132214-story-writing-competition-eu-and-na

== Content ==
			
Story Writing Contest
 
Hello Community,
 
Since I still have several fancy pants jacket codes in my possession for both the EU and the US, I'd like to introduce my second competition. This time both Europe and the US can participate.
Unlike the previous competition, the amount of work this time is going to be a bit more, and a bit harder.
But for anyone with creative spirit, this should not be a problem.
 
 
Rules
 
1 entry per account only, regardless of server, region and faction.
Minimum of 1000 words per Story.
Maximum of 10000 words per Story.
Stories need to be original, and not a copy of an existing work
Story must be WildStar related
Stories cannot contain hidden messages, flames, insults or anything that clearly identifies people or groups in a negative way.
 
How does one enter the competition?
 
In order to enter the competition, you need to simply write a story that is related to WildStar.
The story can be anything, as long as it meets the rules listed above.
It can be an experience you had with your character, something you wish to experience with your character or simply a work of fiction that sprang from your mind.
 
Once the story has been written, it can either be posted as a reply here, when the forum allows it, 
or as a google document with public available link for reading only.  (We don't want people to cheat and destroy documents)
 
Important!
When submitting your story, please mention for which region (EU/US) you are submitting!
If I cannot identify the region you belong to, it will become complicated to hand you the correct code.
 
 
Rewards
 
The reward is one Fancy Pants Serial Code that works on EU or US accounts.
Each region will be handed out one serial code.
 
 
Duration
 
The competition starts today, on September 22nd.
Applicants can enter their stories until the end of October, after which the competition will close, and the winners will be selected.
Entries posted after October will not be considered eligible.	
----
			What a great idea for a competition! Can't wait to see what people write. :) 	
----
			
Bumping this topic for visibility.
Fancy Jacket Codes to be won here people.
Might be a good thing to do while waiting during your login queue's	
----
			May the stories refer to Wildstar "iconic NPCs" and/or include them in scenes/conversations?	
----
			Sure	
----
			
Bumping once more : less then 2 weeks left to win a Fancy Jacket code.
Surely there are some story writers in our community?	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Bumping once more : less then 2 weeks left to win a Fancy Jacket code.
Surely there are some story writers in our community?
----
			
I can extend the deadline if more people feel it is needed, no problem with that :)
Especially if it helps with the removal of the writing block/fear.	
----
			
Mine follows in the next post. It's title is at the end, but I'd advise readers NOT to go directly there, or maximum spoilers. ;)
 
Some of the stuff is canon official lore and in-game reference. Many of the "reveals" are from my own head, so consider it a "what if". There is a minor character that didn't get a very full treatment in the game, so I decided I'd like to expand a bit.
 
For those that can-- enjoy. For those that don't-- my apologies.
 
(Oh-- this is for the NA region.)
			
				
	Edited October 26, 2015 by Gamezilla	
----
			
       They were overrunning the firebase.  A plasma mortar had knocked a breach into the duranium anchor strut for the perimeter screens.  She squeezed in through that.  Her ears were still ringing from the explosion on the plains, and she was ungainly, uncoordinated.
       The corpse near the breach had yielded a poorly-fitting armour jacket, a power sword and an arm cannon.  It had been years, but her arm still remembered the synergy and the sword felt right in her hand.
       She skirted the main battle.  The Exiles were outgunned, but Camp Icefury was a minor outpost and waypoint that doubled as an artillery emplacement and missile launching site.  It had only one warbot for base defense.  The rest was gun emplacements and the sure knowledge that no band of Exile scum had a hope of breaching the perimeter.
       The Exiles went through the outer defenses so quickly that she worried that she might not have time to make the shuttles.  There were three, up on the rise behind the last lines of defense for the plasma cannons, and a fountain of radiance followed by a wallop of expanding pressure signalled that the first of four cannons had just exploded.
       She was beside the rifleman, behind his defensive half-shield wall, before he even realised that she was there.
       “I need a detail of four men to take one of those shuttles to Ilium or to orbit.  If you’re lucky and smart, you can be one of them.”
       “What, wh—“
       “Eleven o’ clock, fire!”
       The man whipped his blaster rifle around and snapped off a shot.  The advancing Exiles dove behind the ruin of a gun emplacement and neighbouring Dominion fire pinned them down.  For the moment.
       The rifleman looked at her again, wide-eyed.  “Who in the Light are you?”
       “I don’t have time to do ‘Tales From The Fringe’ with you, soldier.  I’ve been on covert recon and I have important information for the ICI and the military.  Either grab a couple of others and come with me before we’re overrun, or give me your ident and I’ll go myself.”
       “I can’t do that.  Who are you?  I can’t release a ship to an unknown fat lady—“
       “Two o’ clock!  Fire!”
       He whipped around.  There was no target.
       “Where, there’s no—“
       The arm cannon coughed, like a big-chested predatory cat.  The rifleman went down in a heap.  The antagonizer round wouldn’t kill him; it was usually used for really big indigenous lifeforms, to attract their attention while others outflanked.  But if he survived this battle, he’d still feel like he’d taken two barrels of rock salt in the chest.
       She reached down awkwardly to the unconscious man, took his ident.
       “I’m not fat, Granok-brain.  I’m pregnant.”
       Moments later, she was through the screen.  By the scene of destruction below her, it didn’t look like many Dominion troops would be using those two shuttles.  The Exiles would probably grab them.  She wished them well; they were, after all, her people.
       She pointed the ship towards Ilium and hit the thruster controls.
       At least the pilot’s couch supported her lower back.
 
 
       The room smelled of electricity, plasma leakage, burnt insulation and despair.  Even though her interviewer was to be a most notable Mechari, this antechamber had obviously been re-purposed from a Chua lab.  There were signs of unfortunate experiments left on tables near the walls.
The chair was uncomfortable.  Deliberately so, she knew.  The glaring, blue spectrum lighting, likewise.  However, she was not restrained, though her weapons were gone.
       The door opened, shut.
       Agent Lex was standing in the room.
       “I have a number of questions that you will answer before we terminate you.”
       “I can never get over how—organic—your voices sound.  Makes you far creepier.”
       “That is irrelevant, Human.  You will answer all my questions, in the end.”
       “I’ll answer them all right now, sweetie.  Could I get some juice, please?  I dehydrate pretty quickly these days.  Nothing with too much mineral content, though.  My feet swell too easily.”
       “You are, er, wise to cooperate.  It will make your passing far less unpleasant.  After the preliminary interrogation, juice is a possibility.”
       “Look, Lex, you’re not stupid, so please don’t make me out to be.  I used to be a Justice, so I’m up on all the techniques.  You have no intention of killing me.  I doubt that you even want a hair on my head damaged.  So get me my void-be-damned juice and a comfortable chair, and ask away.”
       “A former Justice?  Excellent, you reveal your secrets with every word you—“
       She raised her voice.  “He’s a little fixated.  Guessing that the problem is that he didn’t expect cooperation.  I know he’s good, but should I have a different interviewer?”
       There was no response from the otherwise unoccupied room, but Lex had hesitated.  Then he continued.
       “I am your interrogator.  You have heard of my reputation, it seems.”
       “Some, but I’ve also seen your work.  And we’ve met.”
       “We have not.”
       “Well, a tiny inaccuracy: I had your head in my sights at about 300 metres range, but with a sniper rifle that’s almost intimacy.”
       “Then I would be dead.”
       “You would have been, but you were just about to pick up a prime bit of disinformation, and we knew that if you brought it in, it wouldn’t be questioned.  You’re really excellent at what you do, normally.”
       “You cannot flatter a Mechari.”
       “Chompacabra pucky.  Those weird crystals in your head seem to be at least partially magical, or alchemical, or whatever.  But you act, and react, like organics. I was never much for science, other than forensics.”
       “My patience is at an end.  You will answer--.”
       The door opened behind Lex.  He wheeled and brought a weaponless arm up.
       'Hm, something hidden in there.  Noted,' thought his prisoner
       “Lex,” the newcomer said, “there is a mission that requires your special talents.  It involves a noble Highborn who is placing his own interests above those of the Occupation Force.  Again.”
       “This interrogation may be of the highest—“
       “Quite so.  But you are much more of a field agent, and you are our best.  I can handle this routine matter.  I am stationed here for the next few days in any event.”
       Without another word, Lex left.
       “I can see that he’s really immune to flattery.”
       Axis Pheydra smiled.  “Now, now, don’t be petty.  I’d like to suggest that we continue this chat in better surroundings.  First though, I have assigned you quarters, and I’m sure that you’d like a shower.  You look to be nearly in third trimester; I cannot recommend alcohol, but a few tidbits of decent food, too?”
       “I like your technique much better.”
       “It’s not technique, my dear.  I’ll see you in an hour.  An open air balcony overlooking the Gardens, I think.”
       “Sounds wonderful.  Can I have an aircar assigned as well?” she asked.
       “Of course.  In fact, if you wish, I will guarantee you safe conduct back to the Exiles right now.”
       “Oh.  I see.  You actually do understand.”
       “Yes.  Because I am the best at what I do.  And I have been around Humans since the foundation of the Empire, since Cassus became the capitol.  Welcome home.”
 
 
       “I am intrigued regarding Deadeye Brightland’s motivations.  He is a worthy adversary, but only of commandos and guerillas.  The Exiles have far better military minds.  Can it truly be simple revenge regarding his wife’s death?”  Pheydra reclined in a chaise-longe, regarded the Human.
       She was feeling refreshed.  There was a cool breeze, and though there was shade, she had positioned her chair so that some sun would fall on her.  She considered the question.
       “He’d think so.  That and the death of his unborn son.  In my opinion, neither.  He had a lot of baggage from his Bounty Hunter days, and I think that he was so good at dealing with Marauders for reasons he never even let on with me.  And of course the Exile Council issued him a ‘full pardon’—you don’t need one of those for letting your Dagun make a mess on someone else’s lawn.”
       “And so?” Pheydra cocked a—literally-- sculpted eyebrow.
       “I’m no psych, but I’d say a personal quest for redemption, salvation--- whatever.”
       “You no longer respect him?”
       “Of course I do.  And more than just respect.  But he wears so many different hats that I think he’s lost sight of whom he really is, sometimes.  I saved his bacon when I was a Justice.  But he has an odd attitude.  Take his wife.”
       “An interesting way of putting it.  Go on.”
       “On the one hand, he was always an admirable partner to her.  But even though he knew she was just as much a fighter as he was—and had Justice training—and was born in the Exile Fleet and just as much of a member of the war as he was—he first insists that she go into antiquated cryo-suspension and tries to keep her sequestered on Gambler’s Ruin.  Then he has enough of a lapse in judgement that he takes a third trimester woman down to Nexus while the Fleet is under constant raids, and then tries to send her to Thayd on a transport within easy targeting range of a Dominion firebase.”
       “I do not wish to offend.  Could it be that he—wanted—“
       “Not a chance in the Void.  No.  He's just a different man than he was-- before.  He just has certain blind spots.  Now that his wife and son are—gone—he’ll actually be far more of a thorn in your side, unless you and Mercalus can patch up this stupid, stupid war.”
       “The official policy is that we do not negotiate with terrorists.”
       “What, you’ve got Lex-vision now?  The runes for ‘stupid’ just appeared on my forehead?’
       “Did you really think that you’d come to us and then engineer some sort of ceasefire?  A grand reunion?  A rebirth of the Commonwealth?”
       “It would be the smartest thing,” she muttered under her breath.
       “I agree.”
       “Damn.  Right, I forgot your audio pickups.  You agree.  Really?”
       “It is correctly said that over 80% of my people consider organic lifeforms superfluous.”
       “You aren’t one of them?”
       “Oh, yes, I most certainly am.  Humans and other organics are terrible inefficient, and are in many ways like a plague or virus of the Galaxy.  But.”
       “Mm-hm?”
       Pheydra's gaze, wandering returned to her guest's face.  “Why don’t you tell me?”
       “But you were made, originally, by the Eldan.  Except Mechari had never been to Nexus either.  And you seem to have some sort of relationship with the Luminai Houses, though you are not beholden to them.”
       “Oh, I do so like a reasoning mind.  Your conclusion?”
       “You’re tied up somehow with the whole ‘manifest destiny’ thing of the Empire, and with its place as the Eldan’s representatives in the Galaxy.  No, ‘representative’ is the wrong word.  What am I looking for?”
       Placid, mechanical orbs met hers.
       “No,” she went on, “I can’t put a word to it, Axis.”
       “Oh.  I think that you can.  But it would be very dangerous for you to say it.  So, let me say it for you—just between we girls.  I think the word that you want is—‘placeholder’.”
       The Human moved her chair so that it was more fully in the sun.
       “Go on.  Say it,” said Axis Pheydra.
       “If we are the Eldan’s placeholders, then what does that make you, Axis?”
       “Can you really have the idea that I have?  Please, call me ‘Pheydra’.  I want us to be friends, when you are able.”
       “Why?”
       “I won’t lie, Miss Angelthorn.  Because I’ve done a little research of my own.  And I am rather sure that Sarah Angelthorn is just as much of a false name as your more recent one.  I believe that you have a rather notable ancestor.  And since I already have indirect ties to House Zin through an unlikely series of connections involving the Draken, I would very much like to have a connection to this other House, your ancestral House, too.  If you’d care to have that lineage confirmed, either publically or privately.”
       “I think that I’d like us to be friends too, for my own survival.”
       “Do you think that I could possibly want you harmed?”
       “No.  But consider the present state of what used to be the Commonwealth of a Human race meant to inherit the Galaxy—at least for a while.”
       Pheydra reached out, gently took her hand.
       “Tell me what the Mechari are.”
       “It’s not—nice.”
       “No.  It isn’t.  But just between you and I.  Very much just.  This place is safe.  Sonic invertors, the whole regime.  What are we?”
       “A failed first experiment, I think.”
       “I think so, too.  So, we are just as much outcast, exiled, forlorn, as are you.”
       “Actually, consider this.  You were sent out from Nexus.  It was never allowed to you and for some of you it may even have been erased from memory.  But consider where you were sent, and that you are here now.  Some of the Eldan even loved the ruined Skeech enough to preserve them.  How much more must they have loved you?  Perhaps you were sent away for more than just a duty.  Perhaps for your own safety.”
       “That is extraordinary.  I will confess that it had not entered my thoughts.  Now, you must call me Pheydra.  Please.”
       “All right, Pheydra.”
       “And—what shall I call you?”
       “I am going to keep my most recent name.  It’s as descriptive of me as any name could be, and that’s what a name is for.  But I never did like the diminutive, the nickname form of my first name.”
       “So, not ‘Sadie’, then?”
       “No.  Call me Sarah.”
       “Your son?”
       “Once he’s born, I’ll want to be able to aid in his upbringing.  A State crèche has advantages, but I want him to be my son and to grow understanding the things that I do.”
       “Absolutely.  But it sounds as though you do not anticipate being a full time mother?”
       “As much as I can.  But I have to get back to Nexus.  There’s—something—that I need to find.”
       “I will make the arrangements.  We will use a different family name I think—perhaps Angelthorn—for the records, to prevent a hue and cry from those wishing to make a propaganda coup.  And I have a gift to offer, in return for the hope that you offered me for my people.”
       Sarah raised an eyebrow.
       “Your destiny lies in a region known as Wilderrun.  I have had certain reports, and I have access to archives that no Exile does.  Go there, but come back.  There is much that we can accomplish, for both our peoples, and for the future Empire, a reborn commonwealth under the Eldan’s real representatives, the Luminai.”
       “I’ll go there.  Thank you, Pheydra.”
       ​"May I ask​ you how you survived the destruction of that ship?  One of my analysts surmised that you went up one ramp and down another, but I think that unlikely."
       ​"I wo​uldn't have had time.  If you have telemetry, you won't see me among the poor people that did board.  I never got on; I was going to have it out with Deadeye and tell him I was staying until the situation was stable.  But the manifest showed that I was to be on it, and he'd never expect his 'L'il' Darlin' not to do exactly as she was told.  When it went up-- I had been thinking about the future since planetfall, but that made up my mind.  This war has to be stopped.  Our future is at stake."
       “Dr. Takigurian will want to chronicle this encounter in a special datapad for the Enigma Chamber.  Restricted access, of course.  I wonder what he will call it.”
       “I’ll give you a title, if you like.”
       “It is hardly likely that the good doctor will accept someone else’s idea, but I am intrigued.”
       “Call it ‘The Damnation of Deadeye Brightland’.”
       There was a moment’s silence.  Then Pheydra’s orbs gleamed.
       “I believe that I shall have a word with Takigurian.  Consider it done.  Now, since we're going to be friends, can I ask for a hand with something else?"
       "Um.  Sure.  What?"
       "Can you come shopping with me and give me your opinion regarding shoes?  I'm getting tired of my toes clanking on the capitol's pavement." 
			
				
	Edited November 2, 2015 by Gamezilla	
----
			
Last week I was extremely fortunate to be gifted a jacket code from a guild member. I did spend a good amount of time working on this however and I would love to share it with everyone.
 
While trying to find a subject to write about, I decided that I wanted to outline what defines my characters personality and existence. The strongest point (in my opinion at least) that I could find was the contrast between the tortured Aurin history and their joyful & colorful approach to life. Eternal optimism is not something I personally meet often in the real world.. so I got intrigued and I decided to write about it. What would be the contrasts of an emotional journey for such a positively spirited creature when faced with the horrors of war?
 
Last time I wrote something was actually in school.. which is funny in a way. I will admit it is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
 
I did try my hardest however and I do hope you enjoy it.	
----
			
The Exodus
 
 
There I was standing near the window of the tiny shuttle send to pick us up. The planet, our planet in flames.. the voices of the people I knew having died moments before echoing in my mind. All the creatures weak and strong still trapped, left behind unable to escape the horror inflicted upon us. Our shuttle was the last one leaving the planet, a planet full of happiness now dying before our eyes.
 
As I stood there watching, the memory of my early teachings passed through my mind only for a moment and then it was gone. Everything has its place in the great weave, everything is equal in importance.
 
I looked outside of the window at the planet getting smaller.. the shuttle had taken off and the last terrified survivors gathered together quietly trying their best not to make a noise. I looked back outside again and there is was, our past engulfed in a coat of fire and thick brimstone clouds.. all life was to perish and yet we were spared. Silently staring at what we called home taken away from us I felt afraid for what would follow and I was terrified for the lives of everyone we had left behind.
 
Someone next to me starts to whimper while another one tries to cover their mouth. I wonder how many of us have the same thoughts..yet none of us dare to break the silence. We are afraid to be heard. I look at my people around me defeated and I realize that life and happiness for us will never be the same.
 
At that moment, in a moment I will never forget, for the first time I feel helplessness.
 
-But what about the animals and the trees. Will someone save them as well? Asked a younger Aurin to who I hoped was his mother.
-You will have to be quiet now.. I will explain to you later. She answers with an absent tone.
They were both dressed up in what seemed to be costume pieces resembling saplings, participants at the great tree festival taken abruptly by the evacuation. Perhaps it was not his mother.. I wondered how many had been separated from their loved ones while trying to escape.
 
Then there was silence again in the shuttle, a deafening silence void of a presence.
 
My mind slowly drifted to a happier moment only hours ago, sitting on top of a brunch, enjoying my drink, watching the festival visitors while listening to the cheerful music. No more would the tree festivals be held at the village center, no more would we laugh and dance at the whimsical tunes of the minstrels. Our homes, our lives forcefully taken away, stolen from us.
 
Everything has its place in the great weave, everything is equal in importance.
 
Desperation, anger, sadness.. I could not feel an emotion clearly enough inside me.. they all twirled and danced in my heart, mocking my inability to decide. I felt madness and yet the shuttle was as quiet as it could be.. only the soothing humming of the engine served as my comfort. Humble, repetitive, reassuring.
 
I looked outside again as we distanced ourselves from our past. Further and further.. the planet becoming a speck, a dot, a memory.
 
---
 
There was no night to sleep into, no morning to wake up to.. only the cold gray walls of the shuttle and the silence of my people sitting next to me, waiting.
 
Everything has its place in the great weave and everything is equal in importance. The teachings interrupted my thoughts again, as if to taunt me for a moment and then vanish.
 
There was no place or purpose in my heart for the destruction and horror we had experienced. Only pain. Desperately, I tried to close my eyes with the hope of escaping even for a moment but I could not.
 
Hours turned into days and the stillness was there, ever present in everything we did. Mindlessly we were slowly taken from shuttle to ship and from hanger to medbay. Gray, unrecognizable faces passed to check us and we were soon assigned individual numbers.
 
The last thought you have before you enter cryosleep is the same one you have when you wake up, I heard someone say. Perhaps it would be good to have only one thought to cut through the noise of the despair surrounding me. I closed my eyes as my body was slowly submerged into the freezing water. I remember my very last thought clearly now.. sharp as the cold, truthful, clear.. unending.
 
 
---several empty entries follow---
 
 
Revenge.. never did a word feel so meaningful. Revenge.. revenge.. revenge.. a single word my mind so desperately clinger to. As I was awakened from my sleep all I could think of was my new found understanding.. nothing else had as much of a meaning in my mind. I remember there was a strange warmth thinking about it.. a warmth that paired with this new stillness inside me, a warmth that made my life feel purposeful again.
 
I had to think, reach a conclusion, come up with an answer.. understand who did this to us and why. What did they want from us? Our existence is a peaceful one. Did they want resources.. no, the entire planet was destroyed long before that. Did they want to take us as slaves.. no again we were to be exterminated. What purpose did this massacre even have?
 
..purpose..
 
Our homes.. my people suffering.. monsters.. monsters did this to us. There is no other purpose.. no other explanation. Monsters.. monsters..mindless monsters.
 
Everything has a place in the great weave and everything is of equal importance.
 
My place.. my voice will not be heard, it is small.. unimportant. There is so much anger. I want to extract revenge for everything that was taken from us. Cold, sharp, clear revenge on all who condemned my people into a life of separation. Our planet.. the warm voice of the mother tree.. nothing is to be heard, nothing is to be felt. I feel alone, isolated.. there is nothing to keep me comfort any more, only one word. Only one word I can cling to.
 
---
 
I never wanted to write all this.. my thoughts are causing me pain and having to write them down is suffocating me.. but our Matria thinks otherwise. What does she hope to quench by asking me to observe our people and write about them. Records should be kept and I think she can sense the differences forming inside me. There are many like me.. angry, isolated.. fearful. I have spent most of my time alone as well. I keep walking the cold empty hallways of the ship searching for answers. I have seen our Matria trying her best to unite us but I will have to carefully keep my distance.
 
Everything has a place in the great weave and everything is of equal importance.
 
More days have passed and life on the ship has been kind for my people. We have been given an area inside the cargo bay and resources to make ourselves comfortable. Most of us will remain in Cryosleep until we arrive at out destination. A new planet they say. Is this how life will be from now on? I hear the elders talking furiously.. tempers rise and there is an everlasting sense of frustration.. I wonder what will the future hold for us. There are still lifeless faces among us.. but I am certain I have seen the younger ones running around, playing games and exploring the spaceship. The children seem to have adjusted better than everyone and I want to believe that for them at least there can be some form of hope made.
 
Our Matria has been diligently taking care of us, slowly turning the dark quiet into light. Spark by spark, candle by candle everyone feels hope again in their heart.. collectively they are casting away the fearful shadows but I find that I can share none of these feelings. I should not be allowed to share these feelings. My frustration and anger should not tint the bright warmth of the others.
 
Quietly I will wait, I will smile and support, address their fears, listen to their thoughts.. but I will share none of mine. Nothing should be allowed to calm my heart, lure me into a new life of complacency. Revenge has now a place.
 
---
 
Today our Matria asked us to sit in a circle around her and in pairs, hold hands with each other.
 
I cringed.
 
I don't remember when it was the last time I held the hands of one of my brethren. It was awkward, stressful, complicated and yet alarmingly comforting. The warmth of the hands.. the brief shy exchange of glances.. That sense of community was calling me ever so strongly to surrender myself to it. I felt that I wanted to.. I needed to.
 
Everything has a place in the great weave and everything is of equal importance.
 
I will not allow myself to surrender.. I am glad the others have found comfort but I will distance myself further. I can see that our leader pours her heart into healing everyone, including myself from the horror but I cannot honor her efforts as I should. I will separate myself even further if I have to.. but I cannot lose myself again, even for a moment.
 
The weave.. the weave is a strange contraption. A means of explaining that everything is intertwined, connected in a harmonious way and that which affects one, will eventually affect all. Perhaps that is why it is so easy to disrupt it... skillfully, masterfully you can find the least attended points and unravel them.. bit by bit.. piece by piece with enough understanding, you can destroy everything. Even the strongest of enemies.. especially the strongest of enemies. The enemies that fail to understand the weakest points of the weave. The unattended, unfinished points.
 
Everything has a place in the great weave and everything is of equal importance.
 
I will have to study and find the weakest point of our enemy. Study it, comprehend its purpose and when it will be ready, I will unravel it. Bit by bit, piece by piece it will come undone before my eyes.
 
A true monster deserves nothing less.
 
---
 
There are news that there has been great progress in the main ship and they have requested for volunteers to join the ranks near Queen Myala. A young sapling of the mother tree is traveling with the Queen and there could not be a greater honor for an Aurin than to be part of the transferred team.
 
The news of the Mother Tree sapling have strengthened the morale of everyone on our ship. Even the coldest of faces now smile at the prospect of restoring our community on the new planet.
 
I will volunteer.. and I believe with some effort I will be selected to serve in the main ship. Being near the royal guard will give me access to more information about the enemy and perhaps even a chance to directly confront them.
 
The distance will also strengthen my commitment.. I am finding harder and harder to keep myself isolated from everyone else here. Our Matria is in full bloom with her attentive efforts and I feel like I am the last one who has not turned my gaze from the past. Perhaps she can see through my facade but she has not said anything to me directly so this is a gamble I will have to preserve. She should not see the anger inside my heart and I don't want others to share my pain. Nobody from my people should have to suffer ever again.
 
There is a place for everything in the great weave and everything is of equal importance.
 
---
 
The screening process was a simple one and I managed to be selected early on.. I believe mostly for my background in research. They seem to be selecting mainly scientists and potential settlers. We were informed that we will be transferred from our ship C-32 to the main ship escorting the Queen at A-10. This is a great honor and I wish the circumstances were different, but they are not.
 
I would suspect my Matria being troubled about me leaving her circle but she has not approached me or anyone else about it. She only smiles confidently when looking at me. Perhaps she hopes I will turn back the last moment or perhaps she has not fully realized the depths of my anger. It matters not truthfully for the gears of my plan have already started turning.
 
My burning desire for revenge is ever present.. but so is my need to protect my people. Perhaps one is feeding the other.. I am not certain.. I don't have time to think it through. Nothing should be allowed to calm my heart or lure me into a new life of complacency.
 
Tonight I travel.
 
---
 
If nothing else, the news of progress where shy in comparison to the truth.
 
The main ship is perhaps too overly impressive to behold. Our brethren have been hard at work turning the lifeless metal walls of the ship into a small heaven for our community. As soon as we docked we were given a detailed tour of the ship both to study the layout and to be informed about all the progress made here.
 
Besides the sapling of the Mother Tree, there is an abundance of preserved plants and animals from the home planet.. enough to make me believe for the first time that there can be hope for us. I have seen several teams drawing detailed diagrams of projects they want to create on the new planet.. they seem excited.. hopeful.. full of life.
 
There are exploration groups that try to recruit more people for uncovering and analyzing the new planet as well as a few settler groups that want to divide and distribute the piles of designs from home that will be used to built us a new future. There is a vast library of knowledge waiting to be utilized and plenty of resources on the ship that underline the importance of defending it even more so now.
 
There is a place for everything in the great weave and everything is just as important.
 
I have been assigned a position on the team organizing the various designs, dividing them into sections based on importance, function and ease of use. There are many historical designs from Arboria and I have taken the time to make a few notes on my journal for myself. I have wondered the reasoning of my actions.. but I still took the effort to make myself a few copies.
 
---
 
There are long working hours in the main ship.. and what little time remains is spent sleeping and restoring myself for the next day of work. There has been great progress made in my section and we receive designs daily from various ships.. anything from family heirlooms to notes taken down by various artisans. Everyone is trying to contribute for the future of the new planet and it is our job to keep it recorded and stored until needed.
 
It is a mentally strenuous job and I find myself exhausted while having to work over the memories of our past. It is a constant reminder of why I am here and at the same time a contradiction with the promise of a better future. I am exhausted but hopeful.
 
There is a place for everything in the great weave and everything is as important.
 
Tonight I spent most of the quiet hours looking at the ceiling of my quarters. I was carefully studying the cracks for any potential patterns I could find while trying to compose a bigger picture in my mind. We are getting closer to the new planet.. yet we have not encountered the enemy at all.
 
I was just lying there motionless with that last thought, in that last moment of stillness, and then the madness followed.
 
There are several alarms ringing at the same time covered with a bright red light urging us of impending, insurmountable danger. The ship is being attacked!
 
Panic.. I feel feint glimpses of the evacuation. There is fear.. uncontrollable fear that this time everything will be lost forever. There is nowhere to run to.. nowhere to hide. At the back of my mind I can hear the commander screaming over the communication at us to get into gear and report to our posts.. the voice sounds distant yet it is as loud as it can be. There is fear.. so much fear that it has frozen us still.. unable to react.. unable to think.
 
It feels like hours have passed.. yet it is only seconds. The alarm still reflects a maddening echo around us.. but there is now commotion. Slowly, yet surely I see other around me starting to react. Someone touches my shoulder, asking if I am alright.. there is concern in their voice.. we have to react.. everyone depends on us.
 
There is a burning sensation in my cheeks.. I don't know how to describe it.. it does not feel like anger..it is something different.. something unfamiliar. I can feel my muscles tensing up.. ready to react, yet I move slowly as I try to get into my gear. I have never fired a weapon besides these last few weeks at training. Am I certain I can do this? ...I will have to be certain.. there is nowhere to run to. I am not a soldier.. no it does not matter, I am one of the survivors, I will have to defend this ship. There is no other option.
 
My thoughts start to clear up.. I gradually get grounded and my focus returns. My post. I have to get to the storage room.. I need to get to the storage room.
 
Running through the corridors is devastating..the once familiar corridors of the ship now seem like a suffocating maze and there are thick clouds of smoke, alarming us of a potential fire. My mind instantly thinks of all the schematics and designs we have stored on the ship. I can barely see ahead but there are loud voices navigating us through the chaos. I will have to be strong, I can do this.
 
We can now hear gunshots. It has began. They are getting closer and close indicating that the enemy has boarded the ship and is trying to kill us. The danger is here. There are more gunshots followed by a loud blast. Shadowy figures move through the debris swiftly, hidden between the smoke and the deafening noise of all the alarms.. The danger is imminent.
 
I am ready to jump into the smoke, ready to use my weapon.. it does not matter if I succeed. I will have to try. Someone touches my shoulder again.. I don't recognize their face but they motion me to follow them as they move backwards. I am so close.. I should stay to attack.. for a moment I look back and their figures have almost disappeared within the misty thickness surrounding us. There is no time to retreat.. there is no time to react.. the danger strikes and I am there, alone, isolated.
 
---
 
Blood.. my blood on the ground.. thick, red.. I am staring at the ceiling again thinking back to the moment I was lying in bed. I try to stand up but I am wounded..in pain.. the vapors around me have cleared and I can see the destruction of the attack. Part of the corridor has collapsed. There must have been a blast.. I remember my body being tossed around.. weightless. There is no alarm.. there is no sound.. I briefly look at the bodies surrounding me and I do not recognize them. The blood has socked into their uniforms.. it is thick and red.. is it my blood.. no it must belong to our enemy.. thick, red..with the same uncomfortable metallic smell. I stare at it wondering if we have won. There is silence.. I use my gun to support me.. there is so much pain but I am standing among several lifeless bodies. I am alive.
 
Has anyone else survived.. the bodies seem motionless. I try to turn around to see and there is movement. There is a wounded enemy soldier trying to stand up only a few feet away from me but I cannot hear him. Our eyes cross and I can see him trying to talk but there is no sound. He must be in pain.. I try to read his face.. but I see only fear.
 
He is alone, isolated.. injured.. weak. The weakest thread of the pattern. If I strike now, I can guarantee my success.. he will be unable to defend.
 
He is one of them.. he is one of the monsters that destroyed our planet.. yet in his eyes I see nothing. 
 
There is a moment of stillness and as I try to back away, he raises his gun towards me. Foolishly I wanted to spare him.. turn my back and walk away.. but he has allowed his fear to overtake him.
 
Is it my hand being forced or is it his?
 
The weave.. the weave is a strange contraption. Everything has its place and everything is connected. That which affects one, will eventually affect all. A single thread strengthens thousands by passing through them, affecting them with its presence and once taken away, it echoes like a ripple across the entire pattern.
 
It would only take a moment but there is nothing here. Stillness. My mind slowly drifts to a familiar phrase from my childhood teachings.	
----
			
Okay, since only 2 people submitted a story, you both receive a Jacket code.
Please send me a PM with the region you are playing in and I will send you the codes.	
----
			Jacket received, Olivar.  Thanks again for sponsoring this.	
----