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This is my first work of MOO fiction. I have to admit the style (such as it is) is a bit odd. See what you think.
Hydro
*~*~*~*
Journal of the Grand Vision
Hs’A, Trilarian Sage
We remember our past, though our memories at times grow dim. It was so long ago, many cycles almost beyond reckoning, that we expanded across the cosmos and clutched the worlds around distant starts within our wise grasp. Our progenitors nurtured and changed entire worlds, crafting them to their vision and making them paradises for our kind. In those times our race even took the lesser races and raised them, taking them from their base state and giving them a Voice – a chorus to add to our own as we cast our gaze to the stars. The stewardship of those ancient High Seers was the beginning of the Grand Vision, strident and noble.
But, it came to naught. The Time of Troubles came, and we were sundered from much that was ours. Other races strove against us, greedy and jealous of our achievements, and many of our watery worlds were reduced and our people enslaved. An ever increasing amount of our labor was dedicated, to our loss, to weapons of war and the High Seers despaired that we would ever achieve our potential and that the Vision would loose its focus or dim with the passage of time. In time we were forced to press these petty wars, and the fleets of death grew. Even as we mourned we persevered, and now ancient wrongs were righted and the ravenous incursions of the lesser races were thrown back. Some of these races we took to our hearts, for we desired to teach them the Grand Vision and take from them the delusions that afflicted their minds. With some we succeeded, and they embraced the Vision. Others, like the Sacra, rejected our beneficence and made war upon us; their irrational hatred likely remains to this day, even after all the ages have passed and all else has passed to dust and oblivion.
The Time of Troubles did not prepare us for what was to come - the Time of Terror. The evils of the Enemy Tide, the Antarans, the Destroyers, are known to all, as is their rapine and their insatiable need for destruction. They invaded our systems, and those throughout the galaxy. All resisted, and finally when we had grown in strength the strongest attacked them and won. We thought them defeated, but we were wrong; the valiant conquerors had destroyed but one of their strongholds. Their revenge was swift and terrible. They swept across the galaxy, purging all before them. Grand fleets of resistance of all races were destroyed, and although victories were won in the end the war was lost. One by one our brethren races, allies and foes alike, fell as the scourge spread, and at last it came to us. We thought we were prepared, but we were not. The High Seers sought to stem the tide, that in which the Grand Vision flows, but it was too strong. For a while we struggled against the tide but all knew the tide was going out, and it was taking us in it inexorable pull. Worlds fell, and mighty works of defense were swept aside. The Grand Fleets were not where they were needed, and in truth there was never enough, for the Enemy were numerous and growing while we were not. There was no help from the other races; they had their own concerns, and they hoped against hope to ride out the Enemy Tide. Light dimmed on the Grand Vision, for the Enemy Tide had swept to and over us.
At last the Long Night descended upon us, and the light of the Grand Visions was quenched. Almost. The High Seers had known, foreseeing this bleak day, and had prepared. Many secret places, such as our modest Home, had been secured where the best of us could weather the tide, and the hope was that some would survive. Most were lost, or were consumed by the maws of the Tide. Some persevered and these were tasked with preserving and expanding on the Grand Vision, and that is the tale of this Journal.
Even now it is evident that much was lost, and that this Home was but a colony. It is a good world, but it is clear we did not begin here: our history only goes back some centuries, most of which is obscured by darkness and the trials of basic survival. At that time we were few, too few to do much than look at the stars and make feeble efforts. Our High Seers ordained that we much strive for the stars once more, and that the Grand Vision was once more possible. We must shake off our terrors, and learn from them. The works of our peoples have gone beyond mere subsistence and they have created a measure of bounty, and this we used to create the first fragile shells of space ships that once again traveled the stars. These were poor works, but frail shadows of our ancient progenitors, but the Vision must start with a Gaze, as our Sages have said. These ships were our Gaze.
Even then it was clear that although our Home provided for our needs that it would not allow for the expansion of the Grand Vision. We had long known that our august ancestors did not see fit or did not have time to sculpt the five other planets at Home for us. All are nearly uninhabitable, and provided no prospect for aiding us in our reach for the stars. We had to look elsewhere.
Two star lanes, wormholes that lead from Home to the unknown, were here by accident or design. We do know how or why they exist: that was beyond our understanding. Ancient understanding and legend states that was how our revered ancestors traveled the stars, and they even left us with the knowledge to do so. Until now we did not have the ability to pursue those dreams, but our High Seer is resolved to do it.
Our scouts left Home, and all we saw was a flash of light as the wormholes opened and then closed behind them in a flash of light and gravitation. There was silence, and at first we feared they might be lost, but then we heard their voices. The Elders rejoiced! It would take many cycles to reach their destination, and during this long wait it is our task to build Home into a place that would make our honored progenitors proud.
Time has passed, and our colonies in Rasa and Malv struggled. We knew the great void was a hostile place, but little did we know just how barren it could be. These planets were just barely habitable, and Malv is strangely deficient in industrial minerals. Some speculated that it was depleted by past inhabitants, of which there is ample evidence. Others hearken to the fact that fate had destined some places to be blessed with abundant resources, and others to be wanting. But, our scouts had not yet returned from their valiant missions, and the two other systems they surveyed have nothing for us. The wise decision of the Elders was to take and nurture what we were given, and that in time they would be made part of the Grand Vision, even if their current place is small. In truth I, but a minor Sage, suspected that the High Seers were impatient and wished to do what they could to advance the Vision and would not wait for better worlds upon which to place our people. Their wisdom was manifest and none shall gainsay. That is our way.
In the cycles that followed the Race knew success. Our tentative reach grew, and the Race controlled the worlds around five suns. Many other suns and their planets lie between, but these places are disappointingly barren, poisonous and dry to us, and would provide us with no succor. And, we found that we are not alone: other races plied the stars. Our ancient legends tell tales of these others, such as the irrationally hostile Sacra. Thankfully that race has not raised its ugly snout toward us. But, we have met a race that is far worse – the Ithkul, the Eaters of primeval horror, evil tools of the Antarans. All had hoped that the other races or the Others had exterminated this vile race, a sore trial from the Time of Terror, but alas this was not so. And, they have shown us that they remain hostile, spurning our increasingly desperate overtures for an understanding, a just peace. Such was not to be, and they are gathering. The High Seers have ordained we must strive toward our defense to the exclusion of all else, for the Grand Vision will founder if we grace the maws of these parasites of all races, the Eaters of mind and body. Already one of our far colonies has succumbed – their silence speaks, and we fear.
*~*~*~*~*
The Eaters came to the Malv system, but the High Seers knew this would come to pass. The Fleet was waiting for the scourge, and resolved to defend our colony on the third planet, and the passage that leads to Home. We trusted in superior technology, and that our ships were the best the we could build. Our destroyers were graced with titanium armor, and missiles that would bring death to the Eaters. The pickets were tasked to find the enemy, and then engage with their armor piercing lasers. Such was the plan. The Fleet was engaged in the Malv system, with Malv ground batteries assisting in the defense. Our pickets found the enemy, and the middle destroyers let loose with their volleys of death. There were hits, and we rejoiced! The Eater’s ships were damaged and destroyed, flaring brightly and then vanishing, as they should. Their numbers would seemingly be no defense, and they kept coming, ever closer. And then, the Vision failed. They did not stop, and their advanced engines let them get close, too close, while our crews frantically reloaded our missiles. The pickets were hulled, then destroyed. They closed with our valiant missile destroyers and fired, and one by one the Fleet died. Defenders on Malv saw this and hurriedly sent us a message to let us know of their fate. They resolved to be true to the Vision and do their duty. They told us transports were at the fringes of their system. That was the last we heard from them.
A new Fleet is being assembled. We have learned from the dread Eaters, and this time we will not fail. We are defended by two orbitals, a missile and beam base, marine garrisons, and the system Fleet. In the many cycles since the fall of Malv we have built bigger ships, and these are tasked with short range attack, like the dread Eaters. Others will provide missiles, and the High Seers decreed the construction of a carrier. All are inspired by the Fleet, and it is truly awesome to behold – 14 ships of the line, mostly destroyers and some frigates and cruisers. The Eaters can not prevail.
*~*~*~*~*
Sensors are activated, and our long range picket detects the dread event – the wormhole from our lost colony at Malv has opened. The enemy pours out of the wormhole in an unending torrent. Hope dims. Where we are 14 they are 50. Where we have destroyers they have cruiser hulls. We will fight; we have no choice.
Already the battle flares, bright lights in the skies. I know that the Eater ships die, and take solace from that. But our ships die, too – too fast, much too fast. Energies flare, and the orbitals and ground bases engage. The fighters launch, and we cheer. More Eaters die, but still they come on. Their short ranged destroyers die, but a few make it through. They fire, and an orbital dies. More come, and our lethal missile base dies.
The points of light cease, and the skies are clear! We have won!
Then the wormhole opens again.
We have failed. Eternal night will descend on the Grand Vision.
The Eaters come.
Hydro
*~*~*~*
Journal of the Grand Vision
Hs’A, Trilarian Sage
We remember our past, though our memories at times grow dim. It was so long ago, many cycles almost beyond reckoning, that we expanded across the cosmos and clutched the worlds around distant starts within our wise grasp. Our progenitors nurtured and changed entire worlds, crafting them to their vision and making them paradises for our kind. In those times our race even took the lesser races and raised them, taking them from their base state and giving them a Voice – a chorus to add to our own as we cast our gaze to the stars. The stewardship of those ancient High Seers was the beginning of the Grand Vision, strident and noble.
But, it came to naught. The Time of Troubles came, and we were sundered from much that was ours. Other races strove against us, greedy and jealous of our achievements, and many of our watery worlds were reduced and our people enslaved. An ever increasing amount of our labor was dedicated, to our loss, to weapons of war and the High Seers despaired that we would ever achieve our potential and that the Vision would loose its focus or dim with the passage of time. In time we were forced to press these petty wars, and the fleets of death grew. Even as we mourned we persevered, and now ancient wrongs were righted and the ravenous incursions of the lesser races were thrown back. Some of these races we took to our hearts, for we desired to teach them the Grand Vision and take from them the delusions that afflicted their minds. With some we succeeded, and they embraced the Vision. Others, like the Sacra, rejected our beneficence and made war upon us; their irrational hatred likely remains to this day, even after all the ages have passed and all else has passed to dust and oblivion.
The Time of Troubles did not prepare us for what was to come - the Time of Terror. The evils of the Enemy Tide, the Antarans, the Destroyers, are known to all, as is their rapine and their insatiable need for destruction. They invaded our systems, and those throughout the galaxy. All resisted, and finally when we had grown in strength the strongest attacked them and won. We thought them defeated, but we were wrong; the valiant conquerors had destroyed but one of their strongholds. Their revenge was swift and terrible. They swept across the galaxy, purging all before them. Grand fleets of resistance of all races were destroyed, and although victories were won in the end the war was lost. One by one our brethren races, allies and foes alike, fell as the scourge spread, and at last it came to us. We thought we were prepared, but we were not. The High Seers sought to stem the tide, that in which the Grand Vision flows, but it was too strong. For a while we struggled against the tide but all knew the tide was going out, and it was taking us in it inexorable pull. Worlds fell, and mighty works of defense were swept aside. The Grand Fleets were not where they were needed, and in truth there was never enough, for the Enemy were numerous and growing while we were not. There was no help from the other races; they had their own concerns, and they hoped against hope to ride out the Enemy Tide. Light dimmed on the Grand Vision, for the Enemy Tide had swept to and over us.
At last the Long Night descended upon us, and the light of the Grand Visions was quenched. Almost. The High Seers had known, foreseeing this bleak day, and had prepared. Many secret places, such as our modest Home, had been secured where the best of us could weather the tide, and the hope was that some would survive. Most were lost, or were consumed by the maws of the Tide. Some persevered and these were tasked with preserving and expanding on the Grand Vision, and that is the tale of this Journal.
Even now it is evident that much was lost, and that this Home was but a colony. It is a good world, but it is clear we did not begin here: our history only goes back some centuries, most of which is obscured by darkness and the trials of basic survival. At that time we were few, too few to do much than look at the stars and make feeble efforts. Our High Seers ordained that we much strive for the stars once more, and that the Grand Vision was once more possible. We must shake off our terrors, and learn from them. The works of our peoples have gone beyond mere subsistence and they have created a measure of bounty, and this we used to create the first fragile shells of space ships that once again traveled the stars. These were poor works, but frail shadows of our ancient progenitors, but the Vision must start with a Gaze, as our Sages have said. These ships were our Gaze.
Even then it was clear that although our Home provided for our needs that it would not allow for the expansion of the Grand Vision. We had long known that our august ancestors did not see fit or did not have time to sculpt the five other planets at Home for us. All are nearly uninhabitable, and provided no prospect for aiding us in our reach for the stars. We had to look elsewhere.
Two star lanes, wormholes that lead from Home to the unknown, were here by accident or design. We do know how or why they exist: that was beyond our understanding. Ancient understanding and legend states that was how our revered ancestors traveled the stars, and they even left us with the knowledge to do so. Until now we did not have the ability to pursue those dreams, but our High Seer is resolved to do it.
Our scouts left Home, and all we saw was a flash of light as the wormholes opened and then closed behind them in a flash of light and gravitation. There was silence, and at first we feared they might be lost, but then we heard their voices. The Elders rejoiced! It would take many cycles to reach their destination, and during this long wait it is our task to build Home into a place that would make our honored progenitors proud.
Time has passed, and our colonies in Rasa and Malv struggled. We knew the great void was a hostile place, but little did we know just how barren it could be. These planets were just barely habitable, and Malv is strangely deficient in industrial minerals. Some speculated that it was depleted by past inhabitants, of which there is ample evidence. Others hearken to the fact that fate had destined some places to be blessed with abundant resources, and others to be wanting. But, our scouts had not yet returned from their valiant missions, and the two other systems they surveyed have nothing for us. The wise decision of the Elders was to take and nurture what we were given, and that in time they would be made part of the Grand Vision, even if their current place is small. In truth I, but a minor Sage, suspected that the High Seers were impatient and wished to do what they could to advance the Vision and would not wait for better worlds upon which to place our people. Their wisdom was manifest and none shall gainsay. That is our way.
In the cycles that followed the Race knew success. Our tentative reach grew, and the Race controlled the worlds around five suns. Many other suns and their planets lie between, but these places are disappointingly barren, poisonous and dry to us, and would provide us with no succor. And, we found that we are not alone: other races plied the stars. Our ancient legends tell tales of these others, such as the irrationally hostile Sacra. Thankfully that race has not raised its ugly snout toward us. But, we have met a race that is far worse – the Ithkul, the Eaters of primeval horror, evil tools of the Antarans. All had hoped that the other races or the Others had exterminated this vile race, a sore trial from the Time of Terror, but alas this was not so. And, they have shown us that they remain hostile, spurning our increasingly desperate overtures for an understanding, a just peace. Such was not to be, and they are gathering. The High Seers have ordained we must strive toward our defense to the exclusion of all else, for the Grand Vision will founder if we grace the maws of these parasites of all races, the Eaters of mind and body. Already one of our far colonies has succumbed – their silence speaks, and we fear.
*~*~*~*~*
The Eaters came to the Malv system, but the High Seers knew this would come to pass. The Fleet was waiting for the scourge, and resolved to defend our colony on the third planet, and the passage that leads to Home. We trusted in superior technology, and that our ships were the best the we could build. Our destroyers were graced with titanium armor, and missiles that would bring death to the Eaters. The pickets were tasked to find the enemy, and then engage with their armor piercing lasers. Such was the plan. The Fleet was engaged in the Malv system, with Malv ground batteries assisting in the defense. Our pickets found the enemy, and the middle destroyers let loose with their volleys of death. There were hits, and we rejoiced! The Eater’s ships were damaged and destroyed, flaring brightly and then vanishing, as they should. Their numbers would seemingly be no defense, and they kept coming, ever closer. And then, the Vision failed. They did not stop, and their advanced engines let them get close, too close, while our crews frantically reloaded our missiles. The pickets were hulled, then destroyed. They closed with our valiant missile destroyers and fired, and one by one the Fleet died. Defenders on Malv saw this and hurriedly sent us a message to let us know of their fate. They resolved to be true to the Vision and do their duty. They told us transports were at the fringes of their system. That was the last we heard from them.
A new Fleet is being assembled. We have learned from the dread Eaters, and this time we will not fail. We are defended by two orbitals, a missile and beam base, marine garrisons, and the system Fleet. In the many cycles since the fall of Malv we have built bigger ships, and these are tasked with short range attack, like the dread Eaters. Others will provide missiles, and the High Seers decreed the construction of a carrier. All are inspired by the Fleet, and it is truly awesome to behold – 14 ships of the line, mostly destroyers and some frigates and cruisers. The Eaters can not prevail.
*~*~*~*~*
Sensors are activated, and our long range picket detects the dread event – the wormhole from our lost colony at Malv has opened. The enemy pours out of the wormhole in an unending torrent. Hope dims. Where we are 14 they are 50. Where we have destroyers they have cruiser hulls. We will fight; we have no choice.
Already the battle flares, bright lights in the skies. I know that the Eater ships die, and take solace from that. But our ships die, too – too fast, much too fast. Energies flare, and the orbitals and ground bases engage. The fighters launch, and we cheer. More Eaters die, but still they come on. Their short ranged destroyers die, but a few make it through. They fire, and an orbital dies. More come, and our lethal missile base dies.
The points of light cease, and the skies are clear! We have won!
Then the wormhole opens again.
We have failed. Eternal night will descend on the Grand Vision.
The Eaters come.
The Light was very well conceived and meshes seamlessly with the Long Night.
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