Intro- Hey guys, well this is a story I have formulated for about a year now, I have written ideas and names, not to mention I have drawn art for it. It is the basis for a game I would like to create when I become a designer. I have found the idea of this very interesting, and I have gathered ideas from various sources, Halo being one of them. Please leave feedback, and enjoy.
Background-Neos Horan, a young but skilled soldier found himself stationed on the planet Phrixos, an uncharted planet on the edge of the galaxy. He was sent to search for a lost recon squad that had crashed about a week before. The current king, Polemus, had ordered that this place be searched for any indication of why they crashed.
No one knew the reasonings behing the power-thirsty king, but no one dared challenge him either. He was always looking to expand his territory and he has wiped out countless species because they stood in his way. Neos was sickened by him, but as a soldier he swallowed what little sympathy he had and followed orders.
On this planet Neos discovered a large power source, it seemed to be like a reactor of some kind, so he searched and found an ancient armor arm piece of highly advanced technology, the source of this power. Once he touched it, it glowed with a brilliant light and he raised it to inspect it. Without hesitation he put it on and it quickly changed to fit his arm, with an energy he had never felt before flowing through his arm he was stronger and faster than normal. He felt invincible, and as a result he abandonned his post, he stole a starfighter from the cruiser they landed on and he flew away from there, never to return under the king's rule.
Prologue
Years after Neos was considered a rogue soldier, he returned. He found himself on the largely urban planet Nestor. He sat on a metal outcropping, neon lights shined from the vacant streets. He examined his glove, tightening his grip and then releasing it, it was mostly silver, with details of black, however when he activated it it glowed with blue and red lights.
Since he was in hiding Neos was forced to wear a mask, which was red and black, and riddled with scratches and holes from his various engagements with the military. He wore a cloak to hide his lightweight armor underneath, which was necessary in the combat situations he had been in. Neos' cloak was torn in many places from his narrow escapes.
He had accumulated many black market weapons over the years, on of which was a "Lightning" sword as some called it, it was really just highly excited particles contained by a magnetic field, it had dimensions similar to a normal broadsword, only not as long. It gave off a yellow light, with hints of blue when activated, it wasn't meant for stealth but it was quite useful when Neos was outnumbered. It could easily hack through metal and bone. He also had two "Viper" daggers, which were similar in composition to the Lightning swoard but they gave off a dark blue light, making them near invisible in the dark. For long-range Neos used the Spark bow, a highly illegal particle weapon that is able to pass through many objects before stopping. The spark bow fires pulsar-particle darts which give off plasma and resonate sharply so they pass through metal and stone.
Neos used these weapons because he refused to use military weapons after he knew how many they had killed. The lives that were crushed from those weapons were the ones that Neos had been working to save. However he had been having trouble, until now. He finally got information on a popular politician who answered directly to King Polemus. Neos sat outside this politician's window waiting for his guests to go away before he made his entrance. There were guards on the inside by all 3 exits, each armed with the standard Particle Rifle. There were only a few people left that decided to stay and for the after-party. Neos grew impatient as each minute passed. He readied a flash-bomb that gave off an extraordinary amount of light when activated.
After another hour the final guests left, and this time they used the exit below Neos, and two guards decided to accompany them as they returned to their vehicle. The politician collapsed on a couch, the guards stood alert for any intruder. The other guards came back towards the entrance, this is my chance, Neos thought.
He leaped to the ground with a thud, and with inhuman swiftness he quickly grabbed one guard by the head and slit his throat with a dagger. The other guard jumped back in shock, he began to fire wildly at Neos who had already leaped back onto his perch above. He moved quickly and jumped off once more behind the soldier. Who quickly turned around and attempted to hit Neos with the end of his gun. Neos took the blow to his stomach, and rolled to the right to avoid the shots coming at him. He pulled out his bow, and the string of plasma began to leak down each end of the bow. Neos pulled out a pulsar dart and fired it at the soldier who almost made it back inside. The dart let off a terrible hymn as it raced through the air and struck the guard in the chest. Blood leaked from his wound, and he cried in pain as the dart passed through his heart. His body slumped against the wall and then slid to the ground.
Neos knew that he had created a commotion and quickly grabbed his way back to his protective outcropping. 2 more guards came out and looked at the dead bodies near the entrance. Each one looked startled, they attempted not to show their fear, but no emotion of that intensity could be held back. They ran back inside, with their backs turned to the window that Neos was staring in. They recited the horror they saw outside and Neos shattered the window and ran inside. He found himself on a balcony about 10 feet above the actual room. The guards fired towards him, but none hit home. Neos ran along the balcony, covered by the shadows. He lobbed the flash-bomb down into the center of the room. There were four guards around the politician, who was now in a daze. Neos activated the polarity in his mask and moved towards his objective.
Each guard fired wildly into the air, trying to kill their intruder. However Neos was fast and he jumped off the balcony towards the first guard, he slid his Viper dagger between the guard's ribs. The guard fell to the ground without a sound. The other guards started yelling incoherently, Neos moved to the next guard and grabbed his arm, with a quick jerk he dislocated the guard's soldier and slid his dagger into his chin. He ducked and saw ammunition fizzle through the air. He rotated and shoved his dagger into the guards throat and then shoved his dead body into the last guard. The flash-bomb wore off and the last guard started to crawl away, Neos threw his dagger and the blue blade spun twice and then stuck in the guard's chest.
Neos looked around for the politician, who was attempting to reach the exit, Neos ran across the room in half the time that he would have and cut him off. The terrified politician fell to the floor.
"Wh-What do you want?! Money? I can give you money! Please don't--", he said with sweat beading down his face.
"Shut-up!", Neos said bluntly, "I am here for information on Polemus."
"I-I don't know anything abou--"
Neos stepped on his chest, "Don't lie", he said softly and put his dagger next to the politician's throat.
"I swear I know nothing!", the politician said, obviously more scared of the consequences of releasing information than the man who had a dagger on his throat.
Neos grew angry, the fear that Polemus instilled into his followers was truly impressive. Neos bashed the politician in the head with his fist and then made a hasty exit. The only way to fight Polemus was to be feared more than the tyrant himself.
Chapter 1: Uprising
Neos was sitting in a darkened alley, shadows flickered from the distant street as various people going about their lives just passed him by. Neos was staring at a crudely drawn photo of him, it was a wanted poster. Something the authorities decided to do in response to Neos' killing. This isn't exactly what Neos had predicted after he left the politician alive. He needed attention, this wasn't enough. He needed a live broadcast, he needed people to fear him, to respect him, to hope for him, or for some revere him.
He needed to rival the King, and for this to happen he needed to do something cataclysmic, but not harmful to innocent civilians. He wanted supporters as many were unhappy with the King's rule, and if he was to get supporters he might spark a rebellion. Neos however was not out for power, he was not greedy or gluttonous. He just wished for change, for over a millenium the King had ruled, and for some unknown reason he had not died, something was keeping him alive. And through his ages he has turned from a prosperous King to a ruthless and corrupt tyrant.
Neos sat pondering his next moves in the shadows of the alley when he heard a voice from the street. "Hey did you hear the King's fleet is coming tomorrow?" a military officer said.
"Yea, and I heard his flagship will be there as well, apparently he's giving some award to the Govenor of this planet."
Neos' heart pounded, the King's flagship Helios' Chariot? This was his chance, if he could destroy it, then he could easily kill the King and draw the attention needed for his rebellion. It was perfect, he just needed a proper explosive. And for that he knew exactly who to go to.
Neos fled from his alley hiding spot and waited for the cover of darkness, when it came he slid across the rooftops, he knew a black market bomb constructor. Neos found himself in a rundown part of the massive city, he walked towards a tunnel, completely enveloped in darkness. He soon passed the entrance and made his way under this part of the city. His mask allowed him to see in the darkness, which was everlasting in this envrionment. Few traces of light passed through cracks in the ceiling.
Finally a dim light shone through the night, the light came from a door off in the distance, Neos quickly made his way to it, there was no time to waste in this situation. He passed through the doorway and found a chubby man with long stringy hair slouched over a table, sparks flew all around as this man turned his tools. The workshop was covered in metal scraps and diferent alloys. The man looked up from his work. A smile came across his face and he put down his tools. "Ah Neos! Good to see ya!", the man walked over to him, "So how'd that light-bomb treat ya?"
"It allowed me to kill 8 men and threaten the Govenor of Nestor."
"I see...so that's what all this commotion about a masked assassin is about.", the man smiled and walked back over to his bench. "I've been working on something quite impressive if I do say so myself.", the man lifted a small device, it was gold and shone with blue highlights.
"What is it?" Neos asked.
"It is a positron-emitter, it shuts down all things powered by electricity or excited electrons. It is far more useful than those crude EMP generators that so many others use."
"Isn't tampering with anti-matter dangerous?"
"It is when you don't know what you're doing, however I do know and this device works perfectly.", the man put the device down, "So I assume you didn't just come here to say hi. What can I do for you?"
"I need a small bomb that is powerful enough to crack the shields on a Warship's power core."
The chubby man started to laugh, "What are you gonna do with that? Destroy the King's Flagsh--", he stopped himself suddenly realizing Neos' intentions. "You can't! That's insanity! You'll get killed far before you even get aboard the ship."
"I must bring about change, and how better to do that than to kill the King himself?"
"I assume you have this all planed out, you always seem to.", the man yet again chuckled, "If any man could get this job done it would be you.", he walked over to a small container and opened it, a glowing orb was in his hand. "This is highly enriched Thorium, put in the right bomb this should get the job done. I can have it ready for you by tomorrow morning."
Neos nodded and walked back into the dark tunnel, he continued to think about how he was going to get aboard the ship, he knew exactly how it could be done, but he didn't know how he could do it and strike a message. He walked to his starship on the outskirts of the city, the stealth system was active, and this gave him an idea. The warship would easily detect his ship's radiation, but maybe that's exactly what he wanted.
Chapter 2: The King's secret
Neos readied his starcraft, he set the controls to autopilot. The bomb he had picked up was about the size of his fist, small and effective. He checked over his equipment, making sure all of his weapons were there, because he would need every single one of them for a mission of this stature.
Shadows of clouds danced across the barren landscape, the blue sky shifted with the ever-present clouds. It almost seemed that on a day so peaceful that this destruction could not take place. But it always seems there is a calm before the storm. Neos climbed into his ship and lifted off into the atmosphere, of course the minute he left the planet's surface he began to see the shadows of the massive warships that neared the planet. Leading them was a white ship, lined with golden plates on the front. It shone brilliantly in the presence of the system's star. Truly this was Helios' Chariot.
Neos' heart pounded as the 10 kilometer long ships made their way into the planet's orbit. From their they would send ships down with soldiers and the King himself. This gave Neos a very small window of opportunity to work in. He activated the stealth systems, and turned down the engines as much as possible to avoid being detected. He neared Helios' Chariot with caution, this ship could easily sense him if he quickened his pace.
The ship bay started to open, and this was Neos' signal to move it, he activated his plasma shields that supplied him with a short supply of oxygen and pressure, and he jumped out of his ship and towards the ship bay. Once the door fully opened 3 sleek, small ships zoomed out and barely missed Neos. Scout ships, Neos muttered to himself as he tried to control his heartbeat and breathing. He landed in the Ship bay with a thud, he stood up and saw the sterile white surrounding. Both large and small ships littered the massive bay, workers were up on a balcony over-seeing the departure of certain ships.
Neos moved behind a large bomber, he pulled out his Spark Bow and readied a dart. One worker started to move towards him and he loosed the dart at him. The dart hissed through the air and struck the worker in the throat, he dropped to the floor without a sound. Another worker caught on and tried to sound the alarm, however Neos quickly grabbed the railing and flipped over to where the worker was. He stabbed the worked in the ribs with his Viper dagger. Blood covered the floor, and Neos knew he had to move quickly.
From Neos' years in service of the King he had memorized the layout of a warship, he also remembered the exact path to the engine room. He quickly moved down the bright hallway. No one was in his path, this just quickened his arrival. He came to the elevator that would lead him to the engine room, and he realized how easy it was entering and coming here, Where were the soldiers?, Neos thought. Just as he pressed the button to call the elevator, footsteps reverberated through the halls. It seems Neos' wish had been granted.
Two large men dressed in red and black armor walked down the hall, particle rifles on their backs, and plasma staffs in their hands. Neos' heart sunk, the Imperial Commandos. The most elite soldiers in the Empire, Neos heard stories of their feats, as if they were gods. They were the protectors, the exterminators, and the right hand of the King. They can single-handedly take on a Phemos Colossus (a massive reptilian beast found in the grasslands on the planet Phemos) and win.
Neos struggled to move, his fear began to cloud his judgement. He was not afraid of death, and yet these figures made him paralyzed with the thought that he was going to lose it. He swallowed and pulled out a dart, he took aim at the Commando on the left and fired. With inhuman speed the Commando dodged the dart and began to run at Neos, the other one followed close behind. Neos pulled out his lightning sword, in order to defend himself from those staffs. Plasma singed the air as the staffs danced around Neos, occasional sparks flew around when the Lightning sword collided with the Plasma staff. Neos widened his stance and ducked as one plasma staff passed over his head, he pulled his sword up with all his might and cut clean through the staff. The Commando was taken off guard, but Neos barey had time to capitalize before the other staff flew at him, Neos rolled out of the way, and then kicked off the ground with all of his strength, he twisted and through a viper dagger at the Commando with the staff. Neos landed on his knee, and he heard a loud thud. He turned with delight, the dagger had struck the Command in the helmet, and it passed through into his skull. Blood leaked onto the floor, and the other commando charged Neos. Neos sidestepped and shoved his other dagger into the Commandos stomach. Neos pulled it out and twisted, he grabbed the commando's helmet and slit his throat. Blood spattered on the wall.
Neos was breathing heavily, his heart pounded in his chest. They put up quite a fight, but as everything, their skills were exaggerated. Neos extracted his daggers, the smell of burned blood filled the air as the stained daggers burned away. Neos put them back in place and picked up his sword. Without much delay he stepped in the elevator and began his descent to the engine room. Lights flickered by as the elevator passed each floor. Soon the elevator groaned to a stop, and the doors slammed open. The room in front of his was filled with a brilliant light, in its core was the very essence of the massive ship's engine. A twin fusion reaction, designed from the stars themselves, it takes highly condensed Hydrogen and introduces them to temperatures above 4000 Degrees Celcius. The pressure and temperature causes the Hydrogen cloud to become unstable and the atoms collide with each other to produce a massive amount of energy.
This reaction is kept under control by a plasma barrier that extracts ions as they become excited, which allows the ship to gain energy. Neos stared at the massive core in awe. He knew the destruction it would cause if he brought down the barrier, which is why his target was the magnetic base that held the plasma in place. He pulled out the Thorium bomb and walked over to the core, two engineers were at consoles on the edge of the core, and Neos quickly disposed of them, their red blood stained the white floor.
Neos attached the bomb to the base of the core, the bomb started to glow blue when it was armed. All that was left was for Neos to get out of here. He set the timer on the bomb for 5 minutes, certainly he could escape in that time, and anything over that would cause too much attention. What troubled him the most however was the vacancy of the ship, it didn't really occur to him how empty the ship was. Only a few operators and those two Commandos, Neos knew this was the King's ship and yet it didn't seem to be very important.
Of course Neos had never met the King in person, he had just heard his orders through other officers. The King was an all-poweful figure, but he never showed his face. He rarely made visits to planets, and when he did it was for a quick visit. Neos had never even seen the King's congradulation ceremonies where he gave a present to a Govenor for doing his job. The King always lingered on his throne on planet Omicron.
Neos always heard the King's motto however, "It is better to have a handful of great soldiers than a battalion of weak ones."
Neos had been in the elevator and when it stopped it broke his thought process, and he just focused on getting out of here. He called his ship through the communicator on his wrist. However there was no response, just static. Dammit, Neos thought, they must have shot it down. He quickly moved back towards the Ship bay. He looked for the nearest fighter, and once he found a suitable one he ran towards it.
Once he leaped over the balcony railing he noticed a group of Commandos behind him. Neos knew he couldn't take them on and he continued towards the ship. However the Commandos easily gained ground on him, and Neos needed a new plan. Without thinking he dropped to one knee and pulled out both of his Viper daggers. He dodged the first staff, and he finally got a look at how many were there. Six, he said to himself, only six between him and an escape. A timer popped up on his HUD displayed from the digital part of his mask. It said 3:25, he had a little time to end this fight. He danced around the pole and shoved his dagger into the Commando's throat. He rolled back as another staff sliced through the air, leaving burn marks in the floor. Neos went to finish off that Commando, but another's staff slammed into his hand, making him drop a dagger, he moved out of the way but it was useless he was surrounded. He didn't focus on his surroundings and allowed this to happen.
Neos' adrenaline pumped, he quickly tried to think of an escape, however nothing would work against them. When all seemed futile, Neos noticed that his glove started to glow through his cloak. Blue light was shining through the dark fabric, and Neos put up his arm. The light became more intense and became impossible to look at. The Commando's covered thier eyes, and then something happened, the dagger Neos was holding began to glow the same color, and it grew in brightness as well. Lightning began to dance down the glove, and then it arced off the dagger and struck each commando in the chest, each soldier fell to the ground dead and smoldering, Neos stared in awe at his glove. He had this thing for so long and it had never done anything but glow.
Neos noticed the timer again, :39. His curiosity was overwhelmed by panic, and he quickly jumped up into the cockpit of a fighter. Without delay he started it up and exited the bay, however he was not fast enough and a massive white flash erupted from the middle of the ship, and it blew the ship into two sections, one flew towards the planet, the other exploded from further explosions. The shockwave of the blast hit Neos' ship, and the small fighter was sent spinning out of control, towards the planet. Neos struggled for control but the ship ignored his commands and flipped through the atmosphere. Neos could see the massive fireball next to him, this was the front of the ship. Neos' next thoughts became fuzzy as his vision faded from the massive change in pressure. He blacked out and his ship speeded towards the ground.
Neos awoke surprised at his existence. Pain pulsed through his body, and Neos looked down to see a small piece of debris lodged into his side. Blood leaked from the wound, and he felt a trickle of warm liquid flowing down his head. He was in bad shape, but it was a better alternative than being dead. Then he realized what was going on, he kicked through the cockpit's glass, and jumped out. He slid down the side of the wrecked fighter and saw an inferno a little ways off. He quickly ran towards it, ignoring the signal's that his body was sending him. He was being hit by pain and exhaustion.
When he came to the edge of the ship's crater he fell to his knees, a mixture of overwhelming pain and exhaustion finally took its toll on him. He surveyed the site and he saw nothing. He thought he had won, but still doubt of his achievements gnawed away at him. He finally accepted victory and collapsed from his condition. Panting heavily his eye slowly closed, he just wanted rest now. But he quickly denied himself this comfort and jumped up, he felt that something was wrong. And almost immediately as the thought passed through his head he saw a flicker of movement. Apprehension gripped at his stomach as a human figure slowly walked from the flaming crater and up to the grassy plains where Neos was watching from. This figure walked towards Neos. As he came into view Neos saw a figure clad in armor similar to his glove. Neos watched him carefully, this figure stopped a few meters away from him. His armor was unscathed, black hair layed under his helmet. His eyes...his eyes were powerful and horrifying. Neos was terrified, this person was unlike anyone he had ever seen, he was inhuman. He must have been something more. This person was King Polemus.
Chapter 3: A Revolution
Neos knelt in front of the King, blood was seeping out of him. His life seemed to be slipping away, but something was keeping him here, keeping him alive.
The King stared at Neos, "You feel it don't you?", Polemus chuckled, "The power. It becomes stronger in desperate situations."
Neos could barely speak, "Wh-What are you?", Polemus chuckled at this too.
"What am I?", he laughed in a vicious tone, "I am your King, I am the ruler of the galaxy, I am a god!", his last words echoed throughout the plains.
Neos ripped the piece of metal out of his side with clenched teeth, the pain was unbearable. He let out a yelp as the debris scraped against his wound. The blood flowed out with renewed purpose. Neos' vision faded, "This is where I die...I failed...you're still alive and...and nothing has changed."
"Foolish boy. You think that trinket will let you die? It's called the armor of the gods for a reason. I have lived long enough to witness the effect of these things. You hold the last piece to my armor, see?", Polemus said as he held up his right arm, which was covered in a different type of armor. "Without your arm piece I can not completely gain the power of the gods." The King smiled, "But I am not foolish enough to try and take it, it will protect you, in fact you are unable to die through conventional combat. Well...to a point."
Neos couldn't believe what he was hearing, was it true? He couldn't feel any difference. But then again in normal circumstances he would have died from blood loss already. And aside from the gash in his side he had stopped bleeding everywhere else. His glove was glowing, and he could feel the pain subsiding. He was slowly being healed, it was amazing.
"Now you see. You feel its power don't you? I'm not surprised, you do hold the Gauntlet of War, the most powerful object in the galaxy.", the King gleamed at Neos' glove.
"Gauntlet of War huh?", Neos felt an upsurge of power, he pointed the glove at the King, "Well let's see how powerful it really is."
Red light erupted from the palm of his glove and a beam of light struck the King in the center of his chestplate. Polemus was sent flying back into the crater. Neos smirked with satisfaction, the glove was still a mystery, but it was slowly revealing itself to him. Neos saw the King get up and walk back up the cliff, still unscathed.
"Arrogance, a bad quality for the weak.", the King said smugly, "You still lack the thousands of years of experience I've had"
With a blur of motion, the King stepped in front of Neos and punched him in the chest, the King's fist was glowing like Neos' glove. Neos felt a massive force behind the punch and he flipped backwards and landed on his stomach. His chestplate cracked in two, and a few of his ribs were shattered. Breathing hurt and Neos coughed up some blood.
"I possess the Gauntlet of Wrath, not as poweful as yours, but it gets the job done.", the King stared at Neos as he struggled to get up. Red spots covered his vision. "You seem to forget that I hold the Armor of Fortitude, which allows me to defend against your glove, you may be powerful, but you lack training. A handful of good soldiers is better than a battalion of weak ones."
Neos held his ribs, Dammit, he muttered to himself. "You seem to be competent in battle Neos Horan.", Neos looked up in shock, the King couldn't have known his name, he never released any information about himself. "You seem surprised, why is that? Because I knew your name? Do you really need to ask? Every soldier who abandons his post is instantly killed, you're the only one who has escaped me."
"I offer you a deal, join my ranks, be my warrior. And in return I'll allow you to keep your life.", The King's smile was deceitful and assuring at the same time.
"Why would I go against everything I've worked for up to this point?", Neos demanded.
"Worked? You went away for a few years, killed a few bodyguards, and destroyed a ship, I hardly call that a career.", Polemus said in an attempt to belittle Neos' works.
Neos thought long and hard about the proposal. He would have wealth, servants, and many other riches if he joined the King. But was avarice a basis for betrayal? This story was told countless times through history, greed corrupting someone, and that person turns against their comrades and beliefs. Could he stoop so low as to deny the destiny he had crafted himself? Or should he oppose the King and lose his life?
"So? Will you come with me to see your sister?", Polemus said with that smile.
Neos' heart pounded, Sister? She had been dead for years!, Neos' thoughts began to spiral out of control, his confusion enveloped his mind. "Alexia has been dead since the Rebellion of Omicron." Neos finally said coldly, pain still filled his chest as he uttered those words, it was originally why he joined the military, because the last member of his family died to another uprising, he wanted to destroy the rebels at any costs.
"Yes we did tell you that, because we needed more soldiers.", Polemus said, this time dropping his smile.
Neos' anger grew out of control, "You told me my sister was dead because you needed a stronger military?! You sick ***! This corruption cannot continue!"
"You can see her if you want, or you die here.", Polemus was growing impatient. Neos clenched his fists, but he was no match for the King, not here. He needed to get away, and more importantly find his sister. A low groan came from the distance. Starfighters streaked across the edge of the horizon, they stopped near Neos and Polemus. Soldiers jumped out of the crafts and aimed their guns at Neos. "Stand down!" they yelled.
Neos smiled, "Well it seems a change of plans are in order, eh Polemus?", the King scowled and tried to stop Neos, but Neos had already started for one of the starfighters. He pulled out his dagger and shoved it into the soldier's chest. He kicked the soldier into the others near the starfighter and then jumped into the cockpit. He activated the liftoff sequence and speeded into the atmosphere. Things had changed drastically, he needs to find his sister. And after that he needs to find the rebels. A revolution was upon them, and Neos would be its guide.
Chapter 4:The Temple
Visions flashed through Neos' mind. He saw many environments, changing worlds, wars, star systems. Nothing was clear however and Neos was unsure of what he was seeing. He saw an alien race, they seemed intelligent based on how they communicated, and he watched as warships descended from the sky and wiped them all out. The ships were of a design that Neos had never seen before, they were sleek and ominous. Neos watched as a shining ball dropped from a massive warship, and then exploded into a brilliant light. Neos' vision was overwhelmed and it forced him awake. He kicked off the door to the Cryo pod and started to gasp for air. It took his body a while to adjust to the new temperatures.
He felt himself beginning to warm up as his organs returned to normal. In his hibernation state everything was slowed down, so he felt groggy upon exiting the pod. He struggled over to a metal counter and grabbed a Stim-Pack and he slammed the needle into his arm. The sudden rush of energy quickly pervaded through his body and he was wide awake. He grabbed his shirt and pants off the counter and moved to the cockpit of the ship. He stared out the viewport and saw nothing but white lines passing by. He checked his position on the map, he was near the deserted colony Cachexia.
Neos sat in the chair rubbing his head. Those visions gave him a headache and he was still unable to make out the images. The ship slowed down, and its FTL drive soon shut off. Neos stared at the monitors, he had reached Cachexia, the thought to be homeworld of the Rebellion.
Neos' ship began to enter the planet's atmosphere. It shook a little, and then smoothed out as he flew over a large forest. He landed the starship in a clearing and put on his armor. He grabbed his weapons and jumped out of the starfighter. There was no movement in the clearing, just distant echoes and a bright sun. Neos moved towards the forest, he moved quickly to get behind cover. He would rather find the rebels than have the rebels find him.
As Neos ran through the forest he heard small movements, as animals passed by, he watched various types of birds fly by overhead. He came to another small clearing, in the middle was a large mammal creature grazing on some grass. It had two large horns on its head, its head was similar to that of a cow's but its body was muscular and lean. It had short fur and a brown coat. Neos watched it carefully, it was large enough to do some damage to him.
Neos was about to walk away when he heard movement on the other side of the clearing. The mammal creature looked up, and with fright it began to run, but a large reptile like creature leaped out onto it and chomped down on its neck. Blood leaked out onto the grass and the mammal died. The reptilian creature resembled a lizard with a large moon-shaped crest on its head, it stood about 5 meters tall, spikes ran down its back, and ended at the base of its tail. It had large muscular legs and long arms that ended with 3 hooked claws. It truely looked vicious.
Neos walked away and realized how much that was like the King when he dominated a planet. The King always crushed species without pity or mercy, he had driven many intelligent species into extinction. Just because they provided a little resistance.
Neos continued his journey through the forest, he did not know where he was going, he was driven by an instinct. A feeling that resonated throughout his mind. He saw a large clearing in the distance, and he ran towards it, something here had been callling him. He walked into the clearing and found a large building in its center. The building was strange in design, and it seemed to be similar to the place where Neos found his glove. He walked towards it and his glove began to glow, now driven by curiosity he moved towards the base of the temple. He walked up the stairs that lead to its entrance. Once he reached the top he saw glyphs on the wall, he touched the wall with his hand and the glyphs lit up.
The temple began to light up all throughout its interior, Neos watched in awe as the ancient structure came to life. Neos walked inside and followed the long corridor in front of him. He kept going until he reached a set of stairs, which led deep into the temple. A feeling drove him towards the center of the temple, and he couldn't tell what it was. He reached the bottom of the stairs and it led into a large circular room. In the middle was a strange machine.
Neos walked towards the machine and touched it with his glove. It sprung to life and a star map appeared above it. The map zoomed in on a planet, Neos couldn't recognize it, but it seemed familiar; it reminded him of something. It had a red surface, with two large ice caps.
Neos struggled to remember but he couldn't, something blocked his memory.
Footsteps broke through the silence and sent Neos into a slight panic, he was followed in here, but by who? He barely had time to consider the possibilities, he ducked behind the star map in anticipation of his visitors. He heard three distinct set of footsteps, one extremely heavy, one about his weight, and another set was light.
The three shadows came into sight as they came to the entrance of the room, Neos could tell they were carrying rifles based on their stance, he could not make out their faces or any distinct detail on their body, they were completely covered in shadow.
They stayed on the outskirts of the room searching for whoever activated the temple, Neos made sure he had an eye on all of them, the minute he loses one is when he loses his life. The larger one moved towards him and Neos could see they were not Empire soldiers, they were dressed in black and grey armor, the armor of the rebels. Neos realized this was his chance, but they were still hostile to an intruder so he had to make them listen. And to make them listen would require leverage in this situation.
Neos' muscles sprung to life and he quickly got behind the larger soldier, he pulled out his Viper Dagger and put it up to the soldiers throat, "You'll be fine if you don't move." Neos whispered.
The others quickly aimed their rifles at Neos, the large soldier was completely still attempting to avoid a fatal blow to the neck. Neos cleared his throat, "Listen to me I have no quarrel with you, I have come to help you overthrow the King." When Neos finished his sentence he noticed that these soldiers were not carrying normal rifles, they were pulse emitters, they were prepared for his arrival. The large soldier spoke up, "We are fully aware of your intentions Neos Horan."
Neos quickly backed away and attempted to run for the door, but these soldiers were too fast. The pulse emitters reverberated through the room as they released their paralyzing shockwave. Neos' equipment lost control and vision faded from the pulse's effect on his nervous system. Neos collapsed and he passed out.
Words echoed through his mind, they were the words of his Commanding Officer when he was in the military, "Before throwing yourself into a situation totally assess your opponent, preparation is deadlier than any weapon."
Chapter 5: Unlikely allies
Neos opened his eyes and found himself in a stasis chamber, he could not move, however he could still feel the pain of the pulse emitters when they wreaked havoc on his entire body. He saw blurry images of people outside the chamber they were moving from one place to the other almost in a frantic motion. Why were they rushing?, Neos wondered. One of them spoke up, "How can he be awake? We gave him an overdose of sedatives and yet he's awake?!"
Neos felt life seep into his limbs, and he realized he still had his glove. He tried to reach for the power he used against Polemus, it felt like it was suppressed in his subconscience. He concentrated and tried to awaken this power, then he felt something unlock. He opened his eyes and saw light erupt from his palm once more and shatter the outer glass of the stasis chamber. The figures moving around the room fled and locked the doors behind them. Neos grabbed his mask and his weapons from the table next to him. He put on his cloak and walked towards the door, which was locked tight. Neos activated his lightning sword and sliced through the door. The metal door crumpled and the scientists ran in fear of what they saw.
"Neos Horan!", a voice reverberated over the loud speaker, "Enough, I am sending guards down to escort you to my headquarters, they are there only to escort you not to fight, so try not to kill them."
Just as the voice said two bulky guards rounded the corner. Neos watched them carefully, they came without guns in their hands, "You guys are a little too trusting." Neos made a quick comment. However the guards did not even react to the taunt, one just replied, "If we needed to kill ya' we would've done it by now, and if you were gonna kill us you would've by now."
Perhaps they were not the smartest ones but Neos could tell they meant him no harm, so he let his guard down and followed them through the rebel base. The rebel base was suprisingly full of technology for the apparent "low-lifes" of the universe. They came to an elevator and Neos stepped in, and it was here that he realized how tall the guards were, they were both about a head taller than him as he came up to their shoulders. The black armor-clad guards seemed not to even acknowledge him, something was strange about this treatment.
However he ignored it and focused on the task at hand. He had been addressed by some mysterious leader, who seemed to know him well given the soldier's preparation at the temple. The elevator came to a stop and they walked down yet another white and silver hallway until they reach a large door. It slid open and on the other side was what appeared to be an office. Behind a desk at the end of the room was a man with dark skin, he had green eyes and no visible hair on his face. When Neos walked in his expression went from stern to joyous. With a wide smile the man greeted him, "Welcome Neos, this is the central hideout of the Surdan Alliance."
"Die?"Kurt laughed."Didn't you know?"he told the Elite. "...Spartans never die."