It appears that no one read the first chapter of this.*Sigh* That is not so unexpected, though, and so I press onwards! Hopefully ff.net will actually allow this chapter to show up somewhere other than on my profile alone.9.9
Oh. The formatting for the prologue turned out to be a bit funky.there weren't any italics where there should have been. Sorry about that! *Blushes* So.yeah.*Pokes ff.net with half a dirty spork* Work, darn you!
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I gazed through the ship's view port at the planet ahead of me. It was a tiny thing, almost virgin, spinning slowly in the darkness of space. It was the only habitable planet in this system, and I had to take it. It wasn't like I was nearly out of fuel or anything, but I certainly didn't have enough to get me into another solar system. This one was quite isolated.
Tiny system, tiny sun, tiny planet. I sighed. It wasn't great, but it would have to do. Besides, the whole thing was small and out of the way. That means that the Empire would overlook it.for a while anyway. It was too bad that ringed planet a little farther back was uninhabitable. It was a beauty.
I accelerated, moving closer to my target, the system's third planet. I had to admit, it was prettier than Irk; blue, green, and brown, overlaid with patterns etched in white. The surface probes I had deployed began relaying back information. I sorted through the data, looking for a suitable landing place.
Preliminary reports were leaning towards a large desert on one of the northern landmasses. It was night there. It was flat. Plus, thermal scans revealed that most of the population seemed clustered in a few specific sites. It wasn't too hot or too cold, at the moment, so I set my equipment to record anything it could and angled on down.
The best course seemed to be to angle in, orbit the planet once, and set down in my chosen site, so that's what I did. I slid the ship into the atmospheric envelope of the planet and began to cruise relatively slowly at low altitude, picking up any images I could get. I crossed the line from night into day over a huge expanse of ocean. Probe reports classified it as H2O. I wasn't sure what that was, so I made a mental note to obtain some samples later and experiment.
I was approaching my chosen spot and angling in to land when my ship's external sensors began to go crazy. The computer began to blare "Proximity alert! Proximity alert!" right into my antennae. My ship slammed to a sudden stop and flipped end over end. I slid my fingers over the control panel, managing to right my ship in time to see a gray disc go whirling past.
I swung my ship around and followed the disc down, through the heavy cloud cover. All too fast, the ground appeared under me, and I yanked the nose up with a curse and a swift flick of my fingers. I watched as the disc, apparently out of control, hit the ground and bounced back up. There was a gash along one side. It impacted again, and dug a deep furrow in the ground before coming to a stop.
I was intrigued, so I landed my ship some distance away and hopped out. I approached the ship, moving as stealthily as I could. I had no idea who or what was piloting the ship, so early Invader training had come into play, augmented by lessons with-I stopped my train of thought. Better not to think of that now.
My whole body tense, I tiptoed to the gash and peered inside. It took all my control not to cry out as I beheld the disc's sole occupant.
A female Dae-uial sat in the ship, one hand pressed to a laceration at the base of her long, curving crest. Hot pink blood seeped out from between her fingers. She closed her eyes and pressed a little harder, and when she removed her hand, the wound was gone.
Dae-uial regenerative powers? I didn't know they had those. Okay, now I was a bit worried. Dae-uial are notoriously powerful, yes, but I didn't think an instantaneous healing ability counted among them.
I took a careful step back. I didn't want her to see me. The race was known galaxy-wide for their tempers. Many an interstellar merchant had lost a limb in a Dae-uial fight, and then later his ship to Dae-uial retribution. It was amazing that they didn't control all sentient species in the universe yet! They had abilities above and beyond anything Irkens possessed, and a supreme intelligence to match, and it's very hard for me to admit that.
Undoubtedly, she would blame me for the wreck of her ship, so I tried to back away quietly. Unfortunately, she noticed me.
"Freeze, Irken," she snapped. Her voice was feminine, but deeper than I was accustomed to. I obeyed her. In the presence of a Dae-uial, especially one in the mood this one was bound to be in, one should always fear for one's life. She stood and looked at me for a moment, before cocking her pointed, crested head, and appearing to listen to something in a distance.
I suppose this would be a good time to describe this Dae-uial. She had a long, lithe body; of the shape I would later learn could be described as humanoid, though there are some points that would be noticeably out of proportion on a human female, if perfectly normal on a Dae-uial. She had a pair of wide, four-pinioned, membranous wings. These were of the same bright magenta hue as her body, a color that was unusual in any member of the species, who were usually more dully colored than that. Her head was a distinguishing feature: she had a pointed snout, no doubt filled with sharp white teeth. Rising from the back of it was an impressive, slightly curving, bony crest. Her eyes, of a piercing yellow with black slits for pupils, were set on either side of her head, and between them was a white symbol of a crescent moon and star. She wore a tight black and top and similarly fitting forest camouflage pants, with platform boots underneath.
"Gah!" she snapped, coming out of her listening pose. "D'you hear those sirens? I'm sure you don't. They're still too far away. However, they're coming, and they mean trouble. If you'd like to live a little longer, I'd suggest you lead me to your ship. Now." She swept imperiously out of the wreckage, and I hurried to catch up and pass her, so I could show her where my ship was. Actually, that was unnecessary. It was close enough for her to have already spotted it, and she strode purposefully towards it. She slid herself into the pilot's seat, and I crouched behind, activating my mechanical legs to stabilize myself as she expertly activated my craft, overrode my security measures, and lifted it from the surface.
As we flew over the desert, I noticed a line of vehicles underneath us, with flashing blue and red lights on top of them. The Dae-uial pointed.
"Do you see those?" she asked. I nodded, and she continued. "You should always watch out for those. They're bad news on this planet." I nodded, and logged the info into my brain. She tilted the ship in a wide arc and we doubled back the way we came. The wreck, which was faintly smoking, though you couldn't really tell in the dark, was surrounded by those vehicles with the flashing lights.
We weren't airborne for long. The Dae-uial brought us down outside a sprawling complex of buildings out in the middle of the desert, quite some distance from it's nearest neighbors. She shut off my ship and gestured for me to exit before her, which I did, though cautiously. She got out and secured it.
"My name is Lightwing Moonstars, Irken," she began without preamble. "And frankly, if I weren't so curious about why someone of your rank is here, I'd probably kill you. However, it's been a while since I've had any real entertainment, so please, come inside. Let's talk. Then I'll decide whether or not to let you live." She grinned ingratiatingly and took my arm, steering me inside. I had no choice but to follow, and hope for the best.
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Okay, there's another chapter down. I'll probably post these opening few relatively quickly, 'cause they're all kind of boring. So.review please! *Gives the readers puppy dog eyes* I'll give y'all.um.partial kumquats if you do! ^.^