aliens-and-shiz

[aliens-and-shiz]

Prologue: a new beginning.

Book 1

Imani sat dumbfounded. She forced Caiden to reverse the Abbadon cannon blast that decimated the Luyten system after their first overwhelming victory against those who abducted the people her father was overseeing, and in doing so… she couldn’t explain what exactly happened. Her shapeshifting, for one, now was at will. When once it took injections and a molecular reformation machine, she could simply shift into the form she wished to take.

If that was all, she could’ve handled it… she thought. The history of her people did say they once were able to seamlessly integrate into any population with a similar, if not the same ability, but that was almost three galactic eons ago. The Arist -of course- was born during those days, but never claimed knowledge at what caused their power to cease so easily.

The collected might of mankind stood in ranks upon the plains of Luyten-b. The charred and broken ground kicking up dust clouds as the wind blew through the near four hundred million collected individuals as they stood. Silently. Each member one that had a boon granted with the universal reconstruction that brought back the imposing ship blacking out the sun, the Hellfire.

Imani stood and walked upon a stage to a pedestal, video drones beginning to broadcast across the whole plain, in every tongue, in every language all at once. But regardless of the tongue, all here would innately understand. The first Gift had returned and they simply would understand. The Babel incident from eons and eons ago no longer had effect. She was uncertain what would occur. Uncertain if the masses would have a boon that would unmask her.

“Today… today we accomplished that which had never been. Today, we as humanity brought back our crowning jewel from beyond the void, today… we Triumphed!”

The roar that rippled throughout the crowd was more than just immense. It had a strength not seen in… eons would be the most apt way to put it.

It took almost ten minutes to finally quiet the masses down to a point that Imani could bear to speak again.

“Tomorrow we continue our campaign. Tomorrow we go to destroy the Azkhrani! Tomorrow we find our people!”

If the previous roar had power, this one was even greater.

Imani smiled before stepping off the stage. She still had it. As she stepped into the airlock, alone, she shifted back into her usual form, leaving the face of the missing General Thane for the dark skinned beauty she had occupied for the last 50 years.

As she walked to her quarters on the Torus, she let the fear sink in as the thought of having to explain to the Aristarchi Senate and the Arist what her father had wrought… and how she didn’t plan on stopping them.

#humans are space australians #space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads #artists on tumblr #pottery #in honor of the fallen #988lifeline #az’krah #humans are space orcs

[aliens-and-shiz]

An object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force. An object in motion… so on and so forth.

The same applies to one’s state of being. You will never be better, never achieve the impossible, never prove yourself right or something else wrong… unless you take the step. Unless something triggers you into action. Who you are, what your state of being is defined by is a state of flux.

Your stories from your past, finally eating away at you enough to punch you into action may be this push. A breakup may cause it, a catastrophe… and sometimes something unimaginable happens.

All I ask you to entertain is maybe, just maybe, the universe is the same.

What if religions have a point. What if we are the same as which would be considered gods, and by the same token there are gods equally as alien to what we would consider reality as the concept of our own being is to an amoeba.

Who knows.

All I know is, it’s time to wake up.

And I hope you find the new dawn to be a fortunate one.

#when you wrote this before your mental breakdown #in honor of the fallen #988lifeline #;

[aliens-and-shiz]

Master post 7

Book 1 in entirety.

Parts 1-72

Part 73

Epilogue

#humans are space australians #space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads #artists on tumblr #in honor of the fallen #988lifeline #humans are space orcs #az’krah #humanity is weird #humans kick ass #space australia #scifi series #scifi stories

[aliens-and-shiz]

Prologue 2 the electric boogaloo

It’s coming. Don’t know when, don’t know where, but it’s coming.

The monkeys have broken from their cage.

They have found magic. (Seriously we’re doing magic in the next book. Don’t know how yet but we’re doing it!)

And who knows what’s going to happen next.

#humans are space australians #space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads #artists on tumblr #az’krah #humans are space orcs

[aliens-and-shiz]

Epilogue.

If the universe was a flower, then the expansion of it could simply be opening up to a multiversal sun. If the universe was alive, gravity would be its bones, it’s tendons, everything holding it all together. So… with that said…

If creation and entropy had thoughts would they bicker and war above time itself?

What would happen if a minute was a year?

What would happen if a year was a minute?

What if we’re just too slow to see past it all?

If concepts had a conscience, would we be concepts to them?

If you traveled faster than the speed of light, would you punch into beyond?

Or would you simply end up right back where you started?

What is in the darkness between the stars? What lies within the void of the unseen?

What is between reality and damnnation?

Are we just a speck on a floating puff of smoke?

Or somehow are we larger than giants?

Perhaps the answers to these questions will be answered one day. But until then, both are always true. Nothing. Everything. Chaos. Order.

But, for those of us reading this epilogue, which is by no means a conclusive ending.

BAH!

Much like the epiphany discussed within, the never ending hunt that can be encompassed by Schrödingers cat, there are two meanings to epilogue. And this is the latter and far less common. A comment, from some… well call us a less well known one than you are used to.

And the comment is this:

Do not stray into destruction. It is not diving into chaos but the epitome of order. Taking control of what is before you and removing it from your view until it is in a state you can look upon with some satisfaction. And destruction is never finished until every last block is cleared away until the canvas is completely clean; perfect. Ready for the chaos of creation to once again begin and mar its perfection. Instead embrace the chaos, become what you were always meant to be and bring forth something new, something unknown, unexplored. Bask in curiosity, bathe in the joy of life’s chaos within itself. Your battle is shared even though it is your own, and do not go calmly into that good night. Instead fight it, and break through it to see a new dawn.

Or more simply:

Do something with your life. Quit wasting it. Carpe diem.

You will see me again one day. Don’t you fret, for I have remembered how to flap my wings and am beginning to fly again.

And I’ll fly by again one day. And when I do, I hope to see you shine, Stardust.

#in honor of the fallen #space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #love and death #carpe diem #epilogue #long reads #humans are space australians #988lifeline

[aliens-and-shiz]

Reposting in honor of the genocide Putin is committing in Ukraine. In honor of the children that can’t run from the warlords in Africa and Afghanistan. In honor of those the Chinese work to death simply for being who they are.

Stand with the fallen. Rise for them.

In honor of the fallen.

A lone soldier, marches slowly over the ruptured earth. The signs of chaos strewn beyond what the eye can see. Hoisted upon his shoulder, a solitary rifle. Hundreds of years old at this point, but then again only the trigger was original. In the distance, white tents with red crosses dot the landscape. Torn to shreds by time, and the unthinkable.

A world, broken by those that intended to save it. A planet shredded in a fight to the death to save but a few innocents. The soldier wipes his brow, kneeling down to look at a small purple flower peeking out of the still-torn earth. A glimmer of hope, but not for the soldier.

He marches, searching for those he lost. Any of them. Just someone to call brother, someone to share a drink with.

But, as with time, they are but dust in the wind, coating the trees with their unfound potential, scattered among the stars.

But still the soldier marches, one purpose upon his mind. He unlatches a simple tool from his back, not the rifle, but a spade, and steps with a new purpose. Not one of hope, or joy, or even bitterness.

His purpose is driven by melancholy, by a memory of a time long past, of a people that brought incredible and terrible things to life, and fought for life itself.

He stops. And sinks the spade into the loose dirt, beginning the makings of a shallow grave. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.

In time, after the stars above had turned just so slightly, he bent. Grasping nothing but a boot, filled with the ashes of one of the fallen, and places it gently in the grave.

He hefts the spade yet again, and reverses his work, covering the boot in soot and soil- giving the fallen one at least the smallest modicum of honor forgotten to the world.

The soldier marches not for war, not for peace or prosperity, and certainly not by his own volition.

The soldier marches in honor of the fallen, of those that died innocent or guilty, of those that can march no more.

The soldier marches for honor, knowing that when his time comes, he will not have such a favor returned.

And yet he marches still.

CJP 1988-2013

#stand with ukraine #ukraine #in honor of the fallen

[aliens-and-shiz]

Upon rereading this book dear god how have you people stuck around this long

[aliens-and-shiz]

Pretty sure that wraps up the events of the first book. Hold on, I will have an epilogue.

#humans are space australians #space orcs #az’krah #humans are space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #humans kick ass #humanity is weird #space australia #scifi series #scifi stories #space australians #storytime #sci fi #aliens #humans are weird #science fiction #space war #stabby the roomba #long reads #scifi

[aliens-and-shiz]

Oh child

Have you seen the face of death

The faintness behind the eyes

The peace that alights their face

If you have, my sorrow is with you

For it takes a lifetime to understand

Yet a moment to live

622

[aliens-and-shiz]

73: beyond the wall

Shii accompanied Sarah to the sealed airlock that separated the ferry from the station.

The spaceport was massive. Glimpses through the window that encompassed hundreds of square feet on the inner side of the station showed what Sarah could only compare to a star. Pulses of light in every color whipped out from the center of the massive ring, each one stopped and absorbed by massive spires that arced around the whole of the structure. Ships of every size and shape darted from spire to spire, some obviously military, others elegant beyond belief. Impressive was only the beginning of what came to her mind.

Her children followed closely, not wanting to be far from their mother in such a strange place, regardless of their own capacity for violence. Sarah glanced back ahead, and Shii stopped and… well they couldn’t smile exactly but their body language conveyed as much.

“There is food advertised for carbon based life this way” Shii said, turning away from the giant window.

Sarah glanced at it for a moment. It was beautiful. Then, she saw something strange begin to encompass the whole background. A giant wall of light rushing towards the station from all directions. She turned and started to dive for her kids but the wall of light hit. And everything ceased for a moment. A long moment.

“Interesting… so it begins.” A voice boomed through the nothingness that was everything. A voice that was everything and nothing.

And as suddenly as she was obliterated, she was remade. She felt every strand of hair, every molecule screaming to be put back together. It was an eternity. It was a moment.

She fell, but caught herself on a chair at the last possible instant. One could think of it as an impossible instant even.

“Mom… what was that? What… begins?”

“Honey I… honestly do not know.”

But she felt different. More at ease. More confident. A sense of self that had not been before. A new view on the world. Everything more detailed. Those with weapons of kinds she recognized and even those that didn’t stood out to her. She felt lighter on her feet.

Sarah stood, looking around the now disarrayed spaceport, the crowd rushing to the safety of their ships or the reinforced bunkers the hotels seemed to advertise.

Wait, how did I know that. The translator only recognized ‘hotel’ before.

An understanding shook her. Whatever that wave of… force was, it changed the very fiber of her being. Possibly the core of every single creature that drew breath.

And the thought thrilled her.

#space orcs #humans are space australians #az’krah #humans are space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads #humans kick ass #humanity is weird #space australia #scifi series

[aliens-and-shiz]

Masterpost 6

Prologue thru part 69

Part 70

Part 71

Part 72

#space orcs #humans are space australians #az’krah #humans are space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads #humans kick ass #humanity is weird #space australia #scifi series

[aliens-and-shiz]

Part 72: Awakening

Caiden looked out upon the blasted lands of Luyten-B that now sat beneath him. A massive chunk was eaten out from it, simply vanished, with now a large coating of magma that had poured out from its mantle the last few days. He looked at the life signs display below. Only a few were left alive on the planet, as the gas emissions from the destruction he caused poisoned everything that had once existed on the surface. And few meant a total of one hundred. On a planet that had reportedly housed cities of the enslaved. A planet he now helped devise a way to save. An experiment that had never been done, for fear of what might result. For fear of the sensitive equipment it would destroy.

Caiden turned away from the carnage in disgust… and triumph. Not a single soul believed him. Only he saw what was coming. There may be millions dead now, but it would have been trillions.

A man entered his glass cell. They stood there, covered in dust, except for the obvious outline of a rebreather.

“You.” The man said, “are who they call Caiden?”

Caiden sat on the lone stool in the room. “What may I assist you with… mister…?”

The dusty man sat, and began stripping rags off his face and neck. As he did so, he spoke.

“You are responsible for the destruction of the planet below, and they make you stare at what they must feel is your greatest failure. And yet, you sit there with triumph in your eyes.”

Caiden slowly gasped as the man revealed his face.

“You must tell me what you saw. And I needed, frankly to thank you… and possibly explain the Great Plan to you.” Sanchez spoke, gazing straight into Caiden’s eyes, with a pair of bright violet eyes with a blue light pulsing behind the iris.

“My friend, what have you become.”

As Caiden spoke, an event that hadn’t taken place before -in any time, in any universe- began. The array of satellites surrounding the planet and its moon began to pulse with a green light. Then, they went dark for but a moment and exploded in a dazzle of light that roared through the Torus and rippled into the universe, a wave of energy and power that bent the fabric of space with it, moving every fiber, every cell, out of place entirely, then slamming back together in the way they were always meant to be.

Every color conceivable, every shade imaginable lit up Sanchez’s face as he began grinning with a smile of now sharp, pointed teeth. But nothing had changed.

“The lesson we will learn today is not what I have become, but rather opening you to that which has always been.”

The dust stirred on the ground, then turned into a spike and struck at Caiden.

*******

The planet shuddered. John still could not control himself, but he stopped in his tracks. Lights began to flicker, and go out. Then, a strange wave of light that seemed to rip him apart and put him back together in a heartbeat shot through his vision.

His fingers released the heavy box, sending the stack clattering to the cement floor. The Az’Khrani guards did not seem to care. This was not what they were used to. This place was supposed to be safe for them.

Suddenly, John felt something. It felt like a… warmth of some kind that seemed like it had been missing for… his whole life he realized. No… far longer. It was reminiscent of an old cave, one where you reached the air pocket through a pool of water miles long, where the air hadn’t moved in millions of years. A feeling of… being that simply hadn’t been there. But always had.

John instinctively flexed, knots loosening slightly as he did so. He froze. It was one thing to drop an item, but this was control. He could move. “May God have mercy on my soul.” He whispered as he turned toward the closest Az’Khrani guard. His anger swelled. A sense of power filled him with the anger. He ran at the creature and smashed a fist through its thorax, blowing its arms off in the same instant.

He pulled back and roared, his anger building into a rage with the power that filled him, that began to buzz through every fiber of his being. Fire began to flicker in the air around him, small jets began shooting from his pores. Then began to crack with small gouts along his fingertips, as if his skin was holding back the sun itself.

“I am awake you insects, and I am going to destroy you!” He bellowed down the valley, and detonated, cracking the planet beneath him for ten miles in every direction, the shock wave flattening everything within fifty.

Within moments, more explosions occurred across Drekka as those who’s very being was torn from them tore back the shreds of what was left of their humanity.

Within the day Drekka was no longer a prison, but a volcanic tomb.

#space orcs #humans are space australians #az’krah #humans are space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads #humans kick ass #humanity is weird #space australia #scifi series

[aliens-and-shiz]

71. Exposition.

Prequel to this part: part 23 and 41-c. Go find it yourself I’m too tired for hyperlinks rn be happy with the content it’s… content?

The funny thing about religion- the harder you try to destroy it the faster the fire burns.

The same goes with politics. And politics, frankly, is but a means of maintaining the peace and creating order. Some believe that many rules and binding statutes make the best system. ‘Why, if you’re doing nothing wrong, why be afraid of that which provides harmony in your life?’

Then there is the other side. Those that who, at best, got a cold shoulder… or at worst were taken from their homes and forced to hard labor on massive camps where those that weren’t performing- or simply were in the wrong place at the wrong time were killed by those the guards wanted to torture. For some, it was one thing to kill an adult, but they’d swallow the bullet if a small one was placed in front of them. For some.

Then there was Drekka.

Drekka was… different. Unlike the colony prisons where escape was a regular occurrence with little to no prisoner retrieval (not like they’ll survive long on their own anyway), Drekka-1 was a terraformed Mercury-sized rock planet located about as far from its home star as Venus would be from our Sun, with a star of similar size and shape. Unlike mercury, it was… dense. Mostly composed of radioactive material- uranium, plutonium, tritium and the like. And it was here that the Az’Krahni Empire disposed of the escapees who were captured, those that would not fire upon their fellow prisoners when assigned to, those that would not be pushed down… and those that had more… political connections.

People don’t escape Drekka. For starters, all but 500 square miles of the surface is completely undeveloped. No ships come to surface except those that know where it is, which is a closely kept secret by the Az’Khrani imperial command. And those 500 square miles are in 500 different places. And sure, it’s terraformed, but every plant is poisonous to one race or another. A few rare ones to all, but they make the life-giving oxygen needed, so they’re perfect for what the Azkrahni needed it to be.

As a further measure of ensured “cooperation”, the entire “workforce” had a brain scan and was fitted with a control chip. They had to be replaced every few months and were prone to electromagnetic pulses, but part of the programming was a backup chip and a regular replacement, even if the chips seemed fine. They did what the azkrahni wouldn’t even let their own servant or worker classes do- handle radioactive materials.

And that’s exactly what John did every day. Ever since his son died in his arms, ever since in his rage he killed over a dozen trained warriors, ever since he woke up, he had no control. He ate when the chip said eat, worked when the chip said work, slept when the chip said sleep. Over and over mind numbing work. And not a second of it could he scream. He wanted to howl, to simply be able to use his hand by his own means. Without them doing their work on their own. The blood he began coughing up after a couple months told him those hurts weren’t just sores from the constant use. Those sharp points had to be tumors. But still the never ending silence and work persisted.

John watched through his eyes now. They weren’t doing the same tasks today, so at least something was different. The scenery. He still couldn’t speak, couldn’t move his pinky toe if he wanted. But he was moving boxes today, not mining. It was a better day. The particular box he was carrying this day was obviously lead. He could tell by the way it compressed in his fingers when his body lifted it. Something else that’s adding to the cancer that had to riddle his body by now.

To be continued, I’m tired, must slep

#space orcs #humans are space australians #az’krah #humans are space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads

[aliens-and-shiz]

Part 70: drifting

Sarah sat on the interstellar transport, her kids playing quietly but staying within line of sight of her. They were the only humans on board, but from what the translator she stole from the coalition base on Luyten before taking a few firearms, her three kids, and hopping on the first ferry off that planet, it didn’t matter. Her oldest, Jake, was 16, and slung an assault rifle over his shoulder casually, keeping an eye on his siblings and the hall in equal measure. Her youngest two, Mark and Jess had knives strapped to their ankles as well, just in case.

She sipped the odd drink supplied by the ships automated kitchen. A curiosity, the freighters kitchen- a large machine that scanned the patrons genetic makeup and blood analysis, and dispensed a liquid containing all the items the body currently needed in order to maintain perfect equilibrium. It never tasted well, but it hadn’t poisoned anyone on the ship yet. In fact, her son looked more filled out than before, and her own physique had only improved since.

“-bre Jukka ne da veraæç kłös.” The ship’s speakers crackled.

Sarahs kid’s glanced at her. She was the only one with a universal translator after all.

“Mom, what does kłös mean?” Jess asked innocently.

“It means to attach. We have arrived at the Jukkan Spaceport. Stay close.” Sarah smiled. Her kids wouldn’t need the translator if they kept that up.

She and her small entourage gathered up their belongings. Jake put in some earbuds, the unmistakable sound of Green Day emanating from him as he shouldered his bag.

Sarah reached over and yanked one of the earbuds out, “That’s much too loud. Turn it down.” She let it go and went back to shouldering her own baggage. Jake scowled, but relented.

With a cacophony of whinnies, gasps, and hooves on metal a creature came bounding around the corner.

“SARAH!!!”

Sarah raised an eyebrow as the creature crashed into empty storage bins, sending them scattering along the hallway.

“Yes?” Sarah answered.

“Wanna go to the observatory on base with me!? I’m certain there’s going to be an astronomer that’s dying to meet you!” Shii exclaimed as xe struggled to stand back up.

“A… okay. Sounds like a plan. Now let’s get you back on your feet. You really need to stop running on the ship, and I know it’s been over a decade since you last were off a planet’s surface.”

Sarah gently lifted Shii’s llama-like body off the metal floor as the entire ship shuddered slightly as it docked with the spaceport.

#az’krah #sci fi & fantasy #humans kick ass #space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space orcs #humanity is weird #space australia

[aliens-and-shiz]

https://discord.gg/u8wg7BCQ

Tryna grow our space. Come join us and have a merry time!

[aliens-and-shiz]

Part 68

Part 69

Lé Masterpost mk V

The Prologue

Parts 1-59

Part 58’s absolute disaster

Part 60

Part 61

Part 62-a

Part 62-b

In Honor of the Fallen

Reblog please and thank you.

Needed to make this to make 63-70.

Gotta have reference to the lore to avoid those pesky plot holes.

#sci fi & fantasy #space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space orcs #humans kick ass #humanity is weird #az’krah #multi genre #new part #the new human war #chapters #storytime #scifi stories

[aliens-and-shiz]

Part 69

“If it helps any, each and every missing member from the Luyten Incident is alive. They are also very much so dead.” Caiden began.

He took a sip of water. The entire courtroom sat silently in confusion. Caiden sat silently for a moment, just long enough for the confusion to turn to hope, then anticipation.

“The Abbadon cannon doesn’t necessarily destroy anything,” he continued, “it simply removes that which in its path from the current timeline. Right next to us sits a timeline where everything is the same, but the cannon never fired. We don’t see it, but it can affect our reality from time to time in echoes that follow the gravitational path. We have seen this in tests. While an incoming asteroid would cease to exist, its gravitational energy and signal never ceased, and it affected Pluto’s gravity in accordance. I can show you the place where even though there is stone below your feet you simply float off, because if the impact occurred as it should have, a third of the planet would be dust. It is in the other timeline. I can show you if I must."

He quieted, and began studying the room intently. It was full of his peers from various other projects, political juggernauts, and what seemed to be left of humanity’s leadership. At least, that which wasn’t taken during the Great Abduction. And those that were left… had no heart left for him. He turned to Imani. She glanced at him, almost lovingly.

And something strange she said irked the back of his mind as the courtroom sat in silence. A third party, and uninvolved in today’s matters.Yet today’s matters encompassed every nation, every people, every planet under the banner of Humanity. As she opened her mouth, a stark realization came over him.

“Can you retrieve the USF Hellfire and her crew from beyond the void?” Imani asked quietly, but just loud enough to be heard throughout the hall.

Caiden looked at his feet for a while. Thinking. It could work… if I have a cannon at the site.

“There is one problem,” Caiden began, “The Hellfire would still have to be there.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean if I’m going to bring them back we have to be within a few light-minutes of wherever the ship might be in the other timeline.”

Roars erupted from the crowd. Curses, screams of hope, every passionate emotion expressed fervently in an cacophony of noise.

“SILENCE!” Imani yelled. The room fell silent in moments, but it was still moments too long. She continued, “That is fortunate then. I happen to know their next mission site. I plan to be there and merge the timelines back together to get our navy back.” She smiled indignantly.

Caiden shook his head. “That won’t work. If any debris was left at Luyten, it would create a paradox. There would be two instances of an object in the universe at the same time. If you want your navy whole, we HAVE to merge the timelines with it at least orbiting the right planet!”

“It will be done, Caiden.” Her glare could have melted steel beams. “THIS TRIAL IS OVER PENDING INVESTIGATION. DISMISSED!”

With a clatter of chairs and shoes on stone, and a large bang of the great doors, the assembly departed, leaving only Caiden, Imani, and guards to keep one safe and the other contained.

#az’krah #sci fi & fantasy #space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space orcs #humans kick ass #humanity is weird