Drakensang Chapter 1
#2 of Drakensang
And so the story goes...
-Thank you for gathering here on such short notice - The supreme admiral Kolnikov sat in his chair at the head of the long table - Be seated. As you probably know already High-command had observed and increase...
The briefing was taking place onboard one of the few deep space starbases placed near the northern border region, and in truth Kyle was rather new to this region. Up until now he was still acclimating with his command, and hadn't ventured beyond the core colonies. After all he was but a militant, who suddenly has been promoted to fully fledged starship commander complete with royal title. Every now and then Kyle couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of a cosmic joke that has been played on him, but so far no one had jumped on him shouting "Smile, you're on candid camera!". But no one ever did. And there he was, amongst Galactic Navy's hot shots, just trying not to look like an idiot, because he certainly felt like one.
- ...of course this might be only a diversion from their primary objective... Still he had to admit all the perks that came with the job. He could take command of any colonial militia defense fleet, docking at starbases he always get the best quarters, and best quality supplies with no questions asked. He even had no trouble with obtaining thermo nukes for orbital bombardment. It was curious however that nobody ask himself a question why a planet-buster starship would use them. After all it was a gigantic planetary siege cannon, capable of turning even an ice-ball of a planet into a fiery hell, which he did by the way (on a shape-down cruise, but it still counts, right?), with few more or less functional compartments build around it, and back in the colonial militia he had to file endless reports on every single piece of ordnance used, How, what, where and why... But not anymore.
- ...all. You know your orders. Dismissed. Oh crap, did he just lost all briefing?! No matter. Everything should be on his account in Arpanet; official orders and such. He just needed to log in and check them. All commanders started to head back on their commands. Kyle waited a bit, so his actions looked more casual, but just when he was about to leave, Kolnikov stopped him.
- We need to talk, Garathy - he said not raising his look from the desk, as if he was in the middle of studying some very important documents. A giant red blinking "busted" sign flashed before Kyle's eyes, but he wouldn't be himself if he just confessed to his sins, so he decided to see this through. He nodded and approached a large window, from where he could see first shuttles undocking from station and heading to their respective starships. Admiral waited until the room was cleared, and only after that he joined Kyle by the window.
- Any thoughts about your orders? - He asked, innocence dripping from his voice.
- Not really - responded Kyle - I know my place in the food chain. That was a good answer. Almost universal. Meant everything and absolutely nothing.
- Sir, if I may... - came from behind them - We really should be prepping for launch now. Especially considering that the Dragonclaw is rather an old-timer of a ship. Kyle turned around with a frown to look at the owner of the voice. It was no one he knew. Rather young lad twenty, maybe twenty two years. First thing that was noticeable of him was his freckles. They covered more than a half of his face in that nasty kind of way. Red hair, green eyes and a forehead that would make a Nazis cream their pants.
- I believe you haven't meet before - spoke the admiral - Kyle Garathy; Jugend Wyndham Jr. "Junior... This gets better and better. I bet "Wyndham Senior" fixed him a place in some private academy" - he thought, but on the outside Kyle extended his arm and shook Wyndham's hand
- A pleasure to meet you. - he said.
- Prince Wyndham is going to be you new first officer. - said the admiral - He's fresh out of academy, and in desperate need of combat experience. I'm sure that Prince Garathy will be a fine example for you to learn from, prince Wyndham. Kyle remained silent through the most of the introductions. Maybe he was wrong? Maybe the lad against all appearances was really capable and competent officer, and family connections had nothing to do with his current situation. Maybe.
- Personally I'm excited - spoke Wyndham raising his voice a little, which make Kyle believe he addressed him at the time.
- Yeah, Me too - he responded gazing at some point above Wyndham's shoulder
- This will be my first time on one of our dreadnoughts. I shall take my leave now. Admiral, commander... Kyle nodded at him slightly and walked him with his gaze. Only after Wyndham left the room Kyle looked back at admiral and said.
- Permission to speak freely, sir?
- Granted.
- I was lead to believe I am at liberty to personally choose my own personnel.
- I have my orders and you have yours. Now if that would be all, you're dismissed.
- Sir. - said Kyle standing at attention and saluting formally to a high ranking officer. Then he turned around and walked out of the room. While he was passing the entrance he heard admirals voice.
- And pay attention next time on the briefing! If Kyle responded something to that it has been garbled by a sound of door closing.
A robed figure run through the forest panting hard. She was running since her party was ambushed , which seemed like ages ago. She was tired, and sore all over, but she kept on running. Her guards have stayed behind in attempt to impede the assassins, but they were heavily outnumbered. Her father, king of the Drakensang, has send her to her cousin in a distant city of Fangrock for a whole week, and she was on her way back. To think all of that happened while they were so close to the city; only a day longer, and they would be back home. If they'd still posses the ability to fly, things would look different. She tripped by a large root and fell forward with a yelp, tearing the front fabric of her robe and exposing red scales covering her chest and belly. She forced herself to stand up and start running again, but she fell just a few steps afterwards. She couldn't run anymore. She was too tired and sore. She curled in a tight ball on the ground awaiting her fate. A metallic cling made her rise her sight. There was a foot not far from her snout, however she was too tired to do anything else than whimper. That was definitely not her day. - What about this then - Asked Steinbach as the helmet of his gray-green E.V.A. suit retracted back uncovering his head. Lemarhand, wearing a dark-red and white suit of a squad medic, looked at him, then looked at the creature that lay at his feet, and back at him. - Noticed anything peculiar in it? - Like what? - The clothes? - So? - asked Steinbach - We can easily take them off. - The presence of clothing clearly points to a higher form of intellect. - stated formally Lemarhand - A sentience if you will. - Okay... so? - UESA regulations deny us hunting any sentient species, you know... Especially for food... - Details, details... - Heads-up! - Said Kyle emerging from behind them in his dark-gray-blue Mk.V Battle Suit - We've got... Um... Jurgen..? - Yes, sir? - Is there really a dragon at your feet, or it's high time for me to take my medications? - Um, yes, a dragon indeed... I was just... - No time - Kyle cut him off - We've got a bunch of hostiles on approach. - I can't detect anyone, sir. - stammered Lemarhand looking around. Scanner area on his HUD was clear of anything accept for trees. - Mark V has greatly enhanced sensor array - said Kyle - How do you know they're hostile, sir? - Something called gut-feeling. - Responded Kyle detaching his rifle from the clamps at his right thigh - Grab your sticks, Jurgen takes right, Paul to the left. He flipped the fuse on the handle from "SAFE" to "LIVE" position making the weapon expand into a rapid fire gauss rifle with attached twin-barreled 12'gauge shotgun under the barrel of the rifle, and crouched in the middle. Steinbach stood behind the tree on the right with his own rifle prepped for action, and Lemarhand on the left. - Sir, Shouldn't you take cover? - He asked, gazing at Kyle crouching in the middle. - No, I'm good. - Sir, I urge you to take cover. - This is a Mark V Advanced Battle Suit for crying out loud - said Kyle with a grumpy voice - Unlike yours, it was made purely for combat. They designed it to battle up to five necromorphs at once, head-on, and something tells me that these guys here couldn't hold a candle to a necromorph. - Yeah, but... - stammered Steinbach - Remember the part that it's still in test phase? - Your point being..? - It has a hell of a lot features that doesn't actually need to work. - Shhh, quiet. Here they come. - I still don't see... Ah, there they are. - said Lemarhand as his HUD flashed with points representing detected targets. - Why do I even bother giving orders..? - muttered Kyle under his breath, but he took care to do it loud enough for others to hear. That statement finally made them shut up, and they all were watching the area in front of them, from where their potential adversaries were bound to come. It took but a couple of minutes before HUD of Kyle's suit pinpointed movement and zoomed to that location. - Got visual - he said quietly - Forward quarter. - Got it - acknowledged Lemarhand - Seven, nine targets. - Form-up. - ordered Kyle - Do not fire unless cleared to do so. He zoomed his view some more to see more clearly, and frowned. They all looked like... - Orcs? -muttered Steinbach - What is going on here? The SSAM* chip in Kyle's suit quickly analyzed the target, measuring the pulse, saturation, body mass, and potential muscle power and pinpointing week points to be exploited in event of close combat; all of this in less than few seconds. "Works OK for me" - he thought bringing his weapon up, to aim it down the sight. He found out that he didn't need to. The HUD displayed clearly visible crosshair for his weapon, which altered its position in regard of where his gun was pointing. Nifty. At that point the orcs were also able to see them. This however didn't make them even slowdown. They started to drag their weapons out; a various types of axes and hammers, few swords; and speed up even more, roaring their battlecries. Kyle waited for them to come real close before saying "Weapon's free" and firing from his twin shotgun. The salvo knocked back the orc, almost tearing him in two, and splashing acid all over his body, that started consuming the rest of orc's body. Then Kyle aimed at the next one in line and fired three-point burst from the rifle, and another at another target, and so on. Eventually he was able to synchronize himself with SSAM to a point where he was able to fire a single shot from the rifle at a single opponent to neutralize him. All he had to do was to shoot at points marked by SSAM. Each time a bullet strike its target it caused a small eruption of flesh, bone splinters and burst of acid. He kept shooting until there was no more targets. - Clear left - he heard Lemarhand's voice on the radio. - Clear right. Kyle took a moment to scan the area one last time before acknowledging - Clear. Recover. He arose from crouching position, flipping the fuse on his rifle back to "SAFE" position. - Um... - started Lemarhand, approaching Kyle - I don't want to be a stickler for details, sir, but... UESA regulations most assuredly restricting usage of Anti-Necromorph munitions. In fact it is forbidden to use them against non-necromorphs like, in whole known universe... - Yea... - said Kyle turning his attention to the dragon still laying on the ground - Good thing that we are in unknown part of it. - That's a technicality. - I'm a Vulcan. We embrace technicality**. - he stated crouching at the side of the dragon, and lifting a portion of robe with his index finger; exposing the black scales on the back, and two wing tugged closely to the dragon's body. - And how do you know it's unknown? - asked Lemarhand, before reflecting a little - With all due respect, sir. - Jurgen. Steinbach looked at Kyle, than at Lemarhand, and finally spoke with little hesitation - There is no Nav. Beacon. Even exploratory vessels deploys them in every system they visit. You know, to be able to lock a jump-drive back on that location. If there is no Nav. Beacon, none of our ships were ever here. - ...Which was to be proved. - said Kyle now examining the dragons head. The horns, snout and fins at the back of the neck. - Why don't you take more closer look at our friend here instead, Paul. If you start thinking too much of UESA's regulations, your head might burst. Is it alive? Lemarhand ignored the edge hidden in this sentence, and crouching beside Kyle he began his examination of the creature. - Well for what is worth - said Kyle standing up - we can forget about hunting now. I would be surprised if after all of that any kind of prey remained in these parts. - Great - muttered Steinbach not entirely to himself - Solid rations night yet again... - Sounds to me that you're not fond of them - said Kyle with indifferent expression - aren't you? - They taste like wet cardboard. - Probably. But they sure beat starving. What's the call, doc? - She's alive, if that's what you're asking. She's breathing I mean. - She? - asked Kyle as his helmed retracted back - Don't tell me that you've actually peeked under the tail... - I am xenobiologist, am I not? Anyway, she's fairly healthy, though exhausted, and... well, rather humanoid. - So? - Well think about it. All of the sentient beings we encountered so far were humanoid. Two arms, legs at the bottom, head at the top with more or less sophisticated receptor organs; Antharans are basically human. Don't you find that intriguing? - Not anymore - spoke Kyle with the voice that made Lemarhand look at him with curiosity - Well we can't leave her like this, who knows what will happen to her... - I guess we could make some stretchers... - he started standing up, but was cut off abruptly as Kyle extended his right arm. A hoary radiance shot from his hand and enveloped the dragoness's body - No, wait! TK modules are unsuited for handling living organisms! Kyle however had different opinion on this. He lifted the dragoness easily with the help of his TK module, and placed her on his shoulder. - Stretchers. - he said condescendingly - Let's go. We have strayed rather far from the camp this time, and we've wasted enough time as it is.
Flames of the bonfire lit brightly the cavern walls. She lay in somewhat remote part of the cave undisturbed by no one. Actually she pretended to be asleep, as she didn't want to attract any unwanted attention on herself. Instead she observed the surroundings and pondered a way to escape. Sha'Rae didn't remembered much of what had happened earlier. She was running through the forest; she was being chased by the Horde; fell, and then everything was fuzzy. Did they captured her? No, those did not looked like Horde to her. When she looked at one while he wasn't wearing any helmet she saw that he, and probably all of them looked a lot like elves she saw on old pictures. As far as she knew their home was the south-eastern high forest, before they were overrun by the Horde and utterly destroyed. Though those here were a bit different, with their round ears and strange looking armors. Maybe they were bandits, trying to get a ransom for her, or maybe sell her for slavery, or worse... She heard stories about the dangers awaiting young females out in the wilderness. However they didn't seemed to have any interest in her at all. In fact they seemed to be buried totally in a heated discussion. Although she couldn't make out their words, she was certain they were arguing about her; about who would go first or something. She curled even tighter, as her imagination presented her worse, and worse case scenarios, and they grew more vivid and detailed. - We need to signal High Command. Give me a one way to do it. - Said Kyle sitting by the fire. - What about distress beacon? Did you launched it? - Hell no. - responded Steinbach - Wyndham aborted that after you left. - Kewl - muttered Kyle poking the fire with a stick - This is nuts - said Steinbach walking back and forth nearby the entrance to the cave - How could be one that stupid to..? I mean, the Jump drive was clearly broken. How could he..? - It's not that obvious - said Kyle - Yakubik said he sent a team down there to put on some power buffers. When they did, I suspect that all readings got back to normal. We saw the damaged unit with our eyes, but those on the bridge didn't had that luxury; only the readings. Besides, I also had a hand in this... Both officers looked at him with puzzled expressions. - I shouldn't have stocked those thermo-nukes onboard after all, haven't I? - he said avoiding the gazes of his companions.
She awoke later that night, trembling out of cold. Normally she would bath in the sun, to raise her body temperature for the upcoming night, but this time she was unable to do so. She needed to find something to warm her up, and fast. She crawled out of her resting place, barely remembering the events of the previous day and with unsteady walk she entered the main chamber. The fire was out, but the heat sensors placed on the both sides of her snout quickly found a replacement for that. Kyle grunted out of surprise, as something cold, and scaly cuddled to him, embracing him tightly, warbling all the while. The SSAM begun to analyze the sounds, displaying the sound waves on the HUD; measuring frequency, amplitude and harmonics. Not long after her warbles became words. - Need... Warm... - Eh... What the hell... - he sighed to himself and placed his arm around the dragoness. This wasn't actually that bad...
*Semi-AI System for Advanced Metacognition ** A line from Star Trek: Into darkness. I just couldn't stop myself...