Relic of the First Spawn (Fan-fiction)

[Soliloquis]

So I was star hopping through Eissentam when all of a sudden, after a jump, I received a faint distress signal. I had picked up distress signals before so at first I didn't think much of it, but when I tuned into it, all I got was a set of co-ordinates some 2,000 lightyears away. As strange as it was, it had piqued my interest. So I called in my freighter, got on board, and spoke to the navigator about making the two jumps necessary to get there. First jump? Went great. Second jump? Never happened.

Apparently there was a large gravity well in the target star system that was throwing the hyperdrive computer off and the navigator wasn't willing to risk the freighter jumping into it. I asked him what made him so sure it was artificial and he responded that there was no detectable blackhole radiation and that the stars light emissions and patterns were too faint for the systems star to be the source. So resolved to jump in my science vessel and make the few jumps necessary to get this curious star system.

I think I was about 50 lightyears out from the target system when I realized I couldn't detect the distress signal that had brought me out this way. Of course, me being me, I was not deterred by this. So I decided to make the final jump into the target system. Almost the biggest mistake of my life.

When I dropped out of warp, I barreled my way through a debris field in what at first seemed like pitch black space. But then I saw it. I blazing sliver of light in black. As I got closer, I realized that what I was looking at was the exterior of a massive object that had been built around an enormous star. At first I couldn't believe what I was seeing but the closer I got the more detail I could make out. Massive docking ports and starship wrecks looked along at various points just off the exterior surface. As I approached the astronomical crack in the surface of this massive object, I noticed I could see enormous plates that were orbiting the star on the other side.

These plates had planetary surface upon them and they all connected with each other at the
poles. Large gaps between the plates where light and heat could escape could also be seen. But there were scorched areas of the plates, and some areas that were green and looked as though they could be abundant with life. And then there were areas that were completely barren, and very obviously devoid of life.

I should have been paying more attention to my ship, but I dumbfounded by what I was seeing. As a result, I didn't notice that as I was making my way through the massive laceration that I had first seen the light through, that this thing had gravity that was kicking in and my ship began burning it's way through a very thick atmosphere over a portion of the plate that covered in clouds.

Plunging through the clouds and trying to regain control, my ship was tumbling. Then the lightning hit, almost as though the hand of the Atlas itself had reached out struck my ship for my being stupid enough to come here. My ships controls went dead, and as I broke through the clouds I realized I was over an ocean and an archipelago of islands that, to my best guess, were about 2,000 units off the coast of a rather large continent.

The G-forces ended up rendering me unconscious and when did finally come to, I find myself in my ship under the ocean as it was slowly filling with water. Luckily I was able to get out and and even luckier, there was dry land not far.

As I crawled my way through sand and gravel, I pulled off my helmet as soon as my suit gave me the all clear on the breathability of the air. And as I lifted my head I saw the ruins of some ancient civilization that had long been forgotten. Or so I thought.

Upon closer examination, I found that these ancient ruins were left over from before the fall of the Gek First Spawn. Enormous statues of the First Spawn towered amongst the ruins in some areas. Then I heard a sound of falling rubble behind me. I turned to look but saw nothing. Whatever storm I had fallen through had passed but I figured the conditions brought by it must have left some of the rubble disturbed. So at the time I thought nothing of it.

My ship underwater and no visible resources in sight, I set out the scavenge anything I could from the ruins around me. May scanned found edible plants that had a sweet flavor to them and some that tasted as though they could use a decent dressing, but surprisingly, there were few animals. Then I heard more rubble falling.

It had been hours since I pulled myself from the depths where my ship still lay, saturated with water. And there was no wind. So I started to walk towards the noise and as I did, an entity of a familiar form fell from wherever they had been hiding onto the rubble just a few meters in front of me. My heart jumped and my pulse raced. As I stood, gazing like an idiot, I noticed that the life form that stood before me looked like a Gek, but this was no Gek. It stood taller, was leaner, and had scars on it's body from what appeared to be some kind of bladed weapon.

As it stood, its true height became apparent, and I realized, catching an image of a First Spawn statue out of the corner of my eye, that this was indeed no Gek. This was one of the First Spawn, and how it survived the millennia was beyond my ability to grasp at that moment.

My first instinct was to reach for my multi-tool, but I caught myself, remember the history of the First Spawn and seeing the scars on this First Spawns face and body. But it just stared at me, as though it had never seen anything like me before. As though Travellers were completely unknown to it. Taking a chance, I uttered the Gek word for friend, and it perked up instantly.

I was almost sure it was going to kill me but instead it gave me a giant bear hug and made a noise that sounded like laughter before setting me back on my feet.

"I don't know what you are, but I've been here alone for many years and it is just nice to see another living creature that speaks my language. But I must say, your dialect is off. Where did you learn the language of the First Spawn?" it belted out loudly.

"I learned it from a Gek named Polo" I said nervously as I adjusted myself.

"Polo? Gek? Do you mean First Spawn?" the entity questioned loudly.

"Uh yeah, First Spawn. Say, what happened here?" I asked.

"Many cycles ago, say maybe a hundred, my people, the First Spawn, lived on this world. We called it Elysium, and it was the to be the first of many Stapledon Orbs."

"Stapledon Orb?"

"Yes, a planet turned inside out so that every inch of it's habitable surface faces it's star. It was the pinnacle of First Spawn engineering and would have hosted enough of us to fill a hundred worlds."

"So what happened?"

"We were betrayed from within. Our own brethren turned against by the Korvax and when the Vykeen fleets arrived, it was too late. I was in an exploration ship about to go into Cryo-sleep when it happened."

"So you got preserved in cryo-sleep while your world was attacked?"

"Yes. Not much glory for an old soldier like me in a pod, and so the shame I carry has weighed upon me since I woke up some 4 years ago and initiated the distress beacon I assume you followed here. Unfortunately it only had enough power for a couple of weeks."

"Wait a minute, so you've been hear alone for 4 years?"

"Yes"

"But if you initiated that distress beacon 4 years ago, how is it that I received it only a couple of days ago?"

"Hmmm, the gravity generators must be malfunctioning. Time in this system will move at a different pace than outside of the system."

"WHAT!!! No, no, no, no!! How long was I underwater?"

"Just a few hours ago. Why?"

"There's no telling how much time will pass outside of this system before I can't my ship repaired, Atlas save me, what ever will I do?"

"Do you have a name strange being?" The First Spawn asked me with a sliver of compassion in it's voice.

"My friends call me Iteration: Apollo."

"Iteration: Apollo? That is a strange name indeed. But fitting for such a strange creature. My name is Solus. Formerly Captain Solus Perdere of the 110th First Spawn Imperial Expeditionary Legion."

"Nice to meet you captain Solus."

"Please, just call me Solus, my days as a captain are quite over I am afraid, but I've had 4 years to come to terms with that."

Solus and I had many conversations as we scavenged through the rubble, looking for anything we could find to get my ship working again. Ultimately, we had to scrap my ship and left Elysium on an old frigate class vessel that we had managed to put back together. But that's a story for another time.

When we got back to normal space and time, I found that my freighter had abandoned me, and that the Anomaly had moved on. Luckily I remember the old codes and though it took some time, the Anomaly came warping in, just like the old times. I found out upon boarding the anomaly, that I had been gone for almost a year. On Elysium, it had only felt like a few months.

Upon seeing Solus, Nada gave me a look that was somewhere between bewilderment and down right fear. I had to explain that I told Solus everything I knew, and that the Gek were now living in relative peace with the Vykeen and Korvax. Nada eventually calmed down, but surprisingly, Polo did not. Something about the First Spawn made Polo very uncomfortable and as such, Polo kept his interactions with the First Spawn short and to the point. Regardless of the awkward interactions, Solus decided he liked both Nada and Polo and was surprised to see a Gek and a Korvax working so closely together with one another.

After getting my hands on a new freighter, Solus decided to stay aboard and help out with the ships systems and managing the fleet. We bounce around the galaxy now as I help him piece together the remnants of the First Space in an effort to help him memorialize and catalogue what's left. Every time I bring something back the expression on his face lays somewhere between happiness and sadness. As if seeing the relics infuse him with a sense of nostalgic longing.

It is certainly strange to have such a familiar yet foreign being upon my freighter, but knowing Solus the way I do now, I don't know if I could imagine life with the First Spawn.