by Jeff Walsh
Through the darkness Genny pushed herself to react.
She leapt forward and threw herself toward the workers. The scaffolding slammed down hard across Genny's back. With arms stretched wide and feet spread Genny hoisted the metal scaffolding back. Snaps of metal rang out; debris began to fall and scatter around.
“Move,” she grunted out to the workers who were frozen in place.
They darted to one side and huddled against the wall.
Genny pushed hard and shoved the large section away.
The drones took full advantage of Genny's heroics. A group skittered around the corner and fired unrelentingly.
The canon blasts incinerated the group of workers who she'd just saved. Genny was struck square in the chest and face. She stumbled back slightly, but was able to regain her balance.
Canon blast after canon blast came.
Genny instinctively brought her arms up to guard her face as the canon fire poured in relentlessly. She felt the skin on her arms and shoulders being burned away. The pain of each strike stole her breath away.
More drones joined the fight and began firing.
Genny struggled to remain standing against the force of the blasts. The pain of the attacks was nearly unbearable. The fury within grew deeper. Every ounce of Genny's thoughts were pushed from her mind. She bellowed out in rage. She dropped her arms and darted forward taking the full brunt of the canon fire.
The drones were ready. Some had been overcharging their canon fire. The moment Genny dropped her guard, they fired.
Genny was thrown back and off her feet. She slammed against the wall and as she fell the drones pushed in and continued to fire. She attempted to push herself to her feet. The drones were relentless. Energy blast after energy blast pushed Genny back to the ground.
She attempted to look around, but the torrent of canon fire blinded her. She pushed hard and managed to pull herself to her knees. She curled in tight as her whole body wracked in pain. The grouping of drones had one single order: eliminate Genny.
Genny pulled in even tighter; her breath was stolen away by her pain.
Over a dozen drones were now firing.
Through it all, she knew she had to get to her feet. Her attackers knew it also.
Just then, two of the drones launched into the air and landed on her back. Genny thrashed around as they attempted to pin her down. Twisting left, then a hard right she managed to get to her side. With a wide wild swing she slammed into the side of one drone and smashed it into the wall. With half the weight now gone Genny reached up and grabbed the legs of the other drone. She pulled it in tight to her chest. With her arms now wrapped around it, she squeezed. The drone exploded right on top of her.
The blast pushed the remaining drones back and away. As they slid across the floor their shots went wide. It gave Genny a momentary reprieve. It was all she needed.
Genny pushed herself to her feet and darted toward the drones as they recovered from the blast. She smashed into one and sent it into two others. Metal limbs and housings rang out as the drones collided. One drone had three of its limbs snapped off; another lost its targeting system and was now wildly firing. The initial drone she'd collided into was a crumpled heap.
With only a handful of the attacking drones remaining Genny went on the offensive. Three drones dashed forward while the remaining four fell behind. The trio of drones began to target Genny's face directly with low intensity blasts.
She could barely see; Whether from the energy blasts or the fumes of leaking canisters permeating the engine bay, her eyes burned and everything was beginning to look hazy. She swung wildly toward the nearest drone and caught its front leg. Off balance, its next shot went into a nearby processing vat of some sort.
An explosion rang out as the vat detonated.
The next thing Genny knew she was hurled through the air. She slammed into a thick set of pipes and crashed to the floor. Her entire body now felt as though it were on fire.
Whatever that vat contained, it now sprayed into the air like a geyser. Genny's vision blurred even more; it was all becoming a brilliant white. She reached around the floor and felt liquid pooling around her.
The energy blasts from the drones had stopped, and she used the moment to try and orientate herself. Immense pain shot through her midsection as she attempted to stand. She crumpled.
Her vision was now completely engulfed in a piercing white glare. It was as if someone had a spotlight shining directly into her eyes. She felt around the floor once more and the liquid had pooled even more. With just the tiniest of squints she attempted to see where she was.
Light blazed all around her. Genny breathed deep and rubbed at her eyes. She attempted to refocus used her hand to shield her eyes. It was the ground she realized. Whatever the liquid, it was the source of the immense light. As her eyes began to compensate for the intensity of it all, she took notice that intermixed within the liquid light was blood. She curled inward and looked at her abdomen. Shards of metal had punctured her chest, abdomen, and legs.
Dizziness washed over her. She looked around and saw nothing but destruction. The drones had been claimed by the exploding vat. Apparently the shrapnel from the blast had embedded itself all across Genny's body.
She pulled a shard of metal from her side and screamed. The pain from the open wound burned as the liquid light continued to rain down on her. Yet, after only a moment Genny felt the pain dissipate. She looked and the puncture was slowly healing. She took a deep breath, and one-by-one removed the shrapnel from her body. The pain was overwhelming. She could hear explosions happening all around her, but whether from the intense pain, or from injuries she'd suffered from the relentless attack, everything she now heard sounded muffled.
As the last of the metal was pulled free, Genny noticed her first wound was completely healed. She watched, somewhat horrified but also relieved, as each wound was visibly closing.
Just then Genny felt something grab her shoulder
҉
“Anything on the scanner?” Taam asked.
“You think I'd keep quiet if there was?” Bartl answered.
Anthony just stood at a window and peered into space.
Huge fragments of a ship and rocky debris floated by.
“It doesn't make any sense,” Taam said. “Everything is gone. The Zorg have been wiped from their own space.”
“We really shouldn't be out here,” Bartl said to Taam.
“I just don't understand it,” Taam said. “That's a Zorg battle cruiser.”
“Not cruiser,” Bartl replied. “Cruisers. I'm showing the remains of at least six different armada class Zorg ships out there along with the remains of Tella II and Kpvurr Prime. That makes over a hundred Zorg ships and three planets, all destroyed.”
“What's going on? Taam muttered.
“I think you know,” Bartl replied. “I think we all know, or have a good guess.
“Taam,” Anthony said. He turned and faced both Bartl and Taam. “There's nothing here.”
“It's just like all the others,” Taam said ignoring the both of them. “There's nothing but bio-matter spread all over those things.”
“Bio-matter?” Anthony asked.
“Body parts,” Bartl said.
“We have to get answers,” Taam said. “We've no way of getting onto Volja unless we can track down that device.”
Bartl and Anthony looked at each other.
A long silent pause lingered.
“Alright,” Anthony said. “I'll say it. What if it's gone? What if whoever did all this came here looking for the same thing. But instead of trying to sneak through, they just started lighting the place up.”
Taam cursed, turned and punched the wall.
“You know it's the Attillians,” Bartl said. “The Starfaller is not a ship to be messed with, especially if they have a Prime Command fleet at their back.
Taam spun and worked a console.
The Platnium's engines roared to life.
/> “Where are we going now?” Anthony asked.
“The center of Zorg space,” Bartl answered. “If Ellidron is still out here--”
“He's still out here,” Taam interrupted. “And we're going to make that bratty little hacker come to us.”
҉
“Get out of there,” a man barked at Genny.
His face a light pink with a orange'ish beard running down to the middle of his chest.
“Run,” he yelled once more.
Genny heard the faint sounds of more drones clicking and splashing across the floor toward her position. Her mind was fighting against the darkness. For a few moments Genny was able to think clearly.
“The Light Drive has been breached,” the man said. “You need to get out of here. Only the processing system has been compromised. If the entirety of the Light Drive Shields fail, the hessian fluid will ignite and nothing will survive.”
Genny turned slowly and squinted. She saw cracks and fractures spread across the glowing chamber of the Light Drive. She watched as the hessian fluid sprayed out from various detached hoses and cracks along the chamber wall. She looked down and took notice that it was the same liquid spraying into the air. She was drenched in the the hessian fluid from the other vat.
Another series of explosion rang out. The engine room shook and Genny stumbled forward.
“They can't focus on you,” the man said. He'd taken quite a few steps away and was making an effort to reach an escape pod. “The hessian fluid is scrambling their targeting system.”
Genny turned once more and saw all the remaining drones wildly aiming at whatever registered on their targeting system.
“Get out of there,” the man yelled once more.
Genny watched as three drones broke off and darted toward the man. They must have detected his yelling and encircled him. He brought his hands up and pleaded with them.
“No stop,” he yelled. “You don't understand, I'm Lead Engineer Commander Albris. I'm trying to keep this ship from blowing--”
A drone spun its canon toward the commander and fired.
She reeled back as she watched the drone kill the man in cold blood. Genny could barely breath. Her mind went into shock. The darkness enveloped her mind and drove her into a rage once more.
The drones skittered forward, turned their canons toward Genny's general direction and fired.
Two of the blasts struck her in the face and chest. The other exploded off a wall nearby. Genny stumbled back for a moment. The hessian fluid burst into flame. Genny was immediately engulfed in white flames. The fire spread from Genny down to the floor. Within moments, a large section of the engine bay floor was a blazing inferno.
The pain of it slightly faded as the darkness attempted to push it all out of her mind once more. This time, she was able to fight back; She was starting to control whatever it was that crept and slithered through her thoughts. She wouldn't let it completely take her.
She snapped her gaze toward the drone and bolted for it. Her speed pulled the fire from her body and in a flash she was no longer engulfed in flames.
The drones charged a blast, but Genny moved too fast.
In one swift motion Genny grabbed a drone's leg, broke it off, spun, and skewered the drone with its own limb. With a flurry she then swung back around and snapped the canon off another, brought it up and lanced the remaining drone.
With a devastating kick she sent the canon-less drone careening across the engine bay and into a now blazing terminal. An explosion rang out and shook the engine bay
Genny looked down at the commander, his flesh charred and smoldering. A pool of her own blood gathered around the body. She looked down and saw that her wounds had only healed slightly. Exhaustion started to overtake her. That last outburst had drained her extensively. She could feel herself fighting the darkness in her mind. Her legs shook at the knees. Her breathing came in shorts bursts. She fell forward slightly; the room around her began to spin.
A canon blast struck her in the back. Genny stumbled forward a step or two, spun and saw dozens of incoming drones.
Thirty or so drones converged on her. She darted to her left and slid behind a row of huge canisters. Her midsection felt as though her skin was ripping apart. Instinctly she clutched inward with her hands. She looked down and blood was pouring out from dozens of lacerations. She also noticed spots of yellow spread all through her blood.
Her mind flashed with an image of Sir Halen, then an image of Marcus. Her emotions waged war inside her. One second she was filled with rage for whatever these people had done to her. She was no longer herself. She could feel Halen's experiment crawling through her. The next moment images of Marcus danced about in her mind.
The drones began firing.
Genny heard the blasts slamming into the canisters. It wouldn't be long before the they broke through.
Genny thought of how she may never see Marcus again, how giving into Halen's offer had lead her here. She knew he couldn't be trusted, but the thought of Marcus being out in space terrified her. She just wanted to hear her husband's voice one last time.
Sparks began to rain down across her back as the canisters took more canon fire.
Genny felt the tiny flecks of heat sprinkle across her. One such spark crackled just enough to cause a pinch on the back of her neck. Genny's mind snapped back to the lab where Halen had injected her with his genetic fluid. Darkness pressed in at the edges of her mind once more. She fought against it, but was exhausted. These outbursts were killing her. Her body ached. Genny fell forward. Her teeth gritted together. Her mind replayed that moment in the lab with clarity.
She saw herself crawling across the floor. Halen having just injected her with his genetic fluid. She knew he was there, slowly walking next to her, smiling at her despair.
The darkness now pulsed though her thoughts. Her head throbbed. It began to sound like a beating drum. It was nearly deafening.
Then came the memory of when she pulled herself across the cold floor trying to escape Halen. He'd loomed over her moments before she passed out.
Just then one of the drones and made its way around the side of the canisters. Its canon quickly powered up.
From a place of pure instinct Genny wildly swung and struck at the drone's canon. Its energy blast flew through the air and collided into the estroban containers. Even more liquid began to rain down. Within the blink of an eye the estroban caught fire.
It was too much, and Genny's will broke. The darkness consumed her every thought and action. Mind blank, Genny now moved with only a primal desire to survive.
She was suddenly up on her feet. Her legs were still unsteady and wobbly. The canon fire continued to assault her position, but the drone's accuracy was wild.
Whether from the heat of the spreading fire, or the chemicals now spraying everywhere, it appeared that the drones were malfunctioning.
Genny darted forward but one of the drones nearby was consumed by the hessian and estroban flames and exploded. Genny was thrown from her feet and slid for a moment. She pushed herself to her feet once more. The heat from the fire intensified behind her, a searing pain lapped across her back. Genny's breath was stolen from her lungs. More drones began to explode under the forceful heat and fire. Genny pushed forward, but couldn't find the speed at which she'd been moving prior.
Another series of explosions rang out. Genny finally reached for an escape pod door. She pulled, but it was sealed shut. With all her force she yanked back. Creaks of metal being forced beyond its limits rang out. Her body fought against her every wish. The door wouldn't pull free. Genny crumpled to the floor. She looked back and the entire engine bay was bathed in flames. The drones were bubbling into heaps of molten metal, others just burst into explosions. Torrents of flame ripped out from the light drive unit. The estroban container the blast had struck was engulfed in blue and white flame.
Genny reached up from the floor and gripped the escape pod handle once more. She squeezed with every ounce
of will power she could muster. Her arms felt weak. Her fingers trembled as she pulled the handle with all she had.
A moment later she collapsed to the floor. The heat from the engine bay made it nearly impossible to breath.
Genny watched as the entire engine bay was now nothing more than blazing fire.
҉
“The Imperium's light drive and spacial bend are non-responsive,” a bridge crewman said to Sir Halen. “We're leaking particle fluid from the hessian chamber. The engine core has multiple breaches and even more fractures on the containment field. Sir.”
“Jettison the light core,” Sir Halen yelled.
“Unable,” one of the bridge crew said. “The engine bay has suffered too much damage. All coupling units are unresponsive.”
Sir Halen stood from his captain's chair and bellowed, “Then send a manned crew.”
“But sir,” the crewman responded.
Sir Halen peered at the crewman. “Do not question me. Do you think I care for their well-being? This ship will not be lost to the hands of the Heezarians and a couple humans.” He pasued a moment. “Now, fix this ship!”
The Imperium shook violently
“Report?” Sir Halen barked out.
“It's the engine bay sir,” a crewman reported. “I'm showing the entire bay is...” the crewman paused.
“Is what?” Sir Halen demanded.
“It appears the bay is showing signs of heat signatures beyond the scope of our sensors sir,” the crewman responded. “We must evacuate.”
Sir Halen looked to the crewman and sat in his captain's chair. “Do you understand what the Central Core will do with every one of us if we send out an evacuation distress? We are a Prime Command Delukxar class ship. There is no evacuation.”
“What are your orders captain?” The crewman asked.
Sir Halen stared blankly out of the view screen and said nothing.
The crewman looked to his console screen; the sensors were registering explosions and heat beyond anything he'd seen coming from the engine bay. He peered back at Sir Halen then back to his command console. He let his hand slide across the screen. His finger flicked downward.
