The Planet Azuran, a world emanating a wondrous cerulean glow. The most immediately noticeable trait is that entire sections of the planet are made up of massive cities. Outside of the cities, there are cracks across the planet’s crust filled with superheated blue plasma. The storms on Azuran are one of its most well known tropes; both the planet and its organisms have been fortified to defend against them. The planet itself is nearly as bright as a star.

Azuran is home to both the human like Cobaltion Race and the crystalline Azuranites. The Cobaltions are similar in appearance to us, with the exceptions being their blue hair, red eyes and pale skin. The average Cobaltion is also much stronger and faster than even the most adept human. The Azuranites are luminous, muscular and altogether alien compared to their humanoid counterparts. Although Azuranites are seen living in Cobaltion cities and territories, they are much more likely to live in their own villages. Both races are capable of manipulating plasma and electric energy, some to a much higher degree than others.

The Cobaltions and Azuranites weren’t the only races to inhabit Azuran. Long ago, visitors known as Viritians immigrated from another galaxy after their planet was destroyed. Much like the Cobaltions, the Viritians are humanoid. Unlike them, they have black hair and a slightly grayer skin tone. Viritians also have a much different culture and a different architectural style.

The technology on Azuran is highly advanced, producing all kinds of gadgets, towering buildings and vehicles that leap across the sky. Even single cities can be thousands of times the size of Earth. The mountains seem to stretch upward for hundreds of miles, and the oceans plummet into abyssal chasms that haven’t even been fully explored.

The most prominent city on Azuran is the Ion Megaplex. It is home to the infamous Everian Guild, which is fronted by the Everian Noble Family. The Guild protects the city and, indeed, all of Azuran from both home based and interstellar threats. The Everians are currently fronted by Exilus Everian, who will eventually pass leadership on to his incredibly gifted son, Voltis.

Each city state has multiple social classes, ranging from working class peasants to high ranking military nobles. This is a very efficient system and it fills every niche required for society to operate. With the abolition of Azuran’s planet wide Cobaltion Monarchy at least 20 centuries ago, the care of individual states has been left to the noble families that served under the King and Queen. These noble families often disagree with one another and start pointless wars that rage on decades. The Everians have been the only family to stand up and put an end to the madness, taking charge of the other families and the entire planet. The family has become a guild; they’ve collected millions upon millions of followers and blossomed into something society had never seen before.

There are two sects of the Everian Guild: the Central Government and the Noble Elites. The Central Government were the first response to any large scale situation. If they were incapable of subduing the enemy, the Noble Elites stepped in. Anyone can join up with the CG, but the Elites are all full blooded Cobaltions of the Everian Family – exceptional scions.

It was around midday and the skyline over the Ion Megaplex Central District was a radiant purple. This was unusual because the rays of Azuran’s sun, Cerulean Prime, were normally perceived as a deep blue. The very notion that the sky would be such a color attracted the gaze of many idle citizens to the gorgeous sight. Aside from this, the day seemed to be moving on as usual. Being the largest city state on the planet, it was ridiculously busy. Everyone from senior citizens to preschoolers were occupied by at least or one two tasks.

A group of imposing and glorious Cobaltion nobles descended the steps of the enormous Everian Temple. At the center of them stood a man of impressive stature, around seven feet. He was clad in a high tech ebony heavy armor with luminous outlines of royal blue adorning each curve and meeting at the center of his chest plate. His shaggy, shoulder-length hair was a deep and radiant blue. With crimson eyes that spoke of great resolve and a muscular build that was easily the most noticeable of the group, his presence commanded respect. This was Exilus Everian; the greatsword on his back was named Ion and had been passed down for thousands of generations. Ion’s blade was five feet long and five inches wide, with deep inlays and arrow shaped markings adorning it. The hilt had a wide, sharp curve, and the handle was encircled by ringlike marks, ending in a spear tip shape.

Standing next to him was his nine year old son, Voltis. He was about two feet shorter than his father, but still had an impressive physique for his age. He wore armor similar to his father’s and had shorter, choppier teal blue hair that hung over his right eye. His crimson eyes betrayed a youthful pride and thoughts of a grand future.

The group walked to the center of the city square. Exilus was going to deliver a speech on the planetary status; an uncountable number of people across had gathered to witness it. The event was both televised and receiving radio play on every station. Voltis gave his father a puzzled look, as he hadn’t witnessed him draw a crowd of this magnitude in years.

“Dad, how long is your speech going to be?” Voltis asked, quite curious as to why there were so many people arriving in such a short amount of time.

“As long as it needs to be. We’re not here to play games right now, so just keep your head up and look sharp,” his father replied sternly.

The stage was surrounded by hundreds of guards, each clad in the same armor. Snipers were on watchtowers surrounding all sides and there were several transport vehicles full of soldiers.

Aside from Voltis and his father, the other nobles in the group were High Commander Jade, Guard Captain Kai and Head Admiral Toran. They stood behind his father while Voltis stood right next to him. With his head held high, he stared into space with while his hair waved around in the breeze. His dad began speaking.

“It has come to my attention that there is an insurrection by the Ravan Nobles in the Terragryph Mountains. While this may seem like ordinary news, it is far worse.

“I have bad news and good news regarding this situation. The Everian Guild has no right to intervene in another Noble Family’s business, this decision is solely due to our sense of honor. However, if they begin to attack other cities, districts and nations, then we have every right to defend them!”

The crowd throw their fists in the air as a sign of respect and shouted at the top of their lungs as a sign of acknowledgement. Voltis grinned, but looked away from his father so he wouldn’t get yelled at again.

“At this moment, they’re mobilizing airships, fighters, tanks and ground troops. They appear to be headed towards the city of Hiron. We will stop at nothing to defend its people!”

The crowd dispersed as Voltis walked off the podium with his father.

“Voltis, you did well today. You didn’t question any orders and you followed your teacher’s directions. I’m proud of you.”

Voltis smirked in response and left to train with his instructor.

While on his way to the temple, Voltis’ thoughts went back to the speech. What if that noble family attacks Ion? He can’t exactly skip out on training to help his father, but he also can’t let the Ravans storm his home. He pondered about that subject and couldn’t get it off his mind. It pestered him.

Upon arriving, Voltis took in the sight of his family’s glorious and long-lived home. He was always impressed by it and couldn’t believe that he would one day take on such an important role. The entrance chamber was packed with soldiers, trainees, students and civilians. Each one of them was either engaged in conversation or marching in squad formation.

Entering the combat prep gym, he was greeted by a tall, thin man. Despite appearing to be in his mid-twenties and displaying short and spiky hair like that of a youth, Thantier Aduran was a black belt martial artist and gladiator of the utmost reputation. He was easily one of the guild’s top fighters, rivaling Voltis’ father and Jade.

“You look as if you’re troubled. What’s going on?” Thantier asked, as Voltis struck a fighting pose.

“Didn’t you hear the news about Hiron? The Ravan family’s raiding it,” he replied. Lunging at his teacher, Voltis started out with a volley of high speed punches and kicks, but Thantier dodged the casual attacks with even greater speed, flowing away from Voltis’ assault like water.

“Focus! You can’t beat your opponent by bum rushing them like that!” Thantier chided.

“How about like this?”

Voltis flicked out his hand and cast a bolt of lightning towards his training partner. The cracking sound of a massive energy discharge and the smell of fused air filled the room like a portent of doom, but Thantier easily evaded the lightning at a speed so great that he seemed invisible to the nearby gladiators.

“Fine. No more holding back,” Voltis declared, gritting his teeth.

The speed at which he shot forward was unimaginable to the witnesses. The only thing they could see of his movement was a streak of blue, held in place like static electricity. He showed the power of his birthright; he was the first speed-born in centuries, gifted with unnatural agility.

Finally landing blows, Voltis laughed in exhilaration as he sent his tutor flying.

“Holding back is overrated,” he boasted as he began to follow up with another bolt of lightning. It wasn’t over, however; Thantier was just beginning to play as well.

“I hope you like rebounds,” Thantier growled.

With that statement, he shoved his palm forward and deflected Voltis’ attack back at him. Anticipating the parry, Voltis was already out of the path of his returned lightning. The literal lightning-fast exchange was already unbelievable to the onlookers, but it wasn’t the only tricks the combatants had up their sleeve.

Thantier flourished with his hands, producing a pair of luminous arming swords composed of solid energy. He began a flurry of precise stabs towards Voltis, who countered by collecting energy and forming his own blade to defend himself with. The two began an exchange of attacks, feints and parries that lasted for what seemed like hours, neither seeming to truly gain the upper hand. The surrounding gladiators, their numbers swelled from word of mouth that Voltis and Thantier were sparring, watched in awe as the two traded maneuvers that were barely visible to them.

At last, Voltis knocked the blade from his teacher’s left hand. With a massive burst of speed, he snatched it from the air while maneuvering around Thantier’s now-unprotected side, then raised the sword to the neck of its own creator.

“Impressive. You’ve definitely improved,” Thantier stated as he dispersed the energy of the mortally-threatening blade. “The only other student who could pull that off graduated last year.”

Voltis remembered that unbelievably talented student. The fact that he now rivaled her in terms of skill made him the greatest student fighter in the guild.

The glow of satisfaction from the sparring match held strong within Voltis until he arrived back at the Everian Temple. The tension and anger of the Guildsmen rushing about was palpable and Voltis immediately saw why. Strewn across monitors and desks were terse, brutal field reports from Hiron.

By the time Voltis’ father and his commanders arrived, the Ravan Military was already tearing the city apart. Unbelievable numbers detailed the number of casualties and the amount of damage done to the infrastructure. Strewn among the Guild reports were copies of Central Government civilian evacuation orders and communications from the Noble Elites of Hiron that spoke of their clashes with the massive enemy force.

The war had begun. There would be no negotiating.

Original work by Patrick Gaffney 2017. Edited by nullfather 2017.