Fairmoon

Science Fantasy Fiction |                                            _   
By: Mike Perczyszyn

Dramatis Personae:

Aledan – Elf, Commander {Fairmoon Squadron}
Asteledar – Elf, General {The Crimson Nebula}
Eldwindar – Elf, Pilot
Kirchatar – Dark Elf, Pilot
Stontek Krall – Dark Elf, Mercenary {The Reclaiming Shadow}
Brennia – Elf, Pilot


Chapter One | ___________ _________

         Space.  The black vastness and the constant emptiness, the silence and wild freedom intertwined with the beauty of being surrounded by millions of stars.  Of course this was only a minor detail in Aledan’s mind at that particular moment.  He was more concerned with the battle raging behind him.  He tore his gaze away from the stars as he twisted his starfighter back towards Fairmoon Squadron and the fight.
         Fairmoon Squadron was an elite elven squadron which was known all across the galaxy as an effective team, never afraid to take risks.  Elves usually lived extremely long lives due to their immortality.  But the elves in Fairmoon pushed their lives to the limit every chance they got.
         Aledan was the commander of Fairmoon, leader and friend to all under his command. 
         Eldwindar, Aledan’s second in command, had grown up with Aledan they had lived as friends since birth, which was many years ago, not very long by elf standards, but living with someone for the better half of a century can make you quite inseparable.  After so many years of living and working together they had each learnt to complement the other.  Together they make a ferocious duo whose strength, and coordination hadn’t been seen before throughout the galaxy.  Each on his own was an incredible pilot but when together they not only brought the fight to the enemy, they removed them permanently.
In this particular instance that enemy was an unusually large group of orc pirate ships which had been gathering in the far reaches of the Feverindai System.  It was Fairmoon Squadron’s job to remove the growing threat and to set an example for other pirating orcs showing that banding together only makes them an easier target.
Like all elves Aledan’s smooth and quick reflexes and movements over the controls allowed him to expertly fly his starfighter into maneuvers, almost artistic, that kept his ship from harm by dodging the incoming laserfire.
He was now coming near a cluster of enemy starfighters.  The delta shaped ships, Spehids, all rust red in color came towards hiss starboard flank.
Aledan’s Flamewing class starfighter, a chrome-silver rocket shaped craft with elegant delta-style wings and flowing cockpit, turned to face the oncoming orc squad.  He weaved side to side, narrowly dodging laserfire which constantly came closer and closer to his ship.
As he weaved he started to return fire, aiming at the ships along the outside of the formation.  The remaining ships then started to cluster in a spherical pattern, the pilots trying to get away from the elf’s well aimed shots.  Once the Spehids were within meters of each other Aledan aimed a Sonic Torpedo at the center of the group.  The force of the explosion destroyed the ships near the center while the few Spehids on the outside were sent off spinning uncontrollably in different directions, their engines damaged from the shock.
“Sure, you get all the fun” Eldwindar said over the comm. as he joined up on Aledan’s wing.
Aledan and Eldwindar flew their Flamewings, simultaneously weaving and shooting through the enemy fighters.  Over the centuries orcs, in general, hadn’t become much smarter than the rabble that they were looked upon as back in the days before the rise of technology.  Fairmoon Squadron used this to their advantage by reusing old tricks and tactics to destroy many enemies with simple maneuvers. Together they were doing what they did best in battle, winning.  Unless the orcs changed their tactics the larger force of orcs would be easily overwhelmed by the smaller elven squadron.
- - - - -
The lone stealth-ship, The Reclaiming Shadow, drifted just beyond the battle, its engines cold, it was in the planet Feverin’s orbit.  Observing on the dimly lit command deck was Stontek Krall, his black cloak, hiding the ebony-skinned face of the dark elf behind a veil of shadow.  The only features visible beneath the cloak were his eyes, glowing crimson with the night vision of his dark race.
Stontek was a Drow, a dark elf, a race known for their cruelty and coldblooded vengeful ways.  Stontek was the living embodiment of what the Drow society at large believed in.  He dealt in Deception and Chaos. 
He was the one who talked the inferior orcs into gathering here in Faverindai.  He had told them that gathering like this would give them sufficient power against any attack that the United Federation Navy could send against them.  He knew better.
He watched as the pitiful orc pirates slowly all died out, failing to hold their own against Fairmoon Squadron’s wrath.  He watched the superior flying skills of Fairmoon wipe out the gathering of pirates.  All while his computers recorded and began to sort the various tactical data and other information on Fairmoon’s style and performance.
Stontek knew many things, amongst them was ‘To defeat an enemy you must know your enemy’.  So Stontek watched, and he studied his enemy.
- - - - -
Kirchatar stood on the command deck of The Crimson Nebula a dreadnaught of the United Federation Navy.  He stood amongst the other elves of Fairmoon Squadron.  It was the debriefing for the battle in Feverindai.  They stood in perfect lines, no one moving.  Aledan was standing just ahead of the rest of the squad.  The General, Asteledar, pacing nervously back and forth, was talking to Aledan.
“So tell me again, Commander, how many ships were there?”
“There were about 100 individual starfighters all from approximately 10 different squads, from the looks of the different insignias on their Spehids, to me it looks like the orc clans are trying to bring together some kind of alliance.”
“The 12 Clans haven’t cooperated in over ten thousand years.  Their piloting skills haven’t improved since they learnt how to fly, do you believe it’s even possible that they’ve finally learnt to cooperate in that time?”
“There were groups from at least 10 of the 12 clans, of this I’m sure, but no, they did not work together, each group flew separately, it was almost as if they didn’t know what they were all doing there.  As if they were all told to meet there from an outside force, some enemy of the Federation who knows what it would mean for us if the clans came together…”
There was a knock at the door, which then slid upward and in walked the communications officer, a younger dwarf, recently recruited with a short beard and a communications headset over his large ears.  He walked up to the general, saluted, and then spoke to Asteledar in a whisper.  Kirchatar shifted uneasily, almost unnoticably, but Aledan turned his head slightly and looked him in the eye, he flashed a quick smile.  Kirchatar didn’t move again, the debriefing ended shortly after and the General dismissed them.  Kirchatar went to his room, Aledan followed.
- - - - -
The formation in the Ebeynar System was one of beauty and danger all together.  The original star that had been in the system had exploded at it’s death, but the fascinating part about this star in particular was that it’s chemical make-up had caused the explosion to send and scatter chunks of molten iron and other particles outward into a massive cloud of debris.  Then after several million years the center of gravity and the materials located at the center of the mass began to reform into a new star, much smaller than the original because the explosion had sent the materials of the original star so far outward that the now weakened gravity wasn’t substantial enough to pull all of the debris back.  The remaining debris then formed a spherical asteroid cluster surrounding the newly formed sun which though difficult to navigate through with a ship, resembles an eye when looked at from a distance, the sphere of asteroids around the iris of a star.  Since its creation six planets have formed around the Ebeynar star, four inside the shell of asteroids and two beyond, the thing was that only two of the planets were habitable, and they were located within the asteroid cluster.
The Reclaiming Shadow was currently trying to navigate through that asteroid field.  The stealth-ship, constantly turning and spinning to avoid the giant space rocks, made slow progress towards its goal but after much toil, and cursing from the pilot, it finally emerged on the inside unscathed.
The stealth-ship flew in towards the nearest of the planets and slowly descended towards the surface, landing at a small facility located in the middle of a deep and dark jungle.  The facility itself was little more than a storage building with several meeting halls as well as living quarters that could sustain just over a hundred individuals.  The building was self-sustaining through the use of solar energy, and the planets own water, and oxygen sources, as for food the facility had a team of Hunter/Killer-Androids, HKAs, which went out when needed to hunt and re-supply the buildings meat and produce stores.  The facilities super computer maintained and ensured that the facility was kept in order.
As The Reclaiming Shadow landed on one of the landing pads a service android went out to greet the visitors, it stopped just in front of the boarding ramp which had begun its descent.
The ramp hit the ground with a light thud and out flowed Stontek Krall his hood hiding his sensitive eyes from the sun in the daylight hours, he was flanked by two rows of troll-orc crossbreeds which served as his personal body-guards.  They carried laser rifles with the butts hardened and slightly elongated for use as a club-like melee weapon in close combat.
Stontek and his entourage passed right by the android ignoring it entirely.  He had more pressing matters to attend to.
- - - - -
“You can’t keep hiding forever, one day either by accident or design someone’s going to find out”
Aledan sat across from Kirchatar.  They were in the living space of Kirchatar’s assigned quarters on The Crimson Nebula where some of the squad was staying for the briefing of their next mission.  The cool recycled air flowing into the room made a low whisper as it hissed through the vents.  The light’s were dimmed and this caused the enchanted rings that Aledan wore to glow, Kirchatar knew they held great magic, but didn’t know exactly what limits their power held.  Once he had seen Aledan levitate and control water with one of the rings, Nienor he had called it, it currently glowed a soft blue as it sat comfortably on his right forefinger. 
“But I can hold the secret as long as I can and hope that by then I will have proven myself, atleast in the squadron’s eyes, and that they will accept me”
“They will understand, as I do, they are not fools, and you have flown loyally with us for many missions.  They will accept you, it is still rare though, to be as you are, but I am grateful still, if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be with the squad today, and the rest of them know that much.”
“I feel that I owe you much more than you have owed me.  You saved me from that city, that planet, and the life that I would have been forced to live.  It is true that I freed you from their captivity, but you got us off-planet.”
“Do not worry Kirchatar Krall, you are one of Fairmoon now, leave the dark past in the past where it belongs, just know that you cannot hide behind masks forever, when you are ready to let the truth be known, I will help them to understand, you need not worry about the squad”
Kirchater exhaled deeply.  He knew that he couldn’t hide his secret forever, he hadn’t expected it to last this long, but he had to get them to see him as his beliefs and not his appearance.  Once they saw him as he truly was, he had to ensure their trust in him or he would have little of a future at all.
- - - - -
The way that Fairmoon Squadron operated is that they all lived together on an enhanced military freighter called The Evermight, and when they were called to a mission the freighter would take them to the drop point.  It was more convenient than having the Flamewings flying from planet to planet with the pilots cramped up constantly in their cockpits.  The Evermight’s hangerbay held all of their Flamewings aswell as a set of Xelantas which were 4 wheeled armed and armoured single person ground vehicles.  These sleek all terrain rovers were used when the squad had a mission that required going planet-side.
Eldwindar was currently working on enhancing his Xelanta’s engine.  The rover was up over his head on a hydraulic lift, and he was underneath it with half the engine components taken apart and scattered around his feet.  He had just installed a new booster which would, hopefully, allow him to jump the Xelanta over ravines, rivers or whatever else he could find.  As he started to reassemble the engine around the booster he heard approaching footsteps. 
Eldwindar crawled out from under the Xelanta to find Brennia standin there, smirking at his grease covered vest and pants.
“Well they started off green” he said in greeting.  Brennia was Fairmoon Squadron’s only female pilot, it wasn’t necessarily uncommon in the UFN to have female pilots, just with Fairmoon’s handpicked group the majority of males allowed them to communicate and fluently work together as a team.  Brennia being the equivalent of an elven tomboy let her easily fall in line with the rest of the squad. 
“So you fit in the booster I see” she said looking under his rover,
“considering the number of times we actually get to run these babies, I think that’ll come in handy sometime in the next fifty years.”
“Yeah, but it’ll be fun, and when I’m jumping around and you ask for a ride…”
“Keep dreaming Eldwindar, anyways, the rest of the squad came over from the Crimson Nebula, Aledan wants to see you in his quarters”
“Yes ma’am” he said sarcastically, giving a phony salute and marching off to start laughing after he passed her. 
She picked up a bolt, about the size of a bottle cap and threw it at him. As it got close to him he simply spun around and with a wave of his hand stopped it in midair and using a magic ring of his own, had the bolt roll back towards his Xelanta and jump up to screw itself in it’s proper place.  He then turned and walked into the open elevator, turned around and blew her a kiss as the door hissed shut, leaving her standing alone in the hangerbay.
- - - - -
Stontek sat at the desk in his office, the chamber was completely dark except for the light emanating from the 4 monitors on the desk.  The room was cool and dank, the scent of moisture, which Krall had been trying to remove since he moved in, was ever present.
He was currently in a video conference with 2 high ranking drow and an orc who had defected from his clan because of his beliefs that the clans should unite.  Stontek didn’t like orcs, he didn’t despise them, but he definitely had no joy in conversing with them, this orc however had proved to be somewhat more intelligent than the regulars of his race. 
The orc, Kintrik Hayem, started, “My friends and alies in cause,  you all know as well as I that we must band together to bring the United Federation Navy to it’s knees, then and only then will we be able to take over and become stronger”
“To be effective we must ensure hat our tactics and plans are effective against theirs” said one of the drow, Mistelen Mintaurik, a high ranking priestess and military tactician.
“But when you sacrifice my brothers…”
“What we did in Feverindai was necessary, we not only got a measure that proved that the tactics of your… brothers… definitely require revision we also managed to send out a warning to the UFN, they are not as all-powerful as they have seemed to think, they have fear now, and we can use this against them.  Mistelen, our priestesses have powers that can put this fear in our advantage, call upon the sisters and any other favours that you can call in to help our cause.  The Dark elves of Mikentauron will help our cause if they know of the rewards, and knowing that they can come to be more powerful will definitely catch their attention.”
“The sisters?” said Kintrik, not understanding.
“Yes, the sisters” said the third drow, Dentrica Dorundin, “they are three triplet sisters who through their blood bond and extensive training have become the most powerful priestesses ever known to drow kind, each has her own area of speciality, and each is on her own powerful, but together they are unstoppable, but as powerful as they are they are very old.  They were alive before the rising of Technology and still deal in magic and the methods of old.”
“I will try to pull a few threads, and I will definitely consult the sisters, even if they choose not to help us physically, their advice will definitely be of help.”
“Yes” Stontek said, almost in a whisper, “and I will continue to watch over Fairmoon Squadron, they are the best the navy has, and this next little trap I have set for them will show us how good they really are.”
- - - - -
Aledan had let Eldwindar into his spacious quarters on The Evermight.  The Oak wood panels covered in intricate designs that covered the wall took in the imaginations of observers telling tales of old, from before the rising of technology.  In the center of the room on a pedestal covered in a light blue cloth sat Mindarin, Aledan’s mace.  Golden it was in colour and the gems along the handle captured the light.  The long handle started at a point then gradually grew thicker towards the head of the mace where it flowed out to four razorsharp spikes which, after their point, came back to a fifth spike at the top of the mace’s head.  Enchanted as the weapon was, the head glowed a fiery crimson when it’s weilder was in the heat of battle, and it is said to give courage and enhance the physical strength of it’s user so that every swing with Mindarin flew true.  Not only a weapon of close combat but out of the head spike a laser could be fired when pressure is put on the proper jewels.  It is a great weapon and it was made for Aledan by his father before his death several centuries ago.  Now Aledan used Mindarin when missions called for hand-to-hand combat.
“So we got a game?” Eldwindar asked after he took in the room.
“Yeah, our next mission is on the planet Blindst in the Glondits system.  It’s home to a mining clan of dwarves known as Clan Glatendike who have just found a new and rather large vein of Mithril.  The dwarves have agreed to trade this mithril to the United Federation Navy as long as they have protection, because the Glondits system is very close to The Dark Region, home of the orc clans”
“Sounds like guard duty to me”
“The Navy wants the mithril to go straight into the construction of more starfighters so they’ve accepted the trade and they’re sending us in.  We’ll be going planetside and we’ll be using the Xelantas”
“Ummm, we may have a slight problem…” Eldwindar said as he nervously bit his lip and looked down towards Aledan’s boots.
“You took yours apart again, didn’t you?” Aledan said, smiling.
“I told you, one time you’d take something apart to make it better, right before you need it.” Then both of them started laughing.
“Well, you had better get it back together soon.  From what General Asteledar told me there’s been raids on the mine.  Miners going missing and nothing left behind but sprays of blood and what look like beast tracks.  I think I’m going to need you on this one.”
“Okay” suddenly all serious again, “I’ll get right on it, it’ll take me some time to get it all back together properly.  Hopefully I can get it done by the time we reach Glondits.” 
“Yeah, if you need any help I can always ask Brennia to help you.” Aledan started.
Eldwindar chucked, “It’s okay, I should be good on my own for this”
Again they started laughing.  Then they clasped armes at the wrist and Eldwindar left Aledan in his room to go back and start the rebuilding of his Xelanta.  Maybe the booster wasn’t such a good idea.  But it’ll be fun.
- - - - -