“Not going to tell you again, little girl,” grunted the tallest and most numerous-armed of the three brutes staring down Mira. “You can either give us your ration chips, or we can break you apart and take them for ourselves.”
Mira glared at the three, and cursed herself for taking one of the back alleys through the waystation’s outer ring. She had seen them behind her earlier when she had received her daily allotment of the ration chips, a common-sense courtesy offered to all residents of the waystation or any guests passing through. However, she had not seen them for some time afterwards, and had naively assumed that they had found another mark elsewhere to harass.
Then one had stepped out in front of her, and another behind as she crossed through one of the cross-alleys, no one nearby to hear her even if she yelled for help. While she could the bustling trade row and the edges of colorful stalls and much heavier foot traffic, it generated enough noise that she would have to shout herself hoarse in order for the echoes to rise above the background din of the merchants peddling their wares.
“I've got my three chips for the day, same as any of you,” she shot back, glaring at the muggers.
The leader of the trio chuckled mirthlessly, saying “Yes, but it appears my friends have lost theirs or perhaps they were too hungry and ate it all up already. In either case, we need more, and yours will do nicely.” His voice lost the facsimile of playfulness as he said flatly and directly “This is your last opportunity to give us those rations, before they have to scrape you off the walls.”
In response, Mira just spat on the ground in front of the hulking alien, and retorted “Eat glass, for all I care.”
The leader of the muggers gaped in astonishment for a moment before he closed his mouth, and with a shrug sent a balled fist hurtling into her stomach. Mira coughed, gagging slightly at the sensation.
One of the henchmen holding her arm against the corridor paneling sounded almost regretful as they said “Best to just give up those chips now. I've seen him beat someone till they stopped breathing, just for giving him trouble.”
The leader of the gang balled up a pair of scaled fists this time, but before he punched he paused. He narrowed his eyes and said “Whoever the hell you are, scram. This doesn’t concern you.”
Still almost bent over double, Mira looked up to see a massive vacuum suit, suitable for space walks in low atmosphere or hard vacuum conditions. It was for a large species, so massive that it scraped against the sides of the alleyway, and a curious sight given that the conditions within the waystation rings typically covered most species’ respiration, temperature, and humidity needs. Those creatures that found the condition to be slightly off usually went for less bulky solutions, small supplemental gas tanks or lightweights liquid-saturated fabrics to stay moist.
But while the figure was large, it did not appear to be armed, and the movements seemed somewhat uncoordinated, possibly inebriated to Mira's untrained eye.
“You know friend, maybe you didn't hear me, but it's time for you to move along. Else I'm going to start asking after what tribute you're going to give us for inconveniencing me.”
The lumbering suit took a step forward. It was oddly quiet, the sound of fabric hitting the flooring with far less weight behind it then Mira would have guessed. The leader of the ruffians also seemed perplexed at the lack of weight from such a massive shape, stepping forward and flicking out the fire knife that he had been threatening the human with. It was a few inches long, with a crackling and low-quality plasma emitter providing a stuttering crimson wedge of energy barely as long and wide as his hand. He waved it towards the suited figure who paused but did not retreat at the display of the weapon.
Grateful that someone had taken an interest in her situation, Mira was still worried that whoever this seemingly-confused bystander was, they did not appear to be prepared for violence, and she would have loathed to be responsible for someone else getting hurt because of her stubbornness.
“Listen to the scaly snot-ball there,” she said, the leader whipping around to glare at her, a promise of revenge for the insult clearly visible in the way he played with and gripped the crackling energy knife.
The large figure turned to regard her, and despite the opaque visor hiding their face, Mira felt suddenly exposed and scrutinized. She managed to pull a hand-free, waving away at the suited figure before her arm was caught and pinned back in place as she said “Go on: I don't want you getting hurt too. Please.”
The large figure seemed to take a step back, and the gang leader snickered. “Just goes to show that because you're big doesn't mean you can't also be a coward,” he said chuckling wetly, before turning back to Mira and flipping the knife around in his hand. “Now, what was that about a scaly snot ball? I don’t take too kindly to being insulted by those who owe me their dues.”
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As he flipped the blade around, Mira clenched her eyes shut, wishing that her search hadn't come to an end here on his backwater station. But then an odd clomping sound caused her to look up, just in time to see the astonished gang members being smashed into by the suited figure, who had become galloping down the hallway, building momentum even as they scraped against the sides and protruding panels on the hallway.
While the creature was clearly not as dense as one might expect, there was still sufficient speed and mass to knock the gang members over, spilling them against a set of empty metal storage crates that were now filled with refuse and rotting food scraps. The soft-spoken follower who had warned Mira took this opportunity to escape, sprinting down the hallway towards the distant ring of the market street, dripping garbage juices from the bits of spoiled fruit hanging from him.
The other gang member quickly brushed off the scraps of packaging and herb-dust canisters that had fallen on her before getting to her feet, but although she'd squared her shoulders up to fight the interloper, she had paused, not daring to approach Mira as the enormous suited shape loomed. It began to rear onto its hind legs, lashing out with the front ones.
They didn't make contact, but it was enough of a show that the gang member took a step back. She instead went to help lift up her leader, who instead swore at her and swatted away the offered hand, getting heavily to his feet as something pink and clumpy oozed down his vest. His knife had skidded away down the hallway and he was unarmed, glaring daggers instead at the intruder who appeared to ignore him. The suited alien turned his best they could in the slightly-wider alcove until they faced Mira.
”Are you safe, little human came?”
The voice that crackled from the speaker on the suit was echoing in harmony, as if hundreds of distinct voices spoke as one.
She nodded, still confused as to who her savior was. “Thanks for the help,” she said hesitantly. “And you are-?”
”We are collective, but you may address us as Queen and Kin.”
Mara nodded slowly, before asking “Why did you save me?”
The lumbering figure lifted its head towards her, visored face still inscrutable, and spoke patiently again.
”We have a connection with humans, and saw an opportunity for us to help-”
The voice cut out as the unified words became a buzz of confusion , pain, and surprise. Shocked, Mira could see that the gang leader had recovered his knife, and had plunged it into the chest of this figure’s spacesuit.
But to both the human and the alien’s surprise, the figure did not immediately fall, nor did the wound begin to bleed. Instead, insects began to pour out, dozens of them, buzzing and humming as the air filled with the swarming creatures.
A few stings was all it took to send the other gang minion fleeing, screaming down the hall as she slapped at her already-visible welts along her skin, but the leader just chuckled. Mira could see many of the tiny creatures all across the scales, but it appeared they were too thick to have any impact.
“Well well,” he said with cruel glee, ignoring Mira for the moment to focus on the deflating suit and the growing swarm of insects that had filled it. “Something tells me that you little pests aren't going to be especially fond of clouds of acid.”
Mira could see his chest and neck flaps begin to engorge, filling with a bile that she had seen others of his species use before, spraying out a mist that could dissolve cloth and burn skin.
However, as he as the gang leader turned, chuckling thickly as his glands filled with the dangerous concoction, there was a loud THUNK, and he groaned and slumped forward. Behind him, Mira sighed in relief, slowly lowering the metal storage crate she had hit him with, and grateful that it appeared to have been heavy enough to finally put him down for the count.
Almost immediately the swarming insects rallied, going from an indistinct mass to begin collecting back at the suit. As she watched, it began re-inflating it as if a child's balloon being pumped. She could also see the cauterized cut in the suit was knitted back together with some sort of organic glue the insects spat out, until soon the only sign that the suit had been sundered at all was a thin lumpy line of off-colored paste along the cut.
A pair of the buzzing insects hadn't managed to make it back into the suit before it was sealed shut, and gently Mira held out her hand, giggling and flinching but then standing firm as she felt them tickle on her hand. The massive suit leaned forward, the visor sliding open to reveal a solid mass of insects swirling and churning within. She held out her hand, and the two that had rested on her flew off to join the others before the visor slid back down.
”Our thanks for the aid, human.”
There was a loud cacophony of uncoordinated buzzing, and then a moment later the voice spoke again.
”A consensus has been reached: We are seeking one of your kind, to help us rebuild, for our Hive and caretaker were both lost. Would you be willing to aid us?”
Glancing around at the dingy alley, Mira nodded, holding up a finger as she said “I have some conditions though, as I'm not here just for fun. I'm looking for something, but if you're willing to help me find it, I'll gladly help you deal with obstacles like this scaly blob of snot,” she said giving the unconscious gang leader a kick, eliciting a groan from his still form.
”We thank you caretaker. Now begins our first task, for we must find a new ship to rebuild within. This form was given to us by another kindly being, but it is not suitable to venture between the stars in.”
Glancing out towards the docking ring, she could barely make out the shape of her missing parents’ research vessel, right where she had last parked it.
Mira smiled. “You're always welcome to crash at my place!” she said, taking the suit by one hand and leading them down the passage towards the docking ring.