Imperial Guard – 003 The Infinite Depths of Space

Chapter 6 The Signal

What happened after that first shot was fired would be etched into the history scrolls of countless cultures forever. The destruction of the Hytharian scout. The aggressive response of the two superpowers whose experiment invited the energy-based beings and their ships into this universe. The Ophelion system descended into chaos.

Ships that did not have crew onboard the station at the time activated their FTL drives and fled, but many couldn't for that exact reason. The station had raised its shields, thereby protecting docked ships. This was still made possible because the energy link with the solar collector continued to be stable.

Meanwhile, the Hytharians and Xhi'tha had their hands full taking on their newfound adversaries. The Ophelion system had turned into a dangerous place. The number of stray shots was high. The power output of the individual shots was overwhelming due to the stark difference in technology between the highly advanced races and the majority who acted as bystanders. Those who reacted hostile to this form of collateral damage soon found themselves to be a target.

"Do not return fire! We're not an active target!" Raeth ordered as the Myr'shala shook violently and lost a sizable portion of its shield strength after being hit by a stray beam.

Without touching his console, Jirro acknowledged. The difference was too great. They would not survive a direct attack, Raeth was certain of it. Ships had scattered around the station as the engaging parties continued to hammer each other. Even though the Hytharians seemed to try and draw the hostiles away from the static installations, the ships did not appear to stray too far from the portal.

"They used it as their way to get in," Baika thought out loud. "Could also be their only way out."

"Any changes in the portal's energy signature?" Raeth asked.

Baika shook her head.

"Nothing so far. Still no contact with the other side."

"Let me know as soon as anything changes. If they can control it somehow, they might even be able to bring in reinforcements."

"You're thinking about shutting it down?" Jirro asked.

The way he said it held the middle between a question and a statement. As Raeth looked into Jirro's eyes, he secretly liked how his First Officer was able to read his thoughts on occasion. If Jirro had finally made up his mind about being an integral part of this crew, it was a quality he would come to appreciate even more in the future.

"With the amount of ships and personnel on the other side, I hope that won't be necessary."

"I've tried everything in terms of trying to communicate with them," Baika said with a sigh. "They've not responded in any way that signals they're capable of understanding us. These beings might communicate on a whole different level. Something beyond our understanding or capabilities. No one seems to have had more luck than us so far."

"Brace!" Le'tan warned, as he continued the evasive maneuvers while the beams flashed in front of the panoramic window.

"No damage," Jirro reported. "But our shield frequencies are continuing to fluctuate. This has been going on since the fight started."

"Majih, how are those modifications holding up?" Raeth asked.

"I've been monitoring since I made the changes, but they shouldn't be the cause of these fluctuations. I'm on it."

"The station's shields appear to be holding," Baika said. "They are taking hits, but as long as that power coupling holds, they should be fine. The shuttle is holding position inside their bubble."

Raeth knew that if the station's shields would fail, the amount of stray weapons fire could cause catastrophic damage in little time. The hub was not designed as a military installation, so it possessed very little in the way of weaponry or hull armor.

Like every commander present, he racked his brains to find a solution to the current predicament. With the station filled to capacity, there were many lives at stake, including members of his own crew. The longer the conflict dragged on, the bigger the chance it would result in loss of life.

We gotta find a way to get through to them.

"I can't watch this any longer," Jetreycka growled, turning her head away from the monitor with a tug.

Another fight ended. Another fighter slain in a brutal way in front of a bloodthirsty audience. It was his one chance to regain some form of freedom; being allowed to challenge one of the Hazarr Syndicate's own fighters. But to no avail. It was a clean fight, as far as Nami could determine. No dirty tricks. No foul play. But the alien's injuries sustained in previous fights proved too much. With his opponent at full strength, his chances had been slim.

Nothing significant had changed during the last two fights. But something was going on, she could feel it. The minor power fluctuations. The occasional vibration of the deck under her split hoof-like feet.

Could something have gone wrong? Is there some kind of battle going on out there?

Figuring the vibrations were too strong and too frequent for an on-station incident, she began to watch for signs of a cue once more. She had tried to talk to the other prisoners with mixed results and the willingness to attempt a breakout was definitely there. All they needed was the trigger.

There was the rumble of the arena-side door. This time there was no one to escort back in. The guards chuckled as they talked about the fight in a casual way. One of them, a member of an insectoid race clicked its mandibles in an excited fashion and one of the Togrothians let out a howl before joining his colleagues into laughter.

Disgusted, Nami averted her gaze, fearing they were running out of time. Despite acting strong, Jetreycka's injuries hampered her movement. She noticed how she constantly tried to shift her stance to relieve her wounded leg. On top of that they both had an injured arm that in her own case felt like it was still being pierced by a sizzling hot blade. She couldn't speak for Jetreycka, but the claws of the Lecathian she fought could have injected harmful microorganisms into the wound. There were no signs of infection yet, but that could change rapidly. Their current environment contributed a lot as well and their immuno-boosters were not very effective at countering such direct contact.

"How's your arm?" Nami asked.

Having returned the favor by bandaging it in a similar fashion, it had stopped the bleeding.

"I can move it," her friend confirmed by moving her arm back and forth while bending her elbow. "Yeah, it hurts, but no side effects so far."

"Good," Nami said with a nod. "I have the feeling something's about to happen. Be on the lookout."

"You!" For a brief moment her hearts sank as the rough voice cut through the chatter. It belonged to a rather burly-looking Togrothian, with a vicious grin and piercing yellow eyes. With his black and brown fur, and body armor covering his torso and upper legs, he looked more like a soldier. To Nami though, he was still a mere crook, only better equipped than most. But it was the way he eyed them both that made her mouth turn dry and twisted her stomach. "You've both been doing rather well. So well in fact, that you're in need of some better odds. Each other perhaps."

Forcing herself to swallow the urge to scratch his eyes out, she had to make do with a poisonous look of contempt instead, while Jetreycka froze on the spot, apart from a flick of her ear. Yes, she heard that right. They were about to put them in the ring against each other. Fearing there was very little they could do about it, Nami tried to think of a solution, until Jetreycka showed that she had the courage to protest.

"No! You can't do that. I won't do that!"

Stamping her foot on the floor with enough force to shake the deck, she had raised her voice to the volume of a shout. With her fists balled, panting through clenched teeth she would've scared any other person into making a run for it. But the Togrothian showed his sharp-toothed grin at her reaction, knowing he had the upper hand.

"I can." The rifles pointed by his colleagues were enough to keep her in check and Jetreycka soon realized it was pointless to resist. "And I will. Move. Both of you."

Nami could feel how her jaws were beginning to feel cramped because of biting down in anger. Letting her legs carry her to the pit in which she was going to have to face off against her friend, she still tried to figure a way out of the current predicament. Only at this point, her mind couldn't come up with anything no matter how much effort she put into it. No matter how much she tried to shut everything else out.

It was the transition between the smooth metal surface of the deck and the coarse sand of the pit between the two toes of her split, hoof-like feet that put the thought of the worst outcome into her mind. The harsh reality of what was about to happen.

The crowd cheered. The light beams thrown by the spotlights swept across the circular arena in alternating patterns except for two of them that focused on her and Jetreycka.

"N-Nami?"

"Jet, I know what you're gonna say. I've made a decision."

"No talk!"

"Oh shaddup!" Nami bit back with such ferocity that the guard recoiled before tightening his grip on his rifle. "You've got us this far. The least you can do is allow us to have a word with each other, ya piece of gehk."

The guards allowed the talk, but still urged them to move to their starting positions in the center of the pit. Which she did, albeit slowly.

"You're gonna have to kill me," Jetreycka said with a tone of voice that didn't leave room for back-talk.

"No. We're gonna make a run for it. See the arena walls? It's high but I bet we can jump the distance."

"We'll never make it. They've got guns targeting us the entire time."

"It's better to fight them then to fight each other."

"But at least you'll have a chance." Jetreycka's voice scratched like her throat was being squeezed shut. "You'll be able to fight one of theirs for a chance at freedom." Turning around on the spot as she had reached her position, Nami looked into Jetreycka's eyes. The wet trails on her cheeks did not detract from the spark of determination she saw in them. "I'm the ranking officer. I'm telling you to do it."

"You're gonna use this moment to pull rank on me?"

"Enough talk!" The Lepori guard shouted. "It's time to fight."

The guards retreated. The spotlights focused. The swell of the crowd. The demand for more blood. Blood in various colors that already patterned the sand between her feet.

"Just do it," Jetreycka hissed. "Make it swift. Don't hesitate. I'm gonna make it look real or they might punish you."

They began to circle each other as the starting signal sounded. Suppressing the urge to vomit, Nami focused on her movements while studying their environment from the corner of her eye. As expected, Seylah was there to watch. She had been watching all of their fights from a raised section in the grandstand close to one of the exits. And like those other times she didn't join in on the excitement.

"What's her deal anyway?" Nami thought.

If Seylah didn't really enjoy watching them tear each other apart, then why was she here? Was she hoping for one of them to join the ranks? She hadn't seen any other Mantrins down here so that might not be far off.

The spotlights flickered once more. They had been doing that with increasing frequency and even while standing in the sand she felt the vibrations rippling through the station's structure. Jetreycka was right. The walls could be climbed, but the exits were out of reach. The guards standing on the platforms in the crowd would shoot them if they tried and if by some miracle they were able to make it to the first seating row, they had a crowd to wrestle through.

Meanwhile, Jetreycka began to notice her stalling for time and so did the audience. They were urging them to make a move and Jetreycka did so first. Stomping her foot in the sand as she stepped forward, she added a convincing growl. Nami jumped back, avoiding direct contact while feinting to the left. The crowd cheered in response.

Leaving a deliberate opening, she waited for Jetreycka to attack. Which she did, but instead of making use of the trap she set, she pulled back and jumped out of the way.

"What're you doing?" Jetreycka hissed between clenched teeth.

She seemed ferocious in her attacks, but her injured leg hampered her movement. If her friend were a real opponent, Nami would've exploited this weakness. But she didn't. Another flicker of the lights. The station trembled and her instincts told her that the external forces at work would soon present them with the opportunity she had been waiting for. It just had to happen somewhere within the next three or so millicycles.

"I'm saving our lives," she bit back. "By stalling."

"It's too late! They're gonna shoot us both."

This time Jetreycka attacked for real. Being a Sogowan, her friend was quite a bit larger and heavier than she was and covered the small distance between them in no time. Dealing a heavy blow by kneeing her in the stomach, Nami stumbled backwards, gasping for breath as the air was violently expelled from her lungs, feeling like they had been crushed in the process.

With her hand on her belly while retching, the hard muscle unable to block the impact of Jetreycka's mighty legs, she looked up to see remorse on her friend's face. Mere ticks before it turned into anger. Anger she knew was not directed at her.

"C'mon!" she shouted, beckoning her to fight back. "You can do better than that!"

Of course she could! But she didn't want to. Jetreycka seemed to have given up on escape and was now trying to use emotion to trick her into fighting back. Maybe she was right. Maybe there was no more time. C'mon. C'mon.

Leaving another opening on purpose, she waited for Jetreycka to attack once more. Only this time, she jumped to the side, pulled back her leg and thrusted her hoof-like foot against Jetreycka's injured one. Her friend screamed, stumbled and collapsed into the sand as her leg bent under an unnatural angle.

Again the crowd cheered. Jetreycka groaned as she planted her fists into the sand in an attempt to get up. Her legs wobbled as she tried to get back on her feet, before falling back on one knee. Panting like she ran for thousands of steps, droplets of sweat collecting at the tip of her muzzle, she looked up, the expression on her face an odd mixture of pain and amusement. Shaking her head she chuckled.

"I'm sorry you have to do this. But it's for your own good. Now finish it."

"No, wait," Nami panted, feeling the vibrations under feet getting much stronger all of a sudden. "Stay close. We're gonna-"

The lights were killed so abruptly that she forgot to finish her sentence. The station shook violently, as if something massive crashed into it. It was so dark that she could barely see her friend, with the only light coming from weapon-mounted searchlights that swept in all directions. Smaller lights popped up all around them as spectators retrieved their mobile devices. When the sound of shots reached her ears, the crowd exploded into an uproar as everyone tried to get away in the confusion and chaos that erupted.

"We gotta get to the side!" Nami yelled, her voice almost lost in the noise around her. People screamed. Shots were fired in the stands and because no one seemed to know what they were aiming for the casualty count was on the rise. Finding her friend by walking toward her last location, she helped her up. Weighing heavily on her shoulder, she supported her until they had reached the metal wall surrounding the pit. This was a bit awkward due to their unusual legs, but with Jetreycka letting her injured leg drag it was possible. With the occasional stray shot slamming into the sand close to their position, they had at least one side covered by staying close to the wall. "Can you walk?" she asked.

"If I put some effort into it," Jetreycka grunted. "Did you have to kick the leg?"

"Did you have to hit me in the stomach?"

"Point taken."

"We gotta find the doors."

"What the heck is going on anyway?"

With her eyes adjusting to the dark, Nami pressed her back against the wall, feeling the coolness of the metal through her uniform top. Shuffling in the direction where she remembered the doors were, making sure Jetreycka remained close by, she tried to pay attention to what was happening on the grandstand surrounding the pit. The spectators seemed to be driven toward the exits by a group of armed attackers entering from another.

She couldn't really identify any of them under the circumstances, but their numbers were too great, and their behavior too unprofessional to be a Myr'shala or station police rescue squad. Could the power failures have caused a prison break? If that were the case, it was an incredible streak of luck. Despite their reckless revenge-driven attack, they seemed to succeed in getting the upper hand.

"Maybe a successful escape attempt. This might be our only chance. Now where are those doors?" It was the rush of air when the doors in question opened that guided her in the right direction. But the searchlights that swept across the arena made her hesitate for a moment. Had they come to finish them off before they could flee? As one of the beams hit her in the face and blinded her, she tried to shield her eyes with her arm. "Don't shoot!" she yelled.

"It's them!" a familiar voice responded. "We've found them!"

"Azdar?"

As he lowered his weapon, the rest of the squad that followed in his footsteps surrounded her and Jetreycka. But with shots still hitting the sand around them Trezka immediately ordered a retreat.

"C'mon, get 'em back into the tunnel!"

Fatigued and with her body aching all over, Nami appreciated the strong helping hands of her crewmates as they guided her to safety. Out of the pit and protected by the station's innards, she felt her legs give way beneath her.

"Masai, can you take a look?" Weyan asked, as he held her arm while she used the bulkhead for support.

"I'm here."

Watching a blurred figure lower herself on her legs with a medical scanner in her hand, she fought against the dizziness. The sound of shots echoing through the tunnel. The distorted voices, screams and roars in the background. The urge to vomit was still there and stronger than ever.

"Jet- Jetreycka first," she panted. "Her leg…"

"Are you sure?" Masai asked.

"Just gimme a stim. I'll be fine."

After handing Weyan a stim pack, Masai moved over to her friend who leaned against the same wall to her left. Jetreycka groaned. Moving her leg seemed to cause her a great deal of pain and without the squad's help it would be near impossible for her to make it all the way back to the upper levels. As Masai ran her scan and began treatment, Weyan rolled up the sleeve of her uninjured arm and pressed the subdermal contacts of the stim pack against her skin.

Taking a couple of deep breaths as the powerful mixture of stimulants, regenerative substances and painkillers spread through her body like liquid relief, she began to see her environment more clearly, despite only having the dim red emergency lighting and the searchlights. With Azdar and Norgu covering them at the next junction a few dozen steps ahead, they could at least receive a patch up for the walk ahead, which she hoped wasn't long.

"Think you'll be able to walk?" Trezka asked, as she stepped up to her.

Enjoying the rejuvenating feeling of the stim pack, which did remarkably well in fading the pain and discomfort to the background, she let out a sigh.

"In a millicycle. Am I glad to see you guys. Even though it took you long enough."

"Hey, do you know how much trouble we went through to get here?" Trezka grunted, flattening an ear.

"I'm kidding," she chuckled.

"If that means you're also able to walk, I'm happy. We have to get a move on. Hopefully the shuttle will be able to pick us up, so we don't have to climb all the way up there. Reduces the risk of getting killed in the process."

The stim pack also reduced the sensitivity of her eyes and ears back to normal levels. The flashes of Azdar and Norgu returning the occasional shot no longer made her want to cover her eyes, and the noise of their guns, the return fire and the yelling and screaming were still loud but didn't hurt her ears as much as before.

Looking to her left, Jetreycka groaned as she tried to obey Masai into moving her leg, drops of sweat running across her face. Although it did help to stall for time, Nami now regretted going for the leg, because it reduced Jetreycka's chances and made a successful escape harder for all of them.

"What's the deal with her leg?" Trezka asked Masai

Masai had instructed Thylun to apply a stim pack as well, but that wouldn't fix Jetreycka's leg in case of any serious damage. In that case, she still wouldn't be able to walk on her own.

"It's not broken, but her lower knee is dislocated. She might be able to walk if we pop it back into place, though she does need to see a real doctor soon."

"Do it," Jetreycka said through clenched teeth. "I know it's gonna hurt!" she added when she noticed the hesitation.

"Right," Masai said with a nod. "Can't give you too much medication on top of that stim, or we're gonna have to carry you all the way. Hold her." With Weyan and Thylun grabbing her under her armpits, Jetreycka closed her eyes in preparation. Masai put away her equipment, then signaled Trezka to move closer as she firmly grabbed hold of Jetreycka's lower leg. "You're gonna have to help me with this."

In the meantime Nami moved her own weary muscles, knowing she was going to have to persevere for a little longer. They were still far away from making it out of his hellish place alive, but at least they had escaped the clutches of the Syndicate.

"Ready?" Masai asked Trezka. "Just follow me."

After a couple of quick breaths, Jetreycka screamed at the top of her lungs as Masai and Trezka moved her leg in circular movements, until a sickening pop was heard. For a moment Jetreycka looked as if she were about to faint, until Masai tapped her cheek.

"No, no. Stay awake. We're there."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm… I'm here," she confirmed, hanging heavily in the arms of Weyan and Thylun supporting her. "Gimme a millicycle."

A few millicycles later and with Jetreycka trying out her leg by putting more and more weight on it, the group was finally able to move. Azdar and Norgu had cleared their direct vicinity by holding position during Jetreycka's field treatment and moved ahead with Trezka to continue clearing the way. Weyan and Thylun covered their rear, but apart from the occasional straggler that surrendered on sight, everyone seemed to have fled.

Staying close to Jetreycka's side, Nami kept a close eye on her friend with Trezka's sidearm in her hand. In her current physical state, she doubted she would be able to reliably hit anything at medium to long range, but it did make her feel a little bit safer. As they moved through the long dark corridors, listening to Trezka's attempts to contact the shuttle that brought them in, she started to get the feeling that the real danger was now coming from outside the station.

The place continued to shake, sometimes violently and she could occasionally hear the sounds of high-powered systems shutting down. If the connection to the solar collector had been interrupted, the station would be running on its own power sources, and if so, they would need every bit of it to keep out whatever was hammering on the shields.

They reached the top of an ascending walkway that brought them up a couple of levels, with Weyan and Thylun close behind. Nami had no idea what part of the station they were in right now, but trusted her crewmates up front to guide them to safety. All she had seen so far were more maintenance tunnels, storage spaces and rooms filled with machinery that hadn't been touched by the Syndicate. In fact, it appeared they had left the lower levels where the organization thrived behind and had reached the bottom part of the upper sections, only no one was there. Whatever threatened the station, it was reason enough for everyone to leave non-essential posts.

"How're you holding up?" Trezka asked, checking up on them.

"Doing the best I can," Jetreycka answered, forcing a smile. "Stims seem to be doing what they're supposed to do, I guess."

"Okay, let us know if you need a break. Looks like we have to try and make it up top on our own. I can't raise the shuttle. Comms are down. Weapons are acting weird too. Not sure what it is. We're gonna try to-"

"Don't move!" Azdar yelled. "Drop your weapon!"

"Fine! Fine! Don't shoot."

The feeling of surprise hit Nami so suddenly that the blaster almost slipped out of her hand. As Trezka turned around to see what was going on for herself, Nami's eyes caught Seylah, raising her hands after placing her own sidearm on the floor. The sound of her voice. Her tight black T-shirt and legging. Even in the dimly lit corridor she knew it was her, before Azdar pointed his weapon's searchlight in such a way that they could all get a good look.

Trezka grunted as she moved in and the sudden stab of anger Nami felt caught her off guard at first. Following in Trezka's footsteps, she deliberately made eye contact, but Seylah did not seem to have any hostile intentions. If she had to name one thing she sensed coming from her, it was fear. A fresh cut left a trickle of blood on her cheek and she had a tear in her legging as well. It seemed she hadn't escaped the skirmish without any scratches either.

"Who's this?"

"Someone who wanted us dead," Nami growled, her claws unsheathing in a reflex.

"I never wanted you dead!" Seylah bit back.

"Yeah, well it's not like you did anything to stop it," Jetreycka quipped.

"It wasn't my choice! I never expected them to put you against each other."

"Hold it! Hold it!" Trezka intervened. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm Seylah." She swallowed, pausing for a moment. "Please. Take me with you."

"They've lost the power coupling!" Baika warned. "The station's calling for help. They won't be able to sustain shield strength on their own."

With one of the bridge's viewers locked on the station itself, the bridge crew watched as the beam of energy between the station and the solar collector dispersed into nothing. As they needed all backup power to keep the shields up against the powerful stray shots that occasionally struck them with explosive results, a large number of the countless windows along the outer hull went dark. In the meantime the Myr'shala's systems continued acting up as well, despite the crew's best efforts to remedy this.

"I still don't understand what's happening to our power systems," Majih called out in frustration. "It's like they're being disrupted by an outside force. It's screwing up everything. Are those ships actively targeting us with some kind of jamming system?"

"Not that I can tell," Baika answered. "All other ships in the vicinity are experiencing the same issues."

"What about our reactor containment field?" Raeth asked.

"Well, that's the thing," Majih replied. "It seems to be about the only stable system we still have. I'd say the containment field is unaffected by whatever is screwing with the rest of our systems."

The energy-based ships were still engaged in battle with the Hytharians and Xhi'tha and neither side seemed to be on the verge of winning. Any ship that dared to participate in this fight, due to catching a stray shot or because its captain was itching to fight, regretted this decision in little time and with heavy damage as a result.

But with the station becoming much more vulnerable due to power failure, most ships switched to full defense and took position between the battling superpowers and the station. And so did the Myr'shala.

"Le'tan, get us into position. All power to the forward shields."

"Just look at those Denali dreadnoughts," Houn said, his voice coated with admiration.

Trumping even the mighty Imperial Tyr'derra class battleship in size, the two enormous vessels were the pride of the Denali Aquatic Union and had taken the lead in the defense. Called the Denali for short, they were among the most unique entities in the galaxy.

Their home planet was in essence nothing more than a giant spherical ocean, without any landmasses of significance in which no less than five different intelligent beings had evolved simultaneously. Their harmonious relationship had allowed them to prosper and become a powerful spacefaring entity. The ships were filled with water, visible through large bubble-shaped viewports and even without these details their sleek design language portrayed their creator's origin as aquatic beings.

"The Denali are deploying shield extenders," Jirro reported. "They're building a defense screen."

"Majih, can we tune our shields to join in?" Raeth asked.

"I can, but I'm not sure if that will work with my shield modifications."

"Raeth, I've been monitoring the fluctuations in our power- and shield systems."

Raeth looked at Baika. It seemed the Orkeht girl was on to something. That detail about the reactor containment field kept hanging in the back of his mind. They were missing something.

"Go on."

"Well, it's about our shield frequencies. I've let the computer plot the changes over time. There seems to be a kind of pattern to them. They are being manipulated by the aliens and the shields of our neighboring ships are following the exact same pattern."

"Could that be a signal? A way of communication?"

Baika looked up, struck by the sudden realization that they had been the victim of a big misunderstanding. And Raeth felt so too at the same time.

"They could've been trying to communicate with us all along."