. Blaze technology was introduced in the year 2560, when scientists began to mix lasers with bullets. Each bullet is coated with energy, heating and softening upon impact, with a probability of setting the target on fire. It was simply combining the word "bullet" with "laser" thus, "blazer", or more simply, "blaze". Ace had hazel eyes. His combat boots were clean. They had just left their ship to meet with the governor of Retto X.

"Excuse me?" He heard a voice say as a hand hit his shoulder. "Ace, stick to the mission, pal."

"Sorry, got caught up in this world's paradise."

"Not gonna be a paradise any longer if those pirates keep attacking the cargo lanes to it..."

It was his long-time friend in the marines, Joe Fox. Joe was a recon member, so mostly everyone called him Fox. He had been transferred to the Scythe three years ago to loosen the infantry up more so that more could join it.

The two of them made their way out of the landing area, into the main quarter, filled of merchants and buyers and guardsmen. They wandered for a bit, and came to a hotel. This quarter was full of apartments as well as hotels for offworlders. The hotel room was simple. It had blue walls, a holoscreen, a computer connected to the galagweb (new form of the internet). There were two bedrooms and a bathroom. A window provided an amazing view of the city and the jungle beyond. By now, it was dark. They both got into civilian clothing, and went to bed for the night. Tomorrow, they would work. Lots of work was to be done...

*****

The Aircity was cold at night. The capitol building, located in the very center of the city, at the tip of a tall spire, was the governor's office and suite. It had to be the most elegant place in the city. Inside it had a comfortable temperature. Small disc-shaped cleaning robots scanned the floors, hunting for tiny scraps of food and other rubbish that could be tossed about.

The governor himself, Charles Retto the second, was a middle-aged man, plump and short. A small beard covered his chin. He was smoking a cigar, staring out at the mountains and jungles clouded by the night fog beyond his large viewport within his suite. He watched a small personal shuttle take off from the landing pads below, and fly up into the bright night sky. He stared upwards at all the bright lights dotting the black ocean that was space. He saw a large spec that was the orbiting space station.

Charles turned, almost accidentally tripping over one of his cleaning robots. It had been a long day, but, with the Imperial marines finally arriving, they could help investigate his troubles. He sat down on his large leather couch, and switched on the holoscreen embedded within the wall. He flipped it to the Imperial news, news from around the Empire. There he sat, watching. On the planet Metropolis, a world with a bad atmosphere, so all the cities are built within massive dome-like structures, the Emperor having an entire dome to himself, and it was also humanity's new capitol planet, Emperor Tens was giving a speech about discovery, and that they had discovered a new world that gave off signals which meant alien life. Charles leaned to the edge of his seat. Sentient alien life! Tens explained that there was a research team, led by the expert scientist Drino Braun and his military bodyguard, Bek Gruff, along with a contingent of Gruff's men. Bek Turner Gruff was a burly, thick-muscled Elite Marine commander. Bek had been mentioned several times before, and was a military hero, who had saved two farm worlds from the onslaught of a renegade pirate fleet. Elite Marines were a step-up off of normal marines.

While normal marines were normal men, who sign up to become soldiers for the Empire, Elites were those, taken at birth, their parents being told that the child had died. They were given extremely hardcore training, making them almost perfect soldiers. They were just men encased within thicker, and slightly more bulkier powered armor. Power armor evolved from the original astronaut space suits from the 1900's. All of it was white, and filled of servos with a life-support backpack. These men were basically machines.

Charles sat, continuing to watch an interview with Braun, who was aboard his research vessel. Braun went on about all his technology, and it played the signal over twenty times throughout the interview, along with adding some ridiculous music in between. Then it went from that to commercials, the first being for some new Japanese food, which was full of bright colors and animated characters dancing around a can of the food. Charles switched it off, not wanting to deal with that kind of thing at this moment at night. He got up, heading into his bedroom, and went to sleep. Tomorrow, he would meet with the marines, and get this thing over with.

*****

The lab aboard Braun's research vessel, the Shining Prince, was bright with lights and computer screens flashing with data. Braun was an old man, wearing stereotypical scientist clothing. He had been listening to the signal for nights on end. A marine walked in, his large boots clamping on the metal floor.

"Time to get some sleep, sir. We're going to be arriving at the planet tomorrow. The admiral wants everything ship-shape, and that means the people too." Said the marine in a rough voice.

"Is all my equip-" Replied Braun, in his quivery old voice.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. B. Everything's all set and ready to go for the landing. Congrats on your discovery, by the way." The marine smiled, waved, turned perfectly on his heel, and left the lab. Braun was sweating, he was even more famous now. An entire new alien species! His mind raced, but he stopped it. He went into his small quarters, and fell asleep.

*****

Ace and Joe got up early the next morning, leaving to the governor's home. The walk there was tough, as the streets were literally packed to explode. They got to an elevator, which took them all the way up.

"Be easy on the guy, I heard the pirate troubles cause him a big deal of stress." Joe said, doing his best to stifle a yawn.

"Don't worry, I know his type." Ace smiled. The elevator stopped at the top floor, and slid open. They were at a bridge made almost entirely out of glass. They could see the entire Aircity from here. They made their way across and into the governor's home. He was setting up a breakfast for them. He pulled a chair for them. "Care to sit?" He asked, smiling.
---------------------------------------------------

[Baneblade]

Ace smiled, taking a seat. "Thank you, sir."

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine." He looked over at Joe questionably.

"I prefer to stand, mate. No hard feelings." Joe said, wryly.

"Very well..." Charles got up, sipping his coffee. "You suspected I call you here for pirates, yes?" The two of them nodded. "No, that is not the case. Well, partially, it is. I want for you two to investigate a remote facility located in the jungle below. Pirates have taken it as their main base of operations, and have been using it to smuggle drugs and weapons to and from the city. I want this shut down, as soon as possible. I don't care if it is blown up. I want it gone. These pirates are a bloody cancer to our marvelous Empire, do you not agree?" The two marines nodded once more, and the governor continued. "I only ask for two marines because, that is all that is really needed. My guards are stressed out enough already with whatever hooligans are running wild in the Aircity. A shuttle will be waiting for you, go now." The two of them were forced out by a defense robot, the bulkhead door sliding shut behind them and locking. Ace sighed.

"Back to the grind."

*****

The shuttle was bumpy as it sped through the fog. Ace stared out at Retto's natural wildlife, which was mostly bright and colorful. The tiny ship jolted.

++MINOR TURBULENCE++ the radio said. ++BUCKLE UP++

They did so. The shaking got more and more violent. The last thing Ace remembered hearing was ++DAMMIT! THEY'VE LOCKED ONTO US!++ before he completely blacked out.

*****

When Ace woke up, he was on a sandy beach. Large trees surrounded him. Next to him was a crystal clear lake with a gorgeous waterfall. It was like something out of a work of art. He shook his head, looking back. Joe was tending to the pilot, who had lost his leg in the crash. The shuttle, however, was under the water, surrounded by a school of colorful fish. He approached, to see the pilot screaming in pain.

"What happened?" He asked with curiosity.

"Missile hit us, we went down. Simple as that."

"Supplies?"

"I had brought up what I could. Radio's busted. A few weapons still work, including the pistols."

"Good. Mines?"

"Working fine..." He held up the carcass of a dead lizard thing. "Made lunch, too..." He chuckled. The pilot was bellowing in pain, so Joe got back to him. "Take the sniper rifle and scout out a perimeter. Get back here when you're done, Mac."

"Sure thing..." He picked up the Longsword sniper rifle. The blaze bullets were at least seven inches long, and ended in a tip. On impact, the target would either explode, catch fire, or just fall. Ace checked the pack, slung it over his shoulder, and left into the trees.

The forest was bright, light shined everywhere through the canopy. Ace held out the sniper rifle, staring into the scope. He slightly made out a bunker-like structure. He went around it, which took about an hour and a half. It was guarded by two men, at the front gate. Beside them was a large propane tank. Ace smiled.

"Easy as pie..." He got up, brushing some mud off of his camo pants, and went back to the crash site.

*****

The unknown world. Finally, Braun was here! Military transports of all shapes and sizes, tracked, wheels, hovering, everything flowed around him. Troops ran in rank and file around the landing site.

This was a discovery indeed. Braun sat to take sketches of the scenery. All around them were tall temples, resembling those of the Aztec and Mayans on ancient Earth. They were all jet-black, and glossy in color. It was astounding, an entire civilization.

But the race, was dead.

Around the bend of the nearest temple, they had found an entire graveyard of skeletons. All bones shared the features to the "Gray" aliens from Earth, that would abduct people, experiment on them, and bring them back.

Scientists were in every temple in the sector, finding new tools and objects and art none had seen in their lifetime. They had even found crashed Saucer vehicles, which were immense in size, in a great valley, all crashed and destroyed.

"Could it be?" Muttered Braun to himself. "That the entire race committed mass-suicide?"

"What you sayin', Braun?" Said Bek Gruff, walking over, shouldering his large Spiker. Spikers were automatic weapons capable of firing large, hot metal spikes. They came in all shapes and sizes, but for the Elite Marines, they were big. Each one also had a shield built around the muzzle. "Some science mumbo-jumbo?" Bek laughed.

"No, no no no. Gruff, think. What happened, why did they all die out? Somewhat ironic, that we are now experimenting on them." Braun said, laughing questionably madly.

"Bah, the fools had it comin'. Mess with the best, die like the rest." He laughed hard, turning to go see to his men.

++Sir!++ Braun picked up the radio. ++Sir. We've located a giant temple. Bigger than anything else on the planet that we've seen!++

"Send in a recon team with two of my scientists. For the Empire."

++For the Empire.++ The radio shut off. The news-crews had already arrived, and cameras were being shoved into his face.

*****

Back on Retto X, rain began to fall. The pilot had died of blood loss. The two marines each geared up and wandered into the jungle. Joe followed Ace's lead. They came to the bunker. Each took out a sniper rifle. Both had well-placed shots to the heads of the guards, one of whom caught fire. They equipped their blaze pistols, wandering down over to the bunker, walking over large roots and bright green plants. The roar of a carnivore echoed throughout the trees.

The inside was narrow and tight, made of concrete. They wandered down the set of stairs into a large dark gray room. From here was another door that required a key to get past. They took the keycard from the dead guards, and slid it through the console. The large, thick round door slid open, revealing the inside of the bunker. The walls were very thick. Inside here were several men playing cards. A few shots later, they were dead.

"Not too long until they find out we're here, Ace."

"You spoke too soon..." He pointed down a corridor. Charging at them were five pirates. One of which had a bionic arm, aiming a machine gun at them. The tiny standard slug bullets ricocheted off a large metal table the men were playing cards at. Ace blindfired, taking out at least one man. Joe tossed a grenade, which cleared the rest of the way.

The two of them got up to find a steaming pile of goo and gore.

"I love plasma grenades..." Joe said with pleasure.

"I know ya do, Fox."

"Gotta find me a plasma rifle, too! Maybe our commissioner can pick one up next industrial world we dock with."

"If you ask and pay the damn fee for that missile launcher you destroyed..."

"It was set to blow, I swear!"

"Sure, Joe, sure..."

The two marines reloaded, their conversation cut short as more pirates were charging at them, firing from the hip.

"Back in action!" Joe yelled, firing. Ace smiled evilly, his blaze bullets tearing into the flesh and light armor of the ragtag soldiers.

*****
The two marines walked over the dead pirates, turning down to a four-way intersection of tunnels.

"Big place..." Joe said, scratching his chin.

"Just stick together, and we'll be fine." Ace spat a tooth out from when a man hit him in the face with a metal glove. They followed one of the tunnels down into a small stone chamber full of lockers and a door. Ace walked over and pressed the button to open the door. It slid open, and revealed a control room on the other side. Thousands of lights and view screens and monitors beamed upon him. Alongside that, was a gunshot from a shotgun from within. The shots spread out and hit the wall opposite. Ace ran it, shooting the man in the leg, making him fall and crippling him. A single shot to the head and he died.

"Joe, stay here, lock the door. See if you can get us a way outta here, I'm gonna go hunt their leader."

"Yes sir!"

The only way to defeat a band of pirates was to take out their mastermind. He went down a series of corridors and stairs, nothing could be found. He took out his radio.

"Fox."

++Yes, Ace?++

"Find anything?"

++Yeah, a ship in a hanger, a bit deeper in. I could download the docking files and codes, and meet you there.++

"Do that. Also try and find the leader while you're at it. if you find him, shoot him.""

++Yep, gotcha!++

He switched it off, hooking it to his belt and sneaked around a corner. Where were they?? He put his pistol away, pulling out his blaze shotgun. This would pack a punch in these narrow spaces. He got down into a kneeling stance, slowly advancing. He came to another set of stairs, moving up them and coming into an observation deck. The pirate leader stood watch over his ship down in the cylinder-shaped hanger bay, his arms behind his back.

The man turned. He had a goatee and a long curling mustache. His clothes were ragged and looked like they were taken from a dumpster.

"Hello, marine."

"Hey, pal." He aimed the shotgun. One pull of the trigger was all he needed. The pirate leader drew a long revolver, blasting the shotgun out of Ace's hands. The weapon fell to the floor, it's cartridge detonating and in mere seconds the blaze ammo caused it to melt into a puddle of orange goo. Ace raised an eyebrow at the man. The pistol was aimed at his forehead.

"Goodbye, space-boy!"

Before he could fire, however, Joe had put a bullet through his skull with a pistol. Ace took the weapon.

"The ship's fired up. Let's go."

"Alright, lead on." They started down the grated stairs into the hanger.

"By the way, I left the mines with the pirate's drugs and ammo. This place is gonna be a crater." He chuckled to himself. The two of them made their way onto the shuttle, and lifted off into the atmosphere as the bunker exploded in blue and green flame.

*****

Back on the Alien world...

The innards of the Giant Temple were dark. Dripping noises, as if they were within some cave, were heard around the group of recon Elite marines. Their armored boots felt sloshy ground.

"Sir, this isn't ground."

"Really? I couldn't tell..."

"Give me a torch..." One of the other marines handed him a flashlight. The ground was brown and red. It seemed as if veins were running throughout the entire ground.

"What is this??"

"I don't know."

"Grab a sample and get it back to Braun at the surface. We need to get an entire camp set-up here! Go now! Something is alive down here!!"
-------------------


Ace and Joe sat within one of the bars aboard the Aircity. It was in the civilian sector, and full of low-lives, civilians, and even homeless spending whatever money they had on booze to drink to their crappy lives. On the several telescreens were different hover-races. Hover-races came around in 2028, originating from the old jet plane time racing stuff. It evolved, and became one of the most dangerous sports in the Empire. Many worlds held tracks for it, including Retto X.

One of the screens switched to a news report, showing a young woman with a microphone in front of her. Behind her, in the background, it was mostly dark, with spotlights all over the place, within a temple.The ground looked as if it were alive, pulsing, and looked like blackish-brown scales.

The woman wiped her brow with a cloth, and looked to the camera.

"Good evening, Empire. This is Trisha Tekla. We're here on the newly-named "Braun Prime". A world full of ancient artifacts and technologies. The greatest discovery- and strangest -has got to be the central chamber of the "capitol building", aka, the largest building on the planet. The ground seems to be alive and holding some sort of hive within it. A group of Elite marines is on it's way in to investigate. More in the next hour!" The screen flickered back to the hover-racing, showing one of the racers snap against a rock, do a flip in the air, and crash and burn against the snowy racetrack, then finally explode, followed by a cheer.

Ace sat, wondering about this discovery. Joe popped up next to him, returning from his restroom trip. "Hey man, let's head back to the Scythe."

Ace nodded, putting a wad of cash, Imperial coins, on the bartop. he turned, heading out with his friend.

*****
Back on Braun Prime...

The five-man Elite squad were going down on cables, descending from the main chamber. The flashlights on their helmets gave them all the light they needed. This hole was natural, and was formed by a cave-in of sorts. The men hit the soft, organic ground with their hard armored powered combat boots, and drew their spiker guns. Sarge looked ahead, into the gloom. The tunnels were all pulsing, like the floor above.

"It's almost like being inside a living thing."

"We probably are..." Said another squadmate.

"What if I..." Said "Rook", the youngest and newest to the squad.

"Did what, Rook?"

"Shot it..." He fired. The single hot spike fired down into the ground. There was a great shudder, and a far off moan.

"What the hell did you just do, rook..." Sarge said, swatting him on the back on the head. "All men, on me!" They continued down these dark living tunnels. It twisted and turned, until they came to a chamber so vast, it made the upper main chamber look incredibly small. It was bright, too. As far as the eye could see, yellow eggsacks hung from the ceiling and filled the ground, like a great garden of glowing yellow.

"What is this place?" Said one of the marines, looking around.

"Looks like a garden..." Said Sarge, zooming in with the telescopic feature in his HUD. Within the sacks were creatures, both large and small. They were all curled up into balls. Scythe-like arms protruded form their bodies. They had webbed feet, and some had lizard reptilian feet. From what faces he could see, he saw dark, emotionless eyes, and maws full of teeth. Some of them even had machinery built into them.

One of the marines scratched away a strange fungus from the wall, revealing an old scripture. "Gangulli..."

"What was that?"

"They're called Gangulli... From this thing on the wall. The Grays must've made em..."

"But for what?"

"I'll download what I can." the marine, Krius said. He pulled a data chip from his helmet and plugged it into the wall. After a while, he pulled it out.

"I'm bringing it to the surface for study, you guys wait here, I'll get everyone to come down."

"Don't worry about us, kid." Sarge said. He looked back at the vast unending gardens of eggs. "Gangulli, eh?" Krius nodded, and turned, running back down the tunnel they came.

Rook sneezed, his spiker rifle falling from his grip, and accidentally fired off a single spike, blazing through the air. It stabbed right through the neck of one of the bigger creatures. The creature stirred, awakening. It ripped free of it's eggsack, glistening carapace and scales covered in slime. It let out a bestial screech. More of it's kind awakened, ripping free. Eventually the entire chmaber was waking up.

"DAMMIT, ROOK!!" Sarge yelled. The young marine picked up his spiker, aiming and shooting at the creatures, panicking. Thousands, billions. An ocean of beasts came chittering at them. They fired down into the swarm, but it was too late...

*****

Krius walked out with Braun and Gruff onto the landing field far outside the Capitol Building. The three wandered onto a elevator that brought them upwards, into the command lander, which would bring them up into the Shining Prince. The elevator was halfway up when there were explosions and gunfire coming from the immense building. A great hole was in it's side, belching forth smoke. Marines were running from the building, firing back.

"Get to the ships! Retreat!" Were the only words Krius had made out in all the confusion.

His squad had done something.

Then came the loud and annoying noise of one thousand flies all buzzing around a man at once. By now, the elevator was inside the docking bay of the lander. Outside the small viewport, Krius and Braun watched as a ocean of creatures washed over the horizon. The building was covered in beasts. Gruff turned to the pilots.

"Get us the hell out of here!"

The lander's engines blasted, scorching almost thousands of the animals, then flew upwards into space, followed by two others. A forth took off, but a larger creature grabbed it with five barb-tipped claws, and smashed it down, weakening it's hull enough for the ocean to swallow whatever meat lied inside.

*****

The lander was inside the hanger, and all survivors had made it into the ship. Krius watched the planet, which was now a swarming mass of shimmering black. He turned, taking his clean helmet off to reveal his sturdy, strong and lightly bearded face. "Gangulli..."

*****

"Gangulli..." Braun said, tapping into the console within the Shining Prince's briefing chambers, which was full of people. "They are a weapon, developed by the Grays to take out an enemy race. Our data files tell us, this enemy was known as the Mechnos Empire, which would be located in the far-eastern edge of the galaxy. The project had failed, and the first batch of creatures was released, taking out the Gray homeworld, and several other alien worlds around it-"

"Wait, so what are you saying, there are other races out there?" Said a skinny, clefted man in the audience.

"I thought you would have learned that by now, boy. No more interruptions!"

The entire audience quieted down.

"Now, continuing what I was saying... The Grays were exiled, outside this... "Galactic Republic". A wall of energy was built around the republic and it's allies to keep the Grays and anymore of their "projects" out. They prospered in the systems around Sol, which are known to the Republic as the Unknown Regions. They even terraformed most of the worlds we now tread within our Empire. Alas, they died during some sort of... unworldly event. And now, their mad creations swarm their current homeworld."

He paused, allowing everyone to take in this information. A galactic republic, Mechnos empire, all this was a bit much for these scientists and marines and engineers assembled here. A camera, and Trisha Tekla, were present. Trisha had a bad scratch on her arm, and scraped her knee getting aboard her lander, but was protected by a load of marines clambering aboard. Now, the whole of the Empire would be learning of this. All thanks to information that a lone Elite Marine uploaded to an earchip data-carrying device.

Earchip data-carriers were tiny little chips marines had in their helmets, usually used to carry orders around and data of the world and battlefield, etc.

Braun continued. "We have enough time to gather the Exodus Fleet, as I call it. We will be leaving this part of the galaxy, these... Unknown Regions, and abandoning the Empire, to become a part of something much, much greater!!"

"Enough time until what??" A marine called out.

"Well, until the Gangulli activated the Pyres within the capitol building. once that happens, they will be more intelligent than ever, and will even be capable of space-flight. They might even be here, with us! In microscopic form! Their abilities are unknown to us, now, but they can evolve and adapt to anyplace quite easily."

Everyone aboard began to exchange whispers.

"We are getting everyone together. We are currently en-route to Metropolis, our glorious capitol planet, to pick up Emperor Tens and his honor guard..."

Gruff got up, his large frame taking up his section of seats. "My men are ready to fight. I will return to Gladius, and get as much marines as I can, and set up defenses on all worlds and get the fleet moving as soon as possible."

"Very well, General."

Gladius was a military world. It was the military world. It was covered in armories, training fields, barracks, and defenses that could last centuries. It trained marines from the weak and scrawny marines of the standard corps, to the strong and more and better-trained Elite marines.

Gruff left the room, his large feet thumping out. Braun looked over who was left assembled, then looked to the camera.

"My fellow humans... I am worried of the future as much as you are. I am shocked as you are right now. Right now, we need to leave. If you are not stubborn enough to stay, then do come with us. We will all meet at Metropolis port in three months. There will be quite a war brewing against this new race, by then. I am sorry to say that while we have worked up a great fleet of warships and weapons... we have not yet developed anything that can destroy an entire planet, without disrupting everything around it. Start packing..."

*****

Ace watched the entire thing from his bunk aboard Scythe. Already, they were en-route to the planet Bonkaris, to pick up civilians. Retto X was already evacuating. Bonkaris was a frozen planet, farthest from it's sun. Quite a large colony was there. He sat back, sinking into his bunk. It was hard for him to take in. An entire republic of alien species? Damn.

*****

Emperor Tens sat within his large throne, overlooking the domed city of the capitol planet Metropolis. It was named after the fact the entire planet was covered entirely with domed cities, all connected by trains and shuttles. He gripped the arms of the throne tighter.

What was to become of his Empire? The Empire that had existed for almost one thousand years. The Empire that got humanity bonded and together, that led them to the stars. It was worse than it was on Earth.

Tens was young, in his early thirties. He was one of many men who had ruled over this Empire, the first being the almighty Arc, who banded the ruined humanity together in the first place directly after World War IV. He sighed. Gangulli. The new enemy.

They would be put to the test, he thought, just as a shuttle landed outside the palace.

He and two of his honor guard walked out to meet the men who had landed. Yes, he continued in his head. He would plan. He would fix his Empire. Humanity would one day strive after this atrocity, they would rule the galaxy. One new alien race was nothing.

"My lord." One of the men said with a bow.

"Rise. Who are you?"

"Col. Chart of the Shining Prince. Here to take His Majesty up. I'm sure you've heard the latest important newscast?"

"Yes... Yes I have..."

"Very well, now, we're on somewhat of a tight schedule, and, if you'd kindly step aboard..." He said with a smile, waving his arm in the direction of the landing pad. In the distance, as he was walking up the boarding ramp, Tens could see thousands of shuttles running to and from the domes across the horizon.
--------------------

Bonkaris.

The planet was cold, being the farthest from it's star. The entire world was covered in sheets of ice and snowy mountains. Hailstorms hammered the planet's surface almost every day. If a man was caught out in the middle of the icy wasteland during a Bonkaris night, they would be frozen and dead by the next morning.

The planet barley had any life of which the Human colonists discovered, other than large woolly goat-like beasts that the colonists used as beasts of burden in the caves.

The caves were where the human colonists lived. They tunneled and honeycombed the entire Bonkar mountain range. It was warm there.

Ace stepped off the lander. It was already nightfall. His cold-weather jacket kept him safe from the cold, but it was not enough. He held himself, shivering. Already the people of the planet were getting aboard shuttles and leaving. Marines and guardsmen walked onwards with Ace into the caves.

Ace turned to a few of the guardsmen. "This is going to be our base during the coming war. Once it gets too deep in the enemy, we leave, and head to Metropolis."

"Were we ordered to remain here, sir?"

"No, but that's what everyone else is doing, buying time for the other ships to organize at the Metropolis port."

"Right..." The guardsmen turned and walked off. Ace nodded the others off. "I want this place ship-shape by morning..."

*****
A cargo vessel, deep-space.

The pilot, an old gruff veteran of a few wars, sat in his cockpit. The cargo craft was large and bulky, on it's way to Metropolis. He tilted the western cowboy hat on his head, it was going to be a long trip from Sindol space station. Something hard hit the front of the cockpit, waking him with a start. A black glossy orb had stuck to the front window. He raised an eyebrow at it. Hundreds more began hitting it until nothing was left visible. They began shivering and shaking. The man picked up his pistol, leaving the cockpit, almost screaming. He shut the door, aiming his weapon at the cockpit. A long scythed arm cut through the door. Hundreds more followed.

"OH GOD!!"

*****

Braun sat over his table.

"Spores."

He looked up at Trisha. "Pardon, miss?"

"They reproduce by shooting spores up into space. A cargo freighter just crash-landed on my homeworld a few hours ago. It was carrying thousands of the bugs."

"Bugs?"

"Every race needs a derogatory term of some kind, haven't you learned that by now?"

He shrugged. "How is your homeworld coming along?"

"It's gone. I got a call from my mother fifteen minutes ago. She told me about the spores, the cargo ship... all that... Had enough time to say goodbye before guards came into her room to bring her to a evacuating shuttle. Hopefully I'll see her again..."

He nodded once more. "I'm sorry... Well, this information just shows us that we need to double-time it." Emperor Tens wandered into the room.

"Hello, my lord!" Braun said smiling like a girl who had just met the hottest celebrity.

"How long am I staying on this ship, Braun?"

"As long as you have to..." He looked out the window at the great fleet coming together. Ships of all shapes and sizes. "Do not worry, in three months we will be leaving this Empire to go to a new start, one that is much, much greater."

"You'd better hope so, Braun."

"Do you judge I have miscalculated in my readings??"

"I do not trust readings of an extinct race. They are extinct, after all..."

"Please, my lord... trust me..."

"You have my trust for now, doctor..."

*****
Back on Bonkaris...

Ace was out on his woolly beast in the middle of the wasteland. Behind him was the Bonkar mountain range, and a nearby elevator with a guardsman waiting to take him back into the caves. He turned it around, galloping over to the guard.

"How goes the evacuation?"

"Excellent. Another day and it will be nothing but armed men in the caves of this world."

"Good. I'm afraid in an hour or two, the damn creatures would have reached Bonkaris."

"We'll eat em up and spit em out!" He laughed. "They're just bugs after all I've heard."

"I hope so too..." He brushed his creature's hair, turning it about and galloped out into the ice and snow.

*****

Bonkaris's faraway sun beat down on Ace. It was a warm day on this ice cube. He came up to a ridge. He saw something moving in the snow not too far away. He saw white fuzzy scales in the snow, like a whale coming up from the ocean and going back down. He took out his radio, phoning command back in the caves.

"Come in, it's Ace."

++Hello, sir.++

"Who is this?"

++Private Jonas, sir. A cadet in the Imperial army. What was it that you wanted?++

"How long have you served in the guard on Bonkaris, Jonas?"

++I was born here. Went to school here, grew up here.++

"Got any snow snakes of any sorts on this planet?"

++No sir, why?++

"There is one."

++That's preposterous, sir. Nothing alive could drill through this ice!++

Ace dropped the radio, as the massive Gangulli creature burst from the snow in front of him. It's mouth opened in three sections, each full of silver, dripping teeth. It's eyes were long and fiery red. It had two spidery arms in the front, ending in barbed claws. Out from the hole it made came thousands of smaller creatures. Ace turned his beast. He almost flew back to the caves. The Gangulli were just behind him. He heard firing weapons on the horizon. How could they have reached them so fast??

*****

Ace walked through the tunnels of the caves. The city was vast, and went for miles beneath the surface. Already men were battling these beasts, which had smashed in through the walls. Ace watched in horror as Fox cut down two with his blaze-shotgun, but a third, a large snake-like Gangulli with a fanged, bit off his head in a single bite. Ace opened fire, taking it down.

++This is Scythe to Ace Macarthur. We're sending down more men.++

He thanked God...

The caves were full of blood. Of marines and guards shooting thousands of Gangulli creatures pouring out.

The infection was spreading. Braun was right. They had to get out of here...
---------------------