Story of this concept album, track by track (divided in chapters):

Title: RIFT


Chapter 1: The Daicoo System (Rift Energy)

The Daicoo system, a solar system far away from any other that consists of 5 planets orbiting a bright and young sun.
There are two inhabited planets that orbit as the second and third planet from the sun. These two are called Marcavo which is the second planet and Klorathi, the third planet.
Marcavo is a green world with vast oceans connecting the continents. On the surface it is very flat grasslands and woods, and it does not have many large mountains or mountain chains.
Klorathi on the other hand is a deep jungle with massive mountain chains and fantastic peaks with waterfalls. It is covered mostly by jungles and not as much water.
Both of these planets are highly technologically advanced with fantastic cities and space travel capabilities.
The smallest planet orbits closest to the sun, and the fourth and fifth planets are much further out.

War, once ravaged the Daicoo solar system for over 150 years. Seeing as most of the resources needed began to become scarce on each of the planets, they warred for the minerals on the uninhabited planets. Fuel for their advanced technology, transposition systems and vehicles as well as weapons was at a critical state.

One day a strange phenomenon appeared in the vicinity of the fourth planet.
It looked like a purple pulsating tear in the fabric of space itself. This became the center for the final days of the long and fierce war.
A seize fire agreement was agreed upon as massive battle stations and the war fleets of both sides converged upon this mystical tear in space. A time of unease was to be expected as scientists from both Marcavo and Klorathi joined together to investigate this phenomenon.
Months passed by before they could understand what this was, and during this time more areas of the solar system was experience the same situation.
It was finally discovered that these phenomenon were some sort of energy source that could be harvested. Large space stations called harvest platforms were set up at all locations to harvest this newfound limitless energy source they called Rift Energy.
Due to this energy source being limitless, it became the center for peace, and the end of the long war was at an end.


Chapter 2: Daicoo Hyper Races

After the war ended and the new Rift Energy took technology to new heights, the people organized a hyper space ship race league in order to celebrate.
The ships during these races were one manned vehicles that were fueled by Rift Energy giving them more power and speed than anything from the past.
Apart from professional racers, many of the participants were war veterans and mercenaries. One such mercenary was Van "Ice Hawk" Ferioz, known for his inhuman like reflexes in handling the speed that the new energy source had brought space ships.
His fearlessness was already legendary during the times of war when he fought for Klorathi, and he pushed himself beyond his limits which served him in becoming champion more times than any other.
His fiercest rival was a war veteran from Marcavo, who had also been a rival during the war. Kathor "The Tracker" Naithaal as he was called, had faced Van on the battle field in the past and the Hyper Races reignited their rivalry.


Chapter 3: The Dhimen Arrival

Strange readings were coming from one of the rifts in the space between the 4th and 5th planets. As the harvest platform in charge of the region was sending a report back to the planetary
bases an energy surge burst from the rift, making the platform shake.
Something began to materialize from the rift and all of the people on the harvest platform were all following the events that was unfolding in front of their eyes.
A large, partly translucent alien creature emerged from the rift. The creature looked like something from ancient mythology with a massive body, 6 large wings and 3 tails.
On the head there were a myriad of what could only be described as eyes, while on the under side there were uncountable numbers of tentacles.
The harvest platform was so close to the rift that the creature flew right into it. With its size rivaling that of the platform itself which in turn had the
mass of a battle station housing thousands of people, the collision was devastating.
The sheer force of the impact made the platform go critical and after the creature had went straight through it with no problem.
It later exploded with all the people inside evaporating in the blink of an eye.

Just as the message as well as countless distress signals reached the home worlds of Klorathi and Marcavo, similar events began to happen all across the solar system.
A large number of these alien creatures were coming from the rifts like an invasion fleet.
Leaders of the planets could only name them Dhimen, as their presence made them think only of devils from ancient mythology.


Chapter 4: Interstellar Revelation

After what seemed like a an aggressive invasion by the aliens, the United Daicoo forces of Klorathi and Marcavo mobilized a counter attack. All war veterans and mercenaries were called back into action. For the first time, Van and Kathor were fighting on the same side for a common purpose. It was uneasy at first but they found common ground as everything was in jeopardy.
It took large scale efforts to even be able to bring down one of the alien creatures, and the number of human casualties was rising rapidly as the Dhimen defended themselves.
In one large scale assault led by Van who never was known to shy away from the frontlines, things were getting worse.
As he tried to take things into his own hands he got too close to the Dhimen. He was struck by one of the tentacles and was flung upward into a strange beam that came from one of the eyes sending him into a collision course with the alien body.
Just as he was about to crash, it was like the ship was swallowed by the body of the alien. While inside the ship began to lose density as the fluid inside the Dhimen pulled Van out of the ship holding him in place.
While in full panic, Van suddenly noticed that he could breathe, and before he could even gather his thoughts he heard a voice inside his head.
The voice came from the Dhimen through telepathic abilities. It told him that they came in peace, and with a warning of things to come.
After having convinced Van, he was placed back into his ship and sent on his way. He had a lot to reflect on as he called his men to retreat.


Chapter 5: Telepathy of Truth & Peace

Van managed to convince the united council to end the fighting, and a peace summit was held where both sides could join together and come to an understanding.
One Dhimen, smaller than the rest with a slight red hue to its body color was to be their Representative in the meeting.
After explaining that they never came to start a war they could begin to reach true peace.
During the talks it was revealed that the Rifts were breaches between two dimensions on a parallel axis. This other dimension was merging with the human world, and if they didn't do something then this solar system would be replaced by it. The instability of the merge would destroy all life in the Daicoo system due to the immense power from the Rift energy.
At first the humans were struck with panic and fear, however the Dhimen told them of a perpetual counter energy that could potentially save them if harnessed correctly. With it, a massive atmospheric force vibration would make it possible for both dimensions to coexist, and the Rift energy would not go berserk.


Chapter 6: Legend of the Star Crystal

Zion hex, the source of the energy to counter the destructive nature of the merge, was said be at the heart of the Rift Dimension. It would take a fast ship to traverse the treacherous paths through the Rift wormholes and the Lightning Tunnel. No one knew what awaited on the other side of the lightning tunnel, it was impossible for them to traverse them. But they knew that there were energy readings in that area that resembled what they expected to be the Zion Hex, or rather the Star Crystal as the humans decided to call it.


Chapter 7: Prototype Halcyon X

In order for the success of the journey, a new space ship had be invented that would be able to make full use of Rift Energy. The Dhimen knew the deepest secrets of the power locked within. A prototype was built and designed as a two man vessel, one pilot, and one navigator. There were only two men who could pull off this crazy mission.
Van "Ice Hawk" Ferioz and Kathor "The Tracker" Naithaal were both ordered to meet in front of the United Daicoo Counsel.
Kathor was shocked and outraged that they had called on a mercenary for such an important mission. As a decorated soldier and war veteran he felt disrespected to even be asked to work together with someone like that. Van did not hesitate to make the most of the situation with his smug attitude to rub it in Kathor's face and escalate the situation further for his own amusement.
Eventually everything was settled as even Kathor could not debate that Van was the best pilot in the Daicoo system.
On the day of the first test flight, both men were eager to see what this new ship could do.
The prototype was called The Halcyon, and it had two cockpits, a central engine and the state of the art weapon systems, all powered by Rift Energy.
At first everything seemed to be working perfectly, but when the maximum speed was to be tested it became almost a disaster! At first the navigational systems went haywire and then the engine began to have a meltdown, forcing both Van and Kathor to eject their cockpits which were also outfitted with smaller versions of the engine. They were like twin smaller ships and if not for this safety measure they would have both been killed during the test. The Halcyon exploded leaving nothing but debris. Van and Kathor barely managed to get out of the immense blast radius which lit up a large area of the solar system.

Faced with this problem, the Dhimen had only one solution... A sacrifice had to be made. One of the Dhimen would have to sacrifice its life for the good of both races.
The alien who had first come into contact with Van volunteered to be a part of the mission, and would sacrifice his life for the greater good.

New hope was found when the new ship was completed. To avoid engine meltdown, the heart of the Dhimen was used as a shield and cooler system. The heart would cover the engine as the blood would circulate as the coolant. For the navigational system, the brain of this brave alien had been directly connected to the advanced systems of the vessel. This in turn gave the ship and the Dhimen, a new life... the first sentient ship was born, and promptly called, The Halcyon X.

Chapter 8: Rift Dimension

Certainties were not many to come by in the preparations and expectations of the dangerous journey, which by many had been called a suicide mission. But what was the difference between charging headfirst into danger with a hope for survival and the certain death of just waiting for the end?
The only known factors were that they had to enter one of the rifts in order to enter the Rift Dimension and then head for one of the wormholes where the real journey would begin. These wormholes were told to be like portals through the vast planes of the Rift Dimension, and once entered it would be like a rapid flow of new portals which you have to navigate through and choose the correct ones by following the energy of the most dense rift waves.
Armed with this, all they could do was trust in their own abilities to see this through.

One of the rifts near Marcavo was chosen as the entry point into the Rift Dimension. This was easy enough and once through both Van and Kathor were mesmerized at what they saw. The Rift Dimension was filled with deep purple light, but no stars. A bright purple light came from a small sun that had a small flicker. And to their amazement there was only one giant planet orbiting this small sun.
The Dhimen that was now one with the ship had adopted the name Halcyon from the ship. It told them that it was their home world, the birthplace of the Dhimen which the humans called them. Halcyon mentioned that their real name was Gerforizmenas, but that would mean little to the humans at this point, and that Dhimen was accepted.


Chapter 9: Wormhole Portals

In the distance, a bright white light shone through the purple nothingness.
It was swirling as a vortex with ominous energy surrounding it.
This was the wormhole portal the Dhimen had mentioned that would lead them to the lightning tunnel no one had returned from.
The force of which the portals would suck them in with would make them reach top speeds unheard of, and fast navigation skills combined with intense reflexes were needed to be able to react in time as not to get lost in the maze of portals.
Van gripped the controls harder and looked at Kathor and made eye contact. Neither needed to say much as both men nodded in agreement. Van engaged the engine and sped into the wormhole.

Instantly they were surrounded by fast shifting lights as they were being drawn in at an incredibly high speed. Halcyon constantly kept them updated as Kathor was calculating and inputting the data and coordinating it with Van. A multitude of other wormholes flashed by, portals within a portal. The trick was to find the correct ones that would lead them through. After they had managed to get through 5 portals the ship began to pick up speed beyond what they had calculated, and there was no use in trying to slow down. Grabbed by the speed and the attempts to slow down was starting to overheat the engine, in that moment as Kathor was at a loss as to what to do, Van made the decision to just ease off the throttle and let the current take them. It was the correct answer, and as the engine cooled down, an alarming amount of data came in. They were approaching a massive number of portals concentrated as one cluster. If they could not find out which one was correct they might not know where they would end up.
Halcyon's brain was overloaded with information, and it was all up to Kathor to rapidly make the calculations as he was sifting through the information as fast as he could.
Only in the last second had he narrowed it down to 2 specific portals, but he was only able to be 80% sure of which one was correct. With no more time left they had to gamble on the highest chance.
Suddenly it was all black... and nothing was pulling the ship anymore.
In the next instant they were accelerated to an immense speed straight towards a white light and then everything turned black again. After a few seconds they could see a massive hole in the emptiness of space, a swirling vortex that looked like the entrance to a tunnel in space.
Inside they could see rock formations and a constant lightning storm.
They had reached the next step of their journey.


Chapter 10: The Lightning tunnel

With no time to waste the Halcyon X began its descent into the lightning tunnel.
Van had to rely on his reflexes to avoid the rock formations as well as the lighting strikes which was a frequent activity. The journey seemed to be easier than expected, but it was not to be as the tunnel began to shake around them, and seemingly from out of nowhere they were bombarded with a comet storm!
Need for speed was imminent, with no time to rethink their options, Van went into rift speed. What was once a dangerous mission had now become a race of death!
In full speed they were dodging comets and lightning strikes, and at desperate moments it became necessary to use the weaponry on board the Halcyon X to avert death.
After multiple close encounters with their mortality they reached what seemed like the end of the tunnel. A large round rock wall stood between them and the Star Crystal. Halcyon picked up strong readings of the power source, it was very near, just beyond the wall. Kathor suddenly discovered that there was a small opening right in the center of the wall, barely large enough for the ship to enter. With little choice, they pushed on.

While traveling through this small tunnel, the walls began to light up, first light shone from small cracks, and then lines running across the walls began to shine through and a soft gentle light filled their surrounding as if it was guiding them.
After a while the small tunnel widened and they found themselves in a large dark chamber. There were Six light sources in each corner of the chamber that resembled stars in the shape of a octahedron. In the center of the chamber there was a large dark mass, like a black fog with millions of micro stars inside it.


Chapter 11: Arcane Behemoth

When the Halcyon X approached this unknown dark mass it reacted and rapidly changed form. Before any of them had a chance to react they were face to face with a behemoth of darkness. A massive creature with two large hind legs and two smaller on the upper torso.
A long neck with a menacing head with 8 horns like a crown and instead of eyes it had one large crystal on its forehead. On its back were four giant wings, embracing it as it turned its gaze towards them while whipping its large tail around, and without warning lunged at them. Van barely managed to react to the sudden attack.
A fierce battle engulfed the Halcyon X and the behemoth. Van flew circles around it and fired lasers and rift torpedoes but nothing seemed to work. Every attempt at hurting the creature just passed through the body that acted only like a gas cloud.
In a sudden moment of recklessness the Halcyon X was hit by one of the limbs of the creature. The ship was sent flying towards the wall they had come from. Just before the impact Van managed to engage all boosters and stop the ship.
It seemed this alien could harden its body at will, maybe it could be used against it?
As Van began to fly closer to try and bait out an attack, Karoth analyzed the patterns and strategies. Karoth gave Van the signal to fire at one of the hind legs just as the creature dove towards them. The hind legs had become solid, ready to strike.
Van took evasive maneuvers and fired torpedoes. A direct hit! Both legs were blown off and separated from the beast.
The moment of success would be short lived as the pieces of both legs began to turn to smoke and in an instant returned back to the behemoth that seemed to become even more enraged.
Stopped in its tracks for a short while, the crystal on the forehead of the behemoth began lighting up. In a panicked state Halcyon warned Van that a massive force was heading their way, it was from the crystal! And also Halcyon noticed that the energy waves from the crystal was the same as the Zion Hex, the star crystal they had come for.
Van began taking evasive maneuvers again just as a massive beam of light shot out from the creature's head. A concentrated beam followed them rapidly around the chamber. Van had to use all his skills to dodge for their lives.
Finally the beam stopped, and it seemed like the beast had to recover from expending so much energy.
Karoth had been analyzing the events and come to the conclusion that the behemoth and the crystal were not one and the same. The creature must have at some point come into contact with it and managed to absorb it somehow. This would mean that the area holding it in place could not be gas like the rest of the body. The area surrounding the crystal must be hardened at all times to keep it in place.
A plan was formed, and set into action! Again Van sped towards the beast, with new found confidence and determination.
After a while, the creature would again slow down and try to launch the beam, this time they were ready for it. As soon as it slowed down, they went for it. Full speed towards the head and before the behemoth could react, the pin point accuracy of Van's aim struck the area holding the crystal in place, separating it from the beast.
Instantly Kathor used a tractor beam to pick up the Star crystal as they were speeding by.
The behemoth, now outraged turned towards them again. They could see that where the crystal once had been there was now a vacuum, starting to suck in everything it the surrounding. Even the Halcyon X was suddenly caught ion the intense suction. Van tried to go full speed, but the situation was dire and nothing seemed to work. The engine began to overheat as they were being drawn in close and closer.
When the situation seemed hopeless, one man did the unthinkable.
Kathor separated his part of the Halcyon X, and told Van to save their homes.
As Klathor's separated vessel was drawn into the creature he fired off the boosters at full blast. The engine went into full meltdown and created a massive explosion.
This destroyed half of the body of the behemoth and stopped the suction.
With a heavy heart for his once enemy turned friend, Van saluted and then took the opportunity to race straight for the exit before the creature could once more take shape.


Chapter 12: Silent Traversal

The journey home was uneventful and silent. Van mourned his fallen ally and friend. The lightning tunnels seemed a lot more calm this time, maybe by using the Star Crystal the activities were caused by the dark creature as some sort of defensive system?
The wormhole portals had also slowed down, making them much easier to navigate. Halcyon thought that maybe this was because the merging of dimensions was getting closer and that they had less time remaining than first thought. With this in mind they began to rush home with worried minds.


Chapter 13: Star Crystal Wavelength

As the Halcyon X entered the Daicoo system, Van was instantly contacted by the United Daicoo Council. He was informed that a large space station had been constructed for the purpose of utilizing the powers of the Star Crystal. It was located in orbit around Klorathi, and he was to report there immediately.
Shield of Hope was the name chosen for the space station. It was built according to the specifics of the presumed energy of the Star Crystal known to the Dhimen.
However, the crystal itself was needed for the final calibrations in order to make the station operational.

Before Van and Halcyon could arrive at Shield of Hope, they intercepted an emergency transmission form the Harvest platform at the rift they had come from.
The station was under attack by some strange black form!
The United Daicoo fleet was set in motion to intercept this unknown enemy, however, Van knew the only answer to what it could be. The Arcane Behemoth must have followed them and the energy of the Star Crystal.
Halcyon told Van that during their journey home it had made some calculations based upon their encounter with the alien creature, and there was a chance that if specific alterations to the calibrations were made at the Shield of Hope, then it might be able to ward off the behemoth.
With this information they had a chance, Van pushed the Halcyon X to top speed with renewed focus.

A fierce battle raged in the vicinity of the rift as the Halcyon X raced towards the Shield of Hope.
Even the fleet could not permanently harm the creature, but they fought bravely to try and give Van as much time as possible. Even if their weapons did little to no harm, it served as a distraction, making it harder for the behemoth to pin point the direction it needed to go.

Meanwhile the Halcyon X landed on the Shield of Hope and preparations were set in motion. After the initial calibrations had been done, the scientists added the calculations made by Halcyon and began to get ready to boot up the wavelength shield.
Just as they began to power up the shield, the crystal gave off a massive surge of energy. This caught the attention of the Arcane Behemoth, which instantly ignored the fighting and set a course directly for the Shield of Hope.
Everyone was in a state of fear and almost panic as they waited for the shield to power up. The Behemoth stopped right in front of the Shield of Hope, and began to fully materialize in order to make its attack.
Just when everything seemed lost, the Shield of Hope activated, it began to shoot out vibrations of energy across the whole Daicoo system. Just as it hit the behemoth, its body was smashed into nothingness, it was completely destroyed on a molecular level.
Finally everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the mission had been a success, now all that remained was to await the day that would come when both dimensions would merge into one.


Chapter 14: New Age of Reconciliation

When the day of the merge came, a soft purple light washed over the Daicoo system. All rifts began to grow larger and more transparent until the purple light and the feeling of Rift Energy was everywhere. Then, a massive planet began to materialize at the end of the system. The home world of the Dhimen, now known as the peaceful Gerforizmenas had arrived. Including their own little shimmering sun. The planet would orbit counter clockwise to the other planets in the system but it would stay in orbit around its own sun at the opposite side of the Daicoo sun as the 6th planet in the Daicoo system. Now that the merge had been a success, the home world of the Gerforizmenas arrived safely, and the Shield of Hope kept everyone in the Daicoo system safe, a new age of peace embraced the Daicoo system. This was celebrated the only way the Daicoo people knew... by holding a monumental race! Van would race in honor of his fallen comrade, Kathor who had received a burial worthy of a hero.
Van climbed aboard the Halcyon X. He was greeted by Halcyon who had become his new best friend, and then, they blast off!

The End.
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Story by Frank Johansen