Now that the prologue's done and over with, time to start this fanfic for good!
And if you're reading this, Gengar114, I thank you for giving me the idea of writing this story. Your creating skills are beyond awesome.
Let us continue!
-.-.-.-.-.
It was an ordinary day of exploration. I was flying my favorite cruiser, remembering past adventures.
The day I had fought the Camillan Freek shot through my head. The memory was so vivid I could hear the slicing swipe of my Lightning Sword through the air, the sizzle of burnt flesh, and the blood-curdling roar echoing through the thick Camillan atmosphere. I remembered that victory well, even though it had happened years ago.
However, that was all I had to dwell on... memories. I hadn't had action in weeks, and I was getting very bored indeed. Although I had explored several planets, and seen many aliens I had only seen in books until then, I wanted a grand adventure. I had had several throughout my life. But now, the greatest adventure I had recently was putting a Grennor chick back in its nest.
I flew low over a civilized planet. A warship flew from the planet to greet me. "What is your purpose, stranger?" The low voice crackled through my monitor. I responded, "Just looking for a refuel and a meal." The alien ship signaled for me to follow it. I obliged and plunged through the atmosphere. The ship led me to a refueling station. While my ship rested, I entered the nearby building for a light meal.
When I finished, I started up my cruiser and shot back into space. Sighing heavily, I put my ship on autopilot and headed for my sleeping quarters.
-.-.-.-.-.
I awoke at 3 o'clock in the morning . An urgent beeping was emanating from the control room. Sleepily, I walked to the controls and suddenly, I was wide awake. Flashing across the transmission screen were the words DISTRESS CALL: URGENT. I allowed myself a moment of questioning before deciding that every second that passed could be life or death for the person calling for help. I pressed the "Receive Transmission" button. The transmission was full of static, but the image I got looked like a large clock tower. Finally, the static cleared just enough so that I could hear the speaker.
"Please! If anyone is there, please help! Our planet is being attacked by the Daemonia! They're terrorizing the people, and if they continue, they will destroy the village! Here are the coordinates to our planet. Please hurry and..." Suddenly the line went dead.
I slumped in my seat, stunned. The coordinates to this planet were on the screen now. I wrote them down, then set my course to Bybekhara... my home planet.
I needed supplies quickly. My Plasma Pulser was broken and my health regenerators were low on power. I decided that there was no point going to help when I was unprepared. But the words of the mysterious speaker echoed in my mind. This was certainly a crisis. I thought it was best to hurry on to Bybekhara and get my supplies before this situation got any worse.
-.-.-.-.-.
"You're leaving?" asked my sister, Keerast. It was to be her hatchday tomorrow, and I had promised to be there. However, this urgent mission was more important, so I tried to explain this to her.
"It's not that I want to leave," I assured her. "I have to. There are people that need my help right now. I can't wait until after the party... They'll be dead by morning if I don't leave now."
We loaded the final box of supplies onto my ship. Keerast turned to me, net-mouth open so I could see her face. Her eyes started to water as she said, "Please be careful, Squalkus. I'd rather you arrive late than dead."
I looked away and attached my energy boosters to my Plasma Pulser. "Don't worry, Keerast. Whomever these Daemonia are, they're going to wish I'd never arrived."
My sister smiled slightly, then shook my hand goodbye. I entered into my cruiser and started the engine. As my ship blasted into the outer atmosphere, I caught a glimpse of Keerast waving. I turned back to the controls, smiling to myself. I swore that this would not be the last time I saw her.
-.-.-.-.-.
Three hours later, I needed a refuel. I could not believe that I had forgotten to refuel on Bybekhara. I checked my star map and found a civilized system only 2 parsecs away. I reached the planet and entered the atmosphere just as my ship ran out of fuel. I plunged toward an alien city, wind racing by.
"Mayday! Mayday!" I screamed into my monitor. A familiar voice answered, "We're on our way, Captain." About 2 seconds before I hit the ground, a clawship arrived and snatched me in its magnetic claw. I let out the breath I never knew I was holding.
The clawship dropped me off at a landing platform. A familiar face was waiting to greet me. He was purple-skinned, with long birdlike legs that ended in fearsome talons. Two arms with wickedly sharp claws were outstretched in greeting. His head was covered with helmet-like armor, obscuring his eyes. His toothed maw seemed stuck in a permanent, evil grin, but there was nothing evil in this alien's personality.
"Megualops!" I called his name in greeting. "I haven't seen you since we trained together at the Captain Academy!" His grin grew even broader and his tiny eyes twinkled under his head armor.
"So what brings you plunging into our atmosphere like a Skoracc with a broken wing?" he asked. "Refuel," I said simply. "But I need to hurry." I told Megualops about the mysterious transmission.
"Hmm," he said. "I recall hearing something about the Daemonia a while back. I once met a Captain at a bar who said to me, 'Something's brewing on a distant planet. The Daemonia have awoken.' He told me nothing about them except that there were seven of them."
I considered this for a moment. Seven Daemonia... if they attacked all at once, I'd have little to no hope of victory. But if Megualops came with me, I could at least improve the odds a bit. So I asked. Megualops accepted the offer enthusiastically.
So, after my ship was done refueling, we started to travel to this mysterious planet. I replayed the transmission and listened. Then I replayed it again and studied the image displayed; an old clock tower surrounded by unlit torches.
The speaker's words repeated endlessly in my brain. Every time they repeated, new questions sprang up. "You okay?" asked Megualops, returning to the control room from his washroom break. "You've been awfully quiet ever since we lifted off."
I turned in my seat and said, "No, everything's fine. I'm just... lost in thought." I wasn't lying... at least, not on the "lost in thought" part. In truth, I was growing increasingly worried. One question after another pounded through my mind. Who sent the distress call? Why did they sound so urgent? And who... or what... were the Daemonia? Somehow, I got the impression that our lives depended on finding out...
-.-.-.-.-.
We arrived at the planet 10 o'clock in the morning. Megualops took one look at it through the viewport and shuddered. "I don't like the looks of that place. It looks so... I don't know, evil. No wonder these Daemonia decided to terrorize this planet. Seems like the perfect place for them."
I joined him at the viewport. He was right. Everything about this planet rattled my nerves. Heavy clouds all but covered the planet, leaving only a few spots where we could see through. Looking through these spots, we saw mountains and valleys that looked as inviting as the thought of being trapped in a black hole. Dark brown and green grass covered the rest of the planet, giving it the impression of being home to nasty forest creatures. The star it was orbiting was small and dim.
"It looks like a terrible place," I said quietly. "Nothing but plants, insects... and Daemonia." In all my life, I had never seen a planet this creepy. I'd seen desert and forest worlds, ocean and volcanic worlds, and planets with a combination of these features. But for the first time, I was seeing a planet that made my heart beat faster.
Megualops turned to me, looking grim despite his permanent smile. "We have to go down. I know we're both scared. I know we're going to beam down onto a planet that looks like the definition of hell. But we've faced our fears before! There are people down there that need our help! It's time to step up to the task despite our fears. That is truly what being a Captain is about!"
I blinked in awe. He was right. Megualops had the uncanny ability to motivate even the laziest creature. Using his words alone, he could inspire anyone. Not only that, he was a high-ranking Captain. He was Rank 9, and compared to my lousy Rank 4, he was practically a god. His rank, his words, and his aura of leadership made Megualops the best Captain in his sector.
"Alright," I finally said. "Let's face our fears together. Let's show those Daemonia how to run for their lives." However brave I sounded, inwardly I was still trembling with fear. My crest tingled, sensing extreme evil on the planet below. Of course, Megualops sensed my fear, being the high-ranking leader he was. For a moment, he shivered with his own fear. Then he got a hold on himself and gathered his courage.
"Come on, Squalkus," he encouraged me. "Those Daemonia will be the terrified ones within 10 minutes." I grinned and punched him on the shoulder. Then we stepped into the teleportation chamber and beamed down to the planet.
-.-.-.-.-.
We landed on a small mountain. The top was flat, with cracked earth making up the soil. Looking around, I saw a forest in the distance. Making up that distance was barren land.
"Looks even worse down here than up there," Megualops commented. I had to agree. "We have to find the village the speaker talked about," I told him. "If we don't, the Daemonia will demolish it and kill the citizens." Megualops shivered from the wind. "Or enslave them," he said. We started down the barren mountain.
Some time later we were walking across the dry plain. The only plants we saw were shriveled weeds. The silence kept as we walked on. No birds sang. No frogs croaked. The few insects we saw chirped constantly, but it wasn't as relaxing as listening to the Bybekharan crickets chirp on summer evenings. The only sounds besides the insects were the howling wind and the sound of our footsteps. Suddenly, another sound rang out - a long, high wail that made our blood freeze.
Then we saw them. A pack of creatures perched atop the mountains, silhouetted against the rising moon. Then, the creatures started to make their way down. When they reached the bottom, we saw they were raptor-like creatures with wicked claws and two rows of spines down their backs. There were five, all with two heads. They closed in rapidly, jaws snapping, feet pounding as they ran.
"Who wants to bet we're on the menu?" I asked as I readied my Lightning Sword. Metal claws extended from the plates on Megualops' wrists as he replied, "We might be, but that doesn't mean they want to order." As his blades crackled with energy, he grinned and finished, "Or, if they do, we'll make them change their minds."
As the first one headed for me, I took a mighty swipe and it went flying. The blow didn't do as much damage as I thought, but luckily the electricity infused in the blade did extra damage as it limped off.
Megualops did much better. Already two of the hunters were dead, slain by his energized metal claws. But eight more came from over the mountains and joined the two remaining creatures. "Now would be a good time to leave," I said, taking to the air with strong wingbeats. Megualops streaked off across the land below me, firing at the creatures behind him with his upgraded Plasma Pulser. One was hit and fell, but the others kept running, unfazed.
Then one of the creatures spat a stream of fire straight at me. Taken completely by surprise by this new attack, my wings caught fire and I plummeted, just like last time. I hit the ground like a meteor, stunned and hurt badly. The hunters closed in and I braced myself for the attack.
It didn't happen. Megualops unclipped a Missile Flinger from his energy shield and opened fire. A massive explosion shook the plain and bits of earth flew everywhere. When the smoke cleared, I saw the creatures running away with their tails between their legs (metaphorically speaking).
Megualops helped me up and said. "We've arrived." I looked behind me and saw a wall of dead trees. We had arrived at the forest we had seen from our landing site.
-.-.-.-.-.
OK, the story so far has been almost entirely of my creation (with the exception of the distress call). Next chapter, we'll get to the actual Adventure that inspired me to make this fanfic.
TRIVIA: Megualops as he appears in the novel - /sporepedia#qry=usr-cottonmouth25%7C500513548056%3Asast-5007917217 75%3Apg-80 (Add www. spore. com in front and you should be good.)