[Landing Area]
Allan, Aly, Jalla, and Tillia shot away at a speed that made Eddy's head spin. The rest of the humans, along with Eddy, pushed out of the ship in a silent wave, seeing a line of brightly colored individuals who looked like Aly and several other beings holding some improvised fortifications against a grey horde of Quillinar spotted with individuals that were pitch black head to toe.
"Alright, everybody, it's about to get loud in your ears. We are going with the original plan, standby for mass broadcast." Eddy said and was greeted by a chorus of "Copy." Eddy tapped a button that he had asked Aly to add to his translator, and it instantly slaved the translation and broadcast abilities of every comm-unit his units had to his own. "Attention, Quillinar people, lay down your weapons and surrender by dropping to your knees with your hands on your head. If you do not, you will die. All those who have not dropped to their knees will be executed in ten seconds. Ten…Nine…Eight." Eddy continued counting down, and a surprising number of the grey Quillinar almost instantly dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. As for the rest… "Two…One…Open Fire!"
The sound of weapons ranging from M-60 machine guns to modified AR-15s opening fire on full auto from points all along the line filled the air like thunder, Followed by a fine mist of blood filling the air, sending screams into the dusk air of the quillinar homeworld. "Alternate reloads and advance. Special tactics squad fall back and secure prisoners." Eddy said after turning off the broadcast mode, moving with the seven members of the special squad, and began to rapidly and aggressively slap flex cuffs, of which they each had a few hundred, courtesy of the fabricator, on the wrists of the surrendered Quillinar.
"Who are you?" A Grey Quillinar from the landing area asked.
Eddy examined him and figured he was probably Aly's Spawn-Father. "You Yilkie?" Eddy asked, never slowing as he moved from one surrendered Quillinar to the next.
"Yes?" The Quillinar man needed clarification.
"Nice to meet you, Yilkie. I am Eddy, Allan's brother. We are here to secure the area and then execute a search and destroy mission for all members of the fuckers you call the Council of Purity." Eddy said, watching Yilkie move with him as he and the seven others secured the hundred-and-twenty-ish Quillinar with frightening efficiency. "These are prisoners. Please move them to a clear area and post a guard. Inform them that if they try to leave, they will be shot. If they do try to leave, shoot them."
"Understood," Yilkie said, surprising Eddy with how readily he accepted the commands.
"Eddy." A voice crackled in over the comms. "This is Troy, Squad One. You should come up here." Eddy acknowledged the request and then handed a stack of the flex-cuffs to a velociraptor-looking being that had walked up, gesturing for him to continue, and the being nodded and went to work, slower but quick enough.
As Eddy walked, he spoke. "Any injuries this far?" He asked and smiled when they said no. When he got to Troy, he found him holding a weapon on a solid black Quillinar that repeatedly repeated, "I know Aly and Allan, I am not your enemy. I can provide information." He said it like a mantra.
"What do we do with this one?" Thor asked after disabling his translator.
"How do you know Aly and Allan?" Eddy asked after shrugging his shoulders to Troy.
The Quillinar man looked up, "I met them with my wife and child on the Station Xenttrop Theta."
"Hey, wait a minute, isn't this the one married to the fiery-looking lady Aly talked about?" Thor said, reactivating his communicator. "Hey, what is your wife's name, and what is the color pattern of your daughter?"
Eddy let Troy handle the questions, as Troy had a better memory of names and faces than he did. "My Wife's name is Jilnitequa, and my daughter is Black with red spots throughout her scales."
"Yeah, Eddy, this is the guy," Troy said.
"Copy that. Be nice, but secure him for now." Eddy said, turning to the Qullinar man, "hope you understand."
He nodded and offered up his hands to Troy, who secured his wrists after snagging a flex cuff off one of the many bundles on Eddy's pack. Eddy, in the meantime, was sending a text message to Allan.
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[Seaside Area]
Allan, Aly, Jalla, and Tillia had shot out of the ship, moving incredibly fast, and in only a few minutes, had covered the two and a half miles to the shore. When they got there, they regrouped and were catching their breath as even with the combat suits, it still took effort, though reduced, to move in them.
As they waited, a small ping alerted Allan to a message. "Ohh, good. They found our Hil'Vanq friend and will hold him for now."
"Good, Jilnitequa will be pleased," Aly said.
"So, that is one less thing we must do." Jalla seemed happy about that.
"We still have to go in there." Tillia gestured to the ocean.
"The vast majority of government buildings are on the ocean floor," Aly said, looking at each of them in turn, "And we have to make our way to the tower of the ruling council, as best as we can tell, that is where the Council of Purity is running their operation from."
"The suits will allow us to remain underwater and still move with speed for quite a long time." Allan said, "And according to Aly, the interior of the building underwater is devoid of water, which will let us move freely and allow our suits to recharge whatever technology lets us breathe underwater. Alright, ready?" Allan asked, and the three women nodded.
Aly pointed them in the right direction, and they waded into the water. Once they had submerged above their heads, the suits took over a fair amount of movement, letting this swim at a speed that Allan would never have been able to achieve, or Jala and Tillia, for that matter. On the other hand, Aly found it slow compared to her normal swimming rate.
Allan had expected that as they got deeper, it would get darker, but as they neared and went over the dropoff of the shore, A glimmering city filled his sight. Bright colors filled the city as different carefully cultivated bioluminescent plants grew up the sides of buildings. "It's beautiful," Allan said, turning slightly towards a cluster of seven tall towers that Aly directed them to.
"When this ends, I will return with you for a proper tour," Aly responded, gesturing to one of the towers. It had marks that seemed to follow the edges of the building, and around its base, piles of now-dead plants lay on the ground.
"They stripped it of its color, making it as dark as they are. Aly said, sounding sad.
"You mean they just marked it as our destination," Allan said. "Let's go right through the front door. We should be there in about an hour."
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[Landing Area]
The humans quickly and effectively captured those who surrendered and cleared a few hundred meters around the camp. Eddy walked over to where the Raptor, being that Allan had called Doc, stood. "Hey Doc, I'm Eddy." He stuck out a hand, and the Gish shook it.
"Eddy, I have heard many things from Allan about you," Yilvar said.
"They're all true, well, probably," Eddy said, laughing. "Doc, we are going to set up a simple base camp. You have full authority over the field hospital. Send anyone who wants to keep fighting to us."
"I will help with that as well," Yilkie said, stepping up and in a daze after viewing the carnage these few humans had unleashed.
"Good. In five minutes, get everyone who can and wants to fight at the cargo doors of the ship. My men will hold the perimeter and begin outlining trenches and bunkers." Eddy said, and Yilkie ran off. "Doc, Aly also told me to tell you you can utilize the ship's medical bay if necessary."
"Understood, Commander," Yilvar said, offering a strange but crisp salute and moving off to treat the injured.
Moments later, Eddy stood before the assembled Quillinar and their allies, a veritable rainbow of color. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Eddy, and my brother Allan has graciously provided weapons and armor for you all." He kicked at the cargo container he dragged to the ramp's foot. "I am told that the armor is adaptive, and the weapons are railguns. So, if you wish to fight, grab some gear if you don't have anything, and then assemble back here. You have twenty minutes." Eddy stood stock-still the entire time, watching those who knew their way around the weapons and armor help those who did not, and then, after they were all outfitted, they stood in front of him.
"Good. The red crates are ammo and power for the railguns. You should remember this." Eddy spoke and saw the ones he had noted as, knowing their way around a gun, looking at the mountain of red crates in the middle of the cargo hold. "In six hours, my men and I will proceed from this point and begin to hunt every member of the Council of purity we can find. Until then, our goal is to help you establish a defensible perimeter and get you to a point where you can hold this area against any who come."
The cheer that Eddy heard was music to his ears. He broke them into forty groups, trying to place one of the more knowledgeable ones in each group and sending them to seek out a human. As they had planned, the last group was mostly children, a few elder men, and several mothers caring for the children. "You men, you are armed, and from what I saw, the three of you seemed to be familiar with the weapons."
"Yes, sir." One said, "We served with various mercenary groups together to survive."
"Good. One of you will stay here and act as a guard to the ship. This is our stockpile; if things go very wrong, our way out, so protect it well." Eddy said, and one of the older Quillinar men, his scales a mix of greens and teals, moved over to take up a post at the top of the ramp. "The other two, you will see the dinosaur-looking guy, Doc."
"You mean the Gish?" One of the children, a young girl, asked.
"Ah yes, the Gish." Eddy smiled at the child. "Thank you, little one. You two go find whoever is guarding the prisoners and relieve them. If they attempt to escape, kill them, no questions."
The two men nodded grimly and trotted off. "What about us?" The little girl who had spoken to him earlier asked.
"We will see." Eddy said, smiling at the children, "For now, the best thing we can do is keep you safe. So your parents don't have to worry." Eddy led them into the ship and down into the rec room, queuing up a series of old Disney movies that he had asked Aly to assemble. The children sat on the couches, and the computer played the movies with Galcom subtitles.
"What do we do?" The two mothers who had been keeping the children safe until then asked.
"You keep doing what you have been doing. Take care of these kids." The women both had railguns and armor on. "If anything goes wrong, you seal this door, and unless you hear me or someone who you trust on the other side, you shoot anyone who comes through it. Understood?" The women nodded. Eddy showed one of them where the mess hall was and told her to bring the children up a few at a time to eat.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
After dealing with all the children's needs, he went back outside and checked on the camp preparation. With the help of the humans, the land around the ship was quickly shaping up into a defensible position.
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[Towers of Governance]
Allan, Aly, Jalla, and Tillia had reached the towers in about fifty minutes. They now stood on the sand of the bottom of the ocean, packed hard from pressure, and watched as Hil'Vanq Quillinar, armed, moved to and from the building. "You ready for this?" Allan asked them all, and they nodded. "Remember, the tower part of the building is supposedly all legit. So we searched for a basement. Jalla and Tillia, once we get inside, you two secure the door, and I will clear the main floor with Aly. Aly will handle all communications. Clear?"
"Yes." The three women chorused back, and Allan nodded. He passed Aly the Comms lead and then took up the position at the point of the spear-shaped formation they were using.
"Okay, On my mark," Aly said, her voice slightly shaking. "Three… Two… One… Mark!" She said, and then the four of them moved in concert. Lines of bubbles, the results of high energy lasers flashing boiling water in their path, flashed out from Allan, Jalla, and Tillia's extended arms and struck the roving black forms of the other Quillinar. They began to float to the surface, dead.
Once they entered the building, Jalla and tillia peeled off, one to either side of the door, which from the inside seemed to defy physics, as a wall of water was present, but inside the building was bone dry save for the water that dripped from them. The push into the building from where they had hidden away had taken them around fifteen minutes.
Aly and Allan pushed forward when they found a door with an electronic lock. Aly would kneel, connect her datapad, and quickly hack the lock while Allan covered the halls. When the click of the lock opening sounded, Allan would turn and kick the door open, more often than not ripping it from its hinges, and then enter with Aly behind him. If there were Hil'Vanq Quillinar inside, Allan would kill them and anyone who made it as if to attack. If no one attacked, they were placed in flex-cuffs, one pair around their hands, arms wrapped around anything he could get them around, and one around their feet.
This took an hour, and finally, after they had secured the floor, blocking access from above, Allan gave Aly a signal. "Jalla, Tillia, we are secure inside. We will now search for access to the lower levels."
"Understood." the two sisters spoke in unison, and Aly could hear the sounds of their suits discharging more laser fire.
"How many shots of the lasers can the suits fire?" After opening a private line to Allan, Aly asked as they went room to room, checking the floors and walls for anything that might indicate a hidden doorway.
"Well, he wasn't incredibly specific as to how, but Jeths said that we could fire a few hundred rounds of the lasers before it would become problematic, but even then, the suits recharge constantly, utilizing all kinds of stuff. I couldn't even begin to list off everything that Jeths had said helped in this, but even if we get to a point where the suits need to stop firing, there are a lot of other weapons built into it that are self-contained systems. So don't worry, they could rush that front door all day, and Jalla and Tillia would keep shooting with one system or another." Allan said, pushing bookshelves over in the office they were currently in.
Aly smiled, remembering the way that Allan had pestered Jeths with questions. She continued her own search of the room. It went on like this for several hours until Aly and Allan finally returned to the main entrance, where Jalla and Tillia stood next to the door.
"Find it?" Jalla asked without taking her eyes from the water outside.
"No. We searched every room and nothing."
"That is not good," Tillia said, then shot into the water.
"It can't be," Allan said and then laughed. "There is no way it's that easy." Allan was looking at a tile mosaic on the floor. Quillnarish was writing around the outskirts. "Aly, this is going to sound dumb, but is the word or letters needed to make the word purity around this?" He gestured to the mosaic.
Aly came over and looked at the tiles. "Yes, this symbol here is purity." She said and tapped it. The symbol began to glow, and suddenly, a door rose up from the floor of the main doorway, blocking it off, and the mosaic began to drop down into the floor, replaced by an open hole that was being filled with a spiral staircase as the stairs laid out from the wall. "Allan, how the hell did you know that was there?"
"You can thank my love of table-top RPGs and bad B-rate fantasy films," Allan said. "Well, it seems the door is no longer a problem, so let's push down." Jalla and Tillia followed him as he began to move down the stairs. Aly sent a quick prayer for protection to the Goddess, followed as well. When they all got to the bottom, it sealed up behind them. "Well, no way to go but forward now," Allans said, taking point again.
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[Landing Area]
Five and a half hours had passed since landing, and Eddy was happy with how the defenses of the landing area had progressed. "Thirty minutes to roll out, finish up, and start resupply ladies and gentlemen," Eddy said into his comms and received a string of confirmation.
Eddy watched as the humans showed up to the ship and refilled mags one by one. With three minutes to go, Doc showed up. "Eddy." Yilvar said, "We have a problem."
"What is it?" Eddy asked.
"The Bastion of Law just signaled me via a closed network that a Quillinar warship has entered the system. They are broadcasting a message that they are the enforcers of the Council of Purity and have requested that all ships leave. The Bastion of Law is exempt as they directly represent the Core Worlds but cannot continue blocking transmission." Yilvar said and then explained why it was that Allan had been so happy they would be able to block transmissions. Telling Eddy and the other humans what would happen if it was discovered they came from the deathworld.
"Huh, well," Eddy said, his mind reeling. "Fuck. Okay, everyone, grab a suit of the armor we handed out. Snipers and heavy weapons get priority if there is not enough. The new plan is to hold this position and kill anything that comes here. Start digging in your positions. Snipers Find a hide and kill anything that comes our way. Let's move people!"
A few moments later, they all wore armor. "Doc, will this be enough to hide that we are human?"
"Umm, it will help, but not much. If you could cover every part of your flesh, that would be best." The Doc said, looking at the open helmets that revealed their distinctively human faces. "Hold on, you all start doing what you are doing. I will get you something to help." He grabbed a helmet from one of the few remaining suits of armor and dashed into the ship.
"Alright, you heard the Doc, get moving, try and stay hidden. Kill everything." Eddy said, and the humans moved out.
As the Humans worked, digging some additional positions for the four members who had M60s, the snipers disappeared into whatever hide they found or made. The rest dispersed according to their groups, with the seven special members waiting with Eddy.
"Hey, Eddy, let us do our thing," Mack said, a wicked smile on his face. "Turn us loose. If you are staying here, the seven of us can roam and do what we can to disrupt the enemy."
"Fine, stay safe, no mercy," Eddy said.
"No mercy!" The seven shouted in unison.
The Doc rushed back with an armful of freshly crafted face masks from the assembler. "I only have ten for now, but more are coming," Doc said, handing each of them a facemask that covered everything but their eyes and clipped into the helmet brackets.
"Thanks, Doc." Each member said as they took one and affixed it to their helmets.
"I will do what I can to get the Bastion of Law to resume blocking communications," Doc assured them as they dashed off into the dusk of the coming night.
"Thanks, Doc," Eddy said.
"I will send them out as they are ready for the rest of the humans," Doc said, rushing back into the ship.
"Copy that," Eddy said to the disappearing Gish. He took a deep breath and turned back to the door of the cargo hold. "Blood for the Blood God." He said to himself and rushed out to find a spot to use as a command post.
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[Tower of Governance- Basement]
The first thing that Allan, Aly, Jalla, and Tillia encountered after pushing down a long sloping hallway was horrible. In Rooms with glass fronts and doors to the hallway were women, some Hil'Vanq but most the standard grey. The chambers behind the glass were meant for one thing. To allow the women to give birth to their children and a small sleeping pit for what could only be termed breeding.
"What the fuck." Jalla said. As they walked, the women came to the glass, pounding on it, with no sound coming through.
"We need to help them," Aly said, tears welling in her eyes.
"I know, but if we let them out now, they would be nowhere to go. We need to focus on our mission, and then we can see if we can get them out as we leave." Allan said, a tone in his voice that Aly recognized as rage.
From that point forward, Allan showed no hesitation or mercy. Anyone whom he found walking free in their path died quickly. The next room they came across was almost worse. In it were children, no more than toddlers, watching a toddler reaching for a brightly colored toy. The toy emitted a faint shock, causing the toddler to cry, and then, as it reached for a similar toy that was jet black, the toy did nothing.
"Okay, new plan." Allan said, his tone making all three women with him shiver in fear, "Jalla, go back and get those women, bring them here, Tillia get these kids out of these fucking cages. Aly, send a message to Eddy telling him what we found here, have him get Doc to the bridge of the ship, send a video of this, and have Doc get it to the Bastion of Law."
"Allan…" Jalla said a note of something that was fear and concern rolled into one.
"I am fine, Jalla. Please do as I say. After you get the women and the children, I want the three of you to get them out and to the ship." Allan said his tone was icy, free of emotion, and when Aly saw his eyes, she knew nothing would stop him. "I am going hunting. And if anything gets in your way, kill them."
Tillia looked at a child reaching for a multicolored ball, and tears rolled down her eyes as the child was shocked. "You have no worries there, Allan. Death will be the least of their worries if I get my hands on whoever came up with this," Tillia said as she began to work at the doors.
"Be safe," Aly said quietly, more to herself than anyone, as Jalla disappeared back the way they had come, and Allan moved forward, his every movement exuding death. She wiped her eyes after pulling her helmet off. She turned it to face her, "Doc, please, I don't know how. I don't care if you have to destroy my ship to do it. Get this to the Bastion of Law." She turned the helmet with its cameras to the cages that Tillia was slowly breaking open one at a time and filmed the horrid things happening.
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[Landing Area]
It had been a few hours since they had decided to stay with the ship when Eddy got a text message from Aly that said for him to get Doc and get him to the ship's communications array as soon as possible. "Mack, come in." He said, trying to reach the away team that had been wreaking havoc with the Council's troops.
"Go ahead, Eddy," Mack whispered. Eddy could imagine the man slipping through the low plants for his next kill.
"Return to base. Aly has broken the radio silence. Something is going on." Eddy said, already moving to the field hospital they had set up for Doc. "Be ready."
"Copy that," Mack said and terminated the communication.
"Doc!" Eddy said, stepping into the tent, which was mercifully empty, and Doc was simply waiting for the battle to start. "You are with me; let's go!" The Doc nodded and started after him. They sprinted towards the ship. "All units, radio silence is broken. I repeat, radio silence is broken; be ready for anything."
They made it to the ship and almost ran into one of the mothers, leading three children to the mess hall. Eddy and Yilvar dodged around them and finished their run to the bridge, where Eddy panted out, "Communications Array."
The Gish man moved over to a panel with a bright light flashing, indicating a message flagged as urgent. Yilvar pressed a button, and on-screen, something played. Eddy watched the color drain from Doc's reptilian face. "Eddy," Doc's voice was of horror, anger, and determination, "You should bring the rest of the humans here."
Eddy had never seen a Gish before today, but the look of sheer outrage on Doc's face when he looked to Eddy and said please, was enough of a motivator that Eddy tapped his comm-link and said, "All personnel, report to the bridge of the ship, immediately."
Ten minutes later, Mack and his six other hellraisers entered the bridge, panting heavily. "Okay, Doc, here we all are. Show us what they sent." Eddy said the sense of suspense and apprehension that had been building was uncomfortable.
Doc pressed a few buttons, suddenly saw Aly's face, and then heard her voice, "Doc, please, I don't know how. I don't care if you have to destroy my ship to do it. Get this to the Bastion of Law." The images that came next, accompanied by Aly's voice, filled with sorrow, explaining what she and the others had discovered would haunt the humans for the rest of their lives.
At the end, Eddy looked around the room, and every one of the humans in the room had a look of unfettered rage plastered across their faces, tears streaming down their eyes. "Doc, do it, get it to your ship, leave if you have to, die if you have to, just know if you die, it is as a hero," Eddy said, his voice hoarse with emotions of rage and sorrow.
"Understood. I will broadcast on all available frequencies as well, on a loop," Doc said, his voice more of a growl than a voice.
Eddy turned to the humans. "We have been playing nice because we wanted to minimize death." Eddy saw the room of trained killers begin to shake with rage. "The prisoners we have already will be spared and kept alive for interrogation after the fact." A resounding primal yell was what he got in confirmation. "The rest, wipe them from the face of this planet. Every sick and twisted thing you have ever dreamed up, use it. Every idea that has gone against your rules of engagement, I want to see them in use."
Just then, a Quillinar with bright teal coloring burst in. "They are coming!" That was all he said. As one every human turned to look at him, manic grins plastered on their faces, tears streaming down from their eyes. The look was haunting, and the Quillinar moved, plastering himself against the wall to escape from them as they all made their way out in perfect silence.