Dispatch #20: “A Fear Unbeknownst”

“Destiny’s Fortune, come in Destiny’s Fortune.” said RIngbolt over the holographic video transponder. With no Captains aboard the ship, JB was the only member of the team left that had the capability of approving and answering such forms of communication.

“Destiny’s Fortune, can you hear me?” said Ringbolt, growing impatient by the second.

“Of all times not to answer the –”

“Here, I’m here.” said JB gasping after sprinting across the Flight Deck to answer the Thealuvian leader’s call. The ship hadn’t been more split up throughout their entire journey than it was at the current moment. With Josh and Risk who knows where and the Commanders getting ready for departure, most jobs were abundant as well as thankless.

“JB, where are the Commanders? What’s going on?” said Ringbolt, a stern tone coming from the holographic video that turned the heads of some recruits inside the ship who were within proximity of the conversation.

“My liege, I’m all we have right now in terms of crew members that can make hierarchical ship and mission decisions. The Commanders have gone down to the hangar to prepare to explore the planet Zolturia that they had heard in passing at the casino. Since the remaining Captains and Lieutenants went with them, I’m pretty much here by myself just waiting for updates. I won’t really know any more information in terms of next steps until I hear word from their two-ways.” said JB, a hint of worry in his reply.

“Not to worry, at ease.” said Ringbolt, “I am, however, going to give you a set of instructions on how to proceed. They are imperative to the rest of our missions moving forward.”

“I’m all ears, sir!” said JB, “Fire away.”

Ringbolt cleared his throat as if to prepare for a long speech.

“Upon our examination of the magma scarring that took place on Loborio, King Aras and the scientists of Simia discovered traces of power that seem to be linked to the same types of energy flowing within the Seal of Ilsendor. The magma scarring of Loborio was not an incident, and we could even go as far as stating that the attack on Simia was just a diversion for the Legion of Wen’s greater goal: hunting moons for seal pieces.”

Ringbolt paused, taken aback at his own words. Noticing the unwillingness within his dear friend to continue, King Aras chimed in to continue relaying information to JB.
“It is stated in ancient Simian scripture that the one who holds both the map to the moons and the completed Seal of Ilsendor has the ability to harness the greatest powers of the Arderean galaxy. If these two types of magic are indeed in the same family, then our worst fears have been realized. The Legion of Wen, specifically Nifty, must have Ilsendor’s map to the moons. It’s the only way that he’s been able to stay one step ahead of us over our past several destinations.”

The King paused for a brief moment to wrap his head around their recent discoveries. After a few moments of meditation, he continued the video transmission.

“Thankfully, we’re able to gain a ton of information through historically cross-referencing the Seal’s archives within Simian scripture, which should give us the slight advantage we will need if we have any shot of anticipating where the Legion of Wen is off to next. This brings me to my next point and Destiny’s Fortune’s next destination: Zolturia II.”

“Wait,” interrupted JB, “There’s a Zolturia II?”

“Yes, a second there is, indeed.” said Ringbolt, back from his initial divulgence. “The planet of Zolturia was host to a civilization that didn’t respect the land passed down to them from previous generations. Over the last hundred years or so, the amount of pollution and irreversible damage done to the planet got to the point of mass extinction, forcing them to rebuild the Zolturian civilization on the orbiting nearby moon, later named Zolturia II. Your team isn’t going to find anything worth a rip on that wasteland of a rock.”

“Hmm, wonder where I’ve heard that before.” muttered JB sarcastically under his breath, his mind tracing back to his days on Earth.

“One last thing, JB.” said King Aras. “We believe that the Legion of Wen is after the relic of Zolturia next. While we don’t think that the seal piece itself is on the original Zolturia, there are signs in our research that point to the relic being split in two from previous wars. Meaning, you’ll need to have both relic pieces in order to insert the full assembly into the Seal of Ilsendor. If we have any more leads on where to look, we’ll shoot them over to Destiny’s Fortune’s ship log. For now though, relay that message to your team and get everyone back in the same place. We’ll be in touch soon.”

“Easier said than done. Stay vigilant my friends.” said JB as he disconnected from the transmission. Before he could wrap his head around the conversation he had, another transmission was coming in from the Commanders.

- — -

Commander Von flipped the switch, bringing the dusty and muck-covered hoverboard to life for what appeared to be the first time in ages. Taking a running head start, Von leapt onto the board, gliding seamlessly around the warehouse like he’d been riding that technology his entire life.

“Awwwwhh heck yeah, dude!” yelled Von, pure excitement blasting into the rest of the crew’s space helmets. “You guys have to try this baby out!”

Commander Sean rolled his eyes as the Lieutenants watched and cheered on their Commander’s maneuverability with the newly discovered hoverboard. Before he had the chance to drily respond to his counterpart, his transmission effort to Destiny’s Fortune finally connected in the Flight Deck.

“Commander, come in. Can you hear me?” said JB over the two-way.

“Loud and clear, we’re live from Zolturia. An absolutely disgusting wasteland of a planet.” said Sean, trying to talk over the cheers and yelling from Von’s watch party. “Also, Von is riding a hoverboard of all things, don’t ask.”

“No time to get into details, but two quick things,” said JB. “First, King Aras and Ringbolt found some pretty incredible information after studying a few things in the Simian archives. Second, you guys are in the wrong place. I’ll send you the actual coordinates to Zolturia II, the planet you’re on is deserted and I’d get out of there before you find something that knows you don’t belong.”

As soon as JB finished relaying his message, Von looked back at the Lieutenants just long enough to not see a pile of boxes lying in front of him. Everyone cringed at the crash as the hoverboard continued to soar away into the dark corner of the unexplored warehouse. Commander Von picked himself up and tried to say he was alright, but he noticed that the sound of the hoverboard had stopped, resulting in an eerily awkward silence.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” said Command Sean, already anticipating what was coming next as he put his hand on his holster.

A stomach-churning roar came from the darkness of the warehouse. The crew was not alone…