Grinde Galaxy Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1

The day I saw their ships floating down from space, their tentacles swaying in the open sky, I knew my life was never going to be the same. On the hive world of Luth, where I lived my ordinary everyday life, total destruction was going to reign.

I ducked my head underneath a metal awning to enter my family’s tiny house. It was cluttered with pieces of scrap metal and various home implements. Dirt coated everything, from the walls to the ceiling. The whole place smelled of smoke and oil, but also of home. The laundry was drying over the struggling gas burner. My mother was darting back and forth, preparing things that she wanted to keep. She picked up a single photo crystal and shoved it in her tattered cloth bag.

“Mythe. Grab your brother and let’s get out of here.”

That’s my name. Mythe. No last name. No one in the hives was born with one.

My mother finished bundling up some clothing as I picked up my baby brother.

“Let’s go!”

“What about dad?” I followed my mother out of the small dwelling and into the streets, which were flooded with people doing the same thing as us.

The ships floating in the sky above us were not anything like the ships I knew from the Empire. They were biological in nature, with tentacles and bulges of pulsating flesh dotted around sinew and muscles akin to the meat of a sky whale. Small swarms of creatures poured out from within the maws of these great bioships.

A single Imperial cruiser blew out of the warp above the towers of the hive, sending a wave of psychic energy pulsating through the atmosphere. It opened fire with its massive on-board guns, firing on the closest bioship. The bioship was torn to pieces, chunks of biomass flying everywhere in a massive explosion. The sky was filled with falling debris. The rest of the bioships turned on a dime and began heading towards the Imperial cruiser.

The bowels of the cruiser opened up and several hundred cylindrical objects were ejected from its underside. They seared through the air, whistling as they came towards us.

“We’re saved!”

The crowd surged forward.

“The drop troopers! They’re coming for us!”

I backed away from the mass of people. I had a sudden feeling that they were not going to fare well. Holding my little brother, I ran in the opposite direction from everyone else. I grabbed my mother’s hand and dragged her along with me. The three of us separated from the crowd.

“Where are we going?” My mother was dropping stuff from a hole in her bag.

“We’re going to the museum!”

“In the noble’s quarters?” My mother was breathing heavily. “We won’t be able to get in!”

“The nobles have other things to worry about. I think I know what the shock troopers are dropping for.”

“To save us, right?”

“For the glory of the Empire, of course. But also, I think they’re after the relics.”

“Relics?” My mother looked incredulous. “What are you talking about?”

I remembered a scene from six months ago. I was sneaking through the ventilation system—for an entirely noble purpose of course—when I caught the conversation of an Imperial Inquisitor and a noble. They were talking about how, if Luth were invaded by the synths, the Empire would save the “artifacts” first and foremost. I had no idea what that meant and moved along. I wasn’t interested in any dusty old artifacts, after all.

But now I understood. The artifacts the inquisitor was talking about were probably Tolk technology. Not much was known about the Tolks, at least by the unwashed masses of the hive, of which I was one.

I led my mother through the twisting streets, which at this point were deserted. We arrived at the gate to the noble’s quarters. It was just like always. I often would pass through underneath it for, well, liberation purposes. I opened the secret manhole cover that led to a sewer system that went underneath the gate.

My mother held her nose against the stench. “Why do you know about this passageway?”

I shrugged. “Dunno.” I kept my head down and we got to the proper exit I always used. I held my ear to the trapdoor and listened.

There was nothing. I opened the door and came out of the sewer into the basement wine cellar of a noble’s mansion. As expected, no one was there to greet us.

“The museum is just a five minute run. Can you run for that long?” I was, of course, still carrying my little brother. He was wide-eyed, still quiet for some reason.

I led my mother through several service alleyways until we reached the museum proper.

That was when a massive crash shook the entire building. The sound of slurping biomass resounded through the passageway. A gigantic monster roared. Laser rifles exploded into action. The sound of heavy footfalls echoed.

I watched through a small crack that I knew had a good angle on the inside of the museum.

A space marine was battling a synth ravager.

The space marine was clad in bright red armor that was at least ten feet tall. The marine himself was big, but still dwarfed by the armor. He must have been at least eight feet tall without the amor on. His face was scarred deeply and one eye was bionic. The symbol of the Empire was emblazoned on his chest plate, as well as a symbol I did not recognize, sort of like a sun cut in half by a blade.

The synth ravager was all teeth and sinew. It was cut with ribbed holes that spurted thick steam. Its mouth was at least three feet long, and its six legs were equipped with huge claws. A sense of dread overcame me as I watched it squirm against the grip of the space marine.

I noticed, in the darkness of a small recession in the wall, that another synth was waiting to pounce on the space marine. This one looked like a thin version of a snake, with a single pair of long, spindly legs.

I took out my plasma knife. I had to make sure that the monster did not creep up on the battling space marine.

The space marine slammed the synth ravager into a display case. The ravager screamed, its voice shattering glass and overblowing my ears.

I screamed, launching myself out of my hiding place and at the hiding monster.

As I flew through the air, the space marine turned to look at me, as he blew the brains out of the ravager’s skull, as the other synth made its leap. I tangled with the sneaking synth and collapsed to the ground with it in a heap.

The space marine gripped the now revealed synth snake monster and crushed its skull with his bare hand. He dropped the corpse to the ground and looked at me.

“Your name.” His voice was deep and gravely. His expression told me that he would not accept anything but the absolute truth. So I told him.

“Mythe.”

“So, Mythe. You want to be a hero?”

“Uh—”

The space marine picked my up by my collar and dragged me across the room. “Because you’re with me now.”

“But my mother—”

The space marine laughed. “You won’t be calling for your mommy for long. We’re going to pound some sense into you. You have potential.”

“My mom—”

“Zip it unless you want all your teeth knocked out.”

I tried to struggle but the space marine’s grip was iron. “Where are you taking me?”

“Didn’t I say you were coming with me?” The space marine took me into the museum’s hallway.

“Mom!” I yelled, across the room. “I’ll be back for you! Get somewhere safe!”

“Quiet, runt!” The space marine slapped me, sending my world swirling around.

I coughed.

The space marine held up his communicator with his free hand. “This is Isac. I’ve acquired the feather. I’ve also got an interesting hive boy with me.”

The communicator crackled. “Good. Rendezvous with squad four. We’re picking you up.”

A group of four synth warriors burst out from behind a wall, scythes waving. Isac tossed me onto his shoulder and started blasting with his laser cannon.

“I need some backup here!”

Two more space marines, equally imposing in stature, arrived from around the corner and started pumping the monsters full of laser bolts. The three marines blasted away at the monsters until they were nothing but puddles of gore.

“We’re almost there.” Isac took me and followed the other two marines to the courtyard in the center of the museum. “Ready!”

A landing craft hovered over the open courtyard and several dozen wires were lowered. The space marines grabbed hold of the wires with one hand and the landing craft lifted us into the sky.

There were at least twenty space marines climbing up to the vehicle. I was holding onto Isac’s back as hard as I could, as the world pulled away. I could see the fires, hear the people screaming, watch as the synths wreaked total destruction on my only home. I started to cry. I couldn’t hold it in. My mother, I knew, had a better chance than me. She and my baby brother would have to find a way to survive without me.

“Wipe your tears, kid.” Isac was still climbing up the wire to the landing craft. “We’ve got a long way to go.”

When Isac arrived on the bed of the landing craft, he placed his guns on a rack and dropped me unceremoniously to the floor. He crossed his gigantic arms and looked down at me.

“You’re a lot scrumpier than I thought you would be.”

Several other space marines gathered around me.

“What’s up, Isac?”

“Where’d you find this runt?”

Isac motioned at me. “He tried to jump a scather with a plasma knife.”

The other space marines whistled. “Well, we have been in need of another cabin boy.”

“Cabin boy?” I looked up.

“Yeah. Someone needs to clean the guts off of our armor.”

I shuddered. “Guts?”

Isac motioned again. “Yeah. And you can get started now.” He pointed to a pile of dirty armor and weapons. “If you get a single scratch on them, I’ll personally remove your fingernails.” He grinned.

I shuddered and then walked over to the pile of armor and weapons. “How am I supposed to wash these?”

A space marine kicked a bucket my way, where it slid and sloshed to a stop.

“Ah.” I grabbed the rag from the bucket and began polishing the armor in front of me.

For some reason, I cried. I couldn’t hold the tears in. I had been forcibly separated from my family, and now I was going to leave my home world without even knowing what happened to any of them. Sniffling, I wiped my eyes. There was no going back now.

The landing craft docked with the mothership. The Imperial star cruiser flew into orbit and then warped away.

The jump to warp speed was noticeable. Even though I couldn’t see outside the ship, I could feel my mind screaming. It was as if a million ghosts were surrounding me and trying to eat me.

I pushed the feeling away and continued to clean the armor—it wasn’t that bad after the first five minutes. The guts on the armor, mostly pulverized synth, was really hard to get completely off of the shining red of the chest plates. The guns were somewhat easier to clean. I had no idea how to operate them, but I was able to get them at least to look proper. As I worked, I was alone in the cargo bay of the landing craft.

I was now beginning my life as the cabin boy of an Imperial battle cruiser. I had no idea what was in store for me. All I knew is that my life would never be the same.