[Phantasy Star is copyright Sega, Sonic Team; Heat Charge 9 is copyright Hypes. All characters otherwise (excluding Phantasy Star copyright Characters) Are copy right Leone McHealy.]
Day 1- Our ship, the Valiant, has crash landed on Ragol. We are expecting the worst. Only a few of us are alive, and now we're stranded on Ragol. While on Ragol, we saw something nobody has ever seen before…
Phantasy Star Online : Death among us
It was just me, a beautiful Hunawearl named Yuni, A large, bulky Racast named Heat Charge 9. And a pretty women with a huge rifle name Akino. My name is Timmy Thompson. I am a hunter, I work on Pioneer 2.
"Lock and load, take a perimeter check and set outposts." The Racast shouted.
"Look, we need to gather up what supplies we have here and make camp. And let's have another thing straight, I don't take orders from anyone, if you want it done so bad Heat Charge, DO IT YOURSELF!" Yuni yelled back.
"Calm down you two, we'll be stuck together for a while." Akino said.
It was getting dark, and who knows what would come out… So we pitched camp and started a fire. After a little bit, Heat Charge 9 returned and doused out the fire, saying something about attracting animals. So we slept in the cold.
-Day 2
We finished gathering up the supplies from our crashed cruiser. Yuni still refused to do any work, so it was Heat Charge 9 doing most of it. He seems very responsible, but he's a real pain in the neck. Yuni is very moody and doesn't seem to do much. But I wouldn't want to get in her way, I've heard about her before, I've heard about all of them before, except Akino.
Heat Charge 9 was a veteran ranger, named one of the greatest snipers on Pioneer 2. Yuni takes every mission that the hunter's guild can come up with, no matter how suicidal. I've seen her kill 3 men with an ink pen. Akino admitted that this was her first mission, and she seems green. Myself? This is my 5th mission, I'm about 23, but I know what I'm doing.
We still haven't seen any survivors or native animals around the crash site. For that matter we haven't left the crash site, save Heat Charge 9 when he takes a perimeter check every day. We have enough food for about 4 days. The forest we landed in seems to be a distance from any of the Pioneer 1 sites. So we've decided that the next day we would head out to the nearest one.
This place is actually quite peaceful, green trees, cool breeze, and Yuni and Heat Charge 9's constant bickering. We're trying to decide on the best COA (course of Action), Heat Charge says we should stay quiet, and move by day and night. Only rest when absolutely needed. Yuni says we should travel by day and rest by night. Akino wants to stay around the crash site and wait for someone to pick us up. I don't have the slightest clue about what to do.
Day 3-
Yuni took spare parts from the engine and various parts of the ship and modeled two photon knives. She's amazing, how do you design weapons from junk? Heat Charge 9 is amazing as well, the two seem to know each other. A coconut fell from a tree near the crash site and Heat Charge shot it into pieces before it hit the ground.
We've started out walking by mid-day. Thankfully we have good weather.
"Keep a sharp eye out, I've been on Ragol before. The Natives are hostile." Heat Charge explained.
"Aye, so have I. The beasts on the planet are real nice fellows." Yuni said sarcastically.
"I've taken missions aboard Pioneer 2, and scouting but I've never stepped foot on Ragol." I announced.
Yuni laughed. Heat charge ignored the comment. Akino comforted me, telling me that this is her 1st mission. There was no more talking for a little bit. Finally I took the liberty of starting up another conversation.
"So, did anyone actually determine the cause of the crash?" I asked.
"Sabotage." Heat Charge 9 informed him.
"Whoever it was, was on the ship. If he didn't die, he must have taken off into the forest." Yuni said briefly.
"Shouldn't we look for him, he could help us." Akino said.
"No, he sabotaged our ship, let him die out in the forest, like he intended all of us to do." Yuni said.
"Northwest, a Pioneer 1 outpost. 3 miles" Heat Charge explained.
After a good deal of walking we spotted a worn down concrete tower. Vines grew from it and many holes decorated it's sides. It was getting dark, the decision was made to sleep in the tower. We reached the door, it's rusted handle broke of when we attempted to open the tomb. Heat Charge 9 stepped back and blew it open. Inside was black, absolutely black. Heat Charge 9's light was the only thing that illuminated part of the room. Inside chairs were on their side, vines covered the broken panels, and a few skeletons made the room into an eerie site.
"What… happened…" Akino stuttered.
Blood stained the floor and fear painted the walls. A metal staircase led up in a spiral motion. Heat Charge 9's light slowly scanned the room, leaving parts of the room in blackness and others in view. A human skeleton laid back on the worn wall, it's head pulled back to the jaw wide open. A torn blue jumpsuit rested on the skeletons body, and large claw marks scarred the cloth. The ribs were broken to pieces and bits of flesh hung from the old bones.
We began the journey upward, along the rusted stairs. With every step a long groan of consolidated pain arose from below. More blood along the walls, torn holes through the insulation of the concrete lined our passage. We reached the final level of the tower. The large windows illustrated pale light of the full moon painted in the black sky. Death reeked and haunted this room, the large 66mm canon mounted was still usable. Akino looked empty, emotionally confused. I myself was stricken with a nauseous blow. Yuni set to work on the cannon.
"What's the matter? Never looked death in the eyes before?" Yuni said frankly.
"Death is only part of life. Killing is inevitable." Heat Charge 9 said looking out one of the windows into the cold night, "Unfortunately killing is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it. Well whatever killed these men is long gone."
"How can you tell?" Akino asked frightened.
"All that is left is bleached bones and a scarred tower." Yuni interrupted.
"They could still be out there, waiting, we should keep our guard up." I said.
"When on this planet do you ever not have your guard up?" Yuni said frankly.
"Well I have a bad feeling about this place." Akino announced.
"Get used to it, death wanders this planet." Heat Charge said.
"We'll camp her tonight, we'll take turns on watch duty." Yuni stated.
"I'll take the watch for tonight." Hear Charge said.
"Well be careful." Akino warned.
I could not sleep, it was impossible. How could one sleep in such a place. Such a place where death is so near, where it walks among you. It was so quiet that night, no one dare speak, fear spread among us like wild fire, except Heat Charge, he stayed on the 66 all night. Eagerly awaiting any movement. A slow wind moaned through the air, and the pitter patter of rain fell on the roof of the tower. The woods among the tower swayed in the wind and moaned with the pain of the tower. The night went on for what seemed forever, until a slow knocking began on the door of the first level. At first I thought it was my imagination gone wild. But soon Yuni and Akino sat up Heat Charge 9 slowly turned his head and whispered to us. "Stay quiet."
"I'll go." Yuni stood up, unsheathing her twin photon knives. She began to walk down the stairs, never have I seen anyone walk so quietly. It was as if she wasn't there. Experienced as she was, it still surprised me. Slowly down the spiral staircase. The knocking from below continued, almost like a rhythm, continuously. I was scared. I stood up and picked up my saber.
"Stay here, she knows what she's doing better than any of us." Heat Charge 9 said quietly.
"I cant let her go alone, its too dangerous!" I explained.
"Look if you take a step towards those stairs I'll shoot you myself. You going down there would only jeopardize the situation." Heat Charge announced.
Yuni was reaching the bottom of the stairs, no light, newman's eyes are better then humans, they can see in the dark. Reaching the bottom the stairs she stopped. Motionless, silent, suspended. Moonlight shone through the empty doorway. She slowly scanned the room, nothing seemed to be out of place. The knocking continued, the front door laid flat on the ground, it seemed to be coming from outside. Slowly, Yuni stepped into the night, the forest seemed empty. No sign if anything, yet the knocking continued. Yuni, pulled by her curiosity, began to search the forest. Closing in on the knocking sound, a fallen tree lay across her path. She jumped on to it, and looked down.
A long, sleek wolf-like creature tapping a rusted piece of metal with its claw as it feasted upon the mangled body of a large beast. It looked up and stared deep into Yuni's eyes. A slow growl bellowed within the creatures throat.
"Good Fido…" Yuni said quietly.
The creature continued to growl.
"Ok, you want it that way? Lets dance."
