Dark Future

Dark Future is the story about the struggle between a Toa strike team and their allies, and an Empire led by the Primal Beast and Krataxus, who make usage of an army of Undead – creatures made from the Darkness in one’s heart, and the remnants of the hearts of fallen beings – to enforce their iron rule.

Synopsis
In the aftermath of the betrayal of a member of their own team, and the apocalyptic collapse of the Nui Tower of Time, the once determined team of Toa that once set out to prevent it now faces a larger challenge than ever before. Never have they faced such sheer horror. Never did they face such massive destruction, such rubble. And never had they faced an adversary that was, deep down, still their friend.

But, although the Toa courageously try to work things out, they are mired by bad dreams, tortured by apocalyptic visions, and strangulated by their own jarred memories of the past…

Prologue One
The planet of Estron, 820 AET, frozen in Time…

Desert winds blew across the darkened skies above the loud and crowded cityscape on the planet of Estron. It wasn’t night. Nor day, for that matter. Since the Paralysis had occurred, the city was locked in a permanent state of night, as the planet did not spin around its own axis. On the sandy ground in a wide, crowded and loud street filled with market vendors left and right, a silver-armoured, blue-eyed, cloaked being was slowly making his way towards his destination. Follow the smell, he knew. This planet was Estron, home of the great warlord Rex, and the birthplace of many a collapsed civilisation. It was, perhaps, the galaxy’s troubled child, but its “management” – for as far as there was one – acknowledged the problems and tried to work it out.

For the being, it did not matter. All that mattered was that he arrive at the den.

Another, tinier being came walking besides the silver-armoured being. The two did not for a moment stop to look at one another or analyse one another, but the taller one knew that this tiny being here would lead him right to the den.

The tiny Matoran abruptly took a turn to the right, and the taller being followed suit. The street they walked in now was far more narrow than the wide and open space of the street they had just gotten out of. As a result, the noise here was at least slightly more bearable than the cacophony that was the previous street, with the shouting vendors and rowdy low-life looking for a drink. They stopped at a small side door.

Once the Matoran opened the door, the two were greeted by a flowery, slightly numbing smell. Stepping into the door, the tall one tried to look around in the haze. He could vaguely make out the shapes of restaurants and lone Matoran gamblers, who only gave him unfriendly stares as he walked past them towards the back. Passing by the bar, the Matoran opened another wooden door, leading into a dirty, badly lit hallway. Opening a door on his right, the Matoran led the being into an office-like space.

There, behind a desk of dusty, old, cracked wood, stood a chair with another being sitting in it. The smoke of his cigarette filled the room and smelled heavily. The Toa was disgusted, but he knew that this was usual on his home planet. He himself had, after all, also smoked cigarettes for a while.

The being in the chair greeted him, “Ah. I see you have arrived here”. The chair turned, revealing a rather small being – perhaps a Matoran, perhaps an Agori – whose half armour was blue, and the other half black. His voice was rather gruff and low, and just a bit growly. He had gotten the black armour from an attack by Spydra, which poisoned half his armour, leading it to become black. His eyes were green, and stared directly into the big being’s blue eyes. He urged for the big being to sit down.

“What have you come for?”

“What do you think I have come for?”

The Toa grabbed something from his pouch, and laid it down on the table. Unveiling it, it turned out to be a piece of paper. “We need to know, and you know”, he said, pointing at a piece of text on the paper. The text was written about the potential Universal Paralysis that could happen, what the consequences could be, and what could possibly be done to reverse it. It did not, however, contain exact instructions to reverse it. The being in the chair leaned forward, gazing at the paper in front of him. He sat back, put out his cigarette, and threw it away into an ashtray. His eyes were firmly fixed on the Toa’s.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“I could be.”

“Quit the jokes. Reversing the Universal Paralysis is an utterly bonkers idea. Possible, but bonkers.”

It was at this point that the Toa sat forward, pulled off his hood, and spoke, “Listen. You and I both know this regime cannot last if the stability of this universe – or what’s left of it – is to be kept intact. We also know it is possible, and we know you have the knowledge we need to accomplish what we need to do. You, after all, have a wider network of contacts and informants than any readily available source out there.”

The being sat back, looking rather unamused. “There is a temple, somewhere in the vicinity of the Protected Zone.” He got up from his seat and opened one of the drawers behind him. The Toa could get a faint glimpse of what filled the shelves. Books filled with information about pretty much anything one could need. From information about the creation of the universe, to the biology of several creatures, to the history of planets. History, the Toa thought, if only history could be made past this point.

The being took out a heavy, brown, bound book, and closed the drawers. He slowly walked back to the table, and put it on the table, which creaked and cracked as the large, heavy book was laid down onto the old wood. He opened the book, skipped through its pages, until he arrived at page 335. The page showed drawings of a large planet with perpetual rainfall and heavy thunderstorms, with a hard rock surface, and inhabited by nothing. The only location seemingly on the planet was a round, circular structure that reminded the Toa of the Kronian temples on Estron. “Here. On the planet Ashatan, one can find an ancient temple, from pre-Infinian times, with scriptures and engravings containing information and instructions on a Universal Paralysis, its symptoms, and the possible reversal of it. While the planet is traversable, it is extremely hazardous and dangerous. In fact, it was illegal to traverse the planet per the laws of the Galactic Council, and I have no reason to believe the planet isn't dangerous these days.“

The Toa, not taken aback by the warnings of the being in the chair, leaned forward in interest.

“Tell me more.”

Prologue Two
A remote location in the galaxy, 820 AET, frozen in Time…

The gargantuan vehicle slid slowly through the emptiness of space. Ahead of it, lay a magnificently armoured and protected fortress, hiding the remains of a formerly magnificent tower. Behind it, lay more than a dozen wreckages of battleships and other types of ships that had tried to stop the empire, before and after the Paralysis happened.

In the bridge of the vehicle, located in a tower high above the other decks of the ship, the captain oversaw the large and long ship docking at the main port of the tower. The ship was a vehicle of epic proportions, long and sleek, designed to have the same form as a battleship at sea, but adapted to travel through space-time. The bridge was slightly aft of the centre of the ship, in a large tower, with the bridge itself overlooking most of the ship. On the foredeck, three triple-barrelled energy cannons were ready to fire, while on the stern, another 2 triple-barrelled energy cannons were ready. The stern was mounted with wings carrying the engine's nacelles, while the middle of the stern hid the trans-warp nacelle, which was built into the hull. On the sides and the keel of the ship, missile launchers and smaller energy guns were mounted to provide defence against closer enemies. The bridge's tower was equipped with similar systems.

The ship slowly slid into the hangar, in almost perfect motion, and was attached to the docking clamps. The workers in the ship readied themselves to leave their station and get ready to greet their commander in the hangar itself. As the ship's reactor engine turned off and the ship finished its docking process, the gates of the ship opened up, slowly sliding towards the platform of the hangar. Lines upon lines of deathlike creatures marched out of the gates, eventually ending in 2 straight lines inside the hangar to await their commander. At last, the commander, a tall, intimidating red and orange armoured being with fiery red eyes and bat-like wings, stepped out onto the reflective metal surfaces of the hangar. He stepped slowly, making sure each step could be heard throughout the hangar, to announce his presence.

The captain and his escorting soldier slowly walked onwards through the hallways in the gargantuan fortress. On their left hand side, one could view hangars and storage rooms, while on their right hand side, one could find an array of training rooms, ship repair bays and even engine rooms. Arriving at the end of the long hallway, the soldier pressed the button to call the elevator. A ping, and the elevator doors swept open, revealing a large, luxurious elevator made of steel and glass. Pressing the button to the upper floor, the elevator shot upwards at rapid speed. While the elevator was ascending rapidly, the duo could briefly catch glimpses of what was going on inside the many rooms of the fortress. Training rooms where soldiers were given instructions on how to fight. Further up, they could see large construction facilities, where the hull of a new battleship was being constructed by workers. Yet further upwards, they caught a brief glimpse of the tremendous energy ball that was the core of the facility itself.

And then, the windows showed nothing but stone. The two in the elevator could feel it slowing down from its rapid pace, nearing its destination at the top floor. Grinding to a halt, the elevator doors opened, leading onto the summit of a tremendous, but damaged tower. The commander walked out slowly, dismissing his soldier. The elevator doors closed behind the commander.

The surroundings were enormous; large, decorated pillars depicting the creation of the Infinus, walls with Kronian Infinian inscriptions that were unreadable to most, and the very Altar of Time, where the Crystal of Time was to be installed in the event of a restoration of Time.

There, in a throne built of remnants of armour of fallen fighters, stones from the remains of the tower, and metal remains from destroyed ships, a large, reptilian being sat. The being was quietly meditating, deeply concentrated.

But it had heard footsteps.

"It has been awhile. Is all going according to plan?" the reptilian being asked. Its voice was growly, low, and slightly booming, and had a rather distorted quality, as if another being was trying to speak through the reptilian. The commander, kneeling at the steps leading to the Altar, spoke, "My Lord and ruler. They have once again gone to Estron, in search of information. If I am to believe my informants, they are planning on heading towards Ashatan."

The reptilian being smiled, but it was not for the commander to see. The reptilian had, after all, still not turned around his throne to face the commander. Still, the smile of the reptilian being was one of the most twisted, vile things any being could see in the galaxy, its sheer ugliness enough to scare even the greatest Toa into taking a step back from the confrontation with the being.

“Why don’t you pay a…visit to them while they’re there? Give them a tour?”

The commander smiled, too. Or, what was close to a smile. He had not smiled since his friend had betrayed him for his own ends. The old friend did not realise what dangers there were, not listening to the commander’s heeding words. Indeed, he had warned them of what disasters lay ahead, what could happen if they prevented the collapse of the Nui Tower of Time.

But they had stubbornly refused to heed his warnings.

“Very well, my master. As you wish.”

He got up from his knees, and bowed once more to his leader. Afterwards, he turned around, facing the elevator once more. He started walking at a quick pace, to the elevator. He pressed the button on the elevator control panel, and the elevator opened up. He stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button to the floor where the hangars were located. The elevator shot down, and passed by all the locations it had just passed by.

The commander walked down the same corridors again, flanked by the same soldiers that had flanked him before. He was again greeted by rows of soldiers, ready to march into the ship. The loading ramp was still opened, and the red-armoured being walked upwards into the innards of the ship. Behind him, he could hear the footsteps of the thousands of white-armoured, skeleton-faced soldiers readying themselves to bring the equipment on board the ship. In front of him, he could see the extremely long corridor of the ship, which extended all the way from its stern to its bow.

Taking a sharp turn to the left, the red-armoured being arrived at an elevator. He pressed the button to summon the elevator, and waited. Shortly afterwards, the elevator doors slid open, and the being walked in. He pressed the button for the upper floor. The doors closed shut, and the elevator shot upwards towards the top of the tower in the middle of the ship.

Grinding to a halt, the elevator arrived at its floor. A computerised voice announced its arrival: “Top floor. Bridge.” The doors then slid open. The room the red-armoured commander walked into was large and long, with windows at the other end of the room providing a 180-degrees view of what lay in front and next to the ship. In the middle, the captain’s chair was situated, in front of which was a pathway which led all the way to the front of the windows. The pathway was flanked left and right by controlling desks with radar devices, engine operation, gun operation and radio communication. In front of the captain’s chair, a large control desk was situated, featuring a microphone to speak to the entire ship, buttons to give orders to the engine section, and controls for several guns.

The red-armoured being sat down in his chair, and pressed a button activating the communicator.

“Attention, crew on the ship, this is your captain and commander speaking. Prepare the ship for leave towards the vicinity of Ashatan on the borders of the Protected Zone.”

With a roaring sound, the engines of the ship activated. The docking clamps in the hangar were detached, leaving the ship to use its own engines to levitate. Taking a turn to the right, the ship was now facing open space.

“Go.”

Trivia

 * The original Dark Future was an entry-style contest in a way similiar to Dark Realities, inspired by the video game Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky. The original story premise and Universal Paralysis remain, but many of the characters have been replaced.