Chapter 12 : Urgency
Nako fixed the folds in his cloak disturbed by the train ride over, then unshackled his power suit from the magnetised foot lock and stepped out of his private cart to the engineering wing. He was looking forward to his conversation with the human. While their last meeting was cut short, now that they were both residing in a more robust environment she could show him more ‘artistic’ human tech. The Lieutenant was saluted by several guards as he and his escort ser Tifera walked past the halls, but the workers rushed around in a frenzy, avoiding his path, unable to stop. It was as though they were readying for a full-frontal assault of the station. He had never seen them work as furiously as they did now.
The Engine Lord was nowhere to be seen on the main floor, his unnerving presence too scarce to pinpoint, so it wasn’t Viitoic who was whipping his minions into a frenzy. Nako walked imposingly through the halls, surveying the activity, before singling out a stationary engineer who was working meticulously at some human contraption, laying out the tiny pieces one by one on a steel table.
“Ahem.” Nako focused his attention on the peon, who nearly fell to the floor with the commander’s presence on him.
“Ohh… Uh, your Honour?” the engineer wibbled.
Nako, satisfied he was no longer being ignored, proceeded“What is going on here?”
The engineer squeaked.
“We… Were cleaning up,” he answered, head bowed but still shaking.
“Cleaning up?” Nako probed. “I thought you were busy investigating the unknown items from the Rajavan ship?”
“Y-yessir!” The engineer nodded. “The Namegiver claimed ownership of the retrieved goods, we are moving to investigate deeper into the Rajavan vessel itself…”
That didn’t come as a complete surprise, Viitoic did say something about new threats from the Rajava, but to have him completely abandon his previous obsession was out of character.
“So where is the Namegiver now?” Nako demanded.
The engineer pointed a long spindly arm to the sea of multicoloured vehicles, and towards the small but bright presence Nako was becoming intimately familiar with.
“Captain.”
“Yes, my lord?” Tifera awaited orders.
“I want you to locate the Engine Lord and demand an audience,” Nako instructed her, as his lower arms tucked his cloak over his shoulders, readying for flight. “I will find you after I speak with Namegiver Jasmine.” Tifera saluted, arm across her chest.
“At once, my lord,” she acknowledged, before charging back through the Engineering Wing’s halls. Nako watched her leave as he unfurled his shimmering wings. It had been a few quarters since he had actually had to perform the stunt. The short flight would be good exercise for him.
The pair of wings beat in succession, rapidly growing in speed until they lifted his body from the ground, the vibrations buzzing loudly in his ears and forcing the poor engineer peon to cower as the Lieutenant Commander took flight.
Nako flew over to the source of the Namegiver’s freq pulses, a task that would have taken minutes walking accomplished by flight in mere seconds. He landed on the deck of the large vessel with a loud and sudden thud of impact, startling the two individuals standing upon it. Nako gracefully folded his wings underneath and unfolded his cloak as Captain Rynard and Doctor Xant stood at attention.
They had been lounging around on the wooden deck and messing about with more human equipment. Nako tapped his boot on the floor before he addressed the pair, taking a long look around his new surroundings.
The entire vessel screamed extravagance, the abundant comfortable furniture, the absurd polish of the finish, the decorative metals and patterns. It reminded him of his training days, in the residential halls of a lower queen…
“Captain, Doctor, where is Namegiver Jasmine?” he finally addressed them. The pair relaxed as little as they gave answers. They looked awkwardly at each other while Xant, predictably, stepped forward to explain the situation.
“Jasmine is below deck, Lieutenant.” He gestured to the narrow corridors within the vessel. “She has acquired coverings more suited to human physiology, we are currently waiting for her return.”
Nako nodded, accepting the explanation. It would be interesting to see what humans considered fashion. He was rather impressed with the small pieces he had seen so far. He walked past the doctor and peered into the dwelling above deck, looking through the ‘bar’ room and its luxurious fixtures. The carpet below was a stark white, the lounge provided seating for multiple people and the entire place just sparkled. He noticed a pair of crystal glasses sitting on the glass table.
“I’ve heard that she demanded acquisition of the human items, much like she claimed the animal specimens from my venture…” Nako picked up a crystal glass for inspection. The carvings captured the light, refractive rainbows scattering the room. “Was there anything she left behind?” He didn't blame her though. If these marvellous surroundings were the luxury she was used to, he couldn't imagine how she had kept her sanity in the sterile laboratories or stark barracks of Branch. In fact, his own accommodations were down right appalling compared to this room alone.
Rynard remained silent and Xant lowered his head as he replied,
“Not as of yet. Jasmine was jubilant to be in contact with more familiar surroundings, she may have had an outburst.” The doctor was getting more confident in answering his questions, Nako noted. Xant had impressed him, lasting longer than he had expected any citizen model would under the circumstances.
“Oh, I heard of the outburst, the Engine Lord was quite irate about it…” He left the statement in the air to fester in the Zenthi’s nerves, just to see how much he could withstand.. “You have explained to her the rules of Acquisition and Relinquishment?”
“Not yet, but there is still time to discuss and explain. I’m sure Jasmine has no intentions of withholding the spoils of your venture,” Xant replied, without even flinching. Nako relaxed a little, happy the doctor was not fraying.
“She is most agreeable, isn’t she?” Nako chuckled, inspecting more of the alcoholic bottles. So many different colours and sizes, artistically molded glass in fantastical shapes, one bottle with a clear liquid had the remains of some lower lifeform preserved inside.
“--Yo! Xant! Rynard! Check this out!” Jasmine’s loud voice boomed up as she navigated her way in 6-inch pumps up the staircase. “This is what we call, Gucci couture!” The human sauntered into the bar room, draped in fluttering peach coloured silk. “It’s the only one that fit ‘cause it’s--” Her brash voice faded when she came face to face with Nako, her freq blaring with embarrassment. “Open...at the back…hello, Lieutenant.”
“Hello Namegiver Jasmine,” he greeted her politely, ignoring the embarrassment but secretly enjoying the fluster. “I am beginning to understand why you were so hasty in acquisitioning…everything!” Nako twirled around on the spot with a sweeping gesture. “I had no idea your people’s love of art extended into every aspect of your lives. Perhaps the Galactic Council could use your guiding eye to liven up their habitats.”
Jasmine, however, was still loudly regretting her most recent decision of dress. It was one thing to show off in front of her friends, but she still felt the need to be formal around the Lieutenant.
He wasn't her ‘friend’ yet.
“I’m only wearing this cause Rynard got his blood all over my actual clothes…this is actually waaay too fancy for casual dress,” she replied defensively, trying to back up to return whence she had sauntered.
Nako tilted his head curiously. Jasmine's cheeks were flushed and her normally eloquent enunciation was marred with slurring.
“There is no need for embarrassment on my behalf. Those clothes are exquisite, befitting of any royal court attendance,” he tried to reassure her.
“Yeah, I…it’s been a while since I got to wear something this fancy…I just thought it would be fun to dress up.”
Nako watched as she avoided his eye, genuinely uncomfortable with meeting his gaze. Sensing his Grace’s discomfort, Xant slowly entered the room from outside.
“It is very flattering Jasmine, as good as any council politician,” the doctor added. Jasmine’s cheeks went even redder and she looked down at the dress.
“Right, ummm, I might change actually, I can’t give Nako a tour in this…”
“Please, no need.” Nako put down the liquor. “I was merely stopping by to check on your wellbeing and the status of the identifying items that you have taken into your own personal account.”
“Well, it is all human stuff…” Jasmine gestured to the room as though its contents were ‘uninteresting’. “There's not a lot here for aliens. You’ve got most of everything and everything else might be poisonous,” she replied, having even more second thoughts.
Nako stared back at the wall of liquids.
“Is there any caffeine in here?” he asked.
“Uhhh, maybe? If the kahlua has curdled--”
Xant quickly stepped between her and the lieutenant.
“--And we will dispose of it properly of course,” he assured Nako, but Jasmine was oblivious to the social cue.
“I mean, if he hates kahlua, sure--”
“Jasmine, the Lieutenant is susceptible to caffeine,” Xant said quietly.
“Oh, right! So that's why it's illegal-- uhh, never mind.” Jasmine turned on her bright red heel. “I'mma gonna get changed and be right back!” She hurried back downstairs before either of the others could protest.
Nako turned to the doctor for answers.
“Is everything alright? Jasmine seemed...erratic.” His gaze returned to the glasses of amber liquid on the counter. The scent was strong with ethanol and sweet syrupy notes.
“Humans can voluntarily inebriate themselves with alcohol…” Xant explained, finding the empty bottle Nako had placed on the counter. “It will pass, however. While debilitating for a time, she assures me it is entirely recreational and easily repaired. A mild effect, not unlike a strong depressor.” He opted to omit the side effect of quieting the ‘secondary’ thought process, and the lowering of so called ‘inhibitions’. There was still more for Xant to learn about the condition himself.
“I see. And she is faring well? She is comfortable otherwise?” Nako asked, but she was clearly already in a happier mood than he had previously seen or heard.
“Oh yes, Lieutenant. We can hardly believe your generosity, the increased quality of life has benefitted us all--” Xant began, but Nako interrupted,
“As long as she is happy. I am looking forward to her explaining everything on this ship to me. I want to learn as much as you do, Doctor.” Xant’s ears perked up and he bowed respectfully.
“I shall ensure you and Jasmine have the time, Lieutenant.”
“Very good.”
“Uhhh, Nako?” Jasmine's voice called from below deck. “What's your favourite colour?!”
The strange and sudden question startled them both.
“Vermillion!” the Lieutenant shouted back, once he had come to his own internal conclusion.
“Okay!”
Silence. Nako began to wonder what the human was up to, then she returned, in much more simple clothes. While hardly citizen clothing, it had a distinct lack of sophistication compared to the silken dress: blue leggings and a very large overshirt, shapeless, although he did notice tiny blue floral embroidery on the collar. As she came closer the second thing he noticed was the smell, and by noticed he ment slapped in the face. An overpowering flowery perfume was applied in copious amounts, trying and failing to cover a strong musk of dirt and sweat. The lieutenant almost had to take a step back, why these garments were preferred over the beautiful silk he didn’t understand.
“So, you mentioned before about your rank insignia…” Jasmine muttered as she approached. “I don't have a proper human medal to give you, and I’m not sure if it’s regulation, but, think of this as an ‘official’ thank you.” Jasmine opened her palm and sitting on it was a large decorative brooch, with a dark red stone in its center, with a dozen white stones surrounding it and gold filigree spiraling down the tail.
Nako was stunned with delight.
“Is that… an original piece?” he asked, as his hand reached out to accept the gift. Jasmine nodded.
“The only design of its kind, with proper stones grown, cut, and crafted on Earth. One of a kind.”
Crimson like the sacred moon, with a stone from an alien planet, the jewel was cut to perfection. It sparkled even in the dim light, a token of a lost species of artisans. The ice of his exterior melted and a peek of childlike joy crept out as Nako knelt down to Jasmine’s level.
“If you would do me the honour, Namegiver.”
He gestured for her to pin the brooch on his cloak, just below his rank insignia.
It took the human a moment to have it sit right, but the lieutenant was simply over the moon with it.
“--My lord.” Tifera’s message over his comms, cutting his moment short. “I have located the Engine Lord, and have advised an audience.”
“Well done, Tifera.” Nako terminated the link quickly after the acknowledgement, disappointed he had to leave so soon.
“Thank you for the wonderful gesture, but I shall have to take my leave.”
“Uhh, Lieutenant? There’s one more thing…” Jasmine approached, nervous to be asking anything of him. “The room you provided was good and all but, I’d be more comfortable making my base of operations here.”
“I see.” He looked around the luxurious room one last time. “It will certainly make it easier for you to categorize the human items if you are a permanent fixture in the engineering wing.”
“Oh, thank you!” she responded, as though he would have denied her such a thing. He wasn’t sure he entirely understood. She had downright demanded the human items from Viitoic without any concern at all, but worried he would reject her request to stay on the ship?
Her sense of entitlement swung as quickly as her emotions, or was there more to human power dynamic than she was letting on? Something she had overlooked in the explanation of civil conversation? Her wants and needs were so drastically different from their own.
The doctor had quite a job ahead of him explaining the proper terms for acquisition, her notions on economics were also forgien to him, since material items and personnel were not in the same category. While they were still in the early days of communication he was starting to get the impression human interactions were very complicated.
Nako raised his hand and waved in the human fashion.
“If there is nothing else that you need, I shall have to depart, hopefully when next we reunite, we will both have nothing but time,” he replied.”May your calling be clear,” he said, turning to unfurl his wings. Jasmine waved back, taking it rather well as her aura was glowing bright.
“Live long and prosper!” she answered with conviction, and a sentiment Nako whole-heartedly agreed with.
Tifera was waiting patiently for her lord outside the Engine Lord’s personal quarters, but even from outside, Nako could tell he was up to something. The chittering was loud enough to penetrate the doors.
Nako was not going to be made to wait outside after having flown across the entire engineering wing to find him. The lieutenant motioned for Tifera to open the door, not waiting for Viitoic’s permission.
They were unlikely to get it, considering the state he was in.
The engine lord hovered over a holo display, all seven arms furiously tapping at screens showing a representation of the Rajavan ship, beginning to dissect it, piece by piece.
“And your reason for disturbing me is?” He said drily, six black eyes staring into the holoscreen. Nako clicked his mandibles.
“You gave up the entirety of the human collection, the same one you abandoned working on our warships to study, and you gave them up without a fight. Even someone without my discerning eye is going to start asking questions, Viitoic. I want to have the answers first.”
Viitoic chattered his tooth plate, displeased.
“As much as I enjoyed our banter, Nako, the urgency of my work restrains me from indulging…”
“You're worried about the ship?”
“For more than one reason.” While Viitoic may not have been able to indulge in banter, he certainly wasn't above flaunting his thought process. “First and foremost is the impenetrable structure. We can only see into the rooms that were damaged in the initial pirate attack.” With a few quick successive taps, Vittoic enlarged the holographic image.
Nako looked closer at the scans. At least two-thirds of the ship was marked ‘unknown’ and none of the rooms excavated looked anything like what a Rajavan vessel should look like.
“The entire thing is made from a new compound, and it is blocking all freq signals…” Viitoic explained, “A living calcium/iron composition, it could be very useful down the line, provided it's not too expensive to grow and manufacture.”
The six eyes turned to stare at Nako, waiting for him to put the pieces together.
The Lieutenant stood frozen on the spot.
Dr. Xant’s Transcripts on Jasmine had discussed the very same compounds.
“... Is this Ship a Rajavan prototype? Have you found the shipbrain? Can you download its contents to confirm?!”
“Alas, noble prince, the shipbrain has not been located. While the ship is confirmed to be still alive, it’s not functional. We will have to send troops in to locate the brain to find the precious information…” Viitoic hunched over his screens once more, returning to his work, “Then we might be able to prepare for the inevitable.”
Nako’s antenna twitched in a panic, his three sets of eyes darting around furiously.
“What about the human things? Surely there must have been weapons?! ”
“None.”
“None at all?! They kept the equivalent of puzzle boxes but no weapons?!”
“None that would be of any use to us.” Viitoic waved dismissively. “There were only crude velocity weapons, citizen-sized most of them, too small for any of our troops to use effectively.
The accuracy needed to do any actual damage to a Vassal or Amalgamation is nigh impossible without creating a new soldier to use them. They might be useful in taking down a human,” he sneered, “but they’re not going to do anything against either our troops or a vassal onslaught. Like throwing salt on carapice, the wrong tool for the deed.”
Nako held his shoulders strong despite the growing dread.
“Have you tried asking the Namegiver about their effectiveness? Is there something you may have missed?”
Viitoic scoffed.
“The weapons are ineffective!! Steel casings, chemical propellant and the need for specialised manufacturing, not cost-effective compared to any of our stock - these things need to be reloaded manually! How much time would we lose if our acid melters weren’t able to produce their own acid!? Human weapons would be highly destructive to a ship’s interior, unsuited to zero-g inter-ship combat… if there was a way to implement them I would have handed you the first off the assembly line! Need I go on, Lieutenant?”
“No, Engine Lord. You have made your opinion of them quite clear.” Nako replied underhandedly.
“We can still make an effective weapon against the Rajavan 'improvements’, the Human genome hasn’t been optimised after all.” Viitoic snarked.
“Yes, but I was hoping for more…” Nako sighed, once again staring at the holoscreen. Kotorn’s scorn returned to mind, his decision to capture the ship was a turbulent one, what he hoped to be great spoils was turning out to be incredibly expensive. While he had rescued an alien maiden, they were not the great warrior race like his own people but artists and people of leisure. Was the strength of their bones all they had to offer in combat?
“More? But you’ve already helped yourself to quite a bit, no?” The tentacle on Viitoic’s back wiggled to his newly acquired brooch.
“It was given in gratitude,” Nako snapped back coldly, sharply pulling his shoulder away from the Engine lords reach.
“Very generous. But I wonder how long she will stay that way?”
Nako didn't get the chance to reply.
Viitoic’s terminal was overridden by the Knight Commander.
Kotorn sat at his dented desk, his powersuited fists folded over one another, resting on the console.
“Engine Lord!” he barked. “I need an update on my fleet-- oh… LC Nako, this is a surprise.” And much to Nako’s anxiety, the knight commander smiled. Nako quickly bowed and began to back away slowly.
“Knight Commander, I shall take my leave--”
“Oh no, you being here will save me some time.” Korton’s sinister chuckled warbled over the speakers. “After some external advisory, I’ve come to the conclusion we work best when we do not have to interact with each other… at all. So I’m sending you on an assignment until I need to leave Branch.”
Nako stifled a screech.
“You’re sending me off base?!” His voice raised, Nako stared down the holographic image of the Knight Commander. He couldn’t be sent away, not now, not when the Rajavan threat loomed in the unknown.
“Yes, on a high priority mission, you know, like the ones you requested incessantly…”
Kotorn pressed a button and a mission statement made its way to Nako’s wrist slate.
“Kyu-Kage Corporation is asking for escort personnel, specifically requesting my best. It seems they have a threat they’re not willing to divulge. Progenitor Corps get what they want and who better to send than the Lieutenant who just captured a Rajavan vessel?”
You didn't need a translator to feel the smugness ebbing off the screen. Kotorn had twisted Nako’s accomplishments for busywork, to remove him from where he was needed most. Fury burned in his chest. If he followed orders he could be sent away for Akira knows how long, but if he challenged the Knight Commander and was found to have gone rogue, then he'd never return.
“I am honoured you would select me for this privilege,” Nako spat, bowing with a hand across his chest. Kotorn chuckled, satisfied he was obeying direct orders.
“Lieutenant Commander Nako, you are dismissed.”
“Yes Knight Commander…”
Nako saluted and made his way from Viitoic’s room, storming out and past Tifera, expecting her to keep up.
“Have my ship and men ready for departure in one hour, the sooner the better!” he demanded, flicking through the mission briefing.
“My lord?!”
“The quicker we resolve this interruption,” he snapped, “the sooner we can return to the real threat at hand.”
Chapter 13: Molotov
Sugawara’s heartbeat pounded in his ears, his eyes boring holes into the back of Beau’s head. The adrenaline coursing through his veins helped him to stay vigilant. While he was sure Beau had no intention of turning that violence on him, it was better to be safe than sorry in his experience.
The amniotic fluid stuck to their feet, squelching with every step of the tile. Sugawara could feel his stomach turning and twisting into knots. The danger was becoming more and more real the longer they were together. With weapons drawn they were not escaped prisoners any more, they were armed combatants behind enemy lines. There was no telling if the aliens would treat them as such, but they certainly hadn't been looking out for their well being before.
Sugawara wiped more sweat from his brow, keeping an eye on Beau who was just charging ahead, looking through every door with the drive of an animal looking for its prey.
Pssssst.
The doors opened automatically in their presence, mostly onto empty rooms, their unknown purpose low priority at the moment. The largest door, however, stayed closed. Beau took a step back, investigating why it was different from the rest.
“Hey, check that panel.” He pointed to the left side: a long white touchscreen sat waiting for them, blinking with a soft idle light.
Sugawara reached out and started with the obvious, swiping his hand over it to see if it activated. A garbled alien message spoke overhead, and the door opened for them.
It couldn’t be that easy, right?
Beau backed both himself and Sugawara against the wall, glanced inside and grinned with satisfaction.
“Finally, something we can work with.” He took point to properly scope the room.
After he gave the all clear, Sugawara stepped in, and saw a laboratory waiting for him.
Unattended screens sat before strange looking equipment, glass containers of unknown fluids stacked high all around the room and long stainless steel slab tables sat waiting for experiments to be conducted upon them.
“Shit looks like it’s straight out of a morgue...” Beau muttered to himself, peering at the hoses, pipes and alien tools laid out for surgery. Sugawara thought it best not to share his own thoughts with the on-edge Beau, but this sterile room had a lot in common with the ones back home. After the squid apartments, the living ship innards and the cold storage clone facility, a slightly creepy laboratory was a welcome sight. Beau was still jumpy though. It was nice seeing that he was feeling guilty from his outburst before.
‘Not a complete psycho then…’ was the depressing thought, ‘unlike that person...’ Horrible to think a man he’d only met hours before showed more remorse than some of his blood relatives.
“Hey,” Sugawara got his companion’s attention. “Escape?” he asked, gesturing around the room. Beau looked up, relieved to have something to do.
“There.” He pointed. In the top corner of the room was another camera, just out of reach. “I’ll get that open, you…figure out what this stuff is and if any of it’s useful.”
‘Useful’ was a loose term here. How much of it was ‘useful’ to their current situation and what might be good in the long run were two completely different things.
Sugawara picked up one of the tools. The closest comparison he could think of would have been a type of airbrush. It was bulky, and he needed to clench his fingers into the wide spread, four fingered ‘glove’. It was very uncomfortable, largely because there was no room for his pinky finger to sit. As he squeezed, the tool let out a high pitched whine and a blue laser discharged from its fine end. He stopped the stream in surprise before testing it out again on the end of his loincloth.
The fabric singed.
Laser cutter was right up there in terms of usefulness.
The other tool was connected to a computer by a long thin hose of malleable plastic. Sugawara ran his hands over the screen and a program greeted him with a pleasant glow and hum.
The screen was divided into three. On the left side was alien text, several options he didn’t bother to try and decipher, and the top panel was a scrollable array with coloured blobs, ranging from pale blue right through the colour spectrum to bright red. The main window sat blank.
Sugawara started poking around, tapping and dragging colours into the window. It seemed random what would sit there, and he wasn’t entirely sure what the program was even for.
He stood there moving coloured blobs around until two of them stuck together and the screen lit up. Whatever he had done was ‘viable’ in the machine’s eyes. He picked up the hose and aimed it at the steel table, pressing his fingers in the glove attachment.
Hssssssss.
Air, or rather gas piped out, odourless and colourless.
Sugawara blinked then turned back to the program. He counted out the space between the coloured blobs and his mind just about screamed.
Numbers 1 and 8, both pale blue colours.
He tapped number 8 and ‘added’ it to the accepted combination. It glowed, accepting the input. Sugawara squeezed the hose, his heart skipping a beat as he felt the hose react and a stream of liquid gushed out.
Pshhhhhhh.
He ran his finger through the flowing stream, bringing it under his nose before tentatively tasting it. Clear, cold water flowed freely from the end of the pipe.
Sugawara shoved the pipe in his mouth and drank deeply. It had been hours since he had had water, hours of physically demanding labour in hot, sweaty conditions. The euphoria was instant and sweet. He stopped only to breathe, taking another large drink before informing Beau.
“Water!!” he shouted happily, waving the still flowing hose in his hand.
Beau dropped the crate he’d been moving to go and replenish himself with the life-saving liquid.
“Hot damn!!” He ran the water over his head, basically drenching himself after he had slaked his thirst. “How the hell did you get this working?!”
Sugawara grinned evilly and returned to the screen.
“Chemistry,” was all he replied.
Number 1, pale blue: Hydrogen, number 8, darker blue: Oxygen.
Atomic weight by colour, matched in automatic chains, and magically sourced through the hose.
“I need bottles--” Sugawara started.
“For more water? Got it!” The soldier hurried off before waiting for more instructions. While his assumption wasn’t entirely true, it wasn’t wrong enough for Sugawara to correct him at this stage.
He began playing with the machine, chaining elements together until Beau returned with an armful of glass tubes, the tops unceremoniously ripped open. They stank like the monster fridge. Sugawara took the vials hesitantly and flushed them out with water before filling them with his new concoction, while Beau watched on.
“Whatcha doing...?” he asked, trying to figure it out. Sugawara tore a small strip off his loincloth and dipped it in the new liquid, placed the vial on the steel table and then picked up the laser cutter.
He watched with glee as the laser hit the fabric and it burst into small flames.
“What?!” Beau slapped his hands together and yelled with delight. “Right on!!!”
“Ethanol,” Sugawara stated, his face dark with sinister delight.
“WHOO! We gonna light this place up! Burn the whole thing down from the inside--”
Beau cut himself off and stared at the door. Scuttling and footsteps approached, loud and clanky. The pair dived below the steel table and waited for their company to arrive.
The doors babbled in that soft alien voice before opening. Another pair of bug guards was sent in, this time cautious, their weapons raised as they scoped the room.
They didn’t have the time to get to their escape route. Sugawara looked to Beau. The man had the cold look of vengeance in his eyes. Beau gave the signal to stay there, his index finger jabbing at the ground. Sugawara nodded in compliance. He wasn’t about to get in Beau’s way at all. For as large as he was, the man could move silently when he wanted to, crawling under the table and out of the guards’ sight before the first one passed by.
The second guard was Beau’s target. The alien didn’t even get to turn around before the crackle of Beau’s lance went off. He forced the blade through the back of the guard’s neck, clear blood pouring out the wound.
The guard’s four arms began flailing and a gurgling screech cried out to its companion.
Sugawara hesitated. Staying hidden and ‘safe’ under the table was what Beau wanted, but hiding wouldn’t help here. There was no ‘safe’, it just delayed the pain for later.
He slid out from under the table and reached for the chemical hose, unleashing a spray of ethanol before even getting to aim it at the guards.
The first one gave a disgusted cry, its attention drawn straight to the human dousing it. Sugawara scrambled for the laser with one hand, desperate to light the improvised flamethrower. The first guard was too quick, knocking the hose from his hand with its weapon and letting out an intimidating hiss. Sugawara yelled in retaliation, trying to kick the guard’s feet from under it when the crackle of the lance went off again. Beau ripped the sword out of the second guard and swung with all his might.
The heat and light was intense as Beau’s lance engulfed the guard in a grand fireball. It only took a spark of the electricity to ignite the fumes, blinding everyone for a moment. The screaming barbeque bug fell to the floor, rolling around in agony while its friend struggled to help, still standing even with a sword wound through most of its head. Its unsteady shuffle reminded Sugawara of a zombie, staggering with all its might past its friend and towards the laboratory door.
It was trying to escape.
They couldn’t let that happen.
“Jesus...” Beau growled under his breath, stepping up to finish what he had started.
It was awful. Beau grabbed the handle of the blade and forced the guard down on the floor. There he could quickly snap off another arm, releasing the body pressure inside the bug’s exoskeleton. Without the pressure the organs and blood had nowhere to go but out. A quick end, if not clean.
The guard on fire finally stopped screaming as Beau put the other one out of its misery. It had burnt out quickly, the stench of shellfish and burnt rubber coming from the fumes.
“That stinks…” Beau spat, shaking his head.
Sugawara felt awful. Stress, adrenaline and the stench of cooked alien flesh turned his stomach. He picked himself up and his heart stopped.
A small black bug crawled across his hand.
He closed his eyes and prayed. It had been more than 24 hours since they’d woken up, 48 hours since he last took his meds. Maybe, maybe there would be enough time for him to study the machine, maybe he could try and string together the compounds he needed to stave off the madness a little bit longer.
If he hadn’t already completely lost his mind.
When he opened his eyes, Beau was shoving the corpses toward the exit. The doors opened and he threw the bloodied body out into the hallway. The burnt guard required more of a precise punt, a hand over his mouth to stave off the smell.
“Oh shit!” he exclaimed, standing at the door. “Molotov!” he ordered “NOW!”
Sugawara panicked, grabbing the bottle of ethanol on the counter and tearing off as much of the alien coat he could, stuffing it into the neck only for Beau’s hands to rip it from his grasp.
“Light!” the soldier ordered again, holding it steady for the young man.
Sugawara reached for the laser and within seconds the cloth was aflame.
In a massive show of strength Beau flipped over one of the steel tables on its side, facing the door. He grabbed Sugawara and ducked down. Then Sugawara heard the footsteps. Dozens of alien bugs, running down the hallway, clicking and buzzing like a hive of wasps.
And they sounded pissed.
Beau was counting down under his breath, the burning molotov clenched in his hand.
“...One!” In one swift movement, he stood up from cover and tossed the molotov. The glass bottle sailed through the air and smashed against the open door, sending ethanol and flames all over the crowd of soldiers storming through it.
Beau’s lance crackled above the sounds of screams, and his voice cut through the chaos,
“Come on you maggots! Come and get some!”
Sugawara watched in stunned awe as Beau began cutting down the burning soldiers one after another, preventing them from crossing the steel table barrier. The righteous rage having now found a purpose, Beau channelled all his energy into keeping himself and Sugawara alive, mowing through burning bodies.
The blaze was large enough now that it triggered the emergency systems.
Tiles casually slid aside from their place on the walls and a chemical solution was sprayed on the flames, snuffing them out with scary efficiency.
They wouldn’t last long without the fire weakening the neverending stream of guards.
Sugawara scrambled to grab more bottles, tearing off what was left of the coat he was wearing, filling and lighting the next molotov as quickly as he could.
“Fire!” he screamed, throwing the bottle with the accuracy and speed of a college league pitcher.
Beau dived behind the table as the bottle flew over his head and into the next wave of soldiers.
“Keep ‘em coming, Ryo!” Beau shouted, returning to his defensive position and smacking down anyone who dared get too close.
Sugawara was throwing the flaming bottles as soon as he could make them, the bodies building up a barrier in front of their table, yet the soldiers still threw themselves through the choke point.
He filled the only glass bottle left in reach, he barely had enough coat to burn as he made their last molotov.
“Fall back!” he shouted to Beau, straining to push over another table.
Beau followed the order, leaping over the new obstacle. Sugawara handed him the bottle.
“Last one, flame hose.” Sugawara grabbed the hose, jammed the trigger open so the ethanol flowed freely, and rigged the laser to point at the stream. He faced down the fresh wave, adrenaline rushing through him.
“Burn!”
The laser lit up the stream and rained fire before them, a constant flow the emergency system could barely keep up with. Beau put down the molotov between them while Sugawara turned on his lance. For the briefest moment their eyes met, a comradery forged in the flames of survival, a partnership likely to end in their demise.
“Let’s go out swinging,” Beau said, the fight in his eyes brighter than the flames.
“Homerun,” Sugawara replied, finding freedom now that the future no longer mattered.
The men took up sides and fought on, screaming with every swing, the enemy guards getting closer and closer over their barriers. Scraping and reaching for them, the guards began to thin, then they retreated. Several guards hovered at the door and looked on at the bodies and chaos before them. Then, finally, the last guard walked through the door.
He was taller than the rest, dressed in a long white cape, and stood at the door staring them down.
“Fuck you!” Beau spat. As if he recognised the insult, the guard ripped off his cape and the deafening hum of wings boomed inside the small space.
“They can fly?!”
He was almost too quick to follow with the naked eye. One bounding leap and the soldier was overhead, a flick of his wrist and the enemy’s lance extended, piercing and pinning Beau’s body to the floor.
Red blood splattered the white tiles, and Beau’s scream of pain was lost in the noise. The soldier dropped like a lead weight on Beau’s back, one of four hands stabbing his flesh with an alien syringe.
The recognition of experience hit Sugawara like a fist to the face. The other guards were cannon fodder compared to this guy. They weren’t out to kill them, they wanted them alive. Beau was out cold in seconds, and then the enemy’s eyes fell on him.
Another lance flicked out from the soldier’s waist, missing Sugawara’s hip by centimetres only for it to shock him when he whipped it into his side.
The human fell. He reached for the molotov to fight back, but that too was knocked easily from his hand with a swift strike. The alien soldier stomped on his arm, then his chest, and glared at him through three pairs of furious eyes. Slowly, his lance reopened the wound on Sugawara’s shoulder, clearly a gesture of spite.
Sugawara screamed again, furiously and defiantly, trying in vain to shake off his captor.
“I’ve had worse you disgusting insect!--” his insult cut short in shock as he saw the tiny black bugs crawl from his own hand, up the lance and all over the face of his enemy.
The small bugs were an illusion, the large, far scarier bug was very real.
The soldier stabbed him with the alien tranquiliser, and Sugawara felt his body go limp and numb, but he was not fortunate enough to slip into unconsciousness like Beau had done.
The alien bug rose to stand over them, dismissive of the unconscious humans, clicking orders for the few who had been spared to follow obediently. Sugawara had to watch as his friend was dragged away, and the victor was presented with his white cloak. The enemy who had so easily dispatched them cast it into the sea of red blood, then carefully held up the stained cloth to the light to admire its colour. Sugawara’s body was lifted carelessly, thrown over a steel trolley without any care to the pain or position he was in, but he could still glare at the cloaked soldier as he was carted away.
The aliens had won this battle, but Sugawara would do everything in his power to ensure they did not win the war.