Some fan fiction based on Empyrion.

[Gwizzz]

They came from out of nowhere – claws, teeth, and metal limbs ripping crew members to pieces on the main level. Veronica. She just celebrated her 29th birthday. She joked she would always be 29. She had no idea in just a few hours her wish would come true. Jake, the tough as nails station commander fighting to the end. I watched him take down some huge monster of a machine, and then another appeared behind him. It was quick. I don't, I'm sure he didn't feel any pain. And Doug, God, poor Doug. He was so young. Barely in his 20's with a newborn back home. His wife doesn't know yet, doesn't know that she's now a widower. And no one will. No one will ever know what happened if I don't get off this damn station. There's just too many to fight by myself and I don't even know where the armory is located. We never expected to have to shoot anyone, or any thing.

I can hear them through the walls, their nails on the metal deck, clicking as they move about... click-click, click-click, click-click. It's driving me insane, this going on for hours. But I can't leave my hide-away yet, not yet, it isn't safe. I went into the kitchen to get a drink, then it started. After I saw them in the common area I knew I had to find a place to take refuge. Yeah, I hid. You would too if you saw what I did. They ate them. They ATE them! My coworkers, my friends.

So I squeezed into a storage container with a bunch of plastic beads. The cook used them for making rations I think. Why couldn't this have been the rations container?! I'm so hungry. The cook. Steven. I didn't see him out there but I know he was . He made Veronica’s birthday cake out of some protein powder. It looked pretty good considering. But tasted like, well you know, protein powder. We ate it though because it was her birthday cake, for her birthday. The day she died.

I've got to get out of here. But, I know I have to wait, I have to wait, I have to wait, damn that clicking is driving me crazy! Click-click, Click-click, click... click.

I must have dozed off but I don't know for how long. I cracked the container lid and peered out. It was cold, dark and quiet. Where were they? Did they leave? Did they finish their slaughter and move on?

I grabbed the edge of the container and pulled myself over and flopped onto the floor. The thud was hardly audible but to me sounded like a multitool being dropped on a catwalk.

I crept to door and peered through the glass out into the corridor. I tried not to get too close to the motion sensor, otherwise it would open and give me away for sure. Nothing. No sound, and no movement. The airlock and escape pods were just down the hall. If I could get to them, get on a suit and get into a pod. I might, might just have a chance. I looked left, and looked right. I can't tell. I just can't see anything. OK, I've got to go. I'll either die trying to escape, or die here when the power and O2 runs out.

I waved my hand near the door and it hissed open. I peered outside and saw emptiness. Staying close to the wall I hunkered down as best I could. It wasn't really crouching. I can't crouch. I don't know why. I moved along a couple of steps and stopped, and listened, then a couple more, and then a couple more. The corridor curved away from me and as I rounded the corner near the airlock I froze. I could see it up ahead in the dim light, a huge shape, with two arms, two legs, but thin and skinny, and grotesque. It was moving it's big angular head back and forth in rhythm. If music was playing I would swear it was keeping time with some love song. Maybe it was bored. For all I know, they don't get bored, or even like music. All I know is they are ruthless killers. Damn murderers.

I started forward, taking small steps and shallow breaths, walking on the balls of my feet like some Ninja from one of our Saturday night movies. It hurt my feet. It hurt like hell, but I had to do it. I had to go 10 meters, just 10 meters. Then 9, and 8, and creep, and quiet, and then 4, or maybe 3 I, I can't tell. The creature was still there, bobbing and swaying its ugly head back and forth.

*SWISH*. OH, CRAP! THE DOOR OPENED! I FORGOT ABOUT THE DOOR!!!

It spun around at the sound, it's mouth gaping wide, red beady eyes staring right at me. I dove inside the airlock and the door swished shut. Frantically, I looked around for something to fight with. I opened the escape pod hatch and found an air canister, a bottle of water, a pistol. A PISTOL?! Oh yeah right, part of the escape pod emergency supplies, how could I forget that? I grabbed the gun and turned to the door. The creature was there already, just on the other side . I knew once the door opened I had to unload on it, every round in the magazine. One of us was going to die and it wasn't going to be me. I hoped. But the door didn't open. It, it didn't work. For some reason the sensor didn't trigger. I don't know if the sensor couldn't detect its alien physiological makeup or if it was just faulty. But I wasn't waiting around to find out.

The creatures mouth opened and closed showing rows of teeth made for shredding soft flesh just like mine. It probed the door with its long clawed fingers looking for a crack, something to grab onto. It was just a matter of time before it found the seal and wedged those claws in there, pulling the doors apart. I looked at the gun again and realized it wasn't even loaded! The bullets were still in the bloody box! My heart literally stopped. If it wasn't for that sensor, I'd be dead. And still might be if I don't leave, like right now.

I opened the armor locker and grabbed a suit; it was a medium, and just my size. For some reason, I grinned. I guess I should have bought a lotto today. I slipped into the legs and pulled up the suit around my waist. Next was the top, and the gloves, and lastly the helmet. When it snapped into place my vision darkened and narrowed, the sounds of my own breathing reverberated around my head. I flipped open the control panel on my wrist and punched in the code to activate the power unit. The HUD flashed and lit up. I could see the small local nav map, temperature and radiation read outs, health, food and stamina. How this suit could tell when I was hungry was a marvel of technology. But it worked and that's all that mattered.

I took a last look at the door and saw that thing had found what it was looking for. It already had one long claw through the soft seal and another was wedging its way though. I climbed into the escape pod, closed and fastened the hatch. I strapped myself in and was about to hit the EJECT button when it appeared at the small port window in the hatch door. It screeched. I slammed the button and space exploded all around me as the capsule shot out of the tube like a bullet.

The guidance system took over and small thrusters kicked in turning the pod towards the nearest planet called Maiy. It's an inhospitable chunk of rock much like our own Mars back home. Redish soil, with a thin unbreathable atmosphere, searing days, and frigid nights. If the aliens didn't kill me, this planet surely would.

The pod broke into the atmosphere and the exterior plating started to heat up. The atmosphere was thin, but there was still friction, and friction meant heat. I had limited control over the pod via a little joystick on the right armrest. I could nudge it left or right but there was nothing from stopping it from its rapid decent. I spun the craft in a slow arc trying to make note of the landscape below. There was a lake and a mountain ridge. I didn't think I would clear that so kept the craft turning. There, in the distance was what appeared to be something, a structure or building I couldn't quite make out. I kept the pod pointed in the direction of the structure hoping I wouldn't overshoot it and soon realized I wouldn't even make there.

The ground came rushing up and the pod impacted on the side of a small hill and flipped over. It hit so hard it split open and tossed me out like a rag doll. Luckily the suit saved my life. I'm going to have to buy stock in that company when this is all over.

When I came to I saw the pod had rolled further on down the hill. I quickly ran after it and scavenged a portable O2 generator, one of the small air canisters, the water bottle, a couple of power packs, some rations, med kits, the pistol and ammo.

What I had gathered would only last for a while and now the clock was ticking, It was just a matter of time before my O2 or luck ran out. Hopefully that structure I saw on the way down would contain something I could use to survive in this barren wasteland.

I plodded along in the sand for several hundred meters until I came to the base of a small mountain range. Along the way my sensors beeped indicating it detected something new of interest. I saw a small informational popup flash across the interface, something about a cockpit. A cockpit? A SHIP!?!? I ran up the side of the mountain with my stamina indicator steadily dropping as I went. As I crested the top of the hill my heart sank. This was no ship. It was maybe a piece of one at one time. But, now it was just a Hodge-podge of metal, wood and other junk pieced together around what must have once been part of a ship. Oh, I see it now. The remains of a large capital cockpit. Great.

I took out the pistol and approached cautiously. I hadn't seen any forms of life yet but I wasn't taking any chances. I didn't even know if whoever lived here was friendly.

I walked all the way around before climbing the small sets of steps. When I reached the door, it didn't open; apparently the power was off. I opened it manually and stepped inside. There before me was no captains chair, and no transporter pad. Nope. It was a King size bed. Oh well, luxury was mine. There was also a fridge and storage cabinet. I opened the refrigerator and was surprised to see some unspoiled food inside. Even with power off the food had managed to stay, edible. I figured now that the door had been breached that it wouldn't last for long without power.

I checked the storage locker and hit pay dirt. Inside was a drill, chainsaw, some bio fuel, a personal constructor, and a template for a motorcycle. I could definitely use that to scout around for supplies and building materials.

I took all of the supplies out I needed and tossed in some things to help clear out my pack. If I came across anything useful I needed to have space to hold onto it. The designers back home created one nifty pack that could neutralize weight and condense mass so you could practically carry a whole ship around with you if you wanted. But it had it's limitations. One being the number of different items you could carry.

I don't know if it has to do with positrons, or quarks, or neutrinos, I'm not one of them fancy smancy engineers. Just a technician. Hired to keep that X7 station running. I can fix stuff, take it apart, put it back together and it still works. Well, most of the time.

Anyway, here I am. Sole survivor of an alien attack on X7. Now I've got to get this place up and running, find or make a ship, some weapons, ammo, all the things I need to go back up there and kick some alien♥♥♥♥♥ You hear me you alien &^*%^$#%@$. I'll be back!

[Finch]

Cool story, taking features of the game into account and touching slightly sarcastic on its failings. I especially liked this part 'Can't crouch, don't know why I can't crouch' lol. The rest, ripping stuff, enjoyed the whole read.

[Gwizzz]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, the scenario when you escape from the X7 station just seemed to lend itself to a little back story. We all have stories to tell, great adventures, close calls, miserable defeats. I tried to keep true to the game and the part of the crouching was part of it. I know someone suggested in the forums to allow us to crouch and go prone and sit so maybe one day that will happen. And the part about the pistol not being loaded. Well, yeah that happened as well. One of the few games that practice gun safety. lol

[Gwizzz]

OK, so first things first. What do I need, what do I need first? I've got some rations, a gun and some ammo, I need oxy and the little generator will create that as long as it has some fuel packs. FUEL PACKS! I need more power! And, power is derived from let's see... Promethium. Promethium pellets. But for that I need some raw ore. Luckily the sensors detected an ore vein not to far away from the crash site. But it will take too long to get there and back, waste too much precious air.

Ah, the cycle. Time to put that thing together. I placed the small survival constructor down outside in the dirt – it refused to deploy inside the structure – loaded the cycle kit in the input section, turned on the power, and waited. Within a minute or so it had fabricated a little two wheeler that was waiting to be picked up and put to good use. I grabbed it out of the outbox, set it on the ground, and jumped on. Immediately I was welcomed with a low hum of an electric motor. I didn't see any power indicator or fuel gauge, so figured it must run off of some new condensed power cell, or maybe it was just magic.

I checked my inventory - got a couple of bottles of air, and some ration packs, the drill, gas, and gun. Looks like I'm all set. Off we go.

The bike seemed OK on flat terrain but really struggled to climb hills; a mountain bike it was not. I had to choose a path that stuck to valleys within the ravines. Even though it wasn't as versatile as a 4 wheeler, it was faster than running. After a couple of minutes I arrived at a spot directly over the ore vein. On the way I had spotted a herd of what appeared to be herbivores. A couple of large cow like creatures and several young calves were wandering the plains grazing on the red carpet of flora. Well, maybe if all goes well I'll have steak for dinner. There were also some what appeared to be birds flying up in the sky, but I didn't think I would be able to shoot one down. I wasn't sure how their wings could be getting such lift in this thin atmosphere. I knew their bones were probably hollow, but maybe they were filled with some light gas or had a honeycomb structure to reduce weight while maintaining tensile strength. Or it was magic. Wouldn't surprise me in the least. There's a lot of strange things I've encountered out here in the verse since I signed on.

I grabbed the drill off my tool belt, filled it up with some bio fuel and started to dig. The drill was slow, noisy and crude. It dug up the dirt and left crushed rocks in its wake. Those I had to manually pick up as I kept tripping over them or they would get in the way of the drill bit. After a meter or so a small pocket of color appeared. It was blue, not gold. But right now that blue stuff was more precious than anything else on this planet. I kept at it, swinging the drill bit back and forth, breaking off chunks of Promethium ore that landed at my feet. Like the crushed rocks, I had to stop every once in a while to scoop up the little blue nuggets into my pack and then press on. The pit was getting pretty deep, so I activated the suits jump jets and popped up over the edge. I scouted in a slow circle to make sure there wasn't any new critters that had arrived while I was down in that hole. The alien bovines or mules, not sure which classification they would fall under, had moved off still munching away. Steak. Yep. Going to have to have me a steak.

I cleared the edge of the pit with the drill, kind of made some steps so I could jump back up real fast if I had to. I was about to jump back down in that hole when I realized I was getting kind of warm. I figured all that physical activity had worked up more of a sweat than the suits bio system could handle. Then I noticed the temp reading on my HUD: 61 degrees centigrade. These basic suits were made for basic temps. Without some sort of modification or booster I wouldn't be able to stay out in this environment for long periods of time. Even as I was contemplating my next move, the temp ticked up another notch to 62 degrees. And my core body temp, which had been resting at a comfortable 25, started to tick up as well. Just standing still, the outside temperature steadily started to increase and I knew I didn't have long until I would start to get too hot and experience heat stroke. Hmm, steak. I was going to be cooked like a steak in my own suit. How ironic.

I checked my map. The cockpit was almost 500 meters away. That was over two football fields in length. I could chance it on the cycle, but it would be risky in the rough terrain. As I was staring off into the distance I was greeted by a spectacular meteor shower. As beautiful as it was, I knew those chunks of rock hurtling down from space would be as dangerous as a rocket or plasma blast. Something best avoided.

Ah, life’s little distractions – my body temperature ticked up another point. I needed to make a decision fast. I noticed a little further to the West was a small lake. Unless it was filled with boiling phosphoric or hydrofluoric acid I should be able to take a quick dip to cool off. Abiet, not a skinny dip, but a dip none the less.

I started running towards the lake and thought about getting the cycle back out of of my pack. If I had picked it up that is. It was still sitting back at the promethium ore site. Note to self: if you don't have it with you, you can't use it. Keep running.

The outside temp was now 70 degrees and a balmy 35 degrees inside. I was sweating profusely. I knew soon even that would stop when my core temp got around 40. Then I would probably cramp up, pass out, and toss my cookies inside my suit. What a way to go. Heat warning message popped up on my HUD. Yep, got that Jarvis, I'm on it!

A couple more steps and I was at the edge of the lake. There were plants growing in and around the shoreline so it couldn't be too toxic. In I went. As the watery fluid flowed over my suit it immediately started to wick away the excess heat. I was relieved to watch the external temperature drop back down to a cool 35 degrees. Heck, that was summer weather there boys. In the middle of a lake no less. Internal temp dropped too, back down to 25 degrees. With all of the sweating I had done just minutes ago it seemed kind of chilly. But I'd take chilly over roasted any day.

Well, I checked the HUD chronograph. Based on it's calculations the sun wouldn't begin to set for another 6 hours. I could hang out here a bit and see of there was any aquatic lifeforms or weeds to gather. But I couldn't stay long. I only had about 3/4 air supply remaining and only one small canister in reserve. I figured I could spend a couple of minutes cooling off, checking out the lake bottom, then make a mad dash back to the bike and then ride like hell for the sanctuary of the cockpit.

I dropped to the bottom and started walking. Mostly I encountered some sort of grass that grew thick on the bottom of the lake, a few large rocks, but absolutely no signs of aquatic life. I guess that was a mixed blessing as there could be something down here that could open my suit like a tin can, and suck out the tasty warmed up innards. Suddenly, steak didn't sound so appetizing anymore.

Ah, finally. I came across a small outcropping of plants that kind of resembled seaweeds as they were growing up from the floor towards the surface of the lake. And there were some smaller ones, and thorny bushes. Everything that could be collected went into the pack. Maybe I would find a use for it later when I got back to base. In the distance I could see a dim glow, it was blue and my first thought was it another Promethium node. I checked my map but it didn't show anything should be there. As I swam closer I could make out a crystal sticking out of the bottom of the lake bed. It put off a soft blue glow that shined outwards for several meters. I checked the suits radiation meter but nothing was registering above the normal background level of 3.5 rads. 3.5 rads? Without my suit the "normal" radiation levels on this planet would kill me off as well. I couldn't have picked a more inviting place to land.

When I was within a meter or so, a small tag popped up on my HUD. Pentaxid. Hmm, a Pentaxid crystal. What the heck was that? I checked the universal Personal Data Assistant (PDA) and found an entry on the crystals. They are processed into warp fuel. Now that could be useful. I broke off the crystal and in the pack it went.

My air supply was dropping down to 150 so I thought I should head for the cockpit. I swam the length of the small lake until I was once again on the Eastern shore. When I emerged I was startled by a strange sound, like squish squish squish. I looked around a saw some slug, or slime like creature, about a couple of meters high, with one huge eye in the middle of its, face? I really couldn't see anything that resembled a mouth, or nasal passage, or even ears. It didn't seem aggressive but I didn't have time to give it any more thought.

It was only about 95 meters to the Promethium pit and the cycle. Already the internal temperature monitor was starting to rise. It certainly hadn't gotten any cooler while I was taking a dip in the lake. Off I ran. I made it to the cycle and jumped on. Air supply was now down to 100. I gunned the throttle and the electric motor whined in response, back tire kicking up sand as I bolted off towards the first ravine. In and out, left, right, over that small one, now the big one, up, go up, you can make it….. over the top and down we fly to grandmothers house and Perthing fruit pie!!!!

The bike crawled to a halt and I jumped off next to the portable O2 generator. Inside were 12 newly crafted canisters of life giving O2. Sweet sweet stale smelling air. I gathered all of the bottles and noticed there was only about 20 minutes of power remaining. This was one device I couldn't afford to have quit on me for any reason. I popped in the remaining fuel pack and the run time went to up over an hour. That would have to do for now. I had a bunch of promethium ore that needed converted into pellets and then fuel packs. But first off, I needed food. My stomach, which should be growling by now, was practically empty. I checked my pack and saw two of the emergency ration packs. Well, I think dying of hunger would be considered an emergency so I took one out then thought, hmm, how was I going to eat this stuff with my helmet on? I mean eating food with your helmet on is just plain impossible, right? Do I just rub it all over the helmet and it seeps in by osmosis? That's the way babies seem to eat. There must be a way to do it. Ah ha!!! A detachable feeding tube right along the bottom edge of the helmet. Nifty device. I poked the end into the ration container and found the other end stubbed right below my mouth. I was able to suck in the contents of the pack, but wasn't able to blow out. Must be a one-way valve to keep my O2 in the suit. Good idea.

After filling up on rations and air I set about processing the promethium ore into pellets and then into dozens of fuel packs. At least I now had a steady supply of power and air. It was a good day but it was it was getting late. Only about an hour or so until night fall, and I didn't want to be out here in the dark. If only I knew where to find a King size luxury bed. I filled the O2 generator with fuel packs and trudged upstairs.

As I approached the door it still refused to open. I accessed the facility control panel and then the fuel storage. In went a dozen or so fuel packs, and up raised the power level to a whopping 30%. Hungry beast aren't you? Well that gave me almost 4 hours of power. Now I could just pry off my suit, crawl into bed, and rest.

As soon as I removed my helmet I knew that was a mistake. I sucked in nothing, well mostly nothing. There was NO AIR!!! I quickly put my helmet on and took a deep breath. I checked the control panel, and confirmed what I already knew, the facility O2 tanks were empty. I opened the O2 storage to drop in a few of the little bottles of air. Except, the O2 storage wouldn't accept those little canisters. Well why the hell not? Isn't there an adapter or something? I mean air is air, amirite? OK, OK, calm down. No use getting upset at some designer light years away. Maybe once I get this place going I'll drop em an optimail (optical email for long distance communication) to modify these things to accept the little bottles in an emergency like this.

Well, no rest for the weary just yet. I've got to build a big O2 generator. Hmm, I look up how to build one, do a little studying and wala, just like Neo in the Matrix I KNOW how to do Kung Foo! I mean, how to build an O2 generator.

Unfortunately, the survival constructor is apparently not as smart as I am, as it can't make an O2 generator. (Hmm, send another optimail to the designers.) This is going to take longer than I thought. First I'll have to make a larger constructor, and that is going to take some components like electronics, controls, motors, and cables. I can't go running around looking for all the different ore nodes to build these things. Wait!, I've got it. I can use that drill to break apart those big rocks laying all around out there. They're bound to contain some bits and pieces of ore I could smelt down.

O2? Check. Food? Check. I hate to go out wandering in the dark but I've got no choice. At least the suit shoulder light will provide some illumination. OK here we go. Damn it, there is NO coconut. It's just me. Here “I” go.

[The answer is the question]

Good paragraphing, i like your skill in describing scenes of intensity not always the easiest thing to do. Might write a story for this forum sometime it prob wont be based around empyrion as i prefer to start original ideas but it will be space themed something i enjoy. mm zombies and space perhaps, always enjoyed games like dead space never written a story about horror in space.

[Gwizzz]

Space horror is a common and much enjoyed theme; several triple A titles have that as their main element. The newest one called "Life", has some major star power and looks pretty intense. Nothing like being trapped in a container with something that wants to kill/eat/infect/morph you.....

Yeah you should write something up, if it is real original, maybe they'll base a movie off of it. :)

[[Reaper]The Destroyer]

Gwizz, I am a small youtuber and should be starting a RP series with 4 - 6 or so others using empyrion as the basis and have some basic ideas on the theme and content of the series. Seeing what you have done here made me wonder if you would like to collab and provide feedback / input or be a creative director as far as story line. Obviously this is a non paid position, but mention / credit could be atributed. Thoughts? send me a steam invite if interested. I look forward to hearing from you. My channel is http://www.youtube.com/c/Str3am3n

[Gwizzz]

@[Reaper]The Destroyer. Hello, I checked out your site and think it's pretty cool. I also watched the into movie leading into your Empyrion stoyline. That's basically all I was doing was recounting what I was going though in my game play. Some ad libing was tossed in to account for the helmet eating tube of course.

While I'm honored at your invite I have to say I haven't been playing Empyrion lately. I'm still watching it's progress and will jump back in once it's a little more stable, but it just got to be a grind to have to start over, and over, and over. I know that's to be expected when playing in an Early Access game but I picked up a title during the Steam summer sale I've had my eyes on for months and I'm off on a tangent. Shameless plug for XCOM 2. :)

I'll be happy to send you a friend request and keep up with your series. Cheers.