by M. J Kreyzer
Morlo, Vyvyr, and Pontious sprinted as fast as they could towards the living quarters, running faster on battered legs as they heard the rear portions of the ship snapping off one after the other. They found their way to the hall with the red carpet, opening and closing doors as fast as they could.
“Mattresses!” Morlo yelled. “We need mattresses!”
They kicked them in, door after door, finding only hard, suicidal spots to brace themselves.
“Here!” Pontious shouted. Morlo and Pontious shinned towards his voice and found him. Pontious nodded towards the long row of simple bunks with literally hundreds of thin mattresses. Morlo clapped him on the shoulder and ran down the aisle, grabbing every mattress he could.
“Get as many as you can and find a tight spot!” Morlo shouted. A strong vibration ran beneath their feet. Drawers and closet doors rattled incessantly as they searched for places to brace. “Pad yourselves good and-“
The floor lurched downward. Pontious stuck his head out the door and looked down the hall. A several feet wide and growing crack had opened up just ten yards from them.
“Pontious come on!” Morlo shouted, scrunched tightly in a gun locker and barely visible from beneath the crowd of thin mattresses.
The floor lurched again. Pontious sprinted and snatched up several mattresses, wrapping them around him as he dove to the floor. Holding them in place, he wedged himself beneath the bottom bunks and held his arms to his chest.
“Great minds think alike!” Vyvyr shouted from beneath the bunks opposite Pontious.
Then the lights went out.
The portion broke free. Strong winds shot through the cabin as it went into free fall. The portion tumbled downward, crashing towards the death infested valleys of the Sestik Mountains. The three held tight, prepared for both injury and death, knowing that brutal, crippling impact was only moments away.
Hendrick gathered up as many medical supplies as he could, shoving them into a duffle and tossing it over his shoulder. He returned to Sable and unstrapped her from the gurney.
He felt the floor shift.
There was no place to wedge themselves. It was just an open room.
Hendrick picked up Sable in one arm and shoved his arm through the straps on the duffle, grabbing a nearby handle on the wall to steady himself as the ship quaked.
The floor lurched again. A violent tremor shot through the floor. The glass panels on the medicine cabinets shattered. Equipment fell from the tables. The room went dark, save for the deep red flashing lights above the door.
There was a sound like cracking thunder. Then the floor split.
The back of the room fell away and harsh winds filled the room. Twisted pipes, metal, and cables bent and skewed around the rooms edges where that portion of the ship had broken away. With one hand Hendrick put his mask on and looked out the rear of the ship, watching the mammoth cross-section of the cruiser falling to the ground and into darkness. And, no more than a mile behind them, framed against the smoky, moonlit sky, a swarm of battlecruisers hunted them, hungrily chasing them down. Hendrick checked his Blazers on instinct.
The floor shifted beneath him again. He looked down as the sensation of stability left him. Desperately he looked around for a place to lodge during the crash.
Hendrick felt a shuffle against his neck. He looked down through Sable’s hair as it waved in the tumultuous wind and got a glimpse of her face. Her eye opened slightly.
“Nate…” She whispered, her lips barely able to form the words.
“I got ya.” Hendrick said, feeling their portion of the ship straining on its supports. There was a loud crunch as it worked itself loose. There was nothing he could do now but give false assurances.. Hendrick looked back at Sable and smiled. “There’s gonna be a bit of a bump.”
The section tilted down as it broke away from the top floor to the bottom. Loose objects rolled out the back of the ship, wheelchairs, gurneys, stretchers, and fell to the dark, malevolent forest below. Hendrick’s feet slid against the floor. He tightened his grip and made one final scan for a place they could wedge themselves, his final search turned up nothing. Hendrick took one last look at Sable, returned his eyes back to the open night, and took a deep, relaxing breath.
Then, with a deafening crack that was hundreds of times louder than before, that section of the ship, the one containing Sable and Hendrick, snapped off and plummeted into the darkness.
“Tess, get Seraphine and keep her close.”
Tess did as she was told, grabbing Seraphine’s wrist and pulling her to her feet. With his sword sheathed at his back, Luke headed to the bridge’s exit, turning around to give one final command.
“Pilots, set the ship to auto-pilot and get someplace safe. Now.”
The hydraulic double doors slid open and Luke strode through. Tess followed immediately behind him with Seraphine in tow.
“What’re we doing?” She asked, moving up to his side.
Luke came around the corner and stood at the head of a long hallway. Several hundred yards down the hall ended abruptly. As they watched, the floor bent drastically downward in accompaniment to the same groan they’d been hearing since the ship first started breaking apart.
“If the Ditrinity and Rush make it to the ground they’re going to need some time before the Helios and Battlecrafts come down on their heads. Consider this my formal apology.”
A crease ran through the floor just ten feet in front of them as the metal crinkled. The groan got louder until, finally, a crack formed. The floor pulled itself apart, stretching wire and cables between the two sections of the ship, stretching out until they snapped entirely. Then, when the crack was only a few feet wide, a jarring crash knocked Tess and Seraphine off balance.
The sixth portion of the ship broke away. Only the bridge remained aloft. Without the engines, the bridge was nearing a stop. In a line behind them stretching for miles, small, orange fires burned in the darkened forest where the other pieces had made impact. The Legionnaires were nearly on top of the first fallen section of the ship.
“Follow me.” Luke said.
He walked to the edge of the broken floor, the ship continuing on for several floors above and below him. He leaned out over the edge of the floor and looked up past twisted metal towards the sky. “Climb on my back.” Luke said to Tess, confusing her though she immediately obeyed. Luke put Seraphine under his arm and put his toes over the edge.
“Hang on tight.”
“Dad wait, what’re you-“
Luke jumped into the open air, hundreds of feet up, his long coat flapping in the wind. With his free hand he reached up and they were immediately ripped upwards.
A grav-field hovered just over the edge of the top of the ship. It drew them up fast as Tess screamed at the unexpected maneuver. They accelerated just as they would towards the earth, getting faster the longer they were in the air. Tess squeezed her father tightly around the neck. Seraphine, clutched beneath Luke’s arm, held Luke’s belt loosely but didn’t react otherwise.
They landed back on the top of the ship. Luke set Tess and Seraphine away from the edge. Once they were safe, he returned to the broken rear of the ship and stabilized his stance. Both his hands went to his sides and flexed.
“When we get to the ground, stay with me!” Luke yelled above the rough winds. “The Legionnaires’ll want us the most.”
“What should I do now!” Tess shouted, her feminine voice barely audible above the airy din.
“Watch my back.” Luke said. And it was clear he had disengaged himself.
Tess felt the Furo activity in the air spike. In both hands, Luke formed Chargers, their hums carrying on the wind. The hairs on her head lifted upwards one by one as intense static built up in the sky. Tess put a hand on Seraphine’s arm and pulled her further away from Luke.
Through his glasses, Luke peered out across the sky, through the smoke at the dozens of battle cruisers that blotted the lightening horizon. His long coat blew around him as h
e went into deep concentration. With the kind of distance between them and him, Luke would have all the time in the world to wreck complete havoc and give the Legionnaires something else to remember him by.
Energy billowed off of Luke as he built up a devastating chain of Elemental, shaking the entire ship beneath his feet. If he could take down a single Helio with just a few Chargers and a Decimator, then the possibilities of what he could do with his entire arsenal of Elemental seemed limitless.
“Come on.” Luke muttered to himself. “Let’s see you stabilize this.”
Relias Lexicon
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Relias Lexicon
Havok
The History of Havok
Races
Organizations
The United Commune
The First Legionnaire
Elemental
Religions
Major Events
Modern Figures
Historical Figures
Weapons
Science and Technology
Cities
Languages
Wildlife
General Reference
Havok
Havoc is one of several moons orbiting one of two sister planets, Altigo, while the other is Eygus , and is located 103 Million miles from the sun in a solar system comprised of 11 known planets and 3 planetoids circling in an outer orbit. Of all the planets and moons in the system, Havoc is one of three habitable bodies.
At its equator, Havoc is 34,000 miles in circumference. Its major geographical features are as follows.
Oceans
Carpathic Ocean
Altaric Ocean
Andarian Ocean
Soliric Ocean
Continents
Elvytica
Solara
Andoria
Arctanica
Tarsis
Altenia
Marsecta
Major Geographic Features
The Bremmonni Badlands
The Aliyan Isles
The Gulf of Aliya
The Tarmus Straight
The Marsectan Dessert
Olsgrad Canyon
Furian Dead Zones
Alternate Time Fields
Major Mountain Ranges
The Damidians
The Damidian Mountains are located in East-central Arctanica and are the largest and arguable most rugged mountains in the world. While not quite teeming with hostile life, as the Sestiks are, the Damidians are considered to be equally dangerous due to their bi-polar conditions and rugged terrain. It is also home to the world's highest mountain, Mount Hyde, standing at 38,750 feet above sea level.
The Sestiks
Found in North-central Solara, the Sestiks rest just along the northern edge of the Bremonni Badlands. And though the terrain is rugged though quite not on par with that of the Damidians, the Sestiks give refuge to a broad variety of dangerous, brutal wildlife, including the enigmatic race of humanoids, the Wylsks. Information regarding the Sestiks and its geography is scarce, as high levels of Furo make flight impossible as the extreme levels of energy cripples everything from computer systems to grav-plates to thrusters. Due to that, and the dangerous wildlife that swarms across their peaks and through their valleys, the Sestiks and their indigenous life have been poorly documented. There is only one town, a derelict colony established around the time of the North Santarian Trade Route, that exists within the Sestiks. Because of the vast resources that would be required to control such few resources, the Commune has left it relatively untouched.
The Argintics
Located along Solara's northern coast, the Argintics are a smaller range of mountains located along the same fault as the Byfaynes and serve as the backdrop for a chain of several, smaller towns including Brackis, Breckenridge, and the ruins of Desden.
The Kyrgentis
Spanning the Arctanican and Elvytican borders, the Kyrgentis are nearly lifeless, what little indigenous life there is supporting the sparsely populated regions of northern Solara and Elvytica. The Kyrgentis themselves are smaller but have the steepest grade of any mountain range in the world. With their surfaces comprised primarily of lava rock and sharp obsidian, the Kyrgenti's serve as a dark, foreboding backdrop to an area already considered to be the land of the devil. The Kyrgenti highlands, though, are of a different idea entirely with many of their only inhabitants being devout Randist Monks.
The Byfaynes
Located along the western borders of the Bremonni Badlands, the Byfayne Mountains act as a barrier between the lifeless wastelands of eastern Solara and the lush, tropical paradise of Solara's western coasts. The Byfayne range itself is the second largest in the world and is home to Praemon, the central hub of the North Santarian Trade Route.
Continents
Elvytica
Located in the western hemisphere, Elvytica contains some of the world's oldest cities and towns such as Demondrak. During Havok's Archaic Epoch, Elvytica was connected to Andoria by a land bridge which would later sink over the hundreds of years following its use by Autocthonid migrants. It comprises the northern fifth of the landmass that is comprised of both Elvytica and Arctanica.
Solara
The largest continent in the eastern hemisphere, Solara was first discovered in 1304 M.E by Benedict Solago. With the western coasts being warm and tropical, the inland is characterized by its vast mountain ranges, desolate plains, and expansive shelves of raw Furo. It's primary mountain ranges are the Sestiks, the Kyrgentis, and the Byfaynes, located to the north, far north, and west of the Bremonni Badlands, respectively.
Andoria
Originally a tropical paradise, if ancient records are to be believed, Andoria was thrust into a radical climate change that came as a result of a cataclysmic shift in Havok's orbit. (Thought to come as a result of a historic earthquake, the occurrence of which is generally disputed among geologists.) As far as records taken during Havok's Modern Epochs are concerned though, Andoria is a sprawling, lifeless, arctic tundra with absolutely no record of life having ever lived there. Andoria is located very close to Havok's north pole.
Arctanica
The largest continent in the western hemisphere, Arctanica is the most populated continent in the world. Being home to origins of the vast majority of the Havok's dominant cultures, Arctanica is known to have been a part of the Arctanican Empire for the latter half of the Medieval Epoch.
Arctanica received its name as a result of its conquest by the Arctanican race which would eventually dwindle and the Arctanican Empire fall as a result of the Fallick Plague (Also known as Halzetti’s Disease.) Its most famous geologic feature is the Damidian Mountains, the largest and most rugged range in the world. Northern Arctanica is primarily timberland, there's a small desert around the equator which gives way to tropical jungle closer to the coasts of the Gulf of Aliya. From there until its southern point, Arctanica becomes gradually cooler until its southern point, which experiences extreme seasonal changes.
Tarsis
Being the southernmost continent, Tarsis is primarily cooler and is attached to southern Arctanica only by the highway infrastructure spanning the Tarmus Straight, laid down between the southern Delyran Peninsula and Tarsis' northern tip, connected in the middle by the oceanic city of Chydea. Tarsis is a cooler continent though is warm enough as to experience a short albeit mild summer. During the winter months, Tarsis is one of the coldest areas on the planet, second only to Andoria.
Altenia
Located on a mass of land branching off the lower end of Solara, Altenia is sparsely populated due to its dense, hazardous jungles and the sheer difficulty facing any attempt to civilize it. It's home to a number of ancient werewolf tribes, said to have crossed over from Arctanica even earlier than Benedict Solago, though their origins are ultimately unrecorded and, consequently, unknown.
Marsecta
Marsecta is a narrow continent running along Arctanica's western coast and has only one defining geograph
ical characteristic: Desert. While the majority of the Marsectan continent is made up of rolling sand dunes, it becomes decidedly more rugged towards the interior where the land is known for its abysmal canyons, its towering plateaus, and its vast network of unexplored caves running beneath Marsecta's central expanse. The most important location on this continent, at least according to members of the Dark rebellion, is Brysdal, located in north-central Marsecta. Also located towards the west-central region of Marsecta is the Olsgrad Temple, located at the far end of Olsgrad Canyon.
Bodies of Water
Carpathic Ocean
The Carpathic Ocean is Havok's largest ocean, separating Arctanica and Solara.
Altaric Ocean
A colder ocean as a result of oceanic currents originating from the south pole, the Altaric Ocean is located off of Altenia's and Solara's southern coasts.
Andarian Ocean
The Andarian Ocean is located to the north of Solara and separates it from Andoria.
Soliric Ocean
The second largest ocean, the Soliric Ocean is located between eastern Solara and Marsecta, acting as the ocean that straddles the western and eastern hemispheres. Roughly a fifth of the Soliric Ocean is located beneath Solara in a large, subterranean ocean. This northernmost point of this underground body of water runs close to the southern edges of the Bremonni Badlands and stretches down towards the Altenian borders. Some unconfirmed geological surveys indicate a number of underwater canals that span Solara and connect to the Carpathic Ocean. These assertions are considered true though there is no physical evidence to support them.
