The World Beyond Ours

Chapter 2. Junior Survivalist Training

Friday, March 13, 2955. I was on base, walking around the armory, checking out the various artillery. The armory was massive; there was artillery far beyond the physics of this world. There were rifles, melee weapons, and explosives, yes; but they were far beyond anything of this world; this universe, even. The rifles were similar to the rifles of this universe; but the rifles of my home planet were a lot more complex. The rifles of my home planet didn't use any ballistics. Instead, they used, what this universe calls, energy: Dark energy, light energy, and even elemental energy.

The way our weapons work is by harnessing energy and concentrating is to a degree where it would be able to be seen by the "naked eye". There were fire rifles: rifles that would burn the enemy to a crisp, with a concentrated flame; and many more, like it. These rifles had a few defects, though. For example: if a trainee held the pressure sensors too long, the rifle would overheat and it would have to cool down. Failure to let go of the pressure sensors, after overheating, would cause third degree burns, in a matter of less then thirty seconds. These rifles would give a human instant thrid-degree burns, if they overheated; so a human would have to fire the weapon in short bursts, in order to avoid being scorched by the heat of the weapon. Aside from the Elemental Rifles, such as the fire rifles, there were also Telekin Rifles; Pyrokin Rifles; and even Hydro and Areokin Rifles. There were also different types of armor, as well.

This one set of armor, that i fell in love with, was called the Hypno Suit. The Hypno Suit is black and lavender, has a deep purple visor, and transmitters on the helmet that, when activated, can manipulate the thoughts and actions of ones enemies; however, this suit is voice activated; and only the initial user may activate it.

What the Hypno Suit does is it harnesses the energy generated by brainwaves; and when the transmitters are activated, the Hypno Suit allows the user to manipulate his, or her, enemy from a telekinetic standpoint; however, this particular set of armor is also very fragile. I'm the only one trusted with the Hypno Suit because i have gone through the training exercises on how to use it, properly; I've even trained with the suit to use it for i want to use it for; but i know what my mission is and i follow my orders, as they are given; also, after several training exercises, I don't question my orders; unless they involve one of our squad members getting seriously hurt, or killed. My motto is, "leave no Zemah behind".

As i was browsing the armory, one of me xexas, which means brothers, was walking by. He saw me browsing and walked into the armory. As he walked in, he said, with a surprised, curious tone, "hey, Volénie! What chu up to?". Volénie is one of my many nicknames. After i heard my name, I turned to him and responded with, "hey, Sai! I'm just looking at the Hypno Suit". His nickname is Sai; but his real name is Sai-Raikyn Rainan Galivan. Sai is only my half brother. He too, was raised in darkness; but he and i have been in different training exercises. He is my Cover Guard; and has been, since our training days. He always had my six and he never deserted me; and even though i was relocated, he and I still keep coms with each other. As Sai and I were talking, our Aglér walked up to me and said, in a drill sergeant tone of voice, "alright, Volephanie, listen up! You'll be going through a Survivalist Training Exercise. Your mission: gather as many allies as you possibly can, before time runs out! Understood, Private!?". Being that he was an officer, even though he's Sai-Raikyn and I's Aglér, i had to respond to him as any other private would: "sir, yes sir!", i shouted.

I was sent to an open field, where there were many other privates, just like me. In fact, there were even some higher ranking enlisted, as well; and as i wondered, aimlessly around the field, I managed to gather up some Zemahs. I had gathered at least four xexas into one small, unique squad; each of us were trying to come up with ideas for survival.

As the squad and I wondered around the field, we began growing paranoid. dusk was creeping up on us. We needed to find somewhere to camp, to avoid being spotted by the Night Crawlers.

Night Crawlers are like Arachnids; but they have short legs, instead of long legs. Aracnines have longer legs than a Night Crawler; but Night Crawlers are deviously fast; they can outrun a Cheadu! Thankfully, one of the men in the squad was Sai.

I looked at Sai and said, concerned, "yo, Sai! Xexa we need to find somewhere to camp! Dusk is growing near; and who knows what's out here?". He said not a word.

We began searching for somewhere to camp. We wandered deep into the mountains of Juvian; where there were no signs of life, besides ourselves. We got settled in a small camp and we decided to use our portable hologram, to keep us warm.

Portable holograms are mainly used for heating, cooling, charging our auras, or as cloaks. When we wanted to cloak ourselves, we would use the cloak spell and the hologram would cover us; leaving us invisible to everyone. We had to be careful when we used the cloak because sometimes we would get lost; and being lost in the Juveinian mountains, and not having the Night Suit on, does not have a positive outcome. Night Crawlers tend to see in the dark.

Sai handed me the hologram and said, "xexa, you know what to do". I did. I took the hologram and said, in a chanting tone, "element of fire, i evoke thee, surround us all so we may be, draped in a flame, burned not so ye, may keep us warm, so mote it be". As soon as i finished saying the evocation, the hologram emitted a fire spirit. Not everyone could see the spirit; but some of us could; and those who couldn't, could feel and hear them.

We were close to the base, right on the outer wall. We were young creatures and we had a lot of uncontrolled energy; and a couple of us decide to go over to this large animal, which was like a grizzly bear crossed with a bulldog. On its hind legs, it probably stood about twenty five feet; weighed around four tons, too! Aside from my Xexa, Sai, there were two other Xexas: Shuliér Kozak and Mart'naz Cretík.

Kozak and Cretík are similar opposites. Kozak is a Vampire and Cretík is a Werewolf. They can both be hotheaded sometimes; but Cretík has a shorter temper. I have a little more temper control than Cretík; but not by much. I've known them since my weapons training days.

Cretík had this brilliant idea that we should wake the Gri'Zilla. I told him it was a bad idea; but, he walked up to the creature and slapped the hind side, anyway. Bad mistake. The creature woke up and made a loud, deep growl; and then started chasing us! Four young Aracnines vs. One Gri'Zilla. Instead of trying to fight it, all of us decided to run; and i was foolish; i decided that i was not getting killed, so i outran Cretík, who was the fastest Zemah in our squad. I ran at lightning speed; faster than the blink of an eye.

Remember what i said about Dark Pits? Well, seeing how as though i had no insight on where i was running, I ran right in to one. As I ran in to the Dark Pit, I was introduced to these tellers. They asked me, "what are you gonna do, now?". Then they said, mockingly, "You're all alone; and your men deserted you!", in deep, raspy voices. I asked for their names and they said, "don't worry about our names, just answer the question!". I was terrified, so i continued running. I tried to find my fellow Zemah but i couldn't; and that's when i ran in to the Dark Lord, Tane.