Now according to the briefing they would be arriving in the colony’s system in the next twenty minutes and then would have another short five minute journey to establish visual contact with the station. Once visual contact was established and it was determined that the station was indeed in distress, the operation would begin in earnest. He was actually a bit excited by the prospect, he wasn't a cold blooded killer like some other soldiers might have been, but the thought of saving innocent lives from the depredations of evil men and women made a fire light in his belly and a storm rage in his soul. He knew he was on the side of justice and this assurance gave him the strength to do what was necessary. Even if that included taking lives.
He walked slowly down the narrow passage to the main corridor and from there walked down the straight steel hall. The grated floor under his feet clinked slightly from his booted tread, the glowing diodes above casting a harsh white light over the interior of the ship. He smiled, the clean lines and clinical fixtures of human ships were a comfort to him, some other races called the aesthetic bland and boring. He was more pragmatic about it however, the clean efficiency afforded by the brutalist design led to an innate understanding about the layout of the ship.
Keeping this in mind, he stopped at the large armored door he had just reached. The door to the armory was three inches thick of titansteel plated metal and would likely resist most weapons that could be conceivably carried onto the ship. Pushing the buttons on the doorside keypanel, he punched in his access code and the door ground open. Inside was a small security terminal that scanned his biometrics and made the secondary determination that he was indeed himself. Nodding in appreciation as the program decided he was clear, the secondary doors opened and he was able to walk into the ship's armory.
He stopped, taken aback by the sight as he always was. He liked guns just as much as the next man, but the sight of the orderly racks stacked with row upon row of ordinance still brought a joyful tear to his eye. ‘So beautiful.’ He thought to himself quietly as he walked along the racks towards the far corner of the room. The racks of Jule2000 laser rifles and NUV-L2 Beamers ended and made way to more exotic weapons as he trekked deeper into the bowls of the room. He saw a few LasBurs and even an M2-Mk12 heavy crewed machine gun, the urge to walk over and grab the handles of the massive weapon almost pulled him over in spite of his common sense. Of course the room was monitored heavily and he would be looked at a bit strangely by the command staff no doubt if he started making machine gun noises with his mouth like a kid.
He smiled under his mask, it would almost be worth it just to see their faces, but he stopped himself and continued walking. Far in the back, locked behind a layer of glazmite, was his Flamer Mk.64. He inserted his special access card into the case and was rewarded with a sharp tone that quieted after a few moments. He smiled again as the case swung open and he was finally able to access his old friend.
The weapon was large and bulky, with a backpack housing that held the fuel canisters and a flexible armored pipe that fed the nozzle of the weapon. It was an old weapon, the design simply a refinement of ancient designs, but it was effective. Nothing quite sapped enemy morale harder than a gout of burning napalm turning their friends into screaming torches, and the solitary thought that they would likely be next.
He shouldered the pack and hefted the weapon, its old familiar weight giving him a feeling of solid comfort that little else could. He knew that anything wishing to do him harm would pay dearly for the offense now. He turned and closed the case, withdrawing his special access card. Walking from the armory briskly, he exited the armoured vault and started down the hall once more towards the ship's airlock.
The grated flooring gave way to thick steel panels as he entered the ship's main combat airlock. It was different from a cargo airlock in the fact that it had partitions for cover that could be extended from the floor and was more robustly armored than a regular airlock. He was not alone in the room however, as he entered the other occupants seemed to shrink inwards slightly, as if his very presence was somehow offensive to them.
Sighing to himself, David walked to the far wall and stood silently, his weapon lowered and its pilot light unlit. ‘This is the least threatening I can make myself, if they don’t like it, well then screw them.’ he thought to himself a little bitterly.
As if his intrusive thoughts had been broadcast across the room, two figures began to walk in his direction, one nonchalant, the other hesitant. The calm one reached him first, it was a slaaveth male carrying a standard Jule2000 laser rifle, its power reading a healthy green indicating a full charge. This was likely voidsman Greedi and David stuck out his hand in the custamy human greeting to judge the man's resolve. He was a bit surprised when the man took it with no hesitation, his scaled hands scraping lightly on the tough leather of David’s gloves.
“Voidsman Apprentice Greedi reporting to station sir.” the Scaled man gurgled attentively.
He snapped a salute that David responded to with “Please, none of that, I might outrank you but I'm not some snobby officer. We are comrades in arms, you watch my back and I’ll watch yours, agreed?” he said quickly.
The slaaveth man responded with a wide predatory smile, his sharp shark-like teeth exposed under his lipless maw. Nodding his frilled head, voidsman Greedi said “I understand, and I must say its refreshing to work with a human again. Your people are generally so, blunt.” he complimented.
David nodded and said “That's us allrightly, no wasted effort, nothing to garish.” he said with a bit of a look around the interior of the ship, its clean and unpolished design giving credence to his words. David turned from the grinning slaaveth man to the other figure, and frowned under his mask.
Standing to the left of Voidsman Geedi was a slight figure covered in bright white feathers. Standing at only about one hundred and twenty-two centimeters in height, they only reached his lower chest. He looked closer and smirked, there was no doubt, this was the same swanith female that had been observing him in the galley that very morning. He could tell she was a bit nervous because of the way her expressive mane of jet-black feathers was fluttering, he was about to make a note of it but stopped, she walked right up to him like Greedi had done and offered a wing grasper to him, her hand trembling slightly.
“Hello Specialist Class III David, I am Leiah, Voidsman rank three.” the small, feathered female said, her voice that strange dualtone warble that swanith had. He reached over and took her hand gently, not wanting to hurt her he only gave the smallest shake. He had never seen a swanith up close before and he couldn't help but roam his eyes over her figure as she stood in front of him. She was definitely not human, but there was a certain shape to her body structure that seemed feminine. He couldn't place it exactly, but it tickled the edges of his mind. He noticed her legs were a bit more robust than he was expecting. Racking his brains for what he knew of the swanith, their home world of Sabith only had about seventy percent of a standard G. This meant that most swanith either had bionic upgrades to their skeletons, or wore leg braces that helped them walk more comfortably under the increased strain. It seemed as though Leiah had neither, and yet she seemed to be handling the strain without any apparent effort, most curious.
Realizing that he had been silent for slightly longer than was polite he spoke up, his gravelly voice grinding out of his mouth like nails down a drain “Erm, It is nice to meet you Voidsman rank three Leiah… I suppose you are armed and ready?” he asked a bit quickly.
She hopped back a pace and looked up into his reflective visor, her black mane of feathers fluttering slightly. He couldn't place the emotion, but he felt as though they might have started off on the wrong foot, so he decided to try and lessen the tension.
**********
Leiah was equal parts ecstatic and terrified. Here she was, less than a wingspan away from the mysterious man, his reflective visor doing nothing to keep the obvious interest out of his body language. He seemed to be looking at her legs in particular, she fluffed her feathers a bit at that, her legs were one of her best features. She lifted her mane in a friendly way, thinking that he might take the display as a sign of trust, instead it seemed to confuse the man and he fumbled for words after a hesitant pause.
“Oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you...” She heard him mutter forlornly in that rough voice of his as he seemed to shrink slightly. He was so tall, and must have weighed more than three times her own measly thirty-six kilograms. But even as the small danger senses were triggering in her mind, she stepped closer to this massive predator. She reached up and patted the man's tall shoulder, she had to stand on her toes to reach, as she assured “I'm fine Specialist David. I must apologize for my behavior, you are the first human I have ever met.” she said. Her mane rose in joy as she saw the man straighten and nod, he seemed less upset now and that was good.
Again she found herself nearer to the man than she would have ever dreamt possible the day before. She could smell the slight chemical musk of his long fireproof trench coat, see the small details in the worn fabric. She found herself looking into that golden mirrored visor that he always seemed to wear. She again wondered what he looked like underneath it, she had caught the barest glimpses of his features before. The vague profile of his face, the color of his hair and skin. She knew humans came in so many different shapes and tones, he seemed to be lighter though, the color of his skin almost the same shade as hers, a pale pinkish tone. He had that stuff called hair as well, it was a mammal thing and she had felt a nerivith’s hair before, she wondered quietly to herself if it was at all similar.
She realized she was staring and quickly hopped back a wingspan, her mane fluffed a bit in embarrassment but neither David nor Greedi said anything. ‘Wingterror… did he think she was weird? Was she already bothering him?’ She cursed silently to herself as she tried in vain to settle her feathers. She shifted her feet, settling the weight of her shrieker pulse rifle more comfortably across her back. The sonic weapon was useless in space, but in any kind of medium it was deadly against all kinds of targets, particularly those wearing armour.
She jumped slightly as the lights in the room began to flash yellow signifying an imminent warp transition. She tensed slightly, she hated these. As the seconds ticked down and then finally reached zero, the CMS Sails of Freedom finally exited the artificial event horizon it had been surfing and popped back into contact with the wider universe.
A wave of tingling, prickling, heat washed through her whole body all at once. The sensation was like having millibugs crawling through her body, but they were also on fire. It only lasted an instant, but it was long enough for her to start shivering, the sensation still bright in her mind.
“Well, that was just as pleasant as ever.” She heard David grumble in that savage voice. She found herself nodding in appreciation of the comment as Greedi replied.
“It never really gets any easier does it?” The amphibious slaaveth man gurgled jovially.
Before anyone could respond, the overhead speakers sounded. “We have arrived in the target system, working on establishing visual confirmation of target, five minutes.” The speaker cut off with a slight fizz-pop as its forty-year-old components strained.
There was a low muted buzz of conversation after that. There were only about twelve other crew members in the airlock not including their small group, and they all seemed to be taking the last few minutes to relax before the inevitable fight. She tried to think of something to say and then finally decided to ask David about his voice.
Hesitating for another moment, she straightened her chest harness and then asked as flatly as she could “I was curious, if it's not rude of me to ask. But why is your voice so different from other humans I have heard speak.” she had previously only heard recordings of human voices, they were low and slow, but tended to be a lot less ragged sounding.
David turned to look at her with that same impossible to read mask, the light from the ceiling strips glinting of the reflective gold of the visor. “It is a long story. Too long to tell in the time we have, but the short story is I was in an accident as a child that permanently damaged my vocal cords. I could get them repaired, but I really don't mind it.” the man said to her, his voice rough against her ear slits and she could almost feel it reverberate in her chest.
“Oh, how dreadful. I was just curious, I'm sorry if…” she started to apologize but was surprised as the large human cut her off.
“No no, it's really okay. I just don't really talk about it much.” he trailed off. She would have frowned if she was able, instead, her feathered mane drooped in pity. He had been on the ship for almost a month now, and no one had even taken the time to talk to him, she mentally kicked herself for not approaching him sooner. It seemed like he really wanted a friend but was too proud to ask.
Before Leiah had time to make any further progress, the overhead speakers blared a short alert before they announced “Confirmation of hostiles, moving in on the targeted vector. We will arrive in less than two minutes, prepare for potential hostile actions.” and with a short fizz, the speakers finished their dire warning.
The lights switched to a red strobe, no alert sounds were needed. The crew moved to take cover behind the many partitions that dotted the floor, in case of imminent hostile fire when they docked to the station. Leiah found herself shivering slightly, she had joined the Navy because it was the least likely to engage in hot, face to face combat. But here she was, she unslung her rifle, the comforting weight of the solid feeling weapon working to calm her mind. If they wanted to kill her then she would just have to kill them first.
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Leiah looked towards her two companions, they seemed utterly unaffected by the prospect of the upcoming fight, David was still as a statue, his intimidating weapon hissed slightly as the small pilot light sparked to life. The orange glow contrasting with the red from the alert lights above. Greedi looked much the same, his teeth barred in a savage grin, the sharp points glinting in the red light as if bloodied. She shuddered again at the thought of those teeth ripping through flesh, how horrid. The slaaveth man seemed positively ecstatic, like the upcoming fight was less a dangerous duty and more of a sport to be relished.
She supposed that the predatory nature of the slaaveth would make them more inclined towards violence. Her own people were insectivorous, not consuming meat as their bodies couldn't digest it properly. She had tried meat one time on a dare, the resulting after effects left her confined to quarters for a full day, she shook her head slightly at the memory, she needed to focus.
The time ticked down, it was almost up. A shudder reverberated through the room as the ship made contact with the colony’s docking port and she tensed. The massive doors that faced towards potential doom shrieked briefly as they began to open, and her eyes widened.
**********
David watched the large blast doors of the combat airlock as the ship shuddered, the contact making the room unsteady for the barest instant. He braced his flamer on the partition in front of him and made sure his line of fire was clear of friendlies, nodding to himself as he saw he was indeed clear, he switched on the pilot light. The slight hiss made him smile, it was good to once more be in his element, that element being fire.
The large doors gave a creak and then jolted as they began to move, they had obviously not been opened in quite some time. He tensed slightly as he ducked low in an attempt to make himself as small a target as possible. He waited for the crack of automatic fire, the snap-hiss of plasma weapons or the dreaded clink of a tossed grenade. Instead they were met with silence, deathly silence. He shuddered slightly, this chill lack of noise, the sound of death, it rang a familiar bell in his mind. He racked his brain for a moment before a voice he was not expecting to hear rang out commandingly.
“Alrighty, just because they didn't set up a welcoming party for us doesn't mean we get to go home early. Gather your gear and get ready to move out with me, Specialist David, you follow till the first engineering branch of the network.” the voice of Commander Killoy rang out in that slightly melodic tenor.
David stood, his veins alight with the adrenaline high that comes when anticipating a dangerous situation, he made sure to keep an eye on his two companions as he moved up to follow the main force into the station proper.
He could hear the small sound of the two following close behind him as they made their way off the ship, the neat metal plating of the ship's corridor giving way to worn rubber walkways covering corroded steel floor plating. The material muffled their footsteps and made the potential for ambushes a real and present threat.
David followed the Captain and the main force for about a hundred meters before the Captain signaled a halt, he took up a position that covered their rear as the Captain turned and said quietly. “Alright, Head down that hall Specialist, we will stay in radio contact. Keep the flank secured and call for backup immediately if you get rushed. Let's show these pirate scum who they are messing with, priority is rescuing the civilians, if you see any get them out ASAP. Alright, the rest of you, move out, we are taking the central access shaft.” the commanding nerivith male stated.
David motioned to Leiah and Greedi as the main force moved down the hall, they took a turn and started down a narrower tunnel. He couldn't shake that feeling of dread, like he had experienced this very same thing before and his brain was trying desperately to tell him something that he could not remember.
David heard a small noise and held up a fist before motioning to cover, the other two seemed to understand his signal and dived to the sides of the tunnel as fast as they could. Crouched low, David squinted down the long service tunnel, light wasn't great, but he thought he could make out a distant shape. He couldn't tell if it was hostile or not, and either way, they were far out of the range of his flamer which could only hit targets reliably about twenty-five meters away. Perfect for urban combat or in the close confines of a station, but in a long corridor it was not as useful.
Motioning to Greedi he asked “Greedi, can you make that target, Hostile or not?” the slaaveth man aimed down scope and almost immediately recoiled as if struck. David saw the man gurgle in shock and revulsion before he took a few deep breaths, his gillflaps fluttering slightly such was the strength of his inhales.
David frowned under his visor and squinted down the tunnel. He couldn't really make out the target from here and so was unsure as to the reason for the other man’s visceral reaction. “What is it Greedi? What did you see?”
Greedi turned to look at him and asked in a strained voice “Hostile, permission to terminate?” David just nodded and jerked slightly as the slaaveth man almost instantly leaned from cover and fired. The sharp crack of ionized air from the laser shot reverberated through the hall and the target jolted back, their head now only consisting of the lower half.
David looked at the man and said “Good shot, uh, we should move up.” he started to walk slowly towards the downed figure, it was about sixty meters down the hall and they soon arrived at the still steaming corpse. David looked at the figure and recoiled in disgust as well, his brain now screaming a single phrase that brought dread and horror with it. ‘Flesh Tearers.’
“Aww fuck…” was all he said while Leiah made a strange choking sound from behind him. Flesh Tearers were worse than pirates, worse than traitors. They were the degraded psychopathic dregs of the universe, murderers and rapists that feasted on the flesh of their victims, among other horrible atrocities. They could not be reasoned with, could not be intimidated, they were utterly fearless and generally hopped up on so many drugs that they were virtually immune to pain. They were like the living dead from ancient media made real in the most horrid and grisly fashion.
The corpse bleeding at his feet was enough proof of that. It was a slaaveth male, mostly naked and ritualistically mutilated, many of his scales torn from their raw weeping flesh. But the worst part were the trophies, fingers and ears hung from a braided leather cord they hung low on the monster's chest. David shuddered to think of what the leather had been cured from, likely the flensed carcass of another slain sapient. He tasted bile as his gorge rose and swallowed heavily, his eyes watering.
Leiah spoke up weakly from behind him “What in The Infinite Soaring Sky is that…” she managed to ask, her dark mane of feathers fluttering in a confused display of complex emotions, likely none of them pleasant.
“That is a Flesh Tearer, I'm sure you have heard of this scum in passing at least.” David said with a vicious kick to the dead body that didnt do anything but still seemed to make him feel a little better.
She nodded weakly and Greedi spoke up “We need to get to a better position, We are likely on their radar now, we could get swarmed any time.”
David snarled quietly to himself and said savagely “Then let them come, I have more than enough hate for all of them.” but Greedi shook his head, appealing to David’s better sense. “You are right of course, if you would lead the way?” he sighed to the slaaveth man.
Greedi nodded and blinked his pupiless black eyes giving away nothing. Instead he just turned from the cooling body and made his way down the hall, sticking to hard cover and scanning the clear in front. David was about to move to follow but noticed Leiah was staring at the corpse like she had seen something especially horrific.
David moved to her side and said as gently as his ragged voice allowed “We need to move Leiah, c'mon.” He smiled as she tore her gaze from the abomination and nodded absently. He put a gloved hand on her back and gave her a gentle pat as he said as cheerfully as he could “A bit of a shock to me when I first saw one too, but the good news is that they die just like any other animal, and are worth about as much thought as animals too.” he said in an attempt to make her feel less scared.
He was rewarded with her looking at his face through his mask and nodding, life seeming to return to her limbs as she did so. They made to follow Greedi as he scouted the hall when David heard his radio chatter.
“This is the Captain, we are pinned down by hostile forces, we are barricaded in a secure location, but we need a breakout. David, if you can hear me please respond.” the slightly distorted voice petered through the small device.
Immediately, David moved to the side of the hall, motioning for the others to hold position. He opened the channel and spoke “Commander, this is David, I read you. What is your location? Over.”
The slightly distorted voice of the Captain came through the radio again saying “We are on the main level in what appears to be the secondary aquaponics section. We are in a good position but have taken casualties, the ship has been alerted to lock down to avoid being boarded and we could really use that Flamer of yours. Over.”
David racked his brains before going over the inner workings of the station in his head. If they continued down this engineering corridor and then made their way through the maintenance halls to the main deck, they would likely be able to help the Captain and crew break out. It would be a close thing and would take valuable time that they might not have. Coming to a decision he called the Captain again “Commander, I have a plan to get you out of there, but it might take a little while, are you sure you can hold? Over.” he said into the mic with as much confidence as he could muster.
After a moments pause he heard the sound of gunfire and laser cracks through the radio and then the Captain responded “Yes, but don't take too long, there are probably over a hundred of the fuckers here, and they have guns, plasma and chimera weapons. Be careful, you might be our only way out of this. Over and out.” The Captain said with finality.
The sound of the connection cutting rang heavy in his heart, they might be their only hope. That was a lot of pressure to shoulder, but he straightened, he would not fail. Turning to the other two who were watching him with worried expressions he said “The Captain needs our help. I have a plan but it might be dangerous, too dangerous. We need to be quick and observant, these ghouls might have trapped the place. Greedi, Take point, Leiah cover the rear. I'll hold the middle to make sure we don't get swarmed from either direction. Everyone clear on what to do?” he asked them. As they both gave him quick nods he motioned for them to move out.
“We will be moving into the maintenance halls and then crossing over to the main living deck, the Captain is holed up in the secondary hydroponics section. They have time, but not all day, so we need to move fast.” David said as they started moving down the hall at a brisk walk, staying low and to the sides of the hall where they could dive into cover if needed. The rubber flooring under his feet was worn and uneven in places causing him to have to watch his footing to avoid tripping on the rough surface. As they reached another intersection in the hall Greedi gurgled a warning. “Contact front, three hostiles.”
“Weapons free, Leiah, help him I have the rear.” David ordered.
The small swanith woman moved up beside Greedi as he fell back to cover their rear. His flamer was near useless in these long corridors, the close confines of the maintenance hall and living area would be much more suited to his fighting style. He watched as Greedi and Leiah lined up their targets and then fired as one.
The sharp crack of the Jule2000 laser rifle in Greedi’s hands contrasted sharply with the muted hiss of Leiah’s sonic rifle, the shots taking their targets simultaneously. Greedi cursed loudly and fired again, his first shot seeming to have only pissed the large savage off. He heard the ferocious hiss of an enraged Vinarfel followed by the bloodchilling sound of something heavy moving towards them impossibly fast. He turned in time to see Leiah hit the charging Tearer straight in the lower body, the sonic pulse reverberating through the armoured insectoid’s body, tearing up internal organs and rupturing muscles.
He swore as the creature merely slowed slightly, its hiss turning to an awful screech of pure rage. Greedi fired on the monster again and again, but the laser blasts were muted by the creature’s thick carapace armour, leaving nothing but small molten craters behind. Leiah shot it again but just as before it only slowed the monster slightly. David could tell it would reach their position and if he didn't do something so he turned from the rear and screamed “GET DOWN!!”
To their credit, Greedi and Leiah flattened to the deck instantly as he stepped from cover only thirty meters from the charging monster. The Vinarfel were huge insectoid aliens that possessed a long armoured body vaguely similar in appearance to an Earthly centipede, if that centipede was six meters long, had ten arms, and weighed over three hundred kilograms of armoured muscle. They were generally polite enough, if a bit bad tempered, but this creature in front of him was another matter entirely. Its carapace was dotted with metal spikes and adorned with skulls and grisly trophies, some still bleeding. Its soulless compound eyes were blue and burned with hatred and a dark hunger, he looked into those eyes and knew in his heart that he was looking at death. But he was an InfernoTrooper of the Union, he was trained to face death and laugh in its cold dark features. A grim smile cracked his features as he aimed the nozzle of his flamethrower at the skittering horror, and depressed the trigger.
Immediately a jet of thick sticky liquid was projected from the hyper pressurized tanks on his back and through the nozzle of the flamer, catching alight as it passed the hissing pilot light and reaching out towards the object of his hatred. The burning napalm splashed against the charging Flesh Tearer and instantly the beast screeched, a truly hideous sound. Immediately underneath the noise was the unmistakable sound of burning meat, the sizzling of flesh soon the only sound as the crazed Vinarfel collapsed only twelve meters from their position.
“Mighty Wingterror…” He heard Leiah say from her position on the deck, she stood to her feet a bit shakily and stared at the still burning corpse wide eyed.
Greedi just nodded in satisfaction and said “That was well timed Specialist. I'm not sure our weapons would have been sufficient to render that creature inert.”
Leiah said nothing, he saw her give another small shudder and he looked back to the now smoldering pile of carbonized flesh. “Well, at least we know what works, the other two went down like sacks of flour.” He said as he looked out towards the other two Tearers, their ruptured bodies pooling slowly further down the hall.
The hall split into a T junction just ahead of where the Tearers had been guarding. They must have been occupied with the Captain still as there was no alarm, no sound of frantic footsteps. They seemed to be in the clear and David waved them onwards. Greedi took his spot up in front once more with a five meter gap in between them and Leiah taking up the rear. The hall was more confined than the engineering corridor but had less cover, David couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as they slowly walked through the dimly lit passage.
Suddenly a small ping-clink sounded from up ahead, astonishingly loud in the small space. He whipped his head towards Greedi who was looking at his feet with horror, the slaaveth man turned to look at David with a look of terror before the tripwire flayer mine he had activated detonated with tremendous violence in the small space. David had no time to react, he only managed to try and dive to the side when consciousness was smashed away on a tidal wave of light and pain.