Nuka

A mysterious fellow

[rpnukarp]

Hy-ho Haunted Mine

Nuka:

I guess kings really are all obsessed with gold! [If Nuka ever meets Ra he’s gonna think he’s royalty for sure ;) ]. At least Hesperus is more generous than the king ever was, and even offers to upgrade my staff.

“Gold’s too shiny for my tastes. Not the best if you’re trying to be sneaky. But I appreciate the offer.”

I follow Hesperus down into the caves, a bad feeling in my gut growing with every step I take. The bones and scratch marks don’t help… Damn it, what’s wrong with me?! I used to walk into shitty situations all the time when I was a spy, and I never felt so nervous. I try to go back to that feeling I had when I was younger, when I felt like I was invincible.

(Familiar Voice): ((Was it invincibility, or were you just not afraid to die back then?))

Before I can fully process the voice, or why it’s familiar, I hear a loud roaring and (embarrassingly) jump. Hesperus tells us it’s his communicator, and he needs to go. I’m about to follow him and his men, but then I hear that voice again…

(Familiar voice): ((Running with a different crowd, I see? You’re the last one I ever thought would go Nabel, Nuka, but here you are…))

‘Go Nabel’… only my birth family ever used that phrase… That voice, now I know, it belonged to my older brother…

“Angijuk?!”

As soon as I say his name, he steps out of the shadows. It’s not a pretty sight. He’s barely recognisably, his whole body is charred… which makes sense, given he died in a bomb blast all those years ago…

(Ghost Angijuk): “That’s right, I DIED rather than fail my mission for the King. I also did it to protect you, so you wouldn’t be punished for my mistakes… But you threw my sacrifice in the dirt, when you turned your back on our King for a bunch of worthless human villagers! You betrayed me worse than our grandfather ever could.”

His words cut to the bone. I’d always feared… that he’d hate me for what I did…

(Ghost Angijuk): “Just looking at you sickens me.”

He spits, then leaves down one of the tunnels heading deeper into the mine. All common sense vanishes, and I’m consumed with the need to follow him.

“Angijuk, wait!”

I race after the figure down the tunnels alone…

[rpnukarp]

Hy-ho Haunted Mine

Nuka:

Hesperus says that maybe the king wiped out everyone because of a rebellion.

“It must have been bad for it to get to that…”

From what I remember, the bigger the threat something was, the more the king didn’t want to destroy it. Instead he’d want to harness it for himself, ‘let nothing go to waste’ and all that. To gas an entire world full of gold was… strange… Now I have to remind myself that I’m to one who told that silly made-up story, I can’t go believing it too! Hesperus men certainly still seem to…

At least Hesperus is fairly calm, since he wants to take home the ‘cursed’ gold. I wonder why? Maybe it’s still a thing with all kings, not just ‘the’ king?

“Going to make yourself another crown? Or maybe one of those fancy sceptres?”

I joke with him, before noticing the ‘Keep Out’ sign. Is that… red paint, or..? Hesperus says it can’t have been written by a ghost.

“Well, if it was written by the workers, we should be careful heading in. It could just be a private area the higher ups wanted to keep to themselves, but there could also be something dangerous in there…”

As I carefully step inside, I hear what sounds like a wail from deep within the mine. Let’s hope that’s just the wind…

“After you, King Hesperus!” ;)

[rpnukarp]

Hy-ho Haunted Mine

Nuka:

I breathe a sigh of relief when Hesperus tells me his ship has decent radiation-detection equipment. I take the laughing of the men in good humour, and really I’m just glad Hesperus didn’t step out into a nuclear fall-out zone.

I hear mention of Ben Starker- it’s been a long time since I heard that name, but it would make sense as a possibility. Hesperus even suggests that maybe my ghost story really did happen on this planet, and the king had it gassed.

“We’d better hope Starker gas works on ghouls then, or we could be in trouble.” I tease back, before jumping out of the ship (to show the men I’m NOT afraid of ghosts ;) )

I head towards the mines, and on my way pass a few wheelbarrows. Most are pretty wrecked, but one is fairly intact and even still contains its cargo. I wipe away the ash only to find that it’s… gold, just like the story…

I show it to Hesperus, but then try not to overthink it and keep moving forward, until we reach the dark, foreboding entrance to the mine shaft…

[rpnukarp]

Hy-ho Haunted Mine

Nuka:

I nod as Hesperus talks about having to rebuild after leaving the kingdom. I admire him and his people for trying, at least. Life on Sanctuary was good, don’t get me wrong, I just always thought the day would come when we’d regret not investing more (or, you know, anything) in technology. But that was Zira’s wish for whatever reason, and Vitani and Alana carried it on, even after she died.

Hesperus checks the windows, and I go to follow him. I see the ash and bones… yikes, maybe this place wasn’t abandoned after all. It could have been a volcanic explosion, but I’ve also seen similar results from nuclear weapons…

While my back is turned, Hesperus opens the ship door and steps outside! I run over and pull him back!

“Woah, hold your horses, sonny! Do you have the tech to do a radiation check? We don’t know yet whether this has a natural cause…”

I hope for his sake it does…

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I keep one hand on my staff and one hand on Hesperus’s shoulder as the shuttle begins to shake. There is talk of there being others on the planet.

“Do you guys have life signs detectors?” I ask, unsure how much of their technology was similar to the kingdom’s. Although Hesperus makes a good point about tracks.

“We can also look for signs of life- smoke from fires, fresh food, fresh… what comes out the other end…”

Wow, living with the villagers for so long really has done a number on my language. There are times when I would have used much worse words ;)

As the landing gets particularly bumpy, I manage to stop myself and Hesperus from flying out of our seats [credits himself rather than Hesp’s keen reflexes and robot arm ;) ].

“So, where to first?” I say nonchalantly, while the other soldiers are still reeling from the landing.

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I smirk a little when Hesperus says I might have to convince some terrifying creatures.

“If I do, I just hope they like my stories as much as you and your men did.”

I could always just tell them I have a ‘magic exploding staff’- half the kingdom seems to believe that at this point, so why shouldn’t a few aliens?

I walk with Hesperus over to the shuttle, ready to find out what’s REALLY down in the mines.

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I can’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing at Hesperus’s and his crew’s reactions.

“Sorry sonny, couldn’t resist! That’s just an old ghost story from the kingdom, one of the classics. But I admire your bravery! Most of the rookies we used to tell it to would beg to be assigned somewhere else.”

Despite the circumstances, it felt good to forget everything and have a bit of fun. Given all the fleeing and then the sickness, we haven’t had much to laugh at recently… I take another bite of the muffin, not wanting my thoughts to get too heavy while I had a mission to do.

“This is an area the king conquered a while ago, right? In that case, I’d guess that the mine just got depleted of its natural resources, and that’s why everyone left. It’ll probably be safe to use. Although, they do say the best stories have a grain of truth in them, so you never know…”

I give Hesperus one final tease as I finish my muffin.

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I smile a little as it looks like Hesperus is enjoying the food. I put on a grim expression when he asks me about the abandoned mine world, however. I prepare to tell him the tale.

“I remember this place… It used to be a human world, one of the places I… spied on, back in the day… The locals weren’t all that advanced, but the planet had an unusually large amount of gold underground, that made the king interested. He may hate humans, but he sure adopted a lot of our culture over the years, including gold being a ‘royal’ metal. Anyway, when the time came, I was ordered not to kill the locals right away. Instead, they were to be used to help locate and mine the gold.

After we invaded, I thought they’d be relieved, grateful even, that they were being spared- the king’s human genocide was hardly a secret by that point. But when we ordered them to go into the caves to start mining the gold, they looked even more terrified than when the army came through their gate. They kept talking about their legend, that the caves were inhabited by spirits of the dead, and the gold belonged to them. Anyone who tried to steal it would be haunted. Of course, no one took them seriously. Every human settlement has its own myths and superstitions, and if you know anything about science, you can smell the BS a mile away. We had no patience with them, and threatened to… kill their kids, if they didn’t go in. They reluctantly obeyed.

I was stationed there to help keep an eye on things, since I knew about the planet and locals and all. For the first couple of months, things went smoothly. The mines were built, and gold was extracted without any difficulties. I thought it was an easy assignment. But the deeper the mines went into the planet… weird stories started cropping up. Mining equipment was stolen or damaged in the middle of the night. Strange voices could be heard over the radio frequency, telling us to leave. People who were down in the caves working alone or in pairs suddenly ran out screaming and refused to go back into the mines, no matter what threats we made. They wouldn’t say what had happened to them, but they told us the same as the voices over the radio, that we had to leave the planet and never return.

We began to whether the humans were smarter than we’d given them credit for. Maybe they were trying to take us for fools, so we’d leave them alone. Some of us believed that, some didn’t. But whether or not they were playing games, the fact of the matter was more and more of them were refusing to work, and the king was not pleased. The order was given to… butcher them all. Hybrids were sent to mine the gold instead.

Things got worse instead of better. Rather than just one or two people being spooked, like had happened with the humans, whole teams of hybrids would suddenly refuse to ever set foot in the mines again. They said they’d heard voices, and a few even claimed to have seen the spirits of the human legend. They said the spirits of the locals were there now too, and were planning to seek revenge if we didn’t heed this last warning. We didn’t, and soon hybrids started disappearing; some were later found dead, and some were never found at all.

You saw Mhy Space, you can imagine the rumours that began flying around. Hybrids did everything they could to avoid being stationed at the planet. In the end, the King himself had to come. He tried mind-ordering the hybrids, but even his orders didn’t work on any who’d already been down in the mines... I guess his curiosity overruled his caution, since he ended up going down into the caves himself. He took a large party of hybrids for protection, but after a little while, he sent them all back out again. A while after that, the king emerged. He commanded that we were to leave this place and never come back. I don’t know what he saw down there- the hybrids who were with him were sworn to secrecy… But no one from the kingdom has ever been back since. Let’s just hope that, whatever is down there, is either asleep or gone now…”

I look to Hesperus’s face, curious to see his reaction. I have to stop myself from smirking so he doesn’t realise the story is COMPLETELY made up, and the old mine was probably just left when it got emptied of all its material ;)

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I wake up the next morning, and avoid checking Mhy Space again- I’m sure it’s just full of more lies. ;) I still have no idea what I’m going to tell the villagers when we get home…

Instead of dwelling on that, I go to find Hesperus. I notice his less-than-appealing oatmeal, and offer him whatever he would like from a bag of Steve’s homemade goods instead. I pick out a breakfast muffin myself, and after a few bites, ask some questions about the mission.

“What’s our job for today? Do you think we’ll have to speak to any locals?”

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I turn away from the screen, not wanting to look at Mhy Space anymore. [Misses the crazy update and avoids the potentially heart-attack-inducing shock that would have caused! An old man can only take so much, and he’s already seen the re-enactment video ;)]

Hesperus says to call it a night, and I nod, grateful for the excuse to have some time alone.

“Yeah, good night.”

I walk out of the bridge in a daze, just trying to locate the crew’s quarters. When I reach them, I lay on the bed but don’t even try to get any sleep. Instead I ponder both my past decisions, and what I should tell the others when we return from the mission…

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I nod as Hesperus talks about planning for the next rescue. I hope that means we’re more likely to succeed than the first time.

He mentions his brother and friend being safer with Nala’s protection, but soon after, he flicks to the news feed and my fears are confirmed.

I hear Hesperus’s condolences, but can’t respond straight away. It doesn’t feel real. I can remember seeing her just a month ago, back on Sanctuary before everything went to shit. It wasn’t like Vitani, losing someone slowly to a disease, she was so alive.

“I thought… she’d outlive me…”

Of all our old friends from back in the day, we were the last two. We’d buried the others together, cared for Vita together. Of course, it’s just been me the past month, but at least I knew she was out there somewhere in the kingdom. I figured being a royal she wasn’t in any danger. I guess that was a fucking mistake.

I scroll down to see how it happened. It doesn’t give details on cause of death, it just says that she was murdered by another one of her brothers, Tiberius. Who knows whether that’s the truth, or just the king blaming it on an enemy, like how ‘Bane’ supposedly blew up the school. The only thing I can be certain of, is that’s another person the kingdom has taken away from me. Dad, Mom, Angijuk, and now Alana. I just hope that she’s the last.

“We should focus on the mission. The sooner you all can launch a strong rebellion, the better it will be for everyone. And when we get back, let’s not waste any time in preparing the rescue mission for your friends.”

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

Hesperus informs me that we may indeed have to go on another rescue mission, and probably soon.

“Got any ideas for a plan?”

I wonder if any of the guys who went on the last rescue mission will join us too? That one was much more successful than mine and Hesperus’s first attempt!

I chuckle along with Hesperus as he gives me the possibilities for who the blonde lady could be.

“Er, sure, let’s go for that last option…” I had heard a lot of freaky rumours about the king back in the day…

It turns out Hesperus’s brother is a lot more popular than him, and probably just as flirty, since he won ‘sexiest minion’. I’m not sure if Hesperus is overwhelmed with news of his brother, or a little jealous, but I give him a commiserative pat on the shoulder either way.

“At least your brother and your friend are together. The promotion’s a good thing too.” It means he’s less likely to be considered expendable and killed the next time the king has a bad day. I keep that last thought to myself, though, no need to make Hesperus feel worse.

Just before Hesperus leaves his brother’s page, I see Nala’s name and the letters RIP. No, surely not…

“G-go to the news section!”

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I nod in thanks at Hesperus’ statement about my family. It was rough back then, but that was a long time ago. I’m just lucky I got the chance to make a new family somewhere safe.

Hesperus points out that the woman’s account was made after their trip to our old homeworld. I suppose that does make it less suspicious… Although it seems she wasn’t the only one, since the other man (Uriah) has an account too.

“Er, are we going to need to go on another rescue mission?” I ask Hesperus awkwardly, a LOT of his people look to have been kidnapped!

It seems the hybrids have a lot of time on their hands, they’re even making Mhy Space accounts for prisoners now. Hesperus has an account! I notice his posts asking where I was.

“Thanks for trying to check up on me.”

I take a sip of water but then spew it out in SHOCK when he plays the ‘dramatic reenactment of his capture’ video! The hybrids really DO have a lot of time on their hands!

I frown as a blonde lady appears saying she’s the ‘queen of all queens’, BUT she’s not green, and I could never in a million years picture Alana making someone strip as a punishment, so maybe it’s not meant to be her. I roll my eyes when an old man, probably supposed to be me, says he wants to ‘fly too’, but then laugh when ‘Hesperus’ gets put behind a bar.

“I never knew you were such a good bartender. If the king business ever gets old, you can always get a job at Steve’s.” I joke to him, trying to lift the mood after he got sad about his friends.

“Well, now you’ve seen just how ‘honest’ Mhy Space is, are you ready to look for your brother’s account?” I ask, after we’ve both recovered from watching the musical.

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

I chuckle as Hesperus says he can’t picture me young.

“I’ve not been old forever, you know.”

I stop laughing when he finds my page. I’d managed to run from my past for a long time, maybe even started remembering things in a kinder light, but there’s no getting away from those posts I wrote. I remember how I just… didn’t care, about anything except trying to make it up the ranks. Proving I wasn’t just some human nobody with a crappy family meant more to me than entire villages of my own kind. How many people did I kill playing a game I was never going to win?

I get distracted from my guilt when Hesperus asks about Atlantis.

“No, never even met my grandfather. He got captured by Atlantis long before I was born. They wanted information about one of their people that the king was holding prisoner, and I guess they offered him a sweet deal, since he accepted. He left my grandmother and father behind in the kingdom to face the consequences, and never looked back. So he’s hardly someone I went looking for, even after I got away.”

Before we leave my page, Hesperus spots a recent photo of me.

“Ha, poor Gary, no one ever listens to him, even when he’s right.”

It turns out I was wrong about there not being any rumours out there, everyone seems to think I’m some guy called Bane! I think he’s one of the rebels? We don’t get told a lot around here, being new and the weakest race and all, so I’m not sure. But I guess so, if the king is blaming ‘him’ for attacking a school.

“Well, you’ve seen my real dark side, and my fake dark side, let’s see if the king has any dirt on you.” I say to Hesperus, before running a search with his name.

A post comes up about how he’s ‘ugly’ and it has MANY likes. I realise I recognise the woman who made the post.

“Hey, wasn’t she part of your team on Sanctuary? What’s she doing with an account?”

Was she a spy? It WAS strange how the king found our planet so soon after Hesperus’ team arrived…

[rpnukarp]

Flying though Hy-Fi we go!

Nuka:

Hesperus has more faith in this crew than the last. I decide to trust his judgement for the most part, but keep a watchful eye just in case.

He mentions looking on Mhy Space, and I fill him in with a few details before we get started.

“Sounds good, we can check up on our people. If your brother’s a soldier on the main hive, he’s bound to have an account. They may have given the girl one too, since humans are apparently a rarity these days. And Alan- Nala will almost certainly have an account as well.”

Not that I’m expecting to learn much from hers. The king’s account was always oh so official and minimalist, looking back I don’t think he ever touched the thing himself. Then again, I guess no one was really themselves on Mhy Space, just the image they wanted everyone else to believe.

“Of course, everything on the site has to be in line with Kingdom policy, so take what you read with a big pinch of salt.”

They even censored swearing back in my day. For the first time in a while, I think back to that old account.

“I… had my own Mhy Space page, back when I worked for the king. I don’t know if it’ll still be there, but if you find it… That’s not who I am anymore, you know?”

Hesperus is still young, I wonder if he really knows how much people can change over the years?

“Oh, and there’s always some big melodramatic rumour floating about. Back when I went missing, some hybrids were saying I’d reunited with my traitor grandfather and we were going to help Atlantis disappear again.”

I chuckle, I think it was a Billy that came up with that one (I swear gossiping is in their DNA). Though I guess the truth ended up being even less likely than a Billy theory; living on a secret human world, along with the king’s long-lost mind-wiped sister and a hidden wraith hive. At least it’s been a long time since my supposed ‘death’ so I’m SURE there can’t possibly be any rumours about me making the rounds right now ;)

[rpnukarp]

Tis The (Flu) Season

Nuka:

The leader doesn’t threaten to kill me for my past, so overall I consider that reveal to have gone well. Although I don’t like that one word he uses, ‘influence’, that doesn’t exactly denote honesty…

“I’ll tell them the truth, as I know it to be.” Is all I reply, locking eyes with him for a second, before leaving with Hesperus.

“So, have you found a better pilot than Mr Lam?” I ask him quietly once he’s finished addressing his crew. I’ve not gotten much of a read off these new guys yet, but at least they don’t seem disrespectful. Hopefully that will make this mission more successful than our first ;)

[rpnukarp]

Tis The (Flu) Season

Nuka:

I nod along at the mission details. It doesn’t sound too dangerous- as long as the planet is uninhabited. And if it is…

“I used to be a king loyalist myself, a LONG time ago.” I say, both wanting to get it out there, but also reassure the leader that it won’t be a problem. “You think it’s an ok life at the time, but really it’s just…” I stop myself from saying ‘a sh*tshow’ out loud, since the other villagers don’t like swearing. “It can take time, but I think most people would come over to your side, if you gave them a chance.”

AND it doesn’t hurt to have muffins and cookies and soup ;)

“But either way, we’ll get it done. Right Hesperus?”