Sanctos, Azrael [WiP]

†Where it all started; Cries of a lost civilization… Prologue to the story of a gambler†

Pioneer 1, a great, state-of-the-art colonization vessel; its architecture, design and dynamics were flawless, the finest of any other man-made structure up to date. It could even be considered a floating metropolis, spreading for many kilometers in every direction; hundreds and hundreds of stories tall, and roughly two thousand miles long from one end to the other. Truly a tremendously colossal ship, which would soon be embarking in a journey of equal proportions: the colonization of planet Ragol which was light years away from their current location, in the next galactic cluster, Falz-7.

Aboard the gargantuan ship were hunters, which would be sent for recon, militia, to suppress any hostility and normal, plain and ordinary people. Nothing different than what they had ever been, the same community, the same politics, the same language, the same everything, they were all migrating to Ragol in an attempt to find new hospitable planets.

Why would they migrate? Well, a few years ago, prior to the construction of Pioneer 1, the old planet of this civilization, which we will denominate as ‘Liberum’ (Latin for ‘Free’ and for the sole reason that these have a conscience to decide for themselves what’s right, what’s wrong and what they must do), had fallen into a sort of Armageddon, to put it in simple terms.

Diseases and toxic materials poisoned the air. The nearest star had began expanding, heating the atmosphere as well as tearing it apart slowly and producing a constant unbearable heat all around the planet, evaporating major sources of water and rendering plants unable to grow. Diseases and Famine led to crime, people fighting for medications or aliments. The lack of water in the earth produced cracks that soon began to get longer and wider, producing massive fissures which would constantly shake the earth around them in violent earthquakes.
It was a complete chaos, and so the Liberum gathered up their resources to build Pioneer 1. Why does it sound so simple as that? Because it was. The Liberum had knowledge of a material known as ‘Photon’ with extraordinary capabilities. It was, in essence, a source of energy. However, those compatible with Photon could use it to greater extents, and put it to use on the fabrication of more resistant, lightweight, flexible and overall, better material for the vessel. And that was a mere bit of what Photon could do.

Forced out of their home planet, the Liberum had exploited Photon well and built a floating city, sent out into the deep void that was outer space. The trip was scheduled to last for three to four years, and as such the Pioneer 1 was fully prepared for that and held well to the title of celestial metropolis.

-Well, I will not narrate all the events that occurred on this vessel, nor will I go into an in depth description, as that would be rather extensive. So let us skip those three to four years of travel to the week in which they were scheduled for sending out their recon team and later on, landing.

A young man, seemingly in his late teen years to his early twenties, would be taking part of the recon team, known as the ‘Hunters’ to the Liberum. This young man is none other than who the story will center on, named Jethro Altair Genesis by the parents that left him as an orphan not long after his birth. A very smart man, very skilled in what he did: Gambling. But let’s not talk about his habits or personality; I’ll let you figure that out in what he has so kindly left us later on.

As I was saying, Jethro would take part of the recon team, and so he and a group of fifteen other hunters were deployed to planet Ragol in order to analyze living conditions on there. They were sent in a smaller ship down to the planet, while Pioneer 1 rested far above the atmosphere of the planet, waiting for their final report.
The hunters were to be stationed in the northern part of the planet. This place, which we will simply name, ‘Forest’, was the easiest to build on from what they could tell on the ship. As such, the hunters were to run analysis of the flora of Ragol, as well as perform tests on the native beasts, to ensure whether or not they were hostile. Not a hard task at all.

And so, for three days were the hunters down in planet Ragol, proving themselves and the rest of the Liberum that the planet was able to support human life. At the end of those three days, the hunters returned to the mother ship in order to hand in their report on planet Ragol, as well as discuss the architecture of the first structures and the terrain in which they would be built. Liberum always had efficiency in mind.
Pioneer 1 was scheduled to disembark on Ragol next week, where it would serve for the first housing while the first buildings are made. Sure enough, this operation would be a success as they saw no threat.
And so the week passed and Pioneer 1 began to descend to the surface of Ragol, slowly but steadily. All seemed well, except for a sudden bump along the way down, but this was attributed to turbulence or something like that; nothing to be afraid of, or so they thought.

As they continued approaching the surface of Ragol, the Pioneer 1’s main engine suddenly shut off, drastically changing the speed at which they fell down to the surface in just a matter of seconds. Everybody yelled frantically, unknowing of what could happen. Everyone was in fear, crying, and desperate. The people from maintenance hurried to turn on the back-ups but it was far too late. It just all went black before they could hit the ground. The civilization of the Liberum, along with its masterpiece that was the Pioneer1, had been struck with a massive beam of photon which came from seemingly nowhere in the sky. The ship exploded, burst into countless pieces which fell down and crashed violently against the surface of Ragol. Those who weren’t blown apart by the beam would either be crushed by the falling parts of Pioneer 1 or fallen right to their death upon hitting the ground.
Such an operation was brought to failure, and such a civilization as the Liberum was brought to an end, with few to no survivors from the incident. Even those who managed to survive would be soon torn apart by the native beasts which had oddly turned hostile the day of the incident. Families were lost, friends, comrades, lovers, everybody, dead in such short amount of time.

†Chapter 1: Letters to unknown; The survival of the Joker as told by his Epistles†

May 9th, 12087
I do not know to whom I may be talking to as I am sending these writings out to space blindly by the poor means that I have accessible. First and foremost, I am the only living survivor of the colonization vessel Pioneer 1, Jethro Genesis. I find myself stranded in planet named Ragol, on the far end of the galactic cluster Falz-7. I do not specify my location with detail, as I know I would be just be wasting my time, I know these letters can be traced back to my exact location with relative ease.

I must explain, my people and I had the intention of coming to this planet, as a way of getting out of our crumbling home planet and so we built Pioneer 1, a colonization vessel which we called our own celestial city. A few days ago, I can’t recall when exactly but I know it happened; our ship’s descent was interfered by some unknown beam of Photon which was shot out to us from an equally unknown location. Few of us survived the incident, perhaps a couple of dozens. Amongst those, only three other hunters managed to survive.

We had ran analysis on the native fauna prior to our attempt to land, however, these suddenly attacked us, killing the weak and handicapped and reducing our numbers until only I remain. –There are a few traces of tears amongst these parts of the writing.– I have managed to survive on my own now for just a day, it was only yesterday that the only person I had left with me, died. So I send this letter out, in hope of a reply and possibly someone that could pull me out of this hell.