Prologue
It wasn’t a voice nor was it an emotion, could this place truly be as they said? Could it be alive?
The unrelenting nag in the depths of Aliviana’s mind drove her near insane and had ever since she landed on Valdaria. The mist from the thousands of chemical vats wafted a feeling of dread towards her ship the moment it entered the atmosphere.
The alchemists inquired of her the reason regarding her visit in that harsh language of theirs. The only ones who were practiced in the guttural dialect of Valdaria, aside from its inhabitants were the hunters and high ranking men and women of The Order. She’d known it since childhood and has been fluent since before she could remember. Although Iacdesh wasn’t the first language she had learned it was one she would never forget. It stuck with her since the first moment she used it. That moment wasn’t much different than this one. Both of which included her weapons loaded and hers senses on high alert. Valdaria may have been the most secure and guarded place in the galaxy but Aliviana never felt less safe than when she entered its dread infested orbit. The simple act of looking at the planet instilled unease in her heart.
A quick conversation took place, one in which held no pleasantries and all business. The alchemists meant business and only business, that was one thing she liked about them. Upon establishing she was who she claimed and that she wasn’t lying nor was she here on false pretense the masked men shoved her aside and entered her ship. That simple action nearly drove her weapons from their holsters and these men's bodies to their graves. No one disrespected a hunter… except the alchemists but even they knew there was a limit. The assassins of the order, while being loyal, were no more than trained attack dogs. If treated badly they might turn on their masters.
The men emerged promptly with a prisoner, they pushed and prodded him all the way down the ramp. One of the rifle toting scientists dead legged the prisoner with the butt of his gun then aimed it at his head while another added a pair of cuffs in addition to the ones he already wore. Not only that but they blindfolded him as well and then to top it all off, injected a serum into his neck. Once his screams finally ceased they loaded him into a cage and that was it, they all gathered onto an elevator and disappeared into the depths of Valdaria, the depths of hell.
The entire scene was surreal, being back here, not being shot at. It all felt… Impossible. With a calm that didn’t at all match her emotions she walked back up the ramp of her ship while it retracted behind her. She tapped a few buttons on her wrist and vanished. A few more buttons and a hole opened up in the floor. Aliviana fell through and landed in a crouch on the metal platform she had just left. The guards around the platform watched her ship intently as it lifted off. In seconds the ship was off into the smoggy atmosphere and she was off as well. Only she wasn’t leaving like she wished. No, she was off to join her friend in hell but first she had another mission.
Aliviana approached the guards slowly and when a few feet remained between her and the ten or so men remaining on the platform she reached into her pocket and fished out a cigarette. After sticking it in her mouth she drew her guns, lifted one to her mouth and aimed it at the end of her cigarette. She fired a single shot, taking out one of the guards with it and upon seeing a small plume of smoke rise from her mouth she raised both guns and proceeded to light up the rest of the guards. With the signal fire and the deaths of the guards hundreds of ships entered the planet's atmosphere and opened fire. They swarmed like locusts, destroying everything in their paths.
Aliviana took a step forward, the first step to freedom. This was war.
