Happy Halloween Ophidian 2350 fans! Join the Gladiator Cray Phillips, in a future version of Ophidian, with a trip to his roots on a short break from the Arenas. Although some things in town may not be quite the same as he remembered. Join this holiday exclusive episode reading below!
Ophidian' Tales of the Lost Frontier - Part 01 of 02
2355, Near Raba Planet, Justich System
I'm returning home... These two weeks away from the world are gonna taste like sweets. I need to concentrate to manage to arrange the settings of my newest acquisition, the Topka Gar League. As it's imperative that I must not let the Grakkan League into 2nd place, as we are growing every day and at this rate, I believe that we'll be able to enter into direct confrontation with the 'Phidians for this year ratings. sometimes I miss my days as a Topka Gar player or even as an Ophidian League Gladiator... This business man’s life is killing me faster than a fight with Prince of Gates.
«As we prepare for landing, please make sure your tray tables and seat backs are in their upright positions. At this time, please turn off and stow all electronic devices prior to landing,» shouts Captain Orin via the Freighter com system.
Just a couple of seconds later, a gorgeous silver-skinned Flight Attendant comes near me... "Mr. Phillips, do you have a last request?" That didn’t sound me well, but this is not the first time, nor will be the last time that I use the old Raba Spacelines, so yeah I do like this old fashioned way of doing things. As I gently decline the Flight attendant’s offer, she rushed to her seat in order to lock her seat belt for a hard descent into Raba's Spaceport.
I gaze the window near me and I realize everything I disliked about this place remains the same. Things do not change around here, no matter what, these folks got stuck in the old ways and they don’t want or wish to improve their ways. It’s stupid and I always disliked that, but today this redneck town is exactly what I need...
And even though I've got to approve the Grakkan League 2356 rooster, which I hope to have it completed in two days, that leaves me little more than a week and a half to review the overall contact as well as the players' contracts, the judges/announcers and the rest of the stuff in order to start broadcasting the brand new Topka Gar League. After that, I also need to come up with a cross-promotion to bring new fans in. When accomplished those tasks I should have a couple of days to wander the town and rest a little bit.
* * * *
City of Nitsua, Raba Planet
Two hours later I finally arrive at Rest Inn, the only hotel in town. I'm having a weird feeling this time. Usually, in my return home, a mixed feeling welcomes me. But, this time, it's different. This time things don't seem quite the same, since the last time I've been here - 8 years ago... Ordinarily, I would have a couple of parades and parties to attend, but today, the streets are empty. And even inside the Inn, the other customers look at me as they were afraid of something, but no one dares to say a thing to me.
I really do not care, I've too much stuff to do, so I headed to the reception and asked for the key to my room. The receptionist is the same old maiden that is almost part of the furniture, but this time she doesn't bring the cozy smile she used to have. Instead, as I approached the balcony, she gazed me in the eyes, and with a soft whisper, she told... "I don't know what brings you here stranger, but you might want to leave soon...".
"Miss Mary, it's me, Cray! Cray Phillips! Don't you recognize me? I used to play here all the time"
"Sorry, Mister, never seen your looks before."
I gave her a shy smile and left for my room. Something is really strange, but I'm too tired to think about it now, just got to rest a little. After all, it has been a 16-hour ship trip.
* * * *
I awake a couple of hours later with the sound of glass breaking by a huge fight. I gaze the Inn window and the streets are once again empty. So I take a Phase-Blade and a Helix Corp MX-874 pistol from my bag and left my room in order to try to discover from where that sound came.
To my disbelief, as soon as I arrived at the Inn’s atrium, the old lady approaches me without notice... "You're not welcome here... go back to your room..."
I tried to reply, but something crazy happened: her face morphed into a demonic horror... "LEAVE NOW… YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE…" and pushes me with a superhuman strength that throws me through one of the Inn's windows...
I blacked out for a moment, then I started hearing some steps running in my way, but I couldn't tell for sure if I was imagining stuff... as my sight was blurry and I had zoomed in my hearings...
* * * *
"Lilandra, please check his vitals" shouted a shadow with a grave voice, sounding strangely similar to a Gladiator that I'm trying to acquire from Ophidian League.
"They're regular, he was not possessed. So, despite a couple of fractures, he's okay"
"Glad to hear that, we need all hands we can get, can you wake him up?"
"I believe so, let me try!".
Suddenly I felt an energy spike running through my body and a gentle hand slapping my face..."Mr. Phillips, can you hear me?"
Still dizzy and with my sight obfuscated, I manage to see a big red eye staring at me, from what seemed a female body and next to her that familiar shadow once again. I tried to reach him... "Lothar?"
"Try to relax Mr. Phillips, you had a near-death encounter", said the female form. My sight was returning, at least partially, so I could now uncover her face. She was a beautiful woman, purple hair, and a cybernetic eye. Unfortunately, the other figure was still out of my eyesight. She continued talking while my senses were returning to me..."Mr. Phillips, my name's Lilandra Kain, you're safe for now."
"What happened?" I inquired.
"What happened Mr. Phillips is that this town was attacked by some spirit or spectral forces", said the other figure.
"How that happens? And who're you?"
"The name's Tim Duncan but I'm known as Mean-Machine, bud. But regarding what happened, we do not know for sure. A couple of months ago, the town people started disappearing, only to shortly reappear on the far edge of town, acting strangely. They started acting as they didn't know the rest of the folks, only the ones that had disappeared managed to act friendly with each other." The man paused, and then he continued... "At first, those incidents were scarce, but then, most of the town folks changed. And that's not the worst. The worst happened when a near town bus arrived with some visitors and they were killed in the sight. And that wasn't the last incident we had with town visitors. All of them had a violent death."
"Does that mean I could be dead?"
"That's correct Mr. Phillips, you were marked by the old lady in the Inn," said Lilandra.
"Call me Cray, and how can we stop this?" I inquired.
TO BE CONCLUDED IN A COUPLE OF DAYS! Have a Happy Halloween, everyone!
0 Comments