Almost a year ago, Sarajin Stratos left his planet behind and journeyed across the starry depths he once observed at night.
It was an impossible gamble with little hope of even finding another planet, let alone the answer to their own planet's problems.
But he fully believed in his goal, that there was some sliver of hope to be found among the stars.
It was difficult at first adjusting to new horizons. Space was dark and he had to rely on the stars to guide him around with little progress being made at first.
His home world had become a speck a long while ago, and though at first it made him lonely, he held his warm feelings towards his friends and family close to his heart.
And a part of him felt that even without this, he wasn't alone. It was as though someone was watching over him, a guardian angel one would say.
He would have to stop for food and drink, carefully preserving his elemental energy so he wouldn't die from the pressure of space.
It took some time getting used to the limited space, and he watched as the vegetables and nuts he made floated out of his wind barrier into space and burst under pressure, a fate he did not want to share.
By the time he got this feeding cycle down he watched as his surroundings began to change. He swam through a sea of floating rock chunks, a couple times narrowly avoiding being sandwiched between them.
These rocks had bits of metal inside of them and looked more durable than the average rock. There were a couple as big as Oreore alone!
They were neat, but not worth checking out.
He continued making his way through the stars and after a tiring month of little to no progress, he was starting to feel a little fatigued.
That was when he came across a much larger rock, similar to his moon in scale but not in appearance. This one was brown with shades of green, and a massive crater hollowed halfway inside. There were frozen chunks of debris floating around it, shining, glimmering with a rainbow of colors.
But more importantly on the other side was what he had been searching for: A planet.
He knew it was one because of its size, though this one had nocturnal colors, especially a lot of purples and blacks. It had a dark blue sea spread throughout and looked like it had forestation.
Sarajin's spirits were raised significantly and he dove straight towards the planet without a second thought...An act he would soon regret, as he'd come to learn about the dangerous force that is..."Re-entry".
His barrier quickly became wreathed in flame and the heat got to him too, forcing him to wrap himself up in fire to counter it. This led to him barreling out of control and dropping out of the sky like a blazing comet into solid ground.
He was out cold for probably a couple of hours before waking up with a groan and finding himself a few hundred feet deep in his own crater, surrounded by black clay.
He stood up after a long, bone aching process and found that his body felt a little heavier than he was used to. The air was different, clean like Sancturia but damp and cold in a way neither Aquamoria or Cryofloe felt.
He worked his way out of the crater and found himself surrounded by fallen trees that broke at the trunk. He grit his teeth awkwardly and then stretched his hand out to try and mend them.
But his powers didn't immediately work. He couldn't feel anything familiar from these trees. But wood should be wood, right?
He checked his other elements and they were fine when he used them. He even could still fly just with a little more difficulty because of the heavier feel of his body.
This was worrying, but exciting. He was eager to explore around and find out the cause behind this and took the skies without a second thought.
There was forest for miles but in the distance, water fell from jagged rock cliffs and into a large basin, creating a cold mist in the air.
He decided to head there first because the impact made him thirsty, and he needed to conserve energy.
The water here felt the same as he used to, just a little dirtier. That was easily dealt with, and he drank up until full.
There was plenty of water to spare so he didn't feel bad taking his fair share of elemental energy from it. Once he was replenished he decided to explore the immediate area for signs of life.
All he found were these strange, ankle-high creatures with a slimy appearance hopping towards the water...Where they were quickly gobbled up by a scaly, horned beast with an incredibly wide, fanged mouth and no body to speak of.
He then backed away towards the forest, where he bumped into something with the texture of an Argent Heaver. He was brushed up into the air by what was one of the creature's limber legs and turned around, seeing that it was a creature a quarter mile tall with most of it consisting of its neck, which ended off with an eyeless head that had a deep jaw and antlers.
It waded into the water and could stay above the surface as it made its way over to the falling water, where it would stand and fill it's body with water until it was bloated and luminescent.
"Wow..." Went Sarajin, too amazed to say anything greater.
He would continue to explore the planet over the next few days and meet other similarly exotic creatures and plants. The fruit had weird smells to them but didn't make him sick...save for one with boils on the rind, but a quick solution made of water and salt helped him get over it.
The planet didn't seem to have a sun and the only way he could avoid the night was by staying beneath the moon, whose icy ring refracted the light of the stars onto the surface.
This made sleep...difficult, but it was either try or deal with what lurked in the darkness.
Eventually he had combed enough of the planet to come to the unfortunate conclusion that there were only animals inhabiting it. The idea that there were plants he couldn't "comprehend" with his powers was interesting but nothing revolutionary enough to stop the Rot.
Thus, after supplying himself with enough elemental energy, he made his way back into space.
Time continued to pass and the sights began to change significantly.
Clusters of stars formed into the shape of these monolithic, multicolored clouds of gas that turned the depths of space around them into something extravagant.
He would be seeing these kinds of sights for a long while, but they never stopped being amazing.
When he got tired of looking at them, he landed atop a faraway rock and just rested for a bit on his back. An ease of mind meant not having to burn up too much energy, so he could relax without consequence.
He thought back to his home and wondered how everyone was doing. He wanted so badly to bombard his mom with stories about what space looked like. He missed the type of wind blowing against his face only home could provide. He wondered if Auris was doing ok...
There was too much riding on him. No time to sit and nap.
He took off and kept flying away towards grander horizons.
The greater dangers of space began to reveal themselves as he had to guard himself against a flurry of sharp ice flakes just flying through space, and almost slammed into a small moon when he got out.
This brought him close to another planet that, crazily enough, had not one, not two, but THREE moons. But only one sun.
It was a drier world full of sand and rock spires so titanic a couple broke free from the atmosphere and left rocks to break off and fly around it until they burned out.
This time he took his descent slowly and managed to avoid crash landing. His body felt heavy again, but not as bad as last time.
He could manage this. The sand was another story.
Every step he took threatened to pull him underground if he wasn't careful. There was no sign of water or plant life and the air was scorching hot like the whole place was on fire.
He couldn't be here long, but he just had to confirm if there were any signs of life first. If there was, they would have to be some very strong and perhaps resourceful people.
What he managed to find after hours of sand dragging were plateaus of rusted, bumpy metal with complicated looking designs and one massive, human-like hand reaching out of the sand towards the sky.
He had to stare in awe of its size. There were few Titans who could compare to the size of it's finger, let alone the whole hand.
Space was massive, and it seemed as though it's denizens were larger than life as well.
But a man made of metal parts...How could that be possible?
Sarajin left this planet pondering this disturbing question and was disappointed that it didn't leave him with answers regarding the Rot.
The next couple of months were perilous, as he barely managed to survive making it to other worlds to resupply his elemental energy. But it became a battle for survival, as the more thriving worlds housed bigger and nastier creatures that wanted the resources of their planet and saw him as an invader.
He would fight for his life just to earn the right to a drink of water or vegetation. As much as it pained him to do so, he would have to draw his sword and kill some of these creatures before he was eaten alive.
It gave him some much needed but unneeded guilt. If there was anything this journey so far had taught him, these worlds had their own cultures, even if they were solely inhabited by animals, and he didn't want to ruin their lives just to make his or his people better.
So he only took enough to help him make it through for a few more days and then left the rest of the carcass to the local predators.
He ventured to a world full of water with one island still standing, a world battered by constant hailstorms that forced the creatures underground, a world that was twisting around like a gelatinous mold as he walked around it, and a world that was a cluster of moons slammed together by a powerful and dense gravitational core.
He was gaining plenty of memorable experiences out of these adventures, but all his joy couldn't suppress his mission and he was making little to no progress on that end.
Every world had elemental energy even if he didn't understand the specific ways they manifested, which means there was nothing that could overcome the Rot.
And he's had to figure this out on his own. No one was there for him to discuss ideas with.
Was his home the only planet with human life? It seemed that was the case, and it brought a grandiose sense of loneliness upon him...
He was coming up on the deadline he set and he began looking down at his pocket more often. Temptations were rising, with him bombarded with a desire to go home early.
But hope fought back stronger than despair. He would not break down under pressure. There HAD to be some clue out there waiting for him.
And maybe it was just him, but the more he believed in his goal, the faster he seemed to fly through space.
The clock ticked down day by day, until he was just five days off from the year mark...
He had grown a stubble beard by this point and was tired and a little hungry. He was coming up to what would have to be his last planet on this long, long journey.
Who knew just how far away from his home he was now. The feelings he shared with friends and family seemed to surpass units of distance, but it was starting to strain belief...
This final world was bigger than the rest he had encountered, and seemed to have equal parts greenery and seas with a decent cover of clouds. It felt like a world that he would look like, if it was healthy.
A good omen? Perhaps.
This planet had three moons, one that was orange and the other two white. It thrived on sunlight from a faraway star.
Sarajin headed into the atmosphere and felt a little funny going in, but shook it off and dove past the clouds to find the planet had a temperate climate and a normal gravitational pull.
There were mountains full of trees sticking out of the musky water and bugs bigger than him flew above them, resembling dragonflies with a more malleable body and fly-shaped eyes.
They weren't hostile, for now. He skirted along the surface of the water and headed further along towards the main lands that were covered in fog.
There was thick, heavy forestation around these parts with trees that bent in a slight curve towards the sky and had plenty of fresh green leaves to feed the animal populace.
And, to his surprise, there seemed to be lodgings built all along the trees, with raised platforms and bridges helping connect them all together.
There were no signs of life living in them right away, but this was more than enough to refresh his draining hope and quicken his pace further into the trees.
Once he passed his fifth island he stopped. A strange and faint sound came from a massive island dead ahead, leaving behind a brief flash of red within the fog.
The native birds flew away in a massive flock scattering in all directions, and curiosity guided him towards the light to see what was going on.
He decided to descend into the trees and take cover among the leaves. That same sound went off again with a brighter flash, and a nasally growl that quickly dwindled in strength followed.
His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. He hopped along the tree trunks until he found the source of the sound.
Near a shore at ground level was a line of tall, brown and hairy people. They resembled humans in shape but had a dog-like nose and smaller eyes, with prominent fanged teeth in their bottom row.
They were shackled together in metal cuffs and dense ropes and were being guided to some large, metal container with metal wings.
There were some other people stationed around them wearing white armor with a somewhat plastic look and bits of black incorporated in, most notably where the eyes should be, giving them a cold, detached look towards the creatures they had captured.
Each one was armed with weapons he had never seen before, pure black and varying in size, but each still small enough to fit in their hands.
"Weapons out here? Are these...hunters?" Was Sarajin's immediate thought.
The tall creatures were the source of the growl as they continued to make these noises and shook their shackles in what could only be described as desperation.
Sarajin felt uneasy watching this unfold. It was as if these creatures had voices, and they were being forced into silence.
He looked around and the white armored figures had other stuff posted in the area, all of it made of metal. There was a device that summoned a blue, distorted looking figure that one of the figures wearing a rectangular backpack was talking to.
Sarajin could only make out the whispers before another of those sharp, burning noises pierced his ear drums.
He looked down to see that one of the armored figures had fired their weapon into the air as one of the creatures was getting agitated.
The creature let out a very vicious growl and jerked it's arms with incredible force to break its arms restraints. It then lunged straight at the closest armored figures, where they callously fired their weapon through their chest.
Sarajin felt as though he could see every moment where the red energy fired out pierced through the creature's skin like fire would handle ice.
That energy had no elemental properties. It was pure and clean, perfect for the murder he just witnessed.
And as the body of this titanic creature fell, two others of its kind, one clearly a child, growled in pure anguish and sounded like they were crying out.
Sarajin's heart began to race and knew immediately, "Something isn't right."
The armored figure kicked the creature while they were down and then gestured his weapon at the others, "Move! Move!"
Sarajin's hand was resting on his sword and his body tensed up, "I shouldn't. I shouldn't but...!"
He grit his teeth and without another moment of hesitation he dove right out of the tree and fell onto the ground, raising a ring of sand on impact.
All the armored figures in the immediate vicinity turned on him and were momentarily stunned.
"Hostile!" One shouted, raising their weapon, the rest following in sync.
Sarajin's eyes widened with surprise as he felt out his enemies and realized, "There's...humans under the armor?!"
He loosened his grip on his sword and then clicked his tongue, charging straight forward like an arrow and ducking under the energy being fired at his location.
He then rose and elbowed the closest soldier in the gut, knocking them into another to get them both unconscious.
He then pulled away and two soldiers crossed fire trying to hit him. Sarajin then thrust his hands out and hit them with pressurized air bullets, throwing one flat on their back in the water and causing the other to crash into the machine creating the blue figure and break it.
This alerted more soldiers to come to their aid wielding different weapons. While dodging around energy fire, Sarajin focused his strength into his arms and struck quickly and hard to knock out these soldiers in one blow.
The soldiers mounted a weapon with three legs spread in a triangle and held onto it in both hands. Sarajin's hairs stood on end and he quickly drew his sword to start slicing the air rapidly in front of him, deflecting a cylindrically focused flurry of energy.
His blade quickly started heating up from impact, so he channeled electricity into it and slashed the ground to send it towards the weapon.
The weapon ceased firing and then exploded, blowing a few soldiers unconscious, but giving the rest cover smoke to keep firing.
Sarajin sheathed his blade and took to the air, prompting one of the soldiers to shout "Above us!" and re-aim.
But he fired off more air bullets to send them flying. Then the one wearing a backpack revealed their big secret, that the backpack released fire to let them join him in the air.
"What? How's he doing that, that's cool!" His brief child-like enthusiasm didn't dull his senses enough to feel electricity gathering in this soldier's specific weapon.
"Electricity...!" It was clean and with no visible distinction. He held a strong stance and the moment the gun fired Sarajin grabbed hold of it, arc'd it around his body, and sent it back.
The person's armor let off a bunch of sparks and their strange backpack exploded, throwing them over his head and on top of the metal container.
Sarajin clutched his teeth and flew over to check on them. He pulled their helmet off and smoke billowed out from around their head.
The skin was burnt gray in parts but not enough to hide their clearly distinct human features. Sarajin had a moment of reflection before applying aloe vera to the burn marks to help dull the pain.
The soldier coughed and wheezed before murmuring weakly, "What...what are you?"
He then fell unconscious and Sarajin slowly stood back up, letting out a sigh of relief.
He then dropped back down to the beach and found the furry creatures roaring, some of them celebrating, others confused.
"Hold on!" Sarajin held his hand out and focused on the ropes and shackles. Though there were some familiar metals mixed in it, he couldn't break them off.
He swung his hand down hard and let out a gasp, "Again...?"
He then reached for his sword and went around slicing through the ropes and the metal between the shackles. Once they were all freed he sheathed his sword and smiled.
"Alright, you're free now!" He said with a bit of celebratory tiredness.
The creatures rolled their wrists around and roared loudly, and Sarajin got to smile. He then perked his brows up and approached the creature with gray in their fur, assuming they're the elder.
"Excuse me sir, are these people part of your Tribe?"
The creature pulled Sarajin up into their big arms and gave him a squeeze with a few cries of joy.
"O-Okay!" Sarajin chuckled, before the bones cracked, "OK! Ok...settle down!"
He was dropped to the ground and the creature continued to make emotional noises, none of it understandable.
"Uhhh, can you speak my language?" Sarajin wondered, pointing at his chest.
The creature shook their head and then gestured their hands towards their head, causing Sarajin to realize, "But you can understand what I'm saying?"
The creature nodded feverishly.
"Ok, yes and no questions only then,"Sarajin nodded and craned his head back to give the creature their due respect, "Were those soldiers from an enemy Tribe?"
The creature growled in frustration.
"Do you know where they came from?" Sarajin said with a kindly hand gesture.
The creature then turned and threw their hand out towards the sky. Sarajin followed through on their kindness by flying up atop the tallest tree to get a better look out of the fog.
He went silent as he looked at the skies far into the horizon.
Floating over the planet was a leviathan-sized mass of metal shaped like a dagger, armed to the teeth with weapons on towers above and beneath it.
It's very presence cut through the atmosphere of this peaceful planet and made all the wildlife scatter around where they shouldn't be.
There were much smaller but still visibly striking dark blue orbs with flat metal boards for wings flying around and firing large energy bullets into the surface, destroying tree homes and causing fire to spread through the forest.
More of those winged metal containers were descending and rising, carrying loads of those creatures back to the leviathan.
Sarajin slowly found his grip cracking the bark he held, as his body trembled all over, and he felt sick to his stomach...
And this was only the start. Two more of these leviathans were descending from the stars to target other parts of the planet.
This planet, this beautiful home for these proud, furry creatures, was descending into utter chaos. And it would not stop, until all was claimed by these metal monsters of war...
"Grrr...!"
Chapter -89: A War Amidst the Stars
The dark blue orbs went about on their mission, flying at speeds far beyond what these grounded creatures could hope to react to.
But then suddenly, Sarajin blitzed right past them, forcing two of them to hold in place and turn around to get a lock on his presence.
They then sped after him, firing twin blasts of energy from their bottom cannons.
Sarajin turned right around with a growing expression of anger, drew his sword, and slashed at the energy. It won out and knocked him back and forced his descent.
He recovered and thrust underneath the metal orbs, then quickly rose up to get behind them. As they turned he sped past them and disoriented their flight with a sonic boom of wind.
He looked down at the flaming trees and smoldering craters in the mountain lands. Bridges were burning, causing the creatures to fall into the flames.
They were fighting back against the armored men but it was a losing battle. Their enemy held overwhelming numbers and superior energy fire.
Any of the creatures who survived were captured and hauled off.
It was horrible. What had they done to deserve this? How could any human stand there and let this happen?
He wanted to help every single creature but there was too much ground to cover and lord help him, he was just one guy...
He trembled intensely and grit his teeth, focusing all of his attention on the metal leviathan that cast darkness over the land.
It's size was only more frightening the closer he got. Other orbs tried to intercept him, like insects do when defending their hive.
This leviathan was of great importance to them. Maybe, just maybe, if he could fell it, the planet would be freed...!
But with great size came a scale of weaponry the likes of which Pulsa Minoria could only pray they could match.
If this meant anything though, they were vulnerable to electricity.
There was fear blanketing this chaotic battleground, but he would not falter to it. He held onto his sword and charged forth, edging closer to his target.
The towers at the sides of the leviathan began to swivel towards him and fired energy blasts that could swallow him whole, their release rupturing the air as they traveled.
He rolled away and was blown around by their pressure, then kept on his course.
More of those metal orbs flew through an energy wall sandwiched between two towers to fire upon him or descend to the ground to further the chaos.
"This is too much! It's like they want to burn down this entire planet!"
Sarajin widened his eyes and charged forward with all his might through the energy fire and barreled over the ships to get closer to the leviathan.
He readied electricity within his blade and whipped it out into the towers, a strong enough voltage causing them to overload.
It took so much electricity just to break a few and there were dozens of these all over the ship.
He was sweating and constantly under pressure thanks to the orbs. The best he could do to avoid them was get on top of the leviathan and then drop behind one of the towers with the help of his speed.
He then craned his head back and felt the weight of the tower's sheer height coming down upon him.
It was too much. No one should ever have to escalate to this extreme to win a battle...
He grit his teeth and turned around, drawing his sword and stabbing it into the tower side.
"Any difference I can make matters! I have to try!" He cheered himself on through sheer determination and funneled electricity into the tower, starting a prolonged overloading process that would lead to its destruction.
Sarajin bailed out before he got swallowed up in the explosion and began running over to the next tower.
Meanwhile, up in the largest tower at the center back of this leviathan, there were men in gray officer uniforms on the bridge frantically fiddling around with their consoles.
"Another turret down!" One shouted.
"How is this possible...?!" Shouted another.
The hairs on the back of their necks rose cold as a sole figure clad in black armor began to walk onto the bridge and gaze out past the window.
"My lord! Our ship is under attack! It seems the Wookies...may have greater technology than-"
"No," The figure said in a deep, reverberating baritone, "The Wookies are no threat to us."
"Then what...?"
The figure breathed hard, with a gravelly, scratching gasp of air emerging through a filter on their helmet. They crossed their arms before a control plate on their chest and stood patiently, their cold stare penetrating through these metal walls.
When Sarajin destroyed a second tower he froze in place, surrounded by an abnormal chill. He found himself exhaling fog and slowly turned towards the glass window atop the highest tower on this leviathan.
He was being watched.
"This...isn't normal..." Like fear was being forced into his spirit by a powerful gravitational push he shivered all over and felt compelled to ready his sword.
He flew straight towards the window and then sliced his way in and barreled through before the glass slid off.
He landed on the edge of a long platform surrounded by mechanically complex boxes and more humans running them.
His pupils shrank, he found himself magnetically drawn to gaze upon the figure towering in front of him.
They wore all black down to their choice of cape. Their armor was of a similar build to the soldiers, but where it protected the soldiers from others, this felt like it was protecting Sarajin from him.
Their empty-eyed mask was like gazing into an abyss. Light drowned within it's reflective surface and the vent where it's mouth would be released a breath that was fettered by a gravelly, metallic strain, with a pace like a heartbeat.
Sarajin stood straight up and drew his sword out by his side with his teeth grit tensely.
The humans drew their weapons on him. The black figure then parted their arms, and the humans put them down.
Sarajin's heart was in his throat, and he felt the black figure pressing him down greater than any planet could.
He could feel the presence of human flesh beneath that armor, but it had been burned up then consumed by metal parts, breaking wires, and hate.
Their entire body radiated pitch red hatred thick as a dense star, amplifying the terrifying imagery of their silhouette to the point Sarajin was a step away from surrendering to fear.
But there was too much at stake to give in to this emotion. The creatures down below were suffering, and he could not stop thinking about them for even one moment without anger rising to the surface.
And this one figure, with a presence that consumed joy and replaced it all with anguish, had to be the source behind it all.
"Why are you doing this...?!" He growled through his teeth.
The figure replied in a deep, reverberating baritone, "You're not from our universe."
"...!" Sarajin flinched, then resumed his verbal lashing, "I asked, why are you doing this?!"
The figure remained motionless and imposed it's presence on top of him, "I sense much anger inside of you. You seek vengeance for the Wookies?"
"...Yeah! What you're doing to them is wrong! Stop this at once!"
Sarajin then felt his throat being squeezed as the figure raised his hand before his helmet and tightly began to curl their fingers inward.
"Ghhh...! Kkkk...!" Sarajin gagged and was pulled off his feet to be dragged closer to the figure, where he was suspended in place and held entirely at his mercy.
"I-I-I can't...breathe...!"
The figure breathed heavier as it spoke, "You now belong to the Empire. You will decide whether you shall be brought in alive, or in pieces."
"I-Is this...a form of elemental energy manipulation? I-I don't feel anything coming from him!" Sarajin struggled and tried to grab hold of hands that weren't there, losing consciousness by the second.
"Th-Think, I need...I need..." He was going to lose his concentration in a moment. This pain and pressure was dulling his inhibitions, putting his mind in a frantic state of being.
Without a second thought his fight or flight response kicked in and his body surged outward with electricity, a large bolt striking the black figure while others seared through the metal boxes in the room.
The figure let go and slid back in recoil, their body letting off a lot of smoke that electricity lingered within.
Sarajin fell and gasped for air while going straight for his sword. He then stood up and had a hesitantly gleeful smile, "That...worked?"
The black figure rose to full height and their cape remained draped on the ground without a scratch. Eventually the smoke faded, and they released their chilling breaths...
Sarajin's heart pounded. It wanted to leave just as much as the rest of his body did.
"L-Lord Vader!" Shouted one of the men, "The consoles are fried! We're losing control of the ship!"
The figure stood to face the focus of his intrigue and extended their hand out towards the side, a metal rod rattling at their hip.
It then flew straight into their hands and with a single clench, Vader ignited a solid blade of pure crimson energy, stating in a callous tone dripping with intimidation and confidence, "In pieces it is then."
The ship was rumbling. The planet was burning below them. Yet this man was the only danger Sarajin could worry about.
"If that sword touches me even once...I'm dead." He clenched his teeth and held his ground with everything he had left.
"I'm not going to die here! There's too many people counting on me to make it back home!" He shouted bravely.
"Then you are ignorant to the power...of the Dark Side..." Vader lowered his energy sword by his side and began a slow march towards him.
This would be a duel that would decide the fates of many, in ways neither side could possibly foresee...
Next Time: A Battle with the Force