7. Kelso IIIIt was past midnight in the Wildlands by the time George and his battle group arrived at Star System Kelso. George was in the VIP guest quarters of the Kara when they burst out of warp with a burst of spatial and stellar phenomenon which alerted every single Woofer sensor scanning local space that someone had arrived via Bubble-type Warp.Of course, that wasn’t saying very much. Practically all the Class 5 Star Civilizations in this stellar region used Bubble-type Warp. It would take a Class 6 power like the Draconians, the Tuskans or the Quarin to use the more advanced Warp Jump.Seven ships departed from Star System Sorrel; only six arrived at Star System Kelso. The seventh, a Tau-origin Recon Frigate named Misty for Misty Heights, had been tasked with looking for a certain lost Woofer Patrol Squad.“Incoming hail from the Orbital Space Station.” Grace reported. She
6. Out thereAlso during that time, the star region in which Sorrel was in began to stir.The main reason for that was the onslaught of the Mitigok. Also known as World Devourers, the gigantic beasts swarmed over star system after star system, literally gobbling up entire planets and leaving nothing but debris in their wake.Nobody in the region had the power to stop them. Out here on the border between the Dark Regions and the Dim Regions, the strongest powers were Class 6 Star Civilizations, namely the Quarin, the Draconians, the Tuskans, and the Elves. Try though they might, the forces of the Quarin and the strength of the Draconians alike failed to do more than slow down the Mitigok onslaught.They even tried asking the Tuskans and the Elves for help, to no avail. Being farther away, they were unaffected by the Mitigok advance, and they very much preferred to steer clear of it, except for the occasional mercenary
5. GaryMeanwhile, back on the surface, Gary discovered that in his ambitious venture, recruiting Amber turned out to be the easy part. Recruiting the Woofers on his list turned out to be a lot harder than expected.“No.” Captain Three Paws said flatly.“But…”“Members of my crew will remain precisely that. I will not part with them for anything. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”Helplessly, Gary watched as Three Paws boarded his ship alongside hundreds of canine Wilds seeking refuge with the Woofers. By now it was no secret that the world was ending, that the planet-devouring Mitigok were due to arrive in a matter of decades, and that the dragons who owned the star system were abandoning it and taking whatever valuables they could with them, even if it meant unleashing an Undead Infestation.Already massive numbers of Wilds had taken up offers of refuge from interstellar
4. Sky HavenWhen Benny first entered his new home, he suddenly felt quite lost. Right at the front door, inside a comfortably carpeted living room. Inside was a full-wall high resolution display showing the most popular view of Craggy Falls, with the water constantly flowing down, making it feel like the entire living room was just a balcony facing the waterfall. Cool air blew in from what appeared to be the main viewscreen and it even had a slightly moist feel. There was a moving machine vacuuming the carpet, disc-shaped and roughly a foot in diameter. But Benny didn’t hear the sound of vacuuming. What he heard was the distant sound of falling water.There were large leather sofas, deep brown and slightly wrinkly, as if they were well-worn, but they had that new-leather smell to them. They were arranged in a semi-circle, with a smooth oval table in between them. The table had strange metal fixations beneath it; Benny had a strong
3. Leaving the worldBenny was worried. Despite the spread and the all-you-can-eat barbecue in front of him, Sam wouldn’t cheer up. He had a dark look on his face and ate very little, very slowly.Meanwhile, Foxy wolfed down lunch in a matter of ten minutes, putting away four plates of meat without taking a break, and then scurried off to the Warrens to play with her friends. Benny was left awkwardly trying in vain to start a conversation, any conversation with a moping Sam for an hour before they finally parted ways.Pensively wandering the streets of Craggy Falls in his Combat Frame, Benny looked around with a sense of melancholy as he realized it might very well be the last day he spent here. Years ago, he had arrived as a refugee with his family from Northsands, a bauxite mining town by the shore of the Black River, fleeing to Craggy Falls for safety as the Undead Risings began.Benny had been eight at the
2. The deal with AmberWhen the promise of residency and a job at the OSS Sky Haven first came up, Benny’s parents had been excited and they discussed at length what they would do if he qualified. Over the years, they discussed it further and finally decided they were going to move over as a family (bringing your family along was one of the perks of the qualification), find new jobs there, and that they’d do it casually, without making a big fuss as they left. The day Benny received the notice, they’d simply continue their day as normal, come back from work to have a celebration dinner with him, and pack up to leave the next day.Apparently, Amber’s parents had different ideas about what to do if their child gained the qualification.For one thing, they seemed remarkably well-dressed. Benny, Amber, Sam and the rest were all residents of Trailer Arco. That meant that before it was built, they were living in a trailer park, refugees from outlying settlements that fled to the city for saf
1. Seven Years Later“We’re going to live in space!” Benny yelled.“Yip!” Foxy jumped on her hind legs, leaning on him with both forepaws. The wolfcat cub wagged her tail so hard, it went round in full circles like a helicopter.Seven years after accepting Remian’s Scholarship, Benny Hiir had graduated from Tau’s VR Nuts and Bolts Academy Online with a Grade 1 Starship Engineering Certificate. In a world where most of his people lived their lives farming, fishing or mining, such a qualification was so rare that until yesterday, nobody on their planet had one.Benny’s batch was the first who successfully reached that lofty goal. With it, they also earned the qualifications for something even more outworldly; full residency and a job post on the Orbital Space Station ‘Sky Haven’.Back when he first received the Scholarship and began to see the possibilities in his future, they asked him about his dreams and ambitions.His answer; “I want to build starships that can bring my family across
500. To the starsTry as he might, they ended up having to take the Recon Frigate ‘Pines’ with them. JAD totally insisted on sending it along to scout the way ahead so the Craggy could avoid mishaps.Without further ado before anyone could start a round of tearful farewells and delays, Remian had the ship launch!Lance in particular was most appreciative of the lack of delays. Phoebe and Ermine, less so. Mindy and Eriane didn’t really care either way, while Gary was too absorbed in studying the electronics of an actual Tau Galleon to even notice. As for Talia, she was already familiarizing herself with the kitchen and rearranging tools, utensils and kitchenware to suit her style.Despite the Woofers’ best efforts on the Gray Fang, Remian had to say that for a human, staying on the Tau-built Craggy was far more comfortable than the adapted Meor