Enid crouched behind one of the many work tables full of lab equipment and as soon as the she heard the door open she learned from behind it and shot two rounds into the center of mass of the lead shadow. She wasn’t too surprised to see all she did was make it look around for the source of the noise. The massive shadow pushed through the door and there it was plain as day an eight-foot tall…dragon many with purple scales and wings. He started barking orders immediately. Her bullets hadn't even annoyed it.

“Go, disable the temporal shields. We will find the source of the noise.”

Enid popped up and tossed the swarmer grenade she had already armed at the lead one and ducked as glowing purple spikes flew everywhere in the vicinity of the target.

“What are these pathetic weapons?”

He soon received his answer as every single dot turned into a micro explosion. Enid peaked over the work table she’d taken cover behind and five of the Silwrath lay dead on the ground with giant chunks blown out of them.

“Handy trinket.”

She heard more armored foot steps running towards her. She pressed the button to arm the other swarmer. It did not make the beep and start flashing pink as the last one had. She shook it hit against the floor but it refused to arm. She realized this had been the one she was using to bounce off a wall. There was a guttural…feminine sounding scream of rage.

“My life mate! I will take pleasure in undoing what you wrought Synthlin scum! If anyone could remember you, they would know that I, Nutina, Second Trimark of the Imperial Silwrath Space Marines erased your species from existence!”

Enid heard a weird humming sound then a piece of scientific equipment above her head vanished causing beakers that were on top of it to crash and break.

She moved because her head was exposed now, and she looked on in horror as they disintegrated her lucky travel mug.

“Bastards just disintegrated my lucky travel mug!”

Enid continued to crawl along the floor.

“Lucky travel mug?”

“You know Apollo the one with the kittens, that I always bring with us?”

“I do not recall that travel mug, are you at all feeling alright.”

Enid started realizing three things then: One Apollo’s temporal shields were not active while he was cloaked, and second, these dragon-people could erase things so its like they never existed, third, they had turned off the lab’s temporal shields.

“Fuck. Playtimes over I guess.”

Enid pulled time into herself and started to alter time trying to slow everything down but her in the vicinity. The Silwrath should have been moving at a snail’s pace and not even perceived her. She had most definitely not expect to find they seemed to be immune to her time alteration because she took a full blast of an unraveller to her chest. To say she was surprised to have been even targeted would be an understatement, thankfully the Silwrath where just as shocked when their most feared weapon…had no effect on their intended target whatsoever. They shot her a few more times as is if it would make a difference. Enid stepped forward to the closet one, grabbed the arm with the wrist mounted weapon and averted another shot towards one of their squad mates who vanished in a flash.

Enid pushed her glock into he base of the Silwrath female’s long toothy jaw and pulled the trigger. Brains splattered out of the back of the dragon woman and her body collapsed to the ground. Enid lept over the nearest lab table knocking several pieces of kit onto the floor. She formed an energy shield on her left arm and punched upwards into the same spot on the next Silwrath forming a wrist blade from her armor’s forearm shield. She pointed his wrist weapon at another Silwrath who vanished in a flash this time a section of wall that had been hit reformed and the jungle overgrowth that had invaded as if it were open for a thousand years vanished. She quirked an eyebrow and glanced back where her lucky travel mug had been but it was no where to be seen. She quickly shifted the her arm that had the impaled Silwrath dangling off it like an old coat and it blocked a red beam from another Silwrath’s wrist weapon with a sizzle. Enid noticed it was burning through him. She quickly kicked him off of her wrist blade and deflected another shot with her shield it hit another of the Silwrath and he fell dead.

She ripped the arm off of the the closest Silwrath and started bending the wrist to fire his wrist weapon. Her vicious assault had forced the last remaining Silwrath squad to retreat. She chased them through the door and barely got her large blue energy shield up in time to protect herself as closet dragon-man breathed a gout what appeared plasma in her direction. She could feel the heat through her armor. She ripped a metal railing off of it’s housing and threw it at him. The twisted metal pieced him in the chest and he fell backwards knocking one of his fellow soldiers down. She reached out her hand and formed a long spear out of the same blue energy she’d used to create her round shield. Started using the shield to push the Silwrath back up the stairs whilst stabbing through the notch in the shields corner. The purple scaled dragon men were obviously hardened soldiers but they didn’t seem to have any idea how to fight the old Greek tactic as their weapons were failing to pierce the energy shield Enid had formed. Enid would have been sweating bullets as she watched the stored energy counter on her Atlantean armor steadily tick downwards and an overly rapid base. Finally the shield, spear vanished and her plates receded back into her armor leaving her what was basically a black body suit. She dove to avoid another blast from the wrist laser of the last remaining Silwrath the rest lay dying, or dead behind her.

She zigged and zagged as she approached him finally she reached her target. It was a cornered animal by now. It swiped down tearing through her unpowered Atlantean armor with ease and tearing a massive gash into her chest. He leaned to bite her. Enid grabbed the tops and bottoms of his jaw and with a scream ripped his head in half showing herself in gore. She glanced up at the night sky and thanked whatever gods were watching it hadn’t been day. She stood there with the two halfs of the Silwrath’s toothy jaw in her hands and glanced down at her chest to make sure it was healing like it should. She sighed with relief when the claw wound sealed itself. It hadn’t been a pretty sight the wound was so deep she could see the silver amulet that protected her heart. She dropped the remnants of the jaw over the edge of the lab.

“Apollo, they here yet?”

“No, we still have approximately ten minutes.”

“Data transfer?”

“Complete and comm-link disconnected.”

“How about a target for our wormhole beacon?”

“Got something.”

“Well get down here and drop off that buoy of antimatter would you kindly?”

“Already starting my descent Aunt Enid.”

Enid looked up at the Silwrath transport and started formulating a plan. Enid shield her eyes from the bright running lights along the bottom of Apollo as she watched him over just under the landing pad. She reached up and gingerly caught the antimatter containment buoy he dropped.

“Okay, going to set the detonator. Go into orbit and cloak. As soon as those Silwrath battleships translate into system I want you to target them with the antimatter torpedoes and blow them to kingdom come.”

Enid laid down reaching over the edge and grabbed her pack from Apollo’s cockpit which was now just below the lab’s landing pad.”

“You will be defenseless down here. How will you get to the Silwrath ship?”

Enid glanced at the drop ship behind her.

“I have some ideas. Pop the two battleships, send the coordinates for our next target system to my holo-phone and Theon then get the hell out of the system. You’re a small target but they might have wide area anti-cloak weaponry, like depth charges for space or some shit. I’ll rendezvous with you there…as soon as I can.”

“Aunt Enid?”

Enid slapped Apollo’s now metallic purple skin.

“Get gone. And appreciate that I’m letting you blow up the battleships.”

Apollo lingered for a few more moments and Enid pointed upwards.

“You got shit to do, so do I.”

Enid slipped her pack over her shoulder and started pulling out the parts she’d need to assemble a quick and dirty timed detonator. She was going to risk the signal being jammed. By the time she reached the fusion reactor shaft she had the timer set for twenty minutes on a very quick and dirty detonator. All she had to do was rupture the magnetic containment and the antimatter would do the rest as soon as it hit the container walls. She lept down to the bottom of the shaft and tucked the containment vessel under some conduits and promptly flew upwards and out of the shaft.

Enid made her way back to the rain soaked landing pad. Starting inspecting the back of the Silwrath drop ship and saw a hand shaped panel, well a Silwrath hand shaped panel and glanced around. She saw the headless one that was still laying on the edge of the landing pad. She glanced at his arms, shrugged and placed her foot on his chest and ripped both arms off. She tried the left, then the right, which also happened to be the hand with the wrist weapon on it. The transport’s boarding ramp dropped down. The inside was… not pleasant looking or smelling but that was life. She started looking over the control panels and saw yet another hand panel. She put the dead Silwrath’s hand on it and it got scanned and the control panel lit up. It had a stick, and what appeared to be a throttle, and foot pedals. She shrugged have closed her eyes and grabbed the stick and pushed down the left foot peddle. She heard cracking concrete and she slammed into the landing pad.

“Oops.”

She pressed the other peddle and the troop transport started to lift off. She was just exiting the atmosphere when she was knocked spinning by the biggest explosion she’d ever witnessed. She saw another streak of light heading towards the other battleship and braced herself. This time she could see it happening in real time. The torpedo impacted the front of the ship. The were little tiny sparkles of light then balls of energy ripped the battle ship apart and she was buffeted from the superheated rapidly expanding air. She pondered the kind of damage the blast wave could do in atmosphere when it had more then just the ships atmosphere to propagate.

She saw two flashes of blue-white light she assumed it was Apollo and Theon jumping out of system. She heard a male Silwrath over the speaker of the drop ship she had acquired.

“What is your status First Trimark Kitarn?”

“This is Second Trimark Nutina. I am injured. We encountered heavy resistance and could not get comms working from the surface. I was ordered to return and request reinforcements and medical attention by my life mate.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Your lair-ship has been destroyed by unknown enemy weaponry. You may board our ship. We have you on auto-approach. Your life mate and his forces will have to hold out without reinforcements our prey has escaped the system yet again.”

Enid rubbed her temples. She wanted to get as many Silwrath on the surface as possible and out of her way, but how to do it. A small truth and a big lie? She looked at the copilot’s seat the glass tube of nano-virus that Amee had told her under no circumstances she should touch, she’d always been bad at following instructions. She shrugged.

“They have nanoparticle bio-weapons. They are trying to delay our forces so they can launch them. They have our colony worlds targeted.”

“Vile creatures! Our pursuit will have to wait. I am sending medical to your landing bay.”

Enid was about to protest but the comms channel closed. She saw six drop ships similar to the one she was flying launch shortly after her conversation and start zooming off towards the planet. She did a quick calculation and judged she would land before they knew everyone on the surface was dead. She looked down at herself and decided to start pulling off her still shredded Atlantean armor. She closed her eyes and willed herself into the form of a Silwrath female. Much like when she turned into a sauroid it felt completely alien, especially with the new appendages sticking out of her back. She flexed the newly formed wings and thanked the benefactor who had taught her the changing power when she was a schoolgirl in Japan. She used the five minutes she had before she landed to see out a set of armor which she put on with some confusion as to what part went wear thanks to the wings. She slung her pack’s strap over her shoulder and grabbed the nano-virus and waited by the offboarding ramp. The drop ship shook as it made contact with the deck causing her to reach out and one of the supports. As the lamp lowered she was looking down at her newly formed claws. She looked up to see a Silwrath trauma team. Unlike the soldier whose appearance she stole their scales were a much lighter purple. She walked down the ramp and made a show of coughing as she did.

“Nano-virus grenade. Breathed in some. I have sample.”

Enid offered up the tube of nano-virus as she did so she nudged the trigger for the timer on the dispersal mechanism that was built into it. She’s pretty sure she set it for thirty minutes but, it could have been three. Some of the smaller, what she assumed to be nurses tried to get her onto the hover gurney she shoved them way easily, she might look like a Silwrath but underneath the skin still flowed the blood of an ancient vampire.

“Away with you. I do not have time for this. I need to re-equip and get back to my life mate.”

She did more fake coughs. And waved them away.

“Figure out what vile poison is in my lungs and then summon me once you have a solution. If I get worse I will call for you. Or do you question a Second Trimarch of the Imperial Silwrath Space Marines?”

The last bit seemed to make the wings of her would be assistants twitch she didn’t want to say skitter off because that sounded like rodents, but that is what the nurses did. The one who she assumed was a medical doctor had less twitchy wings but walked away looking down at the nano-virus. She hoped it was something that hit lungs because that would mean she really would be immune as a vampire. If it just disintegrated flesh that might be problematic.

Enid looked around the landing bay. Her wings were clicking together as she thought about her next moves. She hadn’t even been sure her ruse to board would work. Hell, she hadn’t even been sure she could fly the transport. She knew very little of spacecraft beyond what she knew about Apollo, and if she was going to sabotage Apollo she would hit disable safeties and sabotage the direct containment for the antimatter that is created when he travels through FTL. By the time the jump was initiated it was too late. However he had safety protocols so a jump would be impossible if magnetic containment on the exhaust was not secure. She wished Maria was here. Her sister could figure this out. A secondary target would be non-direct antimatter storage, even Apollo had secondary storage in cases where they were doing a long jump like the one to Andromeda. Enid threw up her clawed hands and left the landing bay. Getting off the ship would be a whole new challenge. First things first she had to make sure it could never report back to Silwrath command. It needed to be lost with all hands.

Enid heard her wrist beep once. She hurried her pace away from the landing bay. It beeped twice, and then finally three times. She continued her hurried pace through strangely shaped corridors of the massive battleship. She truly had no idea where she was going. About ten minutes after her watch had beeped indicating the antimatter bomb she’d set on the base had gone off the ship became a buzz of activity and everyone was told to go to their battle stations. The comm unit on her borrowed Silwrath armor chirped to life.

“Second Trimark Nutina report to the bridge immediately.”

Enid continued her fake cough.

“On my way.”

“On my way, Eminence!”

“On my way, Eminence.”

“That is better. Your lack of respect has been noted.”

Enid rolled her yellow dragon eyes and spied what appeared to be an LCD panel on the wall. She put her hand the indent of a Silwrath hand.

“Second Trimark Nutina requesting directions to the bridge.”

The screen lit up and showed her a path to a tube transport and from that station to the bridge. She followed the directions and she got on the tub, she advised the angry male Silwrath bridge that asked for destination that she was going to the bridge. The tube zipped along. She was forced to bend her head to enter the bridge. She found the only person on the bridge taller than her was the male, and the only reason he was bigger was likely because he was a male. He sitting at the center nexus of all of the bridge staff. She assumed it was the captain. Smaller Silwrath had lighter scales. She saw one on the bridge with silver scales that unlike the rest of the crew who were wearing augmented armor was wearing robes. The moment she appeared she felt something trying to penetrate her mind, much like her father when he would tried to read her thoughts. Share glared at he silver silwrath who she assumed now was a telepath. The captain looked to the telepath who shook her head.

“I cannot read her thoughts Eminence; Her mind is too strong for me.”

The captain laughed heartily.

“Indeed you are as glorious as your reputation says you are Nutina. But allow her to read your mind, for I need to know your heart.”

Enid locked eyes with the silver telepath and slammed her will into her mind. The young woman was no match for the force of will a goddess could muster and was soon Enid’s puppet at least for now.

“I am open for her, if she is too weak to even do that you may need a new silver scale. She must see that I have only the glory of the empire and my undying loyalty to my life mate in my heart. I will always speak true to my betters.”

The silver scale stared at Enid, enraptured by the vampire’s gaze.

“Her heart is true Eminence.”

“Did you know about the self-destruct when I sent my men down to the planet?”

Enid maintained her locked gaze with the silver scale.

“What self-destruct?”

“She speaks true Eminence.”

“Enough leave her mind be silver scale, I see blood running from your eyes. The strain was much, go to medical.”

The silver scale continued to stare into Enid’s eyes. Enid mentally released her and the silver scale nearly collapsed and bowed her head to her captain clinching her wings tight to her back then made her way out.

“Nutina.”

“Eminence?”

“The majority of my marines are now deceased, as is your squad. I am sorry for the loss of your life mate. But the needs of the Empire outweigh the needs of ourselves and we must go on and catch these terrorists. You are now Primark of this battlegroup. Go, gather your men and women for battle. If you can bring these monsters to justice, you may be commanding your own ship this time next cycle. I apologize that my remaining men are barely wyrmlings.”

Enid was in the midst of performing the same bow the silver scale had when she felt a vibration through the deck plates the captain looked to one of his subordinates.

“What is happening on my ship now, technician first class?”

“Alerts in medical. Damaged wall plates, pure oxygen explosion. Fire crews are enroute. Biofilter alarm has been triggered.”

Enid made a show of swearing loudly in Silwrath.

“I told them to be careful with the sample Eminence.”

“What sample?”

“We retrieved a sample of the Synthlin bioweapon, my life mate reasoned that we may find a cure if the launch was to proceed.”

“A wise choice, if only our science staff were so clever. Your first task is to suppress whatever new horror has been unleashed on my ship.”

Enid bowed quickly.

“As you say Eminence.”

Enid made a show of rushing to tube and asking for the armory closest to the science labs. She was met by six Silwrath. She assumed they were younger because their scales seemed more supple then the ones she and the captain had.

“I ask for soldiers and they send me children. Arm up, full bio-hazard kit. We have no idea what we’re up against.”

Enid watched as the solders started putting on a specific set of armor. She mimicked them. She had no wish to be infected by the nanites.

“Suit checks, everyone. We must take all precautions we are the only defense this ship has from boarding.”

The younger Silwrath soldiers were looking at her with something akin to awe, their tails twitching. They seemed excited to see action under her. She pulled one of the wrist weapons down and affixed to her wrist and what looked like an assault rifle. She punched one of them in the arm.

“You are point, lets get to science labs on the double. If your suits get breached retreat immediately.”

Enid couldn’t give to shits if this lot died terribly but she had to keep up appearance in case the captain and others were listening on comms. She hadn’t quite been prepared for the horror show her booby trap had unleashed. Silwrath scientists, or what she assumed had once been had mutated looking cyber-organic tenticals writhing out of their bodies, their faces had extra eyes and they had maddened looks about them and were smashing everything in their path. Chairs had grown flesh and were attacking scientists who seemed to have avoided the infection. Her troops were just as stunned as her.

She reached out her hand and tore the suits of her four lead troopers. They screamed and as fleshy tentacles ripped form their packs and started reaching for the rest of the squad she yanked the last two back and yelled at one of them.

“Seal the bulkheads, retreat. The suits are being breached.”

They retreated shooting their assault rifles at the pursing monstrosities. One of the troopers slapped a panel and yelled out the lockdown command. Enid opened communications to the bridge.

“Eminence, we are unable to effectively engage with the infected, it breached four of the marines’ suits almost immediately and they were turned against us. We need to contain and vent possibly find a way to superheat the atmosphere and incinerate. Anyone in this section has turned. Even the ship’s hull is being turned against us. There was a chair attacking us.”

“You made the right call Primarch. We are reviewing options. Retreat to bulkhead eight on that deck. Lock down two levels above and below it. Anything tries to get out you kill it we will take no chances.”

Enid looked at her two soldiers, since she had no idea how to perform the requested security lock down and said.

“You heard his Eminence, lock it down.”

The troopers rushed off leaving Enid alone she watched one of the twisted monstrosities slam against the glass door her new subordinate had slammed down. She backed up as more bulkhead doors closed eventually leading to what she assumed was bulkhead eight which was in fact a blast door. She was wondering if the nano-virus had actually been a bad idea now that she was in the midst of the disturbing horror show it had created. She heard one of her ‘men’ radio in.

“Decks four through nine bulkheads one through eight locked down. We had some escapees but we dealt with them.”

Enid pondered if escapees meant perfectly innocent crew members who were trying to get out before the lock down and got gunned down, just in case. She felt something hit her mental barriers and heard cries of pain through the comms. Chatter on comms became deafening as screams echoed out of them. She was bumped into by a smaller pinkish scaled Silwrath who was clawing at his face and eyes.

“Get them off get them off!”

Enid pointed her rifle at him and shot him in the chest and he went down a hole burned through him.

“Eminence, it seems to have spread outside of the secure area.”

She heard strain in the voice of the captain as he answered.

“No, it is the silver scale….she must be infected.”

“That is a logical supposition Eminence.”

“You…seem unaffected. You must vent med bay immediately.”

“Of course, Eminence.”

Enid shrugged and started walking towards a panel. She put her scaly hand on the pad beside the screen.

“Directions to secondary antimatter storage please.”

The panel started spitting directions at her in the angry Silwrath voice that seemed to be used for everything on this ship. She shoved a few Silwrath out of her way who tried to bar her path or who were begging for help. Shot one who got too handsy and threw one off the tube as she rode it down to what she assumed was engineering.

“Primark why haven’t you vented the med bay yet.”

“The infection has locked the mechanism. And another priority has come up.”

“What is that?”

“Someone is tampering with secondary antimatter storage. If that is lost, we lose the ship. I thought that to be a higher priority.”

“I see no alert.”

“That is the silver scale messing with your head. She means to destroy us all, Eminence. Once I have dealt with this threat, I will see to figuring out a work around to the vent protocol seizing.”

“You…you are right Primark, my capacity to lead is compromised, you are in charge of the ship until such time as the silver scale has been dealt with. Transferring command protocols.”

“I will not let you down Eminence.”

Enid shook her head and rolled her eyes she cut off comms.

“Idiot.”

She reached the antimatter storage and found that there were a whole lot of signs painted on the doorway. She concluded they amounted to, restricted area, volatile entry, do not smoke…ect. She put her palm on the panel and as she’d been given control of all the ships systems by the stricken captain the door opened for her. She started pulling out a brick of the 29th century equivalent of Semtex… and realized she had control of the ship… the whole ship. She pushed the tab of the container she’d started to pull off back on the corner of the explosive and slipped it back into her pack.

“Fuck me. I just got myself a battleship.”