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fandomweekly2025-05-09 01:57 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2025-05-09 01:57 pm
Entry tags:
[#260] The First Emperor (Original)
Theme Prompt: #260 – Mountains
Title: The First Emperor
Fandom: Original
Rating/Warnings: PG / None
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Earth is colonising suitable uninhabited planets, but what happens when one planet turns out to be someone else’s home?
Brynmor Griffith stood at the edge of what was to be the colony’s first settlement and stared out across the rolling green hills that so closely resembled those of Wales, or at least the Wales of his distant ancestors. These days, buildings covered most of what used to be a green and pleasant land. Earth was becoming increasingly crowded, which was why other planets, like this one, were being colonised. Brynmor barely noticed the hills, however. His attention was on the mountain.
It was massive, majestic, its peaks rising up through the clouds to a height, according to the colony ship’s scanners, of well over twenty-eight thousand feet. Not as tall as Everest, of course, but Everest was surrounded by foothills and lower peaks, while this mountain simply rose from the middle of a vast, rocky waste where very little grew.
The mountain pulled at Brynmor. He’d climbed mountains back on earth, but this was a whole different animal. This planet was considerably larger than earth, the air richer in oxygen, and even at the mountain’s highest point, while it would undoubtedly be chilly, the air should still be breathable. He’d run countless calculations on the ship’s computers, using data gathered by the planetary explorers who had selected this world for colonisation. He was going to climb that mountain, stand on the flat plateau at its top, and look out over this new land. The plateau was the ideal place to set up an automated weather station, which gave Brynmor, as head of science for the colony, the perfect excuse to indulge in his passion for climbing.
Two weeks later found Brynmor, and a small team of junior science officers, at the base of the mountain. He and his second would undertake the climb, the other three remaining below. The mountain was too high to fly the skimmers to the top, but Bryn, and Luc Caradog, were to scope out the best route to the summit, and figure out how to get the monitoring equipment up there.
Bryn might have preferred a larger climbing party, but all the colonists he’d spoken to had claimed to be afraid of heights, and from what he’d seen, just about everything else. It made him wonder why they’d signed on to colonise an alien planet. They seemed too timid for such a venture. He’d signed on eagerly himself, as had the rest of the crew, but the other crewmembers had their own assigned tasks to get the settlement up and running, drawing any assistance they needed from among the fifty thousand colonists, so…
The climb was strenuous, but not as difficult as some of the mountains Bryn had tackled on earth. He’d left Luc on a small plateau some nine hundred feet below the summit to make the final ascent by himself, the cliff face being almost sheer, and beyond Luc’s capabilities as a climber. The last thing Bryn had expected, as he dragged himself over the lip of the top plateau, was to find that he wasn’t alone. Unsurprisingly, he froze, staring into enormous golden eyes in a bronze-scaled reptilian head the size of a two-man skimmer.
The dragon arched its long neck, peering down at him, and snorted softly.
“And what might you be?” it asked in deep, rumbling tones.
“I’m… I’m a human. How do you know my language?”
“I took it from your mind. Presumptuous of me, perhaps, but it seemed the most efficient way to enable communication.” Raising its head, the dragon gazed out across the hills towards the distant settlement, being built in a river valley. “There appear to be quite a lot of you. I am not sure how I feel about that. This has always been a peaceful place.”
“We didn’t realise this planet was inhabited by intelligent beings. I’m sorry. We wouldn’t have come here if we’d known. Are there… many of your kind?”
“Indeed, a great many, but I am the only one here. I chose this place as my home thousands of what you would term years ago. I have lived here since, and now it seems my peace is to be disturbed.”
“That… wasn’t our intention. Our own world has become so crowded that planets like this one are being colonised. I suppose now we’ll have to find somewhere else, but we only came equipped with enough resources to set up one colony…” Bryn trailed off, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events.
“Do you have a name, human?”
“Yes, Brynmor Griffith.”
“The syllables resonate pleasingly. There is meaning to this name?”
“Uh, yes, I suppose. Brynmore is Welsh for a large hill, and Griffith means something like strong lord, or chief.” Bryn shrugged. “My parents chose my name.”
The dragon rumbled, apparently amused. “And are you the chief of your people, Strong Lord of the Large Hill?” It bared its teeth, long and sharp, in something resembling a smile.
“No, I’m just first science officer for the colony. What’s your name?”
The dragon roared. “It does not translate into your language, but you may call me Dragon. It is a term that appears to fit.” The dragon studied him for long moments, and Bryn could almost feel the creature exploring inside his head. “I find I like you, Brynmor Griffith.”
“Thank you.”
“Your people, if they are to stay here, will need a strong and brave leader, who is also wise and kind. You are all of those things. You shall be the one to govern your people.”
“That’s… not up to me.”
“No. It is up to me; that is the price for your people to remain on my world, that you and your descendants will rule your people, kindly and fairly. If your people do not agree to this, then they must leave, never to return.”
“I doubt I can convince them of that.”
“Then we shall convince them together. Climb aboard my back. We will pay them a visit.”
And that was how Brynmor Griffith became Grand Emperor.
The End
It was massive, majestic, its peaks rising up through the clouds to a height, according to the colony ship’s scanners, of well over twenty-eight thousand feet. Not as tall as Everest, of course, but Everest was surrounded by foothills and lower peaks, while this mountain simply rose from the middle of a vast, rocky waste where very little grew.
The mountain pulled at Brynmor. He’d climbed mountains back on earth, but this was a whole different animal. This planet was considerably larger than earth, the air richer in oxygen, and even at the mountain’s highest point, while it would undoubtedly be chilly, the air should still be breathable. He’d run countless calculations on the ship’s computers, using data gathered by the planetary explorers who had selected this world for colonisation. He was going to climb that mountain, stand on the flat plateau at its top, and look out over this new land. The plateau was the ideal place to set up an automated weather station, which gave Brynmor, as head of science for the colony, the perfect excuse to indulge in his passion for climbing.
Two weeks later found Brynmor, and a small team of junior science officers, at the base of the mountain. He and his second would undertake the climb, the other three remaining below. The mountain was too high to fly the skimmers to the top, but Bryn, and Luc Caradog, were to scope out the best route to the summit, and figure out how to get the monitoring equipment up there.
Bryn might have preferred a larger climbing party, but all the colonists he’d spoken to had claimed to be afraid of heights, and from what he’d seen, just about everything else. It made him wonder why they’d signed on to colonise an alien planet. They seemed too timid for such a venture. He’d signed on eagerly himself, as had the rest of the crew, but the other crewmembers had their own assigned tasks to get the settlement up and running, drawing any assistance they needed from among the fifty thousand colonists, so…
The climb was strenuous, but not as difficult as some of the mountains Bryn had tackled on earth. He’d left Luc on a small plateau some nine hundred feet below the summit to make the final ascent by himself, the cliff face being almost sheer, and beyond Luc’s capabilities as a climber. The last thing Bryn had expected, as he dragged himself over the lip of the top plateau, was to find that he wasn’t alone. Unsurprisingly, he froze, staring into enormous golden eyes in a bronze-scaled reptilian head the size of a two-man skimmer.
The dragon arched its long neck, peering down at him, and snorted softly.
“And what might you be?” it asked in deep, rumbling tones.
“I’m… I’m a human. How do you know my language?”
“I took it from your mind. Presumptuous of me, perhaps, but it seemed the most efficient way to enable communication.” Raising its head, the dragon gazed out across the hills towards the distant settlement, being built in a river valley. “There appear to be quite a lot of you. I am not sure how I feel about that. This has always been a peaceful place.”
“We didn’t realise this planet was inhabited by intelligent beings. I’m sorry. We wouldn’t have come here if we’d known. Are there… many of your kind?”
“Indeed, a great many, but I am the only one here. I chose this place as my home thousands of what you would term years ago. I have lived here since, and now it seems my peace is to be disturbed.”
“That… wasn’t our intention. Our own world has become so crowded that planets like this one are being colonised. I suppose now we’ll have to find somewhere else, but we only came equipped with enough resources to set up one colony…” Bryn trailed off, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events.
“Do you have a name, human?”
“Yes, Brynmor Griffith.”
“The syllables resonate pleasingly. There is meaning to this name?”
“Uh, yes, I suppose. Brynmore is Welsh for a large hill, and Griffith means something like strong lord, or chief.” Bryn shrugged. “My parents chose my name.”
The dragon rumbled, apparently amused. “And are you the chief of your people, Strong Lord of the Large Hill?” It bared its teeth, long and sharp, in something resembling a smile.
“No, I’m just first science officer for the colony. What’s your name?”
The dragon roared. “It does not translate into your language, but you may call me Dragon. It is a term that appears to fit.” The dragon studied him for long moments, and Bryn could almost feel the creature exploring inside his head. “I find I like you, Brynmor Griffith.”
“Thank you.”
“Your people, if they are to stay here, will need a strong and brave leader, who is also wise and kind. You are all of those things. You shall be the one to govern your people.”
“That’s… not up to me.”
“No. It is up to me; that is the price for your people to remain on my world, that you and your descendants will rule your people, kindly and fairly. If your people do not agree to this, then they must leave, never to return.”
“I doubt I can convince them of that.”
“Then we shall convince them together. Climb aboard my back. We will pay them a visit.”
And that was how Brynmor Griffith became Grand Emperor.
The End