Prologue
The carriage thundered down the cobblestoned path hovering just above the ground as the bullyadouses used their muscular legs to race through the streets. Inside the cramped compartment, two men sat across from each other, their hoods and cloaks pulled tight around their bodies to prevent recognition. It was humid outside from a recent autumn rain in the merchant port of Redcoast on Planet Anoba.
The two men caught each other's eye but remained in silence as the stars winked at them through the window panes of the carriage. The commander of the two of them gazed out at the passing buildings and watched as the carriage turned down an alley which eventually opened up into a hidden backstreet in which a very tall brick building stood with darkened windows. The rocking carriage slowed to a halt in front of the marble steps as the driver got down from his post and opened the small door for the two men.
The commander stepped out followed by his colleague as they entered the desolate building. There were no lights anywhere, except for the moonlight streaming in through the windows whose shades were drawn back. Dust swirled around in the air making the man behind the first sneeze.
"Quiet," the commander hissed as his comrade held his nose. When the commander was sure the home remained undisturbed he approached a rather large set of double doors and fit an old brass key into the lock. Giving it a turn he pushed open the doors to reveal a well-lit stairwell, winding down and around a circular chamber to the floor below. "Lock the door behind you," he ordered the other. The man nodded and did as he was told while the commander threw off his black cloak to reveal a familiar light blue uniform with a sailor's hat on his head bearing an odd sort of triangular symbol.
Down below on the main floor a stout man was hard at work, a pair of very large spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose. The metal machine whirred and clunked sending up a jet of steam once in a while.
"Greetings, Doctor," the commander smirked as he descended the stairs. His voice was thick with an accent. The stout man looked up in surprise, nearly knocking over a beaker of red dust.
"Ah, Admiral Morgan!" he cried, making sure the dust was safe before he turned to face the Procyon Ambassador. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."
"To be honest, I was curious, Doctor. How is our progress coming along?" he inquired, studying the rattling machine.
"There are…several problems that still need to be attended to, Sir. I fear that this matter does not work well with this type of machinery. In fact, I've done everything I can to find out more about this substance, but all I am able to find are at most one sentence located in an old book about the Eternity Star," he explained, pushing his spectacles further up the bridge of his furry raccoon nose. Amos Morgan circled the machine while snatching up the beaker of red matter. "Oh, do be careful," the doctor squeaked.
Amos ignored his warning and examined the substance in the glass jar.
"Time is running out, Doctor. I cannot continue to conceal this massed weapon from the Royal Navy indefinitely."
"I-I know that, Sir."
"Then you also know how important your job is?"
"Y-yes, Sir."
Amos arched an eyebrow as he studied the Doctor's quivering form, his bowed head. Submission. The Procyon Admiral smirked.
"I want the machine completed before the end of the week."
"But, Sir -!" the Doctor cried, his magnified eyes widening further.
"By the end of the week, Doctor," Amos interrupted as he approached a lab table with a miniaturized planet, several tubes protruding from the planet's core, and large green button. "I need it completed, by the end of the week or you can say goodbye to your petty lifestyle," he finished just above a whisper as he pressed the green button and watched the tiny planet implode with a small pop, leaving behind a pile of ash.
The Proc that had accompanied Amos stood at the top of the stairs and laughed at the Doctor's horrified expression. Amos swept from the chamber, retrieving his cloak from the stairs, fastening it around his body, and leaving the home the same way he had come. As the carriage took off into the night once more the Admiral addressed the warrior across from him.
"Tell Captain Hayes to increase our weapons production when we return. I do not want to see any shortage when this war begins."
Redcoast's town was just winding down for the evening as the golden colored tree branches rattled in the wind. The merchant port was as busy as ever with wandering tradesmen or busy spacers loading cargo or docking ships. This made it easier for the officers and spacers in their uniforms to remain unnoticed as they crept closer to the home, their weapons drawn.
An older man with a white mustache and hard-set eyes nodded to his crew as they drew their weapons and approached the brick home. The spacers shifted uncomfortably as the admiral gave the signal and kicked in the door, raising his plasma musket.
"In the name of her Majesty's Empire, I command you to lower your weapons!" he hollered, scanning the dusty rooms only to realize that the home was vacant. His cadets and other lower-ranking officers spilled in behind him.
"Search the house," he ordered. "Be on your guard for any suspicious evidence or Procs." The men diffused throughout the home, looking for any sign of life, but everything within the building appeared as if it hadn't been touched in years. It was only after a few agonizing minutes had ticked by before a captain shouted that he had found something. The admiral and the other men hurried over to see the captain had pulled open a door leading to a well-lit basement and a winding stairwell leading down.
"Excellent work, Captain," the admiral praised as he raised his weapon and descended the stairs. However, it was clear from the beginning that no one was down there. Only a few lab tables remained with broken beakers, shredded papers, and an odd sort of instrument with a green button. As the naval spacers searched for evidence, the admiral approached the table to examine the miniature machine further. It looked like a pile of ash with several useless tubes attached to a small metal contraption. Before the captain could examine it further, one of his cadets called his name.
"Sir, I found something you might want to look at."
The admiral approached the older cadet bent over a thin coating of what appeared to be gunpowder, only the gunpowder had a scarlet tint instead of the usual gray black colors.
"It smells like gunpowder, Sir," the cadet grimaced. The admiral took a closer look and fingered the substance before he nodded.
"You're right, good work, cadet. I've never seen anything like this before. Take a sample of it and we'll bring it back to Waystation Grant to see if we can't get a chemist to decipher what this means." Then, turning to the rest of his curious men he addressed them. "The Procyons have gone. We'll need to find another reliable lead if we're to catch up with them and figure out what they're doing. For now we'll return to Waystation Grant with this evidence and I'll talk to Captain Woodward about sending out another search party. These Procs are excellent at hiding. We'll have to flush out their plans soon if we are to have any hope of stopping this battle."
As the naval officers formed a line and marched out of the building, a shadow lurked on the rooftop. Amos Morgan observed the naval men and women leaving the premises with a smile.
"Prepare yourself, Admiral, for what you do not yet understand."
A/N: This was supposed to be a better prologue! It was! Ugh! Everything sounds so awesome in my head, but when I write it I'm just like – "WAH!" *runs around in circles waving hands hysterically*
So, yeah, the prologue to The Battle at Procyon is finally here! YAY! A few things I should point out before this story continues:
This is based off of the PC game called The Battle at Procyon. I'm going to 'borrow' (more like unrightfully steal "muahahahaha!") some of the ideas from the game like with the war of the Procyons and other things, but in my defense, I'm using these things to further improve these stories and to really dive into the Treasure Planet universe. I want things to be as accurate as they can be. The difference between these books and the PC game is that in the game Jim is a captain and he's 20 years old and there is no Eternity Star or secret weapon the Procyons have, obviously. I don't have the game and I've never played it. The software won't work on my newer computer, but I've watched walk-throughs on youtube and the story plot is actually very interesting if you want to go watch the videos. Just search The Battle at Procyon Mission 1 on youtube.
So yeah, just wanted to let you guys know so that it doesn't seem like I'm copying or kidnapping other people's ideas without giving them rightful credit.
So Amos Morgan is building a machine now with the red matter he found on The Eternity Star, and by the looks of the tiny replica with the green button it has the ability to turn things into ash! Yikes! You'll have to read on to find out how that plays into the story. And Bullyadouses are the species that towed Doctor Doppler's carriage in the beginning of Treasure Planet – I have a TP book that says so.
The song that helped me write this prologue is Marital Sabotage by Hans Zimmer from the Sherlock Holmes 1 Soundtrack. Hope everyone is ready for the drama and the romance and the epic-ness coming up! Don't worry, I'll pull out some more romance for you all ;)
Special thanks goes to all my readers and followers and reviewers from previous stories and for this one in the future! :D