The Chain War Stories - Broken Link
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In the slums of Hitaru, a city on the eastern continent of Arrelin, there was a small warehouse, it was owned by a scientist, half Gaimeon half Arrelin, he specialised in dimensional distortions, wormholes and the like, he researched things that people thought ridiculous. He was sitting with his two friends Kira and Serin, GERT Ship pilots in the Arrelin army, looking at his newest piece of tech. It was a small cube about one inch all round, on one side of it there was a small L, it was a keyhole in the shape of the initial of the scientist, Dr. Letnear. There was also two bigger objects one in the shape of a pyramid, standing 3 inches tall and a sphere, 5 and a half inches in diameter. This was to be his strangest experiment yet he had told them.
“These three objects, if my work has gone right, should create an inverse dimensional rift, able to lock away a portion of someone’s spirit energy, I intend to use it to store some of my energy, should I find myself near death from an attack and unable to find some good old Gaimeon water, it would revitalise me, and if the attack never comes then I can simple use it as a basic healing device albeit of near limitless power. The only problem is if I have gotten it wrong in the slightest way I could accidentally lock my soul inside it, if this experiment goes like that then I want you to quickly reopen the device using my key, for should the body start to decay I will never be revived.”
“Letnear man, are you sure you want to do something this dangerous, if I had the choice I know I wouldn’t.” said Kira.
“I know it is dangerous but if I can actually say I have successfully harnessed the power of inter-dimensional space it could be the proof I need to stop them mocking me in the Science Guild.”
“So its all for pride then? Even less of a reason to risk it.” Serin said seriously.
“It is not just about pride, it is about expanding our understanding of the universe, there are things even the Seos don’t know.” They realised he would not be stopped in this dream of his, despite the terrible risks.
Dr. Letnear used some of his Gaimeon energy to put the three pieces of the device together, then using his L shaped key he turned the cube and the device opened like a poké-ball and an immense black gas emanated from its centre. It flowed out of the device and once it was gone there were four other gas like substances one red, one blue, one grey and one green that flowed into it. Letnear stood stunned, as did Kira and Serin.
After a while Kira spoke. “I take it that means it was a failure.”
“All I know is I don’t want you to do that again, that was clearly an unexpected result you should leave that orb alone.” said Serin.
“Hold on a minute, I am going to examine the orbs energy levels.” He walked over to his computer, placed the orb on a tray on the table and studied the screen with intense scrutiny. He turned to the two young men. “Technically it worked, there is an energy reading in there but its massive. I defiantly put something in a sub dimension, I just don’t know what it was.”
“Dude what was that black shit that came out of it? Random space matter or what?” said Kira.
“I assume so.” said Letnear. He looked at the orb in his hand. “I hope so.”
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The Elder sat floating in mid air. The powers of the Gaimeon people are known as Spirit Energy Powers as they come from the Gaimeon’s soul. Of the races of the Chain Guild only the Children of Ter (those for Ter-aniea or Ter-Cana), the Gaimeons and the Arrelins (Future Human Lineage Extra Terrestrials) are known to have “supernatural” powers. For the Ter it comes from old magic in the blood given to the Ter by their Seo Guardian, Ter Losnai. Also known as the Mother of Magic. The Arrelins (and subsequently Humans though they are far too primitive at this time to be in the Chain Guild) have a low level psychic energy that comes from their minds eye. The Elder, Cronin Geronit, he can float because of the powers I went into far too much detail about. He was in The Dome, headquarters of the Amber Crown, the army of Gaimea.
He had to do a mind-soul connection to gain audience with the Seo Council, this time he manifested the Seo Guardians of Gaimea, The Elemental Force. Four Seos representing the four main elements, Eagleoseo, Seo of Wind (the Gaimeon word for Air is actually Eagle, quite funny I thought seeing as I made it up, sorry to spoil the magic there.) Deranseo, Seo of Fire, Kronseo, the Seo of Earth and Quanseo, Seo of Water. They all, when in physical form, take the shape of an animal of their element with a humanoid touch, if a human saw an Eagle-man, a Dragon, a Sea Dragon and an Insectoid they would probably go mad, but of course these beings are workers for the side of Order. The Elder looked upon the Seos in their temporary bodies and he marvelled at their beauty, even the fearsome Insectoid Seo had a beauty to him.
“Yes, we have felt the presence of the darkness creature, judging by what you told us he would appear to be some kind of Demi-Seo like creature, yet no such creature could exist without our knowledge.” Said Eagleoseo, looking upon the most powerful man on this planet, if this man could not compete with the creature then it means trouble the likes of which even a Seo has rarely got to deal with.
Deranseo spoke next. “It is possible that he is from another reality, there was previously thought to be no way to cross dimensions at will, usually only wormholes or something of that sort could take someone through the void. Somehow this creature may have found a way to do it, his power would suggest that possibility at least.”
“If it had then we would not have felt the rifts power,” said Kronseo. “It is possible that the creature had help on this side, we did feel a strange fluctuation, it was minor but it may be the catalyst fo-” he was cut off by the fact that he and the other three Seos had turned into a gas which launched itself into the air.
The Elder felt an intense serge of power and worry inside himself, he didn’t understand, all he knew is that a Seo had just disappeared, apparently against his will. The Elder was in a state of pure, unadulterated fear.
Calming himself he attempted a mind-soul channel but it failed. He began to worry again, what was going on. He decided it was time to call an emergency Guild meeting.
The Darkness creature returned to the Elder whilst the Elder was doing insight meditation the day before the emergency meeting. It had revealed itself to him, naming itself simply Shadow, for he said, he was the darkness. He had then vanished to not be seen again.
After another mind-soul channelling session The Elder had found out that the Elemental Force had disappeared from the reach of the council, this he had related to the Guild, all of whom realised its significance. The Seo Council had no idea where to look for Shadow or the Elemental Force.
Kira and Serin were at their home, Apartment Block Alpha-3. They had left Letnear to his experiments, he was going to look more into the intense power that was stored in the orb.
“What do you think that gas stuff was?” asked Serin.
“Dude I don’t have a fucking clue but it scared me shitless.” said Kira. “I think Letnear might have messed with too much power, I know he’s half Gaimeon but seriously that was one dangerous experiment, I hope he doesn’t get himself killed with that stupid orb.”
Serin looked worryingly at his friend, “You think he could die? How did you jump to such a morbid conclusion?”
“Because when big shit happens people die, it’s the ways its always been, like a sacrifice to the balance or something.”
The two took to quiet contemplation, neither of them wanted to see Letnear dead but they both knew also that he had messed with forces no one is meant to mess with, he could be placing a lot more than himself in danger.
The Bay, the name given to the central hub of the Chain, where the Guild Meetings take place. Filled with the official representatives of each Planet. There was a group missing however, the monks of Gerrin. No one seemed to mind this, they tended to only be there at half of the meetings. The Elder was worried about their absence for he had sent a special urgent message to them, the kind they take very seriously. In this time he could not help but think they were not intentionally absent.
“Good people, we are gathered in this hall now in the light of a new threat to the chain. The being known as Shadow has announced himself and the Elemental Force of the Seo Council have vanished. I believe, as I am sure you will agree, that these events are related in a very terrible way.” There was a faint murmur of agreement to these words, the Elder continued, “There is more that troubles certain members within our Guild, for we have yet to feel the presence of the next Demi-Seo, therefore we cannot rely on the powers of the continuum and the Seo Council will no longer grant me audience. We alone will have to fight this Shadow.”
“Is it not true, begging the Elders pardon, that you could not harm this beast upon your first meeting it?” said the Leader of the Children of Ter.
“This is true Ki Linov of Ter. But I would not call him a beast, he definitely has intelligence like our own. I think it best to try and establish a contact with him, find out his plans and motives, and how he and the Seos are related in this strange set of occurrences.”
“Are you mad! If he is as terrible as you say then we should just keep trying to reach the Seo council, they are the only ones with power greater than a Demi-Seo.” said Bene Sapien, the Pever-von-chi Leader.
“I wish it were that simple, my friend from Chi, but if the Seo Council refused me more than once then I think it likely that they themselves are worried, which is deeply troubling for my people to think on.”
The assembled officials sat in silence, none could think of a solution to the problem. Finally, Fredrik Delorn stood and spoke, “Extend your search. You and the others of the Amber Crown along with the Children of Ter could do a more widespread soul search, looking for the power of the Demi-Seo. For as we all know, not even the Seo Council knows where the power will show up each time, could it be by luck and not design that it has always surfaced within the chain. Or indeed the appearance of this Shadow could have distorted space in such a way for an accidental misplacement of the power.”
The Guild members looked amazed that the Arrelin leader could think of such a plan. The Elder knew at once what he was thinking. “Earth, you think?” he asked.
“It’s only a theory but given what has already happened it is possible.”
“It is far too dangerous to send a mother-ship to that part of space at this time, humans are still controlled by fear, as far as Arrelin history can tell us that lasts for another 26 years at least. I would have to send some Amber Crown to be integrated into the Earths different societies, they could live there until the Demi Seo reveals itself.”
The Elder chose wisely when he returned to Gaimea. He would send the more powerful members, such as Nathaniel Black, to the highest spirit energy locations to earth. The lesser spots could be occupied by younger members, less detectable on Earth. The Elder, as with all others within the Chain did not realise that they were weaving the threads of fate themselves, the balance had been thrown now and it was up to them to fix it, which would prove a very difficult task.
Delorn had returned with the grave news that a solution to their problems was not immanent. He did not like the idea of waiting for some mystic power when there was a much more fearsome power already in existence, he knew little of the Amber Crowns ways of teaching all he knew was that most Demi-Seos were long to train and short to live, he did not pity whoever it was to be.
As he sat in his office, alone but for a computer and a cup of Gaimeon water, he heard a noise from outside, like the dropping of a small book, he looked up to find his door open and his staff on the floor drenched in their own blood. He did not immediately notice the rather scary figure lurking in the shadows of his dimly lit office until it came directly into the light, he stood there looking like a cowboy from hat to shiny black boots.
He spoke in that hoarse voice the Elder had described to the Guild. “You would be Fredrik Delorn, as I would be Shadow.”
“I am, what do you want from me?” asked Delorn a look of defiance on his face.
“I wish to conduct a test before I venture forth into the unknown.”
He Extended his arm and clenched his fist, the air around Delorn thickened, it was slightly more difficult to breathe but the sensation was rather pleasant to the lungs once used to it. He noticed that the creature of Shadow was moving around him, waving his hands in a random and extremely rapid fashion, Delorn felt himself loss consciousness.
When he awoke he was in a small cell, like in the dreaded mental hospital of Grimma, but there was a small window on one of the walls. When he looked through it he saw he was no longer in the cell but back in his office, but he felt a terrible tugging sensation that brought him back. A MIND LOCK. Yet another thing generally considered impossible he had become a prisoner in the mind of another, Shadow had stolen his body.
“No I have not, I have commandeered this body to aid in my own efforts, if it should survive then you can have it back, though you might not want it back if all goes to plan.”
“Why not?” he found the question quite hard to formulate, a sign that he was already becoming weaker under the mental strain.
“Because if all my plans come good then you would be released from mental slavery into physical slavery, a step up, but not a big one.”
Delorn ran towards the window in the cell, forcing himself back to the front of the mind, he made a simple but loud scream for help and he tried to run but he felt the force of Shadow throw him back to the mind cell.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I have been brought to your reality against my will, I was a ruler of great power in my universe I think aggressive expansion could be a good thing, my sister will of course take over command until I can reach her again.”
“You know… most villains don’t… don’t actually tell their captives their plans… why do you?” Delorn was seriously weakened now, he wondered if he would survive being a mind captive.
“I tell you for now I am you, not to mention my utter need to always tell the truth, its good form to respect your enemy.”
“Why should I respect a dictator of any kind? You are here just to gain power, it’s disgusting!”
“Like I said, I was brought here against my will, now we are to be off, we have a war to start!”
Fredrik Delorn had changed thought Kira and Serin as they watched his new announcements. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept in a couple of days. He seemed to be angry at the Chain Guild for some reason. There seemed to be war brewing in his eyes.
Kira and Serin were not really fighters, they had joined the army to get basically free money, never expecting even a civil conflict in their life times. Now it seems one creature of unknown origin was enough for the armies of all continents to be on alert, plus news was spreading of unease within the guild, mostly directed at Arrelin and those that are now known as the Future Humans.
A month later the war began.
Delorn had made an announcement saying Arrelin was now at war with the chain, they broke the links of their representative chain, disempowering it, cutting off access to the chain and also all chain related networks. Isolated work forces began mass producing war machines, Gaimea had tried sub-world travel invasion, but their patterns were too predictable and their energy signature to great, they sustained heavy losses in the early days of the war.
Kira and Serin were sent to the training camp on Grimma, where they were shown much in the way of anti-chain propaganda. They knew this war to be unfounded and did not like what that meant for their future.
Letnear had not contacted them since their last encounter, in which the orb was opened, Kira, Serin and Letnear all knew that it had been this that had brought the shadow into this world, but they thought their leader a simple madman, all on Arrelin and all within the chain bar the Elder had forgotten Shadow in light of the Arrelin betrayal of the Chain. The Elder decided to talk to the young men.
Kira and Serin felt themselves being dragged through the ground, to the rest of the recruits in the mess hall they had disappeared though several did say they saw the soft blue fluidity that marked a sub-world path. Kira and Serin saw their friends as from below, with a blue-hued glass above them and a pure white floor beneath. The sub-world is meant to only be travelled by Gaimeons, even half Gaimeons cannot freely access the sub-world without great effort, this simple fact told them that they were being summoned to Gaimea by the Elder, or someone close in strength to the man.
The blue path shot upwards vertically and so did our two heroes. They travelled in space freely flying in the general direction of Gaimea, they went faster than any craft would ever go, going in one minute what would take several years of space travel, until they slowed to a mere land cruiser speed directly into the Dome.
Neither of their faces showed fear when they landed softly inside a room of the Dome, for they had both passed out before landing. They were woken by a gentle hand, the nurse of the upper floors, Juana, shook the sleeping Arrelins. They gradually woke.
Once they saw they were in the heart of the enemy stronghold fear rose in them, despite the reassuring smiles of Juana and the Elder.
“Welcome to the Dome my young friends, we met before of course, back on your home world, let us hope we can return you quickly before too many alarms have been sounded.” The Elder spoke kindly, as if to friends rather than new bound enemies.
“Why have you brought us here?” asked Kira, desperately trying to remember these people were technically the enemy, regardless of their very nice looking nurses.
“I brought you here so could prove my suspicions correct or misjudged. I ask you a simple question and then you shall be back home.” The Arrelin captives nodded their approval of this arrangement, wondering what one ‘simple’ question could prove. Then the Elder asked it, “What has Letnear done now?”
After a slight silence, Kira spoke, telling of the night the orb Letnear had constructed was opened, the black gas leaving to be replaced by 4 different coloured gasses. The Elder upon hearing this part stopped Kira speaking.
“This is bad, that fool tried messing with primal forces the Seos themselves don’t touch. I haven’t been so angry in all my life.”
Whatever anger he felt he was not showing, looking as calm and concentrated as ever. “Thank you for this knowledge, that utter imbecile, using energies he has no understanding of he has trapped the Elemental Force inside that orb in some sort of dimensional energy trade, while they are locked in his orb Shadow was able to use the sub dimensional power to break through the void and posses Fredrik Delorn.
“Delorn is possessed! I knew this war was unjust!” Serin, one above all who despised injustice looked like he was fit to take on Shadow on his own upon hearing the Elders words.
“Elder Cronin, sir, you must get Letnear and his orb here, if you don’t then shadow may kill him to hid the evidence of this trans-dimensional travel from ever being discovered.” said Kira, level headed thinking through his own sense of justice.
“You speak with great wisdom. Had you been born of Gaimea you would have made an excellent member of the Amber Crown. I will bring Letnear here once I have returned you, I only hope we are not to late to prevent our brothers death.”
Despite his supposed anger he still cared deeply for the life of his race-kin. He returned the two Arrelins to their home world, forced sub-world travel is a very uncomfortable experience.
The Elder tried to find the energy readings of the only half Gaimeon in the universe, but could not feel his presence. Letnear was already dead.
Some passage of time later and a little bit of a jump in space…
Nathaniel Black was sitting in a bar. He had grown accustomed to the lifestyle of 80s Scotland. Two years before he had been sent here from a far distant planet, Gaimea. He Was sent here because of the Chain War, raging across the stars. He had the important mission of seeking out a possible Demi-Seo.
For as long as anyone had known Earth had been a far removed planet, with no spiritual connection to the Chain galaxy but for the oneness itself. Now it seems that Earth was to be woven into the tapestry of fate, thus the search began.
Nathaniel had travelled across the UK looking for the power of the Demi-Seo but he had not seen it. But he was drawing close to some kind of power, in Scotland, east of Edinburgh.
He orders another beer, noting how the drink tasted great but could be felt damaging his body. He drinks the beer fairly rapidly considering he wasn’t going anywhere. He scanned the room feeling the spirit energy of each soul in the room, none was overly strong and in fact some felt considerably weaker in terms of relevance to the average Arrelin (the future humans).
As the bar slowly emptied he found himself in a slight haze brought on by alcohol. If he had put the effort to it he could have used his training to clear his head, but he had been searching for a long time and found that it was a lot harder than usual. He had officially drank too much.
To his surprise he found, once he could be bothered to try, that he could stand relatively stably. He though for a moment where he would go, it was quite late and he had not booked himself into any hotels or similar place, he would be forced to sleep outside. Nathaniel had spent many nights outside since his arrival but he was unsure about his ability to keep himself warm and comfortable without full use of his powers.
As he stepped outside into the cold, rainy night he was knocked over by a young man with long ginger hair. As they contacted Nathaniel felt the strong presence of power, not that of a Demi-Seo, it was enough for his mind to snap clear, he followed the young ginger, hoping he would gain some insight to his power.
The ginger ran into an alleyway and stopped, looking at his watch, which was as orange as his hair and as he did, Nathaniel felt the air thicken around him. How could a mere human have power to slow time. Nathaniel looked closer at the watch and saw it was glowing faintly, as was one on his other wrist, black in colour.
The ginger began running again and when he got to a certain point on the road he vanished from sight completely.
Nathaniel was stunned by the display, he was defiantly human, certainly not Arrelin but there was some strangeness to him besides his chronological powers. Someone had given those powers to him and he had yet to learn control over them. But then who could be powerful enough to grant such powers?
Nathaniel decided to follow the temporal trail, it lead, he knew, to the future, as few could intentionally travel back in time. When he followed the spiralling, vibrant vortex of time-space he found himself still in Edinburgh, but 17 years had passed.
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Letnear was working on the sensor pad. It had exploded twice because of the power emanating from the orb. He knew what he had done as soon as the war began, he had stolen the power of the Elemental Force Seos and in doing so brought a cure upon the Chain. The leader of Arrelin had gone insane and was destroying the bond forged over a millennia ago, this would mean permanent removal from the guild.
Letnear had gotten really scared when his key melted in the lock of the orb. This had meant there was no way of opening it, Letnear feared this would mean more pain and suffering until such time as the universe rights itself, the chaos would last a thousand years.
One day Letnear received a message, it said that Fredrik Delorn had arranged for them to meet. This worried him for the last time a government official had met with him he found himself banished from Pever-von-Chi for dangerous experimentation, something told him that this would be a similar situation.
Three hours later the security computer notified Letnear that someone was approaching, it was Delorn, he was alone, this was certainly suspicious for such an important man, especially in times like these with Gaimeons as your enemies.
Letnear opened the gate for Delorn as he approached. He greeted Delorn and invited him in, he looked very tired, great bags sat under his eyes, he was unshaven and looked like he had aged about 20 years since he took up office.
“Letnear,” Delorn said looking around the warehouse. “You have done me a great service my friend.”
Letnear had not expected this. “What do you mean exactly? I don’t understand.”
Delorn suddenly threw himself to the floor, convulsing madly. Letnear panicked, what was going on? Delorn let out a scream and then was still. After a few moments he got up, he dusted himself off and straitened up his clothes. “I do apologise, that happens sometimes.”
“Are you well?” asked Letnear. “I have water from Gaimea, would probably heal you right up.”
“Not necessary my good man, you have done enough for me already. You are the one who brought me here after all, with that marvellous device of yours.”
Letnear suddenly realised exactly what he had done, he had started the chain war. “Who are you?” he asked bravely of Delorn.
“Finally he understands, that Gaimeon spirit wasn’t quite powerful enough to stop you from being your stupid self, have you forgotten why you were banished from the land of Chi? You got nearly a hundred people killed with your ridiculous experiments.”
“How can you know this? There was never an official record of my experiments backfiring.”
“I can know you better than you can know yourself, just like poor young Delorn, you have not accepted your own shadow self, how unfortunate for you.”
Letnear stood in shock as Delorn’s face stretched out towards him. The further out it reached the darker it seemed to get, until it turned into a black hand which fastened around Letnear’s throat like a vice, choking him. Letnear tried to summon his spirit weapon but he couldn’t focus his thoughts on the mace, ‘Soban’ as he called it. The black hand crushed Letnear’s neck, blood was spilling liberally from his mouth, the last sound he heard was a terrible hoarse voice, laughing at his situation.
