chapter 1

Starblade: A voyage to Odyssey and The Shadow Empire from Cosmic Void.

CHAPTER 1

I am Cassian Blackthorn, or Cass for short. I am humanoid and around 6 feet, which is an average build. I look casual to blend in bars or a crowd, and if I get into trouble, I can get out of dodge with anyone following me. I wear boots with black pants tucked in the pants. I had a charcoal gun belt holster. I got a grey long-sleeved T-shirt and a black leather jacket. It was very worn-looking, but it did the job. My gun is a pistol blaster model v 45 from my home planet, Veridian, which I've heavily modified to fire very quickly and accurately. You never know when you Will need it, especially as a smuggler. Some people called me a loveable rouge and always getting into trouble. Some people thought I had someone in every spaceport. But that's not true. That side of me was just for show for everyone else to see. Anyways, I can talk myself out of trouble. I've always tried to keep myself on the right side of the law. I worked hard to get to this point, And I got all my pilot licenses many years ago. I work for two and three companies to get my fright licences from light and heavy fright. I have put in a lot of effort to achieve the level of skill that I currently possess. Once I set my mind to something, I am determined to achieve it. I earned my pilot's license several years ago to demonstrate my abilities to others. I could fly a hover speeder from nine or ten or something like that. I was shown how to fly them from the age of six. I've always been able to pick things up fast. I knew how to do it before I was shown how to do things. I was always good at playing card games like I had. It was, in a sense, that did get me in trouble all because people said I was cheating all the time. But that's not true. I just knew what they had somehow. I did wonder how I knew what they had in their hand. I just thought I was good at reading people.

I am a charismatic and daring smuggler who frequently acts in my interest, yet I consistently make ethical choices. My expertise as a pilot and in combat dramatically contributes to my effectiveness. Everyone knows how good I am at what I do if I say I am myself. I am not being cocky. When I say it, I am good at talking out of trouble or whatever big mess I get into. I am good at what I do, so I earn Aurelium, like Gold from Earth. I get bored from time to time by both sides: security, police or military security. I would ask what they need transport for, where and when. I would tell them to pay extra if they don't have any military entanglement. That's where being an excellent pilot comes in handy. It becomes useful if you can fly quickly and know what they are doing before they do. It also helps to talk yourself out of trouble and charm yourself out of things.

My co-pilot is Zyloq Thrix, but I call Z for short; he's tall, slender, and extra-terrestrial with shimmering, iridescent blue skin. It has an oval-shaped Head with large, almond-shaped black eyes, small breathing openings below the eyes, and a thin, lipless mouth. Instead of traditional hair, it has long, flexible tendrils. Zyloq's hands and feet have six digits with retractable claws, and their overall posture is upright yet fluid. It wears a close-fitting, Metallic-looking garment adorned with intricate patterns that light up. This creature exudes an aura of Aurorae intelligence, and its appearance is otherworldly and captivating. Z and I have been through a lot together, and our bond is unbreakable. We understand each other without words, and our teamwork is unparalleled.

We could do with more crew to fly, maintain the spaceship and do anything else. But we seem to get it done between us. We worked together for so long that we knew what each other would do before we did what each Other did. We have a droid that helps us to do things. The spaceship computer helps with navigation at breakneck speeds, drives the autopilot, and diagnoses spaceships. We had made some modifications to the spacecraft. It had some hidden guns they shot on auto at anything that moved. These guns were a precautionary measure, used when we were on the ground if anything undesirable came along or anyone wanted how to board us. Before I was a smuggler, I was a freight pilot. I delivered machinery, tools, medical equipment, medicine, food and drinks. It paid us okay, especially if you get back-to-back deliveries from one planet to the other. I was always careful it was not illegal, as far as I knew. So, if we got boarded by any official types, I could show them what they needed, and hopefully, they would be on their way and keep them happy. Sometimes, the fewer questions asked, the better for a few reasons: time is money, and the other point is you don't want your ship to strip apart and the impounded they pay to get in the back and then the time to put back together afterwards. We don't need any hazel in our type of business and get a bad reputation, which is also bad for business.

I am Stuck in the middle of the biggest battle you've ever seen, just Trying to survive. I'll always seem to survive no matter what I get myself into. I smudged things from both sides. The only thing I would not smudge was any weapons or bombs. It was primarily medical staff and anyone who needed something. The overall look of this futuristic spaceship would be a seamless blend of form and function, exuding an aura of advanced technology and streamlined efficiency. It would stand as a testament to humanity's sanity and ambition in exploring the far reaches of the cosmos. It has two engines: one to move about short distances and land or dock. It's powerful. It is an antimatter engine that uses matter-antimatter annihilation to produce immense thrust. It also has a Quantum Slipstream Drive. This revolutionary propulsion system utilises quantum entanglement and spatial folding to create a slipstream through space-time, allowing The Starblade Velocity to travel at speeds far exceeding the speed of light. It could reach up to 10,000 times the speed of light, making intergalactic travel possible. That was when it was built. I got it up to 14,000 times the speed of light. The only problem is that it uses a lot more fuel than usual. My ship is equipped with Adaptive Shielding Technology, which features a dynamic shielding system that can adjust to different dangers in space, such as cosmic radiation, micrometeoroids, and enemy attacks. This technology uses energy fields and layers of nanomaterials to absorb and redirect potential threats. The Starblade Velocity is equipped with an Artificial Gravity Matrix. It utilises an artificial gravity system to mimic Earth-like conditions and prioritise crew comfort and operational efficiency. It does not do much but has what it needs to get me around when needed. The ship is fast and has places to smuggle things under the floor and walls. You can smuggle anything in them.

It was only sometimes like this. So, I'll start from the beginning. It was a peaceful planet called Xyrlaxis: it is 92.96 million miles from our sun. Other plants travel in the same orbit as ours, but it's 46 million miles from ours. Well, this is what happened on our planet about 20 years ago. Two continents were sitting on the equator. They were a Veridian about 1000 miles apart and were all well just before the trouble started. The two continents are called Aquilonis, where I was from, and the other is called. We live in the Xyrlaxis plant, but this is where the problem started. A probe had landed on our planet, so both sides downloaded the data. We found it was from Earth. It had all kinds of information on it, like the history of the Earth, all its music, films, entertainment, sports, and all the sciences and mythical equations.

The probe also had a counter saying how long it had been sent from Earth. So, The Aquilonis and Veridians decided to work together to build a ship at First. But someone suggested that the continents work separately for some competition, which may help make them faster. Plus, they would have two ships if one failed. They both agreed on the specifications of the spaceships. It had to be Fast spaceships so we could get there in someone's lifetime. They both would use the one the spacecraft would go to Earth. Both sides decided the ship needed to use Quantum Slipstream Drive to get there in a lifetime. It also requires lots of time to build them and pool the resources, such as money and materials, each need from both sides. If one continent did not need something, they would see if the other side needed it.

I can almost feel the adrenalin pulsing through my veins as I tell you this: here I am, Cass, and I'm caught in a thematic battle for survival. But guess what? I always manage to survive, no matter what challenges! I'm a bit of a maverick – I've dabbled in both sides of the conflict, but one thing's for sure – I never mess with weapons or bombs. I've always been there for those in need, providing medical assistance and support to anyone who requires it.

Now, let me tell Do you know about the fantastic spaceship I commandeered? Picture this: a futuristic marvel, a seamless fusion of form and function, radiating with the aura of cutting-edge technology and unparalleled efficiency. This vessel Boasts not one but two. First, an Antimatter Engine that harnesses matter-antimatter annihilation to propel us forward with immense force. And if that wasn't enough, we've got a Quantum Slipstream Drive. This revolutionary propulsion system uses quantum entanglement and spatial folding to transport us through space-time at speeds exceeding the speed of light. Yes, you heard that right – we're talking about intergalactic travel at speeds up to 14,000 times the speed of light! But hold on, there's more. My ship was fitted with Adaptive Shielding Technology, a dynamic defence system that adapts to various threats in space, from cosmic radiation to enemy attacks. And that's not all – an Artificial Gravity Matrix ensures we experience Earth-like conditions, keeping us comfortable and efficient on our daring voyages.

Let's rewind and journey back to Xyrlaxis, a planet 92.96 million miles from our sun, with other neighbouring planets orbiting within 46 million miles. Fifty years ago, a mysterious probe from Earth sparked a rivalry between the continents Aquilonis and Veridian. Both sides raced to harness their knowledge and technology to build a spaceship. The thrilling competition is on to see whose ship will reach Earth first. With fast spaceships aiming to reach Earth within a lifetime, prepare for a breathtaking adventure through the cosmos. The stakes are high, the excitement palpable – are you ready for the ride of a lifetime? Because I sure am!

So it was all going great. Both sides worked at the same speed, getting up and testing the spaceships. They both stated that they were running the engines in their space dock before the big test to see if they would work at the fastest speeds. So, it's been about 30 years ago. Getting resources and technology just for the engines takes a lot of time. Then, they had to build a spaceship around whatever path they had brought for the engines to power the spaceships. Both spaceships looked very different. Our one looks like a very stressed line so that it could land in an atmosphere like Earth. They looked bulky because they would send tiny spaceships down to the surface of Earth. You could do whatever spaceship shape you like in space because there's no friction. So, it was a cube versus a streamlined ship. It would go at the same speed in space in therapy. Any Item moving through space. It will maintain its velocity and direction unless it is influenced to change. This concept is Newton's second law of motion. Space contains many objects, so consistent movement typically doesn't last long. They kept building and testing new designs, but some did not work and blew up. That's how both sides got better at building spaceships. So, as it approached the end of the building,

Both spaceships and the final testing were about 19 years ago. Our ship from my plant just blew up on its own! During the final testing, everything looked fine and ran smoothly. Then, it was a catastrophic failure that blew into millions of pieces. They did an inversion of what had to happen. It would take a few months to work through all the data and any video records of the ship from the outside of it. Someone thought it was an accident, and someone else thought it was sabotage, but no one wanted to jump to conclusions. They started to get all the parts of the ship so they Could find out what had happened and see if they could use any parts to build a new spaceship. As they started looking at all the parts, they found something Strange: residue on some parts of what was left on one of the engines. They even saw a miM. The microchips were tucked In the casing, but it was not one of theirs. So, they put the microchip to one side so it could be looked at, but engineers had to do a full diagnostic assessment and see what markings were on it to see where it came from. As some had thought, after one month into the investigation, they found the chip was from Veridian!!!! So, the report was written to our heads of state and government, telling them what they had discovered about the expansion and what had coursed it. It explained when it happened and how It could have done this.

We contacted the Veridian government to inquire about their position on the expansion and to determine if they knew about our ship's sabotage. We did not reveal our findings regarding the explosion. The Veridian government claimed unaware of what had occurred but offered to assist with the investigation if needed. However, at that time, we declined their offer. Instead, we informed them that we would disclose the cause of the explosion that led to the destruction of our spaceship. This was a delaying tactic to make them believe that we were responsible or that a part of the spacecraft malfunctioned.

Simultaneously, we sent an engineer to Veridian to inspect their ship and their actions. The engineer verified if they had a similar type of microchip, which was used for the bomb that destroyed our spaceship. They found a microchip that closely resembled the one in our possession. We aimed to confirm that it was not made to appear like Veridian's microchip. It would help us determine whether someone else manufactured or investigated them. If it was the latter, we must investigate those who declined and did not construct spaceships to Travel to Earth.

We believe we have identified the individuals responsible for the bomb attacks. However, we still need to understand their motives and their methods. After our investigations, tensions escalated, and Veridian wanted us to share our findings about the spaceship explosion with the people Of Aquilonis. Understandably, our citizens were outraged and demanded to know our plans for addressing the situation. Subsequently, we dispatched our dignitaries to Veridian to discuss the matter. The Veridian assured you that we were not involved in the explosion of our spaceship and expressed Their outrage regarding the situation. They would like to see the microchip we found, the parts of the ship's explosion. We declined their request, but we sent detailed pictures of it and what information we found on it.

That's when everything went wrong. The Veridian claimed that they had been set up and had done nothing wrong, so we began by relocating all the military on their borders and redirecting all of their missiles toward us. We took the same actions, so tensions were very high. Any wrong move from either side could trigger an all-out war, and it did. Now, it seems like a visit to Earth Was well off the table, so we all thought. We discovered that Veridian was still building its spaceship to go to Earth. Of course, where they knew how long it would take us to start building a new one from scratch. So, everyone on Aquilonis said that's why they blew up our spaceship. They We were behind us in building their spaceship, which did not work anyway. So, our government told the Veridians that if they sent a spacecraft to Earth, we would blow it up straight away, just like you did to our spacecraft. So, this is where it all started in the war between Verdian and us, and it is still going on for the next 18 years with hounds of thousands and thousands dead and injured, and families split apart from each other. SO, BACK TO THE PRESENT DAY, WHERE I AM STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BIGGEST BATTLE YOU'VE EVER SEEN.