Ocean of stars

Chapter 1: "The Place they go to die"

“The place they go to die”

(Ike & Brink)

Ike covered his ears as a massive blast ignited through the rear his ship, sending the male reeling into a nearby steel wall. Behind him, was his companion Brink, who had his attention set on the fact that he was toppling over the cockpit chair onto the ground with a thud.

“I think they just punched a hole in the engine room!” Brink called out over the roar of depressurization and whines that filled the air from their dying fuel rod engine, his lanky legs tangled within the chair's armrests. “One would think you attacked their leader outright! “ he laughed as he clawed across the shaking metal floor, his companion flailing into the seat beside him.

“I had the f****r at gun point Brink! I should've killed him when I had the �" Why are you so damn calm?” Ike grimaced as he slammed the ship's yoke to the left. The boosters using the last of their strength to wobble the spaceship towards their attackers, leaving a tail of bursting fire that erupted from their hull before quickly dissipating from the oxygen-less vacuum of space. Brink simply climbed up into the next chair, gently placing his three fingered hands into his lap.

“I've seen us in plenty of premonitions that have not happened yet. Which means we must survive this, yes?”

“You're premonitions are subject to change remember? Ah f**k it. I'm fighting back!”

“They are indeed. If you act like an idiot.”

“You got a better Idea bug brain?” Ike hissed as reached a paw out to start flipping various switches labeled -Kill, Kill, Destroy, and “T.M.P.S. or (Teilos mercenary Prevention Security)”- The three cruisers that drifted within the ship's cockpit window dwarfed their tiny scouting ship. The one in the center, which held a rusty blue hue along it's metal surface was complimented by a yellow stripe that ran through the words “The Bounty.” it began to fire up two massive rail-gun cannons on either side of it's cockpit. One of these massive shells would easily tear their ship in half and the Teilos mercenaries would be drinking Plum Purgatories on the Oaroack space station within hours.

Neither Ike, nor Brink very much liked the idea of burning alive, suffocating in space, or drifting in nothingness until they either burned up in the atmosphere of a planet, or froze to death.

“Yes, let us use the last bit of our power to jump! There is no reason to kill them! Or ourselves for that matter.” Brink suggested as he depressed a large yellow button labeled “Set coordinates first Brink!” Ike did a triple take, his yellow eyes widening as a red bar filled to the top within a meter to Ike's right. The male's gut flipped inside of him as he slammed the yoke of the ship down.

“D****T BRINK YOU FORGOT TO SET THE COORDI-NAAAAAaaaaaaaaaiiieen!”

There are two very important things to remember when it comes to hyper-jump technology. Both of which commonly spaced from Ike's less experienced insectoid friend, however, to fully understand the magnitude of the consequences of NOT following those two very important rules, you must first understand how Hyper-jump technology works; *cough* Allow me:

When the Hyper-Jump button is depressed, a field is created around the vessel of transport, containing it as the matter within the field is collapsed into particles. These particles are then pushed through what are called “Interstellar cracks.” While the universe is seemingly infinite, it stacks upon itself like a wafer. If you were to travel from one galaxy to the next you would have to traverse each individual wafer one at a time you got there. Hyper-Jump technology allows the user's particles to slip between these wafers, thus creating a shortcut to the intended destination.

While seemingly a slow, illness inducing process for the user, anyone outside of said field would witness the vessel of transport as moving incredibly fast before and after disappearing. This is all a big fancy way of saying: “You are scrambled up, put through a space-time screen, and spit back out like a puzzle with more then a quadrillion pieces.

As I was saying before, due to these circumstances, there are two very important rules to remember when using Hyper-Jump technology. The first is to set the coordinates of your destination before initiating Hyper-Jump travel. This is because if the machine has no coordinates to go by it will push you out anywhere in the entire universe. The chances of landing in known space, let alone seeing another living person again in your lifetime is 1 in 10 to the power of 1,557,438,990,211,546,33- well you get the point.

The second very important rule to abide by, is to not point your vessel at any other objects. The effect of doing such a thing would be akin to throwing an uncooked chicken egg at a wall. The travel field surrounding those precious particles would instantly be broken, causing whatever was inside to fuse into a hellish cloud of blood, steel, flesh, and parts of whatever else were inside. The object that was hit on the other hand would be decimated beyond all repair.

Ike's voice seemed to be pulled from his lungs as if it were water; While his paws began to melt into the control panel. His body bled together with Brink and the walls of the ship like paint on a spinning frisbee, they're organs re-arranging to the outside of their bodies.

Now that the two were experiencing the worst pseudo drug trip of their lives, I feel it is an opportune time to explain a little more about them, before they became a liquid that is.

Ike is what one would call a Synth, or more formally a Gaian Synthetic. Synths were created by humans on the red planet of mars during a massive civil war called the siege of control. The original intention was to create a robot race that would follow orders based on individual needs. In order to easily tell which Synths were created for what tasks the Gaians created them to replicate animals that once lived on earth. However, the experiment was botched when organic tissue was introduced, thus creating a massive amount of half robotic, half organic creatures.

(Tick..............Tick...................Tick....................Tick)

Ike was one such creature; Replicated to look like a hyena of sorts. His body was well built, mostly due to the nanite technology that flowed through his veins in order to keep him in top physical condition. The fur that covered his body from head to toe was a creamy brown color, dotted with black splotches everywhere. His face was long and angular with sharp features along his jaw and brow, accenting the dark yellow eyes that sat sunken within his face. Just above his right eye was a patch of fur that was missing, seemingly burnt off. On his body he wore a tightly corded Kevlar suit beneath a simple pair of cargo pants and a green over-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

With the scratches and scars that littered the canine's body, as well as the maniacal grin when they were brought up it wasn't hard to tell that while not so excited about dying, he certainly loved the prospect of fighting.

Brink on the other hand, was as opposite to Ike as a pickle to a pineapple. He was a Roen Ishtecha, part of a bug like race that were new to the final frontier, while known for their ability to see ghostly premonitions of possible futures as they sleep, they were also known for being Ignorant of much else beyond their home , lifestyle, and the rules of other cultures. Brink's body was made up of a thick carapace that wrapped around his chest in plates, before slimming down to his waist which was only about a foot in diameter.

(Tick.........Tick..............Tick...............Tick)

Along that waist, up to the lower stomach region was a set of six tiny arms that stayed at rest within several depressions along his sides. His two (usable arms) were proportionately long and rested just below his knees. The Roen's face was much like that of an ant on earth, with the exception of having no antennae. His entire body was covered in icy blue markings, from hues that came naturally to that of scars that had been carved into his carapace, indicating important events of his life.

(Tick....Tick.........Tick..........Tick)

The only clothing that the insectoid wore was a simple red tattered cloth that was wrapped tightly around his neck and shoulders, before drifting down along his back in order to let the tattered fabric to flow slightly while he walked.

(Tick Tick Tick Tick.................Ding!)

Ike opened his eyes to find himself tucked underneath the control panel awkwardly while his companion rested in the cockpit chair. Luckily enough for them, they were used to Hyper-Jumping at this point, but he couldn't help but remember his first time, which resulted in intense vomiting.

“It appears that we are alive!” Brink chuckled as he tried to get his bearings. “It's a shame we can't hyper-Jump more often, it's quite relaxing...Looks like we are headed towards a big red planet...” he added as the male below the terminal began to claw his way out.

“Damned bug brain..” Ike grumbled. “Your more trouble then your worth...” Kicking the space debris that now littered the floor of their ship, trying to separate his foot from the terminal's mess of wires and tubes. “Red planets are usually always lava or scorched land, steer away from it, we'll drift for a while.”

“Our ship is out of power....or so says the little person waving his finger at me.” Brink replied as he blinked at the terminal screen. Finally, Ike poked his head out from beneath the terminal to get a better look. Almost instantly his face changed from confusion and anger, to fear; His ears pinning to the back of his head. Brink's three hearts flipped, having never seen this expression on his companion before.

“You've got to be f****n' kidding me....”

“What's wrong?”

“That's not just a big red planet you dolt....That's mars...”

“The one in the Milky way galaxy? So we're safe! What are the odds?” Brink laughed for a moment before awkwardly letting it slip as Ike's expression remained the same.

“It's where my kind were created.....” His expression turned from fear to rage; His snout wrinkling at the thought.

“So you're going h-”

“It's also where they go to die..” He cut off the Insect as he climbed into the chair beside Brink's and fastened It's stabilization belt across his chest before making sure his laser pistol was at his hip. “Buckle up before I throw you out to lighten the load.”

The two fastened themselves into their seats as the powerless ship began to rocket from space into the atmosphere of the massive red planet. Within moments their hull became a cherry red from the heat that was generated by the massive amounts of drag. The terminal screen, which had previously insisted on showing a small cartoon alien waving it's finger at them made an excited expression before looking down to his communication device at his wrist. At the same moment the radio crackled to life, yet was almost inaudible from the booming cacophony of sounds that filled their hollow ship.

*Bzzt*This is -mi -eff -son of the watcher tra- -trol- Identify *Bzzt*

Brink leaned forward to push the speak button beside the screen as the massive capital city of Castro expanded into view. The city looked like a massive bio dome, with a translucent field around it's perimeter that held oxygen within. The city itself was a massive circle with several rings that walled off separate areas of the city. Brink paused for a moment as he realized the irony of the fact that they were crash landing in a city that literally looked like a giant target.

“Brink! Don't tell them anything! Those b******s will filet us if they know I am!”

Brink shook his head and smiled, well, he made the best effort that a bug could in any case.

“You're overreacting! You always do that!”

“BRINK DO-”

*Bzzt* I repeat! Id- -entify -or you- taken -down! *Bzzt*

Brink slammed down the button, letting off a click as the microphone crackled to life, the cockpit window lashing out with a massive crack that spread from the lower left corner of the window to the upper right. The red dust that flew through the Mars atmosphere whipped past them, only adding to the noise that surrounded them. The Biodome around the massive city was nearing closer by every second.

“This is Eulias Isenia and Ike Mash of the U.C.S. Pegasus! Mayday Mayday! We are crash landing! There is nothing we can do!”

The radio failed to respond, the little alien avatar within the screen making another surprised expression before looking at his watch, packing what looked like clothing into a briefcase and began to sprint off the screen, leaving the words -God-speed- behind.

“FUUUUUUuuuuuuuuu~~~~~~” Ike called out as he clenched his seat, bracing for impact. The pegasus rumbled as it soared through the sky towards the bio field that held the oxygen within the massive city below only moments before causing it to shatter like glass. Almost like a pinball, the winged spaceship flipped and twirled through the air, rebounding off of several buildings it slammed into the red dirt within the second section of the city.

One wing peeled from it's hull as their ship slid through the ground, tearing chunks out of nearby buildings and digging deep into the scarlet sand of mars, finally coming to a rest with flames licking from the browned metal sides.

Brink opened all four of his eyelids, his icy blue Iris' scanning the environment...It was strange...He had never been to mars before...Heck, he had never been to any planet where the gravity was upside down....He didn't much care for it, with all the blood running to his head.

“Ike? Are you alright?” he weezed as he waved a three fingered hand to push the smoke and wires from his face. With one swift movement the insect retracted his stabilization belt and promptly fell from his seat to land with a sharp thud on his neck with a grunt and an angry chitter.

Once composing himself and pushing the constant cloud of smoke that was filling the cockpit out of the way the best he could, Brink finally caught sight of his Canine friend, whom was blissfully snoring from the massive impact he had taken to the head. Ike's arms hung upside down, drifting lightly past a massive gash that ran from his right brow, all the way up to his right ear.

“Oh no...” Brink whispered as he scrambled forward to undo Ike's belt, allowing the male to fall to the ground halfway in his arms. Luckily for him, the nanites within his blood began to spark and pop, cauterizing the wound while the others worked to stitch it back together.

“Come on Ike, we are alright, the people here will help.” He muttered lightly as he swept up his friend in his arms and crawled from the wreckage, eventually passing out of the smoke. Smoke billowed out from the cockpit of the pegasus, partially covering the insect as he held Ike's limp body in his arms. In front of him, however, was seventeen armed guards whom held plasma rifles at the ready.

“STAND DOWN! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!”