[IC] Eternal Galaxy: Shards of Starlight - Part I

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Hajime's Crash Site

"So you're finally awake, Hajime?"
The man didn't move. He spoke with his eyes closed still. "Good good... Shall we begin?"

---

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Outside the Training Area's main gates

The drone pilots continued to ignore X. The doors to the training area were open.

***
Hangar Bay M

The bay area was clear with a tiered platform system on either side with mechanics making adjustments to the dock's systems. Guiding beams helped Terra land the ship in the hangar.

---

Sol Inceneron
Inopia - Temple of the Lost

SPLASH

The two landed in a pool of water in the dark. It was a form of underground waterway in the temple. They were noticebally getting deeper as the air and water were cold. A blue light at one end of the passage was visible with the sound of large gears and mechanisms turning. Dalia wasn't at the surface yet of the waterway. She had hit her head during the fall and had been rendered unconscious. The water is only waist deep.

---

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Nero's Study

"Yea, in a sense. They're the gunners of the entire ship." Nero led Mima to the passage and the sound of people quickly scurrying off from their positions on the other side of the wall where they were listening could be heard companied by muffled giggling. "They're nothing but trouble-makers..."

***
Training Area

Kiara nodded with a smile and led the group to the lift and placed a hand on the identification terminal. after a moment it allowed them up into the main deck.

***
Main Observation Deck

"Ahh...Am I have no doubt that you have morals or the ability to think on your own. What I doubt is you ability to feel." Commander Sullivan turned back to the Spartan. "Aura energy is sensitive to a sort of 'life force.' Life force is amplified by emotions. Emotions are that which makes us living beings. Living beings are composed of traces of Aura energy, And then it repeats." He then walked over to a control stand. "Ah, and here I speak of philosophy when you seek the training simulations. Let it begin. The first is a basic combat simulation where you will be a line of defense of a facility and you must prevent the enemy from capturing it. Are you ready?"

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Main Observation Deck

John felt somewhat offended by being told that that he couldn't feel, but then again, that was how Spartans were supposed to be. They were supposed to look death in the face and shoot it in between the eyes. Spartans were built to be the perfect soldiers. After Commander Sullivan asked if he was ready to fight, John spoke.

"Yes.", John calmly said to Commander Sullivan.



John may not have shown any outward appearance of being angry or aggravated, but Cortana could tell just because she knew John. She had gotten so good at reading his slightest body movement that it was almost like she could read his mind. Cortana knew that Commander Sullivan was on the right track, but in the end, that he was wrong. It wasn't a matter of Spartans not feeling emotions, it was a matter of them being trained to suppress them ever since they were children. Of course, John had yet to give Commander Sullivan any reason to think otherwise. As for the mission at hand, there was no way the training course was just combat. There had to be something more. Wanting to know the answer, Cortana spoke up.

"Excuse me, but what exactly does the entire training program entail? Is it something you an tell us all, or is it something that shouldn't be said until the trainees are out of the room?", Cortana asked Commander Sullivan.

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Main Observation Deck

Finally reaching where the spartan and AI were discussing with the comander Sullivan, she greeted them "Looks like you two are ready for the training, care having space for a third one?" she asked to them

Then the bioroid greeted the commander "A pleasure to meet you sir, I Thank you for letting us use your ship as asylum"

[bookdragon2000]

Sol Inceneron
Inopia - Temple of the Lost

Nhiome saw a white eruption below him as Dalia landed, then before he could process that, he landed in the water himself. He started floundering immediately, desperately kicking until his feet touched the bottom. He then stood up embarrassed, " I never had a reason to learn to swi-"

He noticed that Dalia was missing. He then looked back at the pool, but could not see anything. He tried turning on his welder, but it seemed to have been damaged by its encounter with water. He quickly materialised a small flame in his right palm and saw Dalia's prone form lying in the lake. Extinguishing the flame, he went to where he remembered she was, then quickly pulled her out of the pool onto dry ground. He dragged himself up next to her and looked about in the dim blue light, at a loss what to do. He never had encounters with large bodies of water, so instead he got up and created another flame, looking around. He kept an eye on Dalia, ready to extinguish the flame the moment she moved or made a sound.

[Koishi]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

---

Mima heard the giggling and was somewhat quick to react, using the orb which she had in her pocket to cast a spell to temporarily seal the mouths of those who were laughing. For about ten minutes, they wouldn't be able to open their mouths.

"That's much better." Mima said.

---

Helios System
Black Market

---

The Reaper's ship neared the grouping of artificial comets which made up the black market. saying the password, and docking into a station. It stepped out and headed for the main area of the ship, heading towards the large bounty booth in the middle.

[SUSTIC]

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Hajime's Crash Site

Hajime recoiled in shock at how the strange man knew his name. "Who the hell are you!? How do you know my name!?" Hajime yelled as he kept an eye the man. "And what do you mean by "shall we begin"?"
It was obvious that Hajime had his guard up now. His body tensed up at the thought of a possible threat, yet he knew he would not be able to fight well in his current condition. If worst case scenario came around he wouldn't be able to fight back.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Hajime's Crash Site

"Eh...Things." The man sprung up into a sitting position facing Hajime. "Normally I have to deal with people that come through the Passages of Fate...and that's always fun cause they have no memories...or well...not a lot, anyway..." He smiled. "You'll be simpler...or...actually trickier. I haven't decided yet. Anyway, you want out, right? Of course you do! Here, let's get you more able, shall we?" He then jumped down and snapped his fingers. All of Hajime's wounds were healed. "Right, now let's get a move on, eh?" He vanished and reappeared as though he had simply jumped from his one position to his current position on a ledge quite a few meters away. "C'mon now, look lively! I've seen old ladies be a bit more spritely than ya! Chop chop now, don't want to keep the little lady waiting!"

---

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Nero's Study - The Spine

Nero realized that Mima had done something to some of his team to cause them to be quiet. "...I love...the way you think." He then stepped into the main corridor, which was less cosmetic than the rest of the ship as it was a simple catwalk with metal rails in a passage with exposed electronics, structural systems, and pipes running along the area. "All along this passage is where the manned turrets are for the main "spine" of the ship. Basically we're just below the top center portion of the entire ship, or what we call, the spine."

***
Main Observation Deck

The Hunters chuckled Slightly. Aion, smiling, explained to Mara, "It's not just going to be them. The first mission is always a relatively large group mission. Most of us will be in it."
Commander Sullivan Nodded and addressed Mara. "You are most welcome. Excalibur is one of our strongest vessels, Her halls will provide shelter for those that do seek it." He then followed through with what Aion had said. "It seems Orion explained to you some of the basics of our training program to you?"
"...yes. Yes, sir."
"Very well." He then turned to John and Cortana. "The entire program is quite simple. We put trainees into various simulated scenarios which, with the system we have, makes the participant believe that the situation is real, thus giving it some authenticity. One of the hallmarks of the system is its ability to simulate pain and injuries to extreme realism. For example, if you were to fall off a building, you would feel the pain of the bones breaking and all other resulting injuries." Commander Sullivan then turned to another officer in the room. "She will set all participants into the simulators."
"If you would follow me, please." The female officer walked over to the lift on the other side of the observation deck.

---

Sol Inceneron
Inopia - Temple of the Lost

"Uhn..." Dalia shifted slightly and, still asleep, muttered something. "...always there...to...help...why...Aion...why?" Her eyes were still closed. "Why...do you...think...something....is...in...clock....impo rtant................" She trailed off and was still again. her breathing was still normal and her sword gently glowed in its sheath, which it wasn't before.

[SUSTIC]

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Hajime's Crash Site


Hajime was shocked even further at how this strange man seemingly knew about Hajime... it was... weird... he was also quite stunned at how this strange man had healed his wounds almost instantly. It's like this strange man is... something not of this world.
"How did you... I don't even... I..." Hajime stuttered as he tried to think of a response to the strange man, yet he was unable to think of one. This was already so confusing... Hajime then looked up as the man then began to take off. "Wait what!? Little Lady? What!? Who the heck are you, and what the HELL are you talking about!?" He yelled as he followed the man with the red bandanna.

[bookdragon2000]

Sol Inceneron
Inopia - Temple of the Lost

Nhiome extinguished the flame the moment he heard the noise she made. He then waited for his eyes to adjust, listening to her mumbling. She seems to still be asleep...what is she talking abut? What clock? Aion...Isn't he the person that had to abandon her...wait a moment...why is it...!!! Nhiome looked around as he noticed that he could see better than he could than earlier just now when in the darkness. That meant there was another light source, he looked towards the blue light to see if it had intensified, but he noticed that when he looked in the direction, it actually seemed dimmer. That meant that the light was coming from where he had been looking at before, Dalia. More accurately, Dalia's sword.

He lowered himself beside the sword to take a closer look. It really was glowing. He thought back to Dalia mentioning that the sword was one of the three...keys? from heaven's forge? He could not remember exactly. Nhiome debated for a while what to do. Well, it's not like I'm stealing, it should be fine. Nhiome quickly, without hesitation, reached out, and pulled the sword from its sheath.

[Koishi]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

---

"Interesting. I'm guessing since it's called the spine, it runs through the whole ship, or am I misinterpreting things?" Mima asked.

---

Nova had finished all the calibrations for her ship, and opened up a radio channel to the command room. "This is Nova, I request permission to leave the station." Nova requested.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
The Spine

"No that's it exactly. It runs along the top center of the entire ship. To be honest, this is one of the largest areas that is actually relatively close to the outer hull. Excluding Hangar Bays and viewing decks, of course." He gazed upward at the bare systems above them. "But there's only a few meters of metal and mechanized systems between us and the void of space here." As they walked there came an intersection. "Now, if this passage is called the spine, you could call those passages one of the ribs of the ship. Now a bit further is some of the main turrets. Even further we would come to a passage that leads down to the Heart of the ship, the Aura Core. These passages are the only secondary means of reaching the Heart."

***
"Granted, you may proceed to leave the Fleet." A Hangar management officer responded. "Say, weren't you the one that sought shelter from some rogues? If you wanted, we could have a drone escort you to your destination."

---

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Hajime's Crash Site

"Questions, questions, and more questions! No time to explain! Things are about to get exciting and I don't want to miss the show! C'mon now!" The man jumped off the ledge into the opening of a tunnel. By the time Hajime reached the ledge, He disappeared into the darkness. "Oi...it's darker in here than I had anticipated. Tsk...this is troublesome as always..." The man's voice echoed upward.

---

Sol Inceneron
Inopia - Temple of the Lost

As soon as Nhiome drew Arke from the scabbard, energy suddenly surged up his arm and into his body, as though viciously attacking him. He found himself unable to let go of the sword.
"It is not time yet. It is not time for you to face my final test. Find the light in the darkness, and bring the girl there. Put down the sword. It is not time yet." The voice of a girl rang in his ears as the energy seemed to intensify. The feeling that prevented him from letting go disappeared.

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Main Observation Deck

John followed the officer down to the training area while Cortana waited in the observation deck. Cortana wanted to go, but she knew that she still needed to get used to her body before she could do anything physically strenuous. She still had yet to get used to the breeze from the ship's ventilation ducts, the clothes she was wearing, and the sensation of being alive. No, she would probably try later, maybe even quickly program her own simulation and complete it.


As John followed the officer he began to recall many of his previous battles, and the tactics he used in each of them. John would switch his tactics, depending on the amount of resistance he faced. That being said, he rarely had to switch to defensive tactics. Usually, the reason he would switch to defensive tactics was because he was bogged down by tanks. Other than that, John never really worried about the opposition.

[Koishi]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

---

"Aura core? Sounds interesting. Can we see it?" Mima asked. "If allowed, of course."

---

"I'll be fine, but thank you for the offer. I made some modifications to combat them in case they came back." Nova said as the hangar door opened and she flew out, the door closing behind her ship as she flew off into the distance.

---

Helios System
Black Market

---

The Reaper made it's way to the large booth in the center of the market, coming up to the short man from before.

"Well, I'll be damned you bloody git, you actually came back alive?" the man asked.

The Reaper showed off Selarious's pistol it took from him, putting it on the counter. "I took a trophy."

The man examined the weapon. "Well, I'll be, a Brakk hand-cannon. These things are highly sought after. Only seen one or two. Blow the front half 0of someone off from a short distance. One of the few efficient weapons that still use bullets. shotgun pistol, essentially." the man noticed he was rambling. "Oh, the bounty, yeah, you got it."

The man handed back the pistol and added the bounty to the Reaper's personal bank account. The Reaper nodded in thanks and turned, returning back to his ship.

[SUSTIC]

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Unknown Cave

Hajime continued to follow the strange man into a relatively large tunnel system. As Hajime proceeded through the cave system he noticed that it got darker and darker until the point where Hajime was unable to see anything. That's when he sighed and rolled up his sleeves. If one could see him they would see many large scars across his arms. "I need to light things up a bit." He said as he focused for a couple of seconds. In an instant the scars on his body flashed a bright blue in color. Once this flash of light happened the light seemed to echo and bounce off many strange crystals that line the cave walls and ceilings. Hajime did not expect this turn of events as the entire cave literally lit up in an icy blue color thanks to the crystals that absorbed his energy, and as such he was blinded by the sudden bright light of the cave. Thankfully it only took his eyes to readjust to the bright icy blue light. "Damn I should have saw that coming..." He exclaimed as he takes a few deep breaths.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
The Spine

"Sure sure, It's just this way..." Nero guided Mima to one of the Rib intersections and went to a corner with a ladder that went down a narrow shaft. From there it was a room with a door that led to a main sealed passage which seemed almost a sterile room with sentinel drones floating in the ceiling area and wall of energy barriers which were multiple barriers stacked up.

---

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Unknown Cave

"Oh yeah...that's right...your a bioroid of sorts. Hmm...interesting...normally being able to do that is reserved by the Mortal Gods and Vatians. Oh and a few people with Aurora's Curse, but its rare to be able to actually control that...Anyway, a bit further now. Come along!" the man was standing on another ledge and jumped down again.