[Planet Governor Destra Sind]

I regret not bringing a face mask. This place was generally untouched, leaving dust to pile up over the years of inactivity. It didn’t help that the section I had gone to hadn’t been touched for a few centuries now. Most of the stacked documents here had layers of grime between them, requiring me to peel them apart and wipe them down before I could read them. The only consolation to be had was that the pages themselves had all been laminated, preventing rot and fading of the words.

While I was reaching up one of the stacks to grab a wad of documents, the hand I had used to support myself on the metal frame of the storage rack slipped on the dust. I fell face first into the stack in front of me, receiving a smothering amount of dust into every orifice on my face and sending me into a choking fit as I reeled back onto the floor. My hand still clasped the documents at the top out of shock, which caused the entire stack to fall onto me while I was already in fetal position on the floor, coating me in a thick layer of dust much like every single object around me. I spent the next few minutes coughing, snorting, and rubbing my eyes in agony while trying to drag myself to the nearby desk so I could sit up.

After enough rubbing and angered sobbing, I reached a point where I could blurrily see the mess that I’d made. Hundreds of previously organized top secret documents now lay strewn about, some of them now folded over and creased, thanks to my flailing.

A wave of exhaustion rushed over me as I realized I would be the one sorting through that mess since no one else was allowed in the vault, except for utmost emergencies. I had been down here for a couple of hours now, and my eyes were already strained from the weak light source provided by the electric lantern I brought with me.

I truly wished I could’ve been anywhere but here, but that simply wasn’t an option thanks to recent developments. Captain Brand had been eager to sign the contract with Auell, explaining to me afterwards how it would accelerate current projects and pave the way for humanity becoming a superpower.

I wish I had been more proactive during the discussion to try and get better terms for my people specifically, but…I am ashamed to say that I brought very little to the table, despite all of my preparations. I already had a vague idea of what Nematorians looked like-anyone in a high place eventually ‘knew’ about it one way or another-but actually seeing one in person still stunned me.

And now, thanks to my idleness, my people have been wrapped up in a war against one of the most powerful forces in the galaxy. Ancient and abandoned mining operations have been resumed in an effort to amass as much of our paltry resources as possible. Industrial material printing facilities have been repurposed from meeting the demands of luxury commodities to pumping out machine parts using human-provided schematics. The Humans even created a military outreach program to scout and train willing Meldren for space combat. This was all done under the agreement that Humanity would be eventually repaying us in full for our contributions, but that condition required both parties to actually exist after the war was over.

I had reasons to be confident in our success. I’d been given a front row seat of human weaponry’s lethality, after all. I’ve had my head engineers give me a rundown on just how incomprehensible the Pioneer-233 ship was, and I’ve heard Captain Brand call it a corvette compared to other ships in Humanity’s arsenal. But what type of governor wouldn’t hold worry when facing their people with dark, uncertain futures?

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Every single species in the galaxy with even minimal reason to be concerned with their own safety has a secret super weapon brewing in the background. The Grahtonians definitely have their fair share, and the Nematorians are likely holding back their haymakers as well, waiting to strike at the best opportunity.

That’s why I was down here, after all. We Meldren were initially unsure of our place on the galactic stage during initial contacts, causing us to delve into our own secret research. Those projects have since been locked away and forgotten, yet here I was digging up these old bones for a chance at securing our future, even if it is just a miniscule difference.

________________

[Dokchara]

I was trapped in a coffin, slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. I couldn’t break out because there was too much pressure on me already. Panicking became harder over time as my oxygen supply started to dwindle. Leaks started forming in the corners of the box, water slowly filling in starting at my feet. They told me that they didn’t know what would happen, that entering could be either amazing or terrible, and that I could stop it at any time with the press of a button. Well damn, I guess I got the terrible one, huh?

But I held on, stopping myself from pressing that button. Just before the water reached my mouth and my dread could turn to agony, the scene changed. I immediately recognized the unsettling green glow emanating from lights dotting the ground and the large metal tubes surrounding me in a grid formation. Dominique was nowhere to be found. I was right in front of the terminal that controlled the room, staring at the square made of circles featured on the display. My hand moved on its own, pressing on a circle near me and watching the metal covering descend.

I didn’t feel pain or shock. There was no horrific revelation this time around. Those emotions had been replaced with a seething hatred, churning my heart and threatening to overtake my actions. I grit my teeth with unrestrained force, splitting them vertically and sending spears of pain up my skull.

The scene changed again and I was in a storage closet, rummaging through the various bottles and cans. I’d been collecting anything with a flammable sign and placing it on a cart, spilling a trail of chemicals as I moved from room to room. My anticipation only rose as I made my way through the halls, ensuring nothing was left without a proper dousing. I made it back to the main room with an impressive haul and got to work. I uncovered every tube at the terminal before flooding the entire floor, leaving full containers spaced apart after ensuring everything was covered. I made my way to the entrance before aiming my gun at a particularly volatile pressurized can.

The following explosion shattered the nearby tubes, spilling out the contents onto the ground with a resounding meaty thud. The monuments of sin received their well overdue immolation. The heat of the fires caused other tubes to crack and shatter, releasing their own innards into the mess of flesh and fire. The flammable chemicals rose to the top and continued to burn, perpetuating the reaction and causing the fire to rise further and further. It was at this point that my body started to turn to leave and meet back up with Dominique, ending this memory I had chosen to tackle head on.

I woke up on the full-body chair with my skin feeling like it was boiling. I could feel the blood rushing through my face and building up pressure. A wrinkled, wiry hand presented a water bottle in front of my face, which I gladly accepted and chugged down immediately. I sat up feeling…not tired, but mentally expended? Like in a complacent and relaxed fashion. I looked up to see an aged human man with thinning, gray hair and a metallic nose and eye combo. His eyes were flicking across the screen in front of him which I couldn’t see, but I could glean enough from the reflection in his eyes to know that he could only see text on a screen.

“...Congratulations, Dokchara. You performed magnificently in the induced dream.”