The year is somewhere around 2300, humanity has been reduced to homeless refugees adrift and hunted on a thousand worlds. Earth and its colonies are ancient history, destroyed by marauding aliens that never bothered to explain why.

On Yasm, a bywater of the Korkari empire, life is hard for Rin. It's about to get much harder, and this galaxy's story is about to change, as fate takes a hand in the games of the Gods and an ancient artifact is rediscovered.

Hi I have decided to be brave and so I give you the first(ish) draft of my new (1st)novel - Legacy of the Anari (working title). This is the first chapter of many, which i intend to post on a regular basis, (subject to the whims of my muse or major rewrites). So far I have around 160k words.
I hope you enjoy the first few thousand.

Whether you love it or hate it...Please let me know.

Oh yeah: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

So without further ado, I give you the start of Rin Turvik's tale.

Ashleigh Blayze

Rin Turvik was flogging his trynlar half to death to get back to Rijkards Hold. The bug bipedal herbivore was running flat out, its heavy tail outstretched behind it to counterbalance its headlong run, the beast's wide flat head lathered in foam from its mouth as it gasped for breath. After seeing the atmo shuttle descending rapidly Eastwards towards the ranch Rin grabbed his 20mm hunting rifle and back pack, swung up on the riding beast and bolted for the ranch, abandoning the cattle grazing on the long prairie 'grasses'. The Rijkard's prized herd of huge genetically modified 4000kg mega bison would have to fend for themselves, but he hoped that with a minor miracle none of the lethal local wildlife would trouble them. Without his rifle and scope on guard there would probably be heavy losses but there was no choice. No one brings an atmo shuttle to a ranch, especially not with jamming drowning the comm frequencies. Rin hadn't been able to get word to the Rijkards that trouble was coming, but he kept on trying.

He left the trynlar tied up, hidden in a copse of trees behind the hill that overlooked the Hold, and hurried up the slope staying as low as he could manage. Trying to drift through the brush without disturbing any of the local 'birds' was difficult, but he manoeuvred his slender, taller than average frame to the ridge line without startling the 'birds' to flight. Crawling through the last of the brush Rin pulled the big rifle's stock into his shoulder, the muzzle just emerging from the tall grasses and sighted on the ranch that had been his home for almost the last year since he'd left Taront after the riots.

A choked sob threatened to burst from his throat, and he clamped down on it. Rin had known he'd be too late, but somehow that reality was held at the back of his mind, deliberately ignored in favour of faint hope that the Rijkards had been able to hold out. Now rage, horror and despair flared and his vision blurred through tears as he scoped the ruined Hold. The stone outbuildings were burning, flames licking at blackened frames and through the roof timbers, oily black smoke curling into the otherwise clear blue sky. The high protective wall that kept the dangerous local wildlife out of the compound was breached in at least three places that he could see, rubble thrown everywhere from explosions tearing through it. The 20m tall communications tower had been shredded, blown to pieces, all that remained was a stump of blackened plassteel, maybe 4 or 5 m high.

The worst was Rijkards Hall itself. It was in ruins, windows and doors blown out, one of the corner rooms blown wide open on the second storey. The roof was burning fiercely still, while dark smoke curled away from the upper windows. The raiders had complete surprise and though the Rijkards were hardy folk, they had no chance against the attackers’ overwhelming fire power. Rin could see the family's bodies lying twisted and ruined in the compound yard. Handers Rijkard and Kaitlyn his wife, Edgar their oldest son and Artur the younger, along with the ranch hands, all lay where they had fallen bodies bloodied, blackened and ripped open by the raiders' weaponry.

Shifting the scoped rifle to the right brought the atmo shuttle into view. The miniature figures of lightly armoured raiders trotting rapidly in and out of the shuttle loading their loot leapt into focus. They were Dtilla! Rin had never seen the reptilian like aliens before but they couldn't be anything else, their slate blue leathery skin marked by multi coloured tribal rank tattoos. Life had been hard for Rin, and his last year with the Rijkards had been a fresh start for him. His rage burned at the aliens who robbed his friends of their lives. Attacking the Dtilla was a death sentence, but he didn't know enough to survive out here on his own anyway. Edgar had been teaching him a lot but there was so much he didn't know. He wanted, needed some payback, some retribution for the devastation he could see, and made his decision.

The scope took on a life of its own, as he laid the weapon on target, Edgar's remembered instructions sounding in his mind. The raider in crimson armour with the golden glint of augments on its ugly face, looked a good first target. Rin steadied himself, lasing for the distance before releasing his breath and pulling the trigger between his heart beats. The first huge round shot away before the barrel skipped up and sideways under the rifle's heavy recoil, Rin bringing the sight back down on the next target, firing again, and again, and again, each shot a different target as the need for revenge drove him.

When Rin began working for the Rijkards, they gave him an old heavy hunting rifle to use. It wasn't the usual 5mm, common on many worlds, but the predators on Yasm were not common either. They all tended to be very big, very fast and heavily armoured. The heavily gene modified mega bison that were bred as cattle stood virtually no chance against them, despite huge size and strength, so the herders went out loaded for bear as an ancient saying from lost Terra went. Before going out with the herd the day before Rin had gone to collect his weapon from the armoury, only to discover that Hanrid, a senior herder, had 'borrowed' it because his own needed repair and a rebore.

Edgar was passing the armory at the time and without a second thought handed Rin his own weapon, a beautiful heavy rifle that was a gift from his father. Comparing it to Rin's was like comparing a racing trike to a rusty bicycle. The semi auto rifle fired an armour piercing 20mm slug that could punch right through the thick brain pan of Yasm' alpha predator — the Gatchi 15000kg of 6 legged, clawed death that could chase down a mega bison if it wanted. The scope was top of the line as well and even though the range was a shade over 3 klicks the first round arrived dead on target even as the second left the barrel.

***

The Dtilla load master was in a great mood. The raid on the human trash had been pathetically easy and the pillage had been good. There were no casualties to his kin, and the generators they were about to ship out were in very good condition and would cover the shuttles costs on their own when they were sold. He was turning to check the weight distribution of the next shuttle load of cargo when there was a deep hypersonic krack! that he felt in his inner ears more than heard. The atmo shuttle's flight boss was walking towards him, when her body slumped, decapitated as her head exploded in a fountain of bone shards, brains and fluids, followed by a metallic sound and sensation of heat as a torrent of kinetic energy punctured the shuttle hull.

Even before the load master's hind brain concluded this was no longer a good day, and instructed him to hurl himself to the ground more rounds arrived and more of the clan fell as the hunting pack exploded into a cacophony of noise and action, the lowly male raiders moving into a frenzy at the death of a precious breeding female. The load master recovered enough presence of mind to send the pack in the general direction of the incoming fire and covered the distance to the loading hatch at a dead sprint while part of him cursed the couple of holes blown in the light armour of his atmo shuttle and wondered how many of the pack would die in the load hold because of them.

***

Rin stopped firing as the magazine expended the last of its 8 shells and the breech locked open. He had 3 more clips in his pack but it was slung over his trynlar’s back amongst the trees. The need for retribution and rage was still burning strong as he looked through the scope, and saw virtually the whole pack of Dtilla charging his way, and the atmo shuttle venting as it prepared for lift off. The reptilian aliens were armed, armoured, fast and very very pissed, and their bounding gate was eating up the distance from the Hold. Revenge suddenly seemed less important than the primal urge to survive.

Grabbed the heavy rifle Rin fled for his mount, trying to work out a plan as he ran, nearly tripping and breaking his neck distracted by the question of what now? If he headed for the plains and grasslands to the East and South there would be little cover and the Dtilla could run a damn sight quicker than him. He thought his beast was faster but it was already tired after the frantic run to get back to the Hold and he didn't see the Dtilla giving up any time soon, plus they had a shuttle as well. To the West it was mostly the strange native marshes, very deadly and slow going, he would be caught for sure.

To the North there were hills giving way to a mountain range all covered in thick forests that would give plenty of cover. Going North at least there was a chance. Gasping for breath, Rin reached his mount, glad of the practice mounting he'd been put through by the herders as he swung up onto its saddle in one fluid motion and kicked his boots back, raking its leathery hide and spurring it northwards to try and get as much distance as he could before the Dtilla pack reached his shooting position and got his scent, for then he knew the hunt would be well and truly on.

The trynlar was game and a well trained beast. Even near exhaustion it ran almost full speed through the fronds and trees, creepers and plants of the forest. Rin didn't have time to be careful, minutes ago he had heard the screeches, screams and hisses of the Dtilla pack as it had reached his shooting position, he hoped he was about 1500m ahead of the raiding aliens but couldn't tell from the sounds in the distance behind him. He had no idea how fast the Dtilla could hunt him through this terrain. His mount was a plains creature and slower than normal in the forest undergrowth, but he could only hope he won the race.

Rin gave the trynlar its head to charge through the woods. He struggled to reload the rifle and then get his small pack of supplies on his back, as the beast ran. If he lost the mount at least he would have his supplies. At the moment the trynlar was running along a faint game trail, and Rin had already splashed across a couple of small streams running down from the hills. Rin guided the trynlar up stream a small distance each time in the hope that it might disguise his scent. He wasn't sure if it would do any good or not, he was city born and hadn't been on the ranch long enough to learn a fraction of the skills the ranchers knew.

As Rin rode he realised he might be in the area of a cave system the senior ranch hand Jiacob had mentioned some weeks before. He burst across a clearing in the forest at full speed, the trynlar following a rocky trail. The trail led up hill past a collection of fallen 'trees' whose creepers and foliage had looked like a series of tumbling green waterfalls. The description Jiacob gave him jumped into his head, so now Rin rode a fraction slower looking for more landmarks, while trying to keep the distance open on his pursuers.

The trynlar was tiring now though, its deep breathing laboured and the Dtilla’s shrills and whistles were closer and steadily gaining on him. Jiacob had said that he and Edgar had found the caves while out hunting in their free time. They had briefly explored and discovered the main cave entrance was deep and dry. They found a rock slide that had mostly blocked a low tunnel that headed deeper. But not having the right gear they had planned to go exploring another time.

Rin was getting frantic, his mount was near exhaustion, and the aliens were close enough now that they sounded like they were only a couple of minutes behind him and still gaining. He'd seen more of the landmarks that Jiacob had described and was urging his mount along searching for the cave entrance, but he could not find it, it had to be near here, it had to be. The hillside was covered in dense undergrowth and now as evening fell the light was beginning to fail, throwing dark shadows all around. Glancing over his shoulder, he searched for sign of the Dtilla hunters, they sounded so close, like they were less than 100m away, only the undergrowth was keeping him hidden, but not for much longer.

The exhausted mount stumbled as it jumped out from the trees onto yet another rocky slope, using the last of its energy now, Rin grabbed the reins sawed it back to the right.

There, that black crack in the rock face.

Please let it be the cave. Please.

It was. Sobbing now with desperation and fear he grabbed the rifle and swung down off the trynlar, turning the beast away from the cave and slapping it on its quivering rump to start it running again, maybe it would buy him some time. Rin sprinted for the refuge of the black cave mouth. It was probably a false hope but it was all he had, that he could make it past the rock slide into the caves or tunnels beyond, and then fend off the hunters.

***

Unclipping his mini torch from the work belt he'd bought with his first wage from the Rijkards, Rin silently blessed Handers’ policy that all herders went out with a pack of basic supplies and gear in case they were away from the Hold for more than a day. When he promoted Rin to herder the season previously Handers and his wife had gifted Rin his pack and the equipment it carried. Now Rin prayed their generosity would save his life. The light from the torch was strong and threw the cave into a stark contrast of white light and black shadows, crevices, and rocky walls, that stretched back into the hillside. With no time for caution, Rin ran, light bouncing wildly around as he searched frantically for the nearly blocked tunnel that he had been told about. From somewhere near the cave mouth he heard the sudden scream of his abandoned trynlar, cut short by the sizzle of an energy weapon, and the hunters' calls, their blood up as they butchered his mount.

The torch picked out a rockfall at the back of the cave and suddenly there was the tunnel Jiacob had told him about.

Maker it's small.

Rin whipped the pack off and shoved it and then the rifle ahead of him, squirming into the tunnel. There was barely enough room to crawl, but he forced himself forward leaving behind skin and blood from his knees and elbows, and forearms. He couldn't see anything except his pack in front of him, torch clenched between his teeth now as he shoved and pulled himself along. Mentally he pictured the Dtilla exploring the cave behind him, finding his tunnel and pulling him out by his feet to butcher him.

Stuck, oh shit it's jammed.

Whimpering in fear as his blood thundered in his ears, adrenalin surged through Rin's body and desperately he shoved forwards. For a long moment the pack resisted, before shooting forward and falling a half metre in a heap on the floor of another cave. Shoving the rifle after the pack Rin twisted onto his back, forced his arms forwards out of the tunnel, his shoulders and back scraping the rock, scrabbled for purchase and then pulled himself through to fall with a grunt on the floor. The tunnel must have only been about 7 or 8 metres long but it seemed like a klick. Pulling himself to the side of the tunnel, Rin switched off the torch and forced himself to crouch silently in the dark, doing his best to ignore his thundering pulse and calm his breathing as he listened.

***

The pack had the trash's scent and it was strong and fresh. They were close, and soon would have their vengeance for the loss of the precious female. The hunt's fastest had shot down a saddled beast fleeing down a game trail, and backtracked the scent to the cave. After a quick gesture to the other leading hunters, the largest launched a flare into the cave mouth and took cover. Predators by nature Dtilla understood that cornered prey were the most dangerous, but also the most fun to kill. The trash had demonstrated it could kill but it was only a fucking human. Easy meat.

The flare's harsh glare illuminated nothing but rock walls and shadows, but the scent trail only went in and not back out. A quick claw gesture, and three of the hunters bounded forward, a fusillade of weapons fire covering them as they advanced, noise reverberating from the hills as plasma bolts exploded the air around them, the armoured aliens being cast in strobe shadows by the weapon flashes. No fire was returned, so immediately they moved into the cave covering each other with the easy grace of long experience working and hunting together.

***

Rin cringed as the roar of weapons fire echoed through the cave. The weapons flashes lit up the tiny tunnel that he had crawled through to reach a semblance of safety. Suddenly it dawned on him that the hunters were about to find his escape route and follow him. The weapons fire stopped and the silence was a thick smothering claustrophobic blanket. Rin moved and quietly picked up his pack and weapon before crouching once more beside the tunnel trying to pick out any tell tale sounds of his pursuit.

What was that?

It was the harsh sound of a pebble bouncing off rock, followed by the noise of a Dtilla slipping as it climbed over the fall that concealed the tunnel. The sudden harsh guttural language of the Dtilla sounded so close that Rin had to force himself not to run blindly into the dark. Instead he waited, fighting to keep calm. Slowly he moved his head to the side of the tunnel, feeling for its edge. Very cautiously he peered into the darkness, still he could see nothing. Taking the big rifle he aimed it down the way he had come and waited, fighting off budding panic. This was probably a very bad idea but he was fresh out of good ones.

***

The cave appeared empty, as the three hunters moved inwards, following the human's fearful stench. They spread out searching the cave quickly and efficiently. A call from the smallest of the three, brought its larger kin forwards, armoured boots echoing against the stone floor of the cave. They found their smaller brother behind a rock fall gesturing with the muzzle of his weapon at a hole in the wall of the cave. The stench of the human was thick here, the aromas of blood and sweat hanging in the still air.

-Get in there and find that scum- The largest ordered and after a moment of hesitation the smallest began to climb into the hole.

***

Rin heard the Dtilla talking at the other end of his escape route, followed by a scrabbling sound and the scrape of claws against rock, but he still couldn't see anything in the pitch darkness. Thanking the Gods the scope on the rifle, Rin looked through it, the darkness penetrated by the scope's technology revealing the Dtilla struggling to pull itself along the tunnel. Through the scope the alien was illuminated clearly, all in shades of green and Rin watched as it seemed to stare at him, then tried to grab for its weapon. Thinking about his friends, Rin pulled the trigger.

At a range of less than seven meters the energy from the 20mm round virtually turned the Dttilla to mush as it passed clean through its body lengthways before careening off the rock fall and ricocheting into the cave. Blinded by the muzzle flash and deafened by the rifles report, Rin screamed as he fell back against the wall of the cave, the pressure wave from the rifle bursting his eardrum. Pain exploded in his head as he hit the cave wall, and consciousness fled.

The two remaining hunters hurled themselves into cover as their packmate erupted in a mangle of flesh, blood, bone and armour, the muzzle flash blinding the predatory aliens, while the thunderous report deafened them. Dazed the Dtilla staggered away, instinctively moving for the safety of the cave mouth, loosing their own weapons at the passage, in a flurry of flechettes and energy, shouting for aid from the pack outside. As they stumbled out into the lengthening shadows, the shuttle flew overhead, descending to land in a swirling blast of dust and exhaust gases, a short distance downhill from the cave. The hunting pack's leader loped towards the shuttle's rear access ramp while several of the Dtilla grabbed their dazed kin under more covering fire.

The load master was pissed, his lead pilot was dead, a precious young breeding female, the pack's prestige had taken a huge beating, and he had a pile of dead kin stored in hold 2 which had been shot up and not fully loaded. The only good news he had was the atmo shuttle’s damage was not catastrophic. The weapon that had blasted fist sized holes through the shuttle's lightly armoured sides hadn't pierced any critical systems, and the shuttle could still make orbit. The repair costs were going to be a curse at least they would get off this shit hole planet. Now they had another casualty and a piece of shit human trash delaying his raid and the longer they were here the higher the intercept probability. Growling in frustration he slammed the access release, and stamped down the ramp as the hunt leader bounded up to report.

-Did you get the fucking human scum yet?

-Cornered down a tunnel in the cave, tiny access, you have to crawl and that thing has a heavy calibre projectile weapon of some sort. We can get it but it will take time.

-Fuck that, no more fucking corpses on this raid. Take the demo pack and bring the fucking hill down on it so I can get us off this crap planet. The pack lord is not happy and we don't have time to get the rest of our haul. Get your pack loaded, dump your gear in Hold 2, and grab hold of something in Hold 3 for the ride up.

-Hold 3 is full of loot. They won’t all fit.

-Well they can suck vacuum in 2 if you want, just get a fucking hurry on while I get the shuttle prepped.

Turning the load master grabbed an explosives satchel from its locker, tossed it to the smaller hunt leader, and stomped back towards the shuttle's controls where he had to fill in for the pilot. The hunt leader snatched the satchel out of the air, and bounded back towards the pack yelling orders and curses on the way. The universal truth of command, shit flows downhill, and the pack scattered to obey his orders. Shortly the explosives were placed to bring down the cave mouth, primed for remote detonation and charged and the Dtilla were back aboard their shuttle.

With a snarl of frustration at being denied his kill the hunt leader hit the trigger as the shuttle climbed upwards through the atmosphere towards orbit. Far below, the cave mouth shuddered under a sequence of explosions. For a long moment nothing else happened, then the hillside above the cave seemed to gently slump, as thousands of tonnes of stone and earth collapsed in on the cave mouth. But for the slowly settling dust cloud that rolled out, the cave might as well have never been there.

***

Rin coughed and opened his eyes. He could feel the sensation of his eyelids moving but still he saw nothing.

I can't see anything, am I blind?

His ears were ringing constantly, and he couldn't tell if the noise was real or not. Breathing was difficult, it felt like someone had stamped a rhythm on his chest in heavy armoured boots. His nostrils were clogged with dirt and dust, and he hurt all over.

What happened?

A blinding muzzle flash and thunderous noise flared in his mind and Rin remembered the pain in his ears, and pain in his head, firing at the hunters, and being stuck in a cave.

Was it as dark as this before?

The Rijkards are dead, Dtilla raiders, taking some vengeance with the big rifle. A scope which can see in the dark. Abused muscles flared in sharp jabbing pains as Rin rolled over and then pushed himself into a crouch. He patted his work belt.

Shit I dropped the torch, okay now what? First find Edgar's rifle. Poor Edgar, I guess it’s my rifle now.

He pinched one nostril then the other, blowing them clear, then staying still began feeling around him, fingers spread as wide as possible. Rin's left hand encountered the rock of the cave wall.

Okay if the wall is on that side I think that means the tunnel was in front of me.

Moving onto hands and knees he started shuffling forwards slowly feeling for his equipment.

What's that?

Triumph as his fingers closed over the barrel of the rifle. Bringing the rifle to his cheek, Rin looked through the scope, still nothing.

Hold on…

His left hand traced over the scope searching for the mode selector, with the idle thought that he didn't know this gun as well as he should, before he found it.

First click, nothing just green fuzz as he looked through the scope again. Even the best light amplification needs light to work with. A second click, and suddenly the cave is revealed in cool blues.

Thermal mode. Cool or is that Hot?

Grinning in the dark Rin passed his fingers in front of the scope, watching his hand appearing in yellows and reds.

Okay, this I can work with.

Scanning around his pack showed up clearly lying on the floor, no sign of the torch though. The tunnel on the wall in front of him, while behind him the caves seemed to head off into the hill, no heat sources, but enough small variations in temperature for the sensitive scope to give him an image at least. Rin pushed his rifle and pack ahead of him, and clambered back into the small passage that had given him an escape.

It surprised him how long it took to squeeze through the narrow passage a second time, even though the scope had shown it was only a few metres long it was very tight. At one point Rin had thought his back muscles were going to cramp up as he had contorted himself, but thankfully that agony held off and he was able to slowly stretch out. The tunnel stank, and he wondered what could smell so bad? Rin realised the smell was the stench of dead Dtilla. As he pulled himself into the other end of the passage, it was wet and he was suddenly very glad that he couldn't see.

Concentrating on not vomiting at the thought of crawling through alien remains and bodily fluids Rin pushed the pack and rifle forwards, feeling resistance and then a thud and a metallic thunk as something fell out the passage. Rin pulled himself through last bit and levered himself back out into the cave.

I know it was getting dark and I had the torch, but shouldn't there be more light?

Stepping around the rock fall that had hidden the passageway, Rin looked for the cave mouth. He could not see it. With a bad feeling in his gut, Rin put the rifle back to his cheek and despairingly looked at the blue and black depiction of several thousand tonnes of rock lying on his exit.

No wonder it’s so dark, they buried me alive.