From the Journal of Dr. Narei
Jan 14, 2014 5:01:45 GMT -6
Game Master, Maelstrom, and 4 more like this
Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2014 5:01:45 GMT -6
Date: Day 113, 2180 CE
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 1
The Verallas is currently parked above Rakhana’s atmosphere. Will have to thank Dr. Lanithi once again for securing the use of the ship, without her this trip would not be possible. I know little of what to expect when we go down to the surface, scans indicate there is still life in small pockets around the planet. I hope to study how these few thousand have been able to survive while so many others perished.
Dr. Lanithi gave me her notes from when she helped the refugees acclimatize to Kahj. It’s been almost two hundred years, a mere blip in this cycle of life. Yet so much has been lost. Our history, our art, even our religion…
The young Drell stopped typing for a moment, raising her hands and closing her eyes. “Arashu, my Mother, watch over this one as she walks. Guide this one so she may return to the one that loves her. Stay beside me as I face the unknown.”
“Iskra,” The asari called from the door. “The shuttle is ready.”
Date: Day 114, 2180 CE
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 2
I cannot accurately describe the feeling I had yesterday when the shuttle opened its doors and the doctor and I were allowed to disembark.
My first steps onto the homeworld did not bring the jubilation I had expected. My soul wept as I looked out on this deserted wasteland. I do not know what my ancestors had thought they were doing.
Buildings higher than the trees reaching in vain to the sky, their faces worn from erosion as they stared down upon us mortals. The stone testaments to the city that once held life, now stood lined up as gravestones as far as the eye could see. I could hear the wind wailing in despair, the voices of my people suffering trapped forever in some sad song. Even the sun hid it’s face in shame behind the cloud of pollution, casting the world grey.
I took my first breath in the filtering mask on my face and the wind died.
For the first time in almost two hundred years, this graveyard has seen life.
Date: Day 117, 2180 CE
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 5
My hands are covered in blood and yet it is my soul that has become stained.
I have killed a man whose name I shall never know but he will always haunt my memories…
…
…
…
Aeia and I have been making progress in our research together. In the last few days we have seen many parts of the planet, surprisingly, there are many different terrains to this barren planet. The haunted forest of edifices is always in sight though, looming on the horizon. But there are vast deserts, beaches that that finally break the silence with the calm lapping of the waves upon the gentle sand, canyons of colored stone that would sing to the hanar in a glorious array of the spectrum.
Today we found ourselves on the icy cap of the north pole, between the high altitude and the pollution we were forced to wear breathing masks instead of a filter. I found this changed my view of this empty world I had travelled through the last few days. I felt alien to this place, unable to breath my own homeworld’s air, the white of the ice, that even after hundreds of years still remains unimaginably thick, looked wrong to this world of never ending grey, the sun that occasionally broke through the thin clouds looked more unnatural to me than the city had not but a few days ago. The gods finally peeking at the world to see their children had destroyed themselves.
Our time was limited due to the need to wear oxygen masks which forced us to work faster than the luxurious hours we had to nitpick the finest details the trips before.
Samples collected had to be rushed, notes and holos taken in flurries, and the shuttle was forced to pick us up and drop us off closer to a live settlement than we had this whole trip.
On our way down the mountain we were attacked.
…
…
…
These people were as alien to me as that place. Their skin bore scars that could’ve only been caused by the nails and teeth of others, the once straight teeth now sharped into fangs, their coloring blending into the terrain. These albino beasts looked upon us as intruders, and food.
They descended down on top of us, overwhelming us in sheer number. I found myself stumbling through my early training that had fallen out of practice years ago. Aeia’s screams echoed through the valley as they tore at her.
In a burst of biotics I was able to throw them off me. I ran to Dr. Laithi’s aid, my fist gloved in some unknown biotic power as it connected with his head. The man slammed into the wall, his blood staining the ice red as he twitched on the ground, his head laying at an unnatural angle.
We ran and ran. Finally making it to the shuttle, all that research left….
All that blood spilt….
Date: Day 118, 2180 CE
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 6
They are cutting the trip short and forcing us back to the university after what happened. Aeia is in poor condition, the man I killed had been able to draw blood before I could reach her. The environment and the unknown pathogens he might have carried have caused an infection that the Asari on board cannot treat. They are allowing me one last trip alone onto the surface for a short amount of time before we leave.
There are so many places still left to see. So many samples still to take. So much information still lost…
I have poured over Aeia’s notes all night after I was discharged from the med bay, desperately trying to find the best place to visit, the one with the highest chance of success. It seems though my heart is drawn somewhere else for answers I had not come searching for.
One of the last entries in the notes was about a woman of my own age. They had pulled her from Kalahira’s temple on top of a mountain. She had walked for days to get there and had allowed her young sister to drink the last of their water. She had begged and plead for them to take the child instead of her as swarms of others tried to fight their way onto the ship. Her own love for her sister over herself had made her too weak to fight and she had been carried aboard screaming…
Aeia handwriting hesitated for the first time in the hundreds of immaculate records, my soul fell into despair as I read the final words. “Subject grabbed the scalpel off the table and slit her own throat. I applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. Her heart beat slowed and eventually stopped. Time of bleed out 2 minutes 43 seconds.”
Iskra stepped out from the shuttle for the last time, breathing calmly in the mask as if she had always worn it.
The temple in front of her looked untouched by the years. The bright shades of paint that adorned the intricate carvings had only faded with age, the wood doors stood closed, the stairs leading to it still smooth and uncrumbled.
The doors creaked as she pushed them open, the sound loud and unnerving in this quiet place. Gentle light spilled into the darkness, the cold of death brushed at her skin as she stepped in. The thick dust on the floor danced into the air as she continued forward. Pulling out a few glow sticks, she snapped them on and tossed them into the dark room.
The scene jumped into reality bathed in soft white light and Iskra’s heart stopped. Bodies, they were everywhere. Almost perfectly preserved as they laid on the floor in front of a statue of Kalahira.
Iskra fell to her knees, unable to stand.
“Why?” She whispered to the dead, her tears never ending as her soul wailed in sorrow.
All of them. They all flocked here to pray as the world fell to chaos. They scraped and clawed their way to this sacred place. Begging the goddess to spare them. Pleading for her protection and love. Praying to her not to force them to disappear across the sea.
And she took their last breath in answer.
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 1
The Verallas is currently parked above Rakhana’s atmosphere. Will have to thank Dr. Lanithi once again for securing the use of the ship, without her this trip would not be possible. I know little of what to expect when we go down to the surface, scans indicate there is still life in small pockets around the planet. I hope to study how these few thousand have been able to survive while so many others perished.
Dr. Lanithi gave me her notes from when she helped the refugees acclimatize to Kahj. It’s been almost two hundred years, a mere blip in this cycle of life. Yet so much has been lost. Our history, our art, even our religion…
---------------------------------------
The young Drell stopped typing for a moment, raising her hands and closing her eyes. “Arashu, my Mother, watch over this one as she walks. Guide this one so she may return to the one that loves her. Stay beside me as I face the unknown.”
“Iskra,” The asari called from the door. “The shuttle is ready.”
---------------------------------------
Date: Day 114, 2180 CE
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 2
I cannot accurately describe the feeling I had yesterday when the shuttle opened its doors and the doctor and I were allowed to disembark.
My first steps onto the homeworld did not bring the jubilation I had expected. My soul wept as I looked out on this deserted wasteland. I do not know what my ancestors had thought they were doing.
Buildings higher than the trees reaching in vain to the sky, their faces worn from erosion as they stared down upon us mortals. The stone testaments to the city that once held life, now stood lined up as gravestones as far as the eye could see. I could hear the wind wailing in despair, the voices of my people suffering trapped forever in some sad song. Even the sun hid it’s face in shame behind the cloud of pollution, casting the world grey.
I took my first breath in the filtering mask on my face and the wind died.
For the first time in almost two hundred years, this graveyard has seen life.
---------------------------------------
Date: Day 117, 2180 CE
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 5
My hands are covered in blood and yet it is my soul that has become stained.
I have killed a man whose name I shall never know but he will always haunt my memories…
…
…
…
Aeia and I have been making progress in our research together. In the last few days we have seen many parts of the planet, surprisingly, there are many different terrains to this barren planet. The haunted forest of edifices is always in sight though, looming on the horizon. But there are vast deserts, beaches that that finally break the silence with the calm lapping of the waves upon the gentle sand, canyons of colored stone that would sing to the hanar in a glorious array of the spectrum.
Today we found ourselves on the icy cap of the north pole, between the high altitude and the pollution we were forced to wear breathing masks instead of a filter. I found this changed my view of this empty world I had travelled through the last few days. I felt alien to this place, unable to breath my own homeworld’s air, the white of the ice, that even after hundreds of years still remains unimaginably thick, looked wrong to this world of never ending grey, the sun that occasionally broke through the thin clouds looked more unnatural to me than the city had not but a few days ago. The gods finally peeking at the world to see their children had destroyed themselves.
Our time was limited due to the need to wear oxygen masks which forced us to work faster than the luxurious hours we had to nitpick the finest details the trips before.
Samples collected had to be rushed, notes and holos taken in flurries, and the shuttle was forced to pick us up and drop us off closer to a live settlement than we had this whole trip.
On our way down the mountain we were attacked.
…
…
…
These people were as alien to me as that place. Their skin bore scars that could’ve only been caused by the nails and teeth of others, the once straight teeth now sharped into fangs, their coloring blending into the terrain. These albino beasts looked upon us as intruders, and food.
They descended down on top of us, overwhelming us in sheer number. I found myself stumbling through my early training that had fallen out of practice years ago. Aeia’s screams echoed through the valley as they tore at her.
In a burst of biotics I was able to throw them off me. I ran to Dr. Laithi’s aid, my fist gloved in some unknown biotic power as it connected with his head. The man slammed into the wall, his blood staining the ice red as he twitched on the ground, his head laying at an unnatural angle.
We ran and ran. Finally making it to the shuttle, all that research left….
All that blood spilt….
---------------------------------------
Date: Day 118, 2180 CE
Location: Rakhana
Research Day 6
They are cutting the trip short and forcing us back to the university after what happened. Aeia is in poor condition, the man I killed had been able to draw blood before I could reach her. The environment and the unknown pathogens he might have carried have caused an infection that the Asari on board cannot treat. They are allowing me one last trip alone onto the surface for a short amount of time before we leave.
There are so many places still left to see. So many samples still to take. So much information still lost…
I have poured over Aeia’s notes all night after I was discharged from the med bay, desperately trying to find the best place to visit, the one with the highest chance of success. It seems though my heart is drawn somewhere else for answers I had not come searching for.
One of the last entries in the notes was about a woman of my own age. They had pulled her from Kalahira’s temple on top of a mountain. She had walked for days to get there and had allowed her young sister to drink the last of their water. She had begged and plead for them to take the child instead of her as swarms of others tried to fight their way onto the ship. Her own love for her sister over herself had made her too weak to fight and she had been carried aboard screaming…
Aeia handwriting hesitated for the first time in the hundreds of immaculate records, my soul fell into despair as I read the final words. “Subject grabbed the scalpel off the table and slit her own throat. I applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. Her heart beat slowed and eventually stopped. Time of bleed out 2 minutes 43 seconds.”
---------------------------------------
Iskra stepped out from the shuttle for the last time, breathing calmly in the mask as if she had always worn it.
The temple in front of her looked untouched by the years. The bright shades of paint that adorned the intricate carvings had only faded with age, the wood doors stood closed, the stairs leading to it still smooth and uncrumbled.
The doors creaked as she pushed them open, the sound loud and unnerving in this quiet place. Gentle light spilled into the darkness, the cold of death brushed at her skin as she stepped in. The thick dust on the floor danced into the air as she continued forward. Pulling out a few glow sticks, she snapped them on and tossed them into the dark room.
The scene jumped into reality bathed in soft white light and Iskra’s heart stopped. Bodies, they were everywhere. Almost perfectly preserved as they laid on the floor in front of a statue of Kalahira.
Iskra fell to her knees, unable to stand.
“Why?” She whispered to the dead, her tears never ending as her soul wailed in sorrow.
All of them. They all flocked here to pray as the world fell to chaos. They scraped and clawed their way to this sacred place. Begging the goddess to spare them. Pleading for her protection and love. Praying to her not to force them to disappear across the sea.
And she took their last breath in answer.