Protectorate Rising: A Starbound Story

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Jonesy
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Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:33 am
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Protectorate Rising: A Starbound Story

#1 Post by Jonesy »

This is a fanfic about the game Starbound that I've been working on for a while now, between other projects. It's a retelling and expansion of the main story, as well as something of an experiment in making the protagonist a character other than the 'hero', with the intention of greatly expanding the emotional depth over how it was handled in the game.

Chapter One

Planet ‘Apex One’, Settlement 78

Some years ago, during my early work as a mechanic, a Human trader told me a quote from one of his people’s great thinkers; “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”

The reason he told me this was because in spite of having spent my adult life repairing starships, I hadn’t actually flown before. I’d felt the jackboot of the regime that had oppressed my people for centuries. I’d seen their figurehead’s face everywhere I turned. I’d heard what happened to those who try to dissent. But I’d never tasted flight. And life under the MiniKnog meant I can’t risk walking around with my eyes skyward.

As backwater as my hometown may be, the spaceport sees its fair share of traffic from commercial and military flights. I know better than to ask questions about the latter, but it’s usually easy to surmise why they’ve come. And even then, supply shipments and personnel rotation are hardly noteworthy at all. Which is why the unannounced arrival of a high-ranking MiniKnog officer and a group of random soldiers seemed all the more unusual.

I remember the woman vividly. She was wearing a meticulously kept uniform, and a scarf that was definitely not in accordance with dress regulations. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, and was much taller than I regardless. There was a distinct air of discipline about her, with the scar across her right eye speaking volumes about her hardiness. She was escorted by at least a dozen soldiers and the odd officer, seemingly from different units based on their patches. Whoever they were, it wasn’t my concern. At least, if I wanted to live.

There were the usual security checks, biosecurity examinations and payment arrangements to go through with the spaceport authorities, all while I waited at my assigned post. It gave me more than enough time to flick through my semi-censored copy of Routine Aeronautical Repair Procedures for Dummies to look busy. But the second she was done, the woman waved me over.

“You, engineer. What’s your name?”

Upon reaching her, I snapped to a salute. Military types love that sort of thing. “Vikton, ma’am. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing major. Fill up the tank, fix the flickering light in the hold and clean the sticky buttons in the cockpit. My pilot will show you the ones.”

Not the kind of work I’d spent years studying for, but I couldn’t complain. “Not a problem, ma’am. Charged to the MiniKnog?”

“Correct,” the woman replied. “File it under Lieutenant Lana Blake, 117th Disciplinary Platoon.”

I jotted down the name on my datapad. That explained the mishmash of soldiers, being all reassigned troublemakers. “As you wish, ma’am. I’ll get right on it”

The Lieutenant and her officers cleared out, and I filled up a few containers of Erchius fuel. Given that the soldiers weren’t exactly paragons of our people, I gave them a wide berth as they unloaded their cargo. With the tank filled, I quickly located the flickering light and spoke to the pilot before he went on shore leave. It turned out that the light simply needed a new bulb, and the pilot needed to stop eating Lucky Dip in the cockpit. Cleaning the console wasn’t difficult, but at least it was tedious and time-consuming enough to eat up the rest of the day. Or, at least, I made it look that way.

The following day, a Human ship arrived. Protectorate, no less. Outsiders visiting an Apex settlement are rare enough, making it a rather exciting occurrence. Their money and possibly even services are typically welcomed, even though the guards will barely tolerate their presence and won’t hesitate to drag off anyone caught sharing ‘undesirable ideals’ with the locals. But to see a member of the Protectorate arrive, embodying everything the MiniKnog would suppress, must have been like a slap in the face for them.

After a significantly longer and somewhat more convoluted series of checks than what the military had to go through, the man approached me. He was at least twice as old as I, wearing an unfamiliar uniform emblazoned with what I quickly deduced to be the Protectorate logo.

“Good morning, son. What’s your name?”

“Vikton, sir. What do you need?”

“Fuel. In fact, I don’t like the way this crate’s been guzzling it lately. Would you mind giving it the once-over? I’ll be leaving in about three days. Possibly sooner, if anything… unexpected happens.”

I didn’t want to imagine. But assuming it was a routine efficiency tweak, I figured it would provide enough time. “I’ll see what I can do, sir.”

“Please,” the man said, extending a hand. “Call me Declan. Protector Declan Matthews.”

I shook his hand, after I’d glanced around for guards. And waited for the cameras’ line-of-site to rotate away. “As you wish, Captain Matthews.”

Meeting a member of the Protectorate was interesting enough, but the interior of his ship was much more interesting. Besides stacks of crates up one side of the ship, the rest was a veritable home. Furniture made by the hands of other races, artwork from multiple cultures and even a few screens depicting alien worlds. I filled up the fuel tank while doing my best to ignore it. Appreciation of foreign designs may well constitute thought crime as far as the MiniKnog is concerned.

After a few diagnostics, it quickly became clear that fuel efficiency was the least of the Protector’s worries. The hyperdrive had been overworked at some point in the recent past, leaving the fuel system in critical need of several replacement parts. Nothing hard to acquire, but it was going to take at least a couple of days to get them installed. Rather than risk the job going overtime, I glumly resigned myself to a bit of overtime. Such is the life of an engineer.

The rest of the afternoon went well, with about two-thirds of the components replaced. The rest, along with the inevitable testing, could wait until the next day. I clocked off later than usual, and cut it a bit too fine beating the curfew getting home. But I was still able to sit down, relax and enjoy a nice Apex fritter that night, confident of a job well done.

One thing you need to learn when living under the MiniKnog is what not to think about. My parents learned that the hard way, and I was usually very wary of heading down the same path. But I couldn’t help but look around my apartment and wonder. It was a tiny dwelling, and identical to countless others. There was no furniture there that you wouldn’t find next door, or across the street. And yet, in that spaceship I’d seen furniture and arts the likes of which I’d never see under the MiniKnog. Seeing as they wouldn’t appreciate that line of thought, I struck it from my mind. At least, until it returned the following morning.

For breakfast, I had the same food ration and bottled water I’d eaten every day for as long as I could remember. Afterwards, I walked to work at the same time as always. Big Ape stared down at me from his posters, reminding me that he’s watching. A paperboy offered me the latest state-approved newspaper, with a headline about a resistance cell being crushed. A camera tracked my movement. All was as it should be for the MiniKnog, but it was slowly becoming clear that their sense of ‘ideal’ was not universal.

Captain Matthews returned that afternoon, though I didn’t originally see him with my upper body still in the ship’s inner-workings. With work progressing so well, I was occupied to the point where I only realized his presence when I heard a conversation slowly getting louder. I stopped what I was doing and strained my ears, just in time to overhear an exchange taking place mere meters away.

“Like I said, I’ll pass it on,” Captain Matthews was saying. “What I mean is that I just can’t make any guarantees on what they’ll do. We stand to protect those in need, but we’re more peacekeepers than warriors. Regardless, I’ll make a case for you, and see if I can’t scrounge up some support.”

A woman’s voice spoke up. I could have sworn it sounded like Lieutenant Blake. “I appreciate it, Declan. Admittedly, I had my doubts about contacting you, but I’m glad you’ve proved me wrong. When the MiniKnog falls, I’ll be sure commission a statue in your honour.”

The shock was almost enough to make me drop my wrench. There was a fairly high-ranking MiniKnog officer collaborating with a Human Protector, and I had knowledge of it. If Blake didn’t kill me for knowing too much, the MiniKnog would interrogate me on the off chance I was involved. And then kill me for knowing too much. Somehow, I had to get away from and make it seem like I was oblivious.

The Protector laughed. “Don’t need anything fancy. Just stick it in a nice, quiet park somewhere.”

“It’s the least I can do. After all, you had no obligation to come see me.”

Meanwhile, I slowly eased myself out of the maintenance access. There were a few crates between them and I, so I hadn’t been spotted yet. At the same time, there was no way of getting out without being spotted. Hiding might be my best bet, if I could just collect my tools and…

My fusion cutter slipped from my hands, falling to the deck with a clatter. The conversation behind me stopped, and I soon felt a weapon pressed to the back of my head.

“What are you doing here?” Lieutenant Blake demanded.

“Replacing some of the fuel line,” I explained meekly, looking over my shoulder. “It’s coming along well. Should be done by th-”

“And did you hear what we were talking about?”

I gulped. “Well, I was rather busy double-checking the alignment of the-”

“Answer me.”

Captain Matthews stepped forward, lowering the Lieutenant’s weapon with a light touch on the arm. “Relax, Lana. Wrong place at the wrong time. I’m sure we can trust him to keep quiet.”

“They have ways of making him talk.” The Lieutenant pointed out. Against my better judgement, I nod in agreement.

“Assuming they suspect anything,” the Captain replied, before scratching his chin. “Although, I must admit, I wouldn’t want to leave too much riding on mere hope.”

The Lieutenant looked me over. “Fine. Consider yourself drafted, then. You answer to me now, and I won’t tolerate disloyalty.”

Not the most appealing idea, but it sure beat getting murdered. “I… I can do that. As long as I…”

I trailed off as there was some kind of commotion outside. A soldier burst into the ship, looking around in panic. The only thing stopping me from freaking out was recognizing him as one of the Lieutenant’s. He saluted her on sight.

“They’ve found us.”

The Lieutenant looked to the Captain. “Damn MiniKnog has eyes everywhere. We’ll hold them off for you.” An outburst of weapon fire from outside added no small amount of gravity to the statement.

“Thank you, Lana,” the Captain replied, seating himself at the helm. “Vikton, is the ship ready for take-off?”

I stare at the mix of new and old components piled by the access hatch. All things considered, I wasn’t confident. “Maybe. I still need to replace a couple of things, and it won’t be pretty.”

“Then get on it right away,” the Lieutenant said, priming her sidearm. “Vikton, do whatever you can to make sure Declan reaches the Protectorate. Our rebellion needs its assistance.”

This rebellion business was all news to me, but it didn’t look like I had anywhere else to turn. “Yes, ma’am.”

She nodded once. “Thank you both. Good luck.” With that, she dashed out of the ship, shooting as she went.

Declan was already working away at the controls, and I felt the ship shudder beneath us. “Alright, let’s get the hell out of here. I can get us out of the atmosphere on the engine’s reserve energy supply, but we need the hyperdrive ready as soon as you can.”

I was already furiously reinstalling the remaining components as best I could. Surely, I thought, the ship had lasted this long without replacement parts. One more trip wouldn’t hurt. What was the worst that could happen?

An explosion from outside cause the ship to shudder, sending my tools sliding across the floor. “Missiles!” Declan shouted. “How’s the repairs coming?”

“I’m working on it!” I scream, scrabbling after the wayward items. With shaking hands, I try prioritizing which parts needed to be replaced in order for the hyperdrive to work. It was being fed fuel by a mishmash of old and new parts by that point, but I did everything I could to make sure it held.

The ship was jolted by another, closer explosion. “Vikton!” Declan yelled over his shoulder. “We’re almost out of the atmosphere!”

I glance out a porthole, which was the worst thing I could have done. Spread out below us was the vast blue-and-green orb that was my homeworld. It had been host to the only life I’d ever known. My friends. My family. My home. All of which I suddenly realized I’d never see again. And that was assuming I didn’t die in the coming minutes.

“Vikton! Snap out of it!”

Fighting back tears, I focused back on my work. There was no time for the usual test procedures, but I still did a quick check to make sure the parts were secure. Gulping, I turn towards the cockpit. “It’s ready!”

A deep rumble overtook the ship, and our speed increased exponentially. Awed, I stared out the porthole at the stars as they began streaking past us. The rumble peaked, and with a flash the stars were replaced by a stream of light. My homeworld was long gone, and my old life with it.

It was at that moment that the fuel hatch exploded, and everything went black.

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