The Orbital Defense Platform Briareus kept a tight orbit over Cornscant, keeping a continual watch for anything out of the ordinary. However, it wasnt the planet the station was watching no, that wasnt the problem. Suddenly the lower half of the station glowed a bright red as something mechanical warmed up in conjunction with the long range sensors of the station being alerted and sounding the alarms. Three glowing objects shot into space, torpedoes. After barely three seconds an explosion occurred, destroying the planet-to-planet missile that was hurtling towards Cornscant.
This was an every day event, more like every few hours actually, on Briareus. From a tube on the Briareus top edge, it launched a missile of its own in retaliation. It had been like this every day of the awful war between Cornscant and Dole. No one really did remember why the war had started and each planets government had their own legends and stories and propaganda departments.
The Briareus launched another three torpedoes as a second barrage of missiles came on an attack run, followed by an explosion as two of the torpedoes hit their targets. The station started to rotate to fire another missile back towards Dole but a third attacking missile slipped by the station and impacted on the northern continent. Briareus made a note in her logs of the explosion and relayed the coordinates to the twenty-four-hour damage control teams that were always standing by and waiting.
On the horizon, what looked like a beam of blue light appeared out of no where. Briareus turned to lock torpedoes, but the scanners kicked in and Darren Warlings leaned over his viewer, seeing a small, sleek ship there, and called out, Stand down its ok. Darren noticed the ships request to dock and sent it docking orders.
There was something about that ship, Darren noted. Something he recognized. He remembered seeing this ship in a dream. Not a vision quest, like some people had, just a dream. It showed the ship turning the tide of the war! Darren didnt know how, but he would capture that ship.
The ship, a large shuttle, slowly set down in the port it was directed toward. Coolant vented as it settled down and a figure, covered by a tight fitting cloak that cast a shadow down on what was uncovered on his face. The stranger turned, raised the entrance ramp, and activated a security system. Content with the protection activated on his ship, the stranger turned and left the bay.
Darren stood from behind the crate he was hiding behind on the upper level as the stranger exited the bay. He waited a moment after the bay doors shut before dropping down the ladder and moving to examine the shuttle
***
A galaxy, ever changing, glows in the palm of your hand.
That was the slogan for Galaxy Globes, small bouncy-balls containing a combination of harmless chemicals that glowed bright colors, that changed every time you threw them. This, and the large cash reward offered if a child was able to collect all twenty colors, made them the object of every childs attention. Galaxy globes were the rage all over Cornscant.
Lisa stared at the black globe she held in her palm and tossed it up and down, wishing it would change to the rarest color of the globes: green. Suddenly, she threw the globe up and it didnt come back down! Hovering above her was her older brother Alan, Dude! she whined.
Were out here to view the fireworks! Not your stupid globes.
Lisa stood, coming up to about Alans chin, If theyre so stupid, why do you have five?
I dont have five, I have six. You have five!
Lisa held out her six globes, See? One-two-three-four-five-six!
Alan in turn pulled out his five, One-two-three-four-five-six! he counted the red one twice See? Six. He turned to Lisas out stretched palm and counted, One-two-three-four-five. Alan fought a grin, his sister had two blue globes, which he hoped she didnt notice that he had counted them as one.
Ya? Lisa yelled, well youre stupid! She grabbed the folds of his tunic and pulled, throwing him to the ground.
Alan winced in pain from the rock he landed on and pointed at Lisa, Im telling!
Lisa got right up in his face, Then Ill tell that you snuck me out of bed to see the fireworks! They probably dont even exist.
They do too exist! Alan protested, Mommy says theyre a sign that peace still rules in the galaxy and if they stop I have to go to my room for a year.
And you believe her? Lisa questioned, sitting on a large rock, You dork!
Alan started to protest, but a dampened explosion sounded from above as green light was followed by a burst of space debris.
Lisa jumped up and pointed, Its green! Maybe its not a firework at all, but a giant galaxy globe!
You need to go to the looney bin Alan muttered as the light faded and they headed home.
***
The lead scientist on the sub-light project grumbled to himself as he looked at the viewscreen at the green firework blossoming all over space. A few grumbles followed from the scientists behind him, probably from all the scientists on board Regula Prime. Regula Prime was an orbital defense platform but also modified for scientific purposes. This particular one was the headquarters of the sub-light project its mission was to successfully create engines capable of sub-light travel. It was a daunting project, yes, but despite the fact that they had had now twenty-seven failed tests, they had been getting closer every time.
Some people, the lead scientist had heard, had been placing bets on which try would succeed.
The lead scientist turned to his closest and most trusted colleague, Somehow, I wonder if maybe it isnt worth it anymore.
His colleague eyed the leader, With all due respect Doctor, these engines will affect our lives in countless ways. Well be able to finally go to and explore the stars!
I suppose youre right. The lead scientist mumbled, returning to his calculations despite his continual urge to give up. Except his friends and fellow scientists were counting on him. Not only them, it appeared that the fate of the entire population of Cornscant was resting on his shoulders and that was a burden he would be more than happy to get rid of as soon as possible.
***
The Forthrite, or so the name on the side of the strange shuttle read; Darren was close enough now to the shuttle that he could see every tiny detailexcept a door. He had walked around the ship nearly seven times and even having seen the exact place where the stranger had exited the ship, it was like the door wasnt there at all!
Darren held up a small scanning device, running it along the hull, hoping it could see something his eyes could not. The device beeped and Darren checked the readings. No, it wasnt a door, Darren decided and started to go back to scanning when something seemed out of place and caught his eye. His scanner was reading some kind of particlesomething he nor the scanner could recognize. The particles they seemed to cover the entire ship where phasing in and out ofof temporal sync.
But how could that be possible? Darren asked himself. Things dont just go around phasing in and out of temporal syncdo they? As Darren pondered this, he could arrive at one conclusion: this person and his ship must be from either the future or the past, and guessing from the look of the ship, Darren had to lean toward the future.
He wanted to examine more, but his scanner beeped again, this time alerting him that the stranger was returning to the bay. Darren quickly ran and dove behind boxes littered around the bay. He had to get this shiphe had to make sure the stranger didnt leave. Darren shuddered at the thought of how the shuttle would change the tide of the war with its advanced weapons, scanners, engines, and who knows what else.
The doors of the bay whisked open and the stranger entered, his cloak fluttering behind him. A million thoughts passed through Darrens mind, trying to come up with some plan to keep the stranger here, but the stranger had already moved into his ship. Two men ran into the bay grabbing each others tunics and throwing each other across the bay. One man pulled his blaster and started firing.
The stranger exited his ship to see the commotion and yelled at one of the men for one reason or another. Darren saw his chance as the stranger strayed from his ship, leaving it undefended, not activating the security system in his haste. Darren bolted across the bay and into the strangers ship. Future ship or not, the controls of this shuttle were very similar to the ships Darren had seen in this day and age.
Darren powered up the ship and sealed it up, activating the security system. As the ship started to lift off, Darren glanced at the stranger who outstretched his hand and the blaster flew across the bay from its owners hand to the stranger. Darren didnt honestly have time to contemplate the feasibility of this maneuver as he piloted the shuttle out of the bay and in the direction of his homeworld, Dole, leaving a screaming stranger in the bay behind him.
A few days later, two news stories were circulating all over the networks. One story was from the sub-light project where the thirty-first test of the sub-light engines had proven successful and final tests were going to begin before the engines would be distributed, however expensive to own.
The other story, taking more precedence, was a sudden strengthening of the war effort on both sides of the war. After the stealing of the strangers starship, he demanded his ship returned and the perpetrators punished. Neither Cornscant nor Dole stepped forward, each blaming the other. New reports were circulating that both sides of the war were preparing advanced nuclear weapons and bombing squadrons.
It would now only be a matter of time before the new engines were distributed and the war would escalate to new heights. The events of the past few days would only setup the greater battles to come they were only small Seeds of the Future.
This was an every day event, more like every few hours actually, on Briareus. From a tube on the Briareus top edge, it launched a missile of its own in retaliation. It had been like this every day of the awful war between Cornscant and Dole. No one really did remember why the war had started and each planets government had their own legends and stories and propaganda departments.
The Briareus launched another three torpedoes as a second barrage of missiles came on an attack run, followed by an explosion as two of the torpedoes hit their targets. The station started to rotate to fire another missile back towards Dole but a third attacking missile slipped by the station and impacted on the northern continent. Briareus made a note in her logs of the explosion and relayed the coordinates to the twenty-four-hour damage control teams that were always standing by and waiting.
On the horizon, what looked like a beam of blue light appeared out of no where. Briareus turned to lock torpedoes, but the scanners kicked in and Darren Warlings leaned over his viewer, seeing a small, sleek ship there, and called out, Stand down its ok. Darren noticed the ships request to dock and sent it docking orders.
There was something about that ship, Darren noted. Something he recognized. He remembered seeing this ship in a dream. Not a vision quest, like some people had, just a dream. It showed the ship turning the tide of the war! Darren didnt know how, but he would capture that ship.
The ship, a large shuttle, slowly set down in the port it was directed toward. Coolant vented as it settled down and a figure, covered by a tight fitting cloak that cast a shadow down on what was uncovered on his face. The stranger turned, raised the entrance ramp, and activated a security system. Content with the protection activated on his ship, the stranger turned and left the bay.
Darren stood from behind the crate he was hiding behind on the upper level as the stranger exited the bay. He waited a moment after the bay doors shut before dropping down the ladder and moving to examine the shuttle
***
A galaxy, ever changing, glows in the palm of your hand.
That was the slogan for Galaxy Globes, small bouncy-balls containing a combination of harmless chemicals that glowed bright colors, that changed every time you threw them. This, and the large cash reward offered if a child was able to collect all twenty colors, made them the object of every childs attention. Galaxy globes were the rage all over Cornscant.
Lisa stared at the black globe she held in her palm and tossed it up and down, wishing it would change to the rarest color of the globes: green. Suddenly, she threw the globe up and it didnt come back down! Hovering above her was her older brother Alan, Dude! she whined.
Were out here to view the fireworks! Not your stupid globes.
Lisa stood, coming up to about Alans chin, If theyre so stupid, why do you have five?
I dont have five, I have six. You have five!
Lisa held out her six globes, See? One-two-three-four-five-six!
Alan in turn pulled out his five, One-two-three-four-five-six! he counted the red one twice See? Six. He turned to Lisas out stretched palm and counted, One-two-three-four-five. Alan fought a grin, his sister had two blue globes, which he hoped she didnt notice that he had counted them as one.
Ya? Lisa yelled, well youre stupid! She grabbed the folds of his tunic and pulled, throwing him to the ground.
Alan winced in pain from the rock he landed on and pointed at Lisa, Im telling!
Lisa got right up in his face, Then Ill tell that you snuck me out of bed to see the fireworks! They probably dont even exist.
They do too exist! Alan protested, Mommy says theyre a sign that peace still rules in the galaxy and if they stop I have to go to my room for a year.
And you believe her? Lisa questioned, sitting on a large rock, You dork!
Alan started to protest, but a dampened explosion sounded from above as green light was followed by a burst of space debris.
Lisa jumped up and pointed, Its green! Maybe its not a firework at all, but a giant galaxy globe!
You need to go to the looney bin Alan muttered as the light faded and they headed home.
***
The lead scientist on the sub-light project grumbled to himself as he looked at the viewscreen at the green firework blossoming all over space. A few grumbles followed from the scientists behind him, probably from all the scientists on board Regula Prime. Regula Prime was an orbital defense platform but also modified for scientific purposes. This particular one was the headquarters of the sub-light project its mission was to successfully create engines capable of sub-light travel. It was a daunting project, yes, but despite the fact that they had had now twenty-seven failed tests, they had been getting closer every time.
Some people, the lead scientist had heard, had been placing bets on which try would succeed.
The lead scientist turned to his closest and most trusted colleague, Somehow, I wonder if maybe it isnt worth it anymore.
His colleague eyed the leader, With all due respect Doctor, these engines will affect our lives in countless ways. Well be able to finally go to and explore the stars!
I suppose youre right. The lead scientist mumbled, returning to his calculations despite his continual urge to give up. Except his friends and fellow scientists were counting on him. Not only them, it appeared that the fate of the entire population of Cornscant was resting on his shoulders and that was a burden he would be more than happy to get rid of as soon as possible.
***
The Forthrite, or so the name on the side of the strange shuttle read; Darren was close enough now to the shuttle that he could see every tiny detailexcept a door. He had walked around the ship nearly seven times and even having seen the exact place where the stranger had exited the ship, it was like the door wasnt there at all!
Darren held up a small scanning device, running it along the hull, hoping it could see something his eyes could not. The device beeped and Darren checked the readings. No, it wasnt a door, Darren decided and started to go back to scanning when something seemed out of place and caught his eye. His scanner was reading some kind of particlesomething he nor the scanner could recognize. The particles they seemed to cover the entire ship where phasing in and out ofof temporal sync.
But how could that be possible? Darren asked himself. Things dont just go around phasing in and out of temporal syncdo they? As Darren pondered this, he could arrive at one conclusion: this person and his ship must be from either the future or the past, and guessing from the look of the ship, Darren had to lean toward the future.
He wanted to examine more, but his scanner beeped again, this time alerting him that the stranger was returning to the bay. Darren quickly ran and dove behind boxes littered around the bay. He had to get this shiphe had to make sure the stranger didnt leave. Darren shuddered at the thought of how the shuttle would change the tide of the war with its advanced weapons, scanners, engines, and who knows what else.
The doors of the bay whisked open and the stranger entered, his cloak fluttering behind him. A million thoughts passed through Darrens mind, trying to come up with some plan to keep the stranger here, but the stranger had already moved into his ship. Two men ran into the bay grabbing each others tunics and throwing each other across the bay. One man pulled his blaster and started firing.
The stranger exited his ship to see the commotion and yelled at one of the men for one reason or another. Darren saw his chance as the stranger strayed from his ship, leaving it undefended, not activating the security system in his haste. Darren bolted across the bay and into the strangers ship. Future ship or not, the controls of this shuttle were very similar to the ships Darren had seen in this day and age.
Darren powered up the ship and sealed it up, activating the security system. As the ship started to lift off, Darren glanced at the stranger who outstretched his hand and the blaster flew across the bay from its owners hand to the stranger. Darren didnt honestly have time to contemplate the feasibility of this maneuver as he piloted the shuttle out of the bay and in the direction of his homeworld, Dole, leaving a screaming stranger in the bay behind him.
A few days later, two news stories were circulating all over the networks. One story was from the sub-light project where the thirty-first test of the sub-light engines had proven successful and final tests were going to begin before the engines would be distributed, however expensive to own.
The other story, taking more precedence, was a sudden strengthening of the war effort on both sides of the war. After the stealing of the strangers starship, he demanded his ship returned and the perpetrators punished. Neither Cornscant nor Dole stepped forward, each blaming the other. New reports were circulating that both sides of the war were preparing advanced nuclear weapons and bombing squadrons.
It would now only be a matter of time before the new engines were distributed and the war would escalate to new heights. The events of the past few days would only setup the greater battles to come they were only small Seeds of the Future.
