Foreword:
In the dark vastness of space, there existed a bright yellow sun. Orbiting this sun, past a lifeless world scorched by the raw heat of this vivid yellow star, lay two worlds that the sun smiled upon.
The first world, Dei, was inhabited by creatures known as the “Dei Angels”. These creatures were quite humanoid, sans their large feathery wings. A Dei’s hair and feathers often shared the same color. The more common Dei colors were yellow, blue, green, brown, black, red, and in some cases, a dull white.
A lesser race of more compact, slightly humanoid creatures also lived alongside the Dei Angels. They were stout, hard-skinned, and beady-eyed creatures with short horns and sharp teeth. These were known as the “Dei Imps”. The Imps lacked the poise and intellect of the Angels but were included in Angel society, employed mostly as manual laborers, house servants, and messengers.
This dynamic gave the Angels a sense of charity and goodwill, as the poor Imps would surely not be able to provide for themselves if not for their gracious inclusion into Angel society. The paying jobs offered them allowed them to feed, clothe, and house their families, and even have some entertainment every so often. The Imps, in turn, were seemingly content with this arrangement. “It’s better than being enslaved!” was a common joke often told amongst themselves, usually said in a tavern whenever a fellow Imp invariably started complaining about his job after several pints. The Angels were pleased that the Imps liked to stick together, and helped the Imps carve out sections of the towns and cities that were strictly devoted to their kind for living and socializing.
Dei’s land was nearly effortless to develop, with its large swathes of flat plains and plentiful waterways serving to easily enable trade and transportation. With few predators to threaten the Dei, organized society spread in both massive and tiny settlements alike, all across the great lands.
These societies soon rose high into the sky as they became overpopulated metropolitan areas, connected by great roadways, rails, and rivers; the Deis took full advantage of the plenty of their world. Yet, needing far more to support the needs and wants of their growing population, the smartest of the Angels perfected methods to enable them to reach outside of their home planet to gather additional resources.
The second world that held sentient life was called Nite. Nite was inhabited by far different intelligent creatures.
These beings were known as the “Dragons of Nite”. Their very first difference was their digitigrade legs. Because of this, they were almost about 60cm taller on average than a Dei Angel. Rather than a soft mammalian skin, they had a smooth, scaly hide. While the Dragons of Nite also had wings, they were fleshy as opposed to feathery. The Nite had large tails that aided them in flight and balance. The Dragons were built to hunt and kill, and as such, they possessed razor-sharp teeth. Black claws tipped their fingers and toes. The last noticeable difference was their slit, reflective eyes. They could see excellently in the dark, and their night vision had also evolved to see a great distance to stalk their prey.
Unlike the Dei, the Nite evolved in areas of scarce food supply and little advantage in their world. Nite was heavily populated with a variety of massive lizards. Some were so large they shook the ground as they walked, and their roars resonated through the air like jet engines. There were smaller species of these great lizards, but even the reptiles that stood at only 1.5 - 2 meters were not necessarily less threatening. To compensate for their size, the Angel-sized predatory bipedal lizards learned to convene in vicious packs capable of killing several Nite Dragons before they could even take flight.
Due to this threat, the Nite developed a distinct trait: the ability to sense their fellow nearby Nite’s emotional state. Thanks to this empathic link, an individual Nite could silently warn others of nearby dangers without having to also alert predators to their location. Niten empathy even aided in identifying injured or ill Nite. Over time, this ability strengthened into not only sensing others' emotions but actually experiencing them as well in some cases.
This bonding ability produced the Nites’ most effective and revered social staple: the hunting party. The hunting parties consisted of a single pair of Nite each, a hunter, and a carrier. Their task was to hunt the dangerous lizards needed for everyone’s meat and thus survival. The hunter’s role was tracking, stalking, and killing the prey in close combat, and this was no easy task. The carrier supported the hunter, scouting the area for other dangerous creatures and defending their hunter as the hunt ensued.
This reliance on cooperation led to a tightly knit and orderly society. As a result, the Dragons’ civilization appeared from the thick jungles of Nite as large walled city-states. These massive cities were the only places the Nite could live, as living outside the gates in the untamed wilderness meant certain death. Since the Nites’ only option was to live in such close-knit communities, their empathetic link with one another still multiplied. It became instinctive to them to care for one another, resulting in an ingrained societal assumption that each individual would contribute to the overall well-being of their community to the fullest extent they were capable. The needs of the self were cast aside without a thought in favor of the needs of the many.
The Dei feared the Nite greatly. They considered them monstrous in appearance, and most drew no distinction between the Dragons and the other fearsome beasts that roamed the Niten wilderness.
Each of these worlds is either good or evil. Both worlds fell under the gaze of the Guardians. Before good and evil existed, there was only one world, and as the Guardians decreed: “Balance must always be kept between all things.” An aspect of the Guardians' will and wisdom spoke to say “To have good below and both good and evil above is not true balance.” As the Guardians most often did, they followed this aspect of wisdom.
After issuing an official decree that balance must always exist between good and evil, the Guardians decided to create them on different planes; Evil on one, Good on the other. The Guardians ruled over the good world, while the aspect of wisdom, whose name was Lucifer, ruled over the world of evil.
The Guardians let them live in their own ways. The Evil did not torture one another, as some envision Hell to be. The Good did not pamper themselves, as some would envision Heaven to be. They each lived their chosen lifestyles their own way. That is at least until one Dei Angel fell upon Nite and survived.
She was a Dei unlike the others: a Dei whose job was quite dangerous, a young Dei with a husband and child who waited for her return each time she departed on painfully lengthy missions. This young Dei’s task was to fly into space for three to six-month mining expeditions, perilously navigating the asteroid fields which passed between Dei and Nite. It was a dull task to this particular Dei, who had proudly graduated at the top of her trade school. She was a pilot by trade and an adventurer by heart.
Another of her routine and lackluster workdays consisting of the tracking and mining of stray asteroids had just begun, and all the while an unforeseeable accident loomed over her immediate future.
This accident would lead her to discover the true differences between Nite and Dei.
Chapter 1: A Miner Falls
A man's voice crackled over the radio. “Sectors 17 through 20 checked out, mostly iron and nickel. Team leader, what's on your end?”
Yuki glanced down at her instruments and back to the radio, “A whole lot of carbon, Jophiel,” she grinned, smooth white teeth showing past a pair of soft pink lips, "and what seems to be water, ice, can't tell though. I'll have to take a sample.”
She directed an arm on the small ship as it reached out and broke off a chunk of the large black asteroid just beyond her cockpit. Her blue eyes flashed to the console in front of her as it read, “93.87 percent Carbon (C), 4.98 percent Silica Dioxide (SiO2), 1.15 percent Dihydrogen Monoxide (H2O).” The feathers on the large golden wings sprouting from her back eased as she relayed the percentages.
“Well yeeehooow! We finally got us a haul!” a third voice, their other team member Jax, yelped enthusiastically from Yuki's radio.
She looked down and smiled, then replied good-naturedly, “Jax, shut up... I'd say it's about twelve tons of Carbon, I've seen a few bigger, but that makes it easy to take back, plenty for jewelry and industrial use though.”
“We're gonna get some recognition for this, I'm sure of it!” Jophiel came back.
“We need to get it back first... Jophiel and Jax, tow this chunk back to the freighter, I'm going to take one last scan of the area and make sure we’re not missing any smaller chunks of this thing drifting around,” Yuki stated matter-of-factly into the radio.
“Will do Yuki, over and out!” Two similar ships quickly moved to either side of the large black chunk of space rock.
The ships that Yuki and her team piloted were not large. Each could fit only one person inside comfortably. Each ship had a small set of engines at the rear, and their only defining feature was the large glass cockpit. The front of the ship bulged outwards with supporting metal frames crossing the edges of the domed glass. The ships each had warning lights on their short wings, nose, and tail. The bulk of each ship was their cockpit – the wings and tail looked like little stubs of things attached to giant eggs. The ships’ glass-like window that was heavily tinted deeply to hide the pilots from the blinding ultraviolet rays of the sun. A pair of skids sat at the bottom of each small ship, with a hatch sitting at the top, sealed up tightly.
The smaller mining ships were painted white, in contrast to their larger mothership. This design was intended to promote ease of spotting them in case of an emergency.
Two large barbed spears fired from each small ship, digging into the large asteroid. After the lines drew taut, each ship fired up their engines. They towed the large chunk of space rock toward the freighter.
The freighter was a massive black and brown hunk of metal floating aimlessly in the void of space. Modeled as a cylinder for the majority of its length, the front sprouted a bulb that housed a set of small windows. The lit windows shone brightly when compared to the dull colors of the outside hull, their light blue hue showcasing the four rectangular windows cut into the hull of the large vessel.
On the opposite side of the ship was a huge opening with what appeared to be large ramps or doors that would open for transport, and then close back in on themselves to seal the opening. On either side of the ship, mounted to two bulky wings, was a pair of large cylinder-shaped engines. A red glow poured out of one side of the large cylinders while small red and green warning lights flashed on either side.
The large brown and black ship sported red and blue warning lights flashing at deliberate well-placed points along its hull, almost outlining the shape in the darkness, though the exact seam of where the ship ended and the vast backdrop of space began was difficult to determine.
Jax’s voice, now mischievous, came over Yuki’s radio again, “Hey darlin’... you gonna tell me to do anything else…?”
Yuki’s smile faded slightly, “Ugh, you wish…”
“A man can dream darlin’,” he snorted.
Yuki rolled her eyes, her cheeks blushing in annoyance.
Her ship floated about for a moment as she headed toward one of the larger chunks of orbiting asteroids.
“Iron mixed with... come on... we need carbon on this run... oh...” she clicked on her radio, “And boys, don't forget to mark those iron-nickel ores with the trackers, we'll still get credit for them if someone else finds them later when we come back looking for iron-nickel.”
“Aye aye number one, will do.” The calmer voice of Jophel came over the radio.
“Oh baby I love a woman who knows what she wants – they’re already marked, Yuk.”
Yuki clicked on her radio to a private channel, paging the other pilot directly, “Jax…”
“What Yuk? Why are we on private chatter?”
Yuki was silent, “Just...no, okay? Cool your jets.”
“Can’t help it with you revving my engine darlin’.” Jax smiled at his own radio, his brown eyes looking over at Yuki’s ship. “I’d be a lot more fun than your husband.”
Yuki’s face twisted to a sly grin. This moment of distracted fun was short-lived and quickly became gut-wrenching, as she realized with a gasp that her ship had inexplicably moved toward the iron ore deposit in front of her far faster than expected.
“Whoa!” she shouted as she desperately pulled back on the ship’s throttle. While her ship did begin to move backward, the stubborn asteroid continued barreling on its trajectory toward her. In an instant it raced up and crashed into Yuki’s ship, bumping the glass of the small craft, causing it to spin out of control. As it did, the engines rotated toward the asteroid and the ship silently smashed into its surface again, this time causing flakes of metal from the ship to snap off like raindrops, sticking to the asteroid’s smooth surface.
As the ship was firmly drawn to the asteroid, bits of broken rock blasted away from its surface.
“What the fuck…!! Two! Three! Come in! Guys! Jax! Jophiel! Do you read?” Yuki felt truly shaken as she shouted into her radio.
“I read yah team leader we just got the call-back signal, times officially up! We gotta hightail it before-” Jax was promptly cut off by Yuki. “Jax! Damn it, I'm stuck!”
“Stuck?” Jophiel questioned.
“Yes! I don't know wh-” Yuki’s devices blinked at random, malfunctioning, one warning appearing on her screen after another with each less legible than the last.
What Yuki could gather from the messages was: “WARNING: Magnetite, (Fe3O4)”
“Damnit!” Yuki yelled into the radio, “I'm stuck to a giant magnet! Radio headquarters, quickly!”
Jophiel yelled through Yuki’s radio, “Hold on! Doing it now!”
Jax chimed in through the radio, “Don't fret darlin' - we'll get you outta there!”
“No, you won't! Not till we get an okay from Fondsworth, we don't know how to deal with this, it'll stick you two to it, and then we'll all be in trouble!”
Jophiel’s voice then echoed into the radio, which on Yuki's end was beginning to break up. “Yuki....we can't do anything...didn't come equipped with any...tow lines are already hauling the carbon and...company's just swapped me to one and Jax to two --”
Yuki looked at the radio in despair as static quickly took over. She looked out her cockpit window, noting the ship was drifting away from Jax and Jophiel’s ships. She cursed at herself as she gently spun in space, in total silence as the asteroid now entirely blocked the radio signal from her team.
She powered off the engines and the main console, leaving only her life support on. Yuki, remembering her training, reached into a compartment overhead.
“Damn it...” she looked out and noted she was falling out of orbit, destined to crash on Dei's sister planet, Nite. “...oh NO.” She felt a shiver run down her spine as she opened a box from the overhead compartment and pulled out a small booklet.
SURVIVAL IN SPACE, the manual stated proudly on its cheaply printed front cover. She turned the pages to the index and quickly looked up the section called Facts about: NITE.
She flipped it open and studied the first page:
As many of us know, Dei's nearest neighbor, Nite, is very close to our own world, and it is likely that if you become lost you may crash land there. Though our orbit is faster than Nite’s, our worlds pass extremely close to one another five times every thirteen years. Nite is a very dangerous planet to be stranded on. There are no Dei outposts and there are no treaties between Nite and Dei. Little is known about Nite, as most never return from an encounter there. However, we are aware of the existence of the dominant race, known as the Dragons of Nite.
Yuki’s skin crawled as she inspected an illustration of a Dragon on the page.
The drawing depicted a fearsome creature, its hands outstretched as if ripping and tearing into something. It had sharp claws covered in blood, and its mouth was open in a menacing snarl.
The face protruded into a lizard-like snout filled with razor-sharp teeth. Bits of saliva hung from between its upper and lower jaw, strung out between its teeth. The creature’s wings were shown to be leathery, bony, and strong. The entire physique appeared thoroughly imposing.
Its tail bent toward the front as if being used as a whip; this too looked muscular and deadly.
All of this was displayed in a crouching position, the creature bent low to the ground on two powerful legs, massive claws popping up from its feet. The pose made Yuki shiver a bit.
“I hope I don't run into one of these monsters...” she read on past the illustration:
The Nite Dragons are strictly carnivores and are built for successful hunting. They are voracious hunters and are known to kill for sport as well as for food. Some of the prey they are known to pursue are shown on the next page.
Yuki turned the page to see a barrage of very large feathered reptilian creatures, some appeared almost avian-hybrid in nature. The smallest prey creature shown was the size of a minivan. She continued to look through and noted an illustration of a smaller Nite Dragon - a baby perhaps? Next to that was a picture of a Dei Angel, standing in a very static pose. “...they eat their own young? And us..?” She shuddered again as she read more.
Nite are volatile, violent, and easily provoked. They are extremely territorial. If you should happen upon a village, DO NOT enter the village. It may give off the appearance of civilization, but do not be fooled. A Dei will most certainly be ripped to shreds. It is recommended to stay in the jungle and live off of the flora and fauna shown on the next page.
Yuki sighed in despair, not bothering to look at the pictures, and placed the book down. She turned her console back on and inspected the navigation screen, which was still flickering due to the magnetic interference.
The screen displayed a crash landing imminent on Nite, announcing the warning with several bright red symbols. Yuki tried to hold back tears as she reclined her head and closed her eyes, “Fuck me...”
She jolted up as her console suddenly started screaming warnings. She grabbed at the controls, “What now?!”
Warning messages popped up furiously as Nite's gravity pulled the large chunk of magnetic rock downward, dragging Yuki’s helpless ship along for the ride. As the asteroid entered Nite it began to super-heat in the atmosphere, causing the engines in Yuki's ship to do the same.
Yuki’s eyes went wide as she monitored the external temperatures and did her best to hit the manual ignition, “I got to get off this fucking stove!” She struggled with the controls, trying to force her ship to respond. As she forced the starting mechanism of the small ship to activate, a small injector for the fuel cell began to leak a steady stream of hydrogen from its rapidly heating casing.
As the meteor continued its freefall, its magnetic properties faded as it transitioned to a molten ball of fiery metal. When the hydrogen came into contact with the super-heated fireball, it ignited, causing the fuel cells to explode.
The explosion sent Yuki’s ship out away from the surface in a sudden blast as a barrage of warning messages exploded on the craft’s main console.
“What in the name of heaven happened!?” she cried out, as she tried to punch the now non-existent engines.
Her ship was soon pulled back toward Nite, the glass dome aiming directly at the surface as the heat shields barely managed to hold.
“Turn back!” she cried out. Sweat drenched her brow as her wide blue eyes flashed from warning to warning on her console. She grabbed at the manual control stick and forced the small positioning thrusters to engage.
Only one managed to comply. The other was too badly damaged from the explosion of the ship’s fuel-cells. The result was that Yuki’s ship was forced into a downward spiral.
Yuki closed her eyes tightly as the g-force from her spin pinned her firmly to her seat, hard and fast. She tried to examine the heads-up display on her screen, watching the speed and direction of her spin as well as her current landing site: a large expanse of forest.
Yuki knew she had to avoid the land at all costs. She would not survive if her craft smashed into the trees, or worse, solid ground.
With concentrated effort and practiced breathing, she identified a lake that the navigation computer advised as a possible landing site. The problem was she was well off-course for said landing site.
Yuki focused and began to slow her spiral by timing the single working thruster to only fire at key intervals. After several bursts, her spin slowed and her trajectory changed, successfully aiming the doomed ship closer to her desired water landing spot.
Her breath hitched, and her vision began to darken along the edges. The g-force had reduced slightly, but not to the point where her heart struggled any less to push blood into her brain. Tunnel vision soon threatened to transition to a complete blackout! Yuki struggled to reclaim control of her breathing. As she exited the upper atmosphere, she reached towards her emergency landing lever, pulling on the lever as hard as she could.
Yuki had to trust the computer because she knew as she pulled her chute, she wouldn’t be able to remain conscious. As the chute unfurled, Yuki lurched forward, her restraints pulling her back into her seat, as the sudden shock knocked her out completely. As soon as the impact occurred a burst of protective foam erupted from the front of the console, rapidly expanding and encasing Yuki’s body.
The ship’s two large parachutes slowed her craft’s descent into dangerous alien territory.
Yuki's ship floated and gently bobbed to the surface of the lake while its warning lights soldiered on, blinking steadily. The ship's life support began to decompress Yuki's body as she slept soundly through the day, and even into the night.
Even though the crash event all transpired in a matter of moments, it did not go unnoticed by the natives.
A hunting pair of Nite Dragons spotted two large meteorites shooting through the sky, landing nearly two kilometers apart from each other. A male blue dragon turned to his hunting companion, a red female dragon, and pointed it out. The red dragon nodded, intrigued, and started toward it, the blue dragon following closely behind. They then spotted the parachutes opening on the small craft as well. They exchanged an excited look, their eyes gleaming.
…
Jophiel looked to his instruments, glaring at them. "Bastards! How can they not load rescue and landing gear to save more storage room for minerals!?"
Jax didn't say anything.
"Two, do you copy!"
Jax softly sighed, "Copy. No rescue or landing gear. Poor Yuki. May the Guardian Lucifer have pity on your soul."
"Come on, Jax," Jophiel grumbled, "We need to load this into the main shipping vessel... then report back to Fondsworth for debriefing."
"I'll debrief them good, I'll tell you what!" he yelled over the radio, both small white ships navigating back toward the larger black and brown craft. Jax looked back at Nite with a frown on his face. “…Yuk, good luck love.”