Hello fellow SciFi fans! I'm Admiral Geezer, working together with my indie team on a new PC game called Battlestation - Humanity's last hope. The game is heavily inspired by Babylon 5, and we also have an author working on writing a book for the game. Now the book can be read separately, without ever playing the game, and it is the book that I am mainly here to present to you. So without further ado, here is the beginning of the tale of the Space Sirens.
http://battlestation.fi/wp-content/u...es905x1280.jpg
Thousands of lightyears ago, the race of the Space Sirens was not yet born. There was an altogether different kind of race living on the Planet of the Sirens.
At that time, the planet was made up of great oceans and two grand continents, exactly as it is today. The continents were shattered in many small, beautiful and unique islands, each with their own inhabitants. The oceans were clear and blue, and the islands were covered in emeraldgreen vegetation.
The continents were homes to numerous tribes with tight interactions. Ferries crafted from white wood ran between the continents and large, colourful beetles shuttled messages from island to island. The planet was lit by two stars that caused there to be eternal day all around the planet.
The people on the planet were divided into two larger tribes, men and women, who lived on their own continents. They came together every now and then. In small groups, the women would travel to islands governed by the men, who did not keep ferries. Dancing, mating and celebrating, the group of women would spend a week with the men. They would then return home.
A year later, another trip would be made to ferry all newborn sons to the continent of the men, so that they would be brought up according to their own culture. This was the way in which this world had existed for thousands of years. Each group had their customs, and their peace. War was unnecessary, for there was plenty of space and food.
One year, which otherwise was the same as every other year, an unknown delegation came to the planet. By chance, it landed on the continent inhabited by men, and started to familiarize itself with its people. For a long time, it watched and surveyed the peaceful and harmonic life. It saw women come and go, and it saw newborn sons arrive. When the women touched land, it hid behind the hazy green jungle. In a few generations, the presence of these foreign creatures on the continent became a self-evident fact for the men.
The planet had no history. It had not been documented, because the years followed one another without highlights, similar and happy. Now these strange folk began to tell their story. They weaved a story around the men, a story they had created for their own purposes. Nobody among the living can say what kind of a story it was, or what happened in it, but it was so horrible that the men gathered as a group and walked into the ocean. Since they did not know how to swim, they drowned when their feets no longer touched the white and sand-covered oceanfloor.
The bodies of the men floated to the surface. They were carried by currents to the first islands of the womens‘ continents. More and more bodies came, so that in a few weeks the bodies filled all coves, rivers, and beaches. The women dug graves and buried the men, but still a raft of dead floated from the high seas. Desperation took over in the end, and the women gave up the battle for the shores and memories of men.
For years, it was impossible to travel between continents. Bodies were rotting everywhere, and in the water they swelled into shapelessness or gradually dried up on beachstones. The smell filled the air, fishing ceased, and out of agony, some women started to eat off the bodies. The ocean that used to be blue turned murky, and shores were contaminated. Entire species of animals disappeared, and in their place peculiar spineless creatures that bred in the decomposing flesh took life.
The women suffered greatly. They understood the hopelessness of the situation and formed an expedition after the bodies in the water started to soften and sink. The expedition left for its slow journey towards the continent that formerly had been the mens home.
The ferry advanced with difficulty. It bumped into bloated carcasses, and the women had to use wooden poles to shove them aside. The grief was overwhelming, for each of the men had been born and loved into this extraordinary world by one of the women. There were enough bodies to fill the entire horizon as far as the women could see. It was impossible to get used to the smell that continually shifted, from a decomposing sweet reek to a pungent scent of spoiled meat.
Finally, the women saw the shores of the mens‘ continent from afar. Beaches were now deserted and empty. Buildings were derelict and instead of bodies, the white sand of the shores was covered with black, sticky seaweed. The women walked ashore and remembered the last time they were on the island. Until now, it had signified happiness and celebration. It had meant a break from the mundane chores, hunting and cooking, for on this continent all work was done by men. Now, with debarking the ferry, came only fear and death.
The cluster of women made their way inland. All life seemed dead. Trees towered as black spines towards the sky, and bushes were like bony grapples, with fingers that clawed at everything within distance. The grass had a yellowish grey colour, and no sounds from animals could be heard.
Having ranged forward for many days, the women found something that was not dry, sunbaked vegetation. They found a big opening where the ground was burned black, and where nothing could ever grow again. This was the place where something had landed, and the place from where it had taken off again. Very close to this opening the women found carvings in the bark of the trees, and they did not recognize the meaning of the symbols. That is how they understood that another people must be responsible for the devastation of their own.
The women returned home and told the others what they had seen. Tales of an unknown people began to circulate. The legend grew year by year while the aggressiveness and bitterness in it multiplied, and this infertile nation shrank.
At last, all that was left was a small group of women waiting for the end. They sat on the shore and stared at the ocean that had never recovered from the current of bodies that had washed ashore. The water was muddy, and grew foulsmelling weed. Creatures that could not be used for sustenance fed from the weed. They had a hard and thorny shell, eyes jiggled at the ends of long stalks, and they had an uneven number of limbs. The small amount of flesh that could be found inside the shell was poisonous. An odd twenty women, all that was left, sat on trashy sand covered with chalice crust and dried leaves of water plants.
http://battlestation.fi/wp-content/u...Up1280x905.jpg
Then the first of the women stood up. With unhurried, confident steps and without speaking a word, she walked into the ocean. Instead of carrying her, the muddy water sucked her in and she vanished into the depths. The other women stood up one by one and did the same in silence. In the empty, lifeless space she left behind, the collective question of why they had not done this before remained hovering. Why had they waited and forced themselves to witness the destruction of their planet and their people?
Nothing moved for a long time. Every once and again a bubble would rise to the dark surface and burst with a faint sound. A few of the darkbrown spineless creaturess paced across the sand, flicking their deformed extremities. Then, very suddenly, one of the stars that lit the planet died, and very slowly the first night of the planet fell upon the shore. It made visible millions of other stars, their icecold shine flickering in the distance. Their weak light illuminated the empty shore.
Sluggishly, something rose from the ocean. First you could see a head and the upper body of a woman. The rest of the body was inconceivable, with black proturberances that to anyone from Earth might resemble a spider with stingers. Mud had coloured the female skin black. This horrifying creature came to shore and stayed there waiting. While it waited, it grabbed a spineless from the ground, tore its shell apart and ate the flesh.
The remaining star started to colour the shore of the sky the colour of a bruise. The light was pale and yellow, and reflected back from the cold eyes of the female. Then another head, another torso and another abhorrent body rose from the ocean. When the first rays of the star turned the sky red, these female figures numbered ten. Without expression they stared at each other, until the first one began to sing.
Others who waited on the shore joined the sorrowful melody, and every female who rose from the ocean sang it too. The song was about love, betrayal and hope, but mostly it was about revenge. These women, abominable sirens, had been betrayed in a horrific manner. Their love and their hope had been taken from them, and they had been shoved to hell. Now that they wanted revenge, they needed a plan. They needed help, and they needed technology. Most of all, they needed to know who had done this to them. Until they knew, they were ready to doubt everything.
When the only star shining on the planet went down behind a bleak ocean, history had begun a new chapter; the era of the space sirens. These women were looking for men, but they were also looking for the power that had pushed them into this hopeless ravine, where they were doomed to wander their destroyed planet with their deformities.
It was now time for the first war, and although it was the first, the women knew exactly what to do.
Battlestation features 4 races including humans, and an unknown threat. The book will be a collection of background stories for each race, illustrated by our graphic designer. We have more material on our web site, but I don't know if I'm allowed to give you the url since I'm new here. But I will post our other stories to you once they are ready to be shown!
http://battlestation.fi/wp-content/u...es905x1280.jpg
Thousands of lightyears ago, the race of the Space Sirens was not yet born. There was an altogether different kind of race living on the Planet of the Sirens.
At that time, the planet was made up of great oceans and two grand continents, exactly as it is today. The continents were shattered in many small, beautiful and unique islands, each with their own inhabitants. The oceans were clear and blue, and the islands were covered in emeraldgreen vegetation.
The continents were homes to numerous tribes with tight interactions. Ferries crafted from white wood ran between the continents and large, colourful beetles shuttled messages from island to island. The planet was lit by two stars that caused there to be eternal day all around the planet.
The people on the planet were divided into two larger tribes, men and women, who lived on their own continents. They came together every now and then. In small groups, the women would travel to islands governed by the men, who did not keep ferries. Dancing, mating and celebrating, the group of women would spend a week with the men. They would then return home.
A year later, another trip would be made to ferry all newborn sons to the continent of the men, so that they would be brought up according to their own culture. This was the way in which this world had existed for thousands of years. Each group had their customs, and their peace. War was unnecessary, for there was plenty of space and food.
One year, which otherwise was the same as every other year, an unknown delegation came to the planet. By chance, it landed on the continent inhabited by men, and started to familiarize itself with its people. For a long time, it watched and surveyed the peaceful and harmonic life. It saw women come and go, and it saw newborn sons arrive. When the women touched land, it hid behind the hazy green jungle. In a few generations, the presence of these foreign creatures on the continent became a self-evident fact for the men.
The planet had no history. It had not been documented, because the years followed one another without highlights, similar and happy. Now these strange folk began to tell their story. They weaved a story around the men, a story they had created for their own purposes. Nobody among the living can say what kind of a story it was, or what happened in it, but it was so horrible that the men gathered as a group and walked into the ocean. Since they did not know how to swim, they drowned when their feets no longer touched the white and sand-covered oceanfloor.
The bodies of the men floated to the surface. They were carried by currents to the first islands of the womens‘ continents. More and more bodies came, so that in a few weeks the bodies filled all coves, rivers, and beaches. The women dug graves and buried the men, but still a raft of dead floated from the high seas. Desperation took over in the end, and the women gave up the battle for the shores and memories of men.
For years, it was impossible to travel between continents. Bodies were rotting everywhere, and in the water they swelled into shapelessness or gradually dried up on beachstones. The smell filled the air, fishing ceased, and out of agony, some women started to eat off the bodies. The ocean that used to be blue turned murky, and shores were contaminated. Entire species of animals disappeared, and in their place peculiar spineless creatures that bred in the decomposing flesh took life.
The women suffered greatly. They understood the hopelessness of the situation and formed an expedition after the bodies in the water started to soften and sink. The expedition left for its slow journey towards the continent that formerly had been the mens home.
The ferry advanced with difficulty. It bumped into bloated carcasses, and the women had to use wooden poles to shove them aside. The grief was overwhelming, for each of the men had been born and loved into this extraordinary world by one of the women. There were enough bodies to fill the entire horizon as far as the women could see. It was impossible to get used to the smell that continually shifted, from a decomposing sweet reek to a pungent scent of spoiled meat.
Finally, the women saw the shores of the mens‘ continent from afar. Beaches were now deserted and empty. Buildings were derelict and instead of bodies, the white sand of the shores was covered with black, sticky seaweed. The women walked ashore and remembered the last time they were on the island. Until now, it had signified happiness and celebration. It had meant a break from the mundane chores, hunting and cooking, for on this continent all work was done by men. Now, with debarking the ferry, came only fear and death.
The cluster of women made their way inland. All life seemed dead. Trees towered as black spines towards the sky, and bushes were like bony grapples, with fingers that clawed at everything within distance. The grass had a yellowish grey colour, and no sounds from animals could be heard.
Having ranged forward for many days, the women found something that was not dry, sunbaked vegetation. They found a big opening where the ground was burned black, and where nothing could ever grow again. This was the place where something had landed, and the place from where it had taken off again. Very close to this opening the women found carvings in the bark of the trees, and they did not recognize the meaning of the symbols. That is how they understood that another people must be responsible for the devastation of their own.
The women returned home and told the others what they had seen. Tales of an unknown people began to circulate. The legend grew year by year while the aggressiveness and bitterness in it multiplied, and this infertile nation shrank.
At last, all that was left was a small group of women waiting for the end. They sat on the shore and stared at the ocean that had never recovered from the current of bodies that had washed ashore. The water was muddy, and grew foulsmelling weed. Creatures that could not be used for sustenance fed from the weed. They had a hard and thorny shell, eyes jiggled at the ends of long stalks, and they had an uneven number of limbs. The small amount of flesh that could be found inside the shell was poisonous. An odd twenty women, all that was left, sat on trashy sand covered with chalice crust and dried leaves of water plants.
http://battlestation.fi/wp-content/u...Up1280x905.jpg
Then the first of the women stood up. With unhurried, confident steps and without speaking a word, she walked into the ocean. Instead of carrying her, the muddy water sucked her in and she vanished into the depths. The other women stood up one by one and did the same in silence. In the empty, lifeless space she left behind, the collective question of why they had not done this before remained hovering. Why had they waited and forced themselves to witness the destruction of their planet and their people?
Nothing moved for a long time. Every once and again a bubble would rise to the dark surface and burst with a faint sound. A few of the darkbrown spineless creaturess paced across the sand, flicking their deformed extremities. Then, very suddenly, one of the stars that lit the planet died, and very slowly the first night of the planet fell upon the shore. It made visible millions of other stars, their icecold shine flickering in the distance. Their weak light illuminated the empty shore.
Sluggishly, something rose from the ocean. First you could see a head and the upper body of a woman. The rest of the body was inconceivable, with black proturberances that to anyone from Earth might resemble a spider with stingers. Mud had coloured the female skin black. This horrifying creature came to shore and stayed there waiting. While it waited, it grabbed a spineless from the ground, tore its shell apart and ate the flesh.
The remaining star started to colour the shore of the sky the colour of a bruise. The light was pale and yellow, and reflected back from the cold eyes of the female. Then another head, another torso and another abhorrent body rose from the ocean. When the first rays of the star turned the sky red, these female figures numbered ten. Without expression they stared at each other, until the first one began to sing.
Others who waited on the shore joined the sorrowful melody, and every female who rose from the ocean sang it too. The song was about love, betrayal and hope, but mostly it was about revenge. These women, abominable sirens, had been betrayed in a horrific manner. Their love and their hope had been taken from them, and they had been shoved to hell. Now that they wanted revenge, they needed a plan. They needed help, and they needed technology. Most of all, they needed to know who had done this to them. Until they knew, they were ready to doubt everything.
When the only star shining on the planet went down behind a bleak ocean, history had begun a new chapter; the era of the space sirens. These women were looking for men, but they were also looking for the power that had pushed them into this hopeless ravine, where they were doomed to wander their destroyed planet with their deformities.
It was now time for the first war, and although it was the first, the women knew exactly what to do.
Battlestation features 4 races including humans, and an unknown threat. The book will be a collection of background stories for each race, illustrated by our graphic designer. We have more material on our web site, but I don't know if I'm allowed to give you the url since I'm new here. But I will post our other stories to you once they are ready to be shown!
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