Chrono Trigger Chrono Star

Chrono Star, Chapter one.  
  
A young girl ran down a hallway that curved consistantly to the left and seemed to spiral upwards. Robotic monsters   
jumped out in front of the girl but she sliced through them with her katana. Seeing a blue door at the end of the hall she   
quickened her pace. As she was almost at the end a bigger robot fell in front of her. Dodging it's first three strikes with super   
speed she sliced it's optical sensor in half. Slipping past the blinded robot she exited and found herself on the roof of a giant   
tower.  
  
"Hurry up Gila"  
  
Gila turned toward the voice and spotted a small craft with three curved black wings two on the sides and one dorsal.   
It had a white body and seemed armed to the teeth. In it's cockpit sat a tall man with blazing red hair and green eyes, as he   
reached for her a blinding pain hit her at the base of the neck. She collapsed in too much pain to comprehend what was going   
on around her, but she did notice a man standing over her rigid body, laughing before her vision began to fade to blackness…  
  
  
  
"…Gila… Gila…Good morning, Gila."  
  
A short girl with long green hair shook her head as the window shades were opened, allowing sun light into   
the room. She sat up and held her head in her palm.  
"It wasn't one of those dreams again was it?" A young woman walked over to the bedside and checked her   
temperature.  
"You're burning up, just like last time. Do you want to stay in bed? You shouldn't move around if you're sick."   
Gila shook her head again and stood, tying her hair back into a pony-tail.   
  
"You don't feel that bad? Well you should at least meet your friend in that case. What's his name again…   
um… Glenn right? Anyway he called earlier and said he'd be near the docks." Gila nodded, walking to the window to look over   
the city. The imperial capital of the Guardia empire sprawled out before her, skyscrapers hundreds of stories tall stretched far   
above on any side. Walkways connected every last one of them, their surfaces packed with countless people making their way   
to work.  
  
"Remember to stay away from the lower levels, no one has returned alive for six years since FAERIE failed."   
The young woman turned away,   
"There, I had to go and bring up that again, if it wasn't for FAERIE your father would still be alive today."   
Gila put her hand on her mother's shoulder in a comforting way.   
"Thanks Gila, you should get going, you don't want to make Glenn wait." Gila nodded and left the apartment. She ran   
down the hallways on her way to the docking tower where Glenn ran a small time mechanic shop for some of the lower grade space   
ships. She came to a doorway on the east side of her tower and braced herself, she hated the open walkways with their intense   
winds and thousand mile drops on either side. At least it was short, only a thousand feet or so. She opened the door a crack   
and was nearly knocked off her feet by the burst of wind. Forcing her legs into motion and locking her eyes on the far side she   
sprinted towards the other door. The wind whipped past her ears as her goal drew nearer. She burst through the door and fell   
to her knees, breathing hard. She felt her neck, it was burning at the base.   
  
Gila stepped into the main Docks area. Ships of all sizes and shapes were scattered across the floor. On her way   
to Glenn's shop she heard an explosion in one of the ships in the bay. A cursing Glenn was flung through the air to land at Gila's   
feet. He got up quickly and dusted himself off.  
"Can't beat these older military types, used enough to be quirky but with enough life left to explode when   
something is wrong."   
As if seeing her for the first time Glenn jumped at noticing Gila.  
"Geez Gila, you want to give me a heart attack? Don't sneak up on me like that." Gila raised an eyebrow at Glenn.   
He turned aside,   
"I've got a little more to do here, but then we can go to The Edge." Gila nodded and walked toward the shop   
door to wait for him.  
"Wait, can you get some parts for me? These new ships just came in on special order and I've run out of drive   
transistors." Glen got a small notebook out of his back pocket and ripped a page from it.   
  
"Here, it's all written down, just give this to the guy in the shop on level 655 and he'll give you what you need."   
Gila looked at the paper.   
"Come on Gila, please do this for me, as a favor?" Gila looked back at Glenn and nodded.  
  
Gila looked around after leaving the docks to make sure there was no one around`, then began to sprint down the hallway.   
She ran fast, to say the least. She raced through the passage at three times the speed of an Olympic athlete. She laughed as she   
skidded to a stop in front of the elevator. Gila had loved to run all her life and thus hated crowded hallways and walls, they stopped   
her from running. Even with all the obstacles she still found time and opportunities to practice running. It was something she loved   
to do.   
  
Gila exited the elevator on the six hundredth fifty fifth floor and immediately sensed something was amiss. Down   
the hall she heard the sounds of violence. A quarrel between two merchants turned ugly no doubt. She rushed to the scene and   
instead of seeing two merchants up in arms she saw four kids with strange spiky haircuts dyed various colors pushing around an   
old man demanding money.  
  
"Looks like we have company." The one with green hair said  
"Heh, she's cute, could use some more of her company." The one with red hair said  
"Alas we must ask her to leave, lest she tell authorities of our activities here." The one with brown hair said.  
"Yeah, get lost little girl, or you'll find yourself some pain." The last one, the one with blue hair said.  
Gila looked at them dead on, not backing down a single inch.  
"Looks like we've got a cocky one, boys?" The one with the blue hair said  
"Right!" they said in unison  
  
The four rushed at her, intending to bear her down under superior weight Gila simply smiled and drew her Katana.   
She stepped to the side, allowing the first to pass, and turned her Katana around and almost gently hocked his legs out from under   
him... almost. As the second one approached she brought her hilt down with a resounding crack on his head. The last two came side   
by side Gila sank to one knee, spinning her other leg in a circle, sweeping one, but wasn't fast enough for the last one. Gila felt the   
impact of a fist hitting her squarely on the nose. Stars danced in her vision as she rolled backwards to escape further blows. Shakily   
she got to her feet, assessing the condition of her nose. It wasn't broken but it was bleeding profusely, and all over her favorite shirt   
too. The blood loss would cause dizzyness and perhaps unconsciousness if combined with exetended physical excertion. Meaning   
Gila had to finish this fast. The one she had hit over the head seemed to be knocked out, this time she would only have to deal with   
three of them. Once again they rushed Gila, this time she charged them as well. She dropped low, delivering a blow to the first's   
abdomen with her elbow. Rose up and kneed the second neatly in the chin. When the last one tried to grab her in a choke out   
headlock from behind she quickly flipped him over her shoulder and in one clean motion, re-drew her Katana and placed its edge   
against her captive's throat. She glared at the remaining two standing assailants, delivering the unspoken threat and allowing them   
one last chanse to back away.   
  
"Curses, you've won." Green said before turning tail  
"Can't complain about getting beaten by one as pretty as you." Red said before following suit  
"Mayhaps retreat would be the only logical path." Brown said, backing away down the hall  
"Don't think you've seen the last of us!" Blue exclaimed, bringing up the rear.  
Gila sheathed her Katana, the battle was over. The merchant crawled out from his hiding spot in the corner, dusting   
himself off.  
  
"My my, that was amazing. Who may I thank for saving me?" The man looked her up and down for a moment before   
continuing,   
"No, don't bother, you're Glenn's friend Gila aren't you? He does nothing but talk about you whenever he's ordering parts.   
Oh by the way, take this tonic, it'll help with your nose." Gila took out the piece of paper and gave it to the man.  
  
"So he needs some parts for a new shipment does he? Well since you drove off those loudmouthed punks and are a   
friend of my best customer I'll only charge half price for these."   
  
He quickly added up the price and held out his hand, "That'll be a thousand gold credits." Gila sweatdropped.  
"Hrm, let me guess, Glenn forgot to give you money didn't he? That sounds like Glenn. Well I'll send them up and he   
can pay me later. It was nice meeting you Gila, maybe we'll meet again." He began to walk (waddle) off in the other direction.   
  
Gila turned around and saw a figure standing in the middle of the hallway. His frame was quite slim, but his very   
presence stopped her from simply breezing past. His body was swathed in robes of the blackest night, flowing on the slightest air   
movement and causing the illusion that something within was writhing as though trying to get out. His face was half covered by a gray   
scarf, but his eyes were plainly seen under his wicked mop of spiky brown hair. What horrible eyes they were too. Their irises were a   
bright, glowing orange-red surrounded by swirling black corneas which made Gila dizzy to look at, but most horrible were the pupils   
themselves. Each were deep pits of eternal nothingness beyond nothingness. Gila shook her vision from his and got in a defensive   
posture. The figure began laughing, a deep and sinister laugh that shook Gila to her very core.  
  
"Worry not, I have not come for your life… yet." It grated out in a malevolent voice "I have come simply to see my   
project along it's way to fruition." The thing stared hard at her.  
"Nowhere near strong enough to survive should I need to call upon you." He shook his head, "I will need to force you to   
become stronger. You will be presented with trials in the very near future, live up to them and perhaps you can save just a few of those   
that you care about." Waves of dark energy blasted out from the figure and pain blossomed in the base of Gila's neck. She felt herself   
falling to the floor as she quickly slipped out of consciousness.   
  
She awoke in a cool room with a dull gray ceiling. The ceiling was the only thing she took note of for some time as it hurt to   
focus her eyes anywhere else. After a short time she sat up and took inventory of her surroundings. She was in Glenn's office on a small   
couch. She stood up as she saw the clock on the wall, it was more then five hours later then when she left for level six hundred fifty five.  
She left the office for the docking bay and was surprised to find that a good number of the nearly destroyed ships from before   
were resting in neat rows and seemingly back to operational status. Glenn was atop one of the less fortunate ships, struggling with   
something. Gila waved to attract his attention and walked over.  
  
"Oh, hi Gila, how was your nap?"  
Glenn jumped down to receive her angry stare. He shrugged it off as though he was used to getting them.   
"Hey, I just finished up here, you up for a trip to the Edge?" Gila nodded. The Edge was a small food joint near the top of the   
south tower of the capital city. It was famous for it's special attraction of the same name.   
The Edge is both a drink served and the very edge of the tower where the Edge is located, an area avoided by all those but the   
courageous or foolhardy. The wall opens to a balcony without railing, allowing people to hang out an inch away from certain death. Glenn   
and Gila frequented it as the only place not choked with people at all hours.  
  
A wind chime tolled as the two teenagers stepped through the threshold and into The Edge. The Edge was a small bar only   
hosting a seating capacity of about fifty customers or so. Humid air hung heavily over the customers, laced with a faint smell of ammonium.   
The bar was made of polished bronze and reflected light as easily as a mirror. Compared to the bar the seating area was very drab, only   
cheap plastic tables and wire-frame chairs. Outside, on the balcony the two took a seat near enough to the edge to see the roiling clouds   
of black smoke that polluted the lower levels and blocked the bottom hundred stories from view. Few sane people lived on those bottom   
stories as it was rumored that they were haunted by all those killed in the FAERIE catastrophe and that anyone who ventured down would   
come back a changed person.  
  
"Jode told me what you did for him, he wanted me to thank you again." Gila waved a hand dismissively.  
"We need to make a criminal justice system to do away with such troublemakers." The two of them turned toward the open sky   
and saw a small passenger shuttle struggling to leave the atmosphere on badly smoking engines. As they watched Glenn shared a   
revelation,   
  
"I've been thinking, what if there is some sort of reason why we can't manage a trip to another planet." Gila looked at him with wry   
humor in her gaze.   
"No, I'm not talking about the propulsion problems, I'm talking about the inability to create a device capable of such a feat."   
Glenn hesitated for a moment, the shuttle violently shook and there was a flash as one of the engines exploded.   
  
"What I mean is that mankind has developed so swiftly from their dawn this far but in these last thousand years almost nothing   
new has come along." Gila looked at Glenn pointedly, "FAERIE only makes my point more valid, when we vied to reach the planets through   
new invention all we managed to do was to massacre hundreds of geniuses and pollute the ground level with swamps of acid and   
hallucination inducing smoke."   
  
Glenn sighed, "Maybe I'm just going crazy." Gila shook her head, "No, it makes sense." Gila spoke the words clearly. Glenn smiled,   
"The only problem is that my theory cannot be acted upon." Gila nodded, Glenn shrugged, The shuttle slipped out of sight and into the   
upper atmosphere where it would then no doubt rendezvous with an orbiting space station.  
  
The two stayed at the Edge for several hours, drinking, laughing, sharing memories of old times. When the sun sank below the   
range of towers to the west Glenn stated that it was getting late and that they should get home. Gila sighed with disappointment but   
agreed to her older friend's suggestion. They soon came to the door of the walkway that led back to Gila's tower. When Glenn opened   
the door Gila faded from reality. She saw things not seen by Glenn, she saw and felt things from beyond a realm of feeling, she had the   
horrible feeling it was the future.  
  
She saw a vision of happiness shatter in an explosion on the side of a tower. She saw Glenn being swallowed by darkness. She   
saw a twenty stories tall domed creature with spines all across its shell and a three-sided jaw, a threatening sight, but she felt no danger   
from it. A human faded and was replaced by a giant slug-like centipede and her vision once again registered Glenn beckoning her to follow.   
Gila shook her head to clear it and wondered what it was she saw. She followed Glenn out across the walkway. Glenn stopped her on the   
other side,   
  
"Please, let me get the door for you."   
He twisted the opening latch and pushed, the door held firm. Gila looked at him, her eyes full of mirth at his difficulty.   
"Shut up, it's not as easy as it looks. Someone probably braced it as a prank."   
Gila looked back to the other tower, thinking of her ominous vision.   
"Well, we should go back if we can't go forward. There's no sense just standing around out here."  
  
Just as Gila nodded a shudder ran through the walkway on which they were standing. Next to them the tower began to rock with the   
force of an explosion. Gila kept her balance but Glenn was knocked to the metal walkway. A secondary explosion occurred and shoved Glenn   
over the edge. Gila threw himself to the floor where Glenn had fallen and grabbed for his retreating form. Gila's hand grasped only air as Glenn   
disappeared into the gloom created by shadows of towers at twilight. 


End file.
