THE WAR OF THE NARY-CRYSTAL
Written by Lauri Mäntylä, aka Ankh Starrunner
Notes from the author
The War of the Nary-Crystal is now in the process of rewriting. Although the actual story has been completed and has already been visible in multiple locations, it is now being rewritten to improve its quality and eliminate grammar errors. Now it is being republished chapter by chapter, each as soon as it has been edited.
Multiple references to games, books and movies are scattered inside this story. See if you can find all of them to test how much you know. E-mail me with the references and Ill tell you which ones you missed.
Forewords
Before reading this story one should know that it is based on Escape Velocity, a computer game developed by Ambrosia Software, Inc. However, the text is mine. All similarities between the characters and real people, living or dead, are probably coincidental. Because this story is based on Escape Velocity, basic knowledge of the game is required to understand everything in the story. If you have played the game you should go directly to Chapter 1. If you have not, you probably should read these forewords further.
About Escape Velocity's gameworld
Escape Velocity starts in the year 2246 AD. Mankind has discovered ways to travel faster than light and has colonized planets in the galaxy. However, mankind has not united into one. There are two sides: the Confederation, a powerful union of planets, and the Rebellion, which fights against the corrupt Confederation.
About the Great War
When mankind discovered a way to travel faster than the light no one thought about any possible downsides. After it had colonized a number of planets a mysterious enemy appeared: the Aliens. No one knew where they came from, nor why they fought against humans, but what everyone knew was that they were powerful. Many of the outer colonies were destroyed by the Aliens. Humanity united and formed the Confederation. The Confederation fought against the Aliens for seven years until they finally managed to dispose of all the Aliens. This catastrophic event was named the Great War.
About technology
In the world of Escape Velocity the hyperflight technology is used very often. Hyperflight is the way humans travel faster than light. Basically, by consuming deuterium hyperspace breakers make a temporal hole into the structure of space. These holes are used to move into different dimensions. In these dimensions velocities the vessels can reach are different as well as the laws of physics. This can be utilized to move considerably faster than it would be possible in normal space. There are 12 known dimensions that can be utilized by hyperflight technology.
There are various different power plants used in starships as well. However, one that every ship has is the bio-repeator plant. Basically, in this power plant a biomechanic mass moves very fast through a special track, rotating the generator. The biomechanic mass has the ability to grow and decrease in a very brief time with a very small amount of energy. That way, the mass can always descend the track and its own mass throws it back up and it can start descending again. This amazing system, when working multiple times the speed of sound, can produce fantastic amounts of energy. The only drawback with this is the fact that there must be a powerfield around the track; otherwise, the biomechanic mass grows massive in seconds, causing an enormous explosion which usually destroys the whole ship the plant is in. However, it is the only way to produce the enormous energy that a spaceship needs without having huge fuel storage pods that would fill most of the ship.
Chapter 1
"S.S. Floveria, this is the New Istanbul traffic control. You are cleared to land to the Docking platform D-08. Prepare to enter the atmosphere."
With a slight burst from its engines, the clipper entered the Docking Bay D. Making a sudden curve, the ship was soon landed, lying on the platform. A woman walked out of the ship. She had long brown hair that unchainedly flowed on her shoulders, and she was wearing a dark blue uniform, commonly used in merchant fleets. There were three golden marks on her shoulder. The marks of a captain.
She looked around for a while and after giving some orders to the spaceport crew about the ship, she decided to go to the bar. After she had entered, the door closed itself, trying to say something about the bar, but managing only to mumble something indefinite, since a freightercaptain once got sick of the sound and 'fixed' it. And because nobody bothered to repair it, the woman couldn't make out what it was trying to say. And she didn't bother to find out. She had other business.
The New Istanbul Spaceport bar was dark and dingy, like it always was, but the woman knew that something was wrong. Maybe she knew it from the atmosphere, or her instinct warned her, but that wasn't important. However, it was important that when she entered the bar, she was wary. It probably saved her life.
As she looked around, she didn't at first see anything out of ordinary. Then her eyes turned to a figure sitting in one of the corners. He wore a long robe, and she couldn't see his face under it. She was a common sight in the New Istanbul spaceport bar, but she had never seen such a figure before. But soon she forgot the figure, because she saw another man. He was Albert McRivan, her old friend, and the most skilled hunter of rare items she was ever likely to meet.
"Hey, you old weaponsmuggler, how you're doing?" she greeted.
"Well well, if it ain't Captain Demora", Albert said, "the best liar in this side of the galaxy."
Demora came closer, whispering to Albert's ear.
"You have some new toys for me to play with?" she asked.
Smiling, Albert pushed her back.
"Well, not exactly. I have a couple of Mass Drivers, though, but they are too heavy for your ship, I guess."
"I'm afraid that's how it is." Demora replied, as her eyes turned into a piece of rock on the table. "Hey, what is that?" she asked.
"I purchased it from Pegasos. Beautiful, isn't it?", he asked holding the stone in his hand.
"Yes. Very beautiful." she said, looking at the beautiful shining.
"But what is it?" she asked.
"I don't know yet." Albert said.
"Yet I do know." a voice interrupted. When Demora turned to see the one who spoke, she realised that he was the cloaked figure she had seen in the corner.
"It is a piece of a Nary-Crystal, a very rare and valuable mineral, since it is not originally from Pegasus. It appeared to Pegasus through a truly unique event chain."
"And who are you, and why do you interrupt us?" Demora asked a bit angrily.
"My name is not important, and my reasons are my own. I spoke to you mainly to warn you about this crystal. It might look handsome, but it owns many unknown powers which cannot be controlled -" He was stopped by an explosion near the door. Suddenly six soldiers bursted in through the hole where the door had stood a few seconds ago while the panicked customers escaped.
"There, grab him!" their leader cried, pointing Albert. "Don't move!"
Demora and Albert stared confused at him, while the soldiers prepared to fire.
But they never got a chance.
The mysterious cloaked figure stroke one of the soldiers down with his crystal-made sword. Demora didn't see where he had taken the sword, but she guessed it had been under his cloak. Albert took the soldier's weapon, which now was lying on the floor. Demora finally recovered from her confusion, and attacked another soldier.
She kicked him into his right foot, but the soldier only seemed to get more angry. He grabbed her throat, trying to strangle her. For a moment Demora and the soldier fought, equal in strength, but then Demora managed to free her right arm, and she jammed it right between soldier's eyes. The soldier fell down, unconscious.
Then she turned around, and saw that only two soldiers were remaining. With a quick shot from his gun, Albert fried one of them. The remaining one tried to run away, but with a mighty stroke of his sword, the cloaked figure stopped him. The battle was over.
"What were they up to?" Demora asked.
"I don't know. Maybe they wanted the Mass Drivers." Albert suggested.
"Or perhaps they wanted the crystal." their cloaked defender said.
"Oh, stop it!" Demora said angrily. "It's just a crystal. Why would anyone want it so much that he would be ready to kill somebody?"
"I am afraid that you will have to discover that. Sooner than you would wish." he bowed. "Well then, until we meet again, Demora Chimar."
The mysterious figure turned to leave.
"Hey! What is your name? Where can I find you?" Demora asked.
The figure turned. "I am called Ankh Starrunner. And you will find me... out there..." He raised his hand pointing up to the sky. Then he turned and walked away, leaving Demora and Albert to the empty bar.
A long time had already passed, when she began to wonder how Ankh Starrunner had known her name.
S.S. Floveria was on its way through the Trugati Asteroid Belt. Demora Chimar stood in the cockpit, piloting her ship. She made swift move, avoiding hitting an asteroid just in time. She loved the game.
She flew towards an asteroid, firing it with the ship's proton cannons. Just when S.S. Floveria was hitting into it, the proton shots blew the asteroid into small pieces, and S.S. Floveria flew through the dust.
Then, a voice called Demora. "What is it?" Demora asked, irritated.
"I think you ought to come to the bridge, captain." a crewmember's voice said through the ship's main communicator. She sighed and and walked to the elevator which then moved up to the bridge.
"Now what's wrong?" Demora asked angrily.
"We are picking signals, as if some... ah... traces of communication, I think.", the sensor operator answered. "But they seem to be coming out of nowhere!"
"Computer analysis?"
"The rate of interference is too high. The computer doesn't understand a thing. In fact, it's causing some sort of malfunction in the ship computer!"
Then the operator looked again the sensor readings.
"Captain! I've-" he started, when a huge explosion waved the ship, throwing the operator out of his chair. Suddenly a siren started to scream.
"What the hell was that?" Demora cried over the noise.
"I don't know! The computer's gone crazy!" Demora's first officer shouted.
"Visual picture, then!" Demora cried in alarm.
"Can't! The sensor system is all shook up!" sensor operator said.
"Cockpit view?"
"Cockpit only? We couldn't see a thing! And the bridge contact is switched off!"
"That's better than being completely blind! I want you to go down to the cockpit to switch the cockpit view on!"
The crewman quickly hurried down to the elevator. "Do we have any records of the moment?" Demora almost yelled.
"It's coming here", the ship's first officer said. "Coming to the main screen!"
Demora gave a gasp of astonishment.
"What the heck is that?" she asked, walking closer.
The screen showed a single picture of a small red-black ship, that was rough and uneven.
"Zoom in, for God's sake, zoom in!" Demora screamed. Little by little, the ship's picture grew.
"It can't be!" she groaned. "Cockpit screen! Now!"
"Coming now, captain!" sensor operator said. It showed the ship, far away. She was feeling relieved, until she saw it.
It was a red ball of flame, nearing them with an astonishing speed. It came closer... and closer... but it never hit them.
A small grey ship flew into the red ball's flightpath, Demora saw a blue flash, and the fireball was gone. The red ship was already out of view, out of their reach. The grey ship came closer, nearing S.S. Floveria.
"Open our airlock." Demora ordered. The grey ship flew behind S.S. Floveria, preparing to enter it.
Demora ran into the airlock, just in time to watch its gentle landing. The ship was quite small, but she had never seen such a fighter before. It was a fighter, though a small grey hull with two wings and an engine core. Under the cockpit there were five strange-looking cannons. On the top of the ship there was a small turret-looking thing quite small, and clearly not a proton or laser turret. Demora wondered what it was, but she decided to try to find a clue about the vessel's origin first. She looked and looked, until she saw a big picture of a shield in the ship's hull.
"How odd..." she said to herself.
Then the door on the ship's hull opened, and a tall figure walked down.
"And so we meet again, Demora Chimar..." Said Ankh Starrunner's voice.
