We Weren't Meant for the Stars

The tale of the first people to leave Astra for the stars...

In the years leading up to The End, the hyper advanced civilizations of Zanth and Ravyn’s End formed a treaty to launch the first satellite into orbit around Astra. While strongly advised against by Ravyn’s End’s priests, the matriarchal leader of the ruling Dire clan ignored their concerns citing a lack of historical evidence. With Ravyn’s end already fighting off a bitter civil war, these disagreements sought to sow deeper hatred within the opposing party. With a successful launch of the satellite, the Dire clan could gain control of their city-state once more. If the mission failed, they would be left with little funds, and barely a finger hold on the city. 

Zanth had everything to gain with little to lose. They had won their most recent bout with the obliterated Caaremen city-state and no one dared challenge their technological prowess. This venture sought only to instill their iron fist. With the technological minds of the two city-states together, they prepared for one of the greatest folly of humankind Astra had ever seen: An affront to the gods.

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Under the Astral moonlight, Bayer stared up at the stars. As a descendant of the xella people, his skin glistened like the very galaxy itself. Under the evening stars, he looked like another mosaic piece of the sky. The freckles upon his skin glistened like stars, his sky-tinted arms contained cascading swirls of galactic dust. He stared up at the sky with a joy and wonder he couldn’t put into words. He was proud. He felt empowered. He was doing something none of his ancestors could’ve ever imagined. 

“You drink?” A voice called from the shadows. Bayer looked over and saw the faint glow of his crew mate, Lentha. She was a green child of Oran-Koh. A descendant of the neon people who stood too close to the sun. He couldn’t imagine a better ally for this voyage. The first of its kind.

“Not anymore.” Bayer said with a polite decline and a smile. Lentha’s glowing green skin flicked to a neon tone,

“Yeah, me neither. Needed something to calm my nerves though.” She sat down in the grass next to him and let out a deep breath, “This time tomorrow, we’ll be up there.” She said, matching his gaze into the sky.

“Well, hopefully by tomorrow night we’ll be back…”

“Right, yeah… still. We won’t be the same. This is going to be… life changing.” Bayer nodded. Lentha drank deeply from her glass, laying the bottle and spare glass she brought next to her in the grass. She smiled as she let out a satisfied gasp. “Look at them up there dancing.” She pointed to the Fates. The Fates were the twinkling reminder to the people of Astra that they were never alone. They shone like stars in the sky that moved and twinkled in a rainbow array of colors.

“I hear the strongest divinators can convene with them.” Bayer said.

“Think we’ll talk to any tomorrow?” Lentha took another drink.

“Not sure. It’d be amazing.” Bayer took a deep breath and let the joy of the moment rush over him. Lentha finished her drink and laid back. Bayer brought his knees to his chest and looked back at her glowing figure. He felt a deep admiration for Lentha. He only met her a few weeks prior during their training but he couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else. Lentha had a steady mind and a steadier hand. What more could a pilot want from a navigator? She was a charming woman in a way he couldn’t put into words, but he didn’t have to put it into words. He just had to trust her. Lentha sighed and pondered the sky.

“Do you miss Ravyn’s End?” She asked.

“Of course I do… I miss it every day… but it’s a lot more peaceful in Zanth. No bombs dropping… no gunfire. I see why you moved here.”

“I didn’t have a choice.” Lentha replied. “My parents were refugees. I never had the chance to want to leave Ravyn’s End. From what I’ve heard, they made the right choice.”

“They did. I miss the peace. The quiet. When I was a kid - gods - it was beautiful.” Lentha nodded and turned her attention back to the sky above them.

“We should get some rest. Tomorrow’s a big day.”

“Huge day.” Bayer agreed. He leaned back in the grass next to Lentha and let himself take in the evening for just a little longer.

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The next morning was a perfect day for the flight. Not a single cloud stood in affront to the pair. They had already climbed into their ship - Bayer in the back and Lentha in the front - and began the preflight check. Their suits were checked over again for any discrepancies. As were their helmets before they were firmly locked in place between each of their legs for take off.

“Final check initiated.” The technician announced from the control room.

“Final check, aye.” Bayer replied through the camera in the cockpit. His face was projected across the darkened control room’s main screen. In the light of day, Bayer was an average looking xella man with a deep red supernova dusting around his bright eyes that left a shadowy light across his face. “Final check complete. Things are looking great over here, guys.” His white teeth beamed through the screen at the ground control technicians. 

“Glad to hear it.” The leader of Zanth, governor Salus, said from next to the technician. “What’s the word on our navigational gear?” Lentha’s voice spoke up from the cockpit,

“Navigation is looking good. We are fully calibrated to ground markers and the Astral magnetic field. Receiving very little cross-dimension interference - odds of getting lost are pretty low.” The child of Koh announced. The technician turned to the governor,

“Solar plating is locked in place, and the ship is prepared for a horizontal departure.” The governor, a tall man with graying hair and a plump face massaged a trimmed beard on his chin.

“Once we start, there’s no turning back… they’ll all know what we’re doing. If this works, we paint a target on our heads from every city-state on the continent.” The technician nodded in agreement.

“Such sacrifice. It is the way of the world? Yes.” A quiet woman’s voice said from next to him. She was a short xella with a thoughtful look on her face. Her features were broad, and she smiled a toothy grin. “We step forward for the future of our people - Ravyn’s End and Zanth.”

“You’re right, Dire Mother.” The governor said with a nod. “The Dire royalty have ruled Ravyn’s End with such wisdom for as long as you have for a reason.”

“Yes. Now, there are urgent matters I must attend to in Ravyn’s End. I trust my chosen pilot to do well. I trust you, governor, to act in the best of both our interests. So I may stay ever your humble ally.” She bowed her head and backed out of the control room.

“Praise to the Dire Mother.” Bayer said from the control room screen. “Control, we’re ready for take off.”

“All system’s green.” Lentha confirmed.

“Understood.” The technician said and turned to the governor. The governor nodded, excitement welling up in his stomach.

“Leviathan 1, you are cleared for take off.” He said, trying to hold back the grin of excitement on his face.

“Take off in 5…” The technician began. The camera shifted to a view of the airfield. In the background, the sparkling skyscrapers of Zanth painted a silvery portrait around the ship. “...4…” The ship itself had great wings like a dragon and three gyroscopic flywheels on each wing. “...3…” The entire ship was coated in deep black-blue solar paneling. The engine hum grew in intensity and the gyroscopes started to turn “...2…” The gyroscopes thrummed and the ship rose off the ground, stabilizing itself several hundred feet above the landing strip. “...1…” The engine began to roar. The noise protruded through the command center half a mile away. “Leviathan 1, may the Fates bless your journey.”

Faster than the camera could pick up, a flash of heat exploded above the airfield and the solar ship blistered off across the barrens and into the sky.

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Inside the cockpit, Bayer and Lentha were thrown back into their seats. Bayer let out a whoop that was somewhere between pain and excitement as the world blurred around them. Lentha was glowing lime green, lighting the entire ship ablaze with her excitement. The pressure on his eyes made Bayer’s vision begin to tunnel and he felt dizzy. He could see the beginning of damage building up on the panels outside, followed by a klaxon heat warning blaring in his ears as a hologram appeared in front of him diagnosing the problem. Bayer groaned out,

“Control, we’re seeing heat damage on solars earlier than expected. Should we disengage?” He could hear murmurs being picked up by the microphone between the technicians. After what felt like an eternity, the familiar voice of the lead technician came back to him,

“Negative. Panel integrity is holding. You still need to increase your charge before cutting loose. Fuel gauge update?”

“45%.” Lenthra groaned out in response. “We haven’t even broken through the thermosphere yet - 30 seconds and counting. We gonna make it?” Another pause that was far too long.

“Control, answer the woman, would you?” Bayer said through gritted teeth.

“Maintain current course, the skies are far more unpredictable than we -” lightning flashed and the ship rocked violently. “- ected - don’t - storm -”

“We’re losing them!” Lentha shouted.  In front of the two, a projection appeared. Lentha controlled it from a small panel on the arm of her chair. “We have a behemoth of a storm rolling in all around us. We took a lightning hit - waiting on a damage assessment from the system.”

“Great and we’re in a hurling ball of fire heading out of the atmosphere!”

“60 seconds til breakout, hang on tight!” Lentha shouted. The ship let out a groan. Other than the endless cloud coverage, all they could see was lightning leaping across the sky around them, leaping between clouds that Bayer was sure were much higher than normal. The ship shuddered around them.

“Fuels at 15!” Lentha warned.

“And batteries?”

“85%” Bayer knew they had to act. They were losing fuel fast, and they couldn’t rely on it for long before they’d be sputtering out in the storm.

“Disengage panels, we’ve got to drop them if we’re getting through this.” With a hiss, the solar paneling broke away and rushed down to Astra. The ship’s turbulence settled as the slim silver ship sliced through the air. “Switching to battery! Engaging thrusters in 10… 9…” Bayer announced. Lentha let out a scream as he counted down.

The last remaining hold the planet of Astra had on them broke away. Leviathan 1’s engine cut and its thrusters engaged. It tumbled through space, slowing down as it broke free of Astra’s gravity well. The engine gave off a residual hum somewhere behind them in the ship. Bayer and Lentha let out a cheer. Bayer’s heart was pounding. He fought himself to breath.

“We did it!” He shouted through gasps. “Control, come in. We have escaped the atmosphere. Repeat, we have escaped the atmosphere.” 

There was only static in reply.

“We’ve lost comms.” Lentha announced, concern in her voice. “Looks like that lightning strike took them out.” 

“Any other major damage?”

“Negative… not that I can see. Looks like the solar plating took the brunt of it. Good thing we kept it on for as long as we did.” Bayer had to concede that. He nodded, though she couldn’t see him behind the navigation seat. 

“Well, the mission doesn’t change. Maneuver above atmos and drop the satellite into orbit. Simple as that.”

“Let’s just… take a minute first.” Lentha looked out on the empty space around them. The air was caught in her throat as she stared in awe, trying to process what she saw. There was the empty blackness of space at first glance, but then the darkness began to shine with clarity. Things of light hiding in the corners of space. She saw them. The Fates. The beautiful things glowing to life all around them. From the ground they looked as if they were amongst the stars, but from here she could see them as clear as day, as close as the moon - some closer even. They floated around, dancing, glowing, living in the sky above Astra. They made the unlivable void home.

They floated upon stardust and twinkled when they met paths. They weren’t of human shape or design. They were like nothing she could ever think to imagine. They glowed like colors of the rainbow, making the vacuum around them dazzle. They lived - of that she was sure - but were they alive in a human sense? Could they think? Feel? Be?

“It’s amazing…” Bayer said, breaking the awe inspired silence. 

“They who tell our future.”

“Bet on the future - the consensus is the truth of life.” Bayer corrected.

“That depends on the tale.” Lentha replied. Now wasn’t the time to debate such things.

“We’ve gotta get back to it.” Bayer urged gently. He took control of the ship’s thrusters and maneuvered them until they were parallel to Astra. As the ship moved, Lentha noticed several of the Fates drifting closer to them. Up close, she could see they varied in size. Some were as large as the ship, others were as small as Lentha herself.

“We have some company…” Lentha warned.

“Alright. Just gotta be careful not to bump them…” Bayer set the controls to fine movements and began gently shifting by degrees until the ship was at the exact drop off point laid out in advance. “Dropping the package… now…” Bayer disengaged and watched from a camera as the bottom of the ship opened its belly and the satellite disengaged from its interior. The twinkling lights of the Fates drifted downward, following the satellite into its orbit. 

“They look curious, what do you think they -” Lentha stopped short. They watched on the camera as several of the Fates slammed into the satellite. They saw a spark of light as the beings hit the device and chunks of debris broke off. Fire ignited, expanding outwards from the satellite. Before they could activate it and allow it to unfurl into its full Zanthian glory, it was consumed by the ever expanding fireball.

“What… what did we just see?” Bayer asked in disbelief. The two began to hear giggling all around them. Colorful spots appeared in their periphery. “What the…” Bayer trailed off as the ship began to rock. The glowing creatures hit the outside of the ship. In the distance, more approached the ship.

“We don’t have any defenses, we need to get away!” Lentha shouted. Bayer engaged the thrusters and pulled away from the Fates and the debris field forming around them. “Shake them before we re-enter!” Lentha shouted. “46 degree turn until we point towards the northern pole. Then drop down nose-first for the re-entry protocol.”

“Hoping they don’t follow…” Bayer added. He saw Lentha’s body physically tighten up in front of him and her skin fall to a sickening sewage green. He engaged the thrusters and turned the ship as she commanded. She began listing off adjustments as he made changes to react to the fiendish balls of light chasing after them, their laughter ever present in the crew’s ears. 

The ship rocked and shuddered. Try as they did, they couldn’t escape them. The Fates continued attacking them. Torturing them. The creatures couldn’t seem to break into the ship, but the way they pushed against it, then laughed and taunted their victims was enough. Lentha shouted,

“Just take the dive! Maybe they won’t follow us.” They didn’t have a choice. The ship wasn’t made for this sort of maneuvering and the engine was beginning to stutter at each precise command. Bayer switched open a new settings menu and activated the re-entry protocol.

“Preparing for re-entry. Let’s just get away from these things.” The ship bucked as one of the large Fates slammed into the left wing. 

“We’ve got a damaged flywheel! Bayer, we’ve gotta go!” Lentha warned.

“Fates, have mercy on us!” Bayer prayed. 

Re-entry engaged. A robotic voice announced in the cabin speakers. The ship's autopilot took over and it began the dive into the atmosphere. The ship started slow at first, the Fates keeping pace. This was designed to give them time to put on their re-entry gear if they didn’t have the chance already. Before Bayer even started, Lentha had already put on her helmet and pressurized her suit. He leaned down and began to fight with his helmet, trying to get it loose as the ship picked up speed, falling back towards Astra.

“Heads up, we’re passing through that storm. Make sure you’re ready!” Lentha warned. 

“I’m… trying…” Bayer fought his helmet, but he couldn't get the restraints on it to disengage. He saw the strange colorful dots of the Fates in his periphery. The laughter filled his ears. The mocking tone of voiceless giggles consumed his mind. He was sure if he had to hear this any more he’d go mad. They distracted him, bidding on his failure. 

Bayer heard a satisfying snap as the helmet came loose and he pulled it away. He placed it on his head and heard the sound of slow pressurizing air commencing. A great flash of lightning plummeted downward upon them and crashed into the glass of the cabin. He watched a crack begin to form. His clumsy hands panicked as he tried to squeeze his helmet deeper onto his head as it slowly pressurized. Bayer let out a scream of terror as he felt the pressure building in his helmet, the air around him pulling at his mind. The world grew disoriented and flipped about him. He felt the glass shards pierce his suit, he saw cracks forming on the helmet. Warning signs began flashing on the heads up display.

The lightning came down. Light flashed and sparks flew as the ship took another hit, then another then another. Then, Bayer saw the last flash come down upon him.

Then, silence.

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Lentha opened her eyes. She sat in the center of a crater in her re-entry gear surrounded by a world of gray. Her head throbbed, and the rolling thunder overhead made it hurt even more. Her HUD didn’t give off any warnings. Suit and helmet integrity was holding. How’d she get away unscathed?

“I’d say I’m sorry about that, but well… what’s one to do?” a woman’s voice boomed from the top of the crater. She wore an all white pantsuit and a floppy white hat. She had an umbrella draped over her shoulder and caramel skin. Loosely curled white hair draped down her back. She wore a red-lipped smirk on her face. Her eyes flashed the bright white of lightning. She looked timeless - ageless. She was unlike anything Lentha had ever seen before.

“Who - I -” Lentha began. The woman glided down across a cloud of smoke and landed next to Lentha. She reached out a hand to help the girl up. Lentha obliged and felt herself go weightless as the woman guided her from the ground. “Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t be thanking me. You're here so I can warn you.”

“Wa - warn me? Wait - where’s Bayer?”

“Ah, right… the xella man…” The woman closed her umbrella and leaned against it. “Listen, my dear, I'm doing my wonderful friends a favor and unfortunately it was one your good friend - Bayer was it? It doesn’t matter. Anyways, he helped me with my little favor. Be thankful, he did the work of the divine today.”

“You mean he’s dead?” The woman nodded, an emotionless smile across her face. “Just like that? You murdered him for the Fates? Who are you to do that? What gives you the right!” Lentha was shaking in horror and grief. “And what? You’re going to kill me next, is that it?” She took a step back from the stranger.

“Hm? Oh, no no no. See, here’s how I see it: If I kill you too, then your superiors will think it’s a fluke. Send more, don’t you see? But if I send you back, you’ll be a good little pet and run down and tell everyone about what you saw. What happened to you. Isn’t that right?”

“I -”

“Hush.” The woman leaned in, her body looming over Lentha. She didn’t realize how tall she was. Was she always this tall? She had a harsh whisper that made Lentha shiver, “You will. And when you do, you’ll make sure no foolish mortal brings their wars to the stars ever again.” Lentha stared at the woman, dumbstruck. She raised her voice to a normal speaking level once more, “I don’t mean anything by this. I promise you, it isn’t personal. You seem lovely, and so did your friend, but… well, the nosy, meddling Fates don’t take kindly to you bringing your mortal issues to their domain. And as their dearest friend and confidant, I don’t like it either. Astra problems stay on Astra. And mortals? Well those are Astra problems. Understood?”

“I’m just a navigator.” Lentha barely squeaked out as she struggled to keep her footing.

“Right now you are. After this, you’ll be the only person to leave Astra and live to tell the tale. Doesn’t that sound nice? Oh, I’m sure the news broadcasters will love you, dear.” The woman came just shy of pinching Lentha’s cheeks. “Now, go on. Be a good little koh, and get the hell out of my domain - fiends curse the day.”

“How?” Lentha was breathless. Confused. Disoriented.

“Tell me you understand.”

“Huh?” The woman sighed, exasperated at her guest,

“It’s simple. Tell me you understand so you can be dismissed.”

“I - I - uh… I understand.”

“Perfect.” The woman snapped her fingers.Lentha heard thunder rolling closer. The last thing she saw was a bolt of lightning traveling down to the crater. Light blinded her and she felt a searing pain. “Ta ta, little mortal.”

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Lentha woke up, floating on debris in the great lake of Zanth. Even with the storm, the Fates interfering, and whatever that woman was, the re-entry protocol worked - mostly. She floated upon a broken wing that drifted alongside the cabin. A flywheel still rotated lazily with the current of the water. Not far from her, she could see the battered, gray skin of Bayer. The beautiful galactic color faded from his skin, leaving only stardust and blood. Such was the fate of xella who burned out too soon. The first and only pilot to die trying to venture out into the cosmos.

And where was his goddess? The silent Guayaxella. And where was her god? The loving Oran-Koh. And who was that woman? She who struck them down.

Who were they to ignore their tragedies? To forsake them? To interfere?  As she thought it all through, she saw the recovery crew coming across the lake in a small speed boat. She turned her attention to the dimming sky as the sun set. She could see the arms of the galaxy and the Fates that seemed to play upon them beginning to come into view. She knew she’d never look at the sky the same way. Never praise those creatures like she did all her life. Never look to the stars and wonder if there’s more out there. More beyond.

Astra was a mortal prison. Perhaps one the size of a planet, but now she knew the truth. Leaving was never an option.

“Curse the Fates.”

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Hello friends, thank you so much for reading! First off, wow, at the time of typing this, I’m at 56 subscribers. How amazing is that? I hope you all stick around and enjoy what I have to offer! At the end of 2023, I had 43 subscribers so while it may be small for some, this is huge for me. Mind you, I only expected to get a total of 10-20 subs, so this is really nice to see. Thank you for taking a chance on this little substack.

I hope you enjoyed this story, its been bouncing around my mind for a while and I’m so excited to have it out in the world. And if you did, maybe check out some more stories in the strange fantastical world of Astra on my page. See you next week!