Galactic Destiny

by Alex Guerra

  What do you think we will find when we get there? I thought.

  It is difficult to say. From the video, at least seven crew members boarded the escape pod. In the original video, some of the crew brought a few personal belongings, but it is impossible to determine what other supplies they had available to them aboard the escape pod.

  Can you tell me anything else about Garos?

  Only that it was very challenging to find, even using updated star charts from the conglomerate. Garos is far away from conglomerate space without any civilizations to note, so there is little information on it. It also does not have any significance to the Yau according to my personal database. Although it could have meant something to them before my creation, or they may have chosen to not share their knowledge with me. Limiting my knowledge of a hidden destination could prove vital to the survival of my people.

  I closed my eyes and dreamt of exploring another desert planet.

  How I hated the desert.

  ELEVEN

  A much larger group of members of the Outer Circle than during our initial reception on Fengar accompanied Lena on the landing pad. Painted entirely orange by the sun’s farewell into the horizon, the faces of hope and worry dressed the group as we said our goodbyes.

  “Be careful out there,” said Lena, addressing the team as we stood aft of the dropship with its ramp lowered.

  Seya smiled and gave the woman a hug. “We will send updates. It shouldn’t be too long,” she reassured.

  “Arthur,” said Lena. “We can’t thank you enough for bringing us this technology. Had you not come, we would have never known about this threat until it was too late.”

  “It’s no problem, Lena,” I said. “I’m sure you would have done the same if you were in our position. Thank you for your hospitality during our time here.”

  “You are always welcome. The conglomerate has a lot to accomplish in the upcoming weeks. We will continue recruiting and building up a fleet. We hope it will be enough when the time comes,” said Lena.

  “The effort is in good hands,” I said. “We’ll talk to you soon.”

  Her arms extended outward, inviting me for a hug as well. She reminded me of my aunt, Jen, when I would visit her in Ohio with my family as a boy. Always welcoming, warm, and kind. It wouldn’t be too odd to assume that Seya may have viewed her as an aunt—the only sort of family she had left in the galaxy. Had we not had such a good contact, this whole mission might have boiled down to a boy crying wolf. Relief filled me when I saw they took us seriously, and I also hugged Lena goodbye.

  “Alright, let’s go,” I said, turning on my heel and entering Dagger. The rest of the team followed me in, waving goodbye to Fengar. I hoped they got a good look at the view. I doubted we would be seeing anything as peaceful or as luxurious as this for some time.

  Dotty eased the dropship off the landing pad. Wind grazed over the group a few dozen yards behind us as we took off, chasing the sinking sun slowly into orbit. Aboard The Pillar, the team gathered on the bridge.

  “We will be going to a distant planet. The conglomerate star charts mark this desert planet as Garos-227.” No one minded the change in the locale as much as I did. “Our mission is to find remnants of the Yau, whether it be technology, maps, secrets, or whatever we can find to aid in this war.”

  “Shouldn’t Dotty have information on whatever we would find? It’s the only thing still around from that era,” asked Kayton.

  “A good question,” said Dotty. “As much as I would like to prove otherwise, my creation was rather hasty. I was to escort one of the remaining Yau civilian ships to a destination like Garos-227. My database includes a general history of my people with a focus on survival and combat. The flight paths and destinations of other similar ships and their A.I.’s was never given to me. Should the Vael capture me, the others would remain safe.”

  “So, it was everybody for themselves…” said Kayton, furrowing her brow.

  “Yes. It was desperate times, and this solution ensured a higher probability of success,” explained the A.I.

  “I’m not sure what we will encounter, if anything,” I said. “But let’s be ready. Suit up for combat.”

  “You heard him, let’s go!” ordered Kayton. “The faster we find something of use, the sooner we can go back to killing some imperials!” The troopers let out a brief war cry that sounded like “Kar-Tah” in response and raced out of the bridge, leaving Seya and me alone.

  “Something wrong?” I asked, noticing she seemed unusually worried.

  “I was thinking of Ibram,” she said.

  I wasn’t sure what to say. She had only spoken about the man in his youth. Seeing him in that state after all these years must have been hard.

  “Sorry, it’s nothing,” she said, focusing on the current task.

  “If you want to talk about this later, you know I’ll listen,” I said.

  “I know.” She left the bridge without another word, and I followed her out to get ready.

  *****

  The armor’s embrace gave me a powerful feeling like I could do so much more. But I knew that to be only partially true. I felt the same way in Afghanistan when I had all my gear on. Besides the stinking heat of the day or the chilly nights, I felt comfortable—safe. Well, as safe as any combatant in a war zone could feel.

  Studying the team, I asked them all to take seats on the bridge before we took off. We were still orbiting Fengar, which seized control of the portside view of The Pillar. The ship slid out from orbit, and our destination was off the starboard side. A clear shot to the vector presented itself to us, and the ship reoriented its heading towards it. The wormhole couldn’t initiate while inside the gravity well of a planet. For safety reasons, the ship was also unable to jump to a vector point that faced the planet either. Despite the wormhole opening a few hundred yards off the bow of the ship, the A.I. wouldn’t risk a maneuver where failure meant suddenly warping into a planet.

  Completely open, the tear allowed us to peer into a window of the space around Garos like another part of the galaxy painted on a canvas, framed with green lightning. The ship eased through the tear at a slow and steady pace, closing the incredible distance between the two points.

  When we pushed through the tear, it closed as fast as it had appeared aft of the ship. Although the ship had its cloaking field up, the tear would grab the attention of any roaming ships. I slowly exhaled the lungful of air I hadn’t realized I was holding when we made it through, without any other vessels appearing. Before us lay the planet Garos-227—a dusty, rocky, ball of sand with no appealing features.

  The system had one sun, an asteroid field between it and Garos, and an ice planet along its outermost orbit. The planet’s oxygen was thin and would need the use of helmets while we were down there.

  “Dotty, place the coordinates on the planet,” I ordered.

  A marker pinged on the planet around a hundred and fifty miles south of the equator.

  “Are there any signs of activity around the site?” I asked.

  “Nothing to report,” said the A.I.

  “Are there any global spots worth checking out besides the coordinates?”

  “It will take time to gather data. I will use the ship’s scanners to get a detailed look at other possible areas and mark them,” said Dotty.

  “Everyone, into Dagger, we’re heading down,” I ordered, my seats harness raising up and freeing me from its grasp.

  *****

  Fully geared and crammed into the dropship, Dagger’s real estate was in high demand. The extra supplies we brought with us filled the available empty seats. Should the mission go sideways, we would have everything we needed to survive, although I was unsure if we would see any combat while planetside—better to go prepared than not.

  Had the view not already alerted me, the feeling of falling let me know Dagger was now in space. In the hold, Habi and Nadu’s armored suits hung from the ceiling. The reactionary jerks from gravity smoothed out with gen
tle sways in space. The suits’ legs secured themselves to the deck with industrial-sized magnets like larger versions of our boots’ magnetic lining.

  The troopers spoke among themselves. Bon played with a floating magazine in front of him. Tal spoke to Ornay while hovering over her gauntlet’s dataslate. Garvo was sleeping, his helmet lolled to a side. Kayton sat with her back to the cockpit, her position allowing her to view all the troopers like a loadmaster with her precious cargo of killing machines.

  Seya and I observed our quick approach to the planet. It would take a few minutes to land, and Dotty was no doubt scanning for the best place to set Dagger down near the target area. Gravity began to increase and returned to a comfortable 0.96. A plateau afforded us enough space for the dropship to touch down with a soft rumble.

  The ramp popped and hissed as it began to lower—a light wind kicking dust into the interior of the dropship. Habi and Nadu detached themselves from the hull—heavy metal thumps resounded in the tight space as they marched out onto the dusty surface. Kayton led the rest of us out of the dropship before the ramp resealed itself behind us.

  Pursing my lips, I examined the bleak surroundings. “Let’s head for the marker,” I said, nudging my rifle in its direction several hundred yards away. “Habi, take point. Let’s use a large line formation in the open areas. Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Nadu, you bring up the rear.”

  We set out, funneling through tight chasms and returning to the wide formation when allowed. Pictures previously seen from the Mars rovers showed some nice orange vistas at times. Garos was uniform in its brown and beige appearance. Long and straight trails lingered in the sand behind us like warp threads on a loom. There was nothing to report; only more sand, dirt, and rocks. If there were something covered by the sand, Dotty would have pointed it out. I didn’t expect to find anything so soon, although I had hoped we would. A little over another hundred yards separated us from the marker. The rolling hills of the terrain didn’t allow a direct line of sight to the target. A curled ridge was the furthest I could see with my visor’s zoom.

  The team continued its steady pace, with our heads swiveling side to side as we scanned our surroundings. Reaching the curled ridge, the depression beyond was circular in shape. Roughly eighty yards in diameter, the bottom of the bowl had an accumulation of a fair amount of sand.

  “Looks like this is it,” said Kayton walking up to me. The group huddled close, lining the crater’s edge. “Doesn’t seem like much.”

  “Dotty, how long ago did the Yau crew escape to this planet?” I asked.

  “According to the time stamp, it has been three hundred twenty-six years,” said Dotty.

  “Three hundred and twenty-six years…I wonder if we'll be lucky enough to find any skeletons out here,” said Kayton, kicking a rock into the bowl.

  “Let’s take a closer look,” I said, slinging my rifle onto my back and climbing over the side of the ridge.

  The team followed me down the rocky slope and towards the bottom, our boots kicking up dust as we made the final jump. The two armored suits stayed along the top on overwatch. While nearing the crater’s center, I would stop occasionally and sweep my foot over the sand in hopes of revealing something. Again, nothing.

  “Dotty, are you sure these are the right coordinates?” I asked.

  “Yes, this would be the precise location where the escape pod landed upon entering the planet’s orbit,” said the A.I.

  “But you don’t detect the escape pod beneath the sand?”

  “I do not.”

  “Maybe they crashed,” Seya suggested.

  “Are there any signs of debris from the pod anywhere, Dotty?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” it replied.

  “Maybe they landed and moved on. We are talking over 300 years, right?” asked Bon, walking around the walls of the depression. “This isn’t exactly the best place to set up camp and—”

  A loud thump came from the ground.

  “What was that?” asked Kayton as the team readied their weapons.

  Two more thumps sounded off, and the sand shifted in a few places.

  “I think we should get out of the crater now,” said Bon, jumping a few times as if a snake was twisting in the sand beneath him.

  “Quiet!” shushed Kayton.

  “Guys, there’s—”

  Another thump came from the direction of the marksman, and he disappeared with a scream.

  “Bon!” shouted Kayton. A hole swallowed up the surrounding sand into its maw, draining the bowl. Hissing sand washed from around our boots towards the hole in a mini-avalanche until it finally came to rest—its rainmaker hiss subsiding.

  Garvo rushed over, getting down on his hands and knees peering down the void. “Bon! Are you okay?” he asked, turning his gaze towards us “What happened? I wasn’t looking.”

  “I saw him fall all the way down,” said Tal. “It must have been a cave in.”

  “Garvo, come to me…slowly,” said Kayton, waving him away from the hole. The ground was unstable near there. Being the largest of the troopers, it was the worst spot he could be in.

  Checking his surroundings, the realization suddenly hit him. “Oh…shit,” he said.

  “Come on, get away from there. Slow and easy,” urged Kayton again.

  “Bon, come in,” I said quietly over the comms. “Say something, are you alright?”

  I watched as the big trooper inched towards the commander.

  Another thump froze us all in place. A cracking sound popped beneath us.

  “Commander…” said Garvo.

  The hole expanded with speed, sucking the trooper in.

  “Go! Move!” I shouted as the troopers began running in the opposite direction.

  The rushing sand worked its way against us, the pitch of the bowl growing steeper by the second, forcing me to use my hands to aid the climb. It was like trying to climb up a speeding descending escalator. Over my shoulder, Kayton fell into the hole, followed by Tal and Del.

  I let out a stream of curses as I lost my footing and flopped into the sand helmet first. I Barely kept my head above the sand as it washed over me like a jet stream. Attempts to grab onto anything were futile.

  Seya slid towards me. The hole took hold of her, and her boots struck my helmet with a force that hurt my neck. Careening down the hole, its walls smashed and scraped my armor, as I tumbled down the opening like laundry in a chute. I landed in a crumpled pile of sand, rocks, and other troopers. Seya landed on top of me, followed by more sand and the remaining, screaming troopers.

  Immersed in the sand, my lungs strained and heaved under all the pressure. Body aching and my neck feeling like it came fresh from the chopping block, I tried moving my limbs to get up.

  “Anyone read me?” I grunted into the comms. “Habi… Nadu…?”

  Groans responded, and heavy breathing reported in.

  “Kol…here,” said Kayton.

  “Still alive,” said Del.

  Continuing to squirm, I scooped armfuls of sand away from me until I had enough room to free myself. My visor switched to night vision as I was in complete darkness. Reaching the ceiling, the cave in trapped us in the tight cavern. We wouldn’t be leaving the same way we came. A boot protruded out of the sand and kicked about. I grabbed and pulled the flailing appendage, slowly revealing the other leg. Grabbing the two together, I freed Onray. Flipping him over, he let his hands sit on his chest.

  “Gods…that was terrible,” he panted and coughed.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Think so…”

  “Good, help me free the others,” I said as I attempted to move large rocks off the next trooper. “Hold tight everyone, we’re gonna get you out.” Craning my neck sent sharp pains through me while we continued to dig the troopers out.

  Seya crawled out from the pile, followed by Del. We spent the next ten minutes digging and pulling out the rest. Ellar checked everyone for injuries as they emerged. At the very
bottom, we found Garvo motionless. It took three of us to pull the monster of a man out.

  “I’ll look after him, keep digging,” said Ellar as he was pulling out his medical scanner and wiping the dust off its screen.

  We were still missing Bon, and I couldn’t reach the two pilots over comms.

  “Bon, answer me,” said Kayton, as we kept digging.

  “I—I’m here, Commander…” said Bon faintly.

  Eventually, we found him with a large rock sitting on his chest. Digging around him, we were able to roll it off He had two broken fingers and a sprained ankle, but he was alive at least. The suit saved him. Had we been wearing only bodygloves, it would have maimed or killed some of us.

  “My rifle…” said Bon. The marksman dug around the pile frantically and winced at his broken fingers before eventually finding his weapon. “Oh, no…my scope’s all messed up! That was a custom piece,” he nearly pouted. He cradled the prized weapon in his arms like an injured puppy.

  Kayton cocked her helmet in a way that allowed me to see her rolling her eyes through the visor.

  “Ellar, how’s Garvo?” I asked.

  “Concussion,” said the medic, putting the scanner away. “Nothing we can do about it here, but he’s pulling out of it. Bon come here and let me see you for a moment.” Bon shuffled over to the medic, still cradling his rifle. Although his fingers twisted up in a gross angle, it was his prized rifle that commanded his attention. He didn’t even make a sound when Ellar set his fingers straight.

  “Nadu, Habi, can you hear me?” I called over the comms again, but there was still no answer. My comms were still working, as I was able to speak with the others. Something was blocking the signal, but I didn’t think we were that far down.

  “The sediment appears to be blocking communications,” said Dotty. “It’s preventing me from reaching Dagger or The Pillar remotely.”

  That wasn’t good. There weren’t any other ships on the way in, but that could change in a heartbeat. A strong discomfort rose within me.