Summery: This is a sequel to the video game Septerra Core, following up on the games cliffhanger ending. 30 years after the original game, a now much older led leads the children of the original heroes of Septerra Core to explore the new worlds revealed at the original ending.
It was a day that would be forever known on Septerra as 'The Day of Miracles.' When the world was on the verge of destruction, the Creator judged Septerra worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The shells of the world were brought together on the surface, new world appeared in the sky, and an angel of the creator informed the world that, these worlds have gone through a similar trial, and the creator had judged them worthy as well. And that one day, the people of Septerra would travel to those worlds, and would find the cultural exchange and new knowledge more valuable than mythical power or treasure.
Thirty years have passed since then.
Its finally time. Thought Led. She sat in a meeting room in the Ankaran capital, surrounded by representatives of every major power in Ankara. 30 years had been building up to this. She began to speak:
"Ever since the day of miracles. my husband Grubb and I have been working on fulfilling the promise of that day, of making travel to other worlds a reality. Ever since I was elected president of Ankara I've been pouring money into hiring engineers and researchers to make this happen, and we have done it. We have the technology to make the journey. And I want to bring representatives from every major power in Septerra to act as diplomats and explorers with me."
"Are you sure about this?" one of the people seated around the table, a man in his 30's wearing an outfit that was well made and probably expensive, but was also distinctly 'junker' in its design. "Can you really make it all the way to those other worlds?"
"Nothing is certain" Led responded. "We know we can reach those planets with probes, because we've done it. And the ship we created to make the journey should be more than capable of sustaining us for the few weeks it will take." She took a breath "and on another note: I think we should all introduce ourselves."
"Aw come on, you know me Led," the man responded, "even if it has been years since we've seen each other."
"I do, Tori, but not everyone here does."
"Alright, names Tori, mayor of Oasis"
Led giggled, "They elected you mayor? After all the crap you pulled"
"Hey," Tori said slightly indignantly, "It was my thinking that saved Oasis from economic depression. I'm not the same person from all those years ago. And I never would have expected you would get elected President of Ankara."
"Yea I guess we'll just have to leave it at that." Led said, not wanting to get into an argument now. She turned to a 30-something girl with red hair and a robotic arm "Why dont you introduce yourself."
"Names Ara." She said "Aryam sent me as a representative of New Jinam"
"So you're an ambassador from New Jinam?"asked Led
"I'm just a mercenary" Ara replied
"Dont tell me we're letting one of Big Boss's mercenary dogs on this mission with us!" The outburst came from a man in his late 20s on the other side of the table. His wore the grey-and purple outfit typical of The Chosen, one of a group of Marduk's followers who had traveled to what was then the top shell of Septerra, and developed some of the most advanced technology on the planet. And his facial tattoos marked him as a Chosen lord.
"Aryam hates that name you know. Besides who are you to talk? I know for a fact you Chosen have employed New Jinam mercs many times to settle disputes between your petty lords."
"I'll have you know I'm Maricus, Emperor of the Chosen. And I dont see why that 'mercenary nation' Aryam created deserves to be part of such a momentous occasion."
"Because," led interrupted "like it or not, New Jinam is a major power in Septerra. Plus, you are too young to remember, but it used to the pirates and bounty hunters were absolute terrors. It almost impossible to travel without risk of attack, and you visited the World Bazaar at your own risk. Aryam has given them a code, and reigned in their excesses."
"Exactly" Ara said, and then clearly trying to change the subject "Anyway who's the big blue freak?" Motioning towards a large, blue humanoid with an oval head, and no eyes standing in the corner.
"Not freak" he said "name's Badu of the Underlost"
"Badu?!" Led exclaimed "I havent seen you in so long! I'm glad to see you are learning our language"
"No," the Underlost replied "That Badu my father. Oldest son take father's name. That is Underlost way"
The Underlost lived on what had previously been the bottom shell of Septerra. As such they were adapted to live in a dark environment. They had no eyes and relied on sonar to see.
"Underlost huh?" Ara said "I knew a few guys who were hired to fight your kind"
"You are reason many Underlost hate outsiders." Badu said
"Hey, its just a job, done be mad because some assholes are willing to pay for bad behavior." Ara said "Besides, I never dealt with Underlost myself, just heard stories"
Badu looked like he was about to say something, but Led interrupted. "Look, if we're going to go on this mission, we're going to need to work together. So if this is gonna be a problem…"
"It won't" Ara said. Badu said nothing.
"So, what about you?" Led said to a blue-haired woman who couldnt be more than 18 or 19, and yet was wearing the uniform of one of Wind City's Holy Guard. "I assume you are coming as a representative of Wind City?"
"Yes, my name is Lorel"
"Lorel?!" Led said surprised "You're Maya and Corgan's daughter! I havent seen you since you were a baby. And now here you are all grown up and joined The Guard."
"Yes," Lorel said "I just joined. Everyone thinks I only got in because of my parents. And thats why I volunteered for this, to prove them wrong."
"You sound resentful of your parents" Led remarked
"Well, no" Lorel said, "Its not that. They were, are, great parents. Its just that...they are practically living legends. I feel like I could never measure up, like I'll always be living in their shadow"
"I know how that is" Ara said quietly.
"What?" Lorel said
"Nothing...its personal" said Ara
"Okay that just leaves...wasnt there supposed to be a representative of The Watchers."
"I am right here Led" a female voice emanated from a gold robotic body in the corner.
"Is that you Layla?" Led asked. Layla was the former commander of the Holy Guard. She had been killed fighting the Chosen, but the Watchers had resurrected her as one of them. Since then she had served as advisor to the government and people of Wind City, as well as an emissary between the watchers and the rest of Septerra.
"It is."
"What happened to your giant bird body?"
"I will be away from the Watchers for the first time since I died. So it was decided that I should have a body with greater mobility and armements."
"Alright," Led said, "now that we've all met, and know why were here, is everybody in?"
Everyone present mummered in agreement.
"Great," Led said, "theres just one more thing" She motioned towards the Jinam cyborg that had been standing next to her this whole time "This is Lobo. He's going to be the one in charge of piloting the ship."
"This mission may have been Led's idea," Lobo said, "but while you're on my ship, I'm the one in command"
"You'll all have 3 weeks to get your affairs in order," Led said, "thats when we launch."
Grub was down the in the workshop tinkering when Led got home. They lived in Ankara's presidential home, which had been rebuilt following the day of miracles, the Jinam war and subsequent pirate occupation had left most of the Ankaran Capital in ruins. And Led had insisted on adding a workshop for her and her husband to us on what little down time they got. Grub was working on his latest robot to help Ankaran farmers with their planting and harvest. Although, like led he was in his fifties, he still wore his hair in a mohawk. Whenever Led pointed this out to him, he pointed out that she continued to leave her hair long and flowing. Which was true, but at least she had gotten rid of the pony tail she wore when they first met. She also no longer wore the mechanic tank-top in public(although she still wore it in the workshop). She did still wear shorts, since her robotic legs tended to tear up long pants. But they were now generally slacks, instead of military camo.
"So, how did it go?" Grub asked "Do we have people on board to go with us?"
"It went well. You'll never believe who the representitive of Wind City is." Led said.
"Who?"
"Lorel."
"You mean Maya and Corgan's little girl?" Grub exclaimed, shocked.
"Yea. Believe it or not she now a member of the Holy Guard. Selina's son is representing the Chosen"
"Hasn't he been declared Emperor?"
"Yea I'm not certain if he's going to go himself, or send someone. He's got a lot of his father in him, and that worries me."
"Led, dont forget that Doskias wasnt the same man after the Day of Miracles. Its just his son seems so arrogant in that typical Chosen fashion."
"Led, the Chosen have looked down on those from the lower shells for thousands of years. Even something as big as The Day of Miracles wont change them overnight." Grub's expression turned serious, '"But I have to ask you something Led...are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"Grub, we've been working on this for thirty years," Led exclaimed. "I'm not about to give up the opportunity to make contact with the other planets now. This is literally what the Creator said we needed to do on that day"
"I dont mean about sending the ship, I mean...are you sure you have to go yourself? Lobo can represent Ankara just fine. You're not as young as you once were..."
"Are you kidding? This is the adventure of a lifetime! There is no way in hell I'm sitting it out. Besides, you know as well as I do that Lobo cant do a damn thing without me."
Grub laughed "Alright if you insist. But I want you to take Runner with you"
"Runner? You still have that old thing?"
"Hey Runner got us through some tough situations back in the day." Grub insisted. "Besides, I'v been tinkering with him periodically, I'v pretty much replaced every part of him, so you can really think of him as Runner 2.0. In fact..." Grub stepped to the side so Led could see the workbench he had been working on. On it sat a robotic dog "I was just installing a speech modual to him when you walked in. Speak Runner."
A mechanical voice rang out from the dog "I am Runner, at your service." It said.
Led Sighed, she didn't really think it would be necessary to bring Runner, but she also knew, and greatly appreciated that Grub was trying to take care of her. He really did care about her in his own way. "Alright, I'll take Runner with me." She said.
It was the day. They were ready to launch. It had been a long road to get here. Pretty much every aspect of hte ship had had to been figured out from the ground up. Grub had known almost from the beginning that they couldnt use organic, or even partly organic ships for this journey, as was standard throughout Septerra, as organic components couldnt survive outside of Septerra's atmosphere. The Watcher's had been especially helpful here, as they had the most experience building mechanical constructs. Although they woudnt share all their secrets, what they did share was enough to give Led, Grub, and the Ankaran scientists working for their rebuilt government the right direction for their constructs.
Getting the ship off the ground was another matter altogether. Although getting a ship to fly was easy, it had been done for centuries. They had to produce enough thrust to escape Septerra's gravity. It had been the discovery of material inside the core that could produce an explosive burn that solved this problem. Although it took a great many experiments to actually produce an engine that could make it workable. And on top of all that they had to have an energy source that didnt rely on Core Energy. As there wasnt any more than a few miles out into space. Fortunately, they did actually have methods of producing energy, mostly small fusion reactors and batteries, but they had to be scaled up to a level previously unheard of.
30 years of work had built up to this moment. They had sent helgak, and even humans into orbit around Septerra. They had sent probes to the nearest planet. And now they had built this. Led had dubbed it the Kyra, as she had been the one who created the stars. The ship had a small crew consisting mostly of former Jinam combat mechs. It was equipped with private chambers for the human and underlost passengers, training areas so they could work out and keep their skills sharp, and more than enough food and water to last them. They would be spending several weeks on board. And they wouldnt be the most comfortable weeks.
There had been a ceremony beforehand. Led and Grub, who would be acting Ankaran president while Led was gone, had given speeches. As had Maricus. The crowds were enormous, Led didn't think she'd ever seen this many people in one place, and they had come from all over Septerra to witness this historic event. I just hope its historic for the right reasons thought Led. Now everybody was strapped to chairs, ready for the massive levels of thrust they would experiencing in the initial take-off.
"We're ready go to on your command, Led" said Lobo
"Do it." said Led
And they did. Led heard a defining roar of the engines that drowned out everything else. And felt as if her chest was being crushed as they took off, into space.
Lorel walked into the practice room wearing her full Holy Guard uniform, as she had done every day for the past week they had been traveling. A lot of the other guardsmen back on Septerra mocked her for practicing in full uniform, but as far as she was concerned, it didnt make sense not to. After all, you arent going to get into a real world fight wearing a leotard, so it didnt make sense to practice in one. Besides, she wanted to be the best she could be, and that meant practicing in the toughest conditions.
The training room on the ship had several practice dummies available for use. Lorel found one, faced, drew her sword from its holster at her side, stood for a moment took a few deep breaths to clear her head so she could focus. Then swung her sword striking the dummy in its side. Then again, this time slashing downwards hitting the dummy in its shoulder. She practiced several more blows, and then heard a voice.
"You're pretty good." It was Maricus Loeri hadn't heard him come in. He was wearing a silver track suit and had his sword strapped to his back. "maybe you'd like a sparring partner?" He asked.
"Sure," Loeri replied, "if you think you can handle me"
Maricus laughed. "You should be more worried about yourself. I'll have you know my parents were two of the greatest swordsmen on Septerra."
"Oh really?" Loeri replied "Did you know that my father carries one of the swords of Marduk? He offered to me to bring on this journey."
"So did my mother," said Maricus "And why didn't you accept your fathers most generous offer?"
"I want people to recognize that my accomplishments are my own, and not merely because of who my parents were" Lorel said, "dont worry I will absolutely be taking up that sword, but only when I've earned it. Not one second before"
"I guess that makes sense," said Maricus. He pulled his sword off his back "Maybe we can see how close you are to being that good?"
"You're on" said Lorel. She swung at Maricus. He parried the blow, and struck back, with a low attack, almost hitting her ankles. She jumped back, barely managing to dodge out of the way. She attacked again, this time coming high. He blocked, but was knocked off balance. Lorel went to to follow up her last blow, but he somehow managed to recover enough to block it.
"You're technique is unusual" she said.
"Thats because you are used to doing things the way the Holy Guard taught you. The Chosen have an entirely different tradition and style."
He swung to the side, she rolled just under his blade, and slammed her elbow into his shin, Marcius collapsed to the floor. Lorel jumped up, went to drive her sword down, but he rolled out of the way. Somehow, Lorel wasnt entirely sure how, he ended up behind her. His sword was at the side of her head.
"I win" he said, "But you are very good." He placed his sword on his back again.
Lorel sheathed her own sword. "Trust me when I say this isnt the last time we'll be doing this." She said.
She walked over to the water fountain in the corner of the training room. Took a sip. Looked up and saw Maricus was still here. "So I'v been wanting to ask you something." She said.
"Go ahead" said Maricus, "I'm an open book, especially for someone as talented and pretty as you."
The unexpected compliment took Lorel off-guard, but it wasnt enough to overturn her curiosity. She asked "You're the Emperor of the Chosen right?"
"Yes."
"So why are you here?"
"I'm not sure I understand the question" said Maricus.
"You're the emperor, so couldnt you have just ordered someone else to go in your place?" Lorel asked.
"I suppose, I could have. But then again, Led is president of Ankara, she could have ordered someone else."
"I suppose" Lorel said
"But I also think you misunderstand how The Chosen operate."
"How do you mean?" Asked Lorel. Now even more intrigued. She's assumed Emperor meant absolute power.
"For the most part, it is the various Chosen lords who are rulers over the domains they control. They make the laws, command the armies, collect the taxes, and dispense justice. Outside of a small corps of personal guards, the Emperor commands no troops. And he has effectively no power outside of the Chosen Capital. The emperor can call the lords to Conclave to decide on matters that affect the entirety of the Chosen people. But it is the lords who make the decision of the Conclave. The Emperor only votes in the event of a tie. And we try to mediate when disputes between Lords. But when the mediation doesnt work...well you should ask Ara. She's taken part in enough of their petty conflicts."
"That sounds terrible" Lorel said
"Its not so bad," said Maricus I mean such fights are taking place constantly, but often enough. And a lot of emperors can maintain peace by making allies of particularly strong nobels. But I'm not a very popular Emperor."
"Why not?" Asked Lorel
"It goes back to my parents. After The Day of Miracles, the Emperor and his only legitimate heir were dead. In such a circumstance, its up the Nobel Conclave to decide who becomes the new Emperor. My father, Doskais, was almost unanimously chosen. He was extremely popular at the time, but he wanted to make changes. To reign in some of the excesses and fighting among the nobility. And to give the emperor greater power and more armies to accomplish such a thing. The nobles didnt like that. He was slandered, People called him a tyrant, trying to overturn thousands of years of Chosen tradition."
"Are you sure he wasnt?" Lorel asked "I mean , he was your father, maybe you're just seeing things through rose-colored glasses."
"I dont think so. My father wasnt perfect, but after the day of miracles, he genuinely wanted to help Septerra. Besides the nobelity are genuinely corrupt and need to be taken down a few pegs. I dont expect that someone who grew up in Wind City would understand. You havent had nobelity in a long time is that correct?
" Not an official Nobility, no. But many, including my mother would say that the politicians that make up Wind City's parliament are effectively a noble class. Although they dont make a habit of deploying armies to settle disputes."
"At least not as openly as The Chosen do." Maricus said.
"So thats it then? You're here because you cant get anybody else to."
"Hardly." Replied Maricus. "Theres plenty of nobles who would have been happy to make this journey. Or more likely order someone else to. But that would just be a way for them to take credit for introducing us to these other planets. And any chance of making real change will go out the window."
"So, this is for political capital then?"
"Well, mostly," said Maricus "But also the opportunity to explore new worlds, new civilizations. Who woldnt want that?"
"Yea thats true " Lorel said. "So what do you say we practice again tommorow?"
"I wouldnt miss it."