NeonD
08-15-2005, 05:24 AM
Normally I wouldn't post this up, because I think its not that great an example of my work, and because it only runs for 3 chapters before it diverges into a completely new storyline, but here you go anyway! Just for the hell of it.
I hope you enjoy this. It's sci-fi, but when I wrote it a few months ago I decided not to focus too deeply on technology. Characters are actually based off of people I know, so its not completely "original".
Its called Red Sky: Across the Universe and is actually a three-chapter prologue to a much deeper story; Red Dawn. My prologues always suck...
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Chapter 1: Princess Lost
Yumeria silently looked out over the desert world of Alhand as her royal escort ship; the Highflier Delta flew past the harsh planet en route to the Imperial Capital Planet of Haru Kai. She was a princess of the Haru Empire, an age old galactic kingdom that was constantly competing for dominance over their region of the otherwise unchartered Galaxy they all inhabited.
In many ways Yumeria felt it was a bleak existence, the life of a galactic princess, always touring the empire and never being able to sustain a personal life outside her family and escorts and the various politicians of the empire. Her touring had been postponed however by her older brother, Prince Shinn, and by a shock announcement. Their father, the King and Emperor, or the former King and Emperor had made a shocking and unprecedented announcement; he was retiring. Yumeria was being called back by her brother so she could be there to celebrate his coronation as King Shinn Haruki (the third). So it was because of this twist of fate she was making her trip home to Haru Kai. She was happy for her brother’s new found position, but she was happier for her father who no longer had to bear the responsibilities of Emperor. She wished she could also abdicate her position sometimes, but knew her brother would need her now that he was to become king. Her days of touring were at an end.
So now Yumeria watched out over this bleak desert world and was reminded of her own situation. But now she was shaken from her thoughts by a familiar and gentle voice.
“Yumeria,” she said, ignoring royal protocol by not calling her ‘highness’. Yumeria turned around to see a young woman of 150 cm in height standing beside her; she had plain black short hair, tied back, with the most peculiar deep red eyes. She was dressed in a teal coloured sleeveless shirt and purple baggy pants with converse shoes. “The Captain requests your presence on the Bridge immediately,” she half-smiled bowing.
Yumeria was 176 cm tall and had shoulder-length dark hair with some strands that hung between her eyes and ends that pointed outward from her neck. She had large brown eyes and she wore olive green three-quarter pants and a white woollen jacket with two rows of buttons with a pink t-shirt underneath. Her pale skin glowed unnaturally in the neon lights of her room on the Highflier Delta. Yumeria hadn’t really cared about formal dress with herself or her people, so it was easy to mistake her and the young woman as regular galactic tourists most of the time. “Alright then, Akemi,” she said turning back to the window.
Akemi was Yumeria’s oldest friend and personal bodyguard at that. They were both only 19 and had known each other since they were 5, but between themselves and the crew of the Delta Yumeria was taken care of. She didn’t need the supervision of her brother or her father when she toured, but Akemi and the crew were like her family anyway. Despite the bleakness of her position, there was a quality to her touring she enjoyed.
Together they made their way to the Bridge of the Delta. The Captain regarded them with a formal bow and looked at their attire curiously. Unlike the two girls, the Captain and the acting crew mates on the Bridge were all dressed in uniforms. “Princess,” he began and gestured for her to stand with him. “We are currently above the atmosphere of the planet of Alhand, in only one solar system away from Haru Kai, so it’ll only be a few days before we arrive. It’s an imperial mining planet, very arid and dry. We are planning to stop over here to refuel and recuperate, but we cannot stay very long. We have received a transmission from the Governor’s Palace on Alhand warning us of a disturbance in this solar system. It seems for the past few days there has been a Red Sky ship terrorising merchant ships for supplies, could get out of hand if they notice us here.”
“Red Sky?”
“Err; they are a hostile faction within this region, highness. Not very large at all, but surprisingly dangerous. One of their leaders is a known political criminal called Kakeru Wei, he is openly against the Empire’s expansion into this solar system and is fighting to remove us, or so people say. Really not much is known about him,” the Captain explained.
“I see. Well…do we have the ability to counter an attack if they launched one?” Yumeria asked looking around the Bridge.
“We are told there is only one ship that can threaten us here, so yes. If they attack we can successfully repel them. Of course once we make our stopover on Alhand we’ll be completely restocked on ammunition and you can obviously command for escort ships to follow us out of the Alhand region, highness.”
“Very well, Captain. I’ll ask the Governor for escorts if you feel it to be necessary,” she replied not really paying attention. She was looking out the window again, at a red star on the horizon of the planet they were preparing to descend on.
“Captain, we have an incoming on our radar,” interrupted one of the crew members. “It’s a small delta-class ship, like ours. They’re getting closer.”
“Oh?” the Captain asked, turning away from Yumeria and walking over to the crew mate. “Delta-class? How close?”
“100 clicks away, approaching fast,” he replied, looking at his several monitors. He turned to the Captain. “Think it could be…?”
“Hard to say, try and establish communications with it,” the Captain said, looking closely at the monitors. He didn’t notice Yumeria was now standing directly in front of the large window now, staring at the red star that grew larger every second.
“Delta-class, this is the Highflier Delta, please respond,” the communications officer said into a headset he pressed against his ear. “Delta-class, this is the Highflier Delta. Respond.”
“This is the Sleeper Delta, delta-class, responding. What can I do for you?” The Captain and crew members on the bridge sighed in slight relief at the friendly toned response from the Sleeper Delta.
“Sleeper Delta, this is an Imperial ship, please identify yourself to us and back away from your position near our ship,” instructed the com officer.
“Very well. This is…Captain Alexie Kruzhv of the Sleeper Delta. An Imperial ship you say? Mind if I come aboard and check it out?”
The Captain and his crew all stared at each other silently. The Captain glanced over to Yumeria and Akemi, Akemi had led Yumeria away from the window were they could make out the Sleeper Delta on approach and they both walked next to the Captain. He snatched the headset off the communications officer and placed it around his head, fitting the earpieces on his ears properly. “This is the Captain of the Highflier Delta, by the Empire I am ordering your vessel to back off or it will be destroyed! Do I make myself clear Alexie Kruzhv, Red Sky fugitive?”
“Fugitive? Then you better just destroy me anyway, right?” came the arrogant response from Alexie Kruzhv. Before the Captain could give any orders, the Sleeper Delta accelerated to full speed and arched above the Highflier, firing two of its cannons at the imperial escort ship. One shot was a direct hit, and Yumeria and Akemi were both thrown to their feet.
“Get the Princess out of here, Akemi!” the Captain ordered Akemi and she got up and led Yumeria down to the Bay Deck of the Highflier. As they ran through the corridors together they could hear the sounds of plasma-cannon fire striking the ship. They reached the Bay Deck of the ship when an explosion in the ventilation shaft sent pieces of metal flying through the air. One piece of shrapnel struck Yumeria in the back of the head and she collapsed onto the floor. The world span around her and she blacked out.
---
When she woke up, some hours later, she discovered that she was no longer on the Highflier Delta. She was outside, and it was night. Beside her was a campfire, and she tried to move to discover her hands were bound behind her back. Her legs were free though, and she tried to sit up. Yumeria glanced around to see she was in the desert, and nearby was the flaming wreckage of the Highflier Delta. She was still dazed by her ordeal, but through the night she could see the illuminated figure of a man in a grey robe sitting on the other side of the fire. In the sand there protruded a sword with a magnificently decorated hilt. It was stained with blood, and the man only gazed into the fire, not acknowledging the fact Yumeria was awake.
“Where…? What happened?” she asked not really considering who this person was and what happened to her. She was still watching the Highflier Delta, not really aware of it actually being her ship.
“Just rest,” the man said, not looking at her. Behind her a sword tip was elevated above her throat. She looked up and saw another taller man dressed in a robe holding it over her.
“…Why?” she asked half wearily looking up at the taller man. His face wasn’t visible in the desert night.
“For our protection, your highness,” answered the sitting man again, finally looking up at Yumeria. His brown eyes were barely visible in the night, but they looked at her with vivid curiosity. “Don’t worry, we’re not terrorists.”
---
To be continued in the next post because Its too long and breaks the character posting limit!
I hope you enjoy this. It's sci-fi, but when I wrote it a few months ago I decided not to focus too deeply on technology. Characters are actually based off of people I know, so its not completely "original".
Its called Red Sky: Across the Universe and is actually a three-chapter prologue to a much deeper story; Red Dawn. My prologues always suck...
-----
Chapter 1: Princess Lost
Yumeria silently looked out over the desert world of Alhand as her royal escort ship; the Highflier Delta flew past the harsh planet en route to the Imperial Capital Planet of Haru Kai. She was a princess of the Haru Empire, an age old galactic kingdom that was constantly competing for dominance over their region of the otherwise unchartered Galaxy they all inhabited.
In many ways Yumeria felt it was a bleak existence, the life of a galactic princess, always touring the empire and never being able to sustain a personal life outside her family and escorts and the various politicians of the empire. Her touring had been postponed however by her older brother, Prince Shinn, and by a shock announcement. Their father, the King and Emperor, or the former King and Emperor had made a shocking and unprecedented announcement; he was retiring. Yumeria was being called back by her brother so she could be there to celebrate his coronation as King Shinn Haruki (the third). So it was because of this twist of fate she was making her trip home to Haru Kai. She was happy for her brother’s new found position, but she was happier for her father who no longer had to bear the responsibilities of Emperor. She wished she could also abdicate her position sometimes, but knew her brother would need her now that he was to become king. Her days of touring were at an end.
So now Yumeria watched out over this bleak desert world and was reminded of her own situation. But now she was shaken from her thoughts by a familiar and gentle voice.
“Yumeria,” she said, ignoring royal protocol by not calling her ‘highness’. Yumeria turned around to see a young woman of 150 cm in height standing beside her; she had plain black short hair, tied back, with the most peculiar deep red eyes. She was dressed in a teal coloured sleeveless shirt and purple baggy pants with converse shoes. “The Captain requests your presence on the Bridge immediately,” she half-smiled bowing.
Yumeria was 176 cm tall and had shoulder-length dark hair with some strands that hung between her eyes and ends that pointed outward from her neck. She had large brown eyes and she wore olive green three-quarter pants and a white woollen jacket with two rows of buttons with a pink t-shirt underneath. Her pale skin glowed unnaturally in the neon lights of her room on the Highflier Delta. Yumeria hadn’t really cared about formal dress with herself or her people, so it was easy to mistake her and the young woman as regular galactic tourists most of the time. “Alright then, Akemi,” she said turning back to the window.
Akemi was Yumeria’s oldest friend and personal bodyguard at that. They were both only 19 and had known each other since they were 5, but between themselves and the crew of the Delta Yumeria was taken care of. She didn’t need the supervision of her brother or her father when she toured, but Akemi and the crew were like her family anyway. Despite the bleakness of her position, there was a quality to her touring she enjoyed.
Together they made their way to the Bridge of the Delta. The Captain regarded them with a formal bow and looked at their attire curiously. Unlike the two girls, the Captain and the acting crew mates on the Bridge were all dressed in uniforms. “Princess,” he began and gestured for her to stand with him. “We are currently above the atmosphere of the planet of Alhand, in only one solar system away from Haru Kai, so it’ll only be a few days before we arrive. It’s an imperial mining planet, very arid and dry. We are planning to stop over here to refuel and recuperate, but we cannot stay very long. We have received a transmission from the Governor’s Palace on Alhand warning us of a disturbance in this solar system. It seems for the past few days there has been a Red Sky ship terrorising merchant ships for supplies, could get out of hand if they notice us here.”
“Red Sky?”
“Err; they are a hostile faction within this region, highness. Not very large at all, but surprisingly dangerous. One of their leaders is a known political criminal called Kakeru Wei, he is openly against the Empire’s expansion into this solar system and is fighting to remove us, or so people say. Really not much is known about him,” the Captain explained.
“I see. Well…do we have the ability to counter an attack if they launched one?” Yumeria asked looking around the Bridge.
“We are told there is only one ship that can threaten us here, so yes. If they attack we can successfully repel them. Of course once we make our stopover on Alhand we’ll be completely restocked on ammunition and you can obviously command for escort ships to follow us out of the Alhand region, highness.”
“Very well, Captain. I’ll ask the Governor for escorts if you feel it to be necessary,” she replied not really paying attention. She was looking out the window again, at a red star on the horizon of the planet they were preparing to descend on.
“Captain, we have an incoming on our radar,” interrupted one of the crew members. “It’s a small delta-class ship, like ours. They’re getting closer.”
“Oh?” the Captain asked, turning away from Yumeria and walking over to the crew mate. “Delta-class? How close?”
“100 clicks away, approaching fast,” he replied, looking at his several monitors. He turned to the Captain. “Think it could be…?”
“Hard to say, try and establish communications with it,” the Captain said, looking closely at the monitors. He didn’t notice Yumeria was now standing directly in front of the large window now, staring at the red star that grew larger every second.
“Delta-class, this is the Highflier Delta, please respond,” the communications officer said into a headset he pressed against his ear. “Delta-class, this is the Highflier Delta. Respond.”
“This is the Sleeper Delta, delta-class, responding. What can I do for you?” The Captain and crew members on the bridge sighed in slight relief at the friendly toned response from the Sleeper Delta.
“Sleeper Delta, this is an Imperial ship, please identify yourself to us and back away from your position near our ship,” instructed the com officer.
“Very well. This is…Captain Alexie Kruzhv of the Sleeper Delta. An Imperial ship you say? Mind if I come aboard and check it out?”
The Captain and his crew all stared at each other silently. The Captain glanced over to Yumeria and Akemi, Akemi had led Yumeria away from the window were they could make out the Sleeper Delta on approach and they both walked next to the Captain. He snatched the headset off the communications officer and placed it around his head, fitting the earpieces on his ears properly. “This is the Captain of the Highflier Delta, by the Empire I am ordering your vessel to back off or it will be destroyed! Do I make myself clear Alexie Kruzhv, Red Sky fugitive?”
“Fugitive? Then you better just destroy me anyway, right?” came the arrogant response from Alexie Kruzhv. Before the Captain could give any orders, the Sleeper Delta accelerated to full speed and arched above the Highflier, firing two of its cannons at the imperial escort ship. One shot was a direct hit, and Yumeria and Akemi were both thrown to their feet.
“Get the Princess out of here, Akemi!” the Captain ordered Akemi and she got up and led Yumeria down to the Bay Deck of the Highflier. As they ran through the corridors together they could hear the sounds of plasma-cannon fire striking the ship. They reached the Bay Deck of the ship when an explosion in the ventilation shaft sent pieces of metal flying through the air. One piece of shrapnel struck Yumeria in the back of the head and she collapsed onto the floor. The world span around her and she blacked out.
---
When she woke up, some hours later, she discovered that she was no longer on the Highflier Delta. She was outside, and it was night. Beside her was a campfire, and she tried to move to discover her hands were bound behind her back. Her legs were free though, and she tried to sit up. Yumeria glanced around to see she was in the desert, and nearby was the flaming wreckage of the Highflier Delta. She was still dazed by her ordeal, but through the night she could see the illuminated figure of a man in a grey robe sitting on the other side of the fire. In the sand there protruded a sword with a magnificently decorated hilt. It was stained with blood, and the man only gazed into the fire, not acknowledging the fact Yumeria was awake.
“Where…? What happened?” she asked not really considering who this person was and what happened to her. She was still watching the Highflier Delta, not really aware of it actually being her ship.
“Just rest,” the man said, not looking at her. Behind her a sword tip was elevated above her throat. She looked up and saw another taller man dressed in a robe holding it over her.
“…Why?” she asked half wearily looking up at the taller man. His face wasn’t visible in the desert night.
“For our protection, your highness,” answered the sitting man again, finally looking up at Yumeria. His brown eyes were barely visible in the night, but they looked at her with vivid curiosity. “Don’t worry, we’re not terrorists.”
---
To be continued in the next post because Its too long and breaks the character posting limit!