I realized that the old classic was full of typos, inconstant plots, and even the character's name changed half way through, so I fixed it up, matched it up more with what the story line now is. Needed to do that, I will be continuing it soon.
Oh yush, The GC Net's birthday is November 17th, keep a look out!
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Space is a vast, undying expanse, where spaceships roam with ease. One space ship, one so huge it counted its self as its own country, was the home of the Egyptian empire. This ship passed the Crab Nebula, its 40 mile long length smashing a meteor on its 15 foot thick hull. Nearly 200,000 people lived in the Abydos, and they lived the ways of their ancestors some thousand years ago. They worshiped many gods, whom some appeared to them in real life. They were in many dimensions, gods. The fictional and the truthful. The people on this ship lived in the Egyptian empire, and many of their gods, like Anubis and Horus lived in its higher towers, appearing every now and then to give advice on a conquest or even to lead them. But these supposed gods were mortal. Yes, they lived for hundreds of years before a supposed ‘reincarnation’ and a new, young version of their selves appeared and the original disappeared.
Each one of the gods had their own priests, and those directed the worship to their god. But they weren’t totally human. After the assassination of Ra, one that left him without a reincarnation for himself, Horus planned. He designed a DNA altering shot, one that gave the priests different abilities. Every priest had a different ability, due to which god they served. Anubian priests were fast, with claws and the more important ones even had a jackal’s tail and ears. Horus’s priests had talons like a hawk’s and a hawk’s wings as well. Get the picture? These alterations were also a sign of status.
The city ships- all of the countries, not just Abydos, held a big secret. This secret, only known by the gods, would change the human race forever.
The city was vast, with travel chutes spanning above and puttering hover cars below. Osiris dictated on the main screen mounted on the god’s dwellings from another Egyptian city ship, simply called New Egypt. There were three orphanages, each dusty, dark, and in the confines of the depths of the Abydos. But one, the one that was near the front end of the huge city ship, a boy looked out the window at the guts of the Abydos. Our story starts with him.

‘Ugh… when will we ever get out of here?’ I said to myself. I heard footsteps behind me as my good friend, Joseph, came up behind me. He sat down on the hard, splintered bench.
‘Developing a new escape plan, James?’ He asked.
‘I’ve been starting to lose faith. We would be easily identified by these clothes.’ I pulled at the dirty rags they gave us. ‘And where would we hide? The gods would certainly bring down their wrath on us.’
‘Don’t think like that, my friend. You were from the city ship N.America, correct?’ Joseph said. He was an African boy who had a fringe of black, short hair. He was 16, I was 15.
‘Yes. You know that. We’ve been friends for, what, three years now?’
‘True. But I believe that America allowed you to choose your own faiths. So why don’t you do that now?’
‘Hhhhmmmm… true.’ A bell rang in the distance. ‘More work…’ I said. We got of the bench and walked over to the door with the several other orphans. I would think that treating10 year old children and old teenagers this way would be against galactic law, but I guess I was wrong. The door opened and our ‘Guardian’ led us out of the orphanage and right to the workings of one of the Abydos’s rockets.
‘Alright, you pipsqueaks! Get to work!’ a burly man shouted. He was nicknamed the Slave Driver by the orphans here. ‘There’s been a malfunction! And we need you to fix it! Move it!’ he shouted.
We moved in a silent line, some of us coughing from the soot. We went over to the repair shaft.
‘May Horus protect us…’ a young orphan mumbled.
The door opened and we looked down the shaft. Electricity zoomed across the shaft, a clear hazard. The young boy went first. He made it down. It was my turn…
‘Stop!’ someone shouted. I turned and looked along with several other children. A man stood there, in slightly stained gold regalia of a priest. A thin fur covered tail flicked behind him and he had long, black, and furred ears, down in anger. Somehow, they were on the top of his head instead of the sides. He was one of the priests of Anubis, and a head one at that! He walked over to the slave driver.
‘If you ever try this again, I’ll have you hanged. These children are much too young to go to my lord’s realm.’
The slave driver’s face instantly went pale. He was a clear believer. ‘I thought I was helping the gods…’
‘No! These are children! Put some of your own lackeys at it.’
‘Yes… sir.’ The slave driver said before he fainted in fright.
I looked over to Joseph, who was astounded by this miraculous event. Some one behind me said, ‘Is that Rahm, the head priest of Anubis?’
‘I think so… wow! I’ve never seen him in real life!’ Someone else shouted.
We walked back to the orphanage, but Rahm came over to us.
‘Before you get back to the orphanage, could you tell me where I could find a…’ he pulled a note card from his pocket and looked at it. ‘… James Williams?’
I was astounded that some one of such importance would want me. But why, exactly? I raised my hand slowly, whilst receiving odd looks from Joseph, who was next to me.
‘Ah! I have you at last. I wish I could have known you were in this one.’ He walked over to me and shouted out, ‘I wish to adopt this child. It is the will of Anubis, let it be done. He then led me away from the vile place. I quickly muttered a good-bye to Joseph before I was lead to the travel tube.

We had come out of the top and into the city. I looked up at Rahm.
‘Why’d you choose me?’ I asked.
‘You are special.’ Rahm responded.
‘In what way?’ I asked.
‘You are a smart person. I have read of your cleverly planed escapes, your inventions, and your emotional strength.’
‘That’s why you adopted me?’ I asked.
‘Not exactly. Have you chosen a divinity to one of the gods?’
‘No, I’m not old enough yet. A couple more years, then I could. Why?’
‘Because you will be in a good amount of contact with my lord, Anubis. We are going to the god’s palace. Follow me.’
I followed the lean priest. We were heading to a travel tube that led to the public area of the god’s palace. The palace was a building that looked like two buildings stacked on top of one another. The lower section was mostly offices and the public areas, where people could see artifacts from centuries before and stare at holographic representations of the quarters of the lower gods, like Bast or Sobek. Sometimes the huge screen on top of the upper section switched on to deliver a message to the people of Abydos. Rahm and I were levitated down the tube by some type of anti-gravity system. I continued the conversation.
‘So, what do you mean by “Not exactly”?’
‘Well… do you know when the gods are reborn?’ Rahm asked.
‘Yes. Why?’
‘Well, my lord Anubis is close to that point.’
‘So why do you need me?’
‘You shall become the new Anubis’
I was shocked, but I had some idea how’d that work. I looked up at the higher section of the god’s palace. It was a smaller section than the public part, housing the high priest’s quarters as well as the gods’ broadcast room. That room stuck out on the top of the building. On the roof, three of the seven shield generators electrified the plasma shield that protected the whole city. The other four were placed on four government buildings spread out from the palace, two on each side.
‘What?’ I asked. I was really surprised. We exited the tube and continued walking. Several tourists gawked at Rahm, recognizing him from the chat shows. He only ever did one, yet everyone knew him from it. We came to a security door with a card slot and a key pad. Jeez, I was only fifteen! Rahm opened the door with a swipe of his keycard and we walked up some rather well carpeted stairs.
‘The gods die like anyone else, but their essence passes on to someone, an apprentice with special skills, like you. You shall train for 5 years, and then you shall become my new lord. If I live that long.’ Rahm said.
‘This is hard to take in…’ I said. It was more than hard to take n, it was shocking.
‘We priests go through this too.’
‘Doesn’t totally help. So, when do I get to meet Anubis?’ I said as we entered a very long hallway with doors spread out every couple hundred feet. The carpet was velvet red, with traditional, almost classic, statues in the middle of the wide hallway.
‘Very soon.’ Rahm responded.
I noticed all the hieroglyphics on the walls. I was moving too fast to see what they said.
‘So, what’s all this writing for?’ I asked.
‘It’s the history of many of the gods. Here we are.’
We stopped at a metal door engraved with the hieroglyphics that spelt out Anubis. Rahm opened the door for me and showed me inside. Inside, looking out the dirty window, was Anubis.
‘Welcome, James.’ He said as he turned around. Again, for the third time today, I was shocked.

A day like this had not been on my plan. I had expected it to be a normal, life-threatening day working on some part of Abydos. I heard the door shut behind me as Rahm walked out of the room, leaving me in a rather well furnished room with an anthropomorphic jackal that everyone worshiped as a god! Sometimes, I wondered if I was totally sane.
‘Come over to my side, boy.’ Anubis said, beckoning me to the window. I walked over, nearly stumbling on some half-finished piece of machinery that lay on the ground. This was nothing like the holograms of the gods’ quarters! As I walked over to him, I noticed there were similar pieces of equipment lying around. I stopped at Anubis’s side, looking up at the six-foot tall god of the afterlife.
‘Good to meet you at last. Your name must be Jake Williams, am I correct?’ Anubis asked me, looking down at me. I nearly bowed.
‘Uh… yes, sir.’ I responded, stuttering. This is closer than most priests get!
‘Please, stop with the “Sir” crap. You are my apprentice now, alright? So please, call me Anubis or my real name.’
‘You have a name other than Anubis s-uh, Anubis?’
‘Indeed it was… god; I haven’t used it in so long I forget what it is sometimes. Oh yes, I was called Louis. Ah, I miss those days. So, your probably been asking why in the world I would take some dirty orphan to my side, correct?’
‘I wouldn’t put it like that…’
‘Well, fair enough. You, James, are different, very different from the crowds. As I was once. Still am, but now I’m worship by all and sundry. You’ve created several things to wear away time in the orphanage, no?’
‘Actually, I re-invented an old item I found in a history book called a yo-yo.’ I pulled it from my only pocket. The string was worn, and the yo-yo itself was battered. I tossed it a few times, to show Anubis how it worked. It was made out of several washers I found scattered throughout the orphanage, an axel, and some string. I continued.
‘I made it myself. Never gotten it taken away, because it works as a great close-combat weapon.’
‘Ah, like a mace! A good weapon. Now, as my apprentice, you have some of the best workshops- no, the best workshops on Abydos to your disposal. Feel free to make a newer one.’ Anubis responded.
‘Maybe I shall.’
‘Now, we shall begin training tomorrow. Your room is over there, that door to the left. Feel free to decorate it how you please. The one on the right is mine. This area is where we shall have meals, talk, and maybe train somewhat. I shall teach you some things about inventing here, too. I am somewhat of an inventor myself, you know.’ He walked over to the center of the room, where two leather couches sat. Leather was very rare these days. The only leather must have been with the different gods and goddesses, and in the penthouses of Abydos’s richest men. Anubis led me to my room. It was rather a neat area. It had plenty of room, several bookshelves (waiting to be filled with books), a writing desk in one corner, a work bench in another, and a huge, fluffy bed in the center. There was an electronic journal on the writing desk.
‘Now, you must be tired, my good friend. Please, feel free to use the journal and make yourself at home.’
‘Thank you Anubis.’ I said.
‘Your welcome.’ He started closing the door when he said: ‘Oh, and call me Louis!’

Day one of training
I just started using this new thing. By the gods, my life has become more interesting by a hundredfold! My training started in the living area in the quarters I shared with Anubis. Learning how to fight, how to negotiate, and what not. Oh, amazing! I have already starting working on making myself a better yo-yo, and trying to get Rahm to take me out to some bookshops to look for some good books. He says I am too young, but if there is any book I desire, he shall try to retrieve it for me.
Apparently, several different gods do different things. Sobek (don’t know why we have him, we left the Nile nearly a thousand years ago) teaches the warrior’s arts. He is a master of many weapons, including guns, swords, staves, and other weaponry. Maybe I can teach him a bit with the spiked yo-yo I’m trying to make.

Day seven of training
Finally, I get to meet some of the other gods. I finished the spiked yo-yo, which extruded spikes when it reached the end of the string put then pulled them back again. Because of that, Anubis agreed to introduce me to Sobek early.
Sobek was tall and muscular, like an upper-class body builder, if you forget the scales, tail, long face, and sharp teeth. Did I mention the claws? He rather liked my new yo-yo, but said it wouldn’t be strong enough to do much damage unless you hit them in the face or chest. Maybe I can get it to sleep…

Two years pass…

Day 683 of training.
Finally, I’ve been training for long enough. I’ve heard that the orphanage I lived for a long time, along with the other two, doesn’t really exist. No one knows about them, and we were used like slaves. I received the first piece of the several potions that would make me into the new Anubis, the one which gave Rahm his claws and tail, plus the ears. Helps because I might need better hearing. I also look much older than 17 after that, looking the part of nearly 20. My dear friend Joseph, who I have not heard word from for years, should leave it soon, if he has survived the years. I have put on the clothing of a normal person, wearing a long trench coat to cover my new tail and a tall turban to cover the ears. Surprisingly, I could hear just as well. Those potions worked like a charm, and I felt no pain when I gained them. I packed my mark seven weaponized yo-yo, and left the temple of the gods for the first time in nearly two years, exiting through the back travel chute. Anubis gives me his blessings.

Traveling by chute is quite exhilarating. It feels rather like flying through water. If you replaced the water with a slightly sluggish green fluid- well, more of a goo. You don’t get wet, and it was possible to breath inside it. I was heading to the central orphanage, and the closest to the temple of the gods. I exited the chute at the station, and some people recognized me as one whom has been close to the gods. Many asked me questions, but I ignored them. I had a job to do. I pulled my yo-yo out and slung it down into a sleeper, so the people clamoring around me would see it. They backed off immediately. I smiled, and walked down a smoky alleyway. I was trying to see if I could remember where the entrance was.
The smoke in the alley blocks view easily. I found myself face-to-face with a very ape-like goon who must have been protecting the entrance to the orphanage. He was muscular, but smelly, dirty, and unshaven.
‘What the hell are you doing here, kid? Get lost!’ he shouted at me, trying to shoo me away. I still had my yo-yo out.
‘Do you really want to get in my way?’ I said, slinging my yo-yo at the direction of his head, but higher. It stuck itself in the wall, and then came back to my hand.
‘Alright kid, I’ll give you a fight.’ The goon swung a hairy fist at me. I ducked and kicked his legs from underneath him. He land with a loud thump.
‘Now, let me through.’ I said, almost growling.
‘Al-alright, mister! I’ll let you through!’ he sobbed, clearly afraid. I stepped over the idiotic man, and walked down the metal staircase, down into the depths of the Abydos.

I ran down the stairs and came out into the hollow I remembered to well. There were several people who looked rather like Abydosian soldiers watching over the area. There was also another slave driver up, an old hag who used a whip. She was beating a young child with it.
‘That’s what you get for asking for a break!’ Crack! ‘Well, this is your break!’ Crack! ‘Rested yet?’ Crack! The child was howling in pain, tears running from her eyes.
I couldn’t watch for much longer. I ran at the hag, swinging my mark seven.
‘Hey! Stop that now!’ I shouted. She turned- just to get a spiked yo-yo in the face. She staggered back- and when I pulled the mark seven back- fell over, dead. I think a spike pierced her frontal lobe.
‘Come on, everyone! We’re getting out of here!’ the orphans didn’t argue. All ran out, except a young African man who wore a fringe of black hair.
‘Joseph! Get down!’ I shouted. The soldiers shot at us. Joseph picked up a large metal rod and tossed it at one of the soldiers. It cracked against his head with a satisfying thunk, then he ran over to me. We ducked behind a wall.
‘By all that is holy, James, you are back!’
‘Uh-huh. Now, do you have anything to take those guys out apart from chunks of metal?’
‘I’m afraid not, my dear friend. Do you have any ideas?’
‘You know, I might- whoops!’ I said that because one of the soldiers must have seen my turban sticking up over the crates and shot at it. I ducked down quickly, my ears showing.
‘Good lord, your ears…’ Joseph muttered.
‘I’ll explain everything soon. Now, pretend to be shot. Use the most realistic scream you can.’ I responded. I screamed a fake scream which sounded somewhat like a jackal’s howl. Joseph followed my example and shouted a loud ‘Ack!’
I got back up, but completely hidden behind the wall. I could hear the soldiers coming our way. I had the mark seven ready. When I could see the soldier’s shadows, I got up and swung. My aim was true, and it ripped the throats out of two and impaled itself in the last one’s chest.
‘Come on!’ I shouted to Joseph. We ran back to the stairs and right up them. There were no soldiers left, but we weren’t taking any chances. We made it out of there quickly.

A short while later, I was walking with Joseph, and I had myself a new turban. The streets of Abydos were lit with neon hieroglyphics, flickering lights, and brightly lit ads. The air was full of steam and the smell of something worryingly organic. We walked down Main Street, trying to avoid most of the crowds. We usually succeeded. I told Joseph my story, what had happened to me from when I left him all the way to now. We were also leading the group of orphans, who loved all their surroundings. We got a few odd stares, but we weathered it out. Many of the gods could use more priests, and so if these children couldn’t find a home, they could find one in the gods’ palace. I was saying that these children needed a home, and many were picked up. Hopefully not for the other two orphanages- I should try to get rid of those soon. When we reached the front doors of the palace, there were few of us left. There was me, Joseph, and half a dozen others. We got many stares… I delivered the children to Horus’s head priest, Chacran. It was just me and Joseph now. My messaging box that I had in my pocket vibrated, and Anubis appeared on the screen. He quickly said a single sentence:
‘James, Rahm’s dying.’

We were up there in the gods’ quarters quick. Sadly, Joseph didn’t get much time to admire as I did. I opened the door and we entered. Rahm, the old head priest was on one of the plush couches. He was under a blanket, which was blood-stained. His blood, I presume. Anubis was trying to help, and Horus was near. Horus was very much the shape of an anthropomorphic falcon. He had talons, wings, feathers, and the whole lot. I won’t waste time describing him.
‘What happened?’ I asked, tossing off my coat and turban. Horus noticed Joseph.
‘Hey, no civilians in here!’ he squawked.
‘Relax, he’s with me. Now what in the gods’ names happened?’
Anubis got up from his position at Rahm’s side and spoke. ‘He was attacked. Attacked by the Abydosian military. We have a rebellion on our hands!’
Rahm coughed. ‘If you’d let me speak, friends…’ everyone shut up quickly. ‘I was walking the halls of the palace when I was attacked by some of our spec-ops teams. My skills killed most, but not before they put several holes in me… I…’ he coughed up some blood. He looked at Joseph, who was watching. He beckoned him over.
‘This boy… who is he?’
‘My name is Joseph, sir.’
‘A friend of mine- he has been for many years. I’d trust him with my life.’ I said. Joseph smiled at me.
‘He… he shall make a good head priest…’
‘Me? Come on, surly the god’s magic can save you!’
‘I’m afraid it can’t.’ he held Joseph’s hand. ‘I wish you luck, my friend. Serve your god well.’ And then, with a sigh, Rahm died.
Joseph had a sad expression on his face, along with a confused one. I didn’t know what to feel, I had only known the old head priest for two years. Horus clenched his hand-talons, evidently angry. Anubis… he howled in anguish. A loud, inhuman howl it was- and hell, he wasn’t human either.

Day 684 of training.
The previous day’s events didn’t do much for my mood. I went out, alone, to stop the other two orphanages. I destroyed them, this time with real weapons apart from my trusty old mark seven. Joseph has started training under Chacran. Even though he is the head priest of Horus, there was no other way. Usually, a soon-to-be head priest is trained by the previous one. But this, this is an odd situation.
A revolution will soon start. The Abydosian military is now being led under one Admiral O’Dell, a revolutionary who is trying to establish a monarchy. He is based on a smaller ship, New Egypt, which is currently heading our direction, and I have heard he killed the gods there. Osiris, along with Hathor were there. Many military men here are still with the gods, and who ever wasn’t was probably tossed out an airlock.
I, as the apprentice of Anubis, shall be forced to fight on the front lines.

Day 689 of training.
The other city ship, New Egypt, is near. This is an emergency situation. Civilians are retreating to the bowels of the ship, and the militaries are amassing. I shall get the last transformation potion soon and then… this seems to be a bringer of doom. Joseph made his own prophecy. The city ships shall clash… war will be raged… and gods shall fall.

I woke up the next day to see that Anubis wasn’t in his quarters. I found a note on the bench that said that he was in the great hall and that I should meet him there. I changed into my more formal wear (my trench coat, leather pants, and a thick shirt) and ran out the door, nearly crashing into Joseph on the way out. He was garbed in the full wear of a priest. Good thing too, because Anubis wanted Joseph in there too.
‘James! You alright?’
‘Yeah. Come on, Anubis asked for us two in the great hall.’ I responded, leading him down the hallway and through the main doors at the end. These were strictly priests and gods only doors. The great hall itself wasn’t as big as the name implies. There were enough seats for the five gods that ruled here. Anubis was nearest to the door, and then there was Sobek on his right, next was Bast, the Cat goddess that liked skin-tight suits to much, then Horus, and finally Seth.
Seth was a very bestial god; his DNA was made of several species. The only one that could really be identified was goat. He was talking when I came in.
‘…Just fight! This Admiral deserves punishment of the highest power- death!’
‘No. we can’t go in all guns blazing, we’d get slaughtered!’ Bast said, complete with hand- er, paw movements. ‘We need a plan.’
She continued discussing that, but I didn’t hear because Anubis finally noticed I was here.
‘Ah, you made it. Good. Just listen. Afterwards, your new form will have to be completed- there is little time left.’ He whispered. I nodded. Joseph gave me a quizzical look. Sobek was talking now.
‘What about spies? People that are stuck on New Egypt that are still loyal to the gods, and not the swine O’Dell. Maybe they could try assassinations, espionage, and what not.’
‘I agree, Sobek.’ Horus spoke up. ‘But are there any left? The two gods there; Osiris and Hathor are dead!’
‘Time brings down all, even the gods…’ Anubis muttered.
‘Do you know of any, Sobek?’
‘I am afraid not, Horus. Many were executed because they swore allegiance to us- it was a slim hope.’
‘Anubis, you have not yet spoken. You are the measurer of men’s hearts; you should know what he’s thinking.’ Bast added.
‘He is a maniac. He is trying to establish a military monarchy, and anyone who thinks that is good for the people is evidently mad. He deserves a slow death.’
I was quite astounded by what some of the gods said then. I continued to listen.
‘You speak truth, Anubis.’ Seth said. ‘I am surprised for once I agree with you...’
‘Thank you.’
‘… But we should still go in and destroy them all!’ Seth interrupted. He slammed his clawed fist on the table. He had his fist clenched so hard some scarlet blood trickled out from between his fingers. I frowned.
‘Calm yourself, Seth. This…’ Bast was interrupted by Sobek’s head priest slamming open the door and shouting: ‘New Egypt is here, right outside the force fields!’
Seconds later, an explosion rocked the Abydos.

Those next minutes were a blur. Anubis was leading me and Joseph out, telling me that I’ll get the last potion of my transformation. He told Joseph to go tell his other priests to stand and fight. He ran off to find them. We stopped at Horus’s lab, where things like those potion were made. He tossed me one, telling me to drink it now. I shrugged and drank it in one gulp.
I shivered as black fur grew all over my body. My muscular formation changed, making me faster and leaner. My face elongated and my eyes changed, giving me sharper vision. My ears, already jackal-like, just moved up a bit. My hands and feet grew into paws with opposable thumbs- well, my hands did at least. My tail grew a bit longer as well. What a time to gain such a gift. I smiled at Anubis.
‘Good to see you like it.’ He said, tossing me a sword from a rack behind him. ‘Now go, fight for Abydos!’
‘No need for that, I got my own weapon.’ I said, tossing the blade aside. I slid the yo-yo string onto my new finger perfectly.
‘Your mark seven, then. Alright, go!’
I ran down the halls, passing several very startled tourists. They’re probably thinking “why the hell is the ground shaking and why did another Anubis just jump over my head?” Funny.
I crashed through the main doors, just at the same time a huge explosion racked the Abydos. I looked up- and saw the smaller ship of New Egypt crashing through our force fields and into the side of the ship! I found Sobek next to me.
‘Well, I did have a loyal one in the crew. Made her kill the pilots.’
‘Good lord! Didn’t you realize that the ship would crash into ours?’ I said over the crowds of people running past. A couple dozen people have already fallen off of New Egypt, and many more were still falling. A neon sign exploded above my head. Several others detonated all around me, and all over both of the twin city ships.
The twin city ships shall clash
War shall be raged
And gods shall fall…
I though about that prophecy, and realized how true it was. Several armored gun ships flew off each ship and onto the other.
‘Sobek! Lead some troops onto New Egypt! I’m going to steal a gunship!’ I shouted, running after an armored craft which took a couple of pot-shots at us. He just nodded and ran back into the Gods’ Quarters. The craft spun around and aimed at me. It had the Anubian symbol- a jackal’s head- crossed out on the front and replaced with a serpent. A king cobra... I spoke to the pilots as they stopped to get a good shot at me.
‘I see you are worshipers of Anubis, yes? Now give the craft to me, and I’ll let you live.’
‘You speak like you are not the dark father…’ one of the men in the craft said.
‘I am, and I’m not. Now please, give me the craft!’
The pilots took the easy way out. The craft shut down, and the two pilots clambered out, with their arms over their heads. I nodded and got in as they ran off.
The craft was a powerful weapon of war. It was armed with laser cannons, machine guns, and some explosive bombs. Did I mention it had a couple feet of armor?
I grasped for the controls, eventually finding them in the half-light the craft made. I started it up, and headed up for where the two city ships were stuck together. I swerved through broken buildings, other gun ships , not to mention laser and bullet fire. I noticed a not quite human figure climbing up one of the buildings near the hole. Ha- good luck to you, Seth. He had two priests with him.
I passed through the hole, and the change wasn’t all together noticeable. New Egypt still had the smoky streets, the towering buildings, and a main building in the center. The streets were also lit by neon signs, but these were more digital, showing O’Dell’s face on them, and he was chanting: ‘destroy the gods! Lets be our own people!’
I snickered. O’Dell wasn’t the type of man you would expect to be an admiral. His face was scarred, but he wore glasses. His body was muscular, but was due to genetic engineering. He must think of himself as Apohpis, with a snake tail instead of legs like that. Ouch. He had fangs to, and I didn’t want to know what venom was loaded into them. What the hell did he do to himself?
Well, I had a clue were he would be. In the temple here, in the main chamber. That was the room where the gods and goddesses could talk on all the main view screens on the ship. Here, it was the neon signs that lead me. I docked the craft at the bay half way up the temple, shooting down some troopers while I was in it. I got out, and ran down the hallway. Its time to put an end to this.

I dashed down the hallway, swinging my mark seven as I went. Slice up the stomach with that one, bash in the other one’s face, that sort of thing. The halls were a blur, the intricate designs on the walls unnoticed. I passed the doors of the Gods’ quarters here. There were only two doors, Osiris’s and Hathor’s. One door, Hathor’s, was blown off. Osiris’s was hanging by a single hinge. I didn’t want to see the mess inside.
I kicked another soldier down to the ground, pinning him. His gun slid off.
‘Where is O’Dell?!’ I growled.
‘I didn’t think anyone knew his real name…’ he muttered.
‘Well, I do! Where is he?’
‘He’s in the main chamber. And… and he calls him self Apohpis now…’
I frowned and kicked the solder away. He ran away screaming. I continued running, picking up the gun he dropped. It was a high powered Egyptian warrior standard model, with a few extras- someone added a bayonet to it and an extra sized cartridge. I nearly tripped on the body of an Egyptian officer. He had been evidently fighting for the gods; His face was frozen in sheer terror, like he had seen something monstrous. I stopped and closed his eyes, so he would not go to the afterlife in pain.
I continued running more, killing several more soldiers and avoiding a huge hole in the temple wall. Looks like the gods were bombarding this one now. There was an explosion that made me stumble. Yep, they are.
I stopped at the thick door to the main chamber. My hand-print could open this, unless O’Dell (or Apohpis) locked Anubis out. It worked! I walked in to the devastated room. At the far end, speaking through a radio and watching several screens, was O’Dell. But he wasn’t a normal human, or the crazed-looking half-breed I saw on the bright signs.
He got up. He was covered in green scales. He had no legs, but a long, winding tail that must have been fifteen to twenty feet long. His muscular arms were scaled and clawed, and his head was hooded like a cobra. The head was distinctly snake-like, the unblinking, unfeeling eyes watching me. His forked tongue flickered out for a moment.
‘Anubisss! I thought I killed you! You died when I blew the temple!’ he hissed. He blew up the temple? A tear nearly came to my eye, but I held it back.
‘Well, if he’s dead now, than I am Anubis.’ I said calmly, aiming the gun at his rather un-clothed body. He was only wearing a tattered military uniform with no pants.
‘Ssso die at my clawsss!’ O’Dell hissed. He lunged at me, his long coils trailing. I was to fast for him, though. I jumped out of the way, swinging the bayonet on the gun at him. It just pinged off his neck!
‘Did you think it would be that easssy?’ O’Dell said. ‘My new ssscales can withssstand a misssile! You have no way to kill me!’ he lunged at me again. I jumped over him, firing a few shots at him. They bounced off, putting a few holes in the walls. I shrugged and tossed the gun away.
An explosion rocked the building. It was very close, blowing a hole in the wall behind O’Dell. It led to the back of the building, which was riddled with thin and rusty catwalks, huge drops, and work tools. Maybe he would be too heavy for one of those…
I dashed past him, swinging my mark seven as I went. But… he noticed it had spikes, so he simply bit through the string. The actual yo-yo went flying out the gaping hole in the wall. I didn’t catch it in time- damn it!
I pulled the remnant of the string off my finger and tossed it out the hole, and jumped for the nearest catwalk. It was a newer one, about two meters away. I made the jump, and it creaked under my weight.
‘You can run, but you can’t hide, jackal!’ O’Dell shouted, jumping out of the hole, and onto the catwalk. The walkway was starting to bend!
I ran down it, nearly tripping over an old tool box. I looked down, and noticed the ruins of several catwalks and a couple of gunships making a rather nifty set of spikes. I looked up, and saw the ship that did the bombing.
It was a large carrier vessel, ranked for this type of battle. It had Bast’s symbol on the side. I looked closely, and I could see Bast controlling the thing. I cheered as several missiles flew in O’Dell’s general direction. But few came close.
I called Bast’s craft over to pick me up- she maneuvered it near and opened the door, distracting O’Dell with missiles as she went. I jumped on, hearing O’Dell shout: ‘Thisss isss not the end! I ssshall dessstroy thisss ssship!’ he then slithered off and back in through the hole.
‘Good thing I saw you, James. Nearly took you out with the rest of them.’
‘The soldiers, you mean?’ I responded, tossing off my trench coat.
‘Yep. Any news about the gods?’
‘Hathor and Osiris and very likely dead, otherwise, I have no clues. Apophis- sorry, O’Dell- said he killed Anubis when he blew up the God’s Quarters.’
‘It probably true. Well, I saw Sobek not to long ago, fighting well but injured badly. Horus… he could be dead. I found a mess of feathers near the breach, but that could’ve been one of his priests.. Seth… I lost him when the attack started.’
‘I saw him trying to get through the breach when I passed through in a stolen gunship.’
‘You stole it?’
‘Stole-ish. The previous pilots ran away screaming.’
‘Right.’
‘Any news on Joseph?’
‘The guy’s a great fighter pilot. He’s up in the space around the ship, along with the other teams, both O’Dell’s and ours.’ Bast noticed that O’Dell was messing with the controls. Seconds later, a siren activated and a loud voice rang out; ‘Self destruct activated. Estimated time of detonation: ten minutes.’
‘Well, hell. Anubis, get after that Bastard. Get him, and kill him. Get as many people as you can off the ship.’
‘Warp drive activated’
‘What?’
‘Approaching the planet HGG-42’
We nearly toppled over as the twin city ships activated warp drive. Well, New Egypt did, and it just carried Abydos with it. The ships… hell, they were up-side down to the planet! We… we’re crashing! The planet was habitable, but sandy and with only many rivers passing through its geography. There were some large bodies of water, but who knows how good it was…
‘Fuck!’ Bast swore in a very un-woman like way. The bomber tilted and flew towards the bay, where O’Dell/ Apophis was going to leave.
A good-sized cruiser came out of the bay. The bomber was too small to do much damage, so Bast and I watched the ship fly off. A huge video screen activated on the ship’s side, showing O’Dell’s/ Apophis’s scaly face on it.
‘I ssshall find new worldsss to rule. I ssshall take the god’sss greatessst ssssecret.’ And with that, he flew off, activating the ship’s warp drive, vanishing along with parts of the buildings around it. The god’s greatest secret…
‘Whats this secret he’s talking about? And what’s going to happen to Joseph?’
‘That dirty secret; you’ll learn that if we survive long enough! Joseph and the other fighter pilots will be able to follow the hyper-trail left in space by the city ships. They’ll appear above the planet, like us!’
‘And fall as well…’
‘I’m afraid s- WHOA!’
Bast wasn’t able to finish her sentence because the city ships, now locked in a horrible embrace, started falling towards the planet. Our bomber got pushed out of the shields, and almost immediately started burning! We piloted the ship inside the shields, but the front of our ship was melted. Wind whistled through the flickering shields as heat somehow gathered on the blue-tinged shields, making them a bright red. I looked above the falling ships, and out to space, as if it was my last look at it. But it was not. It shall never be. The fighters came warping in, and then falling. Our radio crackled to life with Joseph’s voice.
‘Wh… alli… Reques… Stat…’ the voice was full of static. His fighter was made of much sterner stuff than our bomber, but I don’t know if it would survive.
‘Good to hear your voice again, Joseph!’ I shouted over the whistling noise. The twin city ships’ shields finally gave up, Abydos’s first, and then New Egypt’s.
‘Jame… tha…t… ds!...’
‘I’m here with Bast! Hang on tight, this’ll be hard!’ I shouted. ‘Keep in contact!’ I turned to Bast. ‘Any clue if this bomber will survive?’
‘It should… oh shit! We’re a hundred feet off the ground!’ she shouted. Then I blacked out.

I woke up to chaos. Our bomber had slid down the side of the crashed city ship, and out onto the sands. Abydos had landed at a 25 degree angle in the sand. We had stopped in the wreckage of what might have been the hangar bay.
The sad thing was, there were bodies everywhere! Many of the people on the twin city ships just didn’t make it. Many didn’t make it intact. The part of our main viewport on our bomber that wasn’t blocked was covered in blood, the source of it being a dismembered torso (Our ship had crashed in the sands, burying the nose.). I looked over to Bast. She was alright, but unconscious. I was fine, but I had a few deep scratches and a chunk of another viewport was stuck in my leg. I pulled it out, leaving another bloodstain on the floor. I went to the medic kit on the wall, opened it, and then tended to my cut. While I was working on it, Bast awoke.
‘Good lord, what in our names happened?’ she asked, rubbing her head.
‘We crashed. Hard.’
‘Ah…’ next to Bast, the radio somehow still worked. It crackled to life.
‘Nee… elp…m… ace… t…th…rui…t…templ…’ the voice said. It was Joseph!
‘What is your condition, Joseph?’ Bast shouted.
‘Le… ken…shrap…el…jurie… hel… appric…’
‘We’ll get to you!’ Bast shouted, and she switched the radio off. We ran out the door (Well, clambered out. The door was partially blocked by sand), and sped through the ruins of the crash. The twin city ships had split during the fall, and so Abydos was near. We must have fallen out of New Egypt and closer to Abydos than we thought.
New Egypt was a couple miles away, a trail of shrapnel, broken buildings, and dead bodies pointed the way to it. Just as we started running up the tilted and torn surface of Abydos, New Egypt exploded.
Thankfully, the explosion was to far away to do us any real harm. We passed many people who were crying, running, or stumbling through the wreckage. A young woman was trying to revive a man, presumably a couple. A young child of perhaps three, his face bleeding, was crying for his mother, doll in hand. A man was trapped under a fallen beam, his leg a mess of bloody meat and bone. It was a horrific day.
Others were trying to help. I saw a woman pick the child up and carry him away from a smashed car, which was sliding towards him. One of Sobek’s last priests was holding up a ceiling on a small building so the people trapped under could escape. I caught a glimpse of Chacran-or perhaps Horus- flying above. Two fighter pilots, one from each side, were working together to move a crashed fighter. It was blocking escape from a burning building, and people were pounding the other side. I ran over and helped them push it.
‘Any clue where a fighter pilot by the name of Joseph crashed?’ I shouted to one.
One, the fighter who flew for O’Dell, had no clue. The other one, a previous resident of the city ship of Australia, knew.
‘I saw an odd looking fellow crash down that way, mate. He said he had something to do with you gods.’ He responded. The fighter got pushed out, leaving a large amount of blood on the wall- the pilot had still been inside. A surge of people poured out. I lead Bast where the Australian man pointed. Around the corner was a fighter, but it was wedged in a wall about five feet up.
‘JOSEPH! You in there?!’ I shouted.
‘James? Is that you?... Thank the gods…’ I heard a weak voice mutter from the crashed fighter.
‘I’ve got an idea on how to help him. I’ll be right back; I need to get something from Horus’s lab. You get him down from there.’ Bast said.
I nodded as I watched Bast run off to the temple. I clambered onto the coffin-shaped fighter. Let’s hope it’s not Joseph’s.
My old friend was battered. His face was scratched all over, and he was bleeding from his nose mostly. His arms were wrecked, and one finger was missing on his right hand. He sustained a large chunk of shrapnel to his other arm, which must have been part of the control panel. His legs… well, his right one was fine, but his left… oh good lord. It was a mess. He had little skin left on it, the pant leg was completely torn off, and the leg underneath looked like he stuck it in a blender then threw it in an oven. There wasn’t much left of his foot either. He was right about the leg being broken; it was bent backwards and then forwards, making the leg look double jointed.
‘I’m afraid I may not be a very good priest like this…’
‘Nonsense! Bast is getting something to help.’ I said as I pulled him out. His shattered leg cracked again.
‘ACK!’ he screamed. I pulled him onto the shattered metal ground. Bast came running back through the smoke, carrying an injector device that looked rather like the one that made me Anubis.
‘We need a new start.’ She said, kneeling down next to the mortally wounded Joseph. ‘These people need real leaders, ones of their own species.’ She lifted the injector, about to thrust it into his arm. ‘No more lies.’

A short while later we three were out of the ruins of Abydos, and underneath the wreckage of a building, shielded from the sand. Few knew we are still alive. The injector Bast gave to Joseph was the exact same thing that made me the new Anubis. He was completely healed, completely changed. The only way you could tell us apart was the fact that Joseph had brown fur, mine was black. But, from what she was implying, there would be no more need for us gods. But, now we get to learn the god’s secret, sitting in the wreckage made by the one who tried to undermine them by becoming one himself.
‘You’ve heard of the god’s secret, yes? Of course, you asked about it before.’ Bast asked. I nodded, and Joseph looked quite confused. I let him in on what I learned.
‘Well, you two should know it. You’re going after O’Dell, anyways. He’s intent on destroying it.’
‘But why…’ I asked, but Bast interrupted me.
‘Just let me speak. Life- well, it has not always been on the city ships. It was as short of a time ago as 200 years. The human race… they were brainwashed into thinking that life had always been on the ships. We… well, you guys used to live on a planet called Earth, but the scientists there brought down your own downfall.
‘Earth is a lush, beautiful planet full off plants, animals, and beautiful views. You’ll know what I mean at some point. But the human race was destroying it. They polluted, destroying the atmosphere and the oceans, not to mention the land. Eventually, they gave the planet a voice to speak with, an AI linked to the planet itself. They named the AI Gaia, and gave her the power to do what she though necessary. Right from the start, she was screaming from the pain of the pollution. Once she stopped, nearly a month later, the humans were trying to change their ways. But Gaia didn’t care. She didn’t want death, but she wanted rid of the humans. She knew everything about DNA, and evolved many of the animals on that planet, and also gave a gift to some more helpful humans, making them somewhat like us. Just like us, actually. Anthropomorphic, as you might say.
‘She evolved species from all over the world. Wolves, Lions-like me-, macaws, bears, eagles, the lot. She evolved them all, and gave some of that DNA to any human who wanted it. We were then sent out to destroy the things that caused the pollution, such as the factories and the cars, and even groups like the Anthro Defense Force sprung up, to make sure nothing like this happened again. Then she gave humanity a choice, one day. She hacked all the radios, all the television sets. She gave humanity a choice: become one of her humanoid animals, or leave the planet under an anthropomorphic leader which would take the place of a certain religion’s god. Of course, she had some already, but from the military and the scientists who helped make her.
‘The first choice was nearly untouched. A few groups took the chance right off the bat, giving Gaia another couple of million followers. Mostly everyone else took the second. Gaia gave them four months to build their city ships, with her help. The larger countries got ships up quickly, and many people migrated to them. Smaller, poorer countries didn’t make the deadline.
‘Down on earth, the lands were flooded with a gas form of the liquid used to change the people who wanted to be changed, but this one was randomized. It faded after covering the Earth. Up in space, Gaia used a beam to wipe the last humans’ minds and replace those lost memories with fake ones about the city ships. I- I was one of the originals who took the position of one of the gods on Abydos. I kinda lost track of what happened on Earth after that.’
Bast’s explanation shocked me, and nearly horrified Joseph.
‘Wait… Anubis said his name was Louis before he took the place of Anubis.’
‘He was from those said groups…’ Bast responded. ‘O’Dell learned somehow; he learned about earth. And he’s heading there. Go take our bomber, it isn’t that damaged. Go, save earth.’
‘Thank you, Bast.’ I nodded and ran out. She tossed me a piece of paper. It had Earth’s coordinates! Joseph said his farewells and followed. We wiped the sand and blood off the front viewport and we were nearly going to go in when I just about tripped over a small child holding something in his hand. He was the child I saw in the ruins of Abydos.
‘Sir… I made you something…’ he handed me a metal yo-yo, handmade, simple. I kneeled down.
‘Thank you, young one. I shall be able to use this well.’ I patted his head. ‘Now run along. If you want, you can watch me leaving. He nodded as I ran through the door. I sat down at the controls next to Joseph, and we set off. The bomber lifted itself out of the ground, and I put in some warp drive controls in, which would lead me to Earth, in the area which Bast said it was. We jumped, taking sand with us.

A short few hours later, we were approaching earth. It was lush, verdant, but some areas were brown and dry. Our bomber was entering hard. I tilted the already melted nose to an angle which worked for re-entry. Well, entry. We passed through a black could, which was a thundercloud. I had never seen rain before… we were above a what I think was a forest; near the ruins of what I could only guess was a city. I altered the angle of descent, but it wasn’t good enough. The huge trees knocked off a rocket booster, and broke several viewports. We crash-landed in the middle of the city. The view port was mostly blocked with debris, so we walked out of the door. But outside… we drew a crowd. Bast was right. The crowd was made of humanoid animals, varying from cardinals to horses. The crowd was lead by a group of anthros, as she called them, in the garb of actors. The leader, a Bald Eagle with a guitar on his back, was the first to approach.
‘Who the hell are you?’

Shall continue on Planet HGG 42 in The Unexplored Terrors!