My first fanfiction story. I only wish the best for it.

Disclaimer: The author owns nothing from Sunsoft, or the plot of Journey to Silius/[Raf] WORLD.

The Stardate Calendar Year: 0373

In this new, futuristic age, the Earth is a heavily industrialized world, now in a decaying state. The world governments are heavily corrupt by the influence of big business. The effects of global warming can be clearly seen in the atmosphere. Interstellar space travel has become a routine process for mining compounds on outer worlds, but Earth's own resources are being used up to the point where most of the landmass is empty, desolate deserts. And perhaps the most worrying issue will occur around the corner. The human population of Earth is increasing at a blistering rate. Eventually, the entire planet will become unable to hold the amount of newborn humans reproducing on a daily basis. With this seemingly inevitable event just beyond the horizon, the human race has now asked the world's greatest scientists to "create" a brand new world in the universe; a world where the older generations of human life can live in peace, without the worry of overpopulation.

The solution of such a dilemma could not have been solved at a more desperate time than now. In the middle of these brilliant scientists was a competent technical person under the name of Ray McCray. A biological research and geologist giant, McCray is the same mind responsible for the creation of the newly-founded space research colony #428. He currently works as the head staff member of the Sirius Star System. At this colony, McCray has developed a set of plans for the creation of a brand new world for humans to settle. These plans were known as the "Sirius Project," and the simulated tests showed a 99.98% chance of such a project to result in a failure. With the approval of his colleagues and the people of Earth, and with his own hopes and dreams, Ray McCray executes the plans of the Sirius Project on colony #428.

8.6 light years from the Sirius Star System, on Earth, the young Jay McCray (son of Ray) has finally received his high school diploma, after twelve long years of study. Heavily inspired by the work of his father, young Jay hopes to one day work alongside his father in hopes to further advance the development of the Sirius Project. Almost every night before bed, Jay remembered a particular sentence his father told him before his journey to Sirius: "Study beyond your hearts content, advance your current knowledge of the world above you, and someday, you will become a greater mind then even I could achieve. Don't forget that." Jay never forgot those inspirational words, and as a result, his college record showed that Jay was going to contribute to something important in the future, whether he realized it or not.

But it was not to be so easy. Back on colony #428, unbeknownst to the researchers, one of their greatest experiments in the peripheral laboratory had suddenly went awry. In an unknown chain of events, their experiment was progressing smoothly, until an unidentified element was added to the mix. This resulted in an explosion with a radius larger than an average thermonuclear explosion, destroying the entire surrounding facilities around the lab. Hours later, when the communication was abruptly lost with colony #428, a small armada is sent to assess the situation. By the time the disaster response team arrived at the colony, they were welcomed only by the desolated ruins of a once-prestigious project.

On Earth, Jay McCray arrives home late from a long evening of college graduations. Although he was a fairly tired lad, he decided to relax in his chair, and watch the news. Space mining; local business sold again, pollution "not a problem," space vacation advertisements...nothing's ever new on the news anymore. Jay concluded. Bored by the news, Jay was about to switch off his TV until the news was focused on showing photos of the now-destroyed colony #428. "We have just obtained this latest piece of news from the disaster response team associated with the Sirius Star System. Five days ago, at approximately 12:58 P.M. International Galactic Time, all contact with colony #428, the same colony involved with the Sirius Project, was lost. Assumed to be a simple malfunction at first turned out to be one of the worst disasters in space history. According to the investigators brought alongside the disaster response team, an explosion of 'an abnormal magnitude' occurred inside one of the main laboratories."

The news report continued. "Although the investigation could not determine what exactly caused the explosion on colony #428, it is assumed to be nothing more than a tragic accident. The research group, as well with head researcher Dr. Ray McCray, are all confirmed dead, as a result from this explosion. The existing bodies have been relocated on Earth, and are now at the national morgue of unclaimed bodies. If you have a family member, friend, or other close relations with anyone that was on colony #428, please call the number at the bottom of the screen to arrange any and all future cremations or burials. Moving onto the weather..."

Crushed. Defeated. Somber. These are one of many words that could describe the current feelings of Jay McCray at this time. His only family left; dead. All Jay could do is stare blankly at the television screen, as all these memories of his father suddenly rushed into memory. It can't be. Jay thought. The one and only person Jay truly wanted to help and be with once again, and he was gone, with a snap of the finger. For what seemed to be hours of sobering tears, Jay had finally decided to call the number the news gave to him. To see his father once again.

A couple of days have passed since the destruction of Colony #428 and the death of Jay's father. Worldwide, news regarding the disaster was still strong. Where large masses of crowds came to give their respects to the deceased research members who gave so much knowledge to them, the higher minds were once again heavily concerned about the ever growing human population. With the plans for the Sirius Project destroyed, the newly-inaugurated greatest of minds could not agree to a new solution that was better, or even equal, to the Sirius Project. It seemed as if the world would suffer a mass human extinction from the lack of resources to survive after all.

But despite the dire situation, daily life passed on. Jay was standing in front of his father's grave. In such a short amount of time, he was confused about his life as a whole. It seemed that the one goal he was trying to achieve could not be attained, for his father was no longer with him. On occasion, his college friends would stop by to give him their regards; sometimes, they would strike long conversations about general life. Every day that he could, Jay would visit his father's tomb, and read the tomb plaque in his mind:

One of the most influential technicians of his era

RAY L. McCRAY

0322 - 0373

May You Rest In Peace

Heading back home, Jay knew that it was time to sort through his father's study, for even he was oblivious of its contents. When Jay was at the morgue, they gave him the key to Ray's study, since it was locked ever since he left for colony #428. Upstairs, Jay looked at the locked door intently, followed by eyeing the key. What could possibly be in his study? Jay thought. My father had always kept this room a secret ever since mother's passing... Determined, Jay used the key on the doorknob, twisted it, and heard a familiar clicking noise from the wooden door. As he walked through the door, Jay noticed how cold and dark the room was. It had definitely not been used for a good while.

Flipping the light switch was no good; for some odd reason, the light would not turn on, suggesting a dead bulb. Across the room, the window had the blinds closed. An obsolete set of plastic blinds, unlike the voice-automated ones that were of the standard today. Dad was always interested in historical objects. Jay emotionally reminded himself, remembering an example from his childhood, where his father had tried explaining what a baseball was, to no avail. When Jay opened the blinds, the light streaming from the windows revealed the room with better detail. Jay examined the room.

It was full of now impossible to get wooden furniture. To his left was a wooden bookshelf full of text held in the now obsolete format known as, well, books. Considering the strained resources, books were considered too resource-intensive to manufacture, so tablets were utilized as a smart alternative. From Biology to Geology, Jay's father had amassed a large collection of them in his years. While this shelf initially intrigued Jay, his focus quickly turned to the wooden table to his right side, which contained an ancient Cathode Ray Tube monitor and a disk of some sort. Jay picked up the disk, and read the writing on the front.

"In case of colony failure." This was all that was written on the disk. The disk, a 3.5" floppy, was a format that had not been used since before the conversion of the now-obsolete Gregorian calendar to the Stardate calendar. Because Jay had also inherited his father's interest of ancient technology, this disk was the most interesting thing yet. By examining the computer on the desk revealed a floppy drive, in which the disk fit. With no other alternatives, Jay decided to give the obsolete hardware a run. With the push of a button on the tower, the computer was initializing the boot-up.

Jay scoffed at the computer. In a world now dominated by minicomputers within tablets, it briefly made Jay curious about how people were able to live with such slow speeds, but with a sudden beep that emitted from the computer, a message on-screen confirmed that the computer was ready for use. Looking through the drive, Jay instructed the computer to open the disk, which it replied quicker than he thought. Inspecting the contents of the disk, Jay discovers that it contains the complete plans for the lost Sirius Project, and a sound file that was addressed to him. Curious, Jay carefully listens to the words of his father.

"Jay, the space terrorists are trying to prevent the space colony's development. While they are slow to act, the terrorists plan to cover up their actions by moving their satellite in order to cease contact with Earth. I eavesdropped on a group of terrorists before my eventual trip to the Sirius Star System, and had them arrested on time. I don't know if there are more of them, or if they plan on destroying the colony during the Sirius Project, so I copied the data on the colony development on this disk. I did not want the terrorists to have my year's research."

"Jay, if I die, you must complete the colony where I cannot. Study it to your hearts content, advance your current knowledge of the world above you, and someday, you will become a greater mind then even I could achieve. In the closet is something I had been working on before relocating to the colony, for you. Use this disk and my work to save the human race from mass extinction."

The audio ended with a click. So it was the space terrorists after all... Jay concluded. For the past months, Jay partially suspected the space terrorists might have had something to do with the destruction of colony #428. Their leader, going only by the name of the Skeletal Android, did not agree with the human race inhabiting any other world, save for Earth. On Earth, the space terrorists have the majority of their power. If they allowed human to settle on far-off worlds, their base of operations would no longer be the strength of the cosmos...and their influence on the Earthlings would be crushed.

Jay sat up and examined the closet next to the bookshelf. Inside was what appeared to be a suit of armor. A piece of paper is taped on the front; it is labeled as the Powered Exoskeleton Prototype Spacesuit, or PEPS for short. Jay reads the paper in his mind: Designed for swift movement through cold vacuums and protection, the PEPS armor can withstand most projectiles, ranging from 40-watt pellets to grenades. The armor is not invincible, however, for the suit can only take so much damage before its life systems cease to function.

Examining the suit, it resembles a thin white space suit, with a blue chest-plate. The gloves are a flimsy blue metal (for finger movement) and the boots are hardened metal plates that reach beyond the knees. The suit includes a striking blue security helmet, with a silver mouth guard that covers the bottom-half of the face. Lastly, the belt includes a holster, which includes a handmade laser handgun. Examining the handgun further, Jay notices it has been modified to shoot 80 watt beam balls, wit a seemingly endless supply of energy. These kinds of weapons are banned from manufacturing on Earth, but knowing the brilliance of his father's plan, it was of little surprise to him to be holding this weapon.

After a week's amount of thoughts, Jay has decided to continue his father's work, but not without one small detour This detour. Placing the PEPS and a small supply of food in a large traveling bag, and putting the Sirius Plans in his pocket, Jay has paid to temporarily live on an interstellar cargo ship. Already on board, Jay watches as his ship slowly lifts off the ground, and into the atmosphere. The detour he would take was realized as soon as Jay's father's speech concluded. In order to complete the Sirius Project, Jay rationalizes that he must enter into enemy territory in order to avenge his father's death, and end the space terrorist menace once and for all. His journey to Sirius has only begun.

The Terrorists...They will pay for the death of my father.

A/N: And that was the prologue. Did you like it? Or, maybe you want to express critique? Please review.