by Joe Crouch
“You, you, you,” she squealed, struggling to push the corpse off, “Just get this thing off me.” Kneeling, he watched as the fluids trickled out from the lifeless body, laughing, he pushed the carcass and grabbed Taris’ hand to pull her up. “Thank you,” she said in-between breaths, “This is just for my saviour,” and before he could react, Taris put her arms around him, squeezing tightly. Pulling away, she looked on at the now slime covered Human and began to laugh hysterically, “The dirty look suits you,” she smiled, rubbing some of the grime onto a nearby wall.
“What are you two children up to,” Fez barked, “We’ve got a serious matter on our hands,” Sean looked over his shoulder, you’ve got more to answer for than most of us he thought. Waving everyone over the group stood around Fez, “We’ve got to get some equipment, take what you need but remember this is an enclosed environment, large weapons would be inadvisable.” The group fanned out, each grabbing a various assortment of weapons and armour and before long they were geared up and watching on as Sean dithered about what weapons to bring.
“Hurry up you idiot,” Taris shouted across the room.
“Perfection can’t be rushed,” Sean quipped and with a final juggle between two different weapons, he grabbed the pistol and clicked it onto the front holder of his armour. He strolled over to the waiting team, smiling, “Well I’m ready,” he said, drawing a sarcastic round of applause from the gathered crowd, “What’s the plan?”
“Well, the silence troubles me, either all the invaders are dead, or all our soldiers are,” Fez winced, drawing a worried look from everyone, “I think we should move to where the craft impacted the hull, see what information we can gather, there are not many combat capable personnel aboard, so try not to take any undue risks.” The team gathered up behind Fez, the four of them were well armed but so were the enemy, they crept quietly along the desolate hallways encountering no resistance, but more alarmingly, no signs of life. Turning a corner, they saw an Ioution slumped over a pile of debris, her throat had been gouged out and blast marks turned her skin black. Fez knelt beside the corpse, holding the charred remains of a hand in his own, bowing his head he muttered a few words and tried his best to ensure she remained dignified, even in death. “This ends now,” Fez shook with anger, “I want to mutilate every one of those vile beings,” clenching his trembling fist, he slammed it into a nearby terminal, smashing the screen into pieces. Sean walked up to the irate Ioution and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s do this together,” he whispered, “We have all lost in this war, and it won’t be over with the actions of today, but soon, soon their judgement will come,” Fez raised his head and looked him in the eyes, the emotion obvious, he nodded and waved everyone forwards.
Alarms shrieked throughout the ship bringing the group to a halt, Fez grabbed his communicator and answered the bridge’s hail, “Captain, a group of Xuron intruders are attempting to break into engineering, it would be advisable if you made your way to that location,” the voice deadpanned over theradio.
“Looks like we have a new objective,” Fez said, turning, he saw a Xuron scurrying along the ceiling, “Contact,” he shouted. The alien dropped and landed on all four of its extremities and snapped its gaze towards the group, its taunts echoing off the bare corridor. Sean raised his weapon and took aim but Fez pushed the barrel back down, sliding a bladed weapon out from a pocket on his armour, “This one is mine,” he muttered. Jolting the weapon beside him the blade sparked into life, it burned a bright red as energy coursed along its surface, sparks dancing off the metal dissipating as they flashed against the cloth of Fez’s uniform. The Xuron stood firm, a low rumble emanated from its chest as it stretched its arms wide and beat its wings, in a flash of action Fez dashed forwards, slashing vertically but the alien was too agile, it danced to its left, landing a kick to the captain’s chest that knocked him to his knees. Drawing in long breaths, Fez pushed himself up only to receive a thumping kick to the stomach that sent him staggering back crashing into a wall.
“Fez!” Sean shouted.
“Stay out of it,” he snapped back while grabbing his weapon with both hands, pushing himself off the wall and swinging at the approaching Xuron, the buzz of energy cut through the air as the alien once again easily stepped aside, evading his reckless attack. The two stood in silence, both eying each other up for the next attack and without warning the aggressive being lunged forwards and dragged its claws down hard against his chest piece, sparks flew as the claw gashed its surface. Seeing an opening, Fez swung his weapon and watched on as the left arm of his opponent dropped to the floor. The being let out an ear-splitting screech. blood gushed from the stump that remained but he wanted to leave nothing to chance so he gathered all his strength and sliced at the Xuron’s neck. With a barely audible fizzle, its head crashed onto the floor, his now lifeless body not far behind. The Ioution captain stood panting heavily, staring down at the body while mouthing indecipherable words, Sean walked over and stood with his hands on his hips.
“Well, that’s two down, only loads more to go,” he joked. The cold air of the ship was only matched by the glare he received from the captain, he was not impressed, but they had little time to bicker. Shaking himself back into a more sensible reality, Fez beckoned everyone forwards as they marched on towards engineering. “What do you think we’re going to find there?” Sean asked.
“A horde of angry bugs, I imagine… I hope,” Taris grinned. The team carried on through the winding hallways, descending a deck until they heard the unmistakable sound beating wings. Pressing against a wall, they snuck around the corner and watched as a group of Xuron soldiers walked towards the sounds of grinding metal.
“Alright, let’s make our way around that corner and attempt to strike them from behind,” Fez said, “Let me try something first, though,” pulling out his communicator he got in touch with the marine’s commanding officer. “We’re down near engineering, we’re in the east wing, can you approach from the west or north and we can box these bugs in.” The affirmative response that he received allowed the team to prepare, dancing from heel to heel, Sean bobbed around nervously, waiting for the action to start.
It wasn’t long before Fez got the OK, letting him know they were in position, so crouching down, the team slid around the final corner to see a group of seven Xuron milling about while another used a tool to try and cut the heavy doors of engineering open. The team raised their weapons and waited anxiously for the go ahead, Fez turned his head and nodded. In an instant, the room was filled with brilliant flashes of energy that fizzed towards the tightly packed group, three aliens screeched and dropped to the floor immediately. Without hesitation, a petite Xuron grabbed a device and slammed it into the ground, rising out from the gadget came a pulsating energy barrier, its radiant purple glow bathed the tight intersection. The marines opened fire on the newly formed barrier, their energy weapons dissipated harmlessly off its surface, the remaining Xuron huddled behind the barrier and took aim at Sean’s group, their weapons fire passed through the obstacle without resistance and scorched the floor near the team. “Shit,” Sean shouted, “How can their weapons pass right through?”
“They must be attuned to a specific frequency,” Fez replied, “It’s the same with the shielding aboard our ships if someone knew our frequency their fire would pass right through.”
“Well that seems like a massive oversight,” he yelled as more thunderous bolts slammed into the support beam beside him. Looking down at Fez’s armour, he noticed the ovoid object from earlier, “Fez, you still have that explosive device,” he said while motioning down towards his chest, “Use it on them damn bugs.” Within seconds, Fez had calibrated the device and juggled it about from hand-to-hand.
“Alright everyone, watch out,” he smirked, a tone of calm ran through his voice as he threw the object around the corner, the team watched as it floated in the air, motionless as it acquired its target. Moments later the device turned and zipped to
wards the shielding, impacting in a bright explosion that pushed everyone off their stable footing. It had done zero damage, and picking themselves up off the floor the well-entrenched Xuron contingent continued firing on their position.
“Well, what do we do now?” Sean panicked, “We’ve tried almost…” he was cut off as a large shockwave rippled through the ship sending everyone and everything flying, within moments a call came over Fez’s radio.
“Captain, an unknown vessel has just exited slip space right on top of us, their weapons are charged but their power signature is low, it might be a vessel attempting to help by…” the radio went silent, “Captain, they’ve just opened fire on the Xuron vessel with massive kinetic weaponry, we detect five impacts that have rendered the ship inoperable.” The group went silent before Sean’s eyes began to bulge and his heart began to race.
“It’s Earth!” he shouted, his pulse racing, “It has to be, no one else out here has such a focus on railguns like we do,” Fez looked at the excitable Human, pondering what he had just said.
“It’s possible, we’re quite far away but last I heard your remaining warships had been scouting systems near your own,” Fez mused, “But It’s still strange they would arrive so quickly.” Pushing any negative emotion aside, he got up and grabbed his small kinetic-based pistol.
“Maybe this will go through their shielding? No modulation or frequencies here, just good ‘ole fashioned fast lumps of metal,” he roared while taking aim at the shield, and with a pull on the trigger his weapon spat out a single bullet. As the projectile passed straight through the now distorted shielding, the Xuron crashed to the floor landing in a heap of its own mess. Punching the air, he celebrated behind cover, not paying attention to what was going on behind him, approaching from the rear was a small beetle-like creature, it scurried quickly across the floor and before anyone could react, the insect pounced up and landed on Yumie’s neck.
“Yumie, watch out,” Fez shouted, watching as the creature burrowed through his thin skin and into his body, Yumie clawed at his own throat trying his best to stop the creature from proceeding any further. “Sean, pay attention to those bugs hauled up behind the shielding, they must not be allowed into engineering,” Fez barked.
“But what’s going on with…”
“- Do as I say, Human,” Fez interrupted, the emotion building in his eyes. Sean and Taris took up their positions, firing at the well-defended enemy, Taris’ efforts were easily repelled while Sean’s tore through the vulnerable shielding, taking down another creature. He had to ignore the commotion behind him as the Xuron still unleashed rounds towards their position, the impacts spewing green embers that stuck to anything they touched.
“Taris, distract them long enough for me to get a shot,” he ordered.
“Alright, but you’ll owe me.” Popping out from cover she opened fire in tandem with the marines who were launching their own offensive, the shielding cracked and wobbled from the amount of energy it was having to absorb and dissipate. Kneeling and taking aim, he let off a single round and watched as the being dropped to the floor with a loud thud, the remaining Xuron tried to escape but Sean got the better of it, raining bullets down as it tried to build up speed, ending its short-lived attempt. All that remained was a single foe that cut into the engineering doors, sparks flying all around it, and with a high-pitched squeal, it seemed to be oblivious to what was going on as a marine crept up behind the creature and jammed a weapon into its skull.
Sean turned back to look at an emotional Fez, he was on both knees pressing his hands against Yumie’s slowly beating chest. Gradually, Yumie opened his eyes, peering up at the scene that had unfolded around him, “Hello, Captain,” he said in a stilted voice, “It’s good to see you,” Fez turned away, keeping his hands on the Ioution’s chest.
“It’s good to see you too, Yumie,” he choked, slowly unholstering his pistol.
“May I get up?” Yumie asked in a calm voice, Fez turned back, looking his friend dead in the eyes, his body visibly shaking.
“… I’m afraid not, old friend,” Fez wept, placing the end of the pistol on Yumie’s twitching forehead, “I’m afraid not…”
And with a single pull of the trigger, it was over.
Chapter 17
The crew regained control of the Mar’Ell and started repairs almost immediately. A lot of work needed to be done, but if they got her in fighting order they would survive another day. There were questions to be asked and answers to be heard over the coming days, but right now Sean knew he would have to wait. Fez was in the process of planning an Ioution funeral Yumie. Sean still didn’t have a clear answer on what happened or why Yumie needed to be killed, but Fez was fragile, and pushing him for an answer might have pushed him over the edge of the oblivion he already was teetering over.
During the downtime, Sean spent some time among his own people aboard the Orpheus. Life aboard the Mar’Ell was comfortable, even luxurious by Human standards, but there was always a longing for the peculiar smells and senses of a Human ship, the sweat and hard work needed to keep a battleship like this afloat was enormous. It was an odd thing to miss, he knew, but there was also a strange comfort is being surrounded by familiar smells and sounds.
Strolling through the ship was far more of a chore aboard the Orpheus, crewmen were in a constant rush, trying to cram as many activities into a single, miserable day as possible, it was a common Human trait, especially amongst city dwellers. His body had adjusted to the heat aboard the Mar’Ell, so the frosty temperature of twenty-five degrees aboard the Orpheus was enough to make him wrap up tightly, gaining him queer glances as he walked around in a winter jacket while everyone else sweltered. The single most exciting part about being back amongst his own was the canteen, he had slowly gotten used to the food aboard the Mar’Ell, but the sheer choice of fantastic rubbish on the naval vessel warmed his heart. To his glee, he had access to the officer’s mess, normally reserved for the best on the ship, once again slipping in his own mind that he was an ambassador, anything he demanded would have to be dealt with. Sitting down at an empty table he was joined by the ship’s captain, James Williams, as they both ordered their respective meals – A hearty beef roast for him. “So how you finding the ship, Ambassador, is everything up to your standards?” the Captain smirked, fully aware of his background as a planet lander.
“Captain,” he nodded, “I couldn’t be happier, even trying to explain what it’s like to see a Human face again would be impossible.” The pair relaxed as their meals were brought to them by one of the ship’s chefs, digging into his food he cleaned his mouth with the provided cloth and spoke, “So, how’s Earth handling the knowledge of what’s actually going on out here?” he questioned, genuinely curious if the world had imploded since he left.
“There were the obvious reactions which I think we all expected,” the Captain sighed, sitting back in his seat, “But honestly, I feel like there was a sense of relief, we all long for company, and knowing that not only are we not alone, but we have a whole extended galactic family to meet, these are exciting times, Ambassador.”
“Sean,” he said, correcting the captain, “Wait until you meet some of these aliens, I had to do a double-take when meeting a race of small, large-eared aliens that waddled around,” he laughed. James took it in his stride, he hadn’t yet experienced dealing with any alien life other than the Ioutions, and even that was a brief chat over ship-to-ship communications. “So, how comes you got to us so quickly?” Sean asked, the question had been killing him.
“We were out here on patrol by order of the President herself,” James replied, “Don’t ask me about what we’re trying to patrol, but we’re certainly patrolling well outside Sol.”
“Isn’t it strange for the President to command any combat vessel, especially on such a meaningless task?” he mused, unknowingly rubbing the stubble that had gathered over his chin. The Captain let out an exasperated sigh and leant forwards.
“If you ask me there
have been plenty of strange orders lately,” the Captain looked him over, “And no offence, but you’re one of ‘em.” he couldn’t disagree, it was a strange decision, one that was made purely because of ease, but it was now a role he took seriously, every day was a learning experience for him – And there was a lot to learn.
“No offence taken, Captain,” he said, clasping his hands together in front of his face, “If I’m honest, I know I was an out of place choice, I was only chosen because of…” he sunk into himself, remembering his lifeless corpse that had been tucked neatly away. James eyed him up and down, looking on puzzlingly at the now inert husk that sat in front of him, rasping his knuckles on the table, he brought him back to reality.
“Where did you go?” James asked, “You were in a world of your own there,” Sean hesitated in answering, he wasn’t even sure himself what he had witnessed, but it wasn’t right, he knew that much.
“… It’s nothing, Captain, honestly, maybe I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole situation, being back on a Human boat really hits home, you know?” he meant it, he almost wanted to stay aboard the Orpheus, thinking he might be able to fulfil his role here, the Orpheus being his own personal ferry to and from worlds he needed to visit. It wasn’t to be, though, he knew preliminary repairs would be finished on the Mar’Ell soon and he would be needed back there to fill their quota of alien life, something he wasn’t overly looking forward to returning to. A confrontation was approaching, one that had to happen, one that could end up messy if he didn’t hear what he wanted to hear, what exactly do I want to hear he thought I don’t know… Pushing himself up off the canteen table, he shook James’ hand and carried on down into his room, it was the last evening he had on the Orpheus and he wanted to spend it alone.
Sitting down at his wooden desk the fine grains were a welcome change from his hideously replicated oak-like furniture back on the Mar’Ell. He turned to face his personal computer, a far more Human design about it than the sleek designs of the Ioutions, he slammed his feet up onto the desk and tuned into a whatever sports channel was available. Tottenham Hotspur were lifting a trophy, continuing their domination of the sport over the last two decades, with an inward cheer he flicked through the random assortment of rubbish.
