ECHOES FROM ANDROMEDA

 CHAPTER ONE

 THE JOURNEY

 Life on Akromos begins with Lo, the smallest of the three sibling suns making its orbit off Makan, the largest of the three suns. The gravity on Akromos reduces every time Lo completes an orbit which begins the day on Akromos. During this lower gravity period, the shamites, the most technologically advanced tribe on the planet seize the period to move extremely heavy resources around the planet without much energy by just harnessing the lower gravity. Controlling this route enabled the shamites to control vast resources which further aided their advancement. Among other regions on the planet are Gregrur, Truso and kandor.

 The shamites are beings with human like characteristics except mouths as communication is done telepathically with facial expressions for obvious answers. The Shamru tradition is tied to the planet Akromos as the central point of all emotions. All inhabitants of Akromos communicate through the shamru which ties every being to a central core. The Gregrur belong to the water tribe. A region with 70% ice, it houses the inui tribe. The Inui people have mastered the songs of water and used it to their will using the ancient Nok flute. In the culture of the Inui, it is believed that whoever mastered the symphony of the Nok flute gained the power of use and as such can summon water using just the right tone. This knowledge gave the Inui people reverence on the planet because they controlled the general temperature of the planet being in close proximity to three raging stars. The Inui people also regulated water supply all through the planet. This feature made the Inui people respected because they ensured the survival of Akromos' inhabitants.

 Truso is a region with lush green leaves, trees the height of mountains that move after they successfully plant their young. On Truso, everything is different. The land supplies water as required by trees. A region of intelligent anomalies where it hardly rains and all root systems are connected to the Shamru. Truso engages no visitors. Only inhabitants are welcome. It becomes a hostile environment to outsiders, even other inhabitants of Akromos. On Truso, the planet's need of stimulation is achieved. It holds the most connection to the Shamru due to its long network of tap root systems which regularly stimulates the Shamru, acting like a real time defribillator. This enables the Shamru always be connected to all inhabitants of the planet. Kandor on the other hand houses the Funsi tribe. The Funsi tribe are sky people who see to mining Gold into powdery form which they periodically release into the sky to reduce the strong waves from their three stars. They ensure that the daily amount of refined gold needed for the survival of Akromos is achieved and the quotas for other periods are reserved for emergencies. The Funsi are closely related to the Shamru as the Shamru rules the connection of the ground, the Funsi sees to the connection of the sky to their stars. As all things on Akromos, every region is necessary to the success of the planet and being jointly connected to the Shamru, no one is left out.

 It's early day on Akromos and Boraj, the great hunter of Akromos sets out to begin his day on his Troju, the two headed bull, native to the Gregur. The Toruk, with the head of an ox and the body of a Sabre tooth with retractable claws serves as the watchdog of Akromos. On his usual day run across the regions of Akromos, Oruk also notices the passage of Lo around Makan reduced his spiritual energy and wondered what the cause was. Upon getting to the Truso region, the trees who were supposed to have planted trees and moved ahead were stationary which immediately signals Oruk that there was real danger. If the great trees of Truso weren't planting trees, the older trees die. The planting of newer trees ensured the survival of the older trees as the younger trees stimulate the Shamru which in turn gives live to the elder trees. The eldest of trees were the first to begin dying. Their signal in the Shamru pitched chaos as the elder trees, who have kept the secrets of Akromos for many centuries started to die out. This caused great distress to Akhan as the reports getting to him all carried burdens. Upon leaving Truso, Boraj's Troju urges him in the direction of the shamites. His Troju sensing danger as a natural watchdog made Boraj even more anxious. If his watchdog senses it too, then things must be very bad. Boraj sets out to the shamites. While on his trip, he noticed his toruk seemed to have issues with navigation as the slowing of Lo affected the magnetic fields of Akromos which in turn made it hard for his Troju to maintain composure. Upon reaching the shamites, Boraj requests an audience with Akhan to inform him of the abnormality he encountered and the brewing chaos in Truso. Akhan, upon hearing that the elder trees were paying the price for this anomaly, requested the shamru serve as the memory bank for the elder trees in Truso so all ancient knowledge doesn't die with them. This was to only be a temporary solution so all knowledge isn't lost till a lasting solution was found.

 Hako, ruler of the Funsi tribe, notices that Lo slowed down while orbiting Makan and calls the attention of Akhan, the ruler of Akromos to it. He explained that in the ancient legend of Truso, it was written that the destruction of the planet Akromos was certain and will be heralded by the slowing of a sister star. The legend also explained that only the strength of the Shamru will determine if Akromos as a planet was to survive. Having heard this, Akhan summons the heads of the major regions to an emergency meeting. This meeting will take place in the most Akromos way ever, connected to the Shamru. Each head makes presence in the Shamru as planet Akromos states the strength of the Shamru which comes as a great relieve to the leaders. However, Lo slowing down ensured a ripple effect of star activities the inhabitants of Akromos weren't prepared for. First, breathable air began to thin, which required Hako to double the refined deposits to stabilize the atmosphere. This event led to the dissipation of refined gold reserves. As Lo, keeps slowing, it changes the way days are counted and longer days were experienced. Panic begins to spread among the regions of Akromos as calls are made to the Shamru for answers.

 Akhan summons his brother, Belial to a meeting. As the general superintendent of Okran, Belial's dedication to Akromos is put to the test. Okran's production is limited due to the rising demand and as such won't sustain the needed quantity, and since demand had doubled with higher chances of increase, Belial asks to be relieved of his duty as a royal to venture into the cosmos in search of possible major deposits. This would increase their chances of a better atmosphere. He explained that in this capacity, he could also fulfill his duty of ensuring his brother succeeds as is the Shamru tradition, so his new position wasn't a demotion but a necessary sacrifice to his people. Akhan initially rejects his brother's opinion as he didn't want him away from him in that difficult time. After careful consideration, Akhan asks his brother what he requires to make this daring journey into the cosmos.

 Belial asks the spirit head of Truso who protects the knowledge of old what requirements would be needed on such a journey. He is informed that his journey will have one of two outcomes. First, he will find a distant planet with necessary gold deposits to support current sky demands and will make his journey back to sustain life on Akromos or he'll find that distant planet with gold deposit but will choose to begin a new form of life and abandon his mission and thereby sealing the fate of all life on Akromos. Upon hearing this, Belial immediately opts for coming back to Akromos to save his people and other inhabitants and most importantly, his duty to the success of his brother. The spirit head then informs him that whatever choice he makes will determine the future of Akromos. This final advice from the spirit head throws Belial into great confusion as he couldn't see how choosing to remain on a distant land with large gold deposits enables the future of Akromos. Belial is charged with ensuring the success of Akromos on distant mining planets so his draconian laws of servitude will ensure the fall of Akromos' interests on its largest mining planet, Okran.

 The Shamites, being the most technologically advanced of the inhabitants of Akromos always ensure their prowess is witnessed by planets in nearby star systems by taking planets they conquer and enslaving its captives as prisoners. These prisoners are then sent to mines on distant systems to mine available gold for use on Akromos. On one of these mining planets, Okran, the largest in the star system, with a conquered population used extensively in poor conditions to mine gold, the great rebellion started when its inhabitants found a way to seize a company of soldiers who trespassed into sacred land with heavy gold deposits and began mining activities. Having succeeded in this feat, other mining stations started experiencing similar rebellious activities which saw soldiers die or captured. The liberation of Okran from the grip of the Shamites ensured none of their inhabitants were taken slaves off Okran. Upon knowledge of the rebellion on Okran, Belial decides to visit opal-628, a nearby worker planet. This planet houses workers who go to other star systems for work. These Workers are recruited for different job types across Andromeda. Here, Belial recruits 60,000 workers for the inter galactic journey. Akhan decides to give him the best spaceship in his fleet, the Krausnaut. The Krausnaut is a spaceship with warp speed capability, its own ecosystem, different animals to support the ecosystem, the Troju, the two-headed bull of Akromos as watchdogs, a fuel system similar to the workings of a star with enough supply for many light years, a part of Akromos, the Shamru also makes presence as the biological part of the ship and aids navigation and most importantly, it carried all the necessary technology needed for mining gold on a different planet on another galaxy and the tools for survival of all while at it. With all these present, Akhan was prepared to send his brother to the most distant journey of their kind in search of the most necessary element to ensure the survival of Akromos. A day of remembrance was marked on the eve of the maiden flight. Here, the shamites sang songs of remembrance for Belial, while in Truso, new trees were planted in his honor. In Gregrur, a master tone was gifted to the Krausnaut to ensure it was always supplied with water during its voyage. This ensured the survival of all on board by ensuring the ecosystem was self-sufficient. Thirty generals are presented to Belial for this journey for smooth operations on the field. On the day of the maiden inter-galactic voyage, Akhan bestows his brother with the knowledge of creation. He did this as a security feature for his brother should he ever run out of workers which will surely guarantee the failure of the mission. This, Akhan did in good faith for his brother's safety, mission's success and the continuation of life on Akromos in general. The voyage was to take place when Lo slowed around Makan which reduced gravity. This enabled Krausnaut chart a different flight plan as travel was different during this period.

 At Krausnaut's dock, the shamites are gathered with songs of melody as the last of amenities are loaded on board. Belial is the last to board with the eyes of a general and shoulders of a victor. Krausnaut begins its journey out of Akromos and once out into space, Belial gives the order for warp speed. Krausnaut begins to roar, beacons light up the control center and in a quick flash, their inter-galactic journey at warp speed began. Krausnaut began a journey none of its predecessors had accomplished. Krausnaut is programmed to search for life outside Andromeda. Locked on the navigation screen is a planet named Halla in the distant Sombrero galaxy. This journey was estimated to take sixty thousand light years at warp speed! Belial orders every member of Krausnaut to begin going into cryosleep. With one last check of occupied cryotubes, Belial enters his with his mind set to when next they'll encounter the planet Halla and how long that time is.

 Just Outside of Andromeda, Krausnaut grinds to a halt. Unexpected debris from the collision of two mega planets sent huge piles of rocks towards Krausnaut's path. This unexpected stop causes belial's cryotube to disengage as was designated by the ship's command center. With water still in his lungs, Belial coughs as he comes back to full consciousness. He scrambles to the command center and gets the status report. The Krausnaut was stuck with approaching space rocks and debris. Shamru engages Krausnaut's defense cloak to prevent damage to the ship as space rocks begin to shoot past the ship and many more hitting Krausnaut which would eventually cause great damage to the ship. All of these happened while all on board were still in cryosleep. Belial disengages some cryotubes containing a few trusted generals to assist. In the meantime, at the command center, a beacon signaling a habitable planet in an unidentified star system shows up on the large screen. As time passes, Belial begins to examine the extent of damage to his ship. Krausnaut is badly damaged and Shamru suggests to abandon ship while moving all cryotubes to emergency landers. All necessary equipment for gold mining, communication and navigation, also made it to these landers. Belial calculates the distance from the ship to the unidentified star system and decides landers can make the trip. With the help of Shamru, acting as if it was Artificial Intelligence, the movement of priority materials was far from exhausting though time consuming. After all landers are filled, Shamru imputs coordinates of this habitable planet in the unidentified star system and sets the landers on their way. Krausnaut communicates through Shamru to Belial on what happens to the ship after its commander departs as a security measure to ensure their technology isn't copied. Belial and Shamru agree that they don't have the required technology to move Shamru from krausnaut to any lander which will greatly affect communication between the shamites. As most of the landers have left Krausnaut, Shamru tells Belial he'll need to find out a new way for the shamites to communicate outside of the Shamru in their new location as it won't be present in their destination. An abrupt end to a maiden voyage plus the dilemma of losing his ship and source of communication, Belial is thrown into a state of unknowns. He joins the last landers on krausnaut as he makes it out, looking at the marvel of advanced technology behind which succumbed to the power of the cosmos. The Krausnaut is set to self-destruct and with enough distance from the last landers, the ship explodes, sending out a bright flash and the remains of the Krausnaut scatters across space.

 The journey of the landers began smoothly with all moving in sync according to their release numbers. Each section of about 600 landers was assigned a general. This would ensure that on whichever side of the planet they find themselves, and just coming out of cryosleep, there won't be confusion and chaos. The generals were there to maintain order, but this would be far from the case as just outside of the kleiper belt, another cosmic shower would take place that will severely damage the number of landers that will eventually make it to the habitable planet outside their course. The first 3000 landers took severe hits that dwindled the number of landers to below 250. All life onboard these landers were lost which will greatly impact mining activities. Belial and his generals try all they can but the disaster is beyond control. Of the many landers lost to this event, Belial lost more than 70% of his total working population and puts the whole mission in danger. Landers carrying equipment would also be destroyed as equipment and workers were the first landers to be released from Krausnaut. The animals were not left out of this destruction. As the remaining landers successfully go through this cosmic shower after being reduced to just 30% of the initial population, Belial takes charge and tells the remaining surviving Generals to follow him. He takes his lander to the front and like a lead horse, guides his remaining landers away from the direction of the cosmic shower which alters his original course. This new course will set them back a period but with the coordinates still locked in, they won't be far from their destination. Belial will later realize that the reason why the cosmic shower wasn't expected on both occasions was because the area they were in was an uncharted area even for the technologically advanced shamites and the knowledge they have is very limited with respect to the cosmos. As fate will have it for Belial, just outside of 2 light years from the uncharted area, he sets his lander back on course and Belial and his 30% are headed in the right direction. 

 2 light years have gone by and Belial is excited to see what this new planet looks like and what it has in store for them. He orders all landers to a stop as their future landing planet came into view. He spends time just admiring this giant of a planet. He first notices the planet is covered in blue and green patches. His central command analyses the planet's features. It's majorly water and vegetation with an active ecosystem filled with animals, both large and small. This excites Belial as he remembers his home planet and the few striking similarities, they both share. He asks his command system to scan for any possible threat to their arrival and if the planet housed active civilizations. Upon complete scan, Belial is informed that there was a natural ecosystem with predator-prey interactions but also points to an indigenous civilization who don't have any technology and were basically living of the land. This projection encourages Belial as he believes his situation was getting better. Belial orders 3 generals to take 1 lander each filled with armed guards and venture to different parts of the planet for closer inspection and to gather the necessary intel required before the rest of the traveling party makes land fall. As the 3 generals venture into the atmosphere of this new planet, they are first met with the planet's first line of defense as its atmosphere greatly damages any object that travels above a particular speed through it. Belial takes note of this as he loses the first general who made the dive. The other 2 would use this new knowledge and descend at a minimal speed. After clearing the atmosphere, with their landers on fire from the friction created by the atmosphere, they are greeted with a beautiful sight as large birds take to the sky. This is new to these generals as they've never encountered any biological form with the capacity of flight. This creates a new sense of adventure for the 2 generals who further push their landers through the planet. They relay their new found adventure to Belial who urges them further. One of the generals reports he spots activities and would like to investigate. Belial gives the go ahead and the general moves closer to land. He reports activities relative to an active civilization on land. Belial immediately asks him not to interfere but just observe from a distance. The other general while on his recon, spots large deposits of gold scattered all around the green part of the planet. While reporting this to Belial, the general identifies a change in the temperature of this green part. Its way hotter in this part compared to the blue part and states that their species wouldn't be able to survive in this part except with special gear as it was too hot and their equipment won't survive the heat. Hearing that their surviving equipment won't be able to commence operations, Belial begins to find alternatives to mining on this planet as it's the original reason for the mission. The first general reports the activities of this indigenous civilization as gatherers and hunters and their settlements being more of traditional methods of building using just organic materials. After much consideration, Belial tasks his two generals to make land fall and secure a perimeter that can accommodate the remaining travelling party. This can only happen on the blue side of the planet as it features favorable temperatures. A perimeter is secured on land to cater for the rest of the travelling party. This landing area would later be known as Edin. All landers are ordered to leave orbit and make landfall. This signifies the arrival of another civilization for the first time on this planet. The indigenous civilization of the planet takes account of this visit from the skies as many landers' envelope the sky with their presence. This strikes fear into their hearts as they go into hiding not knowing what to expect of this landing party. As belial's ship makes land, he emerges through the steps, plants feet on land. The texture of land here is softer than on Akromos as he scoops the sand into his palm. He then declares that that land will be named Edin and would be the chosen area for the beginning of their operations. A head count is initiated as Belial orders the unloading of all landers and even with a dwindled population required for mining gold, he was convinced their mission wasn't yet a failure. His total population is put at under 12,000. Of this 12,000, only 8,000 of them are workers suitable for mining activities. This number dents belial's moral as he begins to rethink his original stand that his mission was going to be a success regardless of the number of lost workers.

 While Belial is still in this process of accepting his new situation, one of his generals announces that there was significant movement from the north side of their perimeter. Belial immediately orders a military formation to move to the north of their position. Upon closer inspection, it is discovered that a party of the indigenous population of the planet was making way to their location to observe the anomaly that was witnessed through the sky and what their mission was on their planet. While this party of scouts got closer to the northern perimeter, Belial orders a warning shot be fired to stop their movement. This indigenous scout party rode on giant pigs with nothing but pole like objects with sharp tips. The warning shot stops them right in their tracks as they began to scamper for safety. It'll be the first time they'll experience fire and this shock sends fear into their hearts. Quickly, Belial orders the scouting party be rounded up for interrogation. Communication became a major issue as the shamites communicated only telepathically within themselves while the indigenous civilization on this planet while sharing similarities with the shamites with similar features like eyes, ears, a nose, feet and hands and the only difference being their mouths. With this situation, communication became impossible as the indigenous scout party could speak but couldn't hear what the shamites were trying to pass across and this leads to a great stand off as they wouldn't back down and several scuffles were encountered during this first meeting. During this standoff, while attempting to pacify this indigenous scout party, one of the shamite soldiers accidentally kills a member of the scout party and it becomes a free for all. Belial orders his generals to maintain order as their mission there wasn't to destroy Or conquer but they were to behave as guests in a land unknown. This order quells the rising tension as the indigenous scout party are rounded up without added violence and the immediate problem becomes evident to Belial. He had to figure a way to communicate with this scout party telepathically so he orders one general to bring a member of the scout party to him. He looks into his eyes as he places his hands on the sides of his head. This sends him into a trance where he views the planet Akromos and the many beautiful features it possesses. Immediately after this, Belial gains access to his mind and communication began. First, he asks for the identity of the scout who gave his name as Udu. He requests to know the name of the planet and what star system they belonged. This came as a big surprise to Udu as he didn't understand why they had to have a name for the planet as they didn't create it. It is widely believed on the planet that naming a thing showed possession and anyone who gave a name to an entity could lay claim to it and as none of them created the planet, they couldn't name it. This amused Belial as it signaled that the indigenes of this planet were far behind in knowledge of the cosmos which meant limited understanding. He explained that his home planet is situated in a far away galaxy called Andromeda and his star system consists of 3 suns. While this explanation is going on, a visual simulation of Akromos is playing in the mind of the indigene. Belial explains that the atmosphere on his home planet had begun to thin because of the slowing down of one of the sister suns which had an impact on the gravitational pull of his planet which in turn was destroying the atmosphere. He also explains that refined gold was used to maintain the atmosphere to a bearable limit and as the production of refined gold had become limited due to the increase in refined gold usage as the atmosphere required more gold supply, and their mining planets couldn't sustain the needed demand, they ventured into the cosmos in search planets with larger gold deposits so they could mine and return to save their planet. He says their initial journey wasn't supposed to end there but they were victims of circumstance as their journey was derailed by debris from the collision of two giant planets and another cosmic shower. He says that they could only communicate telepathically as they didn't possess tongues so he would have to be the mode of communication for his people as they had already shared a bond. After this revelation, the indigene is left alone but his eyes stay lit up as if he had had a great epiphany. His other comrades are summoned to collect their colleague. After a while, he comes back to full consciousness and explains to his brethren the ordeal these visitors faced and how they found themselves on their planet. He retells how he has seen another planet filled with different species and life and the many advancements that he couldn't even explain. This revelation causes great discord among the scouts as they couldn't believe life existed outside their planet. He later convinces them of what he had seen and how they could learn more about their visitors and gain from their presence. After much consideration among the scouts, they decided to take one of Belial's generals to meet with their leader who also served as their high priest. Upon arrival at the settlement of the indigenes, the high priest sets out to meet with the scout party and the visiting general. Udu is summoned to be the bridge of communication between the two entities. The high priest urges Udu to explain all he had learnt about the visitor as all present were amazed at the sight of a being that didn't possess a mouth. Udu explains that their visitors are known as shamites and they were from a distant galaxy called Andromeda. Udu further explains the calamity that befell them and how they got to their planet. The high priest is further intrigued by the ability to communicate telepathically and wondered how the shamites fed. He asks Udu to enquire from the general how the shamites fed. The general explains to Udu how their body converts solar energy to nutrients and provides their bodies with necessary nourishment. He further explains how having three suns adequately supplies them with adequate solar energy for their daily nourishment. He tells that since their host planet revolved around just 1 sun, they'll need to always move with the sun which means they won't be settling in just one place. This bothers the high priest because this might escalate tensions between the indigenes and the visitors. He tells the process of life on his planet. He explains that their planet completes a rotation around their sun and they record that as a day. The high priest requests solitude as he needs to think of a solution that will favor his people and be beneficial to the visitors. He tells the general to return the following day so he can chart a route that won't affect his people.

 Belial receives his general in his inner chamber and he explains what the hierarchy was like for the indigenes. He explained that their high priest served as leader and he also explained how their planet completes a rotation around their star which they call a day and is expected at the high priest's the next day. Belial saw this as an opportunity to showcase their technological prowess to win the indigenes over. He orders a few generals to gather soldiers with specific attributes for this showcase. This will entail speed, precision, creation and technology. Few technological tools are selected to be presented to the high priest. Among these tools is a beacon, capable of manipulating hyperspace and attracting potential allies. All these were to be presented to the high priest as a sign of good will. The following day arrives and Belial and his generals set out to the court of the high priest with gifts and skilled soldiers ready for their presentation.