The Slayer (storyline)

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How did I come to be called the Dragonslayer? Well, that’s a bit of a story.

I’m not sure how old I was when I came to Delta V. Twenty-two... twenty-seven... maybe older, maybe younger. I don’t know anymore.

After the Plague had decimated us on Delta IV, there was only one way to survive. We had to fight and kill. I lost so much in the Plague. I’d had parents, and a sister. My parents died quickly, coughing and sputtering blood in the hospital. Nobody knew yet what the Plague was, so it was terrifying for me as a young man to see the man and woman who just the previous day were talking about going to a resort planet for a holiday reduced to withered husks.

My sister’s name was Elyse. She was a couple of years younger than I was. When our parents died, I became mother and father to her since somehow we were immune. By studying us and people like us, who came in contact with the pathogen, a cure was developed, but by that time it was too late. I got to watch society crumble around me, lawlessness reigned. I swore to Elyse that I would protect her.

Soon after the cure was discovered, a militia stormed the labs and took the scientists and doctors prisoner. A man known in our language as Dusk took over the survivors, and kept us in perpetual slavery. By day, Elyse- though that wasn’t her name anymore, she went by Knag- and I would work the fields, and by night we would huddle together, praying that one day we would be able to leave this place. Sometimes, the militia men would bring a woman or girl up to Dusk. When they tried to take Elyse, I killed the soldier who grabbed her first, but I was subdued by several others. When Elyse came back, she was silent and shaken. She didn’t tell me what had happened, but then again, she didn’t need to. After they took her to him again, she slit her wrists. I held her to my chest as her heart stopped beating. Elyse was eleven years old.

I never fully recovered from Elyse’s death, and my greatest wish was to join her. I picked fights with the militia’s men, stole food from them, I even killed a few. This brought me to Dusk’s attention, backfiring horribly. Instead of killing me, Dusk wanted to recruit me. He gave me a gun, and a bit of security- all members of the militia had this thing on the back of their necks, and if we ever threatened Dusk, this little device would decapitate us automatically. I was a coward. I decided that I wanted to survive to kill Dusk.

I wouldn’t get the chance though. The less reputable denizens of the galaxy were in the trade of purchasing and selling human beings- and I apparently fetched a pretty penny. I was sold to the Syndicate.

I’m not sure what planet we were on- Delta VII maybe - and I was bunked with another man my age. He handed me a piece of candy.

“You look like you ain’t eaten in years, kid.”

I took the candy. “Where’d they buy you from?”

He laughed. “I volunteered. Ain’t good at much, but luckily killing people is one of my talents.” He held out a hand. “Name’s Winston. At least that’s what I call myself today.” He had a wide smile, cleft chin, and gray hair- odd at the least for a younger man.

I took his hand. “I don’t have a name anymore.”

“You’re from Delta IV then? Man, that place is screwed.” He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it, took a drag and continued. “Consider yourself lucky. Someone’s gonna bomb the absolute crap outta that place.”

I instinctively touched the box around my neck that held some of my sister’s ashes. “You the one gonna do it?”

“Hell no. I’m not into pyrotechnics. I prefer the per sonal approach.” He looked at me. “I’ve lost someone too.” He pointed to a gold skull pin in his pocket. “There’s a little of my father’s ashes in here.”

I looked at him. “My sister. The militia murdered her.”

“Yeah, well, we’re headed to a nice boring planet. Delta V. We’re gonna be keeping some miners from getting eaten by the local wildlife. Piece of cake.” He hopped into the top bunk. “Get some sleep, kid. Maybe think up a name for yourself while you’re at it.”

When the dawn broke, we were shoved out into the Delta V flatlands. There was verdant green as far as I could see, with several outposts of miners. A cruel-faced man with yellow skin and green eyes stared us down. His gray hair was receding from his face, almost as if it felt the same terror we did at seeing him.

Winston gestured toward him with his eyes. “Kojimura Ryuunosuke. Military man- the highest-ranked general on this planet. He’s our boss for the time being.” Kojimura was walking toward us, his eyes falling on each of us in turn.

“These are the mercenaries you have for us?”

“Soldiers of fortune, the lot of them” the man from the Syndicate said. “Some of ‘em are for hire, others for sale. Just name your price.”

General Kojimura came up to each of us, and demandedour name and planet of origin. He demanded my name. I remained silent.

“NAME!”

“I’m a slave from Delta IV. We aren’t high enough to keep our names.”

He seemed to understand. “What do they call you?”

“Gash, sir.” I’d earned that name on account of the way I’d dispatched the guard who took Elyse.

“Well, Gash, you’re going to be patrolling that outpost over there.” He pointed off to the right. “Miners are all natives. We’ll have someone around by to register you in the morning, for now you’re with Brunson.”

I picked up my gun and set off with my companion. Brunson explained that he was born on Delta V, and he was working as security for a little extra cash for his family. He explained that he’d rushed into things when he was younger, and at 18 was a father twice. At night, he’d be working the docks, bringing in shipments from one of the other colonies. I listened to him talk about his life, he showed me pictures of his wife and the kids. He told me about the War for Independence and how it was Year 13 on Delta V but not for the rest of the Galaxy, about how it was exciting I was from Delta IV because the 12th District Administrator was from Delta IV. He talked a lot. I was glad to hear something normal for once. He warned me never to cross Kojimura.

“We call him the Dragon. He’ll breathe fire if you cross him.”

“I know that type. Their bark is worse than their bite.”

Brunson shook his head. “Over this hill, there’s a native village. Or, there was.” He walked me over, and we saw the symbol of the Legion drawn out with skeletons on pikes. “He’s a demon.”

As the days went on, I learned more about my captor. It became hard to tell rumor from reality- I heard that he would drink the blood of any civilians who crossed him, that he had forced a Krampus woman to eat her own child. I’d also heard that his son, London, was a cavalry man and every bit as cruel as the General. At the time, I didn’t know any of this as truth.

I did know about Solana.

The General’s wife I’itrya was a Native woman, with skin so dark it looked almost blue and a graceful dignity that made me wonder how she could share a bed with the Dragon. Their son London had her looks, but enough of his father that he gave the appearance of a sea serpent. But their daughter, Solana. The first time I saw her patrolling the outpost, I thought she was a hallucination, some kind of half-pieced together memory of a fairy story from childhood.

Solana’s skin was a dark, warm brown, her whole being exuding warmth. The Dragon’s features looked so delicate on her- the piercing green eyes shaped like almonds fit much better on her face, and the lips that underlined the Dragon’s cruelty on her were only thin as to not take any attention away from her lively smile. She flew an aircraft, and I would frequently request to be her detail. Solana maintained the planetary defense towers, and we would often chat as she was working out a problem or running diagnostics. During one of our outings, an earthquake struck, and she was jostled back. I caught her, and quite on a whim, kissed her.

We fell in love.

When the stirrings of rebellion reached our ears, I begged Solana to join the fight. I knew the kind of oppression someone like Baelius could bring- or even her father. She refused, but promised that news of the Rebellion would never reach her father’s ears. Most of the miners in the Flatlands were Rebels, and when Oz stormed the Citadel, the reaction was swift, with the Administration attacking on its own people. General Kojimura spearheaded an attack on the Flatlands.

While the soldiers fought on the ground, I’d managed to get aboard Kojimura’s ship to confront him. How dare he! Watching the battle from his ivory tower.

When I expressed those words, he simply laughed. “I am neither a fool nor a coward, Gash.” He pressed a button. “I have just activated the towers. Soon, this place will be a desolate wasteland devoid of all organic life. I just want to survive to get my medal.”

I lunged at him, holding one of the many daggers I keep strapped to my body. I could have used a gun, but I was Gash, not Gunpowder or Laserbeam. I crushed the Dragon’s gun with my fist, and he kicked me in the stomach. His training was precise, and he struck exactly, looking for the best ways to prolong my suffering. But, his age got the better of him, and I was able to break his wrist and pin him to the floor. With one foot, I crushed his unbroken arm. With the other, I caved in his ribcage.

The Dragon was dead.

I contacted Solana to disable the towers, but it was too late. The green fields were burned, though many of the people and animals had survived. I’d grown up and come of age in a desolate wasteland. When I saw what would be known as the Barrens, I was home. I used the Dragon’s sword to remove his head, and piloted the craft onto the land. When they saw the head, it was the last time I would be called Gash. From then on, I was the Dragonslayer.



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Storyline
The Prologue
The Classes
MercenaryBounty HunterTech MageBlood MageTactical MercenaryCyber Hunter
The War
The LegionThe Exiles
Character Bios
TitanNightwraithBigTunaThaddeusAlydriah DescarlMirvTalia
UlyssesSelinaThe LawmanCadenOzHankThe Armor Hazard
The Imperial Tech MageCinderellaMechachillidsThe Slayer
Locations
Central StationJumernaFortune CityThe BazaarThe BioDomeOld Fortune City