The Costs of Survival and the Benefits of Sacrifice

by 87AscendantJustice

Chapter 1: Last Earth Night

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Author's Note: Not all of the characters in this story are my own. The Blood Moon Omega mentioned in the description goes to Crystal-Seeker. He also should be credited for helping me make this story happen at all. Thanks so much Crystal! I couldn't have done it without you!

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//2312, Eastern Standard Time//

//Jacksonville, Florida; Earth, Sol System//

Andrew kicked aside a rock with his boot as he walked down the dark, dirt road at the Florida Caverns State Park. He was clothed in jeans, hiking boots, a long-sleeve shirt, and a dark-blue hoodie. He carried a long oaken staff on his back and held a flashlight, which he was now using to illuminate the path he was taking.

He was here with his family on a camping trip while on winter break. They'd decided that it would be a nice change from being constantly indoors. Though Andrew wasn't complaining. If anything, he enjoyed the change in atmosphere as well.

But tonight was different. He'd gotten up an hour earlier after fruitlessly trying to fall asleep, completely energized and alert. He wasn't sure why, but a sense of anticipation had rooted itself within his chest, and with each step, it grew.

Again, Andrew couldn't describe why he felt it, but he felt that it would be necessary to bring his bo staff along with him, which is what Will had strapped to his back.

The staff was sort of like a large good-luck charm for Andrew. He didn't bring it everywhere he went, but he still liked to carry it around when he felt like it, and always kept it close. It was his weapon of choice during XMA (eXtreme Martial Arts) performances at his karate school.

He walked in silence along the barren path and pondered what could be the reason he felt like this. Normally, he would just write it off as paranoia and leave it at that, but the sheer amount of anxiety that was still building inside told him otherwise.

This feeling had Andrew thinking that something big was about to happen. And it was gonna happen to HIM. Almost like he was about to change history.

Why now? What could this mean? he thought for the umpteenth time. He sighed in exasperation. There was only one way to find out, and that was to keep wa--

Suddenly, a flash of light and movement caught his eye. In one fluid motion, Andrew spun to his right, unsheathed the bo staff, and slid into a sparring stance. And what he saw made his jaw drop in shock.

A large stag stood in the foliage. It seemed to be fashioned out of ethereal light that made it seem that it was standing in a bonfire. And it was staring right. At. HIM.

"What are you?!" Andrew demanded. "Stay back! I'm not afraid to kill you if I have to!"

Wow, Andrew. Was that really the best you could think of? he reprimanded himself

The stag merely tilted its head in response. Then, it turned around and galloped directly away from Andrew. Everywhere its hooves touched, more of that light erupted from them and stood there like pillars of embers.

At first, Andrew just stood rooted to his spot. He rubbed his eyes, thinking it was all a mirage. The flickering lights on the ground remained when he opened them again. He figured that all this was just some sort of weird dream, so he decided to follow the stag and took off in pursuit.

As he ran, Andrew used the tiny columns of light as his guide. Soon he could make out the glowing visage of the stag itself. Andrew wasn't sure where it was leading him, but he didn't give it any thought.

Eventually, the stag led Andrew to a clearing in the vegetation, where it finally stopped. Andrew halted next to it and looked around.

He and the deer were at the top of a downward slope into a depression in the earth with a large tree at the far end. Andrew didn't recognize this place at all. Nor did he think that anybody had ever found this place before, as he saw no worn-down trails anywhere.

The stag turned itself to fully face Andrew, and Andrew copied its motion. From here, he could see that this was an actual, real-life stag, and the light lay onto top of its coat. What's more, its eyes were sapphire-blue, shining in stark contrast to its fire-like layer.

The stag opened its muzzle and spoke in a deep, masculine voice:

"Greetings, young warrior. I have been waiting for you for a long time."

The stag bowed its head. "My name is Kaidan."

Andrew stood there, staring blankly at the stag for a moment. Then he snapped out of his trance and hastily bowed in return.

"Um, hi there." he ventured. "My name's Andrew Ivanov. It's an honor to meet you erm...Kaidan?"

Way to make a good first impression, you moron! he mentally scolded himself.

Kaidan lifted his head then shook it.

"No, the honor is mine, O Great Peacekeeper."

Andrew cocked his head in confusion.

"Peacekeeper? What's that?"

Kaidan grinned, revealing two sets of pearly-white teeth.

"The Peacekeeper is a being that is tasked with the responsibility of maintaining and restoring peace throughout the universe whenever existing civilizations are unable to do so on their own." He explained. "They quell and eliminate strife in a given area."

Andrew had to admit, this was an interesting dream.

"No Andrew, this is not a dream."

Kaidan's statement snapped Andrew out of his thoughts. The teen digested what the stag had said.

It took some time for Kaidan to calm Andrew down enough to stand in one spot and not make a sound. Then again, the teen's reason to panic was more than justified.

The glowing deer continued where he left off. "As I was saying, the Peacekeeper's task is obviously a daunting one. But they're all endowed with an ability that allows them to accomplish it."

"And that is the ability to access the imagination realm."

Andrew looked at him blankly. "Sorry, but I'm not following." he apologized.

Kaidan chuckled. "It is quite alright. In the simplest terms, whatever the Peacekeeper wants to happen will happen, and it is limited by their imagination."

Andrew was utterly thunderstruck. He had the power to do anything?!? That sounded too good to be true!!

As if sensing his excitement, Kaidan dropped his smile and warned, "Keep in mind, Andrew, that the Peacekeeper's role includes having to confront foes who can and will pose a serious challenge to you. This won't be easy under any circumstances."

Andrew heeded Kaidan's hidden meaning and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

Calm once more, he gazed back into Kaidan's eyes. He asked.

"How do I use this ability?"

Kaidan's eyes glinted with amusement. "Eager one, I see. Very well then."

"The technique is quite simple. All you must do is focus on an image in your mind, then picture it somewhere in the real world."

Andrew gazed at Kaidan in surprise. "Wow, how do you know all that?"

His emerald eyes dulled a little in reminiscence when he answered. "I learned it from the last Peacekeeper, so I could teach it to the next one: You."

"And what happened to the last Peacekeeper?"

Kaidan smirked at Andrew's nervousness. "If you're worried that you might have to face his last enemy, you can relax. For he died of old age, nothing more."

Andrew sighed in relief. At least he wouldn't have to deal with living forever. Plus, he'd hate to have to deal with whatever the last Peacekeeper took down.

Focus, man.he chided. You've gotta get the hang of your power before you do anything more.

That being thought, Andrew inhaled deeply. He tried stilling all of the chaos within his mind.

It took longer than he would've admitted, but finally he had chosen on a single picture.

Andrew slid his bo staff back into its sheath. He held a hand outstretched in front of him, open palm facing upwards.

Andrew imagined the object he wanted falling into his hand.

There was a slight ripple in the air above it. The ripple slowly become more and more distinct until it had become a multitude of ripples floating on thin air, flowing up and down like a stone dropped in water. The tiny waves melded together into the ghostly image of a small cylinder-like object. The inside of the cylinder darkened to the point where it looked like it was filled up with octopus ink.

Finally, the object dropped into Andrew's waiting hand and revealed itself to be a strange metal device.

Andrew smiled, then pressed the activation button with his thumb.

Immediately, two long, pronged blades of energy erupted to life. They crackled with power and glowed electric blue.

The ecstatic teen could barely contain himself. He'd actually done it!

"An interesting choice. Might I ask, what is it that contraption Peacekeeper?" Kaidan inquired.

"This," Andrew replied proudly. "Is an Energy Sword."

"It's a high-tech weapon that emits two four-foot-long plasma blades. The race who invented this beauty, the Sangheili, see it as the most revered weapon of their military and is wielded by only the highest-ranking officers."

"Ah." the stag said, nodding in understanding. "A unique weapon of choice, though just as dangerous."

Andrew deactivated the sword smiled with gratitude, then concentrated on conjuring another item. This was to hold his sword and any other weapons he might want to show off.

The same sequence of events occurred as it did with the Energy Sword, but this time the disturbance took place around Andrew's waist and it ended up being a silver, segmented belt.

Without hesitation, he stuck the sword handle onto one of the belt's magnetic panels, then turned to face Kaidan again.

"So, when do I start this new job as Peacekeeper?" he asked calmly. It sounded strange, given his circumstances, but Andrew could feel an energy coursing through his veins, almost like before. But this time, it was excitement for the adventures he was expecting.

Kaidan's grin widened at the teenage human's enthusiasm. "I appreciate your excitement, but you must always keep one thing in mind."

"Always solve problems in the most peaceful way possible. Never resort to violence unless ABSOLUTELY necessary."

Then his smile disappeared, replaced with a serious frown. Kaidan lifted a foreleg, and pointed with his hoof at the tree.

Andrew was confused. What does an old tree have to do with my mission as Peacekeeper?

His thoughts were cut short when a pencil-thin beam of blueish-white energy shot from the tip of Kaidan's hoof and lanced over to the tree. Just shy of hitting it, the beam was stopped by some unknown force, and the energy started coalescing into a sphere. The sphere grew larger and larger as more energy was fed into it, until it almost eclipsed Kaidan in height. Abruptly, the beam connecting his hoof with the sphere disconnected, and the last bit of energy was sucked up.

Then the orb began to rotate, slowly at first but gradually picked up more and more speed. As it did, the orb started to flatten and shrink in time with the increasing speed. The colors also changed, the white slowly darkening to midnight black. The blue was pushed to the edges of the disc as the black gathered in the center. Branches of blue formed off the edges of the rapidly-spinning disc. At last, the transformation was complete, and Andrew was astonished when he recognized it.

Sitting before him and Kaidan was a slipspace portal.

"This portal shall take you to the world that you must go to for your first task." Kaidan explained. "Like I said before, Andrew, your number-one rule is to deal with the strife and chaos as peacefully as you possibly can."

"You still haven't told me what my task is." Andrew noted, a little irked about all of the ambiguity.

Kaidan looked intensely at the teenager, and said:

"Protect the natives of this world from Omega. Convince it to seek Convergence elsewhere."

As soon as he finished that statement, an unseen force started dragging Andrew closer to the slipspace portal, and the tear in the fabric of reality spun faster. It felt as if a giant, invisible hand had seized the front of his hoodie and was pulling him into it.

All of Andrew's instincts screamed for him to fight it, but he forced himself to let it pull him in. The force's power was too great to resist.

It wasn't long before Andrew was sucked into the portal, and it promptly closed when he was gone from sight.

Andrew looked around in wonder. Slipspace wasn't at all what he'd expected it to look like. He'd always thought that it was just like realspace, only with no stars anywhere. What he witnessed wasn't like that in the slightest.

The entire landscape looked like the inside of a massive tube painted a brownish-gold hue. Strewn all around were what looked like immensely long strands of golden energy. Andrew had no clue what they were, but he didn't really care. The strands constantly flowed lazily around like a piece of yarn in water. Their hypnotic movements captivated him.

Andrew looked ahead and saw one of the strands was seemingly pulling him forward to his destination. The end that was in contact with him encompassed his entire body in a large ovular bubble. It brought about a slight feeling of warmth and coziness with it. The energy shell was attached to the string by a glowing white piece hovering over his chest.

Andrew wasn't sure what he would be encountering on this planet that Kaidan had sent him to, but he decided that he wanted to have some extra layers of protection, just in case his first encounter with life becomes hostile.

With that, Andrew conjured a small hexagonal device, a pair of red aviators, and a wireless headset microphone. The hexagon, which he attached to his belt, was about the size of an apple and had a purple circle in the center. An idea struck him, and the teenager grinned mischievously. A monkey's tail sprouted from his back, just above his rear.

Andrew put on the aviators and headset. The first would help him identify any basic information about any sentient organism he encountered and acted as a lie detector, while the latter was a universal translator. With all this new gear, Andrew thought he was prepared for what lay outside Slipspace.

He couldn't have been farther from the truth.

Author's Note:

Alright, guys, so that's Chapter 1 for you all! I hope you enjoyed it, and are ready for the next one.

Now, to be honest, the next chapter will be out very soon after this one, but I still had a lot of trouble writing it. For some reason, it was like a writer's block for me. I guess I'm excited for the later chapters, so I don't really have much inspiration to write Chapter 2. But I shall soldier on regardless!

Thank you all and I'll see you in the next chapter!