~Shadow Whispers~ A Battle of the Empires Story

Hello everyone. This story is based off of my RP, The Battle of the Empires.

I will say right now, things will be slightly different from the RP. The Shadow War will have happened thousands of years prior to the present, and there will be a few different Empires. And, of course, the story will not be like the ones on the RP. But, for the most part, there won't be any other major changes. You don't have to be a part of the RP to read this, but you might understand some parts of it better if you are.

Credits

I own Collia, Sandie, Riku, Kludd, Nika, Natalya, and Kuro, as well as the Lunar Cat and Strigidae Empires.
Chic CAN owns Battik, the Terrellian Quadrantacle, and the Memeruke Tribes.
bluedragonfire owns Tosk, Kisu, Emandine, Raine, Hoss, Nisa, and the Rivven Empire.
miss heny owns the Kelishan, Dracon, Shard, Sati, Quilin, and the Evymi Empires.
Chickenfan4life owns Snow.

I will post the first chapter in a second. Here we go...

Chapter 1

High above in the sky, a thick blanket of clouds covered the sky. A chilly breeze sliced through the air like a knife; it stirred the clouds about, but it didn't tear them enough to let the slightest ray of the sunrise shine through. The air was very cold; at least, by human standards. To the race that inhabited this planet, it was very nice.

This planet was called Adrennia. It was about the size of Jupiter. Adrennia was a very cold planet; the temperatures never rose above 40 degrees fahrenheit, and it snowed year-round. The planet was peppered with taigas, tundras, and alpine regions. Its altitudes were very high, even in the lowest regions, and therefore, the atmosphere was much thinner than that of most other planets. Adrennia had five moons, as well; two of which were colonized. It was the homeworld to a race known as the Lunar Cats.

The Lunar Cats, as their name described, were felines. They were usually around the size of or a bit bigger than an average cat. Their coat colors were exactly like the cats of Earth, and their eye colors were similar, as well. However, their eye colors could also have shades that were not normal for the cats of Earth, such as red, or purple. They could focus their energy into making their eyes, claws, and the tips of their fur glow. They were also very cold hardy, and could not take the heat; they would start to show signs of distress at around 70 degrees, and temperatures at 90 degrees fahrenheit or above will kill them. This trait partially came from the fact that Adrennia was a colder planet, and the Lunar Cats were not adapted to warmer environments. Some Lunar Cats were born with abilities, such as the ability to control fire; however, this was very uncommon. These cats were known as "elementals;" although, they did not always necessarily control elements.

The most notable thing about them were their wings. They had dragon or bat styled wings, and their bones were hollow, like a bird's, which granted them the gift of flight. They were also noted for their speed; they could outrun almost any species, especially in flight.

Oddly enough, Adrennia did not have as much civilization as most other homeworlds. It only had four major cities, counting the capital. Most of the planet was filled with taigas, mountains, and boreal forests, and the Lunar Cats had most of their major factories and other urbanized functions set on their colonies. They were quite happy with the way Adrennia was, and they were proud of their Empire.

Like an arrow from its bow, a black streak shot through the clouds, slicing through the air like a knife. It continued to fly above the clouds for a few more minutes, before it suddenly arced its wings outward, slowing to a swift, graceful stop in a matter of a few seconds. The cat gave a powerful thrust of its wings every few seconds to keep herself in the air as she observed the area around her with her emerald green eyes. Above the cover of clouds, the sky was blue, with rosy pink and orange hues from the sunrise. The sight was truly breathtaking.

This was Collia, a young Captain in the Lunar Cat Starfleet. She'd been an official Captain for about a while now, but she still had a lot to learn. She worked and learned with her twin sister, Sandie, by her side.

Collia's fur was soft and silky, and it was as black as the night. She had a single small white patch on her chest, but aside from that, her fur was pure black. Her eyes were a sharp, intense emerald green, and in the light, her eyes dazzled like polished gems. Overall, she was a pretty cat.

Collia resumed flying, but at a much slower pace than she had flown at a few seconds before. Her intense green gaze scanned the clouds below, before she furled her wings, curling them in an arch. Using her tail as a rudder, she spiraled back down through the clouds expertly. When she had fallen a few hundred feet, she extended her wings outwardly again, halting her descent. She was down in a valley, high above a river and a waterfall.

Her green eyes searched the horizon, scanning for any signs of civilization. There she saw it: Peeking behind the mountains that reached for the stars above, there was the faintest outline of a ridiculously tall building. It was hard to see, and any other species would have missed it, or taken it for another mountain. Collia knew it was Adrennia's central control tower, smack in the middle of the capital city. It was about 30 miles away, but Collia could reach it within fifteen minutes. Giving her wings a powerful push, Collia took off once more.



Just as she'd predicted, Collia reached the entrance to the capital city within fifteen minutes. She gazed around at the city in wonder, eyeing every building, and every cat that passed by. This city was known as Rienne; even though most of Adrennia wasn't urbanized, Rienne was easily the biggest city in all of the Lunar Cat Empire. Buildings reached for the stars, and dozens of cats flew about. Streets cut across the ground, and advanced cars roved about. Usually, Lunar Cats flew to reach their destinations, but cars and trucks were still necessary to get materials, such as metal for engineering ships, from one place to another across Adrennia. Even though Collia much preferred the taiga, this city still never ceased to amaze her.

Collia's eyes fell upon the massive Starfleet Headquarters in the distance. The many lights that peppered its surface flashed, but the building's size alone gave it away. It contained everything: The Comm. Headquarters, the massive hangar for the ships, the warehouses where the ships were finely crafted, and so many other places that it was mind boggling. Collia sped up a bit as she neared it, arching her wings again as she flew through the building's door.

"Hi, Collia!" a chipper voice chirped once Collia was inside.

Collia turned her head to see who it was. It was her twin sister, Sandie; Sandie was a pretty silver tabby, and the inside of her ears, as well as her underside, paws, and the tip of her tail were white. She had a cute little pink nose, and her blue eyes were like polished sapphires. "Hey, Sandie," Collia greeted her with a smile. She and her twin were very close; so close, that they worked together on the same ship.

"Are you ready to head back with me?" Sandie tilted her head to the side. "I haven't checked in with Nika yet; I've been waiting for you." Nika was their Commander, and the two cats took orders from her.

"Yeah, sorry. Is Riku on patrol today?" Collia inquired. Riku was their older brother; he was an Admiral, and Nika actually worked under him.

"I don't know. I'll ask Nika when we check in." Sandie turned around, and trotted away. Collia quickly followed her, slowing down once she was by her side. The two cats weaved through the complex maze of hallways, glancing at the holographic maps posted on the walls every so often. With such a massive building, it would be very easy to get lost inside.

The hallways were steel blue, with dark gray bordering the walls and ceiling. Holographic maps of the inside of the building were posted every now and then, and there were several sliding doors, each with a pawprint scanner placed on the wall beside them. Blue fluorescent lights were mounted onto the ceiling and on its corners, and smaller rectangular lights lined the sides of the floor. It was fascinating, and it seemed like a marvel of technology, but for the Lunar Cats, this was perfectly normal, every day business.

Collia and Sandie checked in with Nika, before they headed down to the hangar. It was attached to the landing bay, which was only sectioned off by glass, reinforced with protective shields to keep it from shattering. The hangar itself was like a football stadium, without the seats. Where the seats would usually be in a stadium, there were hundreds upon hundreds of boxes not unlike stalls for horses. In the "arena," Lunar Cats flew about; some were mingling with other Lunar Cats, while others meddled with their ship's engines.

Collia pulled a small device out of her bag. It was called a ship transporter; it teleported a ship to a designated location, determined by a receiving chip. "Sandie, can you go place the receiver over there?" Collia asked as she messed with the ship transporter. A small holographic screen popped up in front of her, and she maneuvered through the hologram's menu with the remote on the ship transporter.

"Sure thing," Sandie nodded. She lifted herself off the ground by just a couple of inches as she flew to around the center of the hangar. "Kay, Collia, do your thing," she called, stepping aside so that she couldn't be hit by the ship when it appeared.

Collia pressed one of the buttons on the ship transporter's remote. The small chip over by Sandie shimmered a bit, before the ship teleported above it. It hovered just above four feet off the ground.

The ship was a silver-steel blue color, with borders of dark blue that glowed. The front narrowed down like an arrow, and the cockpit was shaped along with it. The cockpit was fogged, so that someone standing outside wouldn't be able to see who was piloting the ship, or in the co-pilot's seat. The wings were triangular, and had powerful cannons on the tops of them, obviously designed for combat. Towards the tail, the ship had two jets that released a blue trail behind them in flight. With their older brother's help, Collia and Sandie had built this ship together.

"You got all your plasma guns and stuff, Sandie?" Collia peered inside Sandie's bag. The Lunar Cat Captains were equipped with bags that were similar to the saddlebags for horses, but were smaller to fit the cats.

Sandie jerked it away from Collia's grasp. "Yup, I sure do." Her tone was confident, but it also told Collia to back off. Collia snickered, and pressed a button on her earpiece. She disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared inside the ship. Seconds later, Sandie followed her and boarded.

Sandie took her usual spot in the co-pilot's seat, and Collia sat in the pilot's seat. While Sandie checked the gauges and the navigation system, Collia started getting punchy and cracked stupid jokes.

"Why did the Evymi cross the path?"

"We're not doing that."

"To get to the other side!"

"Shut up."

"Two Kagetoras-"

"I know, Collia. That joke was funny the first fifty thousand times you said it."

Collia slouched in her seat. "You're no fun, Sandie."

Sandie facepawed. "Collia- come on! You know that we're about to go on patrol duty, and you know that we can't be cracking stupid jokes."

Collia grumbled something under her breath. "Alright, then. Carry on, grumpy."

"Collia... I'm not having this discussion with you."

Collia grumbled as she moved the levers into the gear. The ship rose higher and higher into the air, leaving a stream of blue energy behind the jets. They broke through the blanket of clouds, and the generators deep within the engines began purring as they left the atmosphere. Collia flew the ship away from Adrennia, and made her way to her designated spot by the border.

What she thought would be just a regular day would soon turn out to be one of the biggest days of her life... or at least, the start of a chain of events that would put everything she had to the test.


Yup, I know. Boring as heck. But, things will get more interesting later on. I promise.

"why did the evymi crossed the road? to slap a certain lunar cat!"

hump. -◇-

Here's some pictures.

Adrennia-




Adrennia's surface-



Collia-



Sandie-



Riku-

I don't RP on Empires but I think I'll read this anyway. Sounds really cool.

It is

Chapter 2

"COLLIA!"

Collia's eyes snapped open when she heard Sandie shout her name. "Yeah?" She pulled her headphones away from her head so that she could hear Sandie. She was blasting some music in the back of the ship, near the quarters.

Sandie soared past the cockpit and the seating, sailing right over Collia's head and snatching the headphones from her. "Hey!" Collia protested, whirling around and trying to grab them from her. "That was my favorite song!"

Sandie hung the headphones up on a hook. "Collia, if you are going to blare your music so loudly that you can't hear me when I call your name fifty times, you need to do it up in the cockpit! I've been calling for you for the past five minutes!"

"Sorry, Sandie," Collia grumbled begrudgingly.

Sandie turned around and raced to the front. "Get up here! There's a Rivven ship that's about to be blown to bits by some unmarked ship!" The Rivvens were a neighboring Empire to the Lunar Cats. They resembled giant wolves that walked upright, like humans. Their fur could be of any colors, and some could have wings. Many were born with abilities, such as the ability to control fire. The Rivven Empire was large, and it was an important Empire to the Brenka Galaxy.

Collia surged to her paws, her eyes widening to the size of full moons in alarm. "WHAT?!"

Sandie raced to the cockpit. As she ran, she shouted over her shoulder, "Yeah! Maybe if you'd been listening, you would have heard me!"

Collia was irritated by the fact that Sandie wasn't letting this go, but ran after her. "Good Glaux, Sandie, I'm hurrying!" she barked. She slowed to a stop as she reached the cockpit, and jumped into her chair. She looked to the screen hurriedly; one ship was marked as a Rivven ship, while the other, like Sandie had said, was unmarked. The unmarked ship didn't seem to be taking any damage... but the Rivven ship was. Plasma bullets and missiles rained down on the ship's hull, lighting up that area of space for miles. The Rivven ship tried to fight back, but the ship had a very strong shield that deflected each blow, and sent them flying away.

"Collia! I need you to fly in close. I'll prep the anti-matter missile!" Sandie shouted to Collia.

But Collia hadn't even fully registered Sandie's entire sentence before she flew in. The ship surged forwards with a jolt that would knock someone off their feet if they weren't used to Lunar Cat ships. The Rivven ship had less than a minute before it would explode... they needed to be fast.

Collia, with spectacular piloting skills, veered around the back of the unmarked ship with great precision and speed. She heard a deep roar rise from the engines as Sandie frantically typed in commands on the dashboard screen. A bright blue light flashed and a boom shook the air within the ship as a missile came shooting out of the cannons attached to the wings, blazing towards the unmarked ship. But right before the missile impacted, the ship veered away with swiftness that only a very experienced pilot could pull off. Its cloak went up, and its energy signature on the radar disappeared... but Collia knew that it had gotten away. Her jaw dropped. How could someone get away from a heat-seeking missile?!

But Collia knew that she couldn't ponder on that. "Sandie!" she shouted, surging to her paws. "Switch places with me and get away from the Rivven ship!"

Sandie jumped over in a heartbeat, wrapping her paws around the control column. She didn't do that to heed Collia's orders; rather, she was just trying to keep the ship from crashing into the Rivven ship. "What are you doing?!" Sandie shouted in alarm.

Collia stood in front of the dashboard, hovering a foot off the ground as she flapped her wings. She pulled up the teleportation authorization screen, and began hurriedly typing in commands. "I'm going to see if I can get whoever is in there out in time, but that ship has less than twenty seconds until it explodes!"

"But unauthorized teleportations are illegal, Collia!" Sandie protested. "Do you realize how much trouble we'll be in if we break Galactic Law?!"

"Not when they're within our own borders! And besides, we're using it to possibly save someone's life!" Collia shot back. The computer made a small chime as Collia confirmed the teleport, and Collia let the ship's teleport nullifier down. Seconds later, bright light bordered the hull of the Rivven ship. In a flash, the light disappeared, and something rematerialized behind them. Collia whirled around to see what, or who, it was. Not a second later, the ship outside exploded like a firework, and sent bits of shrapnel blazing away in all directions.

A female Rivven, who stood at about 6'5" while standing upright, teleported in. Most of her was black, but her paws, legs, ears, the tips of the feathers on her wings, and the tail tip were blood red. She was clutching a box, and she was gasping for air.

Collia blinked up with concern. "Are you okay? Are you wounded?" she asked urgently. Sandie set the ship to auto-pilot, and turned around to face the Rivven, as well.

The Rivven's breathing slowed. "I'm okay... thank you for saving me. I would have died if you hadn't done that."

No kidding, Collia thought. "What's your name?"

"My name is Captain Kisu. I was coming to deliver this package to the Lunar Cat Empire, but I was attacked. When I tried to fight back, the bullets and missiles just bounced off its hull," she explained.

"We saw." Collia's brow furrowed with confusion as she listened. "Did you clip the Drex territory? It could have been a Drex patrol." Collia doubted it, as Drex ships weren't designed like that one had been, but she had to ask. Speaking of which... Collia hadn't been able to get a good look at the ship in the first place.

The Drex were a ruthless Empire who dwelled at the center of the Brenka. They looked similar to collies and border collies, but they were cybernetically enhanced. They hated everything and everyone else in the Brenka, and every other Empire despised and feared them, as well. They were the cause of the fall of many Empires, and recently, they'd been very active. The Battian Empire, a major Empire, had fallen less than two months ago. The Coracle Empire, another Empire, had also mysteriously disappeared. Whenever ships entered their territory to find out what had happened to them, they never returned; however, the Drex had also not placed any colonies within the territory, so they had obviously not claimed it. There was much controversy and speculation about what had happened to them, but the Drex were widely suspected to be at fault.

"No, it couldn't have. I've fought countless Drex patrols and fleets before, but they don't look anything like that," Kisu replied.

Collia frowned when she heard this. At least if it was the Drex, they knew what they were fighting. This ah, this might not be good. "Do you need me to take you back to Terrelis?" Collia inquired. Terrelis was the homeworld of the Rivvens.

Kisu set the package down on one of the passenger seats. "Well, yeah, if you can take this package back to your Empire later. I don't know why, but my Commander said that it's important that it gets there very soon."

Collia nodded. "Okay." She motioned to Sandie for her to get out of her seat, and once Sandie was out, Collia sat down. Kisu came over and sat in the co-pilot's seat, and Sandie was less than pleased about that, but didn't say anything. Collia used a lever to shift the gears, and started flying the ship back towards Rivven territory.



It took about an hour for them to reach Rivven territory. Collia started to slow once they got closer and closer to the border.

"Stop!" Kisu spoke up suddenly, "Collia, I need to borrow your comm. set." Collia nodded, and set up the transmitter on the dashboard screen for Kisu. When the microphone was on, Kisu said, "Tosk, this is Captain Kisu. Do you read me?"

There was silence for a moment, before the sound of someone rushing to the other microphone came through and shattered the silence. "Kisu! We received a report that the Goldfinch was under fire and had blown up! We were afraid that you had not survived the explosion."

Kisu smiled. "Nice to know that I was missed. Tosk, I'm in a Lunar Cat ship. Do we have permission to cross the border?"

"Permission granted."

Kisu turned to Collia. "Continue flying towards the star, and we will arrive in half an hour." Collia nodded, and the ship surged forwards as she continued flying. A half hour passed, just as Kisu predicted; they were getting closer and closer to a big golden star. "Keep flying straight at the star," Kisu said to Collia. "Don't stop, and don't be afraid that we'll burn up when we get close to it."

"Um..." Collia gave Kisu a look that said, Are you nuts? "Okay."

When they got close enough to the star for the star's gravity to start pulling them in, the star suddenly vanished, revealing a planet with two moons. Kisu grinned. "Welcome to Terrelis. You are the first visitors to come here in quite a while." Collia looked at Kisu a bit quizzically, but said nothing. "The star is an illusion," Kisu explained. "A hologram. That's how we remain undetected by the Drex, Dracons, or any other intruders. When one of our ships starts being chased, which thankfully doesn't happen often, we fly straight at the star. They think that whoever was piloting the ship commited suicide, and since there would be nothing left of us if we did fly into a star, they don't bother to fly any closer."

"Ah, I see. Interesting," Collia murmured to herself. Terrelis' gravity started to draw them in.

"Do you mind if I land the ship? I know where we need to go," Kisu said.

"Uh, okay. As long as you know how to fly a Lunar Cat ship." Collia stood up to allow Kisu to sit.

Kisu guided the ship down toward what seemed at first glance to be a large forest, but it was actually a city. She landed the ship on a landing pad next to a giant stone building, then got up. The city reminded Collia of Rienne.

A gray Rivven with black stripes and green eyes stood at the top of the steps, watching as Kisu got out of the ship. Collia lowered the ramp, allowing Kisu out. Sandie was eager to get back into her seat, and she voiced her displeasure with Collia by fluffing up her silver fur. Before Collia could set the ship back up to fly back, however, a message came in through her comm. It read: "Please don't leave yet. My Commander would like to speak with you." -Captain Tosk of the Rivven Empire

Collia sent back, "Oh, okay." -Collia of the Lunar Cat Empire She pressed a button on the comm., and the hologram disappeared. She tucked her comm. in her bag, and got Kisu's package, placing it in there as well. "Hey, Sandie, Kisu and Tosk's commander wants to speak with us."

Sandie blinked. "Oh, okay." She hopped out of her seat, and padded after Collia. She added under her breath, "Perhaps their commander can tell them that it's not okay to just take someone else's seat, especially when they're from another Empire." Collia heard this, but chose to ignore it.

Kisu walked up the steps. As she passed Tosk, she placed her paw on his shoulder. He nodded to her, and she continued into the building. Collia looked up at Tosk once she was out of the ship, stretching her midnight black wings out. Even though Tosk stood at about 5'6", he still towered over her; however, Collia refused to be intimidated by this. "Yes?" Collia asked him.

"Follow me," he said. He pushed the door open, and started walking down a massive hallway. Collia gazed around as she followed him, with Sandie on her heels. "Most of our government and army buildings are this size; it makes it easier for those of us who have wings to get around," Tosk explained. "Also, first impressions don't hurt much when there is a member of another race visiting." Collia chuckled slightly at the mention of another race visiting.

Tosk stopped outside a door. He flicked a finger at it, causing it to open. "After you," he said to Collia and Sandie.

"Thank you," Collia nodded, and stepped inside. Tosk stepped past them, taking a seat beside the Commander, who was known as Raine. Sandie took a seat on the floor beside Collia, curling her striped silver tail around her paws. "Tosk said that you wished to speak with us, Commander?" Collia bravely gazed up at the much-bigger Rivvens without the slightest hint of intimidation in her emerald green eyes. Commander Raine had chocolate brown fur and wings, and her muzzle, ears, and the tips of her feathers were turning silver with age. She had bright green eyes with feline pupils, but were not the same shade as Collia's.

"I do," Raine said. "First, I'd like to thank you and your friend for saving my best Captain. And second, did you know the ship that attacked her?"

"No, it was unmarked." For the first time, Sandie spoke up.

"Could you describe the ship to me? This could be important."

"It was mostly just black. I couldn't really see what it looked like." Collia was honest; she hadn't really had a big chance to look at it before it cloaked itself and went away. She looked to Sandie to see if she might have anything, but only got a reluctant shrug.

Raine sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. She tilted her head to the side for a couple of seconds, before she turned back to Collia and Sandie. "I think it would be best if you two stayed here; at least, until we can spare an escort to accompany you back to your territory."

"Yes, Commander Raine," Collia nodded solemnly.

"Captain Tosk, please show Collia and Sandie a room," Raine said to Tosk.

"Yes, Commander," Tosk nodded, and rose to his feet. He got up and walked to the door. "Follow me," he said to Collia and Sandie.

"Yes." Collia and Sandie rose to their paws, and followed him out. As they left the building, Collia gazed around at Terrelis' sky.

So this is Terrelis, huh, she thought, This will be an adventure.

Epic writing! Cant wait for more.