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Ghost Fragment: Aldnoah 1

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"Since you're early visiting me, that means there's some major news you just have to share with me right now."

"The ancient aliens who created Aldnoah might have been discovered. Researchers compared the ruins on Venus to the Hypergate on the Moon and found them to be nearly identical."

"...OK, that is a big find. What did they uncover?"

"Here, look at this."

"Seriously? That looks like vaguely like Solis. They really think something like kataphrakts built the Hypergates?"

"No. They appear to have been a race of intelligent cybernetic beings, though it is possible that some kataphrakts were based on their physiology. More importantly, the reason why researchers believe Aldnoah has failed so far in efforts to replicate it is because it was simply an attempt by these 'Vex' to simulate the Traveller's abilities."

"So, what they're basically saying is that Aldnoah has always been just a cheap knock-off?"

"Not as you put it. It was simply – if one could say 'simply' about something so complex – their attempt to understand how it works, which was also why..."

"...Why the power depreciated when it was granted to someone by a member of the royal family."

"Yes. It seemed that Dr. Vers Rayvers inadvertently became a hub for their network, and only biological descendants were recognised by the network as 'slave' hubs."

"Charming. I imagine this means Aldnoah research has been abandoned. Why study the imitation when you have the real thing almost literally hovering over your head?"

"...In so many words."

"But you know what this means, right? The royal family doesn't have to be solely responsible for maintaining life on a dead world, not with the Traveller terraforming it and making Aldnoah obsolete. Mars hasn't needed provisions from Earth for over a year, maybe they could finally..."

"The political situation is still unstable. The people still look to the Empress for leadership, if no longer the metaphorical lifeblood of the planet."

"...Oh. That's a shame. I was hoping Mars would start to become more democratic by now. But I suppose some things never change."

With the danger passed, the Hunter had the time to stare hard at the newbie she had helped out of his predicament. She had to admit that she had seen a lot of amazing things in her time, and thought she was at the point where very little was capable of surprising her. Such times when she was genuinely surprised were rare.This was one of those times.

( Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others )

Whether the Fallen milling about the compound were inattentive due to the presence of their Ether Runner, some yet-to-be-identified ability which allowed him to move around undetected, or simple luck, Inaho managed to climb up a skeletal support far enough to reach the highest catwalk surrounding what had been a cooling tower. He silently admitted that his odds of reaching his current position had been abysmal, so a matter of luck was unlikely, and not simply because he hated to rely on chance. No, it appeared that the Fallen were inattentive in their sense of security, and that was something most definitely beneficial to him.

( Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others )

There had only been so much circumventing that Asseylum had been able to do before she was unavoidably faced with more violence-minded Fallen. Even then, she still hesitated.

Though she had no way of knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt, there was something in how they reacted and chattered frantically with one another that suggested insanity. It was as if her Ghost had only scratched the metaphorical surface with her declaration that they had become slaves to the Darkness, erasing their volitions and controlling them from within.

But then again, she considered as she navigated the death-filled, twisting pathways which had once been city streets bustling with life, would insane beings possess this level of intelligence? Are their minds truly gone?

( All Along the Watchtower )

"Well," the Ghost reported, sounding reluctant. "The good news is that I've found a ship."

( All Along the Watchtower )

Note: FYI for the Destiny fans, the canon point is after the end of the main storyline (after the Black Heart is destroyed) but before The Dark Below, though as you can see, the Taken make an early appearance.

THE COSMODROME
OLD RUSSIA, EARTH

As unsettled as he might have otherwise been by the situation he found himself in, Inaho Kaizuka felt strangely removed from both his actions and his surroundings. When he woke in the decaying ruins of what could have only been a spaceport, surrounded by a sea of wreckage amidst broken and rusted automobiles, it was not his emotions which rejected the possibility of having been dead for centuries. It should not have been possible according to the laws of physics, his logical mind insisted. Yet, he would not have simply fallen asleep in a destroyed complex, he was certain. The steppes beyond the compound were equally inhospitable: rocky wastelands of scrub-lined cliffs and freezing waters, which raised the interesting but not immediate question of what he had been doing in such an inhospitable setting.

( A Guardian Rises )

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Notes: Inaho's characterisation will probably need some tweaking. I've worked with kids with autism before, but getting into their heads is much more challenging. And this chapter will need more work but I need to get the story moving in terms of action before I tweak it. Added considerably more to this chapter, as I need to have Inaho doing what Inaho does: pull off crazy plans involving physics. It'll be a two-fer since he'll do something nuts in this chapter and then something really nuts in the next one. I'm done with this segment though, since he'll be putting his plan into action in the next one.

Up next: Asseylum!

We called it the Traveller. And its arrival changed us forever. Great cities were built on Venus, Mercury became a garden world. Human lifespan tripled. It was a time of miracles. We stared out into the galaxy and knew that it was our destiny to walk in the light of other stars... but the Traveller had an enemy. A Darkness which had hunted it for aeons across the black gulfs of space. Centuries after our Golden Age began, this Darkness found us, and that was the end of everything... But it was also a beginning.
— The Speaker

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( In the Beginning )

Chase's bright, cheerful smile shifted into one of awe and wonder as he opened the small wooded box with what could only be called reverence. It was a miracle unto itself that the pieces had been found, carefully collected, and lovingly stored away. Even with the impressive resources of the Midnight Squad, acquiring the fragments of the lost relic proved challenging for the scholars of the arcane. Not the least of their obstacles had been the Mages Association.

( Ye first, O silver, O iron... )

Inspired by actual enemy dialogue from a mission in the Rikti War Zone. Unfinished as of yet, so this is something of a preview. Enjoy!

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It was not that Smr'Talek had been taken in by all the latest propaganda back on the homeworld. See the universe! Fight Earth terrorism! Pay for college! But the truth was that he did need the money: his folks had threatened to cut off his tuition and incidentals if he continued to avoid settling on a dedicated programme of study. Three years in and his records still read, "Specialisation: Undecided".

Smr'Talek got the distinct impression that the four of them thought he would never amount to anything. Well, he would show them.

Currently, he was regretting that decision. He certainly was not afraid of being killed in combat; he was an adolescent as far as Rikti went and as everyone knew, Adolescents: Immortal. But when the recruiters had promised plenty of excitement and exotic Earth locales, what they specifically neglected to mention was that by 'exotic Earth locales' what they really meant was 'less-than pristine storage facility' and by 'excitement' they meant 'monotonous guard duty'.

Smr'Talek admitted that it could have been a lot worse; the soldier instructors gleefully threatened him and his fellow recruits with sewer reconnaissance missions which he suspected were, in reality, simply a way to deal with the Army's problem children. That admission, however, did nothing to change the fact that it was still boring as hell.

"Guard Duty: Boring," Smr'Talek lamented to an Advanced Drone. The Drone, by contrast, did nothing save make that buzz-whoosh noise that Drones usually make. It regarded him impassively, like a wise Chief Priest who says nothing when confronted with a great dilemma. Or rather, like a stupid Advanced Drone with no mind of its own. With a sigh of resignation, Smr'Talek lumbered off to commiserate with someone with more than a collection of wires for brains.