Chapter One
-Gordon-
Lieutenant Gordon Malloy crouched in the grass as the shadow of the Evil Emperor's palace towered over him. Gordon had been watching the guard's patrol for what felt like an eternity. Their movements slowly became more predictable with every pass. He knew there was only one chance to assassinate the Emperor. He couldn't make any mistakes.
The lieutenant inched forward from his hiding position and snuck towards the guard closest to him. The samurai was alone, a deadly mistake. He was concentrating on the main road leading up to the palace, which allowed Gordon to sneak up behind him without much effort. Gordon unsheathed his dagger as silently as he could, while getting ever closer to the large ancient warrior. Then, in one swift motion, Gordon shot up from the grass, slapped his hand over the guard's mouth, and shoved the blade deep into the samurai's throat.
Gordon was glad that he turned off the blood effects for this simulation. Even though the gore would have helped with the immersion, he had no interest in having this man's blood squirt all over his face as he pulled the dagger free. As he slowly lowered the dead guard to the ground, Gordon was almost shocked when it suddenly occurred to him how quiet his outfit was. If he had been wearing his usual samurai armor, he would have alerted everyone of his presents just by standing up. For this stealth game, he wore a black shinobi shozoku, the classic ninja uniform. He had to admit that it was much more comfortable than the heavy armor as well.
"Maybe I should play stealth games more often." Gordon thought as he quickly, and quietly pulled the guard deeper into the grass. "These clothes are so comfortable I could sleep in them."
After hiding the body well enough for him to be satisfied, Gordon continued towards the palace.
Gordon slowly circled the parameter of the palace as he killed several other guards who got in his way. All without being noticed. Eventually, he found a servant's entrance which lead inside. Once he entered the building, he slowly worked his way through the dark halls and staircases, gradually working his way up to the top floor, only pausing to take down anyone who blocked his path. At first, he made sure to hide all the bodies wherever he could. Though eventually he became bored with that, figuring that no one could report a crime if all the witnesses were dead.
Once he was at the highest floor, he could see the golden door of the Evil Emperor's bed chamber at the end of a long hallway which was dimly lit by two lanterns on either side. There were no guards in site.
"This is too easy" Thought Gordon.
Suddenly, as if he jinxed himself, a loud warning bell pierced through the silence. The remaining guards were yelling that an assassin was among them.
"Damn!" Gordon spat "I thought I killed everyone."
Gordon charged towards the Emperor's room. He had run out of time. He had to kill the Emperor then escape before the reinforcements arrived. Turning sideways, Gordon rammed his shoulder into the door, forcing it to swing open. He stood in what could only be described as the physical manifestation of narcissism. Gold statues of all sizes littered the room, all resembling the same handsome young man in the same proud stance with his hands resting on his hips. On the far side of the room, opposite of where Gordon was standing, the Evil Emperor shot upright in his bed. The years had not been kind to the man. He was heavyset, with a stringy unkempt beard. His thick wrinkled brow gave him the appearance of an angry bulldog. The man seemed to not be wearing anything other than a large jade amulet around his neck which resembled a dragon eating its own tail. The Emperor's cold grey eyes widened when he saw his soon-to-be assassin stand in his doorway. Gordon tried his best to act like someone who was used to slamming into doors at full speed, despite the fact that his shoulder was now throbbing.
"You! You're the Shadow!" Cried the Emperor in a thick accent that even Gordon couldn't believe was authentic "How did you get past my guards?"
"No time. Time to die!" Said Gordon as he sprinted towards the Emperor as fast as he could, his sword high above his head. The Emperor quickly reached for an object on his bedside table and pointed it at Gordon. The lieutenant let out a powerful war cry as an explosion ran through his ears and the simulation ended.
The elaborate chamber faded away and was replaced with a small room with gray walls. Hovering directly in front of Gordon's face was a holographic text which said "You Failed", and seemed to be written in blood. Underneath the phrase was a looping video of Gordon charging at the Emperor, only to be shot point blank in the chest with a flintlock pistol.
"He had a gun? Really?" Said Gordon.
After spitting out a list of profanities, Gordon was very tempted to run the sim again. He was sure he could beat it after the fourth time. This was the closest he had ever gotten to the end. He couldn't give up now.
"Mercer to Malloy" Said Captain Mercer from Gordon's com device on his sleeve. Gordon tapped it as he held his arm up to his face.
"Malloy here." Gordon replied
"Gordon drop whatever you're doing and get to the bridge immediately. We got a possible Krill attack on a Union ship." Mercer ordered.
"On my way, boss." Gordon ran out out of the simulation room and headed to the bridge without a second thought.
-Ed-
"What's the sitch." Asked Gordon as he briskly walked onto the bridge. The ensign that was at the helm got up to let Gordon take command of his post. For a moment Ed almost didn't notice that not only was Gordon out of uniform, but he was wearing what looked like a ninja outfit. After instinctively coming up with a list of ninja jokes and puns, he decided to put that issue on the back burner for now.
"We got a distress call from the USS Franklin. It was pretty distorted, but from what we could piece together, they were attacked by the Krill. We don't know the current condition of the Franklin or if the Krill are still there. We should be there any minute so, just be prepared for anything."
"Awesome! Love it. Any excuse to kick some Krill ass."
"And you know, saving the Franklin is nice too." Said Kelly Grayson
"That too. Big plus on that." Replied Gordon
A short time later, Gordon announced that they were arriving at the coordinates. Ed gripped the armrest as he ran through the possible scenarios that were about to be dumped onto their lap.
"Here she comes." Said Gordon.
Immediately after dropping out of warp, they were met with what remained of the USS Franklin. She was a little more than rubble, small pieces of wreckage floated around her near-lifeless shell. There were no functioning Krill ships within visual range, though Ed did notice what seemed to be remains of a Krill fighter drifting nearby. For a few moments, the entire bridge was completely silent.
"My god…" Breathed Mercer as he leaned forward in his chair.
"Please tell me we got survivors over there." Said Commander Grayson, a hint of fear hovered in her voice.
"I am reading life signs on board the Franklin." Said Bortus "Though I cannot pinpoint their exact location."
"Aren't there any escape pods or shuttles in the vicinity?" Asked Mercer.
"Yes, sir. But none have life signs on board." Said Bortus
"How many are on the ship?" Asked Mercer.
"Two, sir." Bortus replied.
"Only two…" Mercer muttered.
"Captain, the Franklin has sustained multiple hull breaches." Said Isaac in his usual emotionless tone "Many sections of the ship have been sealed by emergency containment fields."
"How long before main power gives out?" Asked Grayson.
"Approximately fifty-four minutes." Isaac replied.
Adrenaline shot through Ed as he got up from his seat and began to rush out of the room. "Kelly, you have the bridge. Isaac, Alara, you're with me." Ed tapped the communicator on his sleeve. "Dr. Finn, meet us at the shuttle bay. Bring your med kit."
Alara
Since the Franklin's shuttle bay was no longer in one piece, the Orville away team had to find an emergency hatch on the side of the ship. Once the secondary doors opened and the away team entered the ship, smoke stung Alara's eyes and the smell of burnt plastic filled her nostrils. The hallways were dark. The only source of light came from the line of red light flashing on and off.
"Look for survivors and information on what exactly happened here." Said Ed as he held back a cough.
"With all due respect, Captain" Began Isaac "Isn't the physical evidence enough to form a conclusion?"
"The Franklin sent out their distress call while they were being attacked. They should have been able to spot a Krill ship and book it long before they ever got within weapons range. They were ambushed. The crew didn't even have time to evacuate, for god sake. We need to figure out how that happened."
"Understood, Captain" Said Isaac.
"I want everyone to be ready to leave inside of forty minutes. Make sure to stay in radio contact."
With that, everyone began their search.
Alara made her way down the dark hall. The smoke was so thick, she could barely see more than five feet in front of her. She had to keep a hand on the wall to keep a sense of where she was going and use her comscanner to get a better idea of what was in front of her. As she walked down the corridors, she came across several bodies. Alara made a point to check the life signs of every one. The comscanner said they were all dead before she even got near them, but she always felt the need to check. All looked to have died from either blunt force trauma, crushed from falling debris, or extensive burns. There was no sign of weapons fire anywhere on the ship.
"Dr. Finn to away team." Said Claire over the com "I've found one of the survivors. She's sustained a concussion and is suffering from minor internal bleeding. If I don't get her into surgery soon, things will go down hill very fast.
"We still haven't found the second survivor, Doc." Responded Mercer "We may not have time for another trip. Take her back to the shuttle and do what you can, but I'm not leaving till we find the other one."
Suddenly a small blip appeared on Alara's comscanner.
"Guys, I think I found number two!" Said Alara as she turned the corner, following where her comscanner was leading her. "They're somewhere nearby. Give me a minute."
At the end of the hallway, Alara came across a doorway with the word "Brig" in bright red letters over the entrance. Only one half of the sliding doors were open. She was able to push the other door back with minimal effort.
"Have you found them yet?" Asked Mercer
"The scanner says they're right in front of me. I'm practically blind in here though."
The brig only contained two small cells. On a science vessel, there wasn't much need for a large security force. Nothing really happened on science vessels other than an occasional drunk partier, but even that was rare since these ships were usually filled with nerds who don't drink.
Alara took a few steps further into the room. After a moment, Alara's eyes finally began to adjust and she could see a large dark figure laying on the floor inside one of the holding cells. She ran over to the cell and was about to deactivate the containment field when she hesitated.
"I found the them. They're in a cell and appear to be unconscious. Still... I'm gonna play on the side of caution. Stand by."
Alara pulled out her PM-44 and made sure it was on the stun setting before deactivating the barrier.
"Hello?" Said Alara as she inched closer to the figure, keeping her gun at the ready but aimed at the floor.
The figure looked human, or at least humanoid. It was a little hard to tell since they were laying face down. Though Alara could see that they weren't wearing a Union uniform. Once she was close enough, Alara gently nudged the figure's side with her foot. There was no reaction.
"They're out cold." Said Alara into her comscanner "I'll have to carry the-"
Suddenly, Alara's leg was pulled out from under her. She attempted to pull back but surprisingly, the stranger managed to overpower her and jerked Alara's leg towards them, making her fall onto the floor as she fired blindly all the way down.
"Lieutenant!" Said Mercer over the com "Was that gunfire? What's your status?"
Alara was stunned, but only briefly. She felt for the gun but couldn't find it anywhere within reaching distance. She crawled backwards to try and get some space between herself and her attacker, but they grabbed her leg again and dragged her back into the holding cell. Alara could only see the large silhouette of the figure. She kicked straight forward with her free leg and seemed to have landed a hit, because the figure let out a loud grunt and loosened their grip. When she pulled her leg free from the stranger's hands, Alara felt something hit the back of her foot. She reached forward and felt the butt of her gun. She grabbed it, aimed and fired at the stranger just as they were coming in for another lunge. They fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"Alara?" Called out Mercer from the com "Alara, what the hell's going on? Don't tell me you got shot again!"
Alara scrambled to get the comscanner. "I'm okay, Captain. Just had a light scuffle."
"With the survivor?"
"Affirmative."
Alara got back onto her feet and slowly approached the stranger, this time making sure she kept her gun pointed at them at all times.
In the dim light, she could see that the stranger was male. And seemed to have human features though it was too dark to see much else. Alara was about to kneel down to get a better view of the man, when an explosion rang through the ship.
"Grayson to away team" Began Commander Grayson over the comscanner "The containment fields are failing faster than we predicted. You got about five minutes before that ship becomes scrap metal. Get the hell out of there!"
"Everyone get to the shuttle now!" Ordered Mercer.
Alara looked down at the man. She didn't know why he attacked her, but decided to ask him once he woke up on the Orville. She holstered her gun and lifted the man over her shoulder before leaving the brig and ran down the way she came.
Alara ran as fast as she could while carrying her attacker down the hallway. Due to her heightened strength, carrying him wasn't that much trouble, though she did notice that he seemed to be slightly heavier than most males his size.
When she rounded the corner and saw the open door to the shuttle, Dr. Finn and Captain Mercer were already there. The doctor was kneeling over a woman wearing an orange engineering uniform. She had a large gash on her head and seemed to be going in and out of consciousness.
"Where's Isaac?" Asked Alara as she set down the stranger in the shuttle, not much caring that his head hit the floor just a tad too hard. Dr. Finn shot Alara a nasty look.
"He started it." Said Alara pointing an accusatory finger at the unconscious man.
"Isaac, get your shiny ass to the shuttle now!" Ordered Mercer over his com.
"I am en route, Captain." Replied Isaac. "ETA fifteen seconds"
"God, you claim to be superior but you're slow as hell." Said Mercer. He scanned his flashlight down the hallway. Isaac was nowhere in site.
"On Kaylon, running is not a required skill." Isaac replied.
"Well, consider it a Union requirement." Said Mercer
Alara sat down in the back seat of the shuttle. She knew to keep out of Claire's way unless she specifically asked for help. She found her gaze landing on the man that attacked her.
In the shuttle light, she could clearly tell that he was indeed human. Which to her, made no sense. How could a human ever come close to overpowering a Xelayan?
Just then, Isaac came jogging out from the smoke.
"Finally. Let's go." Said Mercer as they all boarded the shuttle.
A few seconds after they left, the Franklin's main power failed. Scraps of debris, and sickeningly, many of the dead crew, were jettisoned into the cold vacuum of space.