Life on the world of Oym was carefree, for the most part, if a tad bit dull. The planet moving to its new home gave a sparkle of excitement that most never get to experience. Take the Gnimini, for instance. They live, generally, in mountainous regions or below the surface in hollowed out cities of rock and stone; rarely do they leave their homesteads unless to trade with other Gnimini tribes. Some within their culture never discovered their world had been moved by an unknown entity; in fact, it was several centuries before any of the Gnimini even realized visitors from other worlds now regularly stopped by for Oym's tranquility and unique safeness.
Events beyond Oym barely registered in the psych of those unaffected by the day to day intrigue of alien interaction. Their lives continued to trod along, oblivious to the wonders presented by our new neighbors. Until one day, a delegation from the technology heavy world known as Cy was granted permission by the Ancient to trade holographic equipment to the Gnimini in exchange for stones that held some type of monetary value in their culture. This revolutionary technology led to the creation of the galaxy renowned Gnimini Owned and Operated Disseminate To Viewers, or GOOD TV for short. They produced destination, children, or otherwise, what the Ancient considered 'wholesome' programming, to not just the homes here on Oym, but around the galaxy.
It was the sounds of a show from this network that woke me from a deep slumber. The bells and whistles that issued from a separate room within my home was a sound common to my ears. Once it dawned on me the current time, I sprung from my very comfortable sunflower bed and flew to the holoview room; where I knew I would find the best thing to ever happen to a Pixan of average manner. My wife, Lorix, fluttered back and forth between a vat of liquid and a rack of colorful powders, humming along with the tune of the singing trees displayed on the holoview. As my thoughts drift to her for dictation, my heart swells to burst and no mere words could paint for you a mental picture adequate enough to do my great love justice. Suffice it to say, sugar, spice and everything else you might consider pleasing to the senses, all mixed with a rainbow and poured into the shapely form of a woman with sheer, silk like wings. Her round face was sprinkled with a light coat of the powders she used when mixing a batch of pixie dust.
"Good morning, butter wings," she said with her usual sunshine tone and bright smile I adore so much. She was mixing the batch with a wooden spoon almost half her size.
"Hey, love," I replied hurriedly. I admit, I was not my normally affectionate self at that present time, believing I had missed my friend's battle. "Is it okay to switch the channel?"
"Why? I always watch this in the morning." She was still smiling, which almost had me flying up to the Ancient's castle, but that was quite a ways away and I was sure to miss the battle if I did.
"It's that show I was telling you about, Coalition Carnage. The one Ramza is competing in."
"Oh, yes," she said merrily, ceasing her mixing and placing the utensil on a flower petal beneath the rack of powders. She was slightly shorter than me and her wings floated her past as she delivered a quick kiss. "Go ahead. I would like to see this Coalition Carnage."
She was seated on the leaf couch by the time I reached the tuner wand and sat next to her. I quickly find Galaxy Station, home of all Coalition Carnage coverage. The holoview produced Ramza, standing in his heroic pose a second before he went tumbling down the side of the blue-white glacier from which he was perched.
"That's our deity," Lorix said with a humorous shake of her head. A gasp escaped her beautiful, full lips at the sight of Ramza's opponent who was on the ice ledge the deity just slipped from. He was laughing so animatedly that he too took a tumble off the screen. "What is that?"
"That, my dear," I said with an air of superiority I knew I always get when explaining a subject. "Is what's called a Preesling. Their home world, Prees, is a couple of planets over, closer to the sun."
She took my left hand into both of hers, while I took that moment to steal a kiss to her chubby cheek. I fell in love with her a few thousand years ago, and that love never fades. Her other hand brushed aside a lock of red hair as she gazed intently at the third dimensional hologram. "He looks kind of like a reptilok."
"Ramza said the same thing the day we met their species. But Preesling are not animals; they may be the smartest race of mortals in the galaxy. At least," I add with a squeeze to her hands. "When it comes to things not of Oym."
Prees was the very first planet Ramza and I visited when we arrived. At the time, it was the closest of the ten that were already here, yet it took us almost seven hours to reach it with Ramza flying at maximum speed. The world itself was beautiful, almost as serene as Oym, but with blue polar caps and deep green waters. The landmasses looked to be composed almost entirely of islands interconnected by bridges of light, making the surface appear a giant spider's web of yellow silk as we came in. What I thought to be city towers on the islands, stretching into the sky like giant hands made of glowing ice, were actually uninhabitable structures; and what I thought were light bridges, in fact, were some type of energy transfer and the islands were floating thousands of feet above the surface.
I was surprised by the heat of entering a planet's atmosphere, this being my first time off my own world, but my friend was accustomed to such phenomenon, absorbing the energy and keeping me from harm. He angled toward the largest landmass in view, flying beneath the massive, interconnected, floating apparatus. I couldn't fathom what contraption this was or its function as we moved toward a habitat of hollowed out trees.
The gigantic evergreens composed ninety percent of the continent and reminded me of Sentinel Wood, a forest of trees almost as tall as these on my world. The reptile people could be seen throughout the wooden metropolis; from doorways and windows of cottages, openings within the trees themselves, or upon the planks that made up the thoroughfare. They ranged in size and color and were all gazing up at the sky in huddled masses. The strangest thing about them was they all carried or had floating about their person, machines of intricately woven metals. One group had drew my friend's attention by their way of dress; fine looking linen with angled patterns along the shoulders and long gowns that left their thick tails free. Square metal devices were attached to the center of each tunic and one Preesling with white and orange scales held an intricate, though heavy looking, headdress that signified them as someone of importance. Just like the more plain clothes of the species, the new, violet sun held their full attention until a few took notice of us.
One of the lizard men pulled a strange weapon that he aimed at us while the others pressed together in a conspiratorial whisper. Ramza halted several meters away and waved. I unclung from his golden hair to stand on his hill of a shoulder.
"Hello, good people," my friend said with an upbeat tone and big smile. "My name is Ramza and this is Plunk. We come from a nearby world that was brought here like yours. Do any of you or your kind need assistance?"
They stared at us, their language of hisses and clicks to each other were foreign to my ears; not even reptiloks made such a queer sound. When it was obvious they were waiting on one of us to speak again, I waved my hand, hoping they could see me from that distance. "What is the name of your world?"
"Our planet is Prees and we, the Preesling. Are you the creator of that star?" The question issued from the one in the headdress's box device in a thick, twangy accent, but I understood it clearly.
Ramza shook his head. "No, we just arrived-"
"The energy composed of the star; have you encountered its like before now," the box interrupted.
"No, I-"
"My readings detect fluctuations in gravity thirty degrees below the meridian. Do your equations mirror mine?" This was from a different Preesling with his own box. A third and fourth had boxes asking impossible to answer questions to go along with the jumble the first two kept piling on our ears. Finally, Ramza raised a hand of clean, even fingernails.
"Hold, please. We don't know anything about that star. We came here to see if anyone needed aid."
They had started to communicate to each other in their language, gesturing at held devices of the same uncanny design, and I wasn't sure if they were excited or bickering. When the headdress Preesling spoke, the others were silent, but picked right back up when he was quiet. One ran into a dwelling behind them, while the remainder ignore us completely.
"I think we should check one of the other planets," I said with a bit of trepidation. I had seen aliens before, quite a few had come to Oym in the fifty thousand years I've existed, but none so misplaced as these reptile people among such sophisticated looking technology. It made me nervous.
"They don't seem in need at the moment. Okay, hold on." We headed space ward and I spared them another glance. They were still wrapped up in heated conversation never turning our direction to acknowledge if we were even still there.
After bearing witness to every Coalition Carnage since its conception, I learned the Preeslings were incredibly intelligent and agile. This one, who went by the designation Fritz, was no less agile as he triggered an avalanche with his weird Tek gun to bury the Deity of Unlucky under tons of ice and snow. His leaps and bounds for safety looked effortless as he took position at the edge of the mountainous glacier, a frozen lake and the geodome behind him. Roxy appeared on screen but I knew she wouldn't even get a chance to start the count as an explosion of pure light dominates the scene. Lorix jumps at the suddenness of it, but I refrain from revealing, even to her, his fear of being enclosed. My wife asks what was the stuff they were fighting in.
"It's called snow and it's very cold. That planet they are on is called Ja'ir and it's covered in the stuff. I will bring some back next time I visit."
"Please do," she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I became the sole focus of her attention, the holoview passionately forgotten. When we came up for air, Roxy was declaring Ramza the winner. As I stated, Preeslings are intelligent and this one knew he was helpless before a god and gave up. I clap for my friend, as does Lorix. She glides to the vat of liquid and resumes stirring with the big spoon.
"What do the winners of this competition get," she asks in a matter of fact manner as I listen to Roxy talk to several Dycordians about the next battle.
"When a Superstar wins Coalition Carnage, they become a Supernova and everything on their home world is free to them forever. Plus, they get the admiration of their fellows, who also benefit from the victory." I had said this with the ignorance of subservience.
"In what way?"
"The Supernova's planet gets a ten year period of good fortune called the Blessing. Remember that year where everything you cooked was so delicious, we involuntarily danced after every meal? That was the year Giga Buttonlip became a Supernova."
"I do remember," she said while adding more ingredients. "Those milky wraps are hard to make and that year, I did it perfectly every time. So, who exactly gives us these things?"
I hesitate briefly when I realized, at that time, I didn't know; not precisely. I was under the impression our benefactors were benevolent, so my response reflected that.
"Gods, like the Ancient. And, just like him, they obviously love us."
I kiss my love goodbye as I leave to meet Ramza at his father's home in the clouds. I get there almost an hour later to find my creator upon his throne of gold and silver. He was watching Roxy on his wall of clouds; no sound could be heard as she animatedly spoke to the cameras, his head leaning against a propped up hand, with a look of indifference. I kneel, arms at my side, wings flat against my back; the customary greeting when he sat in his holy seat. It wasn't very long before Ramza broke through the cloud ceiling with a whoosh to land on the billowing sponge flooring next to me. He positioned himself the same way I did in reverence. We were like this for a handful of heartbeats before the Ancient waved his free hand.
"How long do you plan on prostrating yourselves? Get up, already."
My wings took me up to shoulder level of my friend, who grinned at me before turning to his dad.
"Tier Beta is making this easy. Hopefully, everyone will forfeit when against me so that I may end this with no blood spilled."
The Ancient had not changed his position since I first arrived and looked at his son with the same expression he had the program. "May all the other Superstars see you lose composure when bound."
"I'm working on that."
"It may be the least of your worries, my son. That Winsker, Crimson, as he is so colorfully named, is using Tier Alpha."
"Are you certain?" Ramza seemed excited at the prospect of encountering another of his kind. "How is that possible?"
The Ancient shrugged, eyes back on his holoview made of clouds. I found this attitude disturbing; like he was giving up on some unfathomable problem he was failing to unravel. My stomach lurched at the thought of my creator failing at anything.
"I don't know, but it has the same energy output as you when you were Tier Alpha. I have scoured his planet from pole to pole and I see no evidence of any means to provide a simple Winsker with the Godsend." His interest perked a bit as Roxy was recapping the day's battles. One of those that I had missed had the fire breathing winged creature known as Rampage, who was currently shown heaving one of the massive leviathans that thrive in the geodome known as the Red Sea. The sight made me regret missing the moment live.
"And that unholy abomination," the Ancient gestured at the roaring beast. "Rampage of Mirrgrif. A blending of Coojur and Tarlkin using sorcery, perhaps?" Ramza was watching the vision as well, his eyes betraying his eagerness to meet the monster. Not as a pacifist, but a conqueror of challenges. I must admit, I was looking forward to it as well. But, when that moment finally came, however, I wasn't as jovial.
What happened next was shocking to me because of the reaction of the Ancient. One moment, the program was showing highlights of the Pian and Tilris Superstars in ferocious combat, the next, a space full of bright stars. It was a view I saw no significance in, neither did Ramza, who held a puzzled expression. The Ancient, on the other hand, rose quickly from his throne, face a mask of the incredulous. A monotone voice spoke in measured clips over the image that zoomed in, then away from a red star into an asteroid ring surrounding a large planet of swirling gases.
"The Papuru Galaxy is a prison for planets. It has been so long that you all have forgotten, but what you see now is where we originated. All of us; every race, from every planet."
The footage closes in on a blue-brown planet inhabiting people with giant heads; of which I nor my friend never encountered in our long lives. The scene speeds back into deep space, encountering nebulas, colorful rays of light, small meteors, and numerous stars of white or red or orange. The image reaches the climax as one of these celestial bodies explodes within a star system all its own. The display of the previous galaxy lasted about three minutes and had begun to repeat the footage when the voice returned.
"There are other worlds, other people, other cultures, other possible experiences kept from all of us. Many of you rarely, if ever, leave the planet of your birth and believe this is of no concern to you. You are wrong."
There was a scene switch to a close up of a purple star crawling with fingers of whitish lightning.
"The Papuru Star changes the very atoms of all its light shines upon. The one thousand, fifty years we have been held captive has changed the genetic makeup of many cultures. People who at one time grew to be strong and powerful, now are born fragile and weak; once smart, now dimwitted. The soil beneath your feet is affected, as well. Planets once lush with life, now drown beneath unending storms or encroaching darkness. We are within the largest prison ever conceived and who are our wardens?"
The star is replaced with an emblem of seventeen comets of different spectrums streaking upward, forming an arrow, along a violet background.
"No surprise here, the Coalition; willing conspirators in our captivity. But, we of the Trust only want to reveal truth to all life. Are you fine with your descendants suffering from your warped cells, living on a slowly dying planet? Are you content remaining under the 'Eye of Subservience' and its ward of suppressors. If not, then join us in the Trust as we breakthrough the barrier holding us. Trust that we will succeed. Trust us, because the alternative is death."
The scene goes dark then fades back to Roxy, high in Dycord's clear purple sky, hand to her head and talking with sound muted. She realizes she was back live, swimming to get up close to the holo-cam.
"And we're back," she said with a smile and wave. She was as chipper as before, maybe even a little more so. "Those movie trailers are getting more bold in their marketing. Anyway, we have a couple of interviews lined up with today's winners-"
She was cut off as the Ancient dispersed his viewing cloud. Ramza still looked incredulous. "I thought everyone knew we came from another galaxy."
"Mortals have short memories to go with their lifespan." The Ancient resumed his seating and posture. "Still, the old galaxy is but a distant memory."
"Not to everyone," said Ramza. At first, I thought he was referring to the author of the galaxy spanning message, but upon inspection of his clean cut features, as he stared at the clouds beneath his feet, he was talking about himself. "Which is why I will free them."
The air grew noticably less bright and a shadow fell on the Ancient's bearded face. "You cannot defeat Starchilde," was his quiet reply. I felt anger emitting from the tone, if not, the manner in which he watched his son. My friend smiled into that shadowed face and I felt his confidence; even shared in it, as I stood up to my creator along side his greatest creation.
"I can and will. Once I ascend to Tier Zeta."
End chapter