The Atlantean

After what felt like days to my mental being, my vision started returning and freeing me from the unconscious realm.  As my sights faded in and out, I couldn’t help but notice the warmth of some type of liquid oozing down my forehead and the aching pain that plagued my physical senses.  I brought my left hand to my face and upon contact, I immediately jerked my appendage back due to the stinging sensation I temporarily created.  Once my palm came into my field of vision, I took note of the amount of the deep red substance staining my hand.  There was a lot.

Figuring that if I could still move, I should get up now.  So with that in mind, I pushed myself into an upright position, but as shifted around, I could feel the soft sensation of flesh and fingers much gentler than mine.  Turning to the area where I felt the hand, I saw the body of a short, turned over woman who wore the same gray, cotton jumpsuit as I did.  Recognizing the brunette hair that was kept in pig tails, I realized who she was.  Her name is Meryl and she’s the youngest of my cabinmates and section team.

I tried asking her in my low pitch voice if she was alright, but the only response was her being silent and still unmoving.  I rolled her over to check to see if she was okay, but to my sights she wasn’t.  Lodged in the left region of her throat and her right eye were pieces of metal shrapnel; the blood streamed out like little red waterfalls.  From the look of horror in her only other eye, she saw this death coming.

The mere sight of her lifeless corpse caused me to shutter back on the ground.  As I continued moving back, I accidentally bumped into another object; except this one felt like moist leather.  I darted my sights to the object in question and was even more horrified then last time.  I couldn’t even recognize who this person was because of the third degree burns that had enveloped his entire head.  After seeing this man’s body, I shifted my field of vision all around the room and surveyed the area.

The room I sat it was left in a dark, crimson hue due to the auxiliary light’s illumination, what were originally working consoles are now smoldering boxes shooting out sparks while their monitor screens sit shattered or with spider web cracks on them, aside from the first two bodies I found, there were seventeen other lifeless figures next to me; all with various injuries and left in different positions like they were thrown rag dolls.  Only two corpses were in a slightly more defined shape, a young man embraced over a woman roughly around the same age, while connecting the two together is a metallic pole was embedded through their chests.  Everyone’s blood was either painted on the surrounding walls or pooled into a large puddle on the floor.  I was left alone in this aftermath of chaos.  I wanted to scream due to this sight.

“Over here, we’ve got another one!”

The sound of this middle aged voice brought me back to reality before terror could complete its hold on me.  I turned to the source and was instantly greeted with the sight of an older gentleman in the same uniform I was in, kneeling down to me.

“Check for other survivors!”  He ordered as he placed down a small blue case.  “Can you tell me your rank and name?  Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“First class private, Yvel.  I don’t know.”  I managed to spurt out.

The man opened his box and pulled out a three inch crystal and a white, obtuse shaped block with a small slot for the gem.  The device was set up and the medic pressed one of the flat ends against the affliction on my forehead.  The annoyance of pain was there for a moment, but as the rock lit up in a cerulean light, a soft orange glow was emanated from the tool and the stinging sensation vanished.

A distant explosion reverberated through the structure and the surrounding area shook, this could mean only one thing.

“We’re still under attack?”  I hesitantly asked in terror.

The field medic nodded his head and asked, “Can you still work?”

I lifted myself back onto my feet and proceeded over to one of the destroyed console panels.  From there, I noticed the crystal that had a piece of string threaded through it; the one that was given to me for my installment in my section.  I snagged it up and placed the jewel around my neck.

“If I must.”

“Good, the commands deck needs as many able hands as they can get.”

With that, I wiped off most of the blood on my face and ran for that part of the ship.

It’s been five minutes now of me running.  I may not be great with upper body strength, however I’m proud of my stamina; I’ve made a decent amount of progress to my destination in the short amount of time that has passed.  As I continued on, my current location put me at one of the ship’s viewing halls.  It was here that I had a thought.  Just who or what is attacking?

Stopping to satisfy my curiosity, I could not believe the sight before me.  Passed the wreckage of alliance vehicles, situated in the voids of space, and sitting around the emptiness of my world is some sort of alien monster.  This creature was planetary in size with an extremely long, serpentine body; in fact I think it could even swallow the planet in a single bite because it’s that big.  Two demon like wings were extended and thus further increased the mass of this beast.  The tip of its tail had a metallic silver shimmer to it and a wedge look to it, almost like the end of its appendage was a sword.  The monster’s head was shaped in a way so that its lower jaw was more extended out, while the top half was pushed down; giving the creature a spear or arrow shape figure for a head.  And lastly, amongst the alien’s dark reptilian scales sat two horns upon its head and a single line of spinal spikes that extended all the way from the back of its head to the beginning of the beast’s sword like tail.  What I’m looking at was said to be a creature of myth, an animal of legends, a beast that was said to might of exist during the time the empire was homage to a single land, I’m looking at a dragon.

How can this myth even exist!?  What is something like a dragon doing here!?  How can it even survive the harshness of space!?  And furthermore, why is this thing even attacking!?

As the questions continued to pile in my head about this mythic beast, the dragon bared its fangs as its lips sinisterly curled upwards.  Is it smiling!?

The monster gave a small glance in my direction, and with the quick jerk of its head, a multitude of explosions erupted along the port side of the ship and in clear viewing for me to witness.  Aside from the debris casted off from carrier I’m in, what was left of tetrahedron shaped spatial fighters floated off into what has become a growing graveyard.

So many vessels left dead to drift in the emptiness of space.  Flag ships split in half with clean cuts, carriers sat dormant with numerous scorch marks littering the outer hulls, battle cruisers remained silent while they had the appearance of being crushed inwards, and the personal units…I can’t even count the numbers.

I stood there, frozen as I stared helplessly at the reptilian creature.  That monster showed no effort as it destroyed the other fleets.  That snake like dragon would give one swing at a time with its tail and clear a section of fighters like they were nothing.  Materializing around the entity were several multicolored orbs, large in mass, which soon fired off beams in a designated direction the second they finished forming; anything that was unfortunate enough to be caught in their paths were just completely vaporized.  At one point, the beast unlatched its massive jaws and unleashed to what I can only call the basis of Hell, and incinerated all the dragon engulfed with its attack before lunging its massive head at another fleet and trapping those poor souls in its mouth.  The ships that remained fighting this demon still couldn’t put a scratch on the dragon.

There’s no hope.  That monster is annihilating our entire military force, there’s no chance we can win.  We’re going to die.  We’re going to die!  I don’t want to die, not here, not like this!  I don’t want to die!

“Yvel, get a hold of yourself!”

That familiar low tone voice snapped me out of the grasp of fear and back into reality.  The man before me stopped shaking me the moment he realized I was mentally back.  I knew who this person is.  Standing before me is a man in the same uniform as mine with a crystal similar as well; his dark, walnut brown hair was styled in a wolf cut that barely covered his emerald green eyes, and lastly despite being the same age as me, he already looks to be in his late twenties.  Haox, not only has he saved my life in the line of battle, he’s also one of my only friends.

“Come on, everyone is either needed in the hanger bay or commands deck.”  Haox stated in a calming, but rushed voice.

I turned back to the window and looked at the monstrosity destroying all in its path, “Just look what’s going on out there!  There’s no possible way we can beat this thing.”

“Sure this is the toughest obstacle our kingdom has faced, but we’re Atlanteans.  No alien force has ever bested the empire.”  Haox tried to reassure.

“That’s only because of the technology and the crystals the empire found on Earth.  We got lucky because of that, but now…now where is the advantage we once had?”

“This creature may be our greatest challenge, but once we defeat it, no living force would dare oppose the empire.  Once that happens, you can finally have the peace you want.”

He does have a point.  If our forces can stop this monster, who would even think to face the kingdom?  I could go through the rest of my military career without worry of dealing with combat.  I could retire in peace, return to my old town and maybe even start up a family if I felt like it.

“Come on, for the honor of the empire.”  My friend calmly ended as he patted my shoulder.

Right, for the empire…

Finally making our way into the commands deck, which is now a metallic, circular room with both sparking and working console monitors, Haox and I were given orders to reroute the flow of energy from the disabled turrets to the remaining active ones.  So the two of us started heading up to different consoles and begin our roles.

The officer in command that gave my friend and me our orders is Major General Otosis.  Otosis stands seven feet tall with the standard uniform, except his suit comes with a gold and red trident emblem on the right arm.  The CO’s face has aged with war as scars are lined over his flesh and graying beard while his aggressive hazel eyes stare at the holographic battle monitor.  I bet in all his years of being a soldier, he has never had to deal with something like this.

“No matter what we throw at this thing, it just throws it right back at us with greater force!”  Otosis muttered with his gruff voice.

That’s unsettling.  If a seasoned high ranking officer is beginning to lose hope, then what hope is there to have?  There isn’t any.  We’re not going to survive this.  We’re all going to die!

No!  Come on Yvel, don’t let those thoughts get to you.  There has to be some way to beat this beast.  There has to be…Great, now I can’t stop shaking.  If I resume working, I might be able to keep my mind occupied.

As I returned my attention to the monitors in front of me, I noticed something.  This ship’s primary canon is damaged, but operational.  This gives me an idea, an incredibly stupid one, but one that could possibly work.

I turned to the Major General and stated my plan, “Sir, what if we reroute most of the remaining power to the main canon?”

“Are you insane!?  Given the condition of that weapon, the gun could explode from that amount of power and destroy most of the hull.  If you hadn’t noticed, this ship has already been through enough abuse.  What you are thinking of doing would leave us completely defenseless!”  An engineer spat out.

“Hold on now!  That suggestion is a double edged sword, but do you trust and believe that this could work Private?”  Otosis said with interest in his voice.

Now that the Commanding Officer mentions that, and considering the fact that Otosis himself is open to this idea, maybe it isn’t such a good thing.

“If it’s a plan of Yvel’s, there is without a doubt it’ll succeed.”

I turned to see that it was Haox who added his support.  Once Haox noticed me, he gave me a thumbs up in reassurance.  With that, I turned back to the General and waited for his decision.

“Lieutenant, open Comms with the remaining ships.”  Otosis began.  “To all who are receiving this message, you are to divert all power to your vessel’s Obelisk Canon.  Yes it is a risk, but one we must be willing to take.  This alien is the greatest threat that our empire has faced, but with our combined power, we will prevail!  We are the strength to the Atlantean Kingdom and we will prove our might to overcome any obstacle or foe!  Our great nation will survive!  For the honor of the empire!”

After a brief moment, “For the honor of the empire” was cried out multiple times through Communications.

“You best hope this works.”  Otosis directed at me through the cheering.

If it doesn’t, either way I’m died.  This just gets better by the second.

Everyone in the room started preparations by finding a working console and inserted a crystal of their own into a slot that was found at each station.  Before I placed my stone in the opening, I tightly gripped it and prayed for success.

A few minutes passed while people called out the charge percentage with the passing time.  Once the reserve power took over for the primary power, trepidation filled the air as our main canon neared being readied; we knew there is no room for faultier and this plan is an all or nothing attempt.

“Charge at 100 percent, all power has been fully diverted to the Obelisk Canon!”

With that, our commanding officer gave the order for all ships to fire.  According to the scanner’s readings, only this ship and six others had fired; I guess that made us the last line of defense.  With seven blinding particle beams, the dragon’s head was engulfed in a massive explosion.  With a direct hit, cheers roared out declaring that nothing could defeat our “glorious” empire.

Did…Did we actually managed to kill it?

The light faded from the blast and to our greatest fear, the beast was revealed to be completely unscathed.  Witnessing this made it so I wasn’t the only one with an expression of horror.

All eyes stared at the battle monitor displaying this behemoth, murmurs of disbelieve stuttered out of some people’s mouths, and that creeping fear from before had now fully grasped my thought process.

As the terror took its place, we all witnessed the dragon do something we would have never expected it to do.  The reptilian beast verbally unleashed a rhythmic bellow, and after it finished laughing at us it began talking to us in an alien language.  Just from the tone the creature spoke in, it sounded like the thing was speaking with madness or insanity.

It’s…This can’t be possible.  This dragon, this monster isn’t some random beast.  It’s a creature of intelligence, of decision, and its current decision is our demise.  All that effort was for nothing; was it simply testing with us or toying with us?

“The plan failed, we’re completely defenseless now!”  Someone shouted.

“Yvel you fucking idiot, you’ve killed us all!”  Another aggressively declared as he grabbed the collar of my uniform.

“You’ve doomed us all you bastard!”  More soldiers spurted out, while I remained helpless.

After meeting with the quick brush of a fist and hitting the floor, my ears were soon filled with the voices of every soldier in the room demeaning me.  As I tried to get back up, I ended up winching back down as I felt a foot stomp on me.

“Everyone stop it right now!”

The assault stopped and as I looked up, I saw Haox acting as a wall between me and the angry mob.

“Yes Yvel’s plan failed, but at least he tried to come up with something!  What the hell did you all do?”  Haox yelled in my defense.

Right as someone else was about to object, the Major General muttered something in horror that caused the crowd’s and my eyes to return to the still functioning battle monitor.  We all scrutinized as the screen displayed that dragon uncoiling itself from the planet as it slowly raised its head in preparation.  Once it finished, not a moment was spared as the creature instantly lunged at the celestial body and latched its massive jaws around our world.  Everyone watched in horror as the gigantic beast violently shook the planet out of its natural orbit and deeper into the monster’s own mouth, until finally the dragon stopped moving and crushed our home with its razor sharp fangs.

This can’t be.  That demon ate our home.  Not only does this dragon want to kill us, it wanted to devour us as well.  No, please by the gods no!  I don’t want to die like this…

As the dark thoughts of death continued to pile themselves in my mind, that unholy creature sinisterly curled its lips while its crimson red eyes soon focused on every Atlantean ship that remained.  The reptilian beast gradually prepared to strike with its snake like body in such a way, that the very feeling given only added tension to our demise.

“Colony Alpha is lost!  All personal, abandon ship!”  Otosis ordered.

My mind went blank; my surroundings went white while the last of my physical sensations went numb.

It doesn’t matter anymore.  This is it, I’m going to die.  I’m going to die here and now, on this damn excuse for a vessel, for this damn military that I didn’t even want to join, and for this kingdom with a fucking superiority complex.  If this empire is so great and amazing, then why have the gods forsaken us!?  It’s because we’re not as amazing as we thing we are, and that’s why we’re all going to die!

“Wake up Yvel!”  A disgruntled voice demanded.

Soon after that, I found myself back in reality, sitting on the cold metallic floor while putting pressure on my left cheek for it hurt now.  As I looked up, I saw a twenty year, five foot woman with a brunette pony tail, and a very pissed off look in her emerald green eyes.  As she finished cracking her knuckles, the woman extended one hand to help me back up; I graciously accepted it as I recognized her.

“Kannu?  What happened?”  I gasped.

“Haox gave me your ass to drag while he and some of the others force open the hanger doors.”  Kannu immediately replied.  “You really need to get a hold of yourself, because right now you’re still alive.  This gives you the chance to survive and fight on.”

Now that I take notice of my surroundings, I can see that one of the two massive doors of the hanger bay was opened.  Not everyone, but a good portion of people decided not to wait for the thing to be completely open in order to leave.  I’m not sure if that is the brightest idea currently, since I can the booms of numerous explosions outside.

“Yvel, take the Lambda-9, we’re getting out of here.”  Kannu stated.

“The Lambda-9?  Isn’t that your sister’s fighter?”

As I said that, I clearly saw Kannu turned away in grimace.

Her body stuttered as she muttered, “She was in the engine room…That alien bastard is going to pay!”

In that case, I’ll treat Cecil’s ship with the best of my care.

As I entered the Lambda-9, I quickly got use to the set up of this vessel.  Just like the rest of the personal fighters, the ship is tetrahedron in shape, with a silver coating.  On both sides, near the tip, are two plasma pulse cannons, while on the very back are three thruster engines.  The cockpit is a simple cushioned seat with two flight sticks positioned in front of it; these controls move vertically, forward, and backwards.  And lastly is the slot set in between the sticks, this hole is for the crystal that is standard issued for each soldier.

I didn’t hesitate to insert my gem into the vehicle and power the ship on.  Once energy filled the Lambda-9, a holographic console was projected in my view.  I pressed in a few commands and the vessel had lift while the engines went active.  With one small push forward on the controls, the Lambda-9 blasted out of the hanger in no time flat; with me barely hitting the other door that still remained closed.

I don’t know why, but as I soared through space, I had a feeling that I should look to my left.  As I satisfied my curiosity, I bared witness to that dragon releasing from its mouth to what I can only describe as an orange beam of light from its mouth.  That energy was being drawn through the last of the flotilla.  Everyone one of those people, now die.  I couldn’t care less for the soldiers on my former installment, but…but Haox was on that ship still.  He deserved better than that.

A voice spoke over my communication radio, “Unfortunate souls, aren’t they?”  I recognized that voice.

“Haox, you made it!”  I looked over to my right and saw his ship flying next to mine.

“We couldn’t get the hanger fully open, so everyone just made a break for it.”  Haox replied.

“Cut the chatter, we don’t have time for that.  Any remaining units, report in.”  Kannu cut in.

Only twenty-seven people answered.  Only thirty out of some couple thousands survived, that is frighteningly unsettling; even both Kannu and Haox commented on the outcome.

“Haox, set up the coordinates to Earth, we’re heading to Atlantis and informing the High King of this incident.”  Kannu steadily ordered.

The Atlantean Empire becomes the strongest nation on Earth with the help of this mysterious technology.  With this equipment, the Kingdom masters space flight and sent out military forces to increase the size of the Empire.  And now, thousands of years later, the very people sent to conquer other worlds return in defeat.  This may not bold well.

In all my life, I’ve never been to Earth; I’ve heard descriptions of what it is like, but those tales are years old.  What is that planet like now?  What is the main kingdom even like?  Ever since the invasion of other worlds or “colonization” as it was called, there has never been form of communication between the colonies and the actual kingdom.  I wonder if it is anything like my home was.

I took a look back at the place where my birth planet used to sit and noticed something missing.

“Uh guys, where did the dragon go?”

The moment I brought that up, everyone went nuts and questioned just where the beast went.  As I continued looking around, I felt a very tangible force flow through me.  This sensation felt chaotic, cruel, very dark, and downright evil.  I turned to area where I felt this power and was instantly greeted with a constricting pupil of a blood red eye.  This sight caused the group I was in to immediately scatter in fear as we all began shouting profanities.

“Damn it Haox, get that bloody rift gate open!”  Kannu screamed.

“It’s not like I can press a fucking button with this!”  Haox yelled back.

“Then press all the buttons!”  A fellow survivor demanded.

A second after that was said, a wave of agonized screams were unleashed as a bellow of fire roared out of the dragons mouth.  I barely escaped the attack, but I could feel the distinct intensity of the flames.  Just what are the dragons capable of?

“Anyone alive!?”  It was Kannu that asked that; I could hear the rising anxiety overcoming her anger.

“Yvel reporting in!”  I announced.

“I’m still kicking it!”  Haox added.

“Anyone else?”  Kannu fearfully asked.

With silence being the answer, the three continued our escape.

“Portal’s open, move your asses!”  Haox’s rushed voice declared.

I regained control of the Lambda-9 and found both Kannu and Haox entering a black and white opening; our exit out of this forsaken space.  I sped closer to the rift as fast as this ship could take me, but once I was a few feet in front of the portal, a yellow ring encircled the hole and soon after merged an extension of light with the opening.  Seeing this caused me to instinctively look back, but once I saw a gigantic, dark purple mass of energy closing in on me.  After that, I forced myself back at reaching the rift before the portal closed and the horror of the situation got the best of me again.

MADE IT!  Alright now to-

An explosion rang out as the cockpit lit up in red while I was violent shook around in my ship.  I may have made it through the rift gate, but somehow so did that energy mass.  As I erratically flew through an inverted colored tunnel, I did my best of trying to stabilize Lambda.  When I brought up the command console, the actual physical console sparked up, and I felt an immediately flare of pain over my right lung.  Before I could look down, I let out a cough the released a crimson liquid.  I could feel my eyes widened as I saw my inner red stain the contents in front of me.  Upon jerking my head down, I saw the cause of my pang.  The power source, the crystal every soldier gets, is embedded in my right side.

No!  Please no!  Not like this!

After grabbing the flight sticks, another set of sparks blew out and blasted the left stick into my shoulder, causing me to lose further control over the ship.  My appendage twitched a bit with the pain, but what really worried me is the fact that I couldn’t even feel my limb anymore.  Soon after that, I began losing my vision and all physical sensation in my body.

I don’t want to die!  I DON’T WANT TO DIE!