Something On The Horizon - A 21 Hour Story Project

A king rises

Part I

Three Years Later – The Meadows

"Sir, the beacon is up ahead" a soldier said. "Keep your eyes peeled, we don't want to get ambushed" said an officer, to his squad of five others. General Ra'am and his squad had received a distress signal three hours ago from an unknown contact and received very little information about it. He had selected five of the Tempest Empire's best squad leaders for this mission, and he wasn't going to let them die.

They walked on for about a minute until they reached the area of the beacon. "There's nothing here. Why is the device saying that the beacon is here when all there is here are a walls?" one of Ra'am's lieutenants said "It makes no sense". There was a spark about three metres from the ground, directly in the middle of the entrance they came through. "Its a trap!" Ra'am shouted. Each of the soldiers raised their rifles and prepared for combat.

The spark became a dark fog which engulfed the whole entrance, blocking their only escape route. When the entrance was completely engulfed, figures began to form from the fog. They were like shadows, completely black, and they had white eyes. Some twitched and others didn't, either way, they were going to die. There was much gunfire, but the figures continued, undamaged, to walk towards the soldiers.

One of them grabbed a soldier and they disappeared as if a portal was activated within them. One by one, the soldiers were taken, until there was only Ra'am left. He unloaded all of his ammo into the remaining figure, but it didn't even flinch. It reached down to him and looked like it was offering him a hand. Ra'am didn't hesitate to blow the creature away from where it stood, but it did nothing. It just stood and watched him try.

"I will not kill you, because you cannot kill me. But I will take you with me to him. He has been expecting your presence here for a very long time..." the shadow said. "Where will you take me?" Ra'am questioned. "Your race may know it as the rings of Saturn. If you refuse to cooperate, then you will suffer the same fate as your friends..." the shadow replied. Ra'am grabbed hold of the creatures 'hand' which it still offered to him, and his vision turned white.

Part II

In The Lab

Diggy awoke in her bed. Olivia was not in the room, and the curtains were closed. She got out of bed, walked towards her wardrobe and took out the clothes she was going to wear today. Once she had put on her clothes, she walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She was surprised to see that everyone was waiting near her door, and that they had put up decorations around the Lab. "Happy birthday Diggy!" they said, in unison. "Thanks you guys!" Diggy replied.

Over the past three years, it was confirmed that Hannah and Kelsey had a different age progression to anyone else. They both now looked, acted and sounded like eighteen years old, but they were still the same girls that Diggy remembered. As the years passed, they were both safely tested so that they were understood more.

Today was her twenty-first birthday, and it was going to be exiting. After they had all had breakfast together, they played some party games and ate party food. As the day went on, the activities became gradually more exciting, but it didn't last long, it never lasted long. A portal opened up on a wall at the far side of the main room, and with it came three soldiers and Tucker. "Henry, I need to speak with you, it is negotiable. We have a problem" Tucker said. He and Henry walked into one of the Lab's briefing rooms, and closed the door behind them when the soldiers had entered.

It must have been at least fifteen minutes when Henry emerged from the room, but he did not look happy. "You may all come in now" he said, with a voice of thunder. Olivia had not seen him this angry since the battle for their town five years ago. "What happened?"she asked. "If you all come in, then it will be explained to you" Henry replied as he walked back into the briefing room, with his hands behind his back. One-by-one, everyone else entered the room, and then Tucker began to talk.

"Eight hours ago we received a distress signal from the Tempest Empire just beyond the meadows. We sent five troops to investigate the signal, but they just disappeared. That was six hours ago. Since then, we have received multiple distress signals from all over the meadows, but mainly in one place: at the top of the Citadel. The Citadel is basically a large tower at the centre of the meadows, we do not know who created it, but half of the signals we have received there are from the same origin as it" Tucker said. "So, our team could still be alive?" Diggy asked. "It is possible, but unlikely. That is why I have assembled you here. One of the soldiers we sent was Sophie Wilkinson, one of the army's veterans, and Jacob's last sibling. She has abilities that some of you may not have even heard of, and we need to bring her back, alive" Tucker replied.

"We need to find her, but to do that, we need people who are capable of retrieving her. Diggy, you and Olivia are the only ones here capable of succeeding this mission. But will you be willing to accept the challenge?" Henry asked. "I cant lose people who are close to me again. I have already lost one friend, and I will not lose theirs. I accept" Diggy replied, confidently. "I will fight to protect others if that is what needs to be done, I accept" Olivia replied. "Very well, then you will need to gear up, prepare for transportation in one hour" Tucker said.

Everyone left the briefing room except for Tucker, Diggy and Olivia. They were given another briefing on their mission, but this time, in more detail. "So, what's so special about Sophie?" Olivia asked. "Sophie has the ability to control all types of energies: Arc, Solar and Void. She is very powerful, and could help us understand what is causing all these distress signals" Tucker replied. Once the briefing had ended, about five minutes later, Diggy and Olivia went to the Lab's armoury and suited up. There were two types of suits: Light and Heavy. The heavy suit was designed for heavy duty equipment such as heavy weapons and ammunition. The light suit however, was designed for agility and was mainly designed for female soldiers that used unique abilities. Both suits were built from a unique metal, and required the wearer to be wearing minimal layers of clothing underneath. The metal was made from many various substances such as steel, titanium and iron. The heavy suit's armour required a nano-fibre bodysuit and was reinforced by an exoskeleton, and the lighter armour also required a bodysuit of nano-fibre but had metal plating on the main parts of each limb.

Diggy and Olivia both put on the light suits and selected their weapons. Olivia chose an energy weapon that had the body of an old assault rifle known as the AK47, while Diggy chose to use a shotgun. Jacob's shotgun to be exact. It was the only thing she had left to remind herself of him other than his message. She missed him more than she could express and she wasn't going to let his sister suffer the same fate he did. Once they had geared up, they met Tucker at their transport vehicle.