Ashes of Eden: Wastelander

I'll keep this one short and sweet. This project is a joint adventure in making a world between myself and two other authors, I just had the fortune of inspiration to finish my part first. So without much more, enjoy.

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It is said that long ago, humanity fled to the stars.

Anarchy. Strife. Ruin. An Earth consumed by hunger, disease and war. They reached out in hope and in desperation they took to the void.

For generations they drifted, lost and alone amongst the black as they dwindled and died. Then it was found.

A perfect Paradise. A world lush with life and free from all that had plagued them in the past. A new world and a new beginning.

They called it Eden.

But it was not to be. Humanities hubris could not be left behind so easily. Cataclysm soon followed and their perfect paradise was scarred forever.

Eldritch storms, monstrous beasts and robotic Titans were their new gods.

All they had left were the ashes of Eden.

Chapter 1

The southern market of Intara Citadel was bustling with activity as the hotter of the twin stars hovered overhead. The heat was only really bearable because Intara sat on the sparsely forested northern edge of the great jungle that cut the continent in half. Even still, Archima, heiress of House Drake, was sweating enough to make her deeply uncomfortable.

She and her sister had come down from their sky city, Drakeshold, the seat of power for her family, and had been scouring Intara's several markets for days now. The goal was to find a suitable crew of Wastelanders to take them to where they suspected a graveyard citadel sat, having been recently unearthed by a quake and discovered by either the luckiest or unluckiest pilot she'd ever heard of.

"Why don't we just forget about finding one of these dirty outsiders and just take our men out to find the ruins ourselves sister?"

Archima sighed for what felt like the thousandth time since landing in this citadel. Her sister, Alasta, wanted nothing more than to just be done here and to return to her comfortable room on Drakeshold. There, the noblewoman's word was considered second only to Archima's and their father's. Her family had ruled the sky city since its launch, having won the election in such a landslide victory that there could be no dispute. The actions of the Drakes who had come before her had solidified her family's place in the seat of power. Now, it was her turn to prove she had the same mettle that was required to take the reins from her father when the time came.

Archima had to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming on as her sister finished whining about everything she possibly could. From the food to the sleeping arrangements to the fact that the day was too hot. Archima knew her sister was spoiled, but never realized she was this bad. Finally, she snapped at her sister with a bit more heat than she intended.

"The reason we need to hire them is that they know the land better than anyone else, how else could anyone survive out there? Even the Seekers contract with them to help find and delve into them. We are not Seekers and would be fools to venture into the wilds with no guidance, now be silent."

Her sister huffed but obeyed Archima's command. This allowed the older of the two twins to survey the crowds in blissful peace. People here weren't the tallest, the average male was under six feet tall, and women were even shorter. This made her and her group stand out a bit more, as sisters stood roughly on the same height as the men here, and the guards they had were slightly taller than that. It did not help that the normal hair color here was darker, tones of brown and black with fair skin. Both opposed to her and Alasta's natural platinum blonde locks and coppery complexion.

Luckily for them, the natives of Intara were used to such intrusions to their lives. This was a citadel run by a syndicate that allowed trade to thrive here since it lined their coffers. They also profited from the fact they opened their gates to the Wastelanders. The, quite frankly, completely insane people that lived outside of the protective walls of citadels were by and large mercenaries, taking jobs for resources or tokens. Most of them would never be allowed to set foot on the superb safety the sky cities offered, but on the surface the rules were never universal. From what she could understand, every citadel had a different policy. Some barred them complete access, firing at Wastelanders on sight, some were like Intara, opening their gates for free trade and taking in the scavenged technology the wanderers often brought with them.

Her eyes scanned the crowd again, and she felt like her gaze was just passing over outsiders left and right, as she had yet to be able to pick one out from the crowd, until she saw it. Based on the broad shoulders she assumed it was a man, and he towered over the crowd, easily exceeding six feet tall. She couldn't make any more features, as he wore a dark gray hood over his head with his left shoulder covered by a similar colored piece of cloth that was attached to a cloak that covered down to his shoulder blades. Beneath that was what appeared to be an older style Seeker armor set, one of the commander level ones with all of the bells and whistles that commanders had access to. The only thing is that it was outdated by decades though, the newer ones had different arm pieces with yellow lines that patterned them and armor woven into it. His had the metal plating on the outside and the lines that ran down his arms were a deep red.

Those details did little to truly catch her eye, as such outdated uniforms were still in some use for fresh recruits. No, it was the few extra pieces of armor she could see that told her this was not a Seeker. They were all made from bone, the kind that looked like they belonged to something incredibly large. There were plates that covered vital sections, with a large back plate for his heart and lungs and another smaller pair that covered roughly where his kidneys would be. There was also the upper half of a small monster skull that functioned as a pauldron that stood proudly on his right shoulder. The crowd moved around him like water, avoiding his presence like he was plagued.

She watched him for a handful of seconds before she realized something. He had two companions, both shorter than him while still being taller then the crowd. They had their hoods down and were speaking with a man who had what looked like dried meat hanging at his stall. The talk was animated, with hands waving around wildly for almost a minute until they abruptly shook hands. An auburn haired Outlander passed over a few tokens as the shopkeep hefted a sack onto the counter. The tall man grabbed the bag and tossed it over his shoulder, but he turned his head just as the others concluded what other business they had left with the salesman. Archima's eyes met the unflinching black visor of the man. It was set in a dark gray metal helmet and definitely wasn't a Seeker helmet as she first thought. The mouth region was covered by a tall cloth collar that reached up just under the visor section and had a trapezoidal patch of the same deep red that ran down his arms placed in the middle, right in front of his mouth.

Even though Archima couldn't see the man's eyes, she knew his gaze locked with hers and the world slowed down. It wasn't like in the trashy romance novels her sister insisted she should read, where hearts throbbed and two strangers fell in love at the first glance. Far, far from it really. It was the kind she imagined a Gharak would give its prey as it slowly drifted close enough to strike. There was nothing friendly about that black visor, only something that screamed danger. It made an involuntary shiver travel down her spine for a single moment before he turned away and the trio went East towards a gate. Clearly he dismissed her as anything worth his time. Had Archima been able to process it at that moment she would have been incredibly offended, but that ice cold needle of fear left her unable to think of the snub she had just been given.

As she came back to her senses, she started out after them. She made it ahead of the rest of the group for a handful of steps until her sister and guards swiftly caught up with her.

"What the hell has gotten into you sister?"

Alasta hissed as she fell into stride. Archima refused to slow down, following the trio of Wastelanders through the market's winding streets.

"That's the group, they will be the ones to guide us. The tallest one has the kind of armor plating that Seekers say means they can hold their own."

Alasta scoffed quietly but held her tongue. She knew by now that when Archima made up her mind she would stand by it, besides, the sooner they found that group her sister wanted to hire, the sooner they could get started, and more importantly, the sooner she could get back to her suite and her novels. She had started a new one about a warlord who was searching for his long lost sister and she was very interested in getting back to it. Her sister wouldn't allow her to distract herself like that on the surface, something about it not being safe, but Alasta doubted that. They were in a citadel with its massive walls keeping the dangers outside, she should have been allowed to bring her book with her. It wasn't like she was going to do anything here but supervise.

As Alasta was complaining internally, Archima kept their group always within eyeshot of the wastelander trio, following them through the streets before they suddenly turned and moved off through an alley. As the sisters and their entourage rounded that same corner, they saw nobody. There were several tall carts that had boxes in them, but no person was in there. The trio had a solid head start on the nobles, but not by enough for them to disappear like that. Just as Archima was about to order her group to search for them, she heard the sound of a hammer being cocked.

The tall man of the group stepped from behind one of the boxes, hand resting on a large holstered pistol at his side. His head was tilted slightly as he stood with all the confidence of a man who was in complete control. It was something the sisters had seen their father exude when he knew he held all the cards and was just waiting to reveal the winning hand. Archima respected the stance just as much as it annoyed her, but she held her tongue on the matter. Her sister on the other hand held no such restraints and opened her mouth to yell at him before his voice interrupted her.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it isn't a good idea to hunt a hunter? It'll get you killed quick. Airheads like you really just drive that name home."

That silenced her sister's protest as Archima understood what he meant. They had been foolish to follow a group of most likely incredibly paranoid individuals. Such paranoia saved your life out in the wilds, at least, that's what she had heard from a few Seeker captains, and she was mentally kicking herself over the childish mistake she had made.

She felt honestly relieved as he spoke though, since his words didn't have any true malice, just a deep seated annoyance. The big man wasn't actually angry, and he definitely wasn't threatening them. More like he was chastising them, which also rubbed against the grain but was still better than outright hostility. Sadly, the two guards they had with them bristled visibly as they mistook the man's words completely. It was clear the two bully-boys didn't like the tone he used, as they brought their stun batons to life, hissing and crackling with electricity. After a second, they advanced towards the man. One of them sneered and made a "come at me" gesture.

"You better take that threat back, boy, or you're going to regret your every life choice that led you here."

The wastelander slowly pulled the pistol, she could now tell that it was a large revolver, from its holster and kept it in a one handed grip without bringing it fully to bear. The air grew tense as the lead guard straightened his shoulders, more than ready to fight. That was until a light, lilting laugh came from behind the group of sky city natives.

"We really can't take you anywhere Jotunn, you're always so confrontational."

Archima turned her head and saw the two other wastelanders that she had seen before. One was a man, shorter than the helmeted one, with a smaller revolver aimed at the guard who threatened his teammate. The other was a woman who held a large, blocky pistol in her hand. She was the one who laughed as she leaned against a crate. She had auburn hair and chocolate eyes set in a face that would be incredibly pretty if not for a jagged scar that ran down the side of her face and crossed her jawline. It was a thick, ugly one that looked like it had hurt badly. The other man wore a hood and a wrap around his face so that you could only see his jade colored eyes that held nothing but disdain.

"I've still got more self control than either of the other options, and you need me to cart the heavy crap around."

The tall man spoke with a much lighter tone than the one he'd aimed at Archima's party. She'd call it a light deadpan more than anything else. If she had to guess, they'd had this discussion before, multiple times based on the fact the taller man took it without issue. As they started bantering back and forth lightly once more Archima was struck by a thought. These Wastelanders really were just as insane as she'd been led to believe.

The tall man thumbed something on his revolver and slid it back into its holster. The two guards were glancing back and forth between the duo and the tall man as their stun batons stopped crackling since their thumbs slipped off the activation studs in the confusion.

Archima was the first to recover as the woman stepped past her, the dark trench coat she wore lightly brushing against the noble's arm. Once the three were closer, the tall man turned as the group moved down the alley, clearly dismissing the issue for reasons Archima could not place. Just before they could escape, she spoke up.

"Excuse me, I believe we got off on the wrong foot, I would like to acquire your services, we are willing to pay."

The group stopped, and almost as one turned, the hooded one taking just a handful of moments longer. The woman stepped forward, taking the role of the leader with a humorous smile across her lips.

"Well of course you're going to pay us, only way we'd even remotely consider it. Don't know about you sky people, but down here on surface we don't do charity work."

Archima nodded lightly with a neutral expression.

"You would be compensated for your time, compensated incredibly well I might add. I require you to find a recently uncovered-"

The tall man held a hand up, halting the heiress in the middle of her words.

"Don't, we can discuss the details where there are less prying ears. Follow us."

He then turned and walked away, not bothering to check if the rest were following. Obviously he didn't need to, as the other man turned to follow immediately. The woman however smiled at the group and made a 'come on' gesture along with a soft laugh. Archima made to follow along before her sister stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.

"Are you sure these are the ones, they're complete assholes."

The older twin nodded, eyes filled with determination.

"Remember when father used to tell us stories of the times he went down to the surface to find ruins? This is entirely normal, Outlanders are suspicious and often rough, the fact they did not fire on us immediately feels promising."

Alasta looked at her sister for a few moments before stepping aside and allowing the group to follow behind the strangers.

It took a long time, nearly an hour of walking through winding streets, smelly back alleys and crowded markets before the grand walls that separated Intara's commercial and middle class district from its rural district came into sight. This would have been frustrating if not for the information Archima was given by watching the group in front of her interact. It was equal parts amusing as it was informative as she watched the three slip into routines that seemed ingrained.

The trio of Wastelanders kept far enough ahead that Archima had difficulty hearing their hushed conversations, but she picked up enough. The woman was the leader of them as she had assumed. She could tell simply because the other two would defer to her words. The shorter man who glared at her group with anger bickered with the taller one, who would rebuff the jabs and insinuations with short sentences that deconstructed the other man's words. That would inevitably lead to the green eyed man to sulk in silence for a short time before starting the entire process again. There seemed to be little real heat in the tall one's words, but they certainly weren't lighthearted insults traded by close friends either. What was clear though is that the topic was about her and her group, judging by how often the shorter man threw a thumb over his shoulder to point at the sky city natives.

In what snippets she could catch, Archima determined that the woman and the tall man, Jotunn, were of the mind that a job was a job, and that pay day was what mattered more than who the client was. Certainly a pragmatic worldview that they shared. The shorter man refuted that, clearly having a disdain for anyone who didn't live on Eden's surface. After several cycles of the bickering, the woman stepped in and stopped them both from breaking into a real argument.

They continued in silence until the group reached the gate. During their trip, the group took a triangle formation, the tall man taking the lead with his height, which allowed them to move through the crowds like a sharp knife through paper. The bustling human hordes at the gate proved no different than the rest of the people, moving around the trio, and by extension, her group, as if they were immovable objects. That suited her just fine. Moving through the people before had taken so much more energy, as the Intarans decided they didn't care to move out of the way unless they were threatened by the stun barons her guards wielded.

Here, she could see now what her father had said about Wastelanders, the respect they held among citadels was only matched, and usually outstripped, by the fear they inspired. These were people who forsook the safety of a citadel's massive and well defended walls. They laughed at the incredible safety they could have if they moved to a sky city by joining with The Seekers. They chose a life of constant danger, with death waiting forever just outside your field of vision to take your life. It was little wonder that they were called insane, and in some cases, Seekers swore they were the most dangerous monsters Eden had to offer. The mind of a man combined with the experience that was matched only by others who had braved the surface all wrapped up by a body that was shaped by those experiences. Truly they were a savage version of humans, made to survive against the harshest environments. A true testament to the human ability to adapt and survive.

Archima barely realized they had moved past the crowds and to their destination until she ran into the tall man's back suddenly. Before she could fall however, a firm hand reached down and grabbed her own, allowing her to steady herself. It was cool to the touch even through the glove he wore, but she paid that little mind as she got her feet back under her. She glanced up as she finished, noticing the tall man had caught her before she could fall, his blank mask gave away nothing, but she felt his questioning eyes beneath it nonetheless.

"Thank you, I lost myself in my thoughts for a moment."

The man nodded and let her hand slip from his and turned away, but not before Archima got a better glance at his gear. Now that she could get a close look at his helmet, it reminded her of the kind that she'd seen in some reports on a citadel that had a reputation for being incredibly wary of outsiders, much more so of the Seeker Corps and others that lived in the sky cities than these wastelanders. The collar had shifted just enough so that she could see two filter cylinders that were about an inch across and three long and that solidified her thought on it. It was the helmet of someone who fought in the trenches and gas of human warfare. While it wasn't the same as the ones in the reports, it was close. The information they had on that citadel was almost seventy years old. Since that time Seekers had been barred from entering the citadel, and no new information could be gathered since then.