Our navigator, the immortal Marco Crux, can manipulate the movement of stars; our mechanic and artillery specialist, Powerline, can control metal, and can mentally connect with machines; our communications officer, Placebo, is one of the most powerful telepaths in the universe; our currently missing engineer, Smolder, can tame and withstand the most intense fires; Chief Two Strike is an insanely powerful warrior with a mind to match; and our late, great Captain Noble was unmatched as a leader, strategist and hero.

Ominous was something else altogether. He appeared to us after yet another long and arduous battle against the planet’s elements. It’s been four days since we crash landed, and four days since we’ve lost contact with Smolder. And earlier today, after harvesting nearly 2000 gallons of volcanic lava to help fuel the ship in the absence of our fire-starting shipmate, we were attacked by a series of stone tentacles that rose from beneath the ground, with the clear intention of tearing us apart. At the same time, the air became so dense that a number of us could not easily breathe, and a monsoon of acidic liquid began to rain down on us. And on top of all that, we were again overrun with hundreds of these hybrid creatures, some of which seemed to possess psionic powers of their own, and all of which were vicious in every conceivable way. Sharp claws, razor-like teeth, poison-tipped tails, the works.

The entirety of the crew was forced into the fight. Captain Noble, Chief Two Strike, Placebo, and Marco Crux were on the frontlines of battling the elements. Our lead pilot, Aphelion, used her hyper-enhanced vision and advanced sniper rifles to pick off creatures by the dozens. Our copilot, HyperThrust, used his extreme speed to help us stay one step ahead of additional incoming attacks. And I, along with Wavelength, Euphoria, Doctor Robotica and Powerline, defended the Stratalight. I’ve never had my force-fields tested to that extent; five hours later, and I’m still feeling the reverberations of it.

As a crew, we did as well as any team could have expected to do. But alas, despite our hyper-abilities, our resolve, and our bravery, we were beaten and battered, and eventually found ourselves all huddled near the ship, overwhelmed and utterly surrounded. Then, everything stopped. The creatures stopped advancing; the rain ceased falling; the ground stopped shaking, and the thick air thinned out. And that’s when Ominous appeared, accompanied by two other warriors. All three of them were of three completely different alien races. We would quickly learn why that was the case.

Captain Noble first tried to communicate with the warriors. But only the leader spoke, and he said only one word: ‘Chessmaster.’ It was totally lost on all of us, except for Placebo, who for some reason seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. Slowly, she stepped from behind me and Noble, and stood across from the apparent leader. The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. She then turned to us, and relayed what she had learned through their telepathic conversation.

She told us that his name was Ominous, and that he was a member of a collective of warriors from all over the universe, called the Denizen Supreme. To his left, the female warrior with purple skin, and armor made from the bones of her apparent vanquished adversaries, was called Carina; and to his right, the four-winged warrior with the devilish scowl, was called Eridanus – also members of the Denizen Supreme. We next learned that the planet was indeed a living entity, and that Ominous, Carina and Eridanus, along with all members of the Denizen Supreme, were essentially a deadly army of minions who worked on its behalf. Placebo explained to us that only the most powerful warriors were accepted into their collective. And the only way to earn said acceptance was to survive and escape the monstrous planet – a task that proved impossible for the vast majority of the individuals who found themselves there.

Ominous was one of the more recent survivors. He did not reveal to Placebo what alien race he belonged to, but we soon found out that he was able to wield a powerful element called dark energy. It was the ship’s counselor, Euphoria, who first felt the brunt of his power, as she attempted to sneak up on Ominous, and nullify him with her ability to put living beings in a deep state of calm that was practically a type of slumber. The ominous warrior, however, noticed her, and unleashed a blast of dark energy that engulfed her, tangled her up, lifted her in the air, and restrained her. She screamed in pain as the substance ripped and stretched her body. Captain Noble demanded Ominous let her go, as other members of the crew, especially Euphoria’s brother Chief Two Strike, prepared to attack.

Placebo quickly told us all to stand down, as it was clear that we stood no chance against Ominous and his cohorts in our weakened states. Captain Noble’s demands turned to pleas, as he expressed that we were on the planet by accident, and that we had no intention of joining the Denizen Supreme. He then asked if our friend Smolder could be returned to us, and if we could be granted safe passage from the planet. Ominous – through Placebo – responded that he was unable to tell us what had happened to Smolder, for the planet acts on its own accord. That also meant he could not grant us safe passage, for the rules of the planet are absolute, regardless of whether our presence was intentional or accidental. However, he could tell us what we needed to do to stop the constant environmental attacks. We simply needed to stop harvesting any resources from the planet.

The idea was that every time we picked and ate a fruit, or drank from the rivers, or harvested energy from the volcanic lava, we’d have to deal with the planet attempting to take something from us in return. Technically, we could live peacefully on the planet for the rest of our lives, as long as we never harvested anything else. That was obviously not an option any of us wanted to entertain. But now, with the stakes fully understood, we again petitioned for the release of Euphoria. Ominous, however told us that the planet had determined that she would have to pay the price for our most recent harvest – the lava – with her life.

And that’s when our leader Captain Noble stepped up, and offered to take her place. None of us knew exactly what to do, as it was apparent that begging Noble not to offer his life would mean we were all condemning Euphoria’s. And vice versa. We were all stuck in the middle of the toughest decision imaginable. Captain Noble, though, was determined to make the decision easy, as he flew up, grabbed Euphoria from the dark energy bubble, and laid her severely drained body at the feet of Chief Two Strike. He then turned and kneeled before Ominous, offering himself as the sacrifice. But Ominous motioned for him to rise, suggesting that he insisted Captain Noble go down fighting.

And fight he did! The two titans clashed in a ground-shattering encounter. Noble moved with blinding speed and precision, landing a succession of massive blows. Ominous countered with near-constant blasts of dark energy. Noble’s healing ability afforded him well, as he was able to keep fighting after sustaining a number of devastating attacks. Furthermore, Noble’s incredible strength allowed him to break from the dark energy clouds he found himself tangled in throughout the course of the fight. He broke free several times, and was eventually able to crack Ominous in the jaw with his signature Noble-fist. This was a blow that had in the past broken a planet in half.

On this day, however, it simply dropped its target to one knee. It was the beginning of the end, as Ominous shook off the blow and unleashed a psionic blast that ripped through Noble’s mind, sending him stumbling back in severe pain. This left our leader open to be wrapped up in a dark energy cloud. Ominous then raised him up in the air. Noble looked down on us, with gratitude in his eyes, then screamed in agony as the dark energy tore him to shreds.

I tried in vein to remember the last time I cried, as tears streamed down my cheeks, and a wave of despair gripped each of my fellow crew mates in a different way.

In the following moments, the creatures who had attacked us earlier sunk back into the shadows, and Carina and Eradinus departed the planet. Ominous, however remained, almost totally unmoved. He just stared at us. More accurately, he stared at Placebo – they were having another telepathic conversation. A few moments later, she turned to us, and told us the unthinkable:

Ominous and the planet required we give up the life of yet another crew member…

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