Act One Part One: Blood of Flowers
Hickory Vale stood in the field of knee high daisies with the sun blissfully warming his face. He smiled as the daisies rustled in the wind. Their gentleness reminded him of a simpler time when man and beast lived side by side across the universe, when existence was as easy as inhaling. His sword tainted in the indigo blood of a fallen Slagmite beast which laid face down in the field with its entrails spilled everywhere, fertilizing the drenched flowers which lay underneath. Slain in battle, returned to the dust in which it came.
Hickory sheathed his sword as he watched the sun hide behind the gathering storm clouds. Walking into the tree line, the forest fruit glowed as he picked it from the branches. A simple task to survive the harsh landscape of Kronos, the abandoned planet left to be forgotten by time. Hickory was intelligent; he studied the books available in the libraries left behind by the colonizers. Shells of cities littered the planet, lifeless and still.
Hickory was left abandoned due to the terraforming process of the planet, turning the planet into a uranium rich planet to harvest, making Centillions (10^303) for mining corporations in the process. Ecological peace terrorists named 'Hive Mind' installed a virus called 'Lost Eden' on the terraformer system, turning the planet into a hellhole. Mutants swarmed Kronos killing millions of people. Escape pods jetted off in millions of directions to nearby planets, some incinerated in the stars and some lost to the deepest depths of endless space.
Hickory with glow fruit in his arms walked the forest floor passing colossal trees with wooden tentacles and red leafs, shrubberies with razor sharp bristles that darted into the air killing prey when it mistaking came to close, cactus-like plants filled with acid ready to burst when pierced. Hickory's house was an abandoned park ranger radio station deep within the woods. The station had a radio tower reaching high above the tree tops constantly sending a signal out for survivors. The station was bright red with a white stripe and the windows had a titanium protective shield covering them from the horrors of Kronos. The titanium door was thick and heavy but inside was cosy and relaxing. The skulls of mutants were hung around the outside and the foetuses of female mutants were floating in fish tanks within. The scent of the foetus scared away the mother mutants.
Before Hickory claimed the station it was home to three murderous bandits with a reputation written in blood of others, they hung the corpses of captured victims on the roof with the skin nailed to nearby trees. Disgusted by their crimes against humanity Hickory tracked them for days before killing them one by one. The first raider sat by a local stream with his feet in the water and his weapon hanging from a nearby tree branch, relaxing, escaping the living nightmare. Hickory fired an arrow through his left ear exiting the right like one of those comedic props from the start of humanity. Hickory dragged the body back crucifying it from a tree in front of the station.
The second fell into one of Hickory's modified bear traps cutting his shin off, slowly bleeding to death, screaming for help before being half devoured by a Slagmite pup. The final one was taunted for days as a new piece of the second raiders body was left at the door before finally killing herself from the madness and terror Hickory bestowed upon her.
Hickory opened the door; the warm air blasted him in the face as he entered. The heater was on full capacity. Putting the glow fruit on the bench Hickory sat down on his recliner he stole from a theatre in the town of Lincoln, leaning back and relaxing he thought of the old days where people were busy and everyone was working until gradually falling asleep with a stomach full of Glow fruit a. Hickory always had the same re-occurring nightmare, standing on the top of the station, with the barrel of a gun filling the mouth.
Hickory awoke with his brow sweaty and heart beating wildly out of control several hours later to the noise of some type of jet or engine burning away; jumping up Hickory ran to the make ship kitchen made from spare parts of a train engine. Opening the pantry made from a military ammunitions crate, Hickory pulled out a chest, inside was a fully loaded hunting rifle. Placing the strap around his shoulder Hickory opened the heavy titanium door with ease and ran outside bare footed. A single red metal flying robot buzzed around the station filming Hickory's every move. "What are you?" Hickory asked himself aiming his rifle.
The camera bot stopped and zipped its way down to Hickory. The lens was at eye level with Hickory, staring into his soul and mind. A recite printed from a small slit in the robot, ripping it off it read "You are a Sentry, Guardian of the people, and protector of man. Follow the great mystery and survive not for yourself but for the rebirth of a planet".
The camera bot dropped a small package on the ground; crouching down Hickory examined the package in his hand. Ripping the rainbow wrapping paper off revealed a gun modification kit. Opening the box revealed a small metallic instrument that heated the bullet so anything shot would light on fire with the flick of a switch. "Where should I go?" Hickory asked the camera bot seriously. The robot started to print another recite saying "Liberator of the slaves".