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Section 1
### Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Merco, a human veteran of the last future war, finds himself marooned by mercenaries on an alien world inhabited by tiny humanoid aliens. Wounded and far from anything he knows he tries to survive and somehow find a way home. Meanwhile, the natives try to keep themselves a secret from this new threat.
Complete Chapters 48 Rating 5.0 ( 46 reviews ) Age Rating 16+ {"language":"en","storyId":631678,"genres":[{"name":"Scifi","path":"/genres/scifi"},{"name":"Adventure","path":"/genres/adventure"}],"authorName":"FireRedhead","authorPath":"/FireRedhead","status":"complete","lastUpdatedAt":1779472839,"chaptersCount":48,"rating":5.0,"reviewsCount":46,"ageRating":"16+"} Chapter 1: Marooned Merco lay motionless on the metal floor of his cargo hold. His vision was blurry, and he faded in and out of consciousness from the bloody head wound seeping down across his forehead. Pain throbbed oppressively across his beaten body, unwilling to give him a moment’s peace. His eyes flitted open, catching blurred images of dim lights and two other figures inside the ship with him.
A faint glow of yellow drew his attention to his left arm which was a cybernetic prosthetic from the elbow down. The prosthetic forearm had a glowing metal band over the wrist; an inhibitor. The device was designed to cut off all signals that commanded the prosthetic to connect with his nerve endings. Whoever had slapped that on him knew how to immobilize his main source of defense, as the robotic forearm had thrice the power of his original organic arm. Without it he was an easy target.
How did they even know he had a prosthetic?
The limb looked like a long, black, leather glove over a normal arm. Only someone familiar with him would’ve known it wasn’t flesh and blood. He grunted, willing the fingers to flex, but nothing happened.
It had all happened so fast; the attack on his cargo ship. His instruments barely had time to register the other ship before he was blindsided.
Should’ve been wearing my harness. Always hated wearing it.
The other ship appeared suddenly, rammed him, and the impact sent his head smashing into the metal frame of his front window, knocking him out cold. Now he was awake and didn’t know what had occurred after the collision.
“Nice ship you have here, pal,” an unfamiliar, young sounding, male voice commented just ahead of him in the cockpit seat. “Think we’ll take it off your hands.”
“The Hell you will.” Merco growled, lifting his head off the floor.
The second figure stepped over to him and hoisted him up roughly by his short, dark, peppered hair, “Kinda mouthy for a dead man don’tcha think?”
Merco finally could see the face of one of his assailants. He was a Gret’nal, a giant, lizard-like humanoid bristling with spikes along his jowls, rough grayish green scales along his limbs, and a row of spikes racing down the back of his thick neck and spine. Behind, sharp, nonexistent lips were hundreds of small pointed teeth. His golden eyes slit menacingly as his reptilian tongue flickered out at his face. Not particularly pretty to look at. Even less pretty to go up in a fight against one.
“Now, now, Gurt. Remember, we’re not supposed to kill him.” The pilot up front chided in a sly tone, “At least...not directly.”
Merco winced as the scaly alien growled with irritation before dropping him on the deck plates.
“Who are you?” Merco demanded hoarsely.
He could just make out the back of the pilot’s white head but couldn’t see the face. His voice wasn’t unpleasant or very deep; more sly and reedy sounding.
“Oh, just some mercenaries looking to make bank for your carcass.” The pilot commented offhandedly.
Merco blinked with confusion, “Mercenaries? But...why me? I’m not worth anything to anybody. I’m just a cargo ship pilot.”
“And a former war hero.” The pilot stated. “At least you were to the ‘winning’ side. However, our employer wasn’t on the winning side.”
A sickening ball welled up in Merco’s stomach. The flashbacks surfaced briefly. Laser fire. Shouted, muffled commands being ringing in his earpiece. Sweat in his eyes. Ground shattering explosions. Blood. His blood. Someone else’s blood. Immeasurable pain exploding through his left side. He couldn’t feel his arm.
He counted to ten slowly in his head and then finally said, “I’m no war hero. I’m just someone they pinned a medal on for the publicity.”
“Semantics,” the pilot waved a dismissive hand, “I don’t get into the politics. I just work for the highest bidder.”
“And who was your highest bidder?”
The pilot waggled his alien-looking finger without turning around, “Ah, ah, ah. First rule of my trade is anonymity. The only thing you need to know is what Gurt has to tell you.”
Merco wasn’t ready for the hard, scaly fist that knocked him out cold.
Hours later after a hyperspace jump...
Gurt sat pensively across from their target, flicking his reptilian tongue from time to time. He hissed and turned to his counterpart, “Why ain’t we killin’ im?”
Cresh, the young alien pilot with a spiked Mohawk of dark blue hair and smooth snow white skin, sighed, “I told you, Gurt. Our employer doesn’t want us to kill him. Just maroon him on a lifeless planet somewhere. ‘To die in absolute loneliness and despair, away from everything he knows and loves.’” he quoted in a melodramatic tone.
The humanoid lizard bared his teeth minutely, “Seems dumb to me for what we’re gettin’ paid.”
“What’s the difference? This is the easiest job we’ve ever taken. After this job we’ll be set for a long time. Maybe even for life!” the young pilot smirked, keeping his quadruple eyes on the scanners in front of him.
“Just boring is all.” Gurt growled.
Cresh rolled his four eyes at his surly partner until the scanners flickered green for a confirmation of his search, “All right, Gurt! We’ve got one!”
“A planet for dumping off our cargo.”
The reptilian leaned over the pilot seat to view the scanner. Cresh pointed to the scrolled readouts, “See. Breathable air for him, a long way from his home world, and no civilization for light years. Just like our guy wanted.”
“What’s that?” Gurt pointed to small pinpoints of green that were indicating life forms on the planet.
Cresh waved a hand, “Nothing to worry about. Just indigenous life...not civilization.” He dramatically pulled his dual goggles down over his eyes, “We’re going in for a drop off.”
Cresh hovered the cargo ship over the ground, the ship’s jet wash throwing sand and whipping the scrub brush violently. The planet was habitable, but desolate desert in the area they had chosen. The mauve purple terrain was rocky with some strange rock formations dotting the horizon.
The loading bay door opened and with a none too gentle kick, Merco was dumped out. The impact on the ground awoke him from his stupor. He groaned and rolled onto his back just in time to be hit with a violent gust of hot air from his ship as it thrust upward into the sky.
“No...” he croaked, reaching up to the shrinking dot as it shot further up.
In less than a minute the dot was gone, and he was alone. He sat up slowly, his limp prosthetic draped in his lap and his head pounding with pain. Merco looked at the yellow inhibitor band on his wrist, trying to discern how to remove it. He could remove the cybernetic arm from his stump easily but working on it with one hand in the middle of nowhere...that was all but impossible. He decided to wait and find a sturdy rock to break it open. But the flat sandy terrain seemed short on rocks.
The upper middle-aged man reached up to the left side of his head where it felt like someone had jammed a hatchet into his skull. His fingers contacted a warm wetness and tacky roughness. He was bleeding from his head. Without a mirror he didn’t know how badly but the pain told him it was a bit more serious than a flesh wound. Those damn mercenaries...and whomever had paid them. Now he was marooned...somewhere.
His stood up groggily and turned in a slow circle to assess his surroundings. Any other person would be screaming and panicking at their sudden abandonment, but Merco had been in war zones as a young man many times worse than this. He knew how to survive...the only question was could he on this world with no Intel or resources?
The only thing that made his mind buzz with dread was the thought of his sons and his ex-wife. His sons were grown now and had lives of their own, but he had a fairly close relationship with them. Though he and his wife had separated long ago, after their sons were grown, their relationship was not corrosive. He had kept in touch with her from time to time...but not this month. She had a more prestigious job as a corrections officer, while he was, in essence, a space traveling “truck driver”. They had grown apart with their jobs and she had always wanted more time together than he. Merco was far more independent and after the war, domestic life never fit his personality correctly.
But now...now that he was abandoned on this alien world all he could think about was his family and if he’d ever see them again.
His mind buzzed with questions. Where was he? What planet was this? Who had hired those mercenaries to do this to him and why?
The land around him was mostly flat with very little vegetation, much like a desert. However, he could see some texture on the horizon.
Trees? Or some alien vegetation?
It was many miles away, but vegetation meant water...hopefully. With a marked limp in his gait, he slowly trudged in the direction of what he hoped was a place to shelter.
The suns overhead burned hot as Merco trudged alone across the wasteland. With some clever maneuvering and tying of his worn war jacket, he fashioned a sling for his limp prosthetic arm and a bandage for his head. His lips were dry as leather and he prayed somehow there would be some source of water when he reached the vegetation on the horizon...unless of course it was just a cruel mirage.
Although the pounding of his injured head and face were making him sincerely wonder if he was going to die here on this alien world; alone, unknown, and suffering until his last breath. The heat only made his thoughts more dire. As the minutes bled into hours, he could feel his strength waning. His vision went blurry, either from fatigue or sweat. However, despite the blur the horizon was suddenly becoming promising. There was vegetation...but it didn’t look green; more of a lavender to gray blue color with splotches of dull green here and there. Survival instinct prodded him on.
“You’re almost there...you can’t die just yet.” His brain urged.
He walked for another eternity before the shade of the alien plants embraced him in a cooling hug. With tedious, stumbling steps he collapsed to rest. The suns’ cruel heat sucked away all of his energy but now in the shade he began to rebound. His tongue was so dry, and his lips felt split in a million flaky pieces.
Merco knew he’d die in no time without water but trepidation of what the water on the planet would be like frightened him. Would he be able to find water? Would it even be drinkable? Would it kill him? Well if he didn’t drink, he’d die anyway so what difference would it make?
After several long minutes he stood up weakly, using the surrounding growth to steady himself. The vegetation was mostly sapling sized trees with broad leaves that went slightly above his head at their tallest and lots of smaller grasses beneath. He knew there had to be water somewhere if there were these many plants. Without knowing where to start, Merco starting walking again, slowly but with purpose.
When many minutes passed, he suddenly caught sight of a beam of waving light against some of the trees ahead. A reflection? He pushed on and soon found a small puddle of what looked like clear water. He laughed with relief and fell to his knees beside the pool. Thirst pushed him past the point of reason as he plunged his face into the cool liquid and greedily sucked up all his mouth could hold. It didn’t taste bad or threatening so he drank and drank until the puddle emptied. He sighed and wiped his lips. That felt so much better now.
Then, near the empty puddle, a shimmering caught his eye. He leaned over to get a look at the beautiful object. It looked like a very smooth, dark teal rock with silvery marbling all through it and was about the size of a large plum. Fascinated, Merco picked up the rock and was surprised that it was warm to the touch. He rolled it over in his palm and it sparkled in the light.
“Huh. Cool rock.” He said to himself as he tucked it into his shirt pocket.
He stood up and looked around him. Far off he could see a large rock formation. The skies were beginning to darken and Merco knew he’d need shelter for the night, so he began walking toward the rocks in the distance.
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### Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Despite the assumption made by the mercenaries, the planet was not uninhabited. Situated within the center of the vast forest, fed by freshwater springs, existed an alien city called Anashee. In this city lived a flying race of humanoids known as the Ansheetans. The Ansheetans were only slightly technologically advanced, focusing most of their technology toward harvesting the resources of their planet and modest plasma and energy weaponry.
A uniqueness the Ansheetans endowed was flight due to their ability to manipulate the gravity around their bodies. Of course, flight wasn’t an inherent ability for every Ansheeta and had to be practiced in order to attain any sort of control. Most could only fly a short distance and achieve a minimal height. Only a select few of their kind were exceptional in their flying ability and they became the Elite Flight Patrol or EFP. They were highly regarded amongst their fellow Asheetan since they were responsible for the protection of their people and also the locating of new resources.
One such EFP scout was a lavender-skinned female named Anu. With a shock of silvery white plumage atop her head and back of her neck, that resembled hair, she was a striking specimen. Large, bright blue, almond shaped eyes, barely a nose to speak of, and delicate thin lips completed her visage. Like most all members of her species she was slightly built with wispy delicate limbs and long pointed antennae-like ears that followed the curve of her head.
Anu was a positive individual, always hoping for the best even in the face of adversity. She was also hopelessly curious and bold with a sharp intelligence. If not for her anxiety wrecking her flying ability, she would be a model EFP member. However, because of her anxiety, Anu wasn’t the best of the EFP. Granted she was talented enough to join...but just barely. Her control of her gravitational field was spotty, especially when she got stressed. When she was in tune with it, she was one of the best fliers in her squad, but her inconsistency continually threw her to the bottom of her class. As such she was relegated to that of a scout rather than a combatant.
Today, Anu flew amid the forest, checking on certain areas that were designated to her patrol; looking for anything amiss. Though there weren’t many notable threats inhabiting their wooded kingdom, there were the vicious bandits that inhabited the outlying edges of their lands.
The bandits were not of Anashee, but from other parts of their planet. They were known as the Rogashay or Rog Bandits. They were physically much taller and stronger than the more frailly built Ansheetans, but they could not fly. Instead they mastered and rode the great Sand Dragons which were three times their size and carnivorous.
Long ago, they had tried to invade Anashee and take control of their lands, but the attempt was thwarted thanks to the more advanced Anashee forces. They never attempted another invasion, but anyone traveling beyond the forest and along the outskirts risked everything to do so. However, the Rog Bandits hadn’t been reported or seen for many patrols. Anu had never seen a Rog Bandit in real life; only in texts and illustrations of the history of their people, but she didn’t hope to see one on her patrols.
Typically, everything was the same. Her last stop before heading back was the Hitel pond near the edge of the wasteland. However, when she arrived, she was stunned. Throwing her hands out in front of her she halted abruptly in midair. The pond was dry. Holding her hands at her sides she gradually descended into the rocky center of the hole that was once Hitel pond. There were a few shallow puddles left between the rocks but that was all. She pointed her hands down and shot up higher...a bit faster than she wanted.
She halted shakily and mentally coached herself, “Easy Anu. Easy. Calm. You fly terribly when you’re stressed.”
Slowly, Anu turned to see around the pond. Next to it was a large impression and then strange markings in the ground. Carefully she flew down to inspect the impressions when something touched her slender back. She screamed and haphazardly wheeled around.
“You let your guard down, Anu.” a familiar male voice gently laughed behind her.
Anu narrowed her blue almond shaped eyes and shouted at her mate, “Traynar! Don’t do that to me!”
Traynar was Anu’s mate and subsequently her patrol partner. He had the typical pale green skin of his gender with darker iridescent plumage stretching down from his head to the middle of his back; much the same color as an Earth rooster. Unlike Anu, Traynar was more pessimistic and often needed Anu to point out the positives in life. To almost everyone who met him he was somber and took his job as an EFP combatant very seriously. As such he was also every bit a protector; wanting to keep others from harm. Especially Anu. Anu was the only one who brought out a lighter more playful side of him.
His darker eyes sparkled with brief mischief, “Didn’t see anything my way so I came to meet up with you for the fly back.”
Anu ruffled the scaly plumage along her head and pointed, “What do think happened here?”
Traynar looked down at the empty pond and lifted his plumage with interest, “What the...?”
Together they descended next to the empty pond and in the depression next to it.
“What happened to the water?” Traynar puzzled, kneeling down to touch ground. "And look at this...the mud is compressed."
Their investigation was cut short when they heard crying and wailing nearby in the trees.
The pair looked at each other and then flew toward the cries. In moments they found three Ansheeta, two males and one female, holding onto one another. They almost didn’t notice Anu and Traynar approach they were in such a panic.
“What happened here?” Traynar asked gently but abruptly.
The trio jerked with surprise but then began talking very quickly.
“Oh, Suro’ka! It took her!” the female lamented to the Ansheetan deity.
“A giant monster! It took her!”
Anu held up her hands to calm them, “Easy! Easy. Slow down. Tell us what happened slowly. What are you talking about?”
The female’s head crest lifted and then lowered expressively but she said shakily, “We-we came to the pond for our youngest’s Emergence.”
Anu and Traynar became very interested at the mention of an Emergence. The Emergence was essentially the birth of a new Ansheetan. After coupling with her mate, a female Ansheeta would expel a single, small egg from her chest opening. The egg would be stored in a dry, warm brooding pod until it grew and developed into a much larger chrysalis. Before the chrysalis could develop a very hard, protective outer shell, sensors and education probes would be inserted and attached. These wires and nodes would not only monitor the growing being's vitals and sustain it through maturity, but it would transmit vital information such as language, history, and culture directly into the brain. This ensured it would be ready to assimilate into the Ansheetan society from the moment of Emergence.
Then after two planetary cycles, when the outer shell began to shimmer, the caretakers would transport the chrysalis to the nearest body of water. There it would be immersed to initiate the Emergence of a fully grown Ansheetan.
The female continued, “It...it came from the Wasteland. We felt it before we saw it. It-it was gigantic! Taller than the trees!”
“What? What was?” Traynar asked.
The older male spoke up, “We don’t know, but we hid when we heard it crashing through the trees. It was the biggest thing I’ve ever seen! Strange pale brown skin, dark hair all over its head and face. Everything was shaking with its steps! Then it drank the entire pond dry and took our chrysalis! I tried to follow it...but I couldn’t keep up with it. My-my flying ability is poor.” he sobbed, “I...I tried to get her back. I tried...”
Traynar’s dark eyes moved slowly, trying to process the story he just heard. Anu slowly flew upward to gain a better vantage. She squinted at the strange shaped hole and the compressed mud. Then her eyes widened. It was a footprint. In fact, there were several cratering the ground, along with what looked like two deep depressions made by a pair of enormous knees.
“But...that’s impossible! Nothing on this planet is that big.”
She flew down to the print, landed at the heel end, and began taking long measuring steps. Finally, she came to the measurement of twenty-eight steps long. Her brain whirled trying to imagine the size of such a creature.
Traynar landed next to her and said with seriousness “We need to report this.”
Anu looked to the distraught family, “Shouldn’t we find this giant thing and their chrysalis first?”
“Find it! Are you crazy? We’ll be lucky if it doesn’t find us first!” he hissed.
Anu stared at the impossibly big prints and then back at Traynar, “You go report what we’ve found so far. I’m going to follow these prints...find out what we’re dealing with.”
He took her shoulders protectively, “No! I can’t let you do something that insane!”
“Then come with me.” Anu insisted, hovering off the ground.
“Please! Please find our young one. Please save her!” The family nearby implored.
Traynar opened his mouth to protest, and then grunted as he addressed the family, “We will find your chrysalis. Go to Anashee and report this to the Council. When we find this creature, we’ll return.”
The trio nodded as Traynar and Anu flew up above the trees. The creature’s path wasn’t hard to discern. Trees were bent, broken, and flattened for miles; the monstrous prints among them. It would’ve been almost impossible for a non-flying civilian to follow.
Anu pointed, “I think it headed for Bent Peak.”
Traynar nodded with agreement and they flew as fast as they were able toward the towering rock formation.
It was nearly dark when the two Ansheetans arrived at Bent Peak; a massive rock formation that reached high above their forest and crooked over just at the top, giving it its name. There were rich mineral deposits there, but not much else besides being a notable landmark. As the terrain turned from the forest to the rocky land that surrounded the formation, Anu and Traynar lost the footprints.
Anu slowly descended and landed on the rocks near the base of the formation. Traynar landed next to her. No sooner had they landed when they heard a massive crashing noise. They jumped and immediately ducked down.
“What was that?!” Traynar whispered intensely.
Another thunderous crash echoed across the landscape. It sounded like a rock banging on something metal. The pair covered their ears as two more bangs cracked. Then, everything went quiet. Anu paused a moment then slowly flew upward, staring in the direction the sound had come. As she rose higher, she suddenly caught sight of movement just behind one of the outcropping rocks. She quietly and slowly flew closer.
Merco sighed with relief as the inhibitor on his cybernetic wrist gave way under the rock he’d found to free himself. The cuff sparked and fell open, its yellow light flickering out. A familiar twinge of pain surged at his elbow, signaling the reconnection of the synapses. He groaned slightly and then slowly rotated his shoulder. Then he bent his elbow and flexed his fingers. His prosthetic seemed to work fine.
He groaned and leaned back against the rock wall as a wave of nausea and pain swept over him.
His hand gingerly went up to his head wound again. The bandana he’d fashioned as a bandage was soaked with blood. He was certain he at least sustained a concussion but now he was thinking his skull might be cracked open. He didn’t get to fret long as the nausea succumbed to drowsiness. Merco could barely keep his eyes open. Injured, hungry, and weak he fought his fatigue but knew it was a battle he would likely lose.
Anu gasped and quickly landed in a very tall tree just in front and to the left of the gigantic creature they’d been searching for. Her eyes were wide with fear and amazement at the sight of it.
It was sitting down with its back resting against a rock wall. Even sitting down, it was absolutely tremendous in size. Its skin was a dull, neutral brown color and it was clothed in rugged looking attire: black boots, durable looking dark pants, a grey shirt without sleeves, a dark blue jacket about its waist, and a strange black glove on its left arm that ran all the way up past his elbow. Its face was covered with short, peppered hair that framed its mouth, chin, and underneath its protruding nose. The hair also covered the top of its head. Its face and parts of its body also had discoloration around it, different from the brownish color of its skin. Wounds perhaps? There definitely appeared to be a wound on the giant’s head as its strange red blood was leaking out into a strip of cloth it had fashioned into a bandage.
It made a deep growl in his chest as if in pain, its head lolling to the side. After a few moments it let loose a deep gushing sigh, leaned back against the rock wall, and closed its eyes to fall asleep. Anu watched for several minutes until Traynar landed next to her in the tree.
“By Suro’ka...” Traynar swore to the Ansheetan deity when he beheld the gigantic creature, “What is it?”
Anu shook her head and whispered, “I don’t know. Do you see the chrysalis?”
Traynar craned his neck a bit and frowned, “No...but we’re not close enough to tell.”
“You-you don’t think it ate it do you?” Anu swallowed nervously.
Her mate looked at her with a grim look but shrugged, “I hope not...but I’m not getting any closer or that might happen to us.”
Anu shivered, feeling her heart beating harder just imagining such a horrible fate. Questions assaulted her fearful mind about this tremendous creature:
What was it? Where did it come from? Was it dangerous? Why was it here?
Dismissing these questions she shook her head and turned to her mate, “Go back to Anashee and tell the Council what we’ve seen. I’m going to keep watch on it...make sure it doesn’t head to Anashee after it wakes up.”
Traynar widened his eyes and whispered back, “Oh? And exactly how are you going to stop it if it does head for Anashee?”
“I don’t know. The important thing is we now know where it is. Now we just have to warn everyone and make sure it doesn’t find Anashee. Go!”
Traynar still looked unsure and very against her plan but knew his obstinate mate wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. So, he tenderly touched his forehead to hers in a gesture of parting and then quietly flew off. Anu sighed and began her watch.
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