GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING CHILDREN!
"Oh my gosh, SuperGen is still alive?!"
…is probably what you're thinking right? Well I apologize for dipping under the radar for so long, but I've been working on my book for a while because I've finally gotten some inspiration for it. There's also the other BS like college, work, YouTube, acting, sickness, and other stuff.
And then one day I was shifting through my computer's files when I found my folder for Halo 4:ARiT and was all like: "OH SNAP! IT'S BEEN THREE MONTHS! MY FANS ARE GOING TO LYNCH ME!"
So, fearing for my life, I resumed work on Halo 4: ARiT on the 27th of January. Which is actually the day that I'm writing this very sentence, so I guarantee you this won't be up until next month. If it is, then I'll impress myself.
And HOLY F***** A** CRACKERS, can you believe it's been two years since I started this story? I guess I should have finished it by now huh? (=3) Oh well. Like I've said before, I won't stop until it's done!
Oh, and before I let you go, keep reading after this chapter is over to get a sneak peek at the book I'm writing! Just FYI, the story is copy written and I have a potential publisher already on board, so if you like the sample enough you should be able to buy a full copy by the end of the year!
Anywhozees, I guess I'll let you get to the story then!
A slip space rupture silently tears open in the void of space as a hardlight bubble shield passes through. Jim, Lauren, Alexei, and Michael float in the center of the bubble and look around as the slip space rupture closes behind them. Alexei floats upside down and tries to get realigned.
"Umm… things are weird." He says, holding in the lunch he ate prior to this whole ordeal.
Cortana's data chip is placed on inside of the bubble as they float through space. Lucky for the fragile humans, she was able to shape-shift her promethean body into a bubble to protect them from the vacuum of space.
"So… are we in the future now?" Michael asks, curious as to if he would technically be the world's first space marine.
"No, it's still 2015." Cortana explains. "The only difference being that we're now thousands of light years away from Earth."
Jim looks down below them and is shocked at what he sees. "Hey guys? You might want to look down."
"Whoa." Everyone says in stereo as they stare at the massive, octopus-like, glowing arms of The Ark. They float in silence as they're taken aback by the structure's sheer size and beauty.
"That thing is huge." Lauren says in awe. "Someone actually built that?"
"Crazy right?" Jim asks. "Just think about it, we are the first humans to travel past the moon!"
"Umm… we may have a problem." Cortana says nervously.
"That's not a very good thing to say when we're floating in space, Cortana." Alexei replies, worried. "What's wrong?"
"We are currently floating freely in space towards the Ark." Cortana explains. "But when we hit the Ark's gravity, we're going to be pulled in at a rate of 900 miles per hour and I don't have a way to slow us down."
"If we hit the ground at that speed, we'll be crushed." Michael says, concerned.
"Well… wait a minute." Laruen starts. "Cortana, what if you could shape this bubble into something like a massive slide?"
"There are several problems with that." Cortana replies. "I would have to do so after we entered the Ark's atmosphere so that you guys don't suffocate. But by the time I could safely release the bubble, I wouldn't be able to form a structure large or fast enough."
"How about a glider then?" Jim asks. "Could you form something like a glider?"
Cortana is silent for a moment while she calculates all of the variables. "Well… it is possible… but we would still be heading for the ground at 134 miles per hour."
"So in other words… this is going to hurt?" Jim asks sarcastically.
"Most likely, yes." Cortana replies.
"Alright, fuck it." Alexei cracks his neck and knuckles. "If that big Master Chief guy can do it, then we can too right?"
"Well… technically we won't be doing like he did, since we'd be floating towards the ground-" Jim starts, but is interrupted by Alexei.
"I wasn't talking about… I mean… Just shut up." Alexei groans.
Suddenly, the bubble shakes and everyone inside feels the pull of the Ark's gravity.
"Alright guys, here we go." Cortana says as she shifts the hardlight into the shape of a Pelican.
The Hardlight Pelican enters the Ark's atmosphere and starts streaking across the sky. Unfortunately for the group, there are no seats or seatbelts for them to buckle into, so they are pushed up against the back of the Hardlight Pelican.
"Hey Cortana, how about something a little more practical then this?!" Michael says, struggling against the G-Forces.
"Oh God no… not this…" Alexei says, holding his stomach.
"Are we ever going to learn why you hate flying so much?" Lauren looks at Alexei and asks.
"Not if you're lucky!" Alexei says.
"Guys, now's not the time!" Jim shouts as Cortana directs the hardlight Pelican past a swarm of Sentinels.
"Time to impact is one minute and fifteen seconds!" Cortana says, calculating air resistance, descending speed, and distance to the surface.
Suddenly, there is a flash of orange light in front of the Hardlight Pelican that blinded the group.
"What the hell?!" Jim asks, shielding his eyes.
"This can't be possible!" Cortana comments, scanning the mysterious light before them. Upon closer inspection, the orange light appears to be that of a tear in space, but something is off about it. "It's some kind of slip space rupture!"
"But that one is orange!" Alexei observes. "What does that mean?"
A massive Covenant cruiser emerges from the mysterious slip space rupture, right in the flight path of Cortana's Hardlight Pelican.
"What the fuck is that thing?!" Michael asks in surprise.
"Oh shit, Everybody hang on!" Cortana yells.
"To what exactly?!" Alexei asks, right before Cortana aims the nose of the Hardlight Pelican straight down. The group yells in surprise and Cortana just barley manages to miss the side of the Cruiser. Once they are underneath the cruiser, Cortana levels the Hardlight Pelican to slow its descent.
"The Covenant?!" Jim asks Cortana. "I thought you said the Covenant wouldn't know about this place for another few hundred years! How the fuck did they get here?!"
"I don't know!" Cortana admits. "But that Cruiser is one of the decommissioned models that the Chief and I encountered back on Requiem-"
"How is… the Ark... are we?" Cortana picks up a jumbled radio transmission from the ship, and she knows that voice all too well. "…bad… Halo's active…"
"John?" Cortana asks out loud, her processes slow to a stop as she hangs on the barely audible transmission.
"'John'?" Jim asks. "What about him?"
"John's there!" Cortana shouts in joy, her processes now ablaze with activity. If she had real eyes, they would be flowing with tears. "I don't know how, but he's up there!" Cortana tries to tune her radio frequency to match Master Chief's helmet frequency. "John! Can you hear me?! It's Cortana!"
"Cortana, we have other problems right now!" Lauren shouts. The ground was getting awfully close, awfully fast. "You have to slow us down!"
"I can't!" Cortana says. "If I try to shift now, the hardlight won't take the impact!"
"Shit!" Michael shouts.
"Brace for impact!" Cortana yells. Everyone holds on to each other as the Hardlight Pelican grazes overtop of a cliff before eventually smashing into a wide open field. Dirt explodes into the air, covering the impact site with a dust cloud.
After a while of silence, Jim awakens at the bottom of a crater and looks around. "Is everyone alright?" He asks.
Jim goes over to Lauren and helps her up. "Yeah, I'm fine." Laruen holds her head in pain.
Alexei jumps up and pats the ground. "Finally… some solid ground."
Michael is already at the top of the crater looking up at the massive cruiser in the sky. "That thing is massive." He comments. "Is that really what ships in the future look like?"
Jim starts looking around, but doesn't see any hardlight or data chip lying around. "Cortana?" He calls. "Cortana, where are you?"
"I'm over here!" Cortana replies as she climbs out of a lose pile of dirt. "I had to reboot my systems, but I'm fine."
"Alright, now that everyone's fine I'm going to address the elephant in the room." Michael looks down at everyone from the top of the crater. "Just how are we supposed to pull this off with that looming over our heads?" Michael points up to the Covenant Cruiser.
Cortana stands up and looks over at Michael. "Usually I would say that we are out manned, and hopelessly, laughably, outgunned without a chance of survival." Cortana climbs up the crater and looks up at the Cruiser, smiling. "But our best chance at getting me to the future, and getting you guys back home, is right up there on board that ship."
"Are you able to contact the Chief from here?" Jim asks.
Cortana tries to sync her radio frequency with the Master Chief's, but her scanners detect that she is out of range. "Damn! We're out of range." Cortana's fists tighten, and Michael puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll find a way." Michael smiles confidently at her. "I mean we teleported half-way across the galaxy for God's sake, so finding a way to contact your man shouldn't be too hard right?"
Cortana smiles at Michael. "Yeah, you're right."
"Well you're the leader of this group Cortana." Jim says, while helping Lauren up the crater. "So what's the plan?"
Alexei climbs up the crater as well and looks around. "Well since her radio is out of range, shouldn't we find something to boost her signal?" Everyone looks at Alexei with a raised eyebrow. "What? Oh I can't be smart just because I'm an assassin right?"
"You said that, not us." Jim joked.
"Why I aughta-"
"Guys, knock it off." Cortana interrupts Alexei. "I have a plan."
"Oh yeah? I knew you'd find a way." Lauren smiles.
Cortana points to an area beneath the Covenant Cruiser, where a large tower stands high. "That building is an array that connects all of the Sentinels to the central network." She explains. "If I can jack into that network, I should be able to contact John via his helmet radio."
"Alright people! You heard the lady!" Jim says, excited. "Let's get this party started!"
Oh my! That was quite epic wasn't it? And I know that this chapter isn't very long so in order to compensate, I'm going to give you guys a sample of my book that should hit the shelves by the end of the year! (If everything goes as planned.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy the sample! Tell me what you think!
Oh and by the way, yes, the Character in the book is also called Jim Radkey. While they are not the same person, they share the same name. I have long since forgotten the reason to this, but I thought I would let you know so that you're not confused.
Shooting Star Chronicles (Working Title)
Chapter 7
"Alright, goodnight Jim." My Mom said as she hugged me in front of my bedroom door. "I love you."
"I love you too Mom." I said, hugging her back. What? Don't look at me like that! Yeah I'm a momma's boy, what of it? I'll say it loud and proud!
My Mom is actually pretty tall for a female, standing at five foot ten. It's funny; when I was little I used to think she was the tallest person on the planet. She has fiery red hair (and the attitude to go along with it), blue eyes, and I swear that she has a lie detector installed in her brain or something. I'd never really been able to lie to my mom, so I usually didn't bother trying.
My Mom walked back towards her bedroom just as I shut the door behind me. The room I had wasn't very big, but it was enough for what I needed. The bed laid right underneath the only window in the room, and there was a small computer desk in the corner that I would never use.
The closet was on the other side of the room, and it was actually a pretty good sized closet. It had two sliding doors that could each be opened separately to access any half of the closet, but I kept my stuff in a large suitcase and didn't bother hanging them up.
I turned off the light in the room, took off my shirt, and laid down in the bed. I took out my phone and started playing a game of chess against the program's computer. While I was playing the game, I noticed a strange blue light glowing through my window. I put my phone in my pocket and looked out of the window, only to fall off of my bed in surprise at seeing the strange blue woman looking at me through the glass. I got back up immediately and opened the window so I could speak with her.
"Who the hell are you?" I whispered. "Why are you following me?" Without saying a word to me the woman floated, emphases on FLOATED, away from me and out into the woods. "Wait!" I whispered. "Hang on!"
I quickly got out of bed, put my shirt and jacket on, and grabbed a flashlight before quietly making my way out of the cabin. I looked around for a few seconds and it didn't take long for me to find her glowing blue body floating in the distance.
Oh, and don't even get me started on the whole floating thing. My brain had already exploded trying to think about just how many laws of physics I had already witnessed getting broken, so I just figured "eh, whatever" and started following her through the woods.
It was pretty cold outside at this time, probably around twenty degrees Fahrenheit, but it didn't really bother me since I love the cold anyway. As I started catching up to the woman in blue, I realized that we were heading towards the waterfall from earlier that day.
What is so important about that waterfall?
Eventually, just as I suspected, we reached the waterfall and the woman in blue seemed to wait for me by the base of the cliff. When I got closer, she fazed through the waterfall and disappeared behind it.
"Are you serious?" I asked. "I can't ghost my way through stuff!" I waited for a few seconds for a response, but didn't hear nada. "Alright, fine. Thanks for wasting my time." I said, throwing my arms up in the air. "I'm going back-"
I turned around to start heading back and jumped in my skin when the woman in blue appeared right in front of me. She grabbed my right hand and I immediately felt a strong burning sensation on the back of my hand. The pain was so intense that it brought me to my knees as I screamed. I heard a sound coming from my hand that I can only describe as throwing a frozen burger on a piping hot grill. After a few more seconds of this, the woman in blue let go of my hand (which felt like a freshly baked Ego Waffle) and stood there staring at me. I griped my hand in pain and looked at her.
"What the hell?!" I asked, just a tad bit pissed. "What did you just do to me?"
She showed me the back of her right hand and pointed to it. At first I didn't get it, but when I looked down at my hand I noticed that some kind of mark had been etched into my skin. Not like a burn mark, but more of a black tattoo. The frame of the symbol was circular in shape, with the rest of the design contained within the circle. Tiny symbols were placed along the inside, similar to how numbers are placed on a clock. Encasing these symbols were these Celtic-like designs that formed a kind of web within it.
Whatever it was, it really hurt and I was kind of worried about how Mom would react if she saw me with this.
"What?" I asked in disbelief. "How did you do that?" I stood up and looked at the woman in blue. "Is this some kind of a joke?"
The woman got right up next to my ear, and I was so taken off guard that I couldn't move at all. "Follow the light." She whispered. She looked me right in the eyes, and then vanished into thin air as if she evaporated.
"Oh come on!" I yelled, looking around. "Can you be any more vague with your directions?" I asked, wondering just what light I was supposed to follow.
Almost as if on cue the back of my hand started to throb, and when I looked down at it I saw that the bottom quarter of the circle was pulsating a blue light.
Follow the light? A compass?
I turned around to look back at the waterfall and sure enough the mark was acting as a compass, pointing me towards the waterfall.
I held my hand up to the waterfall, and the entire mark lit up. To my… extreme surprise… the waterfall started slowing to a stop until eventually the water was suspended in the air.
"Well… wasn't expecting that…" I said, raising an eyebrow. Just then, a path of stone rose from the pond in front of me just as the… I guess it would be a "water curtain" now… spread apart from the middle, revealing a cave I hadn't noticed before.
Hmm... let's see… the law of gravity, something moving without another force acting upon it, disappearing into nothing… that's three more laws of physics that have been broken and it wasn't even breakfast.
I felt that pulsating feeling again, and noticed that the mark on my hand was pointing towards the cave in front of me. I started walking on the stone path towards the cave and peered in when I reached it.
"This is stupid… this is so stupid." I said to myself, shaking my head. I took the flashlight out of my pocket and turned it on. "What the hell are you doing Jim?" I asked myself, starting to walk into the cave. "Oh, I'm walking into a dark, dirty ass cave in the middle of the night. You know, the usual." I started replying to myself. "What a brilliant idea Jim! This is a great way to get yourself killed!"
Suddenly, I slipped on the damp stone surface and fell flat on the cave floor. "AH! Son-of-a… mother… OW!" I held the back of my head in pain as I squirmed on the ground. Yeah… not really the proudest moment of my life.
After a few… manly moments on the ground, I eventually got back on my feet and kept going deeper into the cave. Accept this time I was sure to watch my footing.
A few minutes passed as I walked down that dark cave until I eventually reached what looked like two massive stone doors.
"Whoa." I said in amazement. The stone door on the right was cracked open, but I couldn't make out anything on the inside. Both doors appeared to have some kind of design on them that I couldn't make out. Shining my light around the area, I found what appeared to be a wooden lever on the wall next to the stone doors. I went to it and tried to pull it down, but the wood had since long rotted out and it broke apart.
"Damn." I said to myself. Looking at the door that was ajar, I went over to it and tried to pull it open. After a few good jerks it only opened about an inch more. "Come on… move!" I put the flashlight on the ground, set my foot up on the other door, and pulled as hard as I could.
The mark on my hand lit up again, and I suddenly felt a tingle go down my spine as I started pulling the door open as if it was nothing. I accidentally flung the door open and it slammed into the cave wall. " Woo! Oh yeah baby! I think I'm going to love this thing!" I said looking at the mark.
I picked up the flashlight and walked through the newly opened doorway. However, when I shined my light around the area, it didn't light anything up. Shining my light on the ground, however, revealed a large stone staircase going down to god knows where.
Damn it's dark in here.
In any case, I proceeded to walk down the stairs and noticed that my footsteps echoed in the darkness. Continuing down, I eventually noticed another light at the bottom that resembled a flashlight.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked, my voice echoing several times before ceasing. I kept going down the staircase towards the light until I eventually reached the bottom and was level with the other light.
Looking closer at the light, I noticed the outline of a person behind it. "Who's there?" I asked, carefully making my way closer to the figure. But as I got closer, I noticed something odd about the figure. I don't know how to explain it, but it just didn't… move right.
Eventually, I came to the source of the light only to discover that it was coming from a big mirror. "Wow… I wonder how long this has been here." I thought out loud. The mirror had to be about ten feet high and five feet wide with a gold frame outlining the shape of an arched window. The frame itself actually looked like a tree trunk if it had grown in a spiral motion as it moved through the arch.
Alright, alright, I know what you're thinking. "Jim, weren't you peeing your pants in that cave?" No actually, I wasn't. For whatever reason I felt calm and collected, almost as if I had been through that cave a thousand times before and had no reason to be scared of it.
Although I will admit that I was a little… what's a good word… in awe at just how dark it was in that cave. My eyes hadn't been able to adjust for some reason, and the only thing I could see was the mirror and the smooth stone which I stood on.
Speaking of, I shined my light on the ground and noticed a massive symbol of some kind around me. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the symbol was, in fact, the same symbol as the one on the back of my hand.
"What does this even mean?" I asked myself. Yeah, I do that a lot when I'm alone. Don't act like you don't either!
I knelt down and rubbed the symbol on the ground, when the symbol on the back of my hand lit up again. "What the…" Suddenly, the lines etched into the ground started to light up in a bright blue color and I stood up in surprise.
Uh oh… did I just make an oopsy?
I looked up into the air, and it's just then that I noticed the sheer size of the room I had stumbled across. The ceiling above me had to be at least 150 yards across, and the entire thing was lit up to look like the clear night sky.
Rings of fire rose up around the symbol that I was standing in, and I would say that at that moment, that's where I started… not being calm and collected.
Come on, give a break! If you want elegant writing go to Shakespeare or something.
The small circle in the center of where I was standing started to rise up out of the ground, forming a pedestal in front of the mirror. The top of the pedestal opened up, revealing what looked like the imprint of a hand in the stone. I looked at my hand and then looked at the pedestal.
Ah screw it.
I put my right hand on the pedestal, and the mark on the back of my hand lit up. I suddenly felt a force pushing down on my hand and I couldn't remove it from the pedestal.
Good job moron! You just had to go against your better judgment!
Looking back up at the mirror in front of me, I saw the woman in blue had appeared… inside the mirror. Yeah, weird right? That's what I thought. It wasn't like a reflection, no, this was like she was standing outside of a window.
"James Alexander Radkey." She said. "You have been chosen for a task of immeasurable importance."
"Yeah that's great and all, but I don't remember submitting an application for this." I said, trying to stay calm.
"There isn't much time. So I must make this brief." She began. "I have bestowed upon you the Star Mark, and ancient object of incredible power that can only be used by those who are incorruptible."
"Hang on, can you tell me what-"
"I speak and you listen." The woman told me, cutting me off.
Jeez… what a bi-
"You will arrive in a strange land that you have absolutely no knowledge of, but you must keep your mettle." She explained. The mark around me started glowing brighter and the rings of fire grew higher. "A man named Virgil will bring about the end of the world as you know it if you do not stop him."
"Wait a second, why the hell am I the one who-"
"The Star Mark gives you great power, but it alone will not be enough." She interrupted me again. I was really getting tired of that. "Learn all you can about magic to grow more knowledgeable, train as much as you can to grow stronger, and find those you can trust who will assist you in times of peril."
"Wait a second! I didn't agree to this!" I shouted. "I mean, I'm down for super powers and everything, but what's this whole business you're telling me about?!"
"Remember, the man who you must defeat is called Virgil." She ignored me. "Find him, and stop him."
"From what? Stop him from what?!" I asked, growing very angry.
Suddenly, the mirror in front of me glowed in a pure white light that I had to shield my eyes from. I looked down at my right hand, and saw that it was being enveloped in some kind of energy that made me feel very tingly. And then, if you can believe this, my hand started dividing up into tiny blocks and rocketing into the mirror.
"Whoa, WHOA!" I yelled, now completely in panic mode. "What's this?! What are you doing to me?!" Piece by piece, my body was getting transported into the mirror, and I couldn't do anything about it. Eventually it got my torso, legs, neck, and then went my head. I yelled as my vision turned black and I felt as if my body was being shot out of a canon, into another canon, and then shot out of that canon into a cloud of killer bees.
What? Expect disintegrating to feel pleasant? Well I can tell you with certainty that IT'S NOT.
It was around this time that I blacked out, and trust me, we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of this crazy story. So pack your bags kiddie, because we are going on a trip.