There have always been dimensions untouched by man; areas left shrouded in mystery and their secrets hidden to man. In one of these dimensions, rests a star system rests untouched, untamed by humans. Planets of mysterious characteristics orbit their parent sun, while moons half their own size orbit them.
In one corner of this star system, a tear in space erupts. At first, nothing happens as space is apparently ignoring the opening. Then a ship begins to emerge, its elongated bow piercing the darkness and moving outward of the opening, the edges of the dimensional opening shifts between a cool purple to a hot yellow every few seconds.
As the ship slowly made its way out into space its main body then appears, then a few seconds later the rest of the ship appears in space, floating harmlessly and on no apparent course. Then, as if by command, more tears appear and several more ships come out into space. Most appear to be smaller than the first, while others appear to be longer.
"Status?" A young man said aboard the lead ship. He wore a kimono that was adorned with dragon runes, his face was clean, and his hair was black. Both of his eyes were green, along the right side of his waist was a belt, and on that belt was a long sword.
On his back was a holder for a staff, the staff was short compared to his height. He was five feet, six inches tall. He wore a pair of glasses that were clear, so clear in fact, that they weren't prescription based. On the right lens, a small image could be seen and on this image was text that scrolled up as if being moved by invisible hands.
"We are clear sir," a man said who was operating helm. This man was clean-shaven, he wore a typical military uniform and his hair was kept. He turned in his chair to address the young man, "Admiral?" he said.
The young man nodded and pushed his glasses up. "Stay your course," he ordered and turned to the woman next to him. Unlike him, she wore a more 'revealing' outfit. Her outfit was akin to that of a medieval knight, with the differences being that some parts of her leg, chest and arms were showing. She had a collar around her neck with a light blue diamond in the center, her arm guards were black and her boots were blue with orange trim along the edges.
She wore a red cap that came down to her feet, almost dragging across the ground. Like the young man beside her, she also had a sword but this was on the left side of her belt.
"What do you think sis?" Kalshion, the young man, asked his sister.
Katarina, Kalshion's twin sister, placed her finger up to her chin and glanced down at the deck plates. "Just from what we can see, this system seems barren," she said and looked up at the ceiling. "Sharia!" she shouted.
In front of the twins a bluish figure appeared. Data comprised her body as symbols, letters and numbers circled, forming her. "Yes?" she asked, her voice didn't sound like a computer, but like an actual human being.
"Scan the system for habitable planets, also include uninhabitable planets as well," Katarina ordered. Sharia bowed and then disappeared. The twins stood there, pondering what to do in the mean time, but they barely had time to walk away when her figure reappeared. "Done," she said.
Sharia reveled in how she always bewildered the twins; she had enjoyed every minute of it since they created her. She herself was an AI construct, but she wasn't restricted to just this ship but had freedom to move from ship to ship and do whatever she pleased. In the short amount of time it took for the twins to register a look of confusion, she had not only scanned the planets but also most of the star system and registered every object that floated in this area of space.
The twins stared blankly at her, "that quick?" they both asked her. She just smiled at them and turned toward the holographic tank that was in the center of the massive command deck. The command deck itself was large compared to other ships; the holographic tank was the center of the deck, with various consoles arranged around it. Each console handled a different type of ship system.
Near the top of the tank and just in front of it was helm control while to the sides of the tank were weapons and behind it were the twins were standing, was the command chair and several other consoles.
The tank warmed and then came to life. A yellowish orb appeared in the center of the tank, then, thirteen smaller orbs came into existence around the center orb, they rotated slowly around the orb. Red circles then appeared around four planets while blue circles appeared around four other planets. Finally, five green circles appeared around the remainder of the planets.
"Sharia, your recommendation?" Kalshion asked as he stared at holographic display. As he did so the central orb went from being a measly yellow ball to actually being a sun. Like-wise, the outlying orbs were also detailed, some were orange balls depicting them as gas giants. Others were even more detailed, the remainder for example had lush green landscapes painted on them.
Sharia looked across the planets and then pointed at two of them; the display promptly highlighted these planets and enlarged them. "The fourth and ninth planets from the sun, the fourth planet has property's equal to that of this node's dimensional earth. While the ninth planet is mostly a water ball," Sharia said while staring at the planets, she cleared her throat, despite being a computer, before continuing. "Scan's show no intelligent life present in this system, as well as, no harmful gases," she said, turning toward the twins.
Katarina thought about, "engage ninth planet, give me a planetary map," she said. The rest of the planets suddenly flickered out of existence, with just the ninth one remaining. As it spun slowly, the display then enlarged itself onto a portion of the planet. "Water is right," Katarina said as she stared at it, "no land?"
"The planet is ninety five percent water and only five percent land," Sharia said and folded her arms over her chest, as if she was insulted by Katarina's question.
"I see…" The young girl and brought her hands down to her side, she glanced over at her brother who nodded. "Sharia, would it be possible for us to siphon land from planet to this?" he asked her.
Sharia blinked before taking on a thinking pose. She stood there for several seconds before lifting her head and nodding. "With our current technology it is possible, I'd recommend exploring the other planet first though before considering this one," she suggested.
"Why?" The twins asked, once again in unison. Sharia sighed and turned back to the display, the ninth planet disappeared in its place was the fourth planet. "My scans detected passages underground, not sure if they were made by a race long extinct or perhaps naturally, but I do suggest you search them first since they cress cross the entire planet," Sharia said and continued to stare the image.
"That's odd… " she said and turned to her side. A crewmember operating the op's station turned toward her, "ops, scan the surface for me please, utilize the gamma and delta algorithm and tell me what you find," she said and folded her arms.
Operations nodded and the crewman turned back to his display and went to work."While we wait for the results," Kalshion said, breaking the silence that had dropped down over them. "Sharia, show me the two gas giants," he said.
The holographic display changed to show the two gas giants. "Just from a cursory scan, I can confirm that each gas giant as the minerals we need to operate in this sector of space. While we can create anti-matter thanks to the way our reactors are designed, this fuel is also compatible with our ships engines," Sharia said, smiling. "I'd recommend refining facilities be placed in low orbit," she said.
Kalshion nodded and turned toward communication. "Rena, contact the commanders for Alpha and Beta construction fleets, order them to jump into system and begin construction on gas refining facilities," Kalshion ordered. Rena, a girl who appeared to be only thirteen, nodded and was about to relay the order when she removed her headset. "Suggestion sir?"
"Alright," Kalshion said and turned his body toward her. "Have Alpha and Beta worked on one refinery at a time, it'll get the job done quicker," Rena suggested.
Sharia floated past the twins and nodded. "She's correct," she said. "It would take them only three to five days to complete a single refinery, versus four weeks if they did it alone and under their own power," she said.
"Very well," Kalshion said, impressed by Rena's logic. "Make it so," he said and the young girl nodded and put her headset back on. Katarina smiled and walked toward the door leading off the command deck, "I'm going to put together a science team and head to the fourth planet, you should check out the ninth planet bro and see if there is anything that may interfere with our construction efforts," she said and left the command deck.
"You heard her Sharia, put together a list of crewmen who you feel I should take on this expedition," Kalshion said. Sharia pondered his request and then smiled, "I would recommend you take Communications Officer Rena with you,"
Rena, at the sound of her name, looked up from her console and blinked. "Me?" she said confusingly.
"Why not? There is a reason why you were placed onboard this ship, because of your excellent communication skills in both speech and technology," Sharia said, folding her arms across her chest.
Rena blushed before getting up. "Sir?" she asked, addressing the admiral. Kalshion smiled and walked toward the door. "Get yourself prepared, meet me in hanger bay three in fifteen minutes, Sharia, inform the other crewmen you recommended to also meet me there," Kalshion said. Sharia and Rena both nodded before going to their appointed tasks.
The thirteen year old walked into the elevator, her hands clasped in front of her chest. She glanced at Kalshion, then at the deck, then back at him. "Uhh.. sir, can I ask you something?"
"You already did," he grinned and then placed his hand on her shoulder. "What's on your mind?"
The girl sighed and took in a breath. "Am I the youngest here?" she asked him, it was a straight forward question that made Kalshion stare at her. She felt it was a stupid question though, and had only thought of it out of curiosity. "I mean.. I don't see anyone younger here except me," she added.
He shook his head. "You're not technically the youngest here, I've got crewmen who are only eleven and twelve, but they are few and far between. Most are teenagers like yourself," he said to her. The elevator beeped as it passed the center section of the ship and continued down toward the crew quarters, when it stopped the doors opened to reveal the crew quarters deck.
Rena stepped off the elevator, "thank you sir," she said to Kalshion before making her way to her quarters. The doors soon closed and the elevator continued down to the hanger bay.
The bay was a bustle of activity. Shuttles were being prepped for launch, with fighter craft beside them being readied in the event of a combat action. "Sir!" The flight officer said when he noticed Kalshion walking across the deck. "My shuttle ready?" he asked the officer.
"It is sir," the officer said and handed him a clipboard. "Perfect, I want two squads of marines to accompany my sisters group," he ordered.
"Already done sir," the flight officer said and turned toward a group of marines who were boarding a drop ship. "Your sister insisted on going with the marines so I couldn't stop here," he sighed and turned his attention back to the shuttle that he and Kalshion were heading toward.
The shuttle didn't look like a normal bulky craft, it was sleek, elongated much like the ship itself was. Its wings were swept back; it hovered in the air thanks to its anti-gravity drives. As Kalshion approached the back a door suddenly appeared on the hull and slid apart, revealing the interior.
He was about to get onboard when a suddenly a loud noise in the bay, causing him to stop and turn toward the location of where the sound came from. Both of the drop ships wing engines came to life, fire erupting outward and toward the deck plating. The ship lifted off the deck turned toward the energy field that was over the open bay doors, outside was nothing more than blackness, vast space and ever quiet.
"Drop Ship Gamma, you're clear for launch. Good Luck," someone in the tower said over the bay PA. The pilots gave a curt salute as they leveled the engines with the rest of the ship and then brought them to full power.
The craft flew through the energy barrier and out into space, then arced itself toward the fourth planet from the sun. The massive command ship was between the fourth and ninth planets, allowing for equal flight time.
"Time to planet?" Katarina asked, she was sitting in the passenger side seat in the cockpit. Beside her was the co-pilot and in front of him was the pilot.
"At our current space," the pilot said and looked at his calculation, "two hours," he said.
"To slow, engage warp drives," Katarina ordered and soon the drop ship disappeared.
Back aboard the command ships hanger bay. Kalshion was waiting patiently for the rest of his team, most had arrived but he was missing toward members, behind him, sitting down on one of the shuttles ten seats, Rena was fiddling around with a communications device.
"I should be able to boost the range," she said as she removed the back cover and inspected the circuitry. "Ughs….." she sighed in disappointment when she realized just how much of a pain it would be.
Unbeknown to her, Kalshion chuckled when he heard her disappointing sigh. "Those two better get here soon," he said and looked at his wristwatch. Then, as if on cue, the elevator on the far end opened to reveal his two missing crewmembers. They ran the length of the bay toward the shuttle and got on board, "sorry were late admiral," one of the two said as they took a seat.
Kalshion shook his head, closed the hatch, and walked through a set of doors that lead into the cockpit. There he found a young woman manning the co-pilots seat, she looked to be around nineteen years of age and wore different version of the military uniform.
"You ready Sasha?" Kalshion asked her. The woman nodded and flipped several switches on a console above her, outside the cockpit windows a reddish field could be seen appearing along the shuttles hull. "Ready," she said and placed her hands on the controls.
The gravity engines came to life, spinning the shuttle around and moving it slowly toward the barrier and then out into space where the primary engines came online. The shuttle accelerated through space and under the command ship, heading toward the ninth planet.
"Engage warp," he said to Sasha. The shuttle lurched forward as it opened a tear in space and soon disappeared into warp. "Sir, a question, this is the same node that you and Katarina came to awhile back right?"
"To settle a certain problem, yes," Kalshion said as he monitored the warp field. "Sis and I were nearly killed that time, but we managed to save several high ranking TSA officials. That's why we are here and allowed to operate out of this dimension," he said to her.
Sasha nodded. "I see, well then, may I ask another question?"
"Go ahead," he said.
"This place your building, is it open to everyone?" Sasha asked and glanced at a console panel.
Kalshion smiled. "If you're asking that can also attend it, then yes, everyone will be allowed," he said and let out a sigh.
"I thought you already had Dyhokan Academy up elsewhere though?" Sasha asked.
"Star Ocean Dimension, Elicoor Four." Kalshion said turned toward her, "however we've run into some problems now with the Pangalactic Federation and there seems to be a war brewing between several groups and I don't want my students to get caught in this war. That's why I petitioned the TSA for permission to build my families school here," he said.
Sasha nodded. "I see…" she said, "I have no more question's sir."
Kalshion laughed. "Nothing wrong with asking questions Lieutenant, you do remember that you can from the same school as did everyone else aboard the command ship," he said. Sasha nodded and then smiled, "it's strange though, we've been to many different nodes and dimensions, people have always found it odd that children are in commanding positions aboard our ships," she said.
"Not really 'children' because don't forget, you have to be thirteen to be allowed a position aboard our ships. Exceptions can be made for some of our younger prodigies, like Rena, who's been a member of our crew for four years," Kalshion said and stopped what he was doing. "You're worried about a temporal paradox aren't you?"
"I've read the reports sir, at most there are two or three nodes that are exactly alike in what's inside, but different events occur," Sasha said, "however, this node, the FHG-2873 is unique in that only one exists,"
Kalshion's eyes narrowed, he could sense the nervousness and fear in her tone. "Are you worried that an event will occur that'll cause a paradox? I wouldn't, it's hard for a temporal paradox to occur especially since there's no grounds for it in this dimension."
"How do you know?" Sasha asked now curious.
He shook his head and turned toward her. He placed his palm right side up, suddenly an image appeared in his palm. "FHG-2873 is in complete synchronization with the Matrix, meaning, that its not possible for a temporal paradox to occur because time travel is equally as impossible due to the synchronization," he said.
Sasha blinked. "Uhh.. ok…" she said. Sasha was only a first year college student and had only just started temporal mechanics at Dyhokan Academy's university. She hadn't yet learned how a temporal paradox works, or what causes them, in a way though she felt that Kalshion himself didn't truly understand. But merely was basing his facts off of experience.
"Approaching destination," the onboard computer said. Kalshion smiled and turned back toward the view screen, "let's see what we can find… " he said.
Author Notes: Information related to the story itself can be found in my profile, please look for 'Dyhokan Gakuen of Dragon Arts'.