Some time before the ritual at Akatsuki.
In outer space, about 200 thousand kilometers away. A giant ship could be seen, It was shaped like a ring, black in colour, blending into the void of space, save for the lights which illuminated it.
The word HAVEN, in bold letters was visible on the most prominent part of the ship, which was the sphere at the center of the ring, connected to the ring by four columns as thick as the ring itself.
Inside this spaceship, a group of people walking through a hallway, three of them. They wore tight black clothing and two of them had pinkish white skin, while the last one had skin of a golden brown shade. They soon arrived at a large room with thousands upon thousands of pods.
The pods lined the walls, floor and even ceiling, and even though they were made of glass, the ice that covered the interior made it hard to guess what was inside. One of the three, with a strange device in hand arrived in front of one of the pods and touched the device with his fingers a few times.
Some seconds later, cold air made a hissing sound as the pod in front of him opened slightly. When a portion of the pod moved aside completely, a man stepped out.
He had white hair, a few wrinkles on his face and wore the same clothing as the other three. Just that his clothes had ten golden stars on the left side of his chest.
"Archon Jones", the man with the tablet said with a slight nod. The two behind him mirrored his movements.
"How long has it been Mark?" Archon Jones asked as he walked out of the room with the pods. Mark and the other two followed behind.
"It has been five hundred and forty one years Archon". Mark answered.
"I see, what have we found?" Archon Jones asked.
"Well the computer named it Goldern, it's..."
"No thanks Mark", Mark had tried to hand Archon Jones the tablet, but he pushed his hand away, "I prefer to see it myself first", the Archon said.
The group of four soon arrived at a room filled with instruments and a small crew manning said instruments. There was also a large window, and looking out this window, one could see a bright blue orb, which was actually a planet.
"Ohh now i see why it was named Goldern", Archon Jones pointed at the two suns behind the blue planet.
"Yes", Mark nodded, "It is located in the goldilocks zone of a dual sun system".
Archon Jones furrowed his brows as he walked closer until his nose touched the glass. "Is it a water planet?"
"Mostly sir, however there is a land continent, a single one. At the moment it's on the other side but it will come round not long now".
"Are we really that far away or is it quite small?" Archon Jones asked.
"Although we are quite far, the planet is also small compared to earth, it's about 25% the size of earth" Mark answered.
Jones sighed, "So it's only for energy. The search continues i guess, prepare for mining".
"Sir that's the problem, our signals cannot reach the surface of the planet, in fact they stop just after touching the ozone layer. Due to this, we have been unable to scan for alien life, and a planet like this is very habitable."
"We fear that if we send the mining ships without knowledge of anything on the ground, we might loose them, and we cannot afford that sir". Mark explained.
Archon Jones scratched his beard, "Indeed we cannot. What are the chances that there are living beings down there?"
"Well sir, this planet is like the underdeveloped, baby version of earth. It has everything needed for life to thrive. So the probability of living organisms being found on this planet is 100%, however the probability of intelligent, or hostile life is 50%".
"So you recommend we send in a manned ship to scout?" Jones said.
"Yes sir"
"What if they find hostiles down there?, you said it yourself, it's a coin toss", The Archon turned to face Mark.
"At the risk of sounding heartless sir, it's better to lose a couple of people and a Lander than a mining ship", Mark said.
"No", Archon Jones shook his head. " Navarch Mark the people on this ship are the last remaining humans in existence. There is only a hundred thousand of us left, and i will not put human lives at risk if there is a better way".
"That's the thing sir, there is no better way, in fact there is no other option. Sir we have been gliding through space for over five hundred years and this is the first planet with oxygen we found. We do not know how long it would take to find another one and we only have 19% energy remaining."
"If we run out of fuel, all Haven system functions will shut down, including the cryo pods and most importantly, the oxygen generators. Everyone will wake up to a spaceship with no air to breathe, let alone food and water". Mark explained.
Archon Jones rubbed his forehead as he faced the ground, pacing and sighing with every step. "If we do not get more Treon, how long will this 19% last us?, if everyone currently awake goes back to sleep?"
Mark turned to a woman who was busy typing away next to him; "If we stay here, not moving, with everything off except for the cryo pods.....one hundred years. If we attempt to head off into space looking for another planet...s....seven years". The woman stammered a little towards the end.
"Why seven?" Jones asked.
"Because we are currently stationary, we would need to engage thrusters for about one hour to get us floating through space. Thrusters take up a lot of power and since they have been off for over five centuries, then need to heat up". Mark explained.
"Fuck!" Archon Jones cursed beneath his breath. "So in the end, moving from this spot is not an option", he said, his face reflecting on the glass as he gazed at the blue orb.
"Tell me more about the signal problem, is there something blocking our scanners?" he asked.
Mark glanced to another man sitting in front of a terminal. "We are not sure if there is a device actively blocking out our signal of if the atmosphere naturally has that effect. I created this graphic for easy of understanding", he said and everyone turned to the largest screen in the room.
Showing on the screen was a blue circle, labeled with the word Goldern then on the other side was a ring shape, labeled Haven. "This is what happens when we send out a life scan signal", the man touched a button on his monitor and arrows appeared in front of the ring, pointing at the blue circle.
The arrows then moved towards the circle, but before touching it, they curved and went around, avoiding it. It was like a boulder in the middle of a river. The signal being water and the planet being the boulder.
"This planet is small, how much Treon can we even get from there?" Archon Jones asked.
"Enough sir, enough for us to survive some more centuries as we look for a new home". Mark said.
"Fine",
"Fine sir?"
"Fine, send in a team of five soldiers down there to scout. How sure are you that we will even be able to communicate with them?" Archon Jones asked.
Mark whispered to the woman on the console next to him; "Wake up pods D4 through 8 and bring them here". he then handed her his tablet and she was off.
Mark then turned to the man who had explained about the signal disruptions; "Prep Lander Delta 6 to drop from bay 8".
Finally he turned to Archon Jones; "We cannot know sir, however, we can only hope".
"And if this team fails?" Jones asked.
"Then i would suggest we keep on sending people down there until either they come back with news, or we run out of Landers", Mark answered.
"Or we run out of people", Jones mumbled.
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An hour later, a group of five were standing before Archon Jones, all at attention. "At ease". Jones said, and the soldiers relaxed.
"I am sure you have all been briefed about our situation, and what you need to do. I do not need to tell you this; but the human race might just depend on your success".
"Yes sir!" They all said in unison before being dismissed.
"I can't believe it", one of the soldiers said as they made their way to the Lander. He was a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes.
"I know, everything really has gone to shit, and life as we know it hangs in the balance". Another soldier said, the only female on the team. She had dark skin and short white hair.
"Not that!" the blonde haired solder shook his head. "I can't believe i am five hundred and fifty eight years old now!".
"Really!" the white female soldier said. "Are you just stupid or is your brain still on ice?"
"Hey did you just call me stupid?"
Meanwhile in the front of the group, a short soldier with glasses on his face shook his head. "Idiots".
"People grieve in different ways", another soldier beside him said.
"But captain all of our families are here", the soldier with glasses replied.
"They aren't grieving their families, but their planet", the captain explained.
"Oh, well i never liked earth that much anyway".
Soon the group arrived at the hangar, and quickly put on their suits and loaded their plasma rifles. "Do we really need such firepower?" the blonde wondered.
"We have no idea what we will find down there, may range from cats to dinosaurs to sentient trees. So get ready for a fight you might not walk away from", the captain said, stuffing a knife into the sheathe on his belt before walking into the Lander.
"Was that his version of a pep talk?" the blonde soldier asked.
"Don't know, are you pepped?" the woman said walking past the soldier and into the Lander.
With the soldier wearing glasses piloting the Lander, they flew out of the Haven and into space. "Tom, remember to get into position before falling into Goldern's gravitational pull", the voice of Mark was heard over the intercom of the Lander.
"The last thing we want is for you to fly over the ocean looking for land. Wasting time and making you a major target". Mark added.
"Copy that". Tom, the soldier in glasses said as the Lander went around the planet and not straight down after leaving the Haven. It did not take long for them to get into position, and the continent was in sight.
"Hey can i please have the honor of naming the continent?" The blonde haired soldier said.
"Why Blondie?" The captain asked, watching the view as the planet grew as they got closer.
"That's not my nam...anyway i want to name it because no one has named it yet, and i called dibs", 'Blondie' replied.
"Dibs? soldier are you an emergency recruit?" the captain asked.
"Yes sir, the army just chucked me up out of the street when i was heading home from a comic convention, bad place bad time i guess".
"How old are you?"
"On earth i would be seventeen sir", Blondie replied.
"Thought so, okay kid. Name the continent". Captain said.
"Porridge!"
"..." Silence.
"You know, the planet is called Goldern, goldilocks and the three bears.....porridge....?"
No one said anything up until the group reached the atmosphere and began burning up. It did not take long for it to pass through though. "Haven can you read me?"
"Loud and clear Lander loud and clear. Signal strength and quality at 100%. Pulling up video feed now", Mark said and the large screen back in the Haven ship was divided into eight parts, each part showing what each of the soldiers were seeing.
"Haven my scanners still do not work though, we can only depend on sight down here". Tom reported.
"Copy that".
The Lander landed on err...porridge, with no issues, besides a not so smooth touchdown.
"I will stay here". Tom said as the doors to the Lander opened, and the group of four got out. Blondie made it a point to be the first to step on the ground, much to the annoyance of his team.
With everything around them so fascinating, the group just chose a random direction and began walking, after about two hundred meters, they came upon a forest.
"How are these trees so red, it's like they even glow", The female soldier placed her hand on the tree close to her.
"Hey can i name the...", Blondie was interrupted when they suddenly heard footsteps not far from them.
"What the...fuck?" The fourth soldier said. In front of them stood a blue giant, standing at a whooping 2.5 meters, with bulging muscles and a cloth covering it's eyes. A sword was hung on it's hip, a sword bigger than all the solders, but it fitted it's wielder perfectly.
"A...Alien", Blondie stammered.
"Look at it's clothes, and it's demeanour, even it's weapon, it looks.....human, almost", the captain said.
"I guess we have contact with what appears to be very intelligent alien lif....."
"Who are you?, i am Prince Kenzo of the Kitsurai clan, and you are on our lands". The alien said, and needles to say, everyone was shell shocked.
"E...English!, perfect english. But how is this possible?" One of the soldiers said what everyone was thinking. Of course the alien could not hear them since they spoke into their intercoms
"You all have five beats of time to tell me which clan you originate and leave before i have to kill you all". The alien readied it's weapon