Authors note: So here is the official first chapter. Now it's going to start a bit slow like all of my stories, but I will have action in the next chapter, and hopefully it will be awesome. So right now, you get your three favorite heroines doing some stuff and another character you'll see soon. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.
Chapter 1: A Regular Day
O-O-O
It had been two months since Brevon invaded Avalice, the three kingdoms have been prospering more than ever more thanks to the even distribution of energy from the Kingdom Stone.
Shang Tu, ruled by the legendary and mysterious Magister, was now in a golden era of peace and prosperity since it had lost the least amount of resources due to the usually pacifistic view of their leader, so they benefited the most from the energy.
Shang Mu, led by the short heighted and short tempered Mayor Zao, mostly suffered a military loss due to the mayor's more greedy and ambitious nature, since he wanted to steal the kingdom stone months earlier to solve an energy crisis, and to win a reelection to stay mayor. Luckily for him, he received much praise for aiding the group of heroes against Brevon and solved the energy crisis with the Kingdom Stone's transformation, and fixing the military was a mere annoyance since Zao held many riches already.
Shuigang suffered the most out of the three kingdoms, they were attacked by Brevon first and had their leader slain, while their former prince turned king Dail took the throne after being brainwashed and traumatized by Brevon. There was still much work for the kingdom to do, but slowly and surely. Though Dail would never forget what happened to him, he recovered from his trauma and brainwashing, and assumed proper command of his throne to rebuild his kingdom to its proper glory once more, while issuing a joint military cooperation with the other two kingdoms to search for Brevon and the remnants of his army that still lingered on Avalice.
While the three kingdoms prospered, the middle of summer brightened the day on Avalice, now in the middle of July and was a proper time to celebrate the warm season. Families would go out and have picnics under the cool shade of trees, shoppers would go to malls for the new summer sales, worshipers would go to the various dragon shrines to pray for good tidings from the great dragon, and all other kinds of activates for the Avalicians.
In the woods of Dragon Valley, three particular Avalicians resided in them and decided to take a nice stroll in the woods, but they were no ordinary Avalicians.
The first of the group was a purple skinned dragon girl, while the appearance may not convince many people to believe such a thing, this girl is indeed a descendent of the very same creature that Avalice worships. The most notable features that show her dragon lineage are the two small horns on her head and the pair of long whippy tendrils that appeared to act like hair, though they were used for more than just for show, since they can be used for combat if need be.
The second one was a green furred wildcat, walking alongside her dragon companion and wearing her tomboyish clothing as usual, even her signature red handkerchief wrapped around her neck, giving off a tough and no nonsense look.
The last companion was a white furred basset hound, with orange hair on her head and has long floppy ears that could be used for midflight, and unlike her other companions, she preferred walking without shoes, and acted as the adorable sweetheart of the trio.
They may not seem like much to look at, but these kids are the very same heroes, or heroines in this case, that saved the world from Lord Brevon himself. Although they did not get rid of Brevon once and for all, the thoughts of Brevon were not in the minds of these three heroines, they just wanted to enjoy the beautiful and sunny day outside.
"Isn't it a beautiful day outside, Lilac?" Exclaimed the basset hound happily. "I love summer so much."
The dragon girl named Lilac giggled at the hound's contagious enthusiasm, while her wildcat friend just rolled her eyes.
"It sure is, Milla." Responded the dragon girl. "I wish it could be like this every day."
Lilac turned her head to her wildcat friend, wondering what her friend's response will be.
"What do you think, Carol?"
The wildcat named Carol just shrugged her shoulders non chalantly.
"Meh. I've seen better things." Responded the wildcat.
"But what could be better than this weather?" Asked Milla curiously.
Carol simply smirked.
"My bike." Carol said with pride. "And it's the perfect day to ride."
"You and your bike."
"What? It's an awesome bike." Defended Carol. "I beat like, a hundred ninjas with it."
Lilac looked at Carol in disbelief.
"No way."
"Yeah way! Milla was there too, saw the whole thing."
Lilac looked back to Milla, who blushed in return.
"Carol is right. She fought all of these mean ninjas by herself."
"Even Spade couldn't beat me."
Lilac was taken back by the statement from her best friend.
"Wait a minute? Spade?" Exclaimed Lilac. "When did this happen?"
Carol rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you." Admitted Carol with a chuckle. "When you were off being little Miss Hero pants and got caught by Brevon, Milla and I snuck into the Red Scarves hideout to get my ninja gear to make saving your butt easier. Long story short, I got caught and fought Spade and his goons."
"You beat Spade and his ninjas by yourself?" Asked Lilac, impressed by the story.
"Yup!" Responded the wildcat proudly. "But that jerk wreaked my bike first, then I wreaked him with my awesome Kung Fu skills."
Carol then did a few karate chops, making Milla giggle at the sight while Lilac brushed off the mock chops.
"But of course, I wouldn't have done it without Milla." Complemented Carol, who gave the basset hound a playful noggie on the head. "Her shield comes in pretty handy."
"Thanks Carol." Said Milla, flustered by the complement as she wagged her tail.
It made Lilac happy to see Carol and Milla get along so quickly after all that had happened two months ago.
Ever since the whole mutation incident on Brevon's dreadnought, Carol started to treat Milla in friendlier terms rather than the silent jealously she had towards the basset hound when she first met her. While Carol never told Lilac, she really was jealous of Milla and was afraid of her taking her place as her best friend since Lilac instantly treated her like the little sister she never had. Now those thoughts were out of the way, and ironically enough, Carol ended up acting like a big sister to the hound as well.
That made Lilac think back about Brevon, the horrible monster that couldn't get out of her head.
Lilac has seen disturbing things when she and Carol were still part of the Red Scarves, and Spade's… actions really hit Lilac hard and crossed lines she wouldn't dare to cross, but they were nothing compared to Brevon.
The dragon girl had never seen someone so cruel and evil as Brevon, the beheading of the king of Shuigang, the brainwashing of prince Dail and the manipulation of making the three kingdoms go to war, her torture session conducted by him, Milla's mutation, and all of the life he has exterminated on his way to retrieve the kingdom stone and leave Avalice to fend for itself in the cold. Never once did Brevon show any remorse or care about what he did.
While Lilac never liked the idea of taking someone's life and hated the thought, she secretly wished that Brevon died during the explosion of his dreadnought, but with no body found, she just knew that Brevon was out there somewhere, still alive and waiting to strike and take revenge on her and her friends. But Lilac would never let that happen, she won't let Brevon harm her friends ever again, or anyone an Avalice, she swore to herself that Brevon would pay for what he's done.
"Lilac?"
Lilac snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Carol's voice and saw her concerned look on her.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Responded Lilac, hoping that Carol wouldn't pester about her thoughts. "Just admiring the weather. That's it."
While Milla easily bought into the lie because of her naivety, Carol knew that something was wrong. She knew Lilac better than anyone else and if something was on her mind, she'd pick up on it immediately. Carol knew that Lilac had been acting a little less spunky and cheerful than usual after the whole Brevon incident, and hoped to confront her about it one day.
Carol decided that she would ask Lilac later about what's up with her, not wanting to ruin the nice day too soon.
The trio of friends eventually arrived to their secret treehouse in the woods of Dragon Valley, a safe haven and home that the three lived in.
"Home sweet home!" Exclaimed Carol, glad to be back to the treehouse. "Now I can go back out for a ride."
"Oh Carol! Can I come?" Asked Milla sheepishly. "I want to ride with you too."
Carol rubbed her hand on her chin, pondering if she should take Milla with her.
"I dunno. It could be pretty dangerous, but I did promise you."
Carol then turned to Lilac, giving her best friend her Cheshire grin.
"We did take out an entire alien army." Responded Lilac with a smirk. "A ride on your bike wouldn't hurt."
Milla cheered at the response, excited to ride with Carol.
Carol walked up to a tarp and yanked it away, revealing her motorcycle she just tuned up and got onto the driver's seat, revving the engines and glad to hear the bike work.
"Aw yeah, listen to her purr." Said Carol, glad to hear the sound of her engine.
"Sometimes I think you like that bike more than us." Quipped Lilac, making Carol scoff in response.
Milla giddily went on the passenger seat of the bike, wrapping her arms around Carol's waist so she wouldn't fall off. Carol then handed the basset hound a black motorcycle helmet for Milla to wear.
"Safety first."
Milla accepted the gift and made sure the helmet was strapped on tightly.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Lilac?" Asked Milla curiously. "It'll be fun to have you with us."
Lilac gave the ten year old a warm smile, though Carol could easily see through the smile and actually hoped that Lilac would come with them, thinking that maybe a friendly race could get the dragon girl to open up easily about what was on her mind, but even Milla's adorable puppy eyes and Carol's Cheshire grin didn't convince Lilac, and politely refused the offer."
"I have to clean up the treehouse anyways." Responded Lilac. "Good thing I didn't rent a movie about sharks this time."
Milla then giggled at the thought, remembering how the last late movie night went, which ended with Carol panicking about carnivorous fish in deep water.
"I thought I could handle it." Defended Carol. "Sharks were supposed to be cool."
"Then you watched a movie about a killer shark." Said Lilac, snickering when she thought back to the movie night. "You were so scared."
Carol just waved off the statement, revving her bike's engines once more.
"We'll be back before sundown to watch that superhero movie you rented." Promised Carol. "I always wanted to see Vengeance Squad."
"That's why I got it." Responded Lilac. "Just make sure to get back safely or I have to be "little miss hero pants"
"Alright, thanks mom." Quipped Carol, as she began to speed off onto a dirt road. "Hold on, Milla!"
"Bye Lilac!" Exclaimed Milla, waving goodbye before holding on tight to Carol once more as she sped off.
Lilac waved bye as well and climbed up to her treehouse, and as much as she loved her two friends, everyone needed some alone time.
Lilac was serious when she told Carol and Milla to be home safe. She knew that Brevon and some of his mutants and machines were still out there, and became more of a concerned mother ever since the whole incident. She knew Carol would have bugged her more about what was on her mind too, so it was nice to be by herself to think things through and let her friends have fun without thinking about the alien warlord that almost killed them.
But she did see some of the bright side of things. It was the greatest adventure she had ever had, she became closer friends with Carol, made new friends like Milla and took her in as her own, and also Torque who was an alien commander that wanted to help instead of ruin Avalice, who she dearly missed after two months and hoped he was safe, and she became a well-known hero with her friends, though that was more of a side effect and she was glad to help people, preferring to stay out of the spotlight.
The dragon girl sighed and looked up at the bright sky, glad that everything would mostly be back to normal and said something to herself before going back inside.
"I'm glad this is all over."
O-O-O
In the dark and endless void of space, a fleet of chrome grey ships with orange was moving into position.
Unlike Lycarious's fleet, the fleet here only consisted of about twenty battleships, a few dozen cruisers, and a few carriers as well, but nowhere near as big.
The ships all had different designs such as the cruisers, which had wider and thinner appearance, but still well armed with the typical weapons any cruiser would have.
The few carriers had more oval like structural shapes, and also used their attack craft more often as their main weapons, but they had their own turret defenses as well.
The battleships had a more flatter and thin appearance as well, having very sleek designs meaning that they had more speed and maneuverability, but sacrificed firepower for it, but it didn't mean the battleships couldn't pack a punch.
However, what gave the fleet a true advantage was the main flagship, and it was behemoth to behold.
The capital ship reached to be almost as big as Lycarious's flagship, the front of the ship was shaped like a blunt arrowhead, while the back of the ship was shaped more like the ordinary battleship but wider, and the very back had its width extended due to the large engines that fueled the large ship. It was loaded to the brim with laser cannons, missile launchers, torpedo launchers, flak turrets, and one of the most powerful weapons a ship could have, mass drivers, which the battleships also had.
This ship and its fleet was the newest commissioned fleet for the Coalition of Planets.
Their presence in this specific quadrant, which was close by a blue gas giant with a large asteroid field, and the fleet itself was positioned away from the asteroids, is not here just for show.
The chasers lead this operation, who are a battle force created by the Coalition of Planets that respond to intergalactic threats, such as the one they are waiting for now. While the information they received was quick and probably rushed, it was vital that a chaser fleet must be sent to cut off their targets ahead, since the foe they are now pursing is a larger threat than Brevon, even if they didn't know how large the fleet was.
In the bridge of the gigantic capital ship, a certain green skinned commander clenched the arms of his chair, both excited and fearful of what was to come, a feeling he hadn't felt ever since he fought Brevon.
"Commander Torque! The enemy fleet will jump out of warp space in two minutes!" Said another crew member who looked similar to Torque's appearance. "The fleet is positioned and ready for battle stations."
"Good. They won't expect to be hit as soon as they come out of warp space." Responded Torque, who still had a nervous twinge to his voice.
"Sir, will this trap work?" Asked the same crew member from earlier. "We don't know how many ships will be arriving."
"It'll work, Darren." Said Torque assumingly. "I just hope we don't lose anyone in the fight."
"Of course we'll lose people, sir." Said another crew member next to Darren, who was a little older than Darren. "Every battle has casualties."
"I know that, Varrick. But I just… I lost my entire crew before and… I don't want to lose anyone again." Responded Torque with worry.
"Don't worry about us, commander. The enemy should be more worried about losing crew than us." Said Varrick confidently.
"I think they would be pretty used to losing crew at this point." Snorted Darren. "Those Wulfer things are suicidal."
"I can't believe those savages actually used to be part of the coalition. Who allowed genocidal space wolves in the first place anyways?" Said Darren, dumbfounded by the information.
"Nasty tempers too." Continued Varrick. "I heard stories of Wulfer kill each other more than them killing us. There was one story I heard about a Wulfer captain who got killed by his lieutenant because he didn't give him a promotion, got his throat bit off in front of his crew and the lieutenant made himself captain."
Darren scoffed at the story. "Maybe they can kill themselves for us, makes our jobs easier."
"Don't underestimate them. I've seen how the Wulfer fight before I became commander, so be grateful they won't board us and rip out our throats." Said Torque sternly, interrupting the crew member's conversation. "We're lucky that we can blast them out of space instead of facing them personally, so get ready now because we are going to be in one hell of a fight."
"Yes sir." Agreed the two crew members.
Torque knew very well about the Wulfer Imperium. They used to be valuable allies with the Coalition of Planets, despite their skewed political views on other races that were not of the same species, the only ones that they even tolerated were other canine races, and anything that wasn't canine like them wouldn't be taken seriously.
But the Wulfer were still powerful allies once, providing a large amount of numbers and firepower against other intergalactic threats, under the deal that their Imperium can expand their empire further on other worlds that did not have sentient life, and in return, they would receive protection from threats to their Imperium and technology to help them expand.
The alliance was eventually severed however, not because the Wulfer backstabbed anyone in politics, but because of the unexpected threat of Brevon. That monster ravaged the majority of the Wulfer Imperium in a surprise attack along with other worlds, claiming millions of lives and looted their riches before moving on. The Wulfer felt betrayed by the Coalition of Planets, who were supposed to protect them from such things, but with Brevon's surprise attack and the unexpected death of their old emperor being replaced by his son, they terminated the alliance and vowed vengeance on both the Coalition and Brevon.
That's when things started to get really heavy. The Wulfar assembled as many of their forces as possible and began their plans of galactic conquest, attacking several worlds held by the Coalition while sending a few fleets after Brevon as well, starting another galactic war that is just as severe as Brevon's, only difference being that the Wulfer Imperium enforced genocidal terror and to "purify" the galaxy of those who are not canine. Thankfully with Brevon defeated, the Coalition has put more focus on the Wulfer Imperium, slowing their expansion and drove the losing war into a standstill.
And here was Torque now, after two months since his crash landing on Avalice, since he met Lilac, Carol and Milla and saved that planet, since he helped defeat Brevon and put an end to his reign of terror, here he was now, with a new crew to care for and hopefully not lose to the incoming Wulfer fleet.
That is what bothered Torque so much, loss is a feeling he did not want to experience again, he already lost a crew to Brevon once before, and it wasn't that long ago since it happened. While he did uphold his captain's dying breaths and sopped Brevon from succeeding in his plans, Torque knew that ever since his encounter with Brevon, it wouldn't be the last time he lost crew. It was a harsh lesson to learn, but it was a wise one to learn in times of war, since there will always be loss in war.
He just hoped it wouldn't be so high.
"Sir! The Wulfer fleet is warping in now!"
They were here, and Torque couldn't be tenser than he was before. He knew how proficient the Wulfer were in combat, knowing that the space wolves spent almost their entire life training in the military, and how willing they were to "purge" anything they deem corrupt. It didn't help that the Wulfer had vast numbers that they used to overwhelm their foes, so while Torque didn't know exactly how many ships were coming, he knew there were going to be more ships than his fleet had.
What worried him most of all was the Wulfer fleet's commander they had, Imperator Lycarious, who had a widely known reputation of cruelty and cold blooded murder, granted multiple tittle that his Imperium considered honors, if honor meant wiping out entire species and slaughtering innocents daily, constantly on a nonstop rampage throughout the stars. But here he was now, and Torque was sent here to end Lycarious's reign of terror just like he did Brevon's once before.
He hoped he didn't have to fight on Avalice and repeat history again.
As he saw the massive Wulfer fleet, he felt the fear of loss and death of his crew rise to its limit. Never had Torque seen such a massive fleet before in his life, only stories were told by the most hardened veterans who fought against Wulfar fleets, about how they were outnumbered a hundred to one, about how many lives were lost on both sides, and that they were lucky to live in the first place. Torque's smaller fleet still had the element of surprise however, and he knew that right now, he had to make sure to minimize the casualties of his fleet and take out Lycarious here and now, and gave the order to begin the biggest battle he has ever faced.
"ALL SHIPS! OPEN FIRE!"
O-O-O
P.S. - Oh shit son, it's about to get real! Chapters may take a while since I have job hunting to do now and I need to come up with ideas for the story too, so if you want to pitch in, just PM me, but I will try to put up chapters whenever I can.
Disclaimer: I do not own Freedom Planet, but I do own the Wulfer and Lycarious.