Of Martyrs And Machina Obscura
By Jave Harron
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X and Spira are property of Squaresoft. This story will not be used for only purposes of entertainment, not commercial ones.
Notes: To see what FFX has been crossed with, see the appendix to my other story, In The Eyes Of God. If you, the reader, have come this far, I advise you to continue.
Chapter I: Awakening
One year before the Eternal Calm, on Al Bhed salvage ship, Zyja Rynnuh
Rakul shook his head in disbelief, and he heard the voice again.
You have your task ahead of you, Rakul. Now do it.
What the blazes? How do I overthrow Yevon? They've ruled unchallenged for one thousand years!
They fear change, Rakul. You must bring change.
Save for the Al Bhed, Spira resists change!
I've helped overthrow oversized cults founded philosophies that are several thousand years old. Yevon is just an oversized cult.
But they have troops, and even support from zealous fighters!
Now, Rakul, what is the one thing they ban, and the reason they persecute you Al Bhed?
Of course! Machina! They fear machina, so they persecute those who use it, because when the people gain machina, they gain power and threaten Yevon's dominion of Spira.
Right! There's a whole army of machina, under your feet, literally. Check the control room.
Rakul grabbed his trusty weapon, his punch gun, strapped it to his right arm, and ran to the bridge of the Zyja Rynnuh.
As he ran up the metal stairs, he examined his weapon of choice.
The punch gun was a unique weapon. Most Al Bhed preferred to use a gun or a metal glove, but the punch gun was the best of both worlds.
It had a spring loaded cartridge in it that contained a unique type of bullets, called 'shotgun shells' by Cid, that were fired by an impact trigger.
To absorb the recoil, a spring was used, and it also ejected the empty shell and loaded the next one.
In dire situations, the shell could be fired by a small switch on the bottom of the glove, making it a ranged weapon.
Not many fiends could survive a shotgun shell at point blank range.
Nor Yevonite monks, he thought with a smirk.
"Rakul! There's something you should see! I think this could be the mother load!" his assistant Gereu exclaimed.
Rakul examined at his assistant closer, for now, he felt he could look at things more closely.
Gereu had her long red hair disheveled, and her goggles down around her neck.
Red hair… That's something ultra-rare among us Al Bhed…
Her crossbow was swung across her back, and her small hammer was by her side, as well as some other tools.
Gereu wore a green jacket and shorts, made of some strange material she had found in some ruins.
She was the one that named the ship, and also was the only other person on board, since machina called 'computers' ran the entire ship.
"There's a huge set of ruins below us, and that's not all!" Gereu added.
"What is going on? I just got up, you know," Rakul answered.
"The ruins! They are in appear to be rising to the surface!" Gereu explained.
As if on cue, a huge object rose out of the water before them.
It looked like a large metal box, but was rusted across it.
There was an ancient door on the top, practically inviting them in.
"Let's go, Gereu. I've got a good feeling about this," Rakul said as he walked out on deck.
Gereu followed him, drawing her crossbow.
This would be no normal salvage.
Meanwhile, Gereu was thinking.
The war of Reason and Faith is about to engulf this world… Even with your help, Rakul, this will be a difficult task.
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Q & A Session
Q: Where did the name for the story come from?
A: From a fun PC game called Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Arcanum was about a fantasy world with an Industrial Revolution, and technology and magic were at each other's throats. In this story, machina (machines) are going to be fighting the Yevon army. Most religions make the people that die defending it into 'martyrs' of the faith. I combined the two, and got the title in a brainstorming session.
Q: What in the world is Final Fantasy X crossed over with?
A: My sci-fi epic, In The Eyes Of God. If you are interested in a story full of symbolism, philosophy, and plot twists (like Final Fantasy), read it.
Q: Why is this set a year before FFX?
A: Look at all the other stories on FFX. They take place after FFX. I wanted to a bit different, and before FFX is when Yevon was at the height of their power, making it more difficult for the protagonist.
Q: Why did you choose an Al Bhed as a protagonist?
A: The Al Bhed are the most technologically advanced faction in the game, and are free from Yevon's control. If you'll notice Rikku in the game, she also is skeptical of Wakka's claims that machina brought Sin. Since the Al Bhed are group of free-thinkers, they are perfect candidates for the forces that are helping Rakul.
Q: Where did Rakul's name, weapon, and concept come from?
A: Rakul Citch was an old character, but I never found a use for him until now. As for weapons, I wanted him to skilled at both melee and ranged combat. The punch gun was a weapon concept from the Fallout series, an RPG set in post-nuclear war California. If it seems familiar, Fallout was also made by the same producers as Arcanum.
Q: Where did Rakul's companion Gereu and the ship name come from?
A: Read In The Eyes Of God, and run those names through an Al Bhed translator. Just search for them online, in any search engine.
Q: What's this about the war of Reason and Faith?
A: Read In The Eyes Of God, think of FFX's plot. There's statues with souls in them, called 'fayth.' They are stagnant, unmoving, like Faith. There will be a force for Reason, that changes, adapts, and moves. They will be called the 'reesin,' in the spirit of FFX word plays. Of course, they will be coming into play later…
Q: Will the main characters of FFX make an appearance?
A: Wait and see.
Q: Any more hints?
A: Nope. The motives of the forces of both sides may be revealed with a read into some of my other stories, though.