Disclaimer: I own stuff n' things y'know.
"Target their power core with nucleonic beams one, two, and three!" Admiral-Quartum 1-ᚴ ordered.
Lieutenant-Prime 10-ᚴ turned to face his commanding officer, "It's no use, sir. Whatever the Sky Outlaw ship hit us with, it not only disabled our Nephren drive but also our weapon systems."
"Damn," 1-ᚴ growled, "Mr. 14-ᚴ, send a file containing footage from the bridge recorder to Command Post 71B. I don't think we're coming out of this one."
"Aye, sir," Lieutenant-Prime 14-ᚴ said, nodding grimly.
"We have incoming!" Commander-Prime 2-ᚴ shouted, "It's a torpedo!"
1-ᚴ pressed a button on his command chair, "All hands brace for-"
The generated hologram of the ship's bridge abruptly disappeared, replaced by something similar to a television test pattern. With a beep, the generator shut down, and the lights in the Castle East's war room returned to their regular brightness.
"The ADSS Prophet CHC-1744-II was lost with all hands while patrolling the border between the space we took from the Borg Collective and space belonging to the Voth Hegemony," Lord-Commodore Mochán said.
"How the hell did the Sky Outlaws travel to Arcadis?" The holographic projection of Commodore 55218 asked, "With their primitive FTL drives it would take them two years to get to the universal rift, and it's only been open for one."
"Could they have found one of our old jump gate experiments?" The holographic projection of Commodore 17994 spoke, "We never did get around to dismantling those."
"Pah!" The holographic projection of Commodore 2724, who had his feet up on something, said, "We fried the circuitry in every single one before we abandoned them, there's no possible way that they could be brought back online."
"If you had time to do that," Commodore 17994 replied snidely, "Why didn't you just dismantle 'em?"
"Gentlemen, gentlemen," I spoke up, pacing from one side of the dimly lit room to the other, "Let us not waste time arguing about how the Sky Outlaws reached Arcadis, for what truly matters is that they're there and have weapons capable of disabling and destroying a Cthylla-class Heavy Cruiser. Now! Aelius, what have your scientists gathered from examining the Prophet's wreckage?"
Director Aelius cleared his throat, "Yes milord, we have discovered that the circuitry belonging to the Prophet's weapon systems, Nephren drive, and void shields were scrambled in a way consistent with the effects of a microwave disruptor. This is the good news, to block these effects all you'd have to do is modify the shield matrix to operate on a slightly lower frequency than normal. The bad news is that the torpedo fired at the ADSS Prophet was armed with an antimatter warhead, something void shields can only partially block. Meaning that the torpedo itself will be blocked, but the force of its explosion will still travel through the shields and strike the ship's hull, likely causing enough damage to require an eight-month stay in an L-class repair yard."
I folded my arms in front of me, "Lord-Commodore, tell the fleet to modify their void shields at once. Also institute jerry-rigging procedures, every commanding officer is to do whatever they can to obtain supplies for use in strengthening their respective ship's hull, this includes engaging in Resource Piracy."
"It shall be done, milord," The Lord-Commodore spoke.
"But!" I said quickly, "Unlike before, this time there'll be rules. This resource gathering is confined to the northeastern part of Arcadis' Milky Way. Under no circumstances are planets to be cracked, there's a reason why we don't have many colonies in the southwestern part of our Milky Way, we got a bit too carried away during the Third Interstellar War. And finally, any ships from any other part of Arcadis' Milky Way are off-limits. High-Admiral!" I turned towards the holographic projection of 1-ᛒ.
"Yes, my lord?" He asked.
"1-ᛒ, as my main man in Arcadis," I responded, to discontented grumbling from many of the one-thousand Commodores who were in the war room as holograms, "I give you the task of warning its natives about the Sky Outlaw incursion, I have no desire to rule over a universe populated by corpses."
"You wish to inform them of our extra-universal nature?" Commodore 45722 asked.
I snorted, "Most definitely not! What are you an idiot? The High-Admiral will lie, of course, telling its inhabitants that the Sky Outlaws are an extremely hostile species native to the Triangulum galaxy and that they are a threat to the entirety of Arcadis' Milky Way."
1-ᛒ nodded, saluting, "It will be done, my lord."
"And remember to emphasize that the Sky Outlaws declared a 'Hadhuj' against us and anyone even associated with us," I ordered, "You are also to refer to the Antarctic Dominion as the First Armikhaenid Dominion during all talks with Arcadis natives. Now, begone with all of you, I have to go listen to a speech about poverty or something at the UN. Oh! And have a great time talking with your girlfriend."
The surrounding Commodores all chuckled.
1-ᛒ groaned, "My lord, please stop saying that Captain Janeway is my girlfriend."
"Whatever loverboy," I responded, "Run along now, you have natives to make contact with."
/ / / / / / / /
In a room lit by a singular fusion lantern, two figures sat silently at a large oval-shaped table. One, tall and quite obviously female, Aleyda the Hun. The other, shorter, with a vaguely circular body shape accentuated by thick neon-green robes that, along with gloves, boots, and a respirator of some sort, left almost no part of it uncovered.
"Gof tiyuh iaaj tusahd, aey jhaksiit," The second figure spoke in a distorted voice, "Dtaz payj zyaakh naaj tiyuh dyjakht aly ek fyf Byakh Elyji myaahd zasli kyoa fyf Hadhuj."
A small metal orb at the center of the table glowed blue and spat out, "You have our thanks, ape scum. This is the first time we have destroyed one of the Great Enemy's ships since before the Hadhuj."
The High-Queen of the newly declared Interstellar Hunnic Empire frowned for a split second before a wide sharp-toothed grin spread across her face, "You are quite welcome, Vir, I do hope that this ushers in an era of cooperation between our two nations."
"Jie dyoft zmyh vry jyrurq niyakf eiwj uqq roj aly ek gofs lisdyorahd," The Vir said.
The small metal orb once again glowed blue, "Even though they are probably working past all but one of your contributions."
Aleyda frowned again, this time no smile spread across her face, "Well, at least you have the Nephren drive."
"Zikdasf naaj lussij yaalud," The Vir responded, "Vorl zmf isaaqk arduy pyil gof."
"Something we cannot replicate and thus only obtain from you," The orb translated.
Aleyda sniffed, "You just won't be happy with anything will you?"
"Ach," Was the reply.
"No," The orb spoke.
The High-Queen of the New Huns sneered, "Maybe word of our new recruits will put you in a better mood."
"N' ijmut ukh," The Vir responded.
"I doubt it."
Meanwhile, inside the cockpit of the SF Mercury, an old modified though very ramshackle-looking C-064 light freighter. A very sweaty-looking man suddenly jerked upwards, a sparkling violet substance coating the area around his nostrils.
"Whoa!" The man laughed, his eyes beginning to gain a glowing quality, "This is great! Where'd ya get it, Seruq?"
In the already cramped cockpit's co-pilot seat was Seruq, a large armored partially insectoid partially salamander-like alien that looked at him with two of his three oval-shaped eyes..
"It's galaxy, dude," Seruq responded, his bony proboscis twitching, "I bought a pound of it back on Nemesis. Do you think the Huns'll let us keep it, Dax?"
The man, Dax, who had become increasingly wild-eyed and twitchy, said, "Of course they'll let us keep it! They're pirates, dude! Their entire organization probably can't run without the stuff! And besides, we're gonna be like messengers or something, 'cause the Mercury has a military-grade nephren drive."
"Far out man," Seruq replied, all three of his eyes now observing his part of the console, "Hey! Shouldn't we drop outta lightspeed soon? We're like, really close to the meeting coordinates."
Dax looked down at his navigational instruments, "Shit, you're right!"
He slowly pulled a worn lever back, and the Mercury appeared in a flash of purple light in a crowded star system. As the old freighter halted, a shudder ran through its structure.
"I think we hit something, dude," Seruq chuckled, looking at the Mercury's ultrascanner.
"Who cares!" Dax responded, pumping his fist in the air, "Fuck yeah! New Huns!"
/ / / / / / / /
September 2, 2083
Big Mosquito Swamp, Domain of Tudummass
5:12 PM CT
A single navy blue and white Kthecno Interceptor Mark VI trundled down an abandoned-looking road lined on each side by moss-covered cypress trees, overgrown shrubs, and the occasional decaying road-sign. Every once in a while there would be a glimpse of a vast dark swamp or an old, but obviously still inhabited cabin through the thick flora.
"What the fuck is up with this place?" The driver, IT-6306, said, "Looks like where that giant leech movie was filmed."
His partner, IT-6307, who sat in the passenger seat looking at a map on an FTL computer tablet, responded, "We are two miles away from La Beau."
"That doesn't answer my question," IT-6306 growled as he swerved to avoid a very brave alligator.
"This entire area is called 'Big Mosquito Swamp.' What do you expect it to look like?" IT-6307 spoke.
"Horrid and creepy," IT-6306 replied simply, "But not this horrid and creepy."
IT-6307 shrugged, and they rode in silence for a few more minutes. La Beau was, well, an extremely odd place, it looked as if it had somehow been locked in a time-loop since the nineteen-twenties. All its residents lived in wooden cabins that their great-great-great-great grandparents probably built, they wore strange old-style clothes, but even with all this, the town had electricity, hot water, 8g internet, the works. This odd aesthetic was most likely due to it being both close and far away from civilization, for the nearest city, Carlson, was an hour away and separated by part of the aforementioned Big Mosquito Swamp.
The two Imperial Troopers exited their patrol car and walked down a short muddy driveway towards a homey-looking cabin, "This it?" IT-6306 asked.
"Yep," IT-6307 replied, "105."
IT-6306 and IT-6307 walked up onto the porch, the former knocked on the wooden door. A minute later, said door creaked open to reveal a very tired-looking middle-aged man.
"Mr. Wallace?" IT-6306 spoke, "I'm Imperial Trooper IT-6306, this is my partner IT-6307, you called about a disappearance?"
The man, Oliver Wallace, breathed in deeply and nodded, "Yeah."
IT-6306 and IT-6307 glance at each other, "May we come in Mr. Wallace?"
Wallace nodded, standing aside to let the two Imperial Troopers into the cabin. It was a cozy dwelling which had the look of a place that had been lived in for quite a number of years. As they entered the living room, 06 and 07 couldn't escape their eyes being drawn to an old woman sitting in a faded armchair, knitting.
The two Imperial Troopers sat alongside each other on a beat-up old couch, both pulling out separate notepads, "Mr. Wallace, can you tell us who has gone missing?" IT-6307 asked.
Oliver Wallace slumped into a second armchair, running a hand through his graying hair, "My youngest children."
Wallace had scarcely said two words when a teary-eyed middle-aged woman suddenly appeared from a side room, "Oliver?" She asked, "Are these Imperial Troopers here about Charles and Charlotte?"
"Yes," Oliver said, nodding.
"Mrs. Wallace, I presume?" IT-6306 asked.
The woman gave them a forced smile, "Yes, I am Martha Wallace, can I get you anything officers? We have a couple slices of pecan pie left over from last-"
"Martha," Oliver spoke, "Please forgive my wife, sometimes she attempts to mother anything with a pulse."
The middle-aged woman blushed, shooting Oliver a smile.
IT-6306 cleared his throat, "You said that your youngest children are missing, can you tell us what they look like, how old they are, what they were wearing?"
"They're identical twins, both fourteen," Oliver replied, "Blue eyes, brown hair, and Charles has an 's' shaped scar on his chin. They were wearing overalls, and Charlotte had on her Boulra shirt."
"And what were they doing at the time of their disappearance?" IT-6307 questioned.
"They had gone out frog hunting," Martha responded, "Usually our eldest would go with them, but she left several weeks ago to attend the University of Ax Mozad."
"And what time did they go out?" IT-6306 asked.
"Around eight at night," Oliver replied.
IT-6306 nodded, "And what time were they supposed to be back?"
"Eight-fifteen," Oliver said, "They're very good about coming home at that time, we knew something was wrong when they weren't back by eight-twenty."
"Did either of you notice anyone suspicious at any point during that day?" IT-6307 asked.
"No," Oliver responded, "Who would take them, officers? There's barely anyone living for miles around."
IT-6306 tapped his pen against a page in his notepad, "I'm not sure, though they may have simply wandered off and gotten lost in the swamp."
The two Imperial Troopers nearly jumped out of their skins when the formerly-silent old woman suddenly added to the conversation, "Daroux took 'em."
Oliver and Martha's faces abruptly took on a green hue.
"Daroux?" IT-6307 questioned.
The old woman stopped knitting, "Swamp creature, half man, half gator, and quarter swamp rat, took 'em back to its island."
IT-6306 and IT-6307 shared a look, "Island?"
"Silas Lalaurie'll take ya," The old woman responded, "Gotta go through the swamp though."
The two Imperial Troopers sat in complete silence for a full minute before another person spoke, and that person just happened to be Oliver.
"Ma, there's no such thing as the Daroux," The Wallace patriarch said.
"That's what they all say," The old woman spoke knowingly, "Then one day the Daroux takes 'em."
IT-6306 stood up, "Well, I think that's enough questions for today, c'mon 07. Have a nice night!"
As the two officers exited the cabin, IT-6307 glanced at IT-6306, "I never expected to learn about folklore on this investigation."
"Me neither," IT-6306 responded, "Though maybe the old woman's claims are worth checking out, after all it's the only lead we have."
"Swamp, here we come," IT-6307 muttered.
It was as soon as he finished those words that a pair of headlights appeared out of the foggy gloom, a pitch-black unmarked Kthecno Neptune Deluxe sidled up alongside their patrol car. Two figures stepped out, their fur-collared overcoats and peaked caps marking them as Kommissars.
"This the place?" The first Kommisar asked.
"Yep," The second Kommissar responded, "La Beau."
IT-6307 huffed, "What are you political police creeps doing here?"
The two Kommissars turned to look at them as if they had only just noticed that the Imperial Troopers were there, "I.S.S.A business."
"Of course," IT-6307 sneered.
IT-6306 shook his head, "C'mon, 07, we gotta go meet with whoever the hell Silas Lalaurie is."
The two Imperial Troopers turned to walk down the muddy street, only for them to begin hearing not only two sets of wet footsteps, but four. IT-6307 glanced back, the two Kommissars were following them!
"What are you two doing?" IT-6307 asked slowly.
The two Kommissars glanced at each other, "I.S.S.A business." They said at the same time.
IT-6306 rolled his eyes behind his gas mask, "Just ignore 'em, 07."
Said Imperial Trooper huffed and begrudgingly turned back and once again began following his partner. Without a word, he pulled his FTL computer tablet from one of his overcoat's pockets.
"Looks like the only island around here is Isla del Árbol Oscuro," IT-6307 said, "Fuck, fourteen miles south! It'll be pitch black by the time we clear this damn swamp!"
IT-6306 chuckled, "Oh, come on, 07, it'll be fun!"
"I highly doubt that," IT-6307 groused, "Especially with the gruesome twosome following us."
"I for one think it's going to be nice having some backup coming along," IT-6306 said.
IT-6307 grumbled something vaguely insulting but kept following his partner down the street and towards La Beau's rudimentary waterfront. A single dock made up most of it, with the rest being a large wooden raft tied to it.
"Jeez, we're supposed to take this through the swamp?" IT-6307 spoke, "Looks like it's held together with a few bits of string and a lotta hope."
"Nah," IT-6306 replied, hopping onto the raft, "Looks more like construction foam and molecular glue."
Feeling slightly better at the sea. Swamp? Whatever-worthiness of the raft, IT-6307 hopped on. He was followed by the two Kommissars, the taller of which picked up one of the two boat poles that were fastened to the wooden platform, IT-6306 grabbed ahold of the other one.
"And off we go!" IT-6306 said as he used his boat pole to push off from the dock.
IT-6307 took a seat on a rickety-looking wooden chair which had been nailed to the raft, "Well, at least it isn't foggy."
The two Kommissars snickered, earning them a suspicious look from the seated Imperial Trooper.
/ / / / / / / /
September 2, 2083
Domain of Tudummass
11:07 PM CT
IT-6306 squinted to see farther than the raft's pole-mounted fusion lantern allowed through the thick fog and darkness of night. This investigation had officially taken the top-spot for the most annoying case he'd ever been on. Once this dumbass raft-ride was over he was planning on giving his partner a smack upside the head for jinxing them right out of the gate.
The taller Kommissar, whose designation the Imperial Troopers had discovered was 13-Φ101, smacked himself on the neck, "I wonder why this place's called Big Mosquito Swamp." He said in a sarcastic tone.
"We're nearing the- what the fuck is that?" IT-6307 said, standing up and drawing his nerve pistol.
"Whaddya mean?" IT-6306 asked.
The other Imperial Trooper gestured with his nerve pistol, "That thing! Standing in the water!"
As per what IT-6307 said, a creature was standing in the water mere yards away, just within the fusion lantern's range. It was a squat, odd-looking thing, both reptilian and mammalian at once, the creature was nearly entirely covered in a layer of dirty mossy dark brown brown fur, while its clawed hands and the front of its torso were scaly. Its head, however, was what happened to be most unusual, the creature had a long wild boar-like head complete with a pair of wicked tusks, it also had ears, large pointed ears like those of an elf. Its eyes, meanwhile, glowed with a dim yellow light, making them stand out from its surroundings. The top of its skull had a line of bony ridges, running from its pig/alligator-like snout, over its head, and all the way down its back. And to cap it off, from what the four could see, the creature was wearing an extremely rudimentary form of clothing, that being a necklace of strapped together animal bones and small bits of what looked like scavenged cloth around each wrist.
"The hell?" 13-Φ101 said, drawing his plasma pistol and a fusion torch.
As soon as the light from the Kommissar's fusion torch illuminated the creature, it shielded its eyes from the bright light and proceeded to disappear beneath the murky water.
"Fuck was that thing?" IT-6307 said.
IT-6306 holstered his nerve pistol and once again grabbed a hold of the boat pole, "I have a feeling that the old woman's Daroux isn't as mythical as we assumed."
This missing persons case had just gotten much more interesting. The four continued on rafting through the swamp; they finally reached the coast nearly half an hour later. The first thing all noticed was the outline of a large island in the distance, its name proved to be very prophetic, from what they could see of it, the island was like a dark stain.
"That it?" The other Kommissar, 12-Φ101, asked.
IT-6307 nodded, "Yup, Dark Tree Island."
13-Φ101 and IT-6306 continued to propel the raft through the water, now along the coast. Several minutes later, out of the fog appeared an old keelboat. Instead of being propelled by paddles like the rest of its kind, this one looked to contain some kind of steam engine, if the funnel peeking out of the top of the boat's cabin was anything to go by.
"Must belong to Silas," IT-6306 said, "Okay, our wonderful rafting adventure appears to be at an end."
IT-6307 grumbled something about 'needing a drink' in response. The Imperial Trooper and the Kommissar gave one big push off the seabed, and thus beaching the raft that had served them so faithfully.
The foursome hopped onto the beach and began making their way towards the old keelboat, reaching it a minute later.
IT-6306 stepped onto the boat's rather cramped side deck and knocked on the small door that led into the keelboat itself. This door was pulled open a minute later, revealing a silver-haired bleary-eyed man who was wearing a pair of grimy long johns.
"Are you Silas Lalaurie?" IT-6306 asked.
The man nodded, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "Yeah, what's it to you?"
"I'm IT-6306, this is my partner IT-6307," IT-6306 spoke, "We're investigating a disappearance, and we heard you can take us to Dark Tree Island."
Silas smiled, "Fifty darnats for a trip there and back."
IT-6306 opened his mouth to protest the outrageous price, only to be shoved aside by 12-Φ101, who held up an oval-shaped badge that made Silas instantly turn a shade of pale usually associated with corpses, "Imperial State Security Agency, Silas, as you know Kommissars don't have to pay for anything. Now take us to Dark Tree Island or you will be found guilty of obstructing an official I.S.S.A Investigation."
"Er, no charge," Silas said shakily, his eyes still glued to the Kommissar's badge.
The silver-haired man seemed to snap out of his fear after several seconds. He quickly slammed the door closed, presumably to put something over his long johns.
"Well," IT-6307 said, "That's one way to get out of paying."
"The hell is up with that dude?" IT-6306 spoke, walking out onto the rear deck of the keelboat, "Is it just me or is Silas really fucking suspicious?"
"Has no record too," 13-Φ101 said, pulling out a pack of lucky strikes.
IT-6307 turned to look at the Kommissar, "What do you mean?"
"No one by the name of Silas Lalaurie exists within the Antarctic Dominion," 13-Φ101 responded, lighting a cigarette with a gust of flame produced by a piece of machinery in his glove.
"This is a lot bigger than just a case of missing people, isn't it?" IT-6307 asked.
"Oh yeah," 13-Φ101 replied.
The keelboat's side door suddenly slammed open and their silver-haired fishy friend popped out, now wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a sport coat, both of which were, like the long johns Silas still had on, very dirty-looking, "Okay folks, I got the boiler fired up so we'll be leaving in a few minutes and it'll take about an hour and twenty minutes to reach the island. Once there, I recommend the Ivy Shrine Hotel, it's a fine place to stay the night."
/ / / / / / / /
September 3, 2083
Dark Tree Island, Domain of Tudummass
12:26 AM CT
IT-6306, IT-6307, 12-Φ101, and 13-Φ101 hopped one by one onto Dark Tree Island's dock. Where said dock ended, a stone path started, leading up to the lit front porch of an old distinctly colonial-style mansion. It most definitely did not look like 'a fine place to stay,' as Silas described it, no, the mansion looked more like it had long-since fallen into disrepair and only now was starting to be refurbished.
"What a dump," 13-Φ101 said bluntly.
"Suspicious written all over this place," IT-6307 muttered, walking up on the porch and making sure to avoid a very obviously dry-rotted board.
IT-6306 pushed the mansion's double-doors open, "You're getting too paranoid, 07, sure this place is stupidly fishy but I wouldn't say it has suspicious written all over it."
Inside the mansion, behind a desk stood a mustachioed brown-haired man who looked to be in his early twenties, "Welcome to the Ivory Shrine Hotel!" He said, speaking with a slight German accent.
12-Φ101 pulled out her badge, causing the man's hands to twitch, "I.S.S.A, we'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Of course, my Kommissar," The man responded, "Anything for the servants of his highness."
"Good," 12-Φ101 said, one could almost hear the smirk in her voice, "Now, what is your name?"
"Christof Knochenmus, owner and operator of this fine establishment," The man, Christof, replied.
With those simple words, the two Imperial Troopers were suddenly gifted with 'LIE, LIE, TRUTH' appearing on their HUDs.
"Have you ever been in contact with Petrissa Carola Förstner?" 13-Φ101 asked.
Christof's hands twitched again, "No."
'LIE' appeared on IT-6306 and IT-6307's HUDs.
"Have you ever been in contact with one Frank Zeppo?" 12-Φ101 asked.
Knochenmus readjusted his glasses, "Never."
'LIE.'
The two Kommissars nodded, "Have you ever heard the name Project Ishirō?"
"Nope."
'LIE.'
"Do you know anything about a place known as I.B.W.D Research Installation Gungnir?" 12-Φ101 interrogated.
"I.B.W.D?" Christof spoke.
'LIE.'
13-Φ101 leaned against the desk, "Do you serve meals here?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Christof responded, "We do have a miniature vatfac, though."
'TRUTH, TRUTH.'
"Thank you Mister Knochenmus," 12-Φ101 said, "That's all for now. Oh, and we need a room for the night."
Christof pursed his lips, reached under the desk, and pulled out a single weathered key, "Room seventeen, it's right up the stairs, have a good night."
13-Φ101 snatched the key off the desk and the foursome made their way up the mansion's grand staircase and into a room, the door of which had a brass one and seven attached to it. The interior of their room was as underwhelming as its exterior, a simple queen bed was positioned against the far wall and a single lamp stood aside it, and that was it, there was nothing else in the room.
"Turn out the light," 12-Φ101 ordered, pulling what looked like a metal tube out of her overcoat.
13-Φ101 strode over and unplugged the lamp before pulling an identical metal tube out of his overcoat. This was followed by two things that resembled pistol grips, a slightly wider, though shorter metal tube, and a canister, all of which he attached to the original metal tube.
"What are you doing?" IT-6307 asked, pushing their room's door closed and locking it with a sliding bolt.
12-Φ101 lightly pulled a trigger on the device she had just assembled, causing a small gust of burning plasma to shoot out of the end of the tube, "Preparing, I suggest you do too." She responded.
"Yep, we're most likely gonna have some company after our two little friends tell Dr. Förstner that there are Imperial Troopers and Kommissars snooping around," 13-Φ101 said.
IT-6306 and IT-6307 turned to look at each other, shrugged, then drew their nerve pistols and set each to 'kill.'
It was a little over an hour later that they finally got this company the Kommissars were expecting. At first, they only heard two sets of heavy footsteps growing closer and closer to their room. The stairs creaked under the sheer weight of whatever was shambling up them. There was also an odd whispering, like that of two people who didn't want to wake a third person.
But finally, after an agonizingly long pause in all sound, a great bang that seemed to shake the entire room sounded, and a gigantic oddly lumpy grayish-green hand burst through the door, trying almost desperately to open it from the inside. When whatever the hand belonged to appeared to realize that it would have to use brute force, well, more brute force to get through the door, a second bang sounded. This time, the door and even parts of the frame became detached from the wall.
With that, the hand's owner was revealed, it stood at around eight-feet-tall, had sickly gray-green colored skin, appeared to be made of muscle, had only one arm, the right, while the left had mutated into a long reddish tentacle, and was covered in bulbous tumor-like hyphae. Oh, and there were two slightly different ones.
"Kill!" The first creature shouted in a garbled manner, raising a gigantic piece of jagged metal high.
"Fire!" 12-Φ101 ordered.
Two cone-shaped jets of burning plasma sprayed from the Kommissar's weapons. The first creature was instantly covered head-to-toe in brilliant purple death. However, this appeared to cause it more anger as with its final moments as something other than mere ash, it charged forward. IT-6306's nerve gun gave off a soft crack, and the creature tumbled to the ground, dead before it even got half-way across the room.
The second creature let out an earth-shaking roar of 'kill' as its comrade's body hit the ground with a loud thump. It lashed out with a club made from a tree branch and various rusty nails, narrowly missing IT-6307, who leapt aside just in time.
"Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill!" It ranted, lashing out with its tentacle, this time managing to send IT-6306 careening into a wall.
"Shut the fuck up, dude!" 13-Φ101 responded, sending a jet of plasma straight at the creature.
It screeched in pain as its flesh and bones burnt away, leaving the Kommissars and Imperial Troopers alone in their room with two large piles of ash.
IT-6306 groaned, hauling himself up out of the dent he left in the wall, "What the fuck were those things?"
"No time to explain," 12-Φ101 replied, pulling a cigar-shaped object out of her overcoat, which she rammed into the wall, "We just need to get outta here, fast."
The foursome made their way downstairs, only to find Christof still standing behind the desk, occasionally checking his wristwatch. 13-Φ101 quickly leapt forward, grabbing the mustachioed man by the arm and pushing him against the desk.
"Weren't expecting us to come down again, eh Götz?" The Kommissar said, pushing the hotel owner's face into the desk and binding his hands with razortape.
"Götz?" IT-6307 asked.
12-Φ101 looked up from a hand-held ultrascanner, "His name ain't Christof, it's Götz, Götz Förstner."
"C'mon Götzy-boy," 13-Φ101 said, dragging the light brown-haired man towards the door, "We're gonna go see your old friend Zeppo."
With that, the taller Kommissar disappeared through the double-doors.
"Are you gonna tell us what's going on?" IT-6306 questioned.
The shorter Kommissar shrugged, "Most of it's on a need-to-know basis, but here's what we can tell you. Petrissa and Götz Förstner along with a man named Frank Zeppo, who's apparently going by Silas Lalaurie nowadays, stole something extremely dangerous from the Imperial Department of Weapons Research and Development. We've been sent out to arrest them and recover or destroy what they stole."
"Uh, 12?" Came 13-Φ101's voice from through one of the mansion's broken windows.
"Yeah?" 12-Φ101 asked.
"Zeppo ditched us!" 13-Φ101 responded.
"What!" 12-Φ101 said, barging through the double-doors, "Fuck! Well, bind Götz's legs! I'm gonna have to call in a team to get that silver-haired creep, shit."
She dialed a number on her wrist mounted FTL communicator, "Theta Hirom Ingwaz Shantak. Ingwaz Shantak. Kimaris Orobas Moloch Moloch Ingwaz Shantak Shantak Absinthe Rye. Daleth Ingwaz Valefor Ingwaz Shantak Ingwaz Orobas Nun. One Ze-ro One. Paimon Hirom Ingwaz. Woden Enni Rye Enni Quetzalli Uther Ingwaz Rye Enni. Absinthe Nun. Ingwaz Moloch Moloch Enni Daleth Ingwaz Absinthe Theta Enni. Valefor Theta Orobas Lagu. Shantak Orobas Lagu Daleth Absinthe Theta. Theta Enni Absinthe Moloch. Orobas Nun. Absinthe. Shantak Ingwaz Lagu Valefor Enni Rye. Hirom Absinthe Ingwaz Rye. Three Seven. Shantak Theta Enni Absinthe Moloch Brandy Orobas Absinthe Theta."
Her FTL communicator's speaker crackled to life, seconds after she finished speaking, "Roger. Shantak Enni Nun Daleth Ingwaz Nun Gin Orobas Nun Enni Nun Orobas Woden."
"Torch it," 12-Φ101 said, throwing a metal device at 13-Φ101, who was at that moment sitting atop the bound Götz.
The black lenses installed into 13-Φ101's faceplate glinted in the moonlight, with that eerie image, he almost casually pressed a button on the metal device. Instantly, the old mansion began to crumple like tinfoil as it was sucked inwards by some all consuming force. Once the structure and a large chunk of earth had disappeared, all that remained was a small light blue dot, which slowly faded away.
"Done," 13-Φ101 said, turning to the Imperial Troopers who stood dumbfounded at the hole that once contained a mansion, "Hey, gumshoes! If you wanna rescue those kids you better set your nerve guns to stun, 'cause I believe the elder Förstner is gonna start setting 'em after us."
Right after he said that, a group of eight creatures appeared out of the gloom. All were nearly identical and looked suspiciously similar to the thing IT-6307 had seen during their raft ride through the swamp.
13-Φ101 casually loaded a dart into his dart pistol, aimed it at one of the creatures, and pulled the trigger, sending one slumping into the mud, "Hopefully when another one of Aelius' little mad doctors quit they'll give 'em a mind wipe like the Lord-Kommissar suggests."
"We can only hope," 12-Φ101 said, once again looking at her hand-held ultrascanner's screen.
IT-6307 turned to look at the Kommissars, "Are you saying that those things are human?"
"Were human," 13-Φ101 responded, knocking another creature unconscious, "From what we read, Dr. Förstner was always pretty interested in creating new biomods."
IT-6306 extended his nerve pistol's stock and calibrated it for a wide area of effect, "Well, it's not the weirdest thing we've come across, 07."
"Are you serious? This is way weirder than any other case we've been on!" IT-6307 said, extending his own nerve pistol's stock.
"Remember that time we had to track down that guy who biomodded himself so much that he became a giant bipedal crustacean?" IT-6306 replied, aiming a shot into the middle of the group of creatures and firing. Causing four of them to fall forward into the mud.
"Yeah that was pretty odd."
After many more darts and several spent nether energy cells, the Kommissars and Imperial Troopers stood in the middle of what had to be over one-hundred unconscious creatures.
13-Φ101 stood up, "I think that's all of 'em. Have you found the bunker yet, 12?"
"I think so," 12-Φ101 responded, still looking at her hand-held ultrascanner's screen.
"Then where is it?" IT-6307 asked.
"Other side of the island, under a structure of some sort," 12-Φ101 stated, "There's a crap-load of interference, they must've set up a signal net, here follow me."
The four trudged through the swamp, mud was everywhere, and the sound of grumbling bellowing alligators followed them the whole way. Finally they reached a clearing, in which was a crumbling stone structure marked by several decaying crosses. What was most noticeable about the area, however, was a large metallic protrusion sticking out of the ground, a hatch.
"This is it," 12-Φ101 said, "Förstner's hideout is right here under our feet."
13-Φ101 walked over to the hatch and wrenched it open. One by one they began descending down into the depths of the earth. Several minutes after the Kommissars and Imperial Troopers started, they finally reached the lab. It was, very rudimentary, primitive, like something out of an old movie. A wooden table sat in the center, on which was a boy who had been hooked up to all manner machinery. They had scarcely a minute to take in the laboratory when two very familiar garbled bellows broke them out of their thoughts.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Crap," 12-Φ101 said, "There are two more."
Two hulking lumpy figures squeezed through a doorway on the laboratory's far end. Each carried what appeared to be broken-off table-legs, "Get the kid!" IT-6306 ordered as the two Kommissars drew their plasma flamers.
IT-6307 leapt forward, detaching the boy from the machinery as quickly as he could, before carrying him back. With the boy out of the way, the Kommissars fired, sending jets of molten hot plasma at the mutated monsters. Their flesh covered in something the temperature of earth's sun, the two creatures screeched in pain and seconds later combined to form a large pile of ash.
12-Φ101 and 13-Φ101 dashed forward, through the doorway and into a side room where they found a middle-aged woman who was in the process of lighting a fire in her wastebasket, presumably to burn the leather-bound notebook which stuck out of her pocket slightly. However, this was quickly stopped by two darts piercing the skin of her neck.
/ / / / / / / /
September 4, 2083
Carlson Courthouse, Domain of Tudummass
2:22 PM CT
"Petrissa Förstner, Götz Förstner, and Frank Zeppo," Justiciar Cyriacus said, "In light of recent evidence, I find you guilty of one-hundred-four counts of kidnapping, multiple counts of unlawful application of biomods, one count of trespassing on government property and sentence you to death by gibbeting."
With the gavel's bang, the three convicts were dragged from the room by several court guards.
"Well," IT-6306 said, looking at his partner, "That's another case closed."
IT-6307 nodded, "Yep. Hey, wanna get a drink? I heard there's a tiki bar in town."
"Why would there be a tiki bar in Tudummass?" IT-6306 asked.
"Who knows!" IT-6307 spoke.
Meanwhile, in a room lit only by a roaring fireplace and a small fusion lamp. 12-Φ101 and 13-Φ101 were down on one knee before Lord-Kommissar Eindriði, who sat at an ornate wooden desk covered in various papers.
"Do you have it?" Eindriði asked, jotting his signature down on what looked suspiciously like a kill order.
12-Φ101 placed a metal container atop the Lord-Kommissar's desk, "Yes, my lord."
Eindriði glanced at the metal container's very prominent biohazard symbol, "Did Förstner manage to replicate it?"
"No, my lord," 12-Φ101 replied, placing a leather-bound notebook atop the metal container, "She only changed the parasitoid so that its spores were rendered unable to spread and take root. Also, she had a way of controlling the spore-carriers through highly modified nanites placed in the infection's central control node, it's all detailed in the journal."
"Good, better than good, actually," The Lord-Kommissar spoke, a smirk spreading across his face, "My friends, the High-Pharaoh will be very pleased with this, and you. Förstner may have been a nuisance, but she achieved something that the I.B.W.D has failed to do ever since his highness greenlit Project Ishirō."
/ / / / / / / /
Meanwhile In An Alternate Universe…
"Gentlemen," Prime-Minister Shigenori Hōjō said, steepling his fingers on the conference table, "I have just received word Iwo Jima. Our invaders are not what they appear to be."
"What do you mean, Prime-Minister?" Tarō Kanō, the Minister of Defense, asked.
"It appears that we don't have invaders," Hōjō replied, "But several thousand refugees."
A huge uproar began the second those words left the Prime-Minister's lips.
"Refugees!" The Minister of Justice barked, "They sure didn't act like refugees in Ginza!"
Hōjō slapped a file down onto the desk table, "We have statements from many of the people who invaded Ginza. They all tell the same story, with little or no differences."
"Humph," Kanō said, opening the file.
'Interrogator: I'm going to ask once more, why did you attempt to attack Ginza on the morning of September 3rd, 2017?
Prisoner 736: We were running.
Interrogator: From what?
Prisoner 736: The demon army.
Interrogator: Demon army?
Prisoner 736: *Sigh* Over two years ago, the late Emperor sent an army through a gate on-
Interrogator: Wait, gate? Like the one on Rubicon Hill?
Prisoner 736: There are two, one on Rubicon Hill, and another on Alnus Hill. The army sent into the Alnus gate was defeated, and as far as we knew, there were no survivors.
Interrogator: How long did it take for this demon army to show up after that?
Prisoner 736: Almost immediately, the Alnus garrison was swept aside mere hours after the Imperial army was sent through.
Interrogator: And what happened after that?
Prisoner 736: Once the Emperor received word of the defeat, he sent the Empire's vassal armies to Alnus. They were utterly destroyed days later, though there were rumors that the King of Elbe escaped the carnage, but those were never very credible.
Interrogator: Destroyed? Utterly?
Prisoner 736: Yes, slaughtered to a man. And after the defeat of the allied armies, things really started going to *Expletive Deleted*
Interrogator: How so?
Prisoner 736: First an important trade hub fell to the demon army, then the Emperor's daughter disappeared, and to top it all off, the Emperor's son was assassinated. Following that, one of the Empire's largest cities was consumed by fire.
Interrogator: Consumed by fire?
Prisoner 736: In a single night Telta became nothing but ashes.
Interrogator: And the demon army was responsible?
Prisoner 736: The demon army utilizes metal birds that can fly faster than an arrow. They dropped metal capsules full of liquid fire down upon Telta, some of us still bear scars from that night.
Interrogator: Well, I think that's enough for now, Mister, uh, Bouro, was it?
Prisoner 736: Yes, Bouro.'
"How do we know these creatures are telling the truth?" Kanō asked, closing the file.
Hōjō shrugged, "We don't."
/ / / / / / / /
High-Admiral 1-ᛒ's log, date of entry, September 5, 2083. Following an emergency meeting between the High-Pharaoh and high-ranking officers in Antarctian Space Corps, the ADSS Ahtu dropped out of lightspeed factor 10B in the Aldebaran system. We have spent the last day maintaining a lightspeed factor of 9H on an Earth-bound course, a decision that will maximize our chances of being detected by any Federation vessels in the area. Hopefully one will, I'm really not in the mood to travel for twenty-six days.
"High-Admiral," 2-ᛒ said, "I'm picking up a federation starship heading our way."
"When will they intercept us?" 1-ᛒ asked.
"Approximately one hour," The chief science officer replied.
1-ᛒ nodded, "Mr. 6-ᛒ, bring us out of lightspeed."
"Aye, High-Admiral," The helmsman said, slowly pulling a lever all the way back.
The ADSS Ahtu slowly decelerated, becoming less and less stretched-looking as it no longer harnessed the 'winds' of nether energy. Due to how slow they were going, well as slow as one could be while traveling faster than the speed of light, the ship hadn't disappeared like it normally would have.
Fifty minutes later, the Ahtu still sat nearly idle, the only motion coming from its slow rotation. Outside the ship, a group of one-hundred-seventy foot in diameter disc-shaped shuttles buzzed around the Super-Battleship's hull. All occasionally docking on certain spots for construction workers in vacc suits to attach metal as per the High-Pharaoh's orders.
"Sir, we've nearly used up all the scrap metal we bought from that alien," 3-ᛒ reported, his voice coming from the wall-mounted speakers, "The shuttles only have enough for one more round of welding."
"We'll mine an asteroid field after our talk with the feds," 1-ᛒ said, "Order all shuttles to return to their respective hangars."
"Aye, sir," 3-ᛒ spoke.
14-ᛒ suddenly turned to the High-Admiral, "Sir, I'm detecting a hail coming from the Federation starship."
"Put it on holo," 1-ᛒ ordered.
"I'm getting some interference, this one may be a bit iffy," 14-ᛒ said, his hands dancing across the console.
1-ᛒ looked at his comms officer, "Can you break through it?"
"Yes, barely," 14-ᛒ replied, "I think our FTL transmitting module may need some maintenance."
"Crap," The High-Admiral groaned.
"Ha! Got it!" 14-ᛒ said after several seconds, "Putting the transmission on holo."
The holographic galaxy in the center of the bridge morphed into the form of a pointed-eared alien, who wore a uniform similar but different to the one Janeway wore. It was slightly fuzzy, and every once in a while would break apart then reform.
"-Repeat this is Captain T'muk of the Federation starship Gilruth," The alien said, "Please identify yourself."
1-ᛒ folded his arms, "Greetings, Captain, I am High-Admiral 1-ᛒ, commander of the Armikhaenid super-battleship Ahtu. Did they get that, Lieutenant-Prime?"
"Aye, High-Admiral," 14-ᛒ responded.
"State your purpose for entering Federation space," T'muk spoke.
"Pushy, ain't she," 1-ᛒ whispered to 9-ᛒ, who snickered, "Ahem, I have been sent here by my lord, to warn the Federation of a galaxy-wide threat."
T'muk's holographic eyes narrowed, "Explain, High-Admiral."
"I represent the First Armikhaenid Dominion," 1-ᛒ replied, "Over eighty-thousand years ago we came across an extremely violent and xenophobic, yet technologically advanced species we call the Sky Outlaws. We opened our arms in friendship, and in response they opened fire, since then we have been fighting a series of conflicts with them across the galaxy you call Triangulum. But anyway, seventeen months ago we detected a Borg cube nosing around our territories in the Andromeda Galaxy. At first we thought nothing of it, just another alien species, by the time we sent a ship to make contact, it had already started attacking one of our outer colonies. In response to this, high command sent four battlefleets here to wipe out the Borg, a task that they succeeded in completing. Since then we have maintained the Collective's old borders using twenty of our ships, one of which, the ADSS Prophet, was destroyed several days ago by a Sky Outlaw ship."
"How exactly does this involve us?" A second unseen person asked.
"May I ask who is speaking?" 1-ᛒ questioned.
"This is Lieutenant-Commander Viviana Malmberg."
"The Sky Outlaws are a vicious violent species," 1-ᛒ explained, "They're religious zealots who believe themselves to be the perfect lifeforms, all others are 'jhaksiit' or scum according to their doctrine and only exist to be conquered or wiped out. If they discover that the Milky Way is inhabited, they will surely attempt to conquer it, as they have with all other forms of intelligent life they've discovered. So you see, this is not something that only involves us, their historic enemies, no, by simply existing your Federation and all intelligent species in this galaxy are part of this eighty-thousand-year-old conflict. I suggest that your Federation prepares itself, Captain, the Sky Outlaws don't have a word in their language for neutrality. End holo."
1-ᛒ turned to face 9-ᛒ, "Lieutenant-Prime, plot a course for Voyager."
"Aye, sir," 9-ᛒ said, pressing several buttons, "Course plotted sir."
"Lightspeed factor 2M, Mr. 6-ᛒ," The High-Admiral ordered.
"Aye," 6-ᛒ said, slowly pushing his console's lever forward.
As usual, the Ahtu elongated unnaturally before disappearing in a flash of purple light.
"What's our ETA?" 1-ᛒ asked.
9-ᛒ checked his instruments, "A little over five minutes."
1-ᛒ nodded, turning towards the hologram of Arcadis' Milky Way galaxy, which now had a rapidly shrinking line running from its south to its northeast. The High-Admiral pressed a button on his command chair.
"Mr. 3-ᛒ?" He asked.
"Yes, sir?" The Ahtu's Chief Engineer said over the bridge-mounted speakers.
"Our FTL transmitting module may need maintenance," 1-ᛒ spoke, folding his legs, "I want a few of your engineers to take a look at it."
"Aye, sir," 3-ᛒ said.
"Sir," 2-ᛒ spoke two minutes later, "From what our ultrascanners are detecting, Voyager is near a wormhole."
1-ᛒ raised an eyebrow, "What's so strange about that?"
"The wormhole wasn't there several minutes ago," 2-ᛒ replied.
"Tap into the nearest Ultrascanner Installation," The High-Admiral ordered, "Maybe it's a class two."
"Aye," 2-ᛒ responded, pressing a few buttons on his console.
1-ᛒ pressed a button on his chair, "Mr. 3-ᛒ, how goes work on our FTL transmitting module?"
"No so well, High-Admiral," 3-ᛒ replied, "My engineers say that it may need to be replaced completely."
"Do we have any spares?" 1-ᛒ asked.
"Nope, it's back to Odyssey Station for us."
2-ᛒ turned to look at the High-Admiral, "Sir, according to Ultrascanner Installation Two Zero Seven, the wormhole isn't there, they only detect Voyager and a second smaller starship in that entire area."
"Huh," 1-ᛒ said, rubbing his chin, "Ultrascanner Installations never lie, there's something fishy about this. Mr. 9-ᛒ what's our current ETA?"
"I was just about to pull us out of lightspeed, sir," 6-ᛒ spoke.
1-ᛒ nodded, "Then do so, Mr. 6-ᛒ."
A loud alarm rang, signaling that the gigantic battleship was no longer going faster than the speed of light.
"Hail Voyager, Mr. 14-ᛒ," The High-Admiral ordered.
14-ᛒ pressed several buttons and turned several knobs, staring into his his console's readout, "They aren't accepting, sir."
"High-Admiral! Voyager is powering weapons and targeting us!" Commander-Secundus 5-ᛒ shouted.
1-ᛒ snapped to look at the hologram generator, "Raise shields!"
"We have torpedoes incoming!" 2-ᛒ spoke.
A faint rumble echoed throughout the ship as Voyager's photon torpedoes impacted the Ahtu's raised void shields.
"Activate our tractor beam, power jamming mode," 1-ᛒ ordered grimly, "And have a few IMR squads assembled, we're boarding Voyager."
Twenty minutes later, two shuttles carrying eight squads of Imperial Marine Raiders departed from the Super-Battleship.
"How are we doing, Cutter?" Commander-Secundus 7000-ᛒ, leader of all Imperial Marine Raiders stationed aboard the ADSS Ahtu asked.
Cutter, or 7016-ᛒ, shrugged, his gaze not wavering from the miniature FTL computer strapped to his arm said, "It's easy, just like last time."
"If it's so easy," 7000-ᛒ responded snidely, "Then hurry up and get the damn doors open!"
7016-ᛒ saluted, "Aye, Commander-Secundus!" Several seconds later, he added, "And there we go!"
"Alright men! Let's give these feds a beating!" 7000-ᛒ said, pressing a button on his arm, causing the living metal his warsuit was made of to cover his head, forming a helmet.
The IMRs filed out of the two shuttles, walking with magnetized boots across Voyager's hull and into the hacked-open shuttlebay.
"Activate tactical ultrascanners," 7000-ᛒ ordered, pressing a button on his arm's control pad.
It was then that a beam of orange energy impacted the Commander-Secundus' chest, leaving naught but a scorch mark. The IMRs returned fire with their newly-issued Losnedahl M2083 T energy submachine guns. A group of starfleet security members were taking cover behind a pile of crates on the far side of the shuttle bay.
7000-ᛒ pulled his submachine gun's trigger, unleashing a torrent of light blue energy bolts in the direction of the crates, "Bring 'em out! Two! Flash!"
Two Imperial Marine Raiders nodded, each detaching two flash grenades from their warsuits and pulling their pins before stepping out of cover and throwing them towards the starfleet security. A deafening bang and a bright flash of light followed seconds later.
7000-ᛒ along with two other IMRs hopped out of cover and ran across the shuttle bay, "Hands! Lemme see those hands!" He shouted, pressing the forked end of his submachine gun against one of their heads.
"Screw you Hirogen!" Another one spat, her hand flying towards a holstered phaser on her hip.
The Commander-Secundus was quicker, he drew his nerve pistol and with a crack, the woman was unconscious.
Back on the ADSS Ahtu, 14-ᛒ turned to 1-ᛒ, "Sir 3-ᛒ wants to speak with you."
1-ᛒ pressed a button on his chair, "Commander-Prime?"
"High-Admiral, I wanted to inform you that my engineers' sensor pods are detecting a strong neurogenic field," The Chief Engineer spoke, "They say it's encompassing the entire ship."
The High-Admiral's eyes narrowed, "Mr. 2-ᛒ?"
"No, sir," 2-ᛒ responded, shaking his head, "Ultrascanners detect no trace of neurogenic-."
A faint rumble cut the Chief Science officer off, the metal floor beneath the bridge crew's feet vibrated, and a red flashing marker lit up the hologram generator, it read, 'Level One Hull Breach, Deck Five Zero Two.'
"Mr. 3-ᛒ, report!" 1-ᛒ ordered.
To Be Continued In the Next Action Chapter of the Bored Outer God II: Through the Gate!
AN: So yeah, shit's really starting to go down.