Hello, Trades46 here.
This is a through rework on my first ever fanfic, Silverhawk Aces, based on the Dariusburst series. I hope you enjoy my improved writing style and story of which I have revamped since the initial introduction in 2012.
Disclaimers:
Dariusburst and main characters are a copyright game by Taito Corporation.
Prologue
December 1903 Darius year. Spaceport 5, planet's orbit. - 6am.
The doors open from the planetary shuttle bay of the Darius Spaceport 5 and into the grand hall of the space station. I take a look at the surroundings and observe the hundreds of travelers of in every direction getting about in marvel.
"Bah, nothing is interesting about this old spaceport. On Earth, the amount of people and design is FAR beyond what this old ex-military space dock is...*cough*wheeze*" My grandfather, Gregory exclaims before going into a coughing fit. My mother, Sheryl comes forward and helps him, while my father Frederick hands him a bottle of water.
"Lucy", she calls out to me. "Can you help locate boarding gate 42? Your grandfather wouldn't be too keen on moving around even with his hover seat." She looks as my father as helps push my grandfather Gregory into the hall in his floating accessibility chair.
"Yes mother. Here let me get the baggage." I reach over to the luggage that still hasn't been moved yet. I almost jump back in surprise when they inexplicably start to move themselves, until I realize that small automated robots have taken them and are moving them into the boarding area by themselves.
"Really Lucy? Did you not know about the fact Spaceports already have fully automated check in systems since 1885?" an taunting voice behind my mother said, belonging to my little teenage sister Tina. She definitely knows more than me in these little fact tidbits then I do.
"I didn't know that at all. Thank-you for telling me." I respond matter of factly. Tina responds with a smug look, but quickly she goes back into her frown as my only 3 boarding passes already has cemented her feeling for the day. I continue to search on the holograms for our boarding area. I soon located gate 42 and dragged the direction onto my mother's view screen.
"Really this is SO not fair" Tina continues as everyone got on the automatic conveyor to the gates. "Why am I the only one who has to stay behind when daddy, grandpa and Lucy can go to Earth? I thought that this was supposed to be a family trip!" she cries. However, my mother shoots her a stern look, as Tina's little outburst have cause stares of others around us.
"Tina, you know we have already been over this. Your teacher Mr. Wong has already said you are falling behind in your studies, and don't forget last week you and Tiffany in class D had a fight with each other?" mother begins in a very stern voice. "You young lady need to learn how to be responsible for your actions. Both you and I are going to stay right here on Darius and not leave until you learn to behave!" Tina is taken aback and looks away from mother, but I can sense tears coming from her eyes.
"Now now dear..." my father comes in with a soft tone, "Tina is just 13. She is just growing up and learning. Take it easy on her ok dear?" He goes ahead and kneels down to Tina who is still trying to hold her tears in, and hands her a tissue paper. "Here, here, my little princess don't cry OK? Daddy, grandpa and Lucy would just be there for 3 months. After we come back and mommy is finished with her work, we would all take a vacation to Vadis in a tropical resort after OK?" Tina responds with a teary nod.
"Fred dear...this is why you're spoiling her..." mother mutters quietly as we approach gate 42.
"Attention passengers, gate 42 Goldwing flight 31337 to Earth is now boarding. Please line up at the gate with your documents and our staff would assist you." The PA system announces. Fredrick stands up and helps grandfather to the gate as I double check our carry-on and documents. Tina has calmed down and tugs at my dress.
""When you arrive at Earth, say hi to grandma for me OK?"
"Don't worry, I won't forget". I lean down and give her a pat on the head. "Mom can be overbearing at times from her work, but deep down she really loves you. Listen to mom and wait for me OK?" Tina lets out a small pout but gives a nod. I turn to my mother Sheryl.
"Have a safe trip Lucy. Make sure to look after your grandfather OK? His back doesn't take well artificial gravity generators. Let him get up and move a little bit when you can." she said.
"I will mother". She opens her arms and gives me a hug. "I love you honey".
"Alright dear, take care of the house and go easy with Tina OK?" Frederick says behind me. Father and mother exchange a quick kiss. Mother's attention then turns to Gregory.
"Father, please say hi to mom when you get there alright? If you need anything, please tell Fred to send a message from Hyperspace. I'll get them to you as soon as I can" Sheryl gives grandfather a hug.
I go and get to my father and grandfather and hand them the documents for the inspectors. After passing the inspection, the three of us soon begin walking into the alley which leads towards the DTS Purveyor Alexander , a 300 passenger interplanetary starship which would take us from Darius to Earth, a distance of several light-years away in a span of 2 days.
I turn around one last time to wave goodbye to mother and Tina as I walk beyond the hall and towards the ship.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm your captain Richard Kempton with first officer Liza Yansen and I would welcome you to Goldwing galactic airlines. We would be taking this spacecraft, the Purveyor Alexander , from Darius Spaceport 5 to Earth Starbase 1..."
I take my attention away from the intercom to check grandfather is belted in and his hover chair neatly stowed away from the walking isle as the flight attendants make their final checks. I glance over to my father who is sitting three rows back and he gives me an OK sign.
I sit back down and turn my attention to the windows of the ship and stare at the never ending stars as Spaceport 5 and the planet Darius slowly becomes smaller and smaller. I settle in for the 2 day flight in earnest.
"...we are now preparing for faster than light or FTL jump and accelerate to light speed once we clear Spaceport. Once again, we thank-you for choosing Goldwing galactic and hope you enjoy your flight".
Richard Kempton glances one last time at the head up display in the cockpit of Alexander as he calls out the final pre-warp checklist.
"Distance to Spaceport 5 is clear, no nearby traffic, FTL drive is charged and ready." Richard reports. He glances over at Liza as she places her hands on the throttle. "Alright, Liz, take us to Warp".
Liza is about to push the throttle to engage the Purveyor's warp drive engine which would bring the starship into the subspace and on their way towards Earth, but just as she was about to, a warning immediately appears on the HUD. Liza reflexively releases the throttle as Richard pulls up the message.
"Warning, sensor detect disturbance in subspace fluctuation 300km proximity from current location?" Liza reads, giving Richard a puzzled look. "I thought that section grid 6 was supposed to be empty today except for us right?" Richard quickly looks through the flight plan and shakes his head. The problem with trying to generate a warp field now with subspace disturbances in their sector is similar to flying through air turbulence in atmospheric flight; it can be achieved, but the Alexander would need to ride through subspace distortions which would make for an uncomfortable and jarring ride until they clear up.
"That what it says here. Probably some newbie flight crew making his final approach from Barai or one of the backwater planets and using our takeoff grid by accident." Richard leans back and sighs. "Well, no big deal. We'll just let them go by first, wait for the fluctuations to subside then we'll go. We'll make up the time once we hit warp. No sense in ruining the ride for our passengers back there right?"
"Tina? Where are you?" Sheryl shouts around the vastness of the Spacedock. Just after she left to use the bathroom, the youngest daughter quickly disappeared once she got back out. "Young lady! If you do not get back here this moment, you're going to be in a lot of trouble!"
Sheryl go around a few boarding gates and asks the various airline staff if they have seen Tina. They all shook their heads, some suggesting she head towards the Spaceport security for help.
She grits her teeth in both anger and frustration since she needed to report back down to her workplace in the next hour and the ride from the shuttles back to Darius is going to take half of that time, not to mention dropping off Tina at school before then
'This Tina...' Sheryl goes in her mind, "if only she was even 1/10 like her sister...'.
She continues on to the Spaceport security to look for Tina, unknowingly walking by her as she slowly crawls out of her hiding place behind several hospitality robots. Tina looks back at the now closed gate 42 as she sees the Alexander as a little dot out in space, still running on its impulse engines.
Tina soon spots an oddly dark empty field of space, whereas the sea of stars there was a space of pitch black darkness. Suddenly in a flash, a large group of what appears to be metallic robot fish surrounded by smaller sea creatures in the far distance.
"Subspace contacts closing. Seems like a big one or a large group." Liza reports on the Alexander. Richard sits up and engages the visual sensors on the frontal displays.
"Took them long enough...let's see who these whack jobs are and get their numbers. I bet they'll have a fun time with the Darius Civil Transport administ..." Richard never gets a chance to finish as the ship...or ships in question suddenly makes him lose his words.
"Sir...what the heck are those?" Liza questions.
What showed up on the visual displays wasn't a civilian or even a military starship, but a massive mechanical fish like behemoth, followed by a row of small spacecraft and a school of other sea creatures. Everything about the size of them were massive, the drones almost 1/2 the size of the Purveyor Alexander, with the largest fish in the center even dwarfing Spaceport 5 from where they just left.
"Sir...what do we do?" Liza interjects again. However, what the young first officer didn't know was that captain Richard has been paralyzed in fear.
The elder captain has been a history buff since his youth, reading about the history of Darius since its founding days. Up to 1600 if not earlier due to lack of solid records, the planet Darius has records of fighting off an unknown alien race simply known as the "Belser". The oldest record of the ancient historic civilization of Amnelia, where the refugees of Darius have been rumored to originate from, have fought similar monsters as such since records have been sparse.
The aliens have terrorized not only this planet, but most of humanity itself across the known star systems and mankind itself. The Belser were best known for their distinctive in their warships being designed after colossal sized sea creatures, treating the stars as their sea on which they feast on human lives and civilizations. The last known record of the Belser attacks were on 1814, where the Solar system was attacked and the Belser were defeated by the reinforcements of Darius & Olga space fleets. After that the Belser were not seen again and was supposedly destroyed for good.
Yet, Richard is now staring at what very clearly was a Belser "Fossil-class" battleship in front of his very eyes. The first officer's Liza voice can only be heard at the back of his mind as he knew what is coming to be inevitable as one of the seahorses broke off from the pack and flies towards the Alexander.
Liza meanwhile is confused by the lack of orders from Richard. She decides to proceed and places her hand on the FTL drive. Just as she is about to engage FTL jump, a massive beam of light fills the cockpit and vaporizes the entire front section of the Alexander.
The initial restlessness of waiting for the FTL jump changed into curiosity among the passengers of the cabin at the sighting of the metallic sea creatures moving outside of the spacecraft.
"Hey honey, look at the window!" or "Wow mommy that is a funny looking ship. Is that a seahorse or shellfish?" and "Are those ships from one of the out worlds?" were among the voices heard from the cabin. Even the cabin crew were unaware of what is happening outside.
I stare at the windows in interest to see the sea creatures in space, but then upon closer inspection I notice that there weren't just uniquely designed vessels - there are armed with massive guns and other dangerous looking weapons. I don't know exactly what they are, but there's a sickening twisting feeling in my gut that I cannot shake off. Grandfather Gregory senses my unease and puts his palm on my hand.
"It is okay Lucy, just take it easy. Whatever happens will happen" he reassures me. I'm not sure if he has seen what is happening outside, but it is probably for the better.
My feelings are then proven right when the largest fish in the distance turns it tail around, and after a small gathering of what appears to be light around its tail, let loose a massive beam of light that flown past the Alexander...and right into Spaceport 5. The resulting explosion tears apart half of the station and is clearly visible despite of the distance of the Alexander, following the entire ship shook violently. Soon after, the belligerent fleet of sea creatures are going after space vessels one by one with lasers, cannon and energy weapons, leaving behind a trail of destruction behind them.
Immediately following the realization of what happened, the cabin quickly erupted into chaos. The crew-members try desperately to control the situation but to no avail. Several passengers immediately get up from their seats and rush towards the front and back where special escape pods are located. However, before any of the pods are launched, the Alexander was hit and the entire ship begins to start spinning out of control. Loose items and people are sent flying as groaning sounds of twisting metal & metallic pangs fill my ears. Luckily grandfather and I were belted in so we are stuck to our seats.
In midst of this, my father Frederick somehow made his way from his seat to ours. I can see bruises on his legs and his arm bleeding, but it does not seem to affect him. He looks longingly at me and grandfather Gregory as I look worriedly at both of them, and while I cannot hear what he says with all the sounds of screaming and breaking bulkheads in the background, I swear I saw "I love you Sheryl" from his mouth.
I feel the tears in my eyes knowing I would never see my dearest sister or caring mother again, I do not feel fear or panic. As I close my eyes, a blinding white light envelops everything around me and the sounds of destruction disappears.
At least there is no pain in the end.
'Sorry Tina, I broke my promise.' is the last thing that remember.
And here is the reworked prologue.
Reviews are welcome. Until next time,
-Trades46
