Gus

Darkness. Darkness upon darkness. Nothingness upon nothingness. Until, from the ether, a whisper: He didn’t recognize the language, but he felt its meaning: Take care of your head. Then a realization. With a start, Rook sat bolt upright, clutching his chest, gasping for air. Except there was no fight in the air, it happily filled his lungs. And his chest was intact. Despite his sudden panic, and the lingering feeling of oblivion, all was okay. He put a hand over his bullseye just to be sure, and when he was satisfied, he let out a sigh. ...

“Are you sure you wanna go through with this?” An automated twin needle jab into the neck quickly brought up the name “SAVINIEN ROOK” on the coliseum signup display, along with a rotating 3d display of the namesake’s head. Other unique identifying features were also displayed, like fingerprints, retinal scan, a similarly rotating 3d display of his spinal column, and his lone tattoo. RACE: Human ORIGIN: Akabyssus [KR67Q3SQ15] TYPE: Carbon-based ...

The interstellar train dropped them off at the orbital station, the elevator platform lowered them to the planet’s largest metropolitan center, and the intercity jumpwarp shot them to the nearest southern capital, and that’s where all convenient forms of public transportation ceased. Despite being a capital city, it was the planet’s most destitute. Not even the paid caravans were available past the morning rush. And so the crew legged it the rest of the way, carrying their luggage with them. A 3 hour hike through the dilapidated urban center, the yellow sands which were quickly encroaching upon the city, the mud, the thickening vegetation, into the humidity of the freelands. Along the way, the road shrank and shrank until the walking path was merely the telltale triplet set of tire tracks in the swamp. ...