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Starbound: A Space Odyssey

As red tentacles burst from the ground, the whole planet trembled and fell into chaos. It was the beginning....the beginning of the end. Earth was destroyed with the attack of the mysterious creature. The Terrene Protectorate, the defenders of the universe, were left in shambles after the attack on Earth. Only a few people were able to flee from the planet before its complete destruction. John Connor, an 18 years old fresh graduate Protector, was one of those lucky enough to survive and escape. Armed only with his dubious expertise and a few tools, he will have to avoid the dangers the universe without the Terrene Protectorate can offer, repair his ship, restore the symbol of a defunct organisation and carry the burdens of the fate of the world that lies on his shoulders. Surviving in this turbulent era won't be easy for our inexperienced John Connor. With the end of the Terrene Protectorate, numerous factions that were once dormant, will rise and start to fight for power. Outlaws, fanatics, greedy corporations, and governments, the conflict of interests of those groups and factions will lead to an incredible amount of deaths. Follow John Connor as he explores the wonders of the endless universe, and discover how harsh and unforgiving reality can be. --------------- Chapters will be about 1000 to 1500 words. (Except for some special chapters.) ------------------ * YOU CAN READ THIS WITHOUT EVER PLAYING THE GAME OR KNOWING THE LORE! EVERYTHING IS EXPLAINED THROUGHOUT THE CHAPTERS, AND EVEN HAVE SOME AUXILIARY CHAPTERS WITH MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION. I also had to change a lot about the lore of the game to fit in the format of a novel, I really mean a lot, since the game itself doesn't give a lot about its lore and neither have detailed storytelling, since the focus of the game was in exploration and doing whatever the player wants. ------------------- Disclaimer: This Novel is based on the videogame Starbound by Chuckle Fish. The image is from the artist LemanRush; I downloaded it from the site DeviantArt. Also, sorry about my English, it isn't my primary language. Enjoy... :D

ArthurHFSS · Sci-fi
Not enough ratings
185 Chs

Graduation (4)

*Blam*

John was knocked on the wall by the green blur.

He coughed and took some time to recover himself before he realized he was in someone else's bulky arms.

"Release me!" He demanded John as he struggled to get off from Zyanya's clutches.

"Nop, don't feel like doing it." Zyanya instantly rejected John's demand and walked back towards Cael and Liese that had already begun amicably chatting with each other.

John tried once again, but he found himself powerless in the face of a monster such as Zyanya.

"Good morning, John." Liese giggled when she saw how Zyanya was holding him.

Her eyes sparkled like stars as her mouth curled up in an enchanting and innocent smile.

Cael absentmindedly looked at Liese before looking away with a faint blush over his face.

Of course, his reaction was seen by John that reveled a knowing smile towards Cael.

Cael narrowed his eyes and fiercely glared at John. His eyes were clearly saying something along the lines of, [Don't you dare say anything, or else...]

John lifted his chin and glared back, [Or else, what? I have no secret and neither weakness, what can you do against me?]

*Tch* Cael clicked his tongue and broke contact with John's eyes. Although he was unwilling to admit defeat, he really couldn't do anything with John.

Cael had already hacked the systems and even the government to find information about John, but he never saw anything unusual.

John Connor was basically an orphan found in some planet near the Beta Sector's Frontier, right at the border.

Because of the talent, he showed since young, he was retrieved from the orphanage send sent back to Earth to become a future member of the Terrene Protectorate.

His background was as simple as that.

There was basically no information about John's parents and would be very difficult, almost impossible to find who they are since. Apparently, he came from a border planet, and those planets lack information and government control on the people around there.

There was only one thing that Cael found, and it was fascinating, but since he wasn't sure, he kept quiet and didn't mention it at all about it.

"Let me go." John said through his gritted teeth.

Liese covered her mouth and laughed.

Some people that were around the area also saw the situation and tried to keep the poker face. Still, it was easy to see their mouths twitching as they watched the young man being easily held down by the monstrous-looking Floran.

Zyanya looked at John that was on her arms and reached her hand towards John's head.

"Now, now..." She spoke as she rubbed his head.

John froze by the sudden action before struggling even harder to set himself free while angrily demanding Zyanya to release him.

It went for about a few minutes before Zyanya reluctantly let John go after Liese coaxed her to do so.

John stepped away and created some distance between himself and Zyanya while fixing his clothes and hair that Zyanya messed up.

Liese smiled and said, "We are going back to the dormitory to grab my friends, do you guys want to come?"

"No, thank you." John immediately rejected without bothering to hide his annoyance and rudeness.

Liese didn't take it as an offense, in fact, she pretty much liked this side of John that didn't care about people's background and appearance, he always treated people the same.

Cael looked between John and Liese, wondering if he should stay with John or go with Liese.

John saw his hesitation and decided it was time for some payback, "Lolicon!"

"John!" Cael angrily glared at John before worriedly glancing at Liese.

Liese just innocently looked at John, "Lolicon?"

"Yes, you know-"

"That's enough." Cael interrupted John while sending threatening glances at him.

Liese was confused as she tilted her head to the side while innocently looking between John and Cael.

Zyanya also was confused and thoughtfully scratched her chin.

"Let's go, let's go." Cael was worried that John would still try to get a payback and pushed Liese and Zyanya away.

"Bye, John. Till later!" Liese shouted.

Zyanya also said goodbye and walked with Cael and Liese away.

[Damn...] John looked away and left the place, [How annoying those fellows.]

...

As they were walking away, Liese turned to her side and asked Zyanya, "Zyanya, why do you always act that way towards John?"

Zyanya revealed a smile and said, "Because he's just like me. We're both orphans, I somewhat understand him. In fact, he always had this lofty aura around him that gives the impression he greatly disliked people and preferred to be alone. I was like that as well, thinking I'm alone in the world, thinking that nobody understands me. If I haven't met you, Liese, I would have stayed a loner and don't carrying about anything else."

Cael was surprised that Zyanya said something deep as she was often seen as a fool and dumb.

Liese sweetly smiled, "Is that so? But from the looks of it, he really doesn't like social interactions; he rather stay alone. Even after all these years trying to get close to him, you never got close to break that wall he made around himself to protect against everything and everyone."

"He's strange, that's certain." Cael spoke, "Despite disliking to socialize, his desire to save people and protect them is real and strong."

"Of course." Liese said, "He might be a loner, but that doesn't mean he hates people. He's just misunderstood."

"I don't know." Cael shrugged his shoulders, "He's a strange one that's certain."

"What about his background, found anything interesting?" Liese asked.

"Not really." Cael shook his head as he spoke, "He's clean, there's nothing wrong with his character and neither background."

"So, Cael, do you think he is worth being friends with him?" Liese asked.

"Yes, despite not being very high in the ranks, he's very hard-working and will inevitably be big in no time."

"Hmm..." Liese scratched her chin before saying, "Let's get closer to him after today. I don't want such good seedling to be corrupted by the shady inner workings of the Terrene Protectorate. It will be for the best if we find a way to make him join the UEG."

"But I must warn you, Liese. John Connor is a scary man in his own way. His sense of justice doesn't allow any kind of evil and unfairness to exist. In his eyes, the world is separated in black and white, good and evil, there's no gray area. Without a doubt, he looks to be perfect for the role we have in mind, but he can also be a thorn that would create great damage to ourselves since we operate in this said gray area. His selflessness knows no bounds, if one day he deems us unworthy or evil, he will spare no strength and efforts to bring us down with him."

"I know the consequences, but I just can't let such a fine person with a strong sense of justice leave. Cael, you should not worry about this at the moment, we still have a lot of time before putting our plan on action."

"Yes, Young Miss."

"The future belongs to us, the new generation. We are going to weed out those old fogies that corrupted the UEG and Terrene Protectorate. They brought humanity to a new low, and we became nothing but toys for Letheia Corporation and Miniknog. We're going to bring a new era upon humanity and bring us back to greatness."

Cael nodded and bowed towards Liese before turning to look at Zyanya that was already daydreaming and not at all interested in the conversation between Cael and Liese.

Seeing Zyanya like this made Cael helplessly sigh as he thought about their plans for the future.