United We Stand

by Christian Messe

  “Work you worthless slug, or feel the sting of my whip… again.” The man was abusing the boy, simply because he could.

  A human?

  Claire walked over to him, her head down, “New orders from the big guy, um-they’re moving you to sector-um…one... sector one.”

  “Sector one? There is no sector one in this facility.”

  “Um-ah, look over there!”

  “What’s your operation code, wait a second; you’re not even wearing a visor!”

  Claire punched him in the face with her Meta-Core hand, knocking him out.

  “Two in a row,” she said, energizingly.

  The child looked scared, “W-who are you?”

  “Don’t worry about that; your parents sent me, I’m here to rescue you.”

  “M-my parents?”

  “Come on we don’t…”

  “You!!” Someone shouted, shocking both Claire and the boy.

  Claire looked at the source of the voice. It was the shopkeeper; he worked here?

  “Listen, I’m just trying to get this kid back to his…”

  “Hey Demons, I found that girl, she’s no dead thief; she’s a Meta-Gene!” He shouted.

  An alarm sounded. The door to the mine slammed shut.

  “This… is not good,” Claire said, ripping off the collar.

  One of the Jupitains jumped down. Its visor turned blue.

  “Well done Claire, you’ve managed to do exactly what I knew you’d do. Get killed.” Karalus tuned out, and the Jupitains shot at her immediately.

  “Get her Demons! Tear her apart!” The shopkeeper yelled, enthusiastically.

  The little boy screamed and got behind the shield Claire had made. She blocked volley after volley of laser bolts.

  “Stay behind me!” She shouted. Claire looked around at her surroundings; a laser cannon wasn’t going to get her out of this. The Jupitains were moving in, closer and closer, firing relentlessly. Then an image formed into Claire’s mind. Her Meta-Gene, it-it was communicating with her. She couldn’t think clearly, but her Meta-Core was starting to transform into a metal circle, with the inside hollowed out. It was forming in the palm of her hand. Then the microscopic pieces expanded, turning into another, smaller circle, hovering above the one below it. Claire didn’t know it at the time, but her Meta-Core was making a sonic energy projector. Then a yellow light shined, lighting up Claire’s palm, and soon her entire hand was glowing, with the two circles in her palm spinning rapidly.

  The Jupitains got closer and closer, the energy starting to get blinding. Claire had no idea what she was doing. She didn’t have to. She disassembled the shield, and held up her hand, then slammed it on the ground with a boom! The ground cracked, and a yellow circle of energy formed around the spot she had hit. It expanded, vaporizing the nearby Jupitains in a massive shockwave of energy.

  Metal structures carrying Dark matter out of the ground were blown off their foundations. Hover tables filled with Dark matter were tipped over and spilled. The lights in the mining camp went dark, and Jupitains at a distance were swept off their feet.

  The shaking child was holding Claire’s right arm, “That-was-awesome!”

  Some of the Jupitains were getting up and roaring angrily.

  “Time to go!” Claire yelled. She tore off the kid’s collar and grabbed his hand. They ran towards the gate, but something wrapped around Claire’s neck, pulling her to the ground. It was the visor human,

  “You’re not going anywhere!” His whip was tangled around Claire’s neck. She grabbed at it, trying not to choke to death, and cut it off with her Meta-Core hand, and jumped to her feet.

  “I’m not letting you escape!” He yelled.

  “Not an option,” She replied curtly, grimacing. She made a laser cannon out of her Meta-Core hand, and shot him, killing him. She… she didn’t even feel sorry, to her, anyone associated with the Jupitains, deserved to die. She ran back over to the confused child. The mining camp was in chaos. Claire’s attack had disabled all the collars with a power surge, and now the Kalarian inhabitants were putting up a fight. Jupitains were getting tackled by groups of people, and soon two Jupitain tanks were hovering into the chaos, shooting at anything moving.

  “Listen to me, your parents are in the camp over there,” She pointed at a group of rusted buildings. “Don’t tell anyone you used to be a slave here, and don’t stop running until you make it there, ok?”

  “Where are you going?” He asked.

  “I need to find my friends, and figure out what this Karalus is planning, but don’t worry about me, you’ve done your part, now go see your family.” Claire started to walk back towards the mine, but the child ran back to her, hugging her.

  “Don’t die.” He smiled.

  “Don’t worry; I won’t.” She replied, with false confidence.

  Then he ran towards the group of buildings, and Claire ran into the mining camp, she needed to find a new ship. The Jupitains were starting to take back control, and the slaves were being rounded up again, most shot dead. Claire ran past tanks that couldn’t see her because of the dust clouds from the debris of the metal drills. She found a cargo ship, its hangar ramp still open. She ran up it and shoved the miner that was boarding it off.

  She ran into the cockpit past hundreds of Dark matter containers and activated the ship’s engine. It roared to life, fire ejecting from it. The ship flew into the air, leaving the planet. She had two options. She had no idea about the Jupitain mothership in the hangar on Jupiter, so to her there was no urgency to help save the United Worlds. She could go back to Earth, and tell the Kelisians about her Meta-Gene, or, she could go deeper into space, and try to find her fellow shipmates.

  She thought about it for a second, then bit her lip, and said finally, “Um-sphere thing, locate most wanted fugitives in Jupitain space.” It showed an error message, not understanding her command. Claire frowned, “Sphere, locate most wanted fugitives in Demon controlled space.” It responded by showing pictures of dozens of different alien mugshots, and ruins of old battles, then finally, holo-videos in the air of a hangar inside of Jupiter, and Jupitain fighters destroying each other, with zoomed in images of James, and other various humans. James was wearing a Jupitain visor and was in a rouge Jupitain fighter.

  “That’s definitely them.” Claire said, “Wow, I never, would’ve expected James to be that good at fighting… ever,” She looked out the cockpit, “Here goes nothing.”

  The sphere put in the coordinates of the system James, Lewis, and Mark were in, and the cargo ship sped into Hypotonic, journeying even deeper into space.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Why did I agree to do this?” Mark asked.

  “Face it, this was the only option,” James replied.

  “God I miss Earth,” Lewis said.

  “There probably won’t be an Earth if we don’t find the Safe Quadrant,” James said. A beeping sound came from the control panel.

  “Well shit,” Lewis said.

  “What is it?” James asked.

  “We’re almost out of energy,” Lewis replied.

  “Wait, what does this thing run on?” Mark asked.

  “Um, it looks like-Compressed Ion Neutrolites. Ok, that is definitely not on the periodic table.” Lewis said. “And um… has a secondary fuel option, yup, Dark matter.”

  “We’re screwed.” Mark groaned.

  “Relax guys; we’ll just stop…” James realized they were in the middle of nowhere.

  “Well hey, there’s a Nebula a few-thousand light years away over there.” Lewis pointed at it.

  “Hey, what’s that?” Mark zoomed in on a ship in the distance.

  “I’m not so sure getting help from that thing is a good idea, we have no idea who’s on it,” James said.

  “Would you prefer the alternative? Die slowly in a Jupitain bucket?” Lewis asked.

  “Ship in the distance it is then,” James compromised.

  Lewis pressed a button on the control panel and
a red beacon flashed onto the other ship’s cockpit. “Dude we’re saved.”

  Then James realized something. They were inside of a Jupitain ship, and the Milky Way Galaxy has been enslaved by Jupitains for who knew how long, so that would mean-

  “Um guys, their plasma cannons are charging up,” Mark said.

  “They think we’re Jupitains! Lewis get us out of here!” James yelled.

  “We don’t have enough power to press the button again,” Lewis said.

  “Just do something!” James yelled, frantic.

  “Let me try!” Mark shouted. He took the controls and started to move his hands randomly along the control pad. The ship flipped, and moved everywhere, spinning out of control, but dodging every shot that was fired.

  The ship that was shooting at them was shaped like a rectangle but rounded in the front with a glass view window, the cockpit. It had four engines, two on each side of the ship, that looked like they could act as landing gear when off. They were spitting fumes of blue fire into space. The rectangular shape was curved in the back of the ship, which meant there was a cargo door there.

  “They’re gonna kill us!” Mark shouted, still messing with the controls.

  The Jupitain fighter kept spinning; James lost his grip and slammed into the wall. A red warning light started to flash inside the ship until Lewis made Mark stop messing with the controls. The ship came to a stop, and the barrages of laser fire ceased.

  “Think they’ll let us go?” Lewis asked.

  Almost on cue, a yellow tractor beam slowly pulled the fighter inside of the small hangar, filled with numerous amounts of cargo, and laser rifles.

  “Alright guys, let’s just stay calm,” James said.

  “Guns blazin?” Lewis asked.

  “Guns blazing.” Mark shrugged, even though they only had one laser rifle and pistol.

  Mark kicked the door open, but he was greeted by a red, two horned, muscular and humanoid looking alien.

  “I knew you weren’t E6s after I saw that crappy flying, but the question is, who are you?” The red man was wearing a brown leather jacket, with black pants and a heavy rifle holster on his back, and he looked like some kind of devil. He crossed his arms. “Well? What do you want?”

  “Where are we?” James asked.

  The man smiled, “You’re in hell buddy.”

  For a second James was thinking of the hell since this guy looked like Satan, but then he realized that the Milky Way was definitely a living hell.

  “You can come out now T; these boys aren’t a threat.”

  A disappointed white alien jumped out of an empty supply crate. He was wearing a worn and rugged alien uniform, with a tag on it. A code imprinted on the label read; Kal-29U6. Mark instantly recognized his race, the pale skin, and the tattoos. He was Kalarian.

  “You look like Uliski,” Mark blurted.

  The alien’s facial expression went from bored to outraged, instantly. “How do you know Uliski? Talk!” He pointed his laser rifle at Mark, furious.

  Mark put his hands up, shocked.

  “What are you doing? Are you signaling for them to attack us?!”

  “No, no, this is what you do when your surrendering, you know like, hands up.”

  “That’s not the point! How do you know Uliski?”

  “I recognized the tattoos, I’m sorry.”

  He put his gun up to Mark’s chin. “Where is he!?”

  “Wait why?” Lewis asked, a little angry.

  The man pointed his gun at Lewis, “You, shut up!”

  Lewis didn’t care, “Why does it matter? Tell us!”

  The alien kept his gun raised, “He’s my brother. He used to be a part of our crew until the Demons caught him. I haven’t heard from him since.”

  Mark looked down. “H-he sacrificed himself to save my life; he… he was a hero.”

  The alien yelled loudly, slamming his laser rifle on the ground. “I knew it… I-I knew it, I just… I just didn’t want to accept it.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Mark said.

  “Hey, Telli, he knew what he was getting into, we all did. I’m sorry but, that’s part of the job.” The devil man said, solemnly.

  Telli grimaced, “Not like this.” He sniffed.

  “So,” The devil man said after a short pause, trying to change the mood, “Who’re you rejects supposed to be?”

  I’m Mark, and these guys are Lewis and James, we’re from the United Worlds.”

  “United Worlds?” The red devil man laughed, “That’s funny, haven’t heard about a united anything in the galaxy for decades.”

  “Wait, two people is hardly a crew; this is how you guys operate?” Lewis asked.

  “You wanna meet the others?” The red man asked. He beckoned Mark, James, and Lewis over to a room, with a red couch, a table, what looked like a weight bench, and a rack, with various weird items on it.

  “This is the lounge, and over there’s the cockpit,” He pointed towards a closed doorway, “And over there are the bunk rooms.” He pointed at a hallway, where a Jupitain walked out, its massive claws swinging casually from side to side. It growled at them.

  “Take cover!” James yelled. He dove to the floor. Mark tightened up, and Lewis raised an eyebrow.

  The Jupitain growled louder, not liking the new guests.

  “Relax guys; this is Axel, Axel meet the United Worlders,” The red man said.

  Axel growled hesitantly.

  “H-how’d you get that-monster, to be loyal to you guys?” James asked, still on the floor.

  “Simple, on the field we hacked into his visor and erased all of the dangerous code.” The red man said, cockily.

  “Who are you people? Seriously.” Lewis asked.

  “Oh you haven’t met everybody yet, Trixi get out here.” The red man said. Out came a metal ball, rolling towards them, as tall as Lewis’s knee. Trixie was a metal sphere, covered in small evenly placed holes. The largest circle in the middle opened and glowed red, the light shined onto Lewis’s chest. She made a deep, and threatening chirp sound.

  “What the hell is that thing?” He asked.

  “That, is Trixi; she was an abandoned Meta-Core before we found her.”

  “Why is ‘Trixi’ shining a light on me?” Lewis asked, ignoring the term, ‘Meta-Core.’

  “Oh, that’s not just a light, she’s targeting you.” The red man said. Lewis’s facial expression turned concerned, and he stepped back a little. Then the door to the cockpit opened, and a white, human girl with blue eyes walked out. She made Lewis go blank. She was wearing black leggings and a red t-shirt, with white cloth around her hands acting as fingerless gloves. She also had dirty boots that were stained with oil.

  Mark saw Lewis staring and elbowed him in the stomach.

  “Everybody, meet Red, best pilot in the Galaxy,” The red man announced, “This is our merry band, I’m Heavy, and the pale guy over there’s Telli, you already know the others.”

  “Wow, you guys sure are quite the gang, what are you… a bunch of budget cut rebels or something?” Lewis asked, sarcastically.

  “Budget-cut, would be an understatement,” said Red, jadedly playing with her ironically ginger hair.

  “There used to be entire fleets of people like us,” Telli said, sadly.

  “Well, what happened to them?” Mark asked.

  “They’re dead, haven’t seen another rebel in ages.” Heavy said.

  Axel growled.

  “Well, this was fun, but I’m gonna go-somewhere else,” said Red, “Heavy tell me about the plasma flux before we get one again, took four hours to fix that.” She walked into the bunk rooms.

  Lewis was too busy watching Red’s hips stride away to remember what they were talking about.

  “We have a problem; we need to get to the Safe Quadrant, but our ship kind of ran out of fuel, or energy, whatever the crap powers it, before we could find it, can you help us get there?” James asked.

  Heavy started laughing hysterically.
<
br />   “Wait? Why’s that funny?” Mark asked.

  “Don’t worry about trying to get there. No one’s ever made it, its suicide.”

  “Why should we believe you?” Lewis asked, snapping out of his daze.

  Axel’s visor turned blue, “Over four million refugee caravans and pilots have tried to get to the Lore, none have succeeded.”

  “That many?” James asked, astonished.

  “Why won’t they let anyone in?” Mark asked.

  “No one knows, but the Lore safeguards the rest of the universe… that’s kind of all we know actually. They’re a secretive group.” Telli said.

  “Weren’t always that way,” Heavy grumbled, “Listen, boys, no one gets into the Lore, its suicide, make yourselves comfy, you’ll be here awhile,” Heavy said.

  “I’ll give you guys a more proper tour,” Telli said. The four of them walked through the ship. There wasn’t really much to see. There were four small rooms, with bunks inside. The cockpit was sloppy, instead of a high tech control pad; a series of multiple levers controlled the ship. There were four seats, two in the front, and two in the back. Mark didn’t care about the tour though; he was still thinking of what Heavy had said.

  No one gets into the Lore, its suicide.

  Lewis ended up sleeping inside the lounge, while James and Mark took a bunk. Lewis pressed a button on the hover table, and a levitating image of the Milky Way appeared. He zoomed in on the billions of systems inside it.

  “How could one force take away the freedom of an entire galaxy?” Lewis asked himself.

  “That’s simple,” Red said from the doorway, “It got too cocky.”

  “What does that mean?” Lewis asked.

  “We put all of our trust in the Kelisians, and in the end, they failed.”

  “It wasn’t the Martian’s fault. They weren’t helped by the rest of the Galaxy. They were alone.”

  “The ‘Martians’ never told anyone about the E6s until they were already spreading through the Galaxy like a disease, they abandoned everyone, and there was in fact, ‘help,’ available before they went on their suicide mission to Cyrus… the Nova Alliance, the Ghourse colonies. Hell, even pirates paid a good enough fee, but no, they went alone, all cause they wanted some bounty all to themselves. The entire Galaxy fell because of it.”