Tales from Tolroko: The Hero

This is the first in a series of Tolroko inspired tales written by the teams lead writer Lee Williams.

You swing your flyer around to starboard and see the great sweep of the Tolrokian ark before you, its burnished flanks blazing with golden light, gaudy pennants snapping and crackling in the wind along its length. As you watch, the Hive warriors sweep in from the east for another attack, discharging their hand-cannons in a volley that blossoms into a host of tiny yellow explosions all along the main deck.

The ark returns fire and you grimace at the distant shapes of your allies tumbling from the sky in their dozens, spiralling towards the ground in broken-winged circles. You tilt the control column and set your flyer on a course for the upper deck of the ark. Perhaps if you can defeat whichever Tolrokian lord is in command then you can end this battle before too many lives are lost.

The Tolrokians notice your approach and begin to release rockets in your direction, thumping the air all around you and causing the flyer to buck from side to side. Your shields should cope for a little longer and you hold a steady course, plunging through coils of smoke and whirling flights of Hive warriors towards the heart of the battle. Once in position above the top deck, you set the flyer to descend and grab your rifle from the storage rack. The landing jets hiss, the gangway opens and you leap out into the fray.

The deck is a chaos of warfare, seething with sound and fury. Tall Hive warriors stalk through the smoke with their blades unsheathed and slick with blood, antennae twitching as they mutely signal to one another. They are utterly fearless in battle but are still no match for the well-trained Tolrokian guardsmen, who keep up such a sustained fire from their energy weapons that the air crackles with the discharge. Most of the Tolrokians are grouped on a raised section of the deck surrounding a golden tent and you guess this must be the ark’s command centre. Diving for cover behind a collapsed mast, you take stock of the situation.

The Hive warriors are outgunned but far from defeated and it may be that a carefully applied distraction could give them the opening they need. You unclip one of your precious energy grenades from your belt and test its weight for a moment before lobbing it in a high arc towards the upper deck. It bounces to rest among a large group of guardsmen who regard it almost quizzically, not expecting to deal with such a weapon in the midst of a Hive attack. The grenade glows briefly then shatters in a burst of kinetic energy which sends them flying in all directions, their shrieking, spinning forms slamming against the masts and flying over the railings to plunge to their deaths in the desert below.

The Hive warriors take advantage of the commotion to charge the command centre, wings buzzing as they launch across the deck to fall upon the remaining guardsmen. Their long blades glitter as they work. You dash forwards alongside them and vault the railing onto the upper deck, smashing aside a staggering Tolrokian with the butt of your rifle, then pull back the gold curtain at the tent’s entrance and step inside.

It is like entering a different world. Here the air is rich with incense and the sounds of battle seem distant, muffled by the thick drapery. The interior of the tent is luxuriantly decorated, hung with rare green cloth and filled with elaborate statuary in the high Tolrokian style. In the midst of all this opulence, reclining on a small hillock of cushions, is a Tolrokian lord. He is naked save for the jewel-encrusted klatch, ornamental lizards bred for their docility, which crawl in slow circles about his pale body like a shifting suit of ceremonial armour. He sips from a chalice and regards you coolly.

When he speaks, his voice is a low tumble of sound, soft and musical. You draw out your JINN and glance at the screen for a translation.

“I have heard of you,” he says. “But had not expected such a fine specimen. Had I one of your race in my menagerie, I would be the envy of all Verdor.”

You lightly tap the screen, selecting an authoritative tone and demanding that he surrender. The JINN gurgles out the message in a language which sounds far less fluid and musical than when spoken by the lord.

“There seems little need for surrender,” he replies, gesturing behind you with a lazy wave of his hand. You turn to see a pair of Hive warriors entering the tent. It appears your allies have won the battle.

“I am your prisoner,” says the lord. “And it is my duty to give you my name. But before I do, perhaps you would consider an introduction on different terms. You have made unusual friends on Tolroko and I would offer you an alternative - I could use a warrior like you as an ally…”

He raises himself from his mound of cushions and stands. As he does so, the brightly-coloured klatch which adorn his body seem to sense his intentions and open a multitude of eyes all at once in a glittering show of scrutiny. You feel suddenly awed by this ancient and alien culture and begin to doubt your purpose here. Perhaps you would be wiser to ally with the Tolrokians after all? Your fingers twitch over the surface of the JINN…

// Lee Williams