章 15: Rescue Plan Ignition

By Cyclone

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We knew we were going to die. It was only a matter of time until the doors were breached. Time, so little time to say goodbye, to hold the little ones close, to tell them my awful lies. "Everything will be alright" I had said, "There is no reason to fear". I had failed as their father. I had led them to their doom.

Our vessel, the cargo hauler Trees of Yornjweg, had been performing a long-distance warp jump into the Zanner system. It was far outside of our regular routes, but the war had been straining the economy to the breaking point, and I was desperate to keep my sons and daughters from starvation or conscription. The path we had sailed held the danger of pirates, smugglers, and even cultists, but I convinced my mate and our families that this journey would bring upon us a blessed windfall. Oh, how my naivety had led us astray.

The breach into the physical realm came as it usually does: with a shudder and a bang as the engines grind to a halt. We had only activated our sensors for a moment before the boarding craft had pierced our ship, shattering her back with a resounding crash. My brother was a warrior, as were his sons, they knew that battle had called them, so they engaged the enemy. I could only watch from the monitor as his cluster charged through the passageways while taking many shots. Their efforts would have given us hope if it weren't for the leviathan on our radar.

The craft that had crippled our ship was merely a scale from the truly monstrous ship that now engulfed us. It appeared as though the void itself had crafted it from the charred skeletons of a hundred vessels, with plating that swallowed the light as though it were a black hole. Our ship buckled as the great maw of this thing came down upon us. Hundreds of invaders poured into the halls, an ever-expanding river of armored fiends.

My brother and his spawn fell under the tide. Their blood painted the walls, their bodies unrecognizable anymore, and their weapons shattered. The boarders were not satisfied and had hounded their way across every deck so they could slaughter all. I had gotten as many as I could onto the bridge. It was the one place that had the capacity to be sealed off from all systems. The last image I saw on the monitor before the line severed was the arrival of one dressed in regal attire.

The lights had gone dark once the lockdown engaged. There was no cable or vent, duct, or passage that hadn't been sealed. If the enemy did not breach in time, we would all suffocate anyway. I lamented our fate. I had done this. I had killed my brother. I was killing my family.

There came a great scraping against the door. The continued sound and the heat now permeating the air told me that they had brought a breaching device. I did not know whether they would capture us or cut us down. I did not dare hope for a swift death. My sword felt heavy in my hand, but my desire to protect my kin spurred me to stand before them in their defense.

That was when the drilling stopped. I counted the seconds, wondering when they would breach. Ten seconds. Twenty. Fourty. Three awful minutes passed before the next sound came. I had never heard the sound of something clawing its way onto the ship, but now I could never forget it.

Something had changed with our would-be murderers. I began to hear the thunder of boots retreating down the hall, of something truly massive, being dragged across the deck plates, and a single voice barking out in a guttural tongue. I pressed my ear to the door, ignoring the pain of the hot metal. There were so many guns being primed, that it was as though every invader had brought four weapons each and were readying them all. Another sound caught my attention, one that didn't sound right.

Flames. A ferocious crackling of flames, accompanied by a sharp hissing of moisture being boiled away. A rhythmic clanking brought the sound closer. Clank. Scrape. Clank. Scrape. Footsteps?

The footsteps stopped. Whimpering began to come from the other side of the door. Guns rattled, boots shook, and breaths became ragged. It was as though whatever was before them had driven fear directly into their hearts.

A single word rang out in that throaty voice, and the world began to shake.

The thunder of ballistics, the shrill cry of plasma, treble and bass from lasers, and the percussive thumping of explosions! An orchestra of destruction had overtaken the corridors, the symphony was one of mayhem, and the conductor was madness itself. The roar that had overtaken all other sounds lasted for only a moment but was quickly followed by the muted clatter of spent casings and power packs hitting the floor.

The silence returned, as did an intense heat. I had to move away from the door, otherwise I would have collapsed. My back was to the door when a shrill cry rang out. The cacophony of battle was pathetic in comparison to this dreadful sound. The most similar sound I had experienced was of metal tearing, or the brakes of massive freight haulers grinding to a halt.

No sooner had it ended did the gunfire resume, though now there was an additional clamber of boots as the invaders turned defenders fled down the corridor. Fear had been clutching my heart since this invasion had begun, but the terrible sounds that had occurred left me more confused than terrified. I reluctantly approached the controls of the ship and began disabling the lockdown, starting with the cameras.

The first feed to greet me was one of carnage. A crude doorway had been carved into the outer hull, though no air escaped. Around this entry point were the scattered parts of what might have been a dozen of the invaders. Their bodies were charred and torn asunder, with large gashes going across their bodies in groups of four.

Every camera that activated after that was a similar scene. I had to physically push my children away, lest they witness such gruesome scenes. Everybody had been damaged similarly. Their weapons and armor showed signs of melting. It was horrible, but nothing in comparison to the beast.

The cameras had finally activated on the side that the boarders had come from, and I now had seen the beast. It was tall and thin, with a long tail and four sabers for hands. I could scarcely see any details beyond that, as the entire body of the creature was engulfed in flames that burned brightly enough that the cameras would only display a screen of white. The camera closest to the Leviathan vessel activated, allowing me to see the entire cargo bay they had come from.

Fortifications made from containers barred the entryways, and many heavy cannons lined the docking ramp. To my amazement, they had stationed a pair of land vehicles at the door to their ship, each boasting heavy armor and a large cannon on top. Their commander, the same that had been giving orders, was now fleeing into the depths of his ship, leaving his warriors behind. The camera could not see them all, but I knew there had to be hundreds in the cavernous space.

No sooner had their leader fled did that same awful scream ring out. Then came another, more shrill cry. And another, deeper cry. My heart raced as the idea of the beast having kin of its own onboard entered my mind.

The invaders took position, their guns and tanks aiming at the one door that was unblocked. I watched as the flaming beast strode out from the doorway. I could only see a white silhouette, but there was no mistaking what it was. The positioned beings shook as the glowing entity stood motionless before them. It made no move, though it seemed that it didn't need to.

From the other doorways that had been blocked came a similar glow. The cargo containers and shelves used to block the doorways meaning nothing as another glowing being entered the room. Then another. Two more from another door. And lastly, one that seemed to be a whole size larger burned through the floor adjacent to the first. Six of these monsters stood encased in brilliant light before their prey.

The first shot was from the vehicles. One fired directly at the first arrival, and the other at the largest. Smoke filled the room, temporarily blocking the light from the camera's view. The dust did not last long as the air filtration system inhaled the foreign matter. The immaculate being returned to view. Neither target had so much as flinched.

A burst of motion. The shimmering things launched themselves at the boarding party. Their scythe-like blades seemed to rend flesh and metal as though they were indistinguishable. The tails dragging behind them lashed out like whips of golden light, slicing through the improvised cover like a blade through jelly. Each of these creatures seemed to move with a different grace and had differences in their shape and weapons as well.

The large one was slow but belched fire as though it were a mythical beast of legend. The two that had come together appeared to be able to magnetize to the position of their counterpart, sometimes throwing the other ahead only to dart after them weightlessly. There was one that moved with uncanny speed, bouncing from the walls and ceiling so quickly it left streaks on the video feed. In the middle of the enemy was one that used every surface of its body as a weapon, bodies flying across the room as it brutalized them.

The last of these creatures did not enter the carnage that had begun creeping into the enemy vessel. Instead, it turned back towards the door it had come from. I watched it on the cameras as it marched through the halls. I wondered where it was going. Then I caught a glimpse of the door that lay in its path.

I turned to my children and told them to stay close to their mother. I was a fool. A damn fool that had killed his family. My regret, my shame, and my fear kept me standing here between that thing and the only reason I had to live. I knew I couldn't hope to stop it, but there was no better way to atone than to die fighting.

A single dot of light formed at the top of the door. This dot then became a white glowing blade, then it began to carve its way along the edge of the door. Whatever this thing was, it was making its way in just the same as it had for those borders. Soon enough the oval shape of the door was carved away, allowing the sizzling scrap of metal to be pulled away. My time had come.

The thing that entered through the doorway was born from the very darkest of nightmares. A skeletal frame of deep red metal was all that made up this creature. It appeared as though it was a machine made to mock the bones of some upright ape. Nothing above its fangs was visible. The blades at the end of its arms shone with unimaginable heat, its body pouring out scathing flames, and the floor beneath it groaned as it began to reach its limit.

It did not move. No, it stood there for a moment, just as it had done before launching its strike in the cargo bay. I raised my blade, knowing it would lunge at any moment. It looked down at me, and in that instant, I flinched.

But no attack came. Instead, the air around the thing began to change. The flames began coiling around it, seeping into the recesses of its shadow. Its blinding halo now pulled back, I could finally see it properly. It was indeed a machine, but it also seemed to be more than that. The bony shape of it was covered in plates of armor that were once obscured by hellfire, the flaming blades had pulled back and no longer hissed, and the hands at the end of its long arms were now a gentle five-digit hand.

The cadaver-esque face that I couldn't see before was only visible briefly before a smooth helmet formed around it. Similar plates moved around until the skeleton of flames was no longer there. Instead, a being that could pass as a person in a form-fitting pressure suit stood before us.

This thing, whatever it was, knelt before me. It slowly reached out and took my blade from my hands. I did not resist. I could only stand there and breathe, my ability to form words failing me. Please don't hurt us. Spare my family. I'll do anything.

A soothing voice, one that reminded me of a gentle song played in the meadow, came from the masked being. "You have nothing to fear." It reached out carefully, placing a hand atop my head. "Everything will be alright."

My legs gave out. The chemicals that had been driving me to press on, despite the hell that we were being put through, ran out in an instant. A wetness came to my eyes when the feeling of relief came crashing into my heart. I could not hold it back. I wept. The thing before me, our savior, wrapped its arms around me and held me gently as I wept more and more.

The cheers of my family did not register. The voice of my mate at my side was lost to me. The weeping of my children who had gathered around me could not be heard, but the warmth of their arms around me could be felt. An eternity passed like that as we held onto each other. I didn't even notice as the being that had saved us turned to speak to the others of its kind.

The one who had come first talked to us more. She was called Rosie. She told us that they would be taking us somewhere safe, to a place beyond the war and where there were no ships waiting to attack. She said it was her home. Earth.

They did so much for us. They saved us. They buried our dead. Gave us a new home. Built us a new ship. They did so much, expecting nothing in return.

But I will forever be in their debt. Not for their charity, or their kindness, not even their protection. It was because they had saved me when I had fallen into despair, and in doing so ignited my soul anew. I owe it to them to be a worthy father to my children until the end.

Survivor's account of the Trees of Yornjweg, Captain Pekvon