Journal Log One – Thoughts of Thunder
Thunder. For some reason, this story begins with thunder. Not a particularly loud thunder, nor a particularly different sounding thunder. It was just merely thunder; typical thunder. But as thunder is a sound, and sound disrupts sleep, and sleep is needed for a happy-love-kitten-bright-eyed-bushy-tailed day, the presence of this unwanted thunder started me out of a somewhat restless sleep with a tangle of nonsensical syllables, and ended with me falling off my bunk and onto the wooden floor.
For the third time this week.
Not surprisingly, I was beginning to believe I was developing a neurosis. Or at least a healthy dislike for rainstorms and a large bruise on my rear end.
My disgruntled attitude aside, it was this sleepless night that I began a log of our travels, prompted by thunder. About time too. It was something I had planned on doing for quite sometime, but alas, due to my heavy work load, constant wanderings, and never-ending excuses about my somewhat lack of short-term memory, I never started one. Which, I suppose is why Gaia herself decided to intervene, and send down her disproval in one glorious cacophony of sound. Not that I’m bitter. Not at all.
So then. Firstly, I extend my greetings to you, the reader of this fine tomb of knowledge and incessant ramblings. Either your reading this, because you find our travels interesting and wish to learn more about us. Or failing that, you’re terribly bored and feel this will alleviate some of that. Whatever floats your boat. Having said that, I feel I should introduce myself as well as the others I keep on vaguely alluding too.
I’m known as the Lady of Moof. (Yes, I’m aware that more of a title than a name, but then there’s good reasoning behind it, I assure you.) But for simplicity, most just call me Moof. I was born somewhere across the seas from what is commonly known as the Gaian Mainland, and have a whole history that is so not the point of this tale. Besides, it’s in the ship’s logs if you’re that desperate to find out. The important part however, is that I am a member of Legion X.
Ahh, the Legion. I’m not sure what most Gaians thought of us, when we first came into being. Probably that we were a psychotic bunch of whack jobs, with no other purpose than to blindly follow our dead but mysterious “X” off a cliff somewhere. Which, of course is all wrong. Yes, we’re whack jobs, and yes, X did go off a cliff. But, no, we wouldn’t follow and no, he isn’t dead. That’s what he wanted you to think. How else would he have gotten away from Gam-Gino?
…… But I’m getting ahead of myself here. X, is no other than the Elusive LabTech X. The very labtech of Gaia’s mysterious past that has shown up from time to time, with true purpose unknown, until the day he apparently died. It happened years ago, and people talked about it for weeks before the story faded into the dusts of time. Not that we could blame anyone for that. It’s not every day aliens appear on Gaia and mass market energy drinks. But then, long after the aliens left, mysterious messages began to appear in Gaia, written in the same tongue of 1’s and 0’s, many of the Zurg spoke to us in. And all of them translated to “X lives”. That was the start of the Legion as we knew it. The original group of us saw the messages for ourselves, while others heard it through word of mouth and came to join us in our mission – To find Labtech X. Of course, we all have our own opinions about the man. Some believe he’s good, others believe he’s “one of the bad guys” and still others… well, they don’t know what to believe. Hence why we all want to find him so bad, so we can get some answers. It was on this basis our guild was formed.
But… the Legion is hardly limited to that, I can assure you. Though X was, and still is our original goal, it is hardly the only matter we concern ourselves with. From Captain to the newest member, each of us has our own fascinations with different aspects of Gaia that have yet to be explained and therefore we’ve become quite the group of theorists. But those ideas, I must speak of later.
It’s here I want to make a few comments of the nature of our guild, as we’re probably one of the more… unusual ones. Back in my early days on the Gaian Mainland, I belonged to a few guilds in passing, that were of the more common structure; a stable location, usually in one of the main towns, or else discreetly hidden in the woods, fields and other natural landmarks scattered around the world. Legion X isn’t really like those guilds, at least not really. I suppose, our Legion reminds me of the Pirate Guilds; guilds that exists aboard a fleet of ships on the salty seas of Gaia, and only making birth to pick up supplies, or go on a good natured pillaging spree.
Legion X’s homeport is hidden deep in the depths of the Aekean desert, far to the east of most of the Gaian Mainland. It’s here our fabled copy of the ToS is stored, along with our main research databases, relics, and other major projects that require a stable location to keep going or at least safe. (Safe from others, or keeping others safe from, is still being decided as I write.) Sure, we return to homeport several times a month, but during the rest of our time active at the guild is much….different.
This next part causes me to hesitate, as last time I tried to explain our situation it was met with pearls of laughter and disbelief, despite the fact I speak the truth. You see… not all pirates sail the seas… because not all ships need water. Sand, conveniently that found in a nearby desert is terrain enough for our guild. I’m not sure who created the technology that powers our ships, but all that I know is Gaia-NRGY is its fuel – and because of that, the dunes and valley of the Aekean wasteland, is but our Guild’s own paradise.
There are two ships that make up the traveling part of our guild, each run under a different Captain, and each inhabited by members of the Legion that switch homes whenever they please since the two vessels are but two halves of a whole and always travel together. Constructed of the toughest wood in all of Gaia, these ships are home to our labs, our libraries, our refectories and our sleeping quarters. During the market season, and holidays, most of the leaders and us crew live other lives in Gaia, and the ships are docked just shy of Aekea away from curious eyes. But when the season for information hunting is on, the Legion Ships are full of activity, and almost like their own little worlds.
I suppose this is the basics of what our Legion X is, though these few words hardly can express everything that happens here. I haven’t even been able to introduce the crew, our roles, and even our ideas that we create every day… but, now that I look out my window, I can see the sun beginning to rise in the east, meaning I’ve spend the night recording my thoughts. Also meaning, I have about two hours to cram some much needed sleep into my brain before the day’s duties begin again.
So until the next time my mind burns with thoughts, (or at least until the next thunderstorm), I bid to you, the reader, farewell.
X lives.
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