The Legionnaire

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:39 pm

[align=center]Author\'s Preface[/align]

Welcome, reader, to my first and most likely only fanfic in existence! Before I start, a few ground rules have to be set. The following clans will be represented in a unique way within the universe, while tactfully maintaining their overall standpoint as it is in-game: [LL] Legion of the Lance, [FF] Freedom Fighters, [TGS] The Grinning Skulls, [EN] Epoch Nex, [SW] Star Wolves. Members of the clan will also be represented in the best way possible while maintaining proper story flow. Opinions displayed in this story should not at all be misconstrued as actual opinion or actions, it is, once again, merely a fanfic. I ask that, while I doubt anything in the story will offend anyone in the slightest, if that does indeed happen, do remember the above statement.

The Legionnaire is not meant to be a happy story in any way. It's grim, dark, and sad. If this is not for you, feel free to not read. I have no dark heart myself, and the story will, indeed, have its bright moments. They will not, however, be the main structure. The story, in and of itself, is meant to strike sympathy in the reader and get them wrapped up in the drama and action. As such, it would be labeled under the category of Hurt & Comfort and Action/Adventure.

The Evo-Verse is greatly expanded upon, with a few assumptions along with a great amount of study into the lore behind the universe (I couldn't find much.) This is to maintain the proper environment for story arc and progression, and is therefore considered fanfic.

For further notice, I will merely be editing the first post in the thread with each new chapter and informing people, in the form of a reply, when a new chapter is written. This is simply for ease of reading.

I hope this clarifies everything anyone needs to know. If not, feel free to reply to the topic with anyone questions, and I will get to answering them with as much expedience as my current situation will allow.

Thanks again,
-Kikoni

[align=center]Introduction[/align]

Space. It's dark. That might seem obvious to someone who hasn't experienced it, but once you really get out here, it hits you like a brick. Why? Because space isn't just dark to the human eye, it goes much deeper than that. Some folks come out here, in to the dark expansiveness. They come out here with the purpose to colonize, to mine, to trade. Or, they come out here to be heroes. To defend the galaxy. What are they defending it from? People would normally answer with the standard "evil-doers" stereotype. Of course, as usual, it's much more than that.

Sometimes a few unlucky folks come out here with the intention to do good, and when they get out here, they see the true darkness. The treachery, the deception, the violence, and above all else... The loneliness. They realize that space, the once unreachable goal, the wonder of every man on Earth, isn't all that worth it. But by then it's too late.

You see, while they realize their mistake, they can't go back. Why? Because space isn't just dark, it's a vacuum, sucking the soul out of the weak. Sure, those unlucky ones get through it, it makes them tough and strong.. conditioned. However, the holes it leaves in their souls are quickly filled with the same darkness that so terrorizes the vacuum of space. Those men and women become the very thing they hated about space. They become the so-called "evil-doers". Not because they're treacherous, deceptive, or violent; but because they're lonely, and space is their only friend.

[align=center]Prologue[/align]

"Huh, pretty peaceful tonight, eh, kiddo?"

I was only seven. A seven year old, proud of my years, sitting next to the man I had looked up to all of those few years -- my father.

I glanced out one of the side viewports before nodding slowly. My father let all pretense of a smile leave his face.

"You missin' her, huh?" he asked, a look of understanding in his kind eyes. Catching the sadness in my eyes, he turned back toward the front viewport.

"Me, too, son... me, too."

My mother and father were miners, putting bread on the table by way of a mining laser and tractorbeam. For the most part, they made enough to keep us going rather strong -- that is, until my mother had taken ill with some unknown disease. My father worked both his and her shift from then on, spending even more money on medicine in hopes of curing her. We'd barely had enough to eat for a solid six months.

Eventually, though, my mother passed; the disease having eaten her brain away. I still remember looking into her eyes the night before she died and telling her I loved her. I cried in my father's arms all night when she didn't remember who I was. My dad kept up with the double shifts to support us and, due to lacking someone to raise me in my mother's stead, we both pretty much lived and breathed mining. I was seven and I already new how to fly the ship well enough to navigate home.

My dad cruised forward on inertial thrusters towards the asteroid we were tasked with mining. This was to save fuel, as it was expensive and using the poorly optimized Inertial Dampening System (IDS) was a very easy way to go bankrupt. Flying on inertial was more fun, anyways. It allowed one to strafe and make maneuvers that wouldn't otherwise work. It took little more brain-space than IDS, making me wonder why they designed it in the first place. One day, I'd asked my father about it, eliciting a chuckle from him.

"IDS is for the rich folk who can afford the fuel but lack the competence to learn how to fly properly without it," he'd answered smugly.

I was pretty darn young, so I had no idea what he meant at that point, leaving me to ponder it amongst other things during the most boring parts of the day.

We moved in mining range of the asteroid and my dad hit the toggle for the laser. He spun his chair around, navigating with merely his elbow. Antics like that used to scare me, but after a while I had learned to trust the man's skill behind the stick. As our little Talon class ship cruised in a circle around the asteroid, mining as it went, my father grinned down at me buckled in on the bench on the wall adjacent to his captain's chair. It was moments like these when he would tell me how much I looked like my mother. I had her dark brown, curly hair and her green eyes.

The rest, though, was all my father. I had his nose, chin, cheekbones, and most importantly his smile. This time, though, he just tousled my hair and turned back to the stick. He began to whistle one of my mother's favorite songs, which served to both comfort us and make us even more melancholy at the same time. It was a routine that we went through everyday.

"There's such a peace in order and routine," my dad used to say when we first began. My young mind agreed with him as much as it could.

I watched silently as we continued to rotate around the giant rock. Suddenly the ship shook violently, causing my dad's hand to turn the the stick and send us into a spiral. I screamed as my head whipped backwards into the headrest. My dad regained control after a few seconds.

"W-what was that, dad?" I asked tentatively, looking up at him in shocked curiosity.

His face had paled quite a bit, but he quickly snapped out of it.

"Just a small rock colliding with us, kiddo."

I was fairly innocent and didn't have much in the way of suspicion, but I had known the man long enough for his tone to have been none too reassuring.

"We should be heading back now. I need to take a gander at the damage we sustained."

It wasn't the first time we'd been hit by a small asteroid, but it had never felt like that did. My dad would also never give up a shift over a little scratch that a hit like that could bring. Some instinct told me to look out the viewport as my dad set a course for home, and I decided to oblige it. I glared intensely through the viewport, looking for sign of anything weird. Though I wasn't a skilled spotter in anyway, it didn't take me long to find it. Hiding in the shadow of one of the largest asteroids was the real culprit of the collision.

We hadn't been hit by a rock, we'd been fired upon, and my best guess was that the shady vessel was preparing to fire again.

The worst part was that my guess was spot on.

A spray of plasma particles along with a beam of pure energy hit the front viewport full-force, shattering the reinforced glass and sending pieces flying as the emergency shutter closed over the area where the viewport was. I cried out as I saw my dad slump forward, holding his head. I unbuckled myself and tried to make my way to his seat. I never made it there as another barrage of particles hit the underbelly of the ship, throwing me off my feet. My head slammed into the navigation console next to my father.

I sank to the floor as everything slowly faded to black.

----------------------------------------------
Chapter one coming soon.

[Edited on 11-3-2012 by Kikoni]

[Edited on 11-12-2012 by Kikoni]

sundalo · Post by **sundalo** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:17 pm

Can't wait, first time seeing fan fiction with the known clans! Also good to have some dark and serious themes. Bring it on Kikoni!:)

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:08 pm

From post: 147358, Topic: tid=9922, author=sundalo wrote:Can't wait, first time seeing fan fiction with the known clans! Also good to have some dark and serious themes. Bring it on Kikoni!:)

Thanks for encouragement, Sundalo, it's much appreciated!

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:48 pm

Yeah very nice and surprising! approach you're taking here, Kikoni. And I can tell from the intro that this probably isn't your first story either. And if it is, I would consider a professional career lol.
I love a bit of role play and a good story, and after having read the above I can't wait for the rest mate, let's have it!

~ Viper.

Edit:
In fact, if you're planning on adding more parts to the story over time, I think someone should sticky this thread. Because I think it adds to the overall game experience.

[Edited on 11-2-2012 by Viper]

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 8:35 pm

From post: 147371, Topic: tid=9922, author=Viper wrote:Yeah very nice and surprising! approach you're taking here, Kikoni. And I can tell from the intro that this probably isn't your first story either. And if it is, I would consider a professional career lol.
I love a bit of role play and a good story, and after having read the above I can't wait for the rest mate, let's have it!

~ Viper.

Edit:
In fact, if you're planning on adding more parts to the story over time, I think someone should sticky this thread. Because I think it adds to the overall game experience.

[Edited on 11-2-2012 by Viper]

You would be correct in your assumption, Viper. This isn't my first story -- just my first fanfic. Thank you for the compliment! Made my day. I do plan on adding more and more over time, as much as I can. I'm going for about 4500 words per chapter, which may be pretty short, but it's what I'm limited to due to the circumstances I'm currently under. I also have a story progression and arc all written out and planned, so I'll only be winging some of this to test my spur-of-the-moment creativity. The introduction was the first test of that, but I can't, of course, critique my own work properly. For further notice, I will merely be editing the first post in the thread with each new chapter and informing people, in the form of a reply, when a new chapter is written. This is simply for ease of reading. I should actually add that to the preface right quick, come to think of it.

[Edited on 11-2-2012 by Kikoni]

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:44 pm

Coooool, looking forward to reading your fanfic Kikoni!......

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:12 am

Prologue is up now. Enjoy and critique.

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 2:34 pm

Awesome start for a story dude.

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Wed Nov 07, 2012 9:15 pm

Chapter one is in the works, to anyone who is actually reading this. Chapters themselves will be much longer than the Prologue or Introductory.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:45 pm

Excelent start, nicely done!......looking forward to more!.....

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:50 pm

Whoa nice! I'm gonna make a note of this and save it for tomorrow morning and enjoy it together with a good cup of coffee!

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 4:24 pm

Just for quick notice, I've renamed the topic to The Legionnaire once more, as (Take Two) was getting misconstrued as a book title.

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:08 pm

Correct me if I'm wrong but Take Two is the chapter name, right?

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:17 pm

From post: 148583, Topic: tid=9922, author=EN4CER wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong but Take Two is the chapter name, right?

Fortunately, no, it isn't.

(Take Two) signified my second and more proper stab at writing a fanfic, as I had deleted the last topic and wanted to give a reason for doing so.

The first chapter hasn't even been uploaded yet, but each chapter will be named as I continue writing. Real life obligations have taken much of my time recently, and as we all know, they have to come first. Especially with a wife and son.

Anyways, sorry for the misunderstanding, my friend.

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:18 pm

Just a quick update to anyone who is following this little... Story, if it deserves to be called such.

As of now, I'm making my move to Georgia where I have found a new job. This is taking much of my time. This, along with my reluctance to continue writing until I decide on one or two more story arcs and plot-twists, means that you guys may not see an update until after I settle in my new house.

I'm not, however, losing my steam. I fully intend to write this story and perhaps a sequel (if I plan that far ahead), whether or not it gets read. From experience, far too many writers give up on their work due to lack of feedback. I, being one of those people who hates when they do that, will not be doing that myself. I write for my enjoyment, and thus, while I appreciate feedback, I don't ultimately care if I get any or not.

Anyways, I'm rambling. Happy Thanksgiving, folks! Spend it with the one's you love! I know I am.

All the best to you and yours.

Schmidtrock · Post by **Schmidtrock** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:04 pm

Happy Thanksgiving! I enjoyed reading what you have here thus far.

Post by **DaveK** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:12 pm

A new story AND the Expansion! The Evoverse is growing - can't wait ofr the next bit - good luck with your move and job

Post by **DaveK** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:40 pm

Any hints how long I have to fret before I can read what happens next?

Post by **DaveK** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:41 pm

Is it OK if I add this to the Short Story Anthology?

oni14128 · Post by **oni14128** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:27 pm

I both love and hate cliff hangers, especially if its a long wait between the next installment. More please.