A Settler's Story (pt 1)

[Dusk]

"Welcome to Port Atlantis", bellowed the tannoy on board the transporter ship as the bay doors opened in front of me, giving me and my fellow passengers our first glimpse of a new home. As I strode down the ramp onto solid ground for the first time in months I noticed that the air temperature was warm but not as humid as I might have expected for what seemed to be a sunny mid-afternoon. Once I'd got away from the engines of the vessel that had brought me here, the smell was one of clean air. Really clean air; a total contrast from my previous home in a polluted city in the English Midlands.

I was one of the lucky ones. I'd got hold of a basic guide to Calypso while I was back on Earth. Not much is ever heard about this place back on my home world, other than through a few specialist websites that tell of experiences to be had and fortunes to be earned. The information in this guide was a leg-up for me over the other eighty-or-so passengers on that transporter ship. It had made me aware of how to earn money with a little effort but, crucially, without equipment. Having said that, the description of sweating did seem a little strange.

To be honest, I'm not really sure what the biggest driving factor to make me come here was. I've never been an explorer by nature. I remember as a child chickening out of going into a derelict factory near my home with friends. It must've been like an episode of "Scooby-Doo" as I nervously said something along the lines of "you guys go first", before promptly running off in the opposite direction.

Maybe the thought of becoming a millionaire was the reason I'd come here. I've always been money driven; I've got dreams of building my perfect, bespoke home in a picturesque field near the coast, complete with roof garden, outdoor jacuzzi, but also powered by renewable energy.

Perhaps it was the puzzle of what happened to my half-brother who came here six months before me. He was the only family I really had left, and he'd promised to keep in touch despite his need for new adventures and the obvious communication problems between the two worlds. To be honest, I'm torn between feeling let down by him, and feeling scared that something bad has happened to him.

There might have been one other reason as well though - escape. Escape from the memories of a relationship that ended without warning. My other half had just upped and left. Not a word, not a telephone call, not even a note to explain why. This had happened totally out of the blue, and to this day I have no idea why. All this happened about the time that my half-brother had left for the new world, so I'd gone from a position of having these people close to me to suddenly having no-one. Frankly I was struggling to come to terms with this.

Anyway, whatever the reason, I was now here. Stood in Port Atlantis - literally without a friend in the world...

I wondered about the bussling area in the town around the teleporter to try to figure out what was happening.

"Selling sweat, 0.6pec."

"Selling armours, all in male."

"Buying all paints, come trade with me!".

Dozens upon dozens of traders, all desparately trying to shout over each other. This was all too much for me. I felt I needed to get away from here. It was mad; hectic; like London's Leicester Square at rush hour. Very in-your-face is probably the best way to describe it. Anyway, after a long journey it wasn't to my liking so I decided to head for the nearby North exit. On the other side of the exit it was alot calmer. I could still hear the traders, but they were more distant. All that stood here was green grass, boulders and an animal I recognised from that guide I'd seen as an Exarosaur. It was definitely more tranquil.

"Ah-ha!", I thought. "An Exarosaur". It was stood minding its own business about 80 metres away. The guide to Calypso had told of the practice of sweating. Maybe now was the right time to try it?

I cautiously walked towards the animal, not wanting to scare it away. I'd got to about 30 meters away when I stopped. I stared at the Exarosaur, concentrating on it, willing something to happen, just as described in the guide. My breathing had involuntarily become slow and deep - so much so that I'd never recalled feeling quite so relaxed in an unfamiliar environment in my life until now. But nothing had happened. Perhaps I needed to be closer?

I moved towards the animal again - only by another six or seven meters this time. At this point I tried concentrating again. Again, my breathing was slow and deep, and I felt totally relaxed. I focused on the animal in front of me, like I was looking at something that I totally longed for. Suddenly, I was enveloped in a green haze. This was a shock. Seeing my hands glowing more intensely was a bit un-nerving too. I'd read about the mystical properties of this part of the universe but had kind of dismissed them as a fairy-tale.

"What next?", I wondered. I think the guide said to do the same thing again to collect sweat. I focused on the animal again, and a beam of green light travelled from the Exarosaur to me, as several small bottles of what I presumed was sweat appeared in the palm of my hands. My joy at a successful sweating was short-lived, however. An animalistic groan drew my attention to this previously placid-appearing creature bearing down on me.

"Ouch!", I cried as the Exarosaur bit me. And again, drawing blood from my arm this time as I'd tried to shield myself. I ran back towards the town. The sound of the traders that had earlier been a source of irritation to me now seemed more welcome as they got louder and louder. The Exarosaur bit me on the back of the leg as I ran away from it, but just as I thought I was going to get badly mauled by this angry beast the sound of machine gun fire rang out.

By now I was sprawled on the ground. I slowly looked around to see the bullet-filled corpse of the Exarosaur lying a few metres from me. I then looked up to see a small plume of smoke from a partially hiden machine gun turret.

"You're new here, aren't you?", a voice said.

"Um, er, yes", I gasped. "How did you know? Do these things attack only new settlers?"

"No", said the tall man who'd seen me running for my life. "You're still in orange!"

This man was holding a flat box in his out-stretched hand. As I got back to my feet and dusted myself down, he did something with the box.

"There you go", he said before running off without giving me the chance to say anything else. I was going to ask where I could find a first aider but he'd gone. But then, as I went to tend to my gashed upper-left arm I realised that it was no longer injured. It ached a little, but it appeared undamaged. Did that tall man do something to heal me? I guess I'll never know...


to be continued...

[Dusk]

Somewhat puzzled by my experience with the Exarosaur and the incredible vanishing gaping wound in my arm, I headed back into Port Atlantis.

I stood by the one of the walls that enclose the teleporter, just observing the actions of the traders. I figured that this was safer than going outside to where the animals were. Suddenly, a smartly dressed man stood in front of me.

"D'you wanna join my society?", he asked.

"Er... what?"

"My society", he replied. "Do you want to join? We're about to go on a TP run."

I was still none the wiser so asked this guy to explain himself further.

"We'll take you to other teleporters", he said. "You'll be able to use more of the teleporter network as you visit more."

Now to me, for someone who grew up on repeats of Star Trek, the whole notion of teleporters was a strange one anyway. I'd seen the fiction, but had also read up on the theory of being taken apart and then re-assembled atom-by-atom and it had been described as near to impossible. Having said that, the sweating and the seemingly spontaneous healing of my arm were strange. I was in a strange place, it seemed.

"Why can't I use the teleporters anyway?", I enquired.

"You need to visit the one's that you want to travel to", was the response.

"Why is that?"

"Because there are no physical controls on these things", was the reply. "You have to use your mind, but to do that you have to see and feel the location."

Puzzled further I said nothing.

"Tell you what, mate", the man continued. "Don't worry about joining the society, just come with us anyway."

"Hmm... yeah, okay", I responded cautiously.

Several minutes later I was at the West exit with three other orange-clad new settlers, and three guys who appeared to be wearing armour and holding firearms. The man who'd offered to take me on this teleporter run, who's name I'd now discovered was Garrick, instructed the two other armour-wearing men to keep to the rear of the group, and that us "noobs" should follow him.

Garrick ran through the West exit with the rest of us trailing behind. I felt fairly safe as part of a group although I didn't enjoy wading through shallow swamp water as we passed some stables.

"We're heading for the sweat camp first, just so that you know it", Garrick barked back to us. I think he was slightly irritated because he kept having to stop so that we could catch up with him. Life on Earth had been mostly sedentary, so I wasn't as fit as I should've been and running and wading through water isn't the easiest thing to do. I witnessed Garrick shoot several Exarosaurs on route to our first stop at the sweat camp. We arrived there about five minutes after leaving Port Atlantis. The place consisted of a few buildings that resembled portacabins. And it was busy. The sweat camp was very much an appropriate name.

"Okay noobs", said Garrick. "Have you got your Data Pads with you?"

When I'd boarded the flight for Calypso several months before, I'd been issued with a New Settler Pack. As well as the hideous orange jumpsuit, this pack also contained a device that resembled a PDA.

With everyone answering in the affirmative Garrick showed each of us in turn how to use these devices. This included the map feature and how to reference my current location. With that job done, the group continued in what I could now see was a north-east direction.

As we ran behind Garrick, I could see trouble ahead. Garrick started shooting at a group of animals in front of us. They numbered probably eight or nine creatures who then turned on the group. Garrick had killed four of these animals when one of them passed him and tried to take my leg as a snack. Blood was pouring everywhere and I was panicking. This creature then squealed and fell to the ground, motionless. The men at the back of the group had finished off the whole cluster of animals, not that I cared much at this point as I was writhing in pain.

"Hold still", yelled one of the men. Through my pain, I was aware that this man was now holding a flat box. This was just as the tall man back at the North exit at Port Atlantis had done. He motioned the box towards me, and the pain was gone.

"Wha...?", I gasped.

"He just healed you", said one of the other noobs.

"How is that possible?", I asked. "He didn't even touch me".

"Anything is possible here", answered the man with the flat box. "One day, you'll own one of these, maybe one that's more powerful even."

I felt totally bemused, but at the same time had an answer to the puzzle of what happened in the moments after my first encounter with that Exarosaur back at Port Atlantis.

The rest of this part of the teleporter run, or TP run, was pretty much uneventful. More grass, more shallow swamp water, some animals that could jump five metres into the air but were quickly despatched by Garrick and his friends. Also a climb up a hill.


Twenty minutes after we'd set out, we arrived at a new settlement.

"Welcome to Billy's Spaceship Afterworld", smiled Garrick. And it was. More portacabins, a teleporter just like at Port Atlantis, what looked like a fenced off boxing ring, and dozens of smashed up spaceships.

"Get this place on your Data Pads, then try out the TP", Garrick advised. "Just stand on it and think of PA. Then when you get there, think of being here to return."

I gingerly stood on the teleporter, picturing the scene at Port Atlantis with its warm air and all its hustle and bustle. A blinding flash later and I was stood there, just about a metre from the edge of the teleporter.

"Wow", I thought. "Can this be real?"

Deciding I ought to get back to where I'd come from, I stood on the teleporter and thought of where I'd just left. It happened again - a blinding flash of light and I was back amongst the wrecked spaceships.

"Have a look around", called one of Garrick's friends, who was stood nearby. "We're gonna go and get some ammo. We'll be a few minutes."

At this point my attention was drawn to laughter coming from that structure that resembled a fenced off boxing ring. I walked over, noticing four people stood in this ring. I walked up the ramp to step in but as I did so I heard a panic-stricken voice.

"Don't go in th....."

to be continued...

[Oracle]

Hey Dusk, nice stories and easy to read and relate to

Just curious, based on any of your own EU experiences or all fictional?

[Dusk]

Originally Posted by Oracle

Hey Dusk, nice stories and easy to read and relate to

Just curious, based on any of your own EU experiences or all fictional?

Some of the stuff is based on experiences that pretty much anyone who's played for a few weeks will have experienced, I'd imagine.

Some is pure fiction, and some is based in part at least on real life.

And there is more to come. Part three will be later in the week/weekend with two more already written.

[Richard Devil]

great work i love them +rep

[Vytautas]

Lol very nice story, i love this!