Starborn: Origin of the Stars

Robin shifted awkwardly in his seat on the bridge and threw an apologetic look to Happy.

“Are you the captain of this ragtag group of idiots or not? I’m feeling watched!” She complained with crossed arms.

“I mean, you invited them here…” Robin pointed out.

“It’s the duty of the pilot to inform everyone when major anomalies are expected. That wasn’t an invitation. I have to concentrate, you know?”

“Yeah, and we all agree that a dying system definitely is a major anomaly. Come on, just let them stay so they can see this first hand.” He tried to convince her and behind him, Patience, Sevastian, Landom, Ang’Tue and even Timothy all nodded like chickens picking corn.

After they heard that the Hubble was about to enter the Goya System, they all rushed to the bridge which was way too small for so many people. However, Robin totally understood their curiosity and didn’t want to kick them out. From the other rooms, the view wouldn’t be as impressive as from here at the front of the ship.

“Fiiiiine…” Happy conceded and shifted her focus back to her controls.

“Awesome! What can we expect? I read about the Red Giant and all, but how likely is it that we will just explode after arriving there because of some freaking solar storm or shit?” Sevastian raised his hand and asked.

“Nothing like that will happen. It’s mostly solar flares and storms, hypercharged electromagnetic clouds and a few drifting radiation clusters. We would have to be very unlucky to meet any of those on our quick flight to Terulos.” Timothy explained.

“Electromagnetic clouds? Radiation Clusters? What the hell?”

“Yeah, no worries. Those are all really rare.”

“The more you try to convince me that nothing bad will happen, the more scared I get…” Sevastian muttered until Ang’Tue patted his shoulder.

“I think your biggest concern should be getting thrown off the ship.” The Eltaran hushed him and directed his attention towards Happy who looked like she was about to explode.

“He is right. For a security consultant your sense for danger is surprisingly dull.” Landom commented.

“Ah, Happy… Niu! You are doing great, keep going - I’ll just stand here and… shut up?”

***

While she gave the ship’s systems one last check, Niu smiled inwardly at the antics of her friends.

She really enjoyed their company here on the ship and was even a bit surprised about herself. Over the last few weeks she noticed that her always happy mood had mostly become a mask she put on to play her role als Happy. Sure, she always had to feign her trademark cheerfulness every now and then but at some point the ratio of real and fake happiness must have shifted in the wrong direction. When did that happen?

Only now, after meeting these people and letting go of the permanent concerns about her family, did real happiness return. Finally she didn’t need a mask anymore. Following these thoughts, her mind once more wandered back to the speech Robin had given her back in the bar on Gaunus.

‘Thanks, Scrappy… thank you so much!’

With a grin, she finished the checkup and turned to the captain to give an update.

“90 seconds!”

Moments later she initiated the braking sequence that would get them out of superluminal travel.

Seconds ticked down while the void outside the window remained mostly dark, as it was normal at this speed. However, already 30 seconds before the complete shutdown of the QVT, something did change. Slowly the void changed color from a deep black to a dark red. Way too early, while they were still faster than light, some of Goya’s light bled through the darkness.

“Just how bright is that star?” Happy muttered to herself and got the answer shortly afterwards.

When the QVT ultimately turned off, the whole bridge was flooded with a bright red light. The Hubble automatically began to darken the front window to reduce the intensity and protect the crew’s eyes. After their sight finally adjusted a bit, everybody made surprised gasps.

“Burn in plasma…” Niu heard Patience muttering and had to agree with her. Never before had she seen something like this.

The Goya System was a bit smaller than the Mereus Cluster and since they jumped from one border to the other one, they now had entered the outer rims. Compared to what she saw when they left the cluster before, Goya was at least five times as big as Mereus - maybe even more. The star’s huge ‘surface’ was just one big red burning sea that flickered beautifully with different shades of red, mixed with a bit of yellow and black here and there. Like waves in an ocean, flames churned on the star and sent huge flares into the surrounding void.

“What an amazing sight…” Someone said in awe.

“Beautiful!” Niu agreed, “I’ve never seen something like that before.”

“The pictures and videos in the reports don’t even come close to the real thing…”

“Ahem…” Robin made a stilted cough, however Niu was too captivated by this spectacle of nature in front of them.

“Really a Red Giant!” She said.

“Happy!” Robin called her again.

“Huh?”

“We have system failures and the QVT is not cooling down! Do your sightseeing after we make sure the ship doesn’t melt under our asses, okay?”

“Uhm, yeah, sorry.”

Quickly she tore her eyes away and increased the window’s tint to nearly black.

“The show is over, everyone get off this bridge!” Niu shouted and while the others left under loud protest, she nervously checked all the systems that were blinking with red lights already. In no time at all she understood that there was quite the strain on the ship, but nothing they couldn’t handle.

While she initiated the cooling for the QVT and redistributed the ship’s power, Happy wondered how Robin had managed to collect himself so fast. Why wasn’t he also enamored by this incredible sight and the play of col-

‘Damn, right. He can’t see colors! While probably still an amazing view, to see everything just in grayscale must have taken much of its charm.’ She realized.

When the QVT was stabilized and she had freed enough power to cool other systems, Niu was still thinking about Robin and his disability to see colors. Then it finally sank in: Not only here and now did this spectacle lose most of its grandeur, but everything he saw was gray - always! His life literally was missing color.

‘How is he not losing his mind and falling into depression?’ She pondered, when another question snuck into her head, ‘How can he make my life so colorful, without being able to feel the joy himself?’

***

Five days later Robin found himself sitting in his seat on the bridge again. Since arriving in the Goya System, he has spent most of his time here. While ultimately nothing bad happened, despite Timothy jinxing it, Robin was still a bit on the edge.

After the initial euphoria about the new system with the Red Giant died down, everyone returned to their usual schedules. Only Niu and Robin stayed more alert and never left the bridge unattended.

It had been quite the sight though.

Sure, when he first laid eyes on the dying star it already was an impressive and unique spectacle. However, only after he gave ROMAS control of the UAV later that day and got a video-feed with proper colors did he understand why his friends totally blanked out for some time before they got a hold of themselves.

“Nature never fails to impress…” He mumbled and looked at Alena, “How are we doing?”

“I’m slowly getting results. Nothing precise yet, but we’re getting there.”

“Will you be able to locate the correct position of the landing zone Keran has given us?”

“Working on it…”

An hour ago, Happy had stopped the Hubble a few hundred kilometers away from another impressive celestial body. The planet in front of them was covered in thick clouds with lightning flashing every now and then. It was an amazing sight but also gave Robin unpleasant flashbacks to the eternal storm of the Mystic Sea.

Luckily, Terulos’ storms, while frequent, weren’t present all the time and didn’t interfere with scanners and navigation as much as the one back on Seavis. However, the increased difficulty due to the bad weather led to this forced break.

“Okay, I have something!” Alena finally exclaimed, “I need a bit more time, but at least I got the general region we are looking for. Happy, you can start flying around the planet while I continue to pinpoint the landing zone. I will send you the approximate location.”

“Many thanks! Let’s go then, my hands are itching already!” Happy cheered, having high expectations for this entry into the atmosphere.

“You just had your fun in the Mystic Sea, now please make this one a gentle flight, will ya?” Robin drowned her good mood in a bucket of cold water.

“Aye, aye, Captain!” She pouted and steered the Hubble around the planet.

When they arrived at the other side, they once more sighed in awe. Now, they had Terulos with its rolling clouds in the front and the enormous Red Giant with its fiery surface towering in the back.

“Are you filming this?” Alena whispered as if speaking loudly would wake up a monster within the dying star.

“Yup…” Happy nodded but quickly shook her head to free her mind. She didn’t want to make the same mistake twice and risk being distracted at such a crucial point of piloting. Slowly the ship dove down to the planet and soon dipped its nose into the clouds. For some time they couldn’t see anything besides thick dark gray nebular all around them. Strong winds attacked the Hubble from every side, pushing it left and right.

A few minutes later they finally broke through the storm and the clouds opened up, revealing a seemingly endless forest below them.

“Wow!” Robin exclaimed, “So many trees! Like a blanket made of leaves and it looks completely different from the forest surrounding Dreamer’s Hope.”

“You have a different climate here on Terulos. This is more like a rainforest with bigger trees, more foliage, higher humidity…” Happy explained and Alena couldn’t refrain from adding her own concerns.

“There also will be more dangerous predators in the jungle. The thick foliage is perfect for silent hunters that hide before they pounce on their prey.”

“Uhm, okay. The reports also mentioned aggressive species living here. Landom was briefed and should have made plans accordingly.”

“You see that deeper part over there?” Niu pulled his attention back to the forest below them, “In that valley should be the Keeper artifact, our landing zone is located on a small plateau at the other side. It is reported to be the only safe spot around here where one can leave a ship for a few days without worries.”

Robin only nodded and tried to take in all the new things he saw. They passed by huge trees, more than a hundred meters tall, a big lake with islands here and there and Robin even spotted a raging river winding through the valley. He found nothing that looked artificial though, just endless wilderness that hid away its secrets in a forest which often was described as green hell.

“We have half a day’s walk through the forest ahead of us. Keran said before that this will be the most dangerous part of our mission.” Robin explained while the Hubble closed in on the only mountain in the vicinity of this valley, “We will wait for them to meet up at the plateau in about 12 hours, then we will head in all together.”

When the ship got closer to the mountain, Alena suddenly turned around, “The only safe place to land?” She asked, “Do you mean that spot over there? The one with the huge hole in the ground?”

“What?” Niu gasped when she also spotted the landing zone moments later. Where once there had been a plateau, there was a big collapse in the ground now. Obviously parts of the mountain have sunken in, rupturing the earth above.

“No way I’ll park the Hubble over there!” Happy said, leaving no room for discussions, and Robin got a really bad premonition.