One of the battleship's hangars, devoid of fighters, shuttles, and other craft, became an impromptu brig for the Empire's newest "distinguished guest." The Alpha Queen, Ci'al'kai'ka as she was known, was kept under the watchful eyes of Irken Elite specially assigned by Grimm. No chance was being taken with this prize capture. The Alpha's removal from Vylat and the consequent insanity that followed played right into a grand plan to prevent mass Irken casualties. Not to mention, aligning one of the hives with them would prove beneficial in keeping the others in line. Especially the lesser species. The Warriors could tear even the best Elite limb from limb.
Sko remained at the CIC while a subordinate of his, Major Kiz, a pink eyed Invader course graduate though not a serving Invader herself, made her way down to the hangar at his orders to see what she could do about the Queen. She was being rather disagreeable, even if understandably so, and that it would not bode well for the ship at large if such behavior continued.
Even from behind multiple sets of magnetically-sealing doors, the resident royal's screeches and roars of rage could be heard. Non-critical personnel were instructed and warned to steer clear of the hold at the risk of joining the critically-wounded and mutilated survivors filling the vessel's infirmary to capacity. Janitorial drones were going to have their hands full in the near future.
The remaining members of the security team posted in the most extreme corners of the hangar. Their standard-issue weapons were traded in favor of "borrowing" armaments meant for fighters and making ad-hoc turret emplacements out of them. After witnessing this…thing tear through them like tissue paper before being properly secured, no chances were going to be taken.
The Invader rated officer, clad in a dress uniform, looked down after she heard a sickening squish. Torn flesh and viscera. The smell was putrid, Irken blood, everywhere. What a mess. She retched, placing a hand over her mouth before regaining her composure and stepping forward, making sure to stay out of reach of the Alpha. While she could evade with her equipment, she didn't want to take any chances. Vaukt didn't bring in stupid officers.
"Ma'am, step back!" One of the haggard Sergeant's called from the emplacement.
Before his warning could be heeded, the Queen's lightning-quick, twitchy movements saw her restraints snapped to their very limits as she lunged for the Major. Less than a foot between them as a deafening screech in her face. This one was dressed differently and clearly had purpose in being present. She would not be intimidated or commanded by lesser beings.
Despite the screech impacting her hearing and leaving a sharp ringing in her antennae, she simply held up a hand to have the Sergeant shut his face as she addressed the Queen who so suddenly approached her. "Quite a mess you made in here, isn't it?" She spoke calmly, seemingly unnerved by the screech.
"I will STRIP the flesh from your BONES!" She snarled, her command of common language clearly more developed compared to her contemporaries. "You will be less smug after I devour your face!"
Kiz bought up her left arm, messing with some settings on a holographic display as the Queen threatened her. She remained unnerved. "And I'm sure you'd be a lot less smug in the vacuum of space but the Supreme Commander hasn't allowed that…yet. And threatening me will get you nowhere extremely fast."
The towering insectoid laughed.
"Ah, yes, your "genius" military leader who removed the only form of order over the entire planet. Do continue to threaten me and gain nothing of it while your forces will feed my children in the days to come. Clearly you realize the error of your collective judgment. That explains why I am still here and why I haven't finished repainting the inside of this vessel with the rest of its crew."
"Well, no, actually you being gone was part of the whole idea. You're gone, order's gone, everyone proceeds to kill each other, we clean up the mess you idiots make. Very simple. As to why you're still alive? I don't know, maybe the Supreme Commander wants to win the biggest pet competition for all I know." Kiz chuckled, "Vylatians, so predictable how they would act with the removal of the top queen."
"I'm aware of your plan. My absence creates chaos. My lessers squabble for my throne…but the outside aggressors are universally despised and will take priority. Our "predictability" has made you arrogant. Blind. Stupid…why waste your precious time with me if you are so certain in your strategy?"
The Alpha Queen's mandibles clicked rapidly in a sneer of discontent as she looked down on the Major, folding all four of her shackled arms across her thorax.
"...why does Grimm's pet grovel at my feet?"
"To get you to stop being such a…the Vortians would say fucking bitch." She gestured around the hangar. "You're being extremely disagreeable, which I can understand being taken prisoner but this is quite a whole other level."
"Disagreeable?" She repeated, incensed. "You filthy cretins invaded my world. You desecrated my Hive. You took me hostage…and are now demanding my compliance? Tell me, Major Bootlick…what does bending the knee to my lessers gain me? Preferred treatment? A delayed demise?"
"Lessers? In case you haven't noticed, you're the one in chains here. All you have are your swarms, we took you with small unit tactics."
"One fleeting moment of brilliance filling your hollow skulls with notions of superiority…the egg does not fall far from the nest. I'm impressed your Queen could even lay eggs with her head so far up her own cloaca. I should have killed her and saved me this trouble sooner."
Kiz blinked in surprise. "Wait, our Queen? We don't have one. There's no bug Queen on Irk. Not one like you. There's the Tallest…and then there's the Control Brains but they don't lay eggs so they don't count."
The Alpha chuckled in dark bemusement, arms folding behind her back with a tilt of her head down at the Major.
"...you have absolutely no idea what you are, do you? What I am? Curious…"
"You're the Queen of Vylat, the one keeping all the other hives in line." Kiz blinked again. "What in the blazes are you talking about having no idea what you are? You're…bug people and then there's your multi legged bug serfs."
"Are you being intentionally vague or are you that woefully uninformed?" She countered unkindly. "For a representative of your intelligence wing and the supposed apex of military prowess, you are incredibly underwhelming with much left to be desired. I am Queen Ci'al'kai'ka the Eternal. Alpha Queen of Vylat. Queen of Queens…and we are distant cousins, mite."
"How are we even related? I mean we look nothing alike. You've got a thorax, four arms, segmented joints, everything that makes a bug…a bug. We Irken don't look a thing like you aside from maybe having a set of antennae and maybe some passing facial similarities."
"Oh, suddenly I have a captive audience from my supposed conquerors, how precious." The Alpha Queen facetiously spoke, beginning to slowly pace from one extreme of the limit of her restraints to the other. "...I am the Queen of Queens. The sons I bear form the ranks of my legions. My daughters create families of their own. The Hives across Vylat are a result of their propagation. Their purpose is to produce a worthy successor to my throne and they have failed miserably to this point. Among them was your Queen."
"That…makes no sense. We've always been on Irk? We were the apex species on that planet so inevitably we took control of it. There would be some sort of evidence if the lesser species shot their spore into space and colonized Irk, wouldn't there be? You two almost seem joined at the hip. Wherever we find you bipedal types we find the arachnid types."
"Oh, Major Bootlick, you were one of those lessers. A world free of predation and a lack of guidance permitted you to grow and evolve uncontested like weeds threatening to choke the rest of the garden. How else do you believe you came to arrive at your precious Irk? As a result of winning a genetic lottery? You exist because of me."
Kiz thought some more and shook her head. "That makes no sense. If we were of the lesser species as you claim, then how could we come from an arachnid queen? A smart queen of the lesser species sounds exactly like the kind of thing you'd want to avoid. Someone who could possibly wrest power from you, yes? Last thing you'd want is some smart bug of their sort, you'd want one as dumb and complacent as possible. Any others and you'd quickly cull them, not allow them to carry out an elaborate scheme like colonizing another planet."
What could pass for the smuggest of smiles could be seen in the insectoid's expression with a flutter of mandibles and wings alike to match.
"Precisely, gnat. My daughters and our children are Vylat's rightful rulers. The notion of our beasts of burden rising to such lofty aspirations sickens me…and your beloved queen was one such evolutionary offshoot to develop greater sentience than what their station called for. She felt justified in demanding such respect and equality. I gave it to her through force. A Hive is only as strong as its Queen and she was pathetic. Weak. She expected mercy from the Queen of Queens…I show none to my own blood, why would I show mercy to my lesser?"
Kiz rubbed her head. Her brain seemed to ache. Why did all of this just sound right? It was outlandish, absurd. How could Irken be related to the multi-legged lesser species of Vylat?! Yet…something in her seemed to stir. What was going on inside her? What is it about this Alpha Queen that seems so captivating?
"Then…how did we manage without a queen…if you killed her? We…got…to Irk. But she was dead…you killed her. She sounded far more dangerous than you let on. I don't know why but something is screaming in me that she was a legitimate threat to you at one point."
"Were you not listening?" The Queen of Queens sneered. "A final act of defiant desperation on her behalf. A release of spores that found their way to the pathetic dirtball we know as Irk now. No queen, no predators, you spread like a plague and evolved. I once knew you as the cleaners of my dung. Little has changed in the past several thousand years."
"...And your species are linked. The Lesser obeys the Greater, points to a common ancestor…" Kiz paused as more ideas seemed to boil to the surface. "If we came from the same stock, then Irk must have had its own Greater variation, the Lesser died off. We developed to fit Irk instead of Vylat…and…" A long pause followed. "I…feel something around you. I don't know what, I don't know why."
Another dark, chittering chortle of a laugh came from the Alpha Queen.
"Careful, it's learning…appears those metallic tumors on your backs haven't completely dulled all your senses."
"All of them?" She asked, still making sure to keep her distance from the Queen's reach even if something in her dared her to move closer. "What is this?"
"Not all communication is verbal. Entire speeches without a syllable uttered. Language of the body. Language of actions…and language of the mind."
As she spoke, her unnerving, multi-faceted gaze never broke from the Major's.
"I needn't say a word and you will be compelled to act. No different than my children."
Kiz actually stepped closer, the compelling sound in her becoming harder to resist. "I still can't believe this, but it seems like something in my blood…seems to sing. Like it recognizes you as a smeet might recognize the one who hatched it." She didn't even notice the Elites yelling at her to back away. "And it seems to confirm what you've been saying. Like I've known all along that we're of the same stock, somehow. I don't know why that is."
"Deep down you have always known this to be true. All species question their purpose and origins…you are looking at yours."
She didn't think that…but the Queen's voice spoke in her head?! Was she a psychic?
"Wait, can we talk to each other in our minds?"
"Something of that nature. I speak. You listen. You wish to see me be more agreeable? Facilitate my release to my people and I won't eviscerate you the moment I am free of these restraints by force."
"They'd have my head if I did that. I have superiors who would end me without hesitation."
Before there was even any chance for a reply, one of the Elites mustered enough courage to make a mad dash, grabbing the Major and dragging her away from the Alpha Queen and out of the hangar.
"Major! With all due respect, what is wrong with you?!"
Kiz soon came to her senses, the cleaner air freed her senses. She shook her head, her own thoughts returning to her. She had to tell the higher ups, now.
"Get out of that hangar, seal off the air circulation from that hangar. You want to watch her, do it from the observation room. Do it."
"They will not believe you. They will find you unfit. Speaking to me has driven you mad? Please."
"Major, what are you talking about?!"
"She's in my head, you idiot! Don't you get that?! She's able to speak to…me! Am I a psychic? I don't know. Maybe I am. Didn't you hear her?! We're Vylatians! Long detached but we're Vylatians!"
"They are going to throw you out an airlock if you keep screeching like that. Calm. Down."
"...Major, do I need to escort you to the medbay?"
Kiz took a deep breath and shook her head. "Just…get your men to the hangar's observation deck and lock that place down. I don't want anyone in that room other than the Alpha until I find out what's going on. Am I clear on that, Sergeant?"
"...Yes, Major." Something weirded him out but he wasn't going to disobey an order from a higher ranking officer.
"Good. Now, compose yourself. Speak to your superiors. Release me by choice or I will release myself by force and none will survive."
"Get out of my head."
"How am I in your head from afar? These are your thoughts. I awakened something that was always present that will never release you until death. Be grateful for your gift, mite."
Kiz started making her way to the CIC. The revelations of Irken as a species seemed so outlandish and yet seemed so correct on some level. What was going on? The Alpha could speak to her? In her head?
"Only you would call me a mite. I'm an Invader and officer of the Irken Empire. Your insult betrays your presence. You may have unlocked these ancient Vylatian senses in me, but I still am master my own mind."
"You are arguing with yourself out of sheer paranoia and denial. That does not define a master. Everything you once knew and what you know now threaten to tear your feeble mind asunder. Continue lying to yourself if you must for comfort, but your directive is clear. Fulfill it. A final warning."
"Yeah, arguing with myself in your voice, funny."
"You have a wild imagination and imprinting accordingly to justify these concerning ideas and notions. I am you. What you label me for your sake is of no consequence to me."
She entered the CIC, approaching the holographic maps that saw Marshal Yim and Supreme Commander Grimm overseeing them, but no sign of Sko. The Major General stepped out of the room? No matter. She had to bring this up.
"Marshal, Supreme Commander…the Alpha Queen is threatening to kill everyone on board this ship if we don't release her this instant."
The Major's intrusion amidst their strategic discussion, mildly annoying as it was, grew in crescendo as the subject matter made itself known. Marshal Yim, the more reserved of the two, was beaten to the verbal punch as Grimm's contemptuous sneer of displeasure as he faced the Invader.
"...did you come all the way up here to inform me of impotent threats from the deposed, barbaric ruler in our custody, Major?"
"Grimm is displeased. You state the obvious. You are wasting his time. You know what becomes of useless personnel. Don't be useless."
A pause, a thought, brief as it was, different words. Why was this voice sounding more like her own? "Only came to get your permission to assign more men to the protective detail, Supreme Commander. Most of the original detachment is currently paste on the floor, sir."
"As we have been made aware, unfortunately," Yim sighed tiredly with the dataslate report in hand. "...I am leery of placing more men anywhere near her after the mess she caused being secured in holding. Personally, I am of the belief that she is still too dangerous to have aboard…or alive, for that matter."
"Oh, that does not bode well for anyone…should word reach her, well…you already know what fate awaits this vessel and its crew."
"Ma'am, I'm inclined to agree but we do have our orders to keep her alive, still." What? That sounded like her but…some of those words…thinking clearly was becoming even harder. "If I have your clearance I can assign some more men. Where's the Major General?"
Another Spec Ops officer nearby spoke up to answer her second question, "He went to the Officer's Mess, ma'am. Said he needed a drink."
"Yes, my orders." Grimm cut in unkindly, looking down upon the Invader. "Holding the Alpha Queen prevents the Vylatians from unifying against our invasion. Her death will also seek to unify them as none of her daughters delivered the killing blow, but a foriegn threat. She must remain alive and in our custody. Only once she has outlived her usefulness will she be introduced to the embrace of the vacuum of space. No sooner."
The Supreme Commander intentionally leaned down and got closer to Kiz.
"...are you going to defy my orders, Major? If this is one of Vaukt's ploy's to undermine me, I will not hesitate to space you instead."
"Would I be here asking for more troops to see to her staying in place or would I not have spaced her myself if it was one of the General's ploys, Supreme Commander? I assure you, it is no ploy, I am just asking for more men to the protection detail."
"More men to risk driving mad like you? More prey to slaughter? Thousands of years of evolution and you've learned nothing? Tread carefully. You may join her."
"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."
"I was in the hangar, sir, I saw the mess. I saw what she's capable of. Two squads under the Sergeant currently on post is all I'm asking for, sir."
"Do they need to be Elites, Major?" The Marshal interjected much to Grimm's displeasure. "I am sure one of the resident companies of Troopers can spare the men. Somehow I doubt Elites would find it a thrilling post to smeetsit our resident VIP."
"Trooper…Elite…they bleed the same and my belly aches for flesh. Feed me."
"Get out of my head!"
"I would recommend Elites but if Troopers are all we can spare, that should suffice, ma'am."
"The Elites spared now decorate the hangar like festive confetti." Grimm sneered with displeasure.
"Hence my recommendation of Troopers, Grimm. They are more numerous and better-suited for passive tasks."
"Expendable, yes, yes…very well, Ship Security needs to recuperate from their casualties as is." He tiredly sighed at his contemporary's persistence. "Marshal Yim will provide the security detail requested. Have you anything else to interrupt us with, Major? I have a campaign to conclude."
"No, Supreme Commander. Thank you." She snapped to attention and saluted, waiting before she was dismissed before making an about face and heading to the officer's mess hall. This was becoming crazier and crazier by the moment. What had once been two voices in her head now sounded like her own…but she could still tell parts of the Queen's influence over her. This ancient Vylatian DNA deep within them made them all vulnerable, made her vulnerable. She was already compromised, but as long as she could maintain control…maybe this could be beaten.
"If that was an attempt at negotiating her release, it was terrible."
"Shut. Up."
Sko was, thankfully, alone in the mess hall, enjoying a slushie. He needed some sugar, working on this campaign was absolutely draining for the man. His eyes glanced up to the Major. Something about her was off. She was under duress, it didn't take a genius to notice it on her face.
"Major, what is it? You look like you've just seen something real horrific."
"...I think I'm a psychic."
'What?"
"Yes, tell your commanding officer you've lost your mind. Are you stupid?"
"The Queen. I went to the hangar. She spoke to me, in my head. I was talking to her in my head before one of the Elites in there pulled me away."
"...Wait, how was she having a conversation with you in your head?"
"We're Vylatians."
"...Uh, what?"
"Yeah. Long detached, but we're connected to these bugs. We were their lesser species. On Irk where we weren't made to serve we just…developed our way out to become our own greater species like their greater species developed. I know it sounds crazy but something in me just screams that it's true."
"...Kiz, how much sleep have you been getting lately?"
"You sound absolutely deranged. His expression is the look of concern bordering on fear. Invaders are supposed to be subtle. You are as subtle as an orbital strike at the moment. Work on it."
"I'm fine it's…sir, I know it's weird." She took a breath to calm herself. "But something in us…she's right. Us, these bugs, we're connected. I don't know what it is, but we're similar. And…she delivered an ultimatum."
"What?"
"That unless we release her willingly and send her back to Vylat, she's going to kill everyone on this ship."
"...And you're certain she'd follow through on this? You saw how big she is."
"It's not just my usual threat assessment that believes she's been biding her time but gut intuition telling me she is not playing around when she said that."
"Give him a tour of her "cell" if he needs to be convinced of the authenticity of that ultimatum. Allow him to see with his own eyes what he doubts."
"That…would be quite the problem."
"Sir?"
"Yes, we just made a deal with the Barren Queen for her to crush her rivals on Vylat using a bunch of those VDF weapons we captured. She'll secure Vylat with superior technology, the others won't be a problem."
"Do NOT tell her this. Underhanded cowardice. Promotion of weakness. A daughter unfit for the mother's throne. This cannot happen. Do not allow this to happen. The consequences will be dire."
"She's…can't let this happen."
"Why?"
"Weakness, unfit for her throne. It can't be allowed to happen. Dire consequences."
Sko blinked. That wasn't like her at all.
"Sir, we really should-"
"The General's plan is to have her work on this. He sees something long term in securing her support. You trust the General, right?"
"Of course, I wouldn't be an Invader if not for the General."
"Trust him. Whatever comes, he knows what he's doing." Sko paused, "...But if she's serious, I suggest you go make a stop at the armory, grab some heavy equipment, maybe grab your gear."
"Are we?"
"I'm going to be prepared if that big bitch busts out of her cell is what I'm doing."
"She slaughtered dozens wholesale prior to being restrained. A lone Invader cannot stand against her. It is suicidal to stand against a warrior queen thousands of years old."
Sko took a few steps to leave before he stopped and turned back to her. "You in a good mental state? Be honest. It seems like whatever you're saying there may be some truth in there, as outlandish as it all sounds."
"I can hold it together."
"Wouldn't expect anything less from an Invader."
He left the mess hall, leaving Kiz alone to take a few breaths before she made her way towards the armory. The Spec Ops armory. Specialty weapons and gear, exactly what she needed. Especially to go back there. The Queen had some explaining to do.
"Everyone, everywhere thinks you're crazy. Your threads of sanity are unraveling before your very eyes. Show them what they refuse to believe. Open their eyes as she opened yours."
"Shut up, Queenie. Those words aren't mine."
Whatever the General was planning, it needed to be seen through no matter what. An armored vest went on over her dress uniform jacket, followed by a helmet. Bandoliers of grenades slung over both shoulders as she grabbed a pump action grenade launcher. Most curious in the room was a captured weapon courtesy of Caz from Mirage. A Vylatian weapon and these crystals. Curious.
She took the weapon in hand, examining it. An empty slot under the weapon? It looked to be the size of one of these glowing crystals. An intuitive shove of the crystal into the weapon emitted a hiss as the crystals split into shards. Projectiles. So this Shatterstone could indeed be used as a weapon? Kiz attached an impromptu sling to the device and threw it over her back before making her way back to the hangar after grabbing another bundle of grenades, loading a mix of flashbang grenades and less-lethal rubber projectiles as she walked.
The Invader returned to the hangar with a sense of purpose, loaded to bare. Macabre splashes of drying blood and viscera remained present with strict orders to not enter the area until further notice. The stench was only going to intensify with all the grisly remains festering in early decomposition.
Ironically enough, Kiz was greeted with the sight of the Queen of Queens preening and cleansing her antenna and mandibles no different than the smallest of insects would. She barely paid the Invader any notice to her intrusion.
She watched for now, a curious sight, but her grip tightened on the grenade launcher. Was she really enjoying this torment she was going through? If she was, this was a very odd way of showing it. Or her anger was getting the best of her and this could be completely unrelated. Whatever it is, she intended to get answers. Would she have to wait patiently? The last thing she needed was the Queen screeching in her face once again.
"You've returned." She unceremoniously commented without sparing the Irken a glance, delicately raking her antenna through her mandibles ensuring it free of filth and matter. "Have you done as I requested to facilitate my release?"
"You ask me that to my face but you've been in my head the entire time." Kiz's eyes narrowed at the Queen. "You heard exactly what I said to General Sko."
The Major's commentary saw a cessation of her hygienic routine. Antenna springing back into place, her head turned and angled, peering down at the Irken Invader.
"You presume much. Powerful as I am, omnipotent I am not. Why would I ask you if I already knew?"
"...I…What?" Maybe she was going crazy? "I heard you talking in my head. You, speaking to me, in my voice. I don't know how but you did. Calling me mite, telling me that what was mentioned would have dire consequences in a usurpation of weakness. I know you know. Whatever you did, you've somehow…linked with me. As you would one of your lessers."
The Alpha Queen did not immediately react or respond. Only a contemplative chitter of her chitious mouthparts and angling of her head.
"I cannot read your mind, but I can impart knowledge upon you. It is not a "link", drone. I told you not all communication is verbal. You are not psychic. I am not psychic. This is transmission via pheromones. Here I was led to believe you to be intelligent enough to figure this out. I am beginning to wonder how strong of will and mind you actually are now if it is this easy to instill paranoia and doubt simply speaking to you. The "scent" of my words is what you are hearing now in your mind."
So it wasn't psychic communication? She was a mixture of relieved and disappointed. The ability to read minds would be a very impressive ability but a pretty heavy burden if this was any indicator. Maybe she was better off.
"Clearly I guessed wrong. I won't make that mistake again." Kiz took a breath. "The Supreme Commander has no intent of letting you go. He only wants to keep you alive long enough for your children to kill each other and then he fully intends to space you. The Marshal is inclined more to spacing you now if it wouldn't unify your children against us. My commander won't let you go because his commander has some clever power rearrangements in mind for Vylat involving one of your children who turned collaborator."
"...and telling me all of this serves what purpose? That I am justified in what is to follow? An opportunity wasted to prevent what is to come? Here I was led to believe you were supposed to be one of the "smart" ones…disappointing."
"Yeah, I'm smart, but I'm also smart enough not to risk my head. Even if deep down we are descendants of Vylatians, I have people who would kill me for letting you go as much as you would for refusing to let you go."
The Queen laughed out loud.
"...and you think I will let you live for following your precious orders like a good little drone? You are an extension of their transgressions and share their guilt. I awakened what lay dormant and regaled your origins…and you choose to stand with those who seek to kill me and eradicate my people? For what? Shatterstone? You don't even understand how it is made, let alone how to safely harness it. Your Empire plays with things it does not understand…myself included."
She paused, realizing her grenade launcher was loaded with non-lethal munitions and quickly switched over to her commandeered Vylatian weapon.
"You say all of this, you tell me where we truly came from, and yet would you have taken me in? No. You're right about one thing. We're different. Even if, deep down within us, we're still made to grovel and lick your feet, we've come far."
Kiz's bold words earned her the Queen's undivided attention as she stood from her seated position to her full height and approached the Major until no slack remained in her restraints.
"You came to my world and demanded my fealty. Now you threaten me with imminent execution. Vylat is mine, not the Irken's. I did not invade your homeworld. I want nothing to do with the self-induced slavery to your creations. Your precious Control Brains and Almighty Tallest…they are your Queens. You are no different than any other Hive on Vylat. One that has forgotten its place and reach extends beyond its grasp."
Once more, she lunged within feet of Kiz's visage, her restraints groaning under stress but holding. A roiling fury in her faceted eyes and clicking mandibles.
"Release me…or perish. This is your final warning."
Kiz started stepping backwards towards the door.
"You cannot run far enough or fast enough to escape me. The Empire made a grave mistake and the opportunity for absolution rested on your shoulders. What is to follow will be your doing and every bit of it your fault in its entirety. All you needed to do was return me to my home. I tolerated your progenitor's weakness for far too long. I will NOT make the same mistake again. Irk will be paid the favor in kind."
The shipwide intercom chimed, preceding a directive to follow.
-All Available Security Personnel, Please Report to MedBay - Priority One-
"Like any competent tactician…always have a strategy in reserve. I am relieved in my zeal and fervor I didn't kill all of them. Now you will have many cousins to play with, mite. You were warned. Reap the consequences."
Another intercom chime
-All Available Security Personnel, Report to Med Bay Immediately - Priority One-
"Oh, quite the lively bunch, these ones…all of that succulent Irken flesh. They are ravenously hungry."
The general alarm then sounded, all-hands to their stations and unorthodoxly, to repel "boarders" from within their own decks.
"...as am I."
The right-side pair of her appendages sharply swung forward, snapping the restraints like threadbare twine, only to quickly do the same of the left in short order. A bellowing war-cry screech followed as her translucent wings deployed, intent on rapidly closing the gap between her and the Invader.
"Shit." The legs from her PAK spawned, giving her greater mobility as she fired off a burst from the needle rifle before making a break for the hangar door and down the hall. The more distance she could put between her and the Queen, the better.
For a towering creature of her size, the Alpha Queen moved with incredible rapidity. Narrowly avoiding the Major's fire, the thrust of her wings propelled her for the skittering retreat of the Invader. However narrow the corridors were, she still gave chase much to the terror of any other personnel amidst the ensuing pursuit. The unfortunate ones impaled by razor-sharp appendages at her disposal, flesh shredded in macabre fashion for daring to impede her progress, saw appropriated weaponry in each of her limbs. A pair of vibroblades in one set of limbs, and plasma SMGs in the other. Her threat level increased exponentially and an entire vessel full of victims suffered her wrath.
Absolute chaos and pandemonium began to fill the decks radiating from MedBay in a matter of minutes. The Queen's brood, discreetly laid in the wounded security personnel, went unnoticed and were now hatching. Their hosts's bodies burst open and spilled their contents, each producing several brood spawn, and quickly forming a swarm of such magnitude security personnel were unable to contain the outbreak. They skittered through ventilation ducts, maintenance access shafts, and structural supports in an unending stampede of chitinous clicking, chittering, screeches, and the sort intermingled with the terrified cries and agonizing screams of their victims being swarmed and devoured in short order. These children were hungry and grew quickly.
The sounding alarms and chaotic communications traffic could not be ignored any longer from the CIC as Grimm turned away from the strategic map to the vessel's captain. "I am trying to win a war here, Shipmaster. What is all that racket?!"
The Captain paused to listen in on some of the messages. Screams of bugs in the vents. Screams of the dying. Kiz's report of being chased by the queen. He paused and gulped. "Sheer pandemonium, Supreme Commander. The Queen is loose and it appears she…spawned some help."
Marshal Yim slammed her fist down in frustration, glaring at Grimm.
"I TOLD you to space her! This is why!"
The Supreme Commander rounded on her coldly.
"You will not give me orders, Marshal."
"I am not giving you an order, Supreme Commander, only expressing my frustration at why a perfectly reasonable action went ignored for the very same reason we are dealing with now!" She quickly clarified, turning her attention to the Captain. "Can the crew contain this, yes or no? I need an answer now, Shipmaster."
"Marshal, we're being attacked from within. I have no clue how quickly these things can reproduce or what their numbers are. I can't give you an answer."
"I can." Sko walked into the room toting a plasma rifle and armored up along with a SpecOps squad alongside him. " And the answer is that remaining aboard is a death warrant signed. We'd be better off overloading the reactors and blowing that big bitch right to hell."
"Very well, general evacuation it is." Yim did not hesitate, snatching up her belongings from the map. "Scrub the system per protocol. Doubt they understand how any of this equipment works, but take no chances."
"Cowards, both of you." Grimm scoffed.
"Take it up with the Tallest and your decision to keep the Queen aboard, Grimm." The Marshal unceremoniously sighed with her satchel secure and command staff carrying out her orders with the intent of making a hasty exit from the stricken vessel. "We can fight about it later when we're not at risk of being overwhelmed."
"Unless you volunteer to stay behind and be an egg sac or bug food, be my guest. Won't hear me complain." Sko watched the bridge-CIC crew go to work, his SpecOps squad directing the Elites on the bridge as their armed force grew. Monitors with data of the campaign quickly going blank as they were wiped. The ship's logs were copied and given to the Captain before being wiped themselves. Quick and efficient.
"Ready to move, General."
"Let's go," Sko ordered as the assembled bunch of command staff and bridge crew made their way out. "Second squad, where's our extraction point?"
"Hangar seven, sir. Got a ride warmed up and waiting."
"Copy that. Maintain radio silence unless you have something to report, out." He paused, "Kiz, sitrep."
"She's hot on my c'hurta!"
"Keep her away from the port hangars, you got that? Need you to play bait until we're clear and then get into an escape pod."
"Oh that's just great!"
"You're the one who wanted to go talk to the big bitch to try and calm her down. Don't die."
"I'll try!"
In the matter of a quarter-hour, below decks became a warzone as Troopers and Elites alike sought to repel the insectoid invaders threatening to spread like a plague across all areas of the ship. Some corridors served as consistently-controlled killzones in the favor of the Empire. Others and their connecting rooms where bodies of the dead and dying fed the swarm. Age of the spawns was easy to tell: The bigger they were, the older. A select handful were even beginning their metamorphosis into their adult forms by the sheer volume of energy-dense nutrition available to them. An enclosed space in the vacuum of space with no escape for their prey. Only attrition.
Amidst all of this, Kiz's persistence and quick-thinking kept her a half-step ahead of the furious Queen of Queens. The Invader's PAK legs kept forward momentum over and around other personnel without missing a step while her pursuer simply flew through them in a mangled mess of broken bodies and shattered limbs. Others were cut down as she zipped past, others fell in bursts of automatic plasma fire. Grimm thought it a good idea to keep this flying blender of pure fury aboard and that she could be contained. Not the first terrible idea he has had.
"FACE ME COWARD!"
"Kiss my c'hurta, Queenie!"
She needed maneuvering space. Somewhere a bit more open. Cover. Utilize the room to her advantage. A quick swap of weapons saw a couple of rubber projectiles fly from the grenade launcher towards the Queen, followed by a couple of flashbangs that allowed her to duck into the enlisted mess hall as she reloaded with more lethal munitions. She was an Invader. Why shouldn't she fight? It'd buy time for Sko to get out of here anyhow.
The bothersome pest of an Irken's attempts to assuage the Vylatian queen may not have left a lasting impression but it bought Kiz much-needed respite. The antenna-shredding scream of rage uttered by the beguiled royal at her stern and closing fast.
"I AM GOING TO BATHE IN YOUR BLOOD!"
Before the airlock to the mess hall could fully close, the Vylatian's rage-fueled strength grasped the inside of each door and forced them aside. The actuation mechanisms violently blew apart, venting pressure. The heavy metal doors rolled back into their recesses within the walls, detracked, and slamming into disrepair.
A terrifying, guttural roar bellowed over the blaring alarms and weapons fire throughout the vessel from the insidious insectoid queen, echoing throughout the open dining room. Equal measures cunning as she was feral with strength and speed unrivaled, she deeper into the room seeking her quarry.
"Your fear is palatable, mite. You reek of desperation and a stench of failure." She taunted, casually relinquishing a recently-mutilated Armada officer of his sheathed saber in exchange for one of the bloodied vibroblades thrown to the deck with a clatter.
"The illustrious golden standard of the Invader and this is the best the Empire has to offer? I am insulted. A race of fatally arrogant and fanatically suicidal cowards a strong wind of resistance sends scurrying in terror!"
Her frustration made known with the slashing of one table and forceful kick of another into a raucous clatter or commotion.
"Come out and face your death!"
"She is going to find me and kill me. She is going to wear my entrails as jewelry. I cannot stay and fight her!"
Kiz kept herself behind a pillar, ignoring the voice in her head. She was certain that it was the Queen. She resolved to make some form stand here. Frag grenades slipped into the tube one after another. She took a few breaths as she racked the pump and emerged simultaneously. The sound alone would have given her away. Sights aimed at the queen, she pulled the trigger.
Even if killing her wasn't on the menu, wounding and slowing her down would be the next best thing.
Senses already heightened, the metallic sound of Kiz's ordnance being loaded zeroed the queen in on to her desired target. The Invader rolled from cover and took aim with her weapon. The queen's wings snapped open and she exploded forward, saber and vibroblade intent on finding flesh.
Kiz's grenade fired from its tube, sailing on a head on trajectory. Seeing the danger, the Vylatian terror twirled in a barrel roll, narrowly avoiding the explosive projectile.
Before Kiz could reload, she took flight once again as both a long and short blade sought to shred her to ribbons in short order. Nimbly ducking and dodging close-shaves and near-misses increased the queen's ire as she cleaved through tables, chairs, counters, and columns in her quest to flay the Invader in a shower of screeching sparks and groaning metal against its likeness.
Dodging and weaving herself, not even a chance to rack the pump with the ferocity of the Queen's attacks, Kiz still managed to keep her at bay. She lay in wait against a bulkhead, drawing the Queen closer, dodging at the last possible moment to send the Queen colliding with it, even if it cost her a couple of legs from the set from her PAK to do so. She quickly racked the pump and fired another grenade before going on the move once more. She couldn't allow a recovery as much as she could help it.
Her ploy required sacrifice of her capabilities but this grenade was not so easily avoided. Narrowly avoiding a direct hit, the ensuing blast against the wall some distance away peppered the enraged queen with hot shrapnel. Her carapace stopped most but larger slivers of gnarled metal pierced her exoskeleton and bright yellow blood flowed. A bellowing screech of displeasure at this needed no translation as she rounded to continue her assault.
This time, lacking only two of her PAK legs, was enough to slow her response at another wild slash of the saber. Dangerously close to slicing the top of her head off, a single antenna was not so lucky. The Irken sensory organ lopped off nearly at the skull and fell away from the fray. The Invader falters in pain, enough to see the queen's chitinous foot swiftly lodged itself in the Major's spooch and sent her sailing across the room.
Kiz didn't even scream as the saber cut cleanly through the nerves. Even if they hadn't, the foot to her spooch that sent her flying over the serving line knocked the wind out of her. The grenade launcher landed on the side opposite her. Leaving the Major clutching her abdomen as she slowly pushed herself to her knees, grasping the Vylatian needle rifle with her opposite hand as she struggled to stand. She was certain there was some internal bleeding after a blow like that.
Disappearing from view over the steel counter in a clatter of pots, pans, and trays, the Queen of Queens did not delay. No boasting. No arrogance. A creature exponentially older, wiser, and more dangerous than they could hope to comprehend, she showed no remorse or mercy to her enemies. Leaping onto the counter, she looked down at Kiz struggling to rise to her feet. The sooner she was rid of this threat, the sooner she could put into motion her plans of revenge against Vylat's transgressors.
Prepared to strike her down, Vylat's leader's wings fluttered, leaping the short gap from the serving line to where Kiz sat on hands and knees. Her presence brought the Invader's attention up as she struggled to raise the pilfered rifle in vain. A displeased hiss and unkind kick saw the rifle sent sailing across the floor, far outside of her reach. Her lower limbs threw both plasma SMGs away in similar fashion, skidding across the floor before snatching the Invader by the neck and hoisting her off the floor to the Queen's faceted eyes.
"Where is that tenacity and cunning threatening to space me? I expected a better challenge from the Empire's best…but what to do, what to do…you will produce very strong children. I may even name one of them after you…"
Her mandibles flared wide with oozing saliva.
"...but Mother is famished herself and you look delectable."
What did she even have left…Something? Anything? Nothing she could bring to bear without retribution from the Queen. Out of all the ways to go out…she didn't expect being eaten or becoming a living brood sac for a bunch of bugs. All she could hope for was being eaten head first.
The Queen's dripping jaws leaned in, prepared to bring the Invader's life to an abrupt, violent end. Just as she was to snap her mandibles shut and decapitate her wounded prey, a blur of magenta and green propelled by PAK legs planted a steel-capped boot cleanly across her face. A stunning blow that cracked the carapace of her mandible saw Kiz dropped to the floor.
The intrusion warranted a screech of displeasure as she recovered, seeing who dared to intervene and interrupt her well-deserved meal. Irken, female, dark green complexion, orange eyes, and uniform emblazoned with Invader insignia. One of Kiz's colleagues…or what remained of her. Her arms from the shoulders down were fully cybernetic. Magenta segments, metallic alloy joints with synthetic coverings, and dark bronze hands. A striking visual presence that most of the Empire knew.
"Kiz, status?" The interrupting Invader queried directly, never taking her eyes off of the Vylatian queen as she moved to keep herself between them. A machine pistol in one hand, drawn vibroblade in her other. Enough adversity to prevent the giant angry insectoid from charging immediately. "Off your c'hurta, on your feet. Help me dispose of this vermin."
The Major rose to her feet, still somewhat winded from the blow to her spooch earlier. A grappling hook shot out of her PAK on command, grasping the Vylatian weapon flung across the room and dragging it back, catching it in her firing hand as the hook returned to its port. Two Invaders. Maybe now the odds were a bit even.
"I'm down two legs, won't be as nimble as you."
"I didn't intervene to save a corpse. Making friends with the local wildlife not going as planned?"
"Should've spaced this bitch when we had the chance," she muttered.
"Doesn't matter. Deal with the current. Ship is overrun and any who remain are compromised. Total loss. Only option remaining is asset denial. Send the reactor critical and extract. Take your pick; get your second wind or blow the reactor?"
"I'll go blow the reactor." The Engineering team was either devoured or ran for the escape pods by now. Someone had to do it. May as well be her with her lessened mobility. "What hangar is your ship in, I'll meet you there."
"Twelve. You have 10 minutes. Go." She shortly spoke, turning her attention back to the recovered queen. "...and I am going to need a bigger boot to squash you, bug."
"Kick her c'hurta, Nossa. Show this bitch what top marks are made of." With that, the Major leapt over the serving line, retrieved her grenade launcher, and made her way to Engineering.
The fight didn't stay in the mess hall. The two emerged shortly after Kiz took her leave. The Queen's ire was directed to a new target. The Major watched Nossa and the Queen engage in blows as they went down the corridor in the other direction. Left her free and clear of a massive threat to deal with the reactor…mostly. The brood spawned by the Queen still proved to be an issue. Though, the needle rifle proved to be every bit as useful as the intelligence reports said they were. Six or more shards in close proximity on a target and the explosion was impressive. Bug guts joined Irken gore on the walls as the Major made her way through the vessel.
Just as she expected, Engineering was abandoned. The crew couldn't even begin the self-destruct protocols before abandoning their posts? Pathetic. She did it herself, safeties removed on the reactor, increased power output, closing coolant valves, deactivated all automatic overrides. The ship would blow, it would only be a matter of time. Hangar 12 was the next spot to go, meet Nossa, get off this ship before it went up.
As she nearly entered the hangar, she got a radio message to head to the nearby rescue deck. Escape pods? Why? No matter, Kiz hurried in that direction to see what Nossa needed.
Within a matter of moments upon arriving to the rescue deck, the entrance opposite the room opened. Through the parting doors flew a battered, bloodied Queen of Queens. Her carapace punctured, cracked, fractured, and slashed a dozen times over. One of her arms missing and another clearly broken, dangling useless. Clutched by the throat was none other than Invader Nossa being swung around and thrown with slingshot velocity by the airborne insectoid.
A flailing Nossa slammed into the deck below, rolling end-over-end in a mess of PAK legs and limbs. Both of which were in various states of incapacitation or damage. Uniform shredded and tattered, artificial limbs dented and gnarled, she appeared to be on the worse end of the engagement. Stunned by the impact, her response to rise was slower than desired.
"The very BEST you have to offer! Useless! More machine than flesh and just broken all the same!" The Queen decried her displeasure, wings fluttering to a stop as she landed. "...but a worthy challenge, finally! If only the exception was the rule would I be concerned."
A mighty retching came from Nossa, blood splattering from her mouth onto the deck.
"...talk an awful…lot of dookie…for an overgrown cockroach." She spat, pulling her herself shakily to her feet. "Kiz…feel free to help…anytime now."
Kiz's eyes darted about. Plan. Plan. Needed a plan. One of the escape pods was still left? Several. Good…Idea.
The returning Invader skittered towards one of the escape pods, hitting a button on one of them to open the door. "Hey, Queenie! You miss me?!" Same as before…yes…just like the bulkhead.
"Silence, gnat. I will deal with you…momentarily." She chittered, solely focused on finishing what she started with Nossa.
Saber in one of her remaining hands, her legs coiled, preparing to deliver another burst of aerial speed…and likely the killing blow to her adversary.
Kiz, on the other hand, had no intention of waiting as she fired off what remained of the shards of her needle rifle at the Queen to get her attention.
"Hey, bright light, I wasn't messing around!"
Her final expenditure of ammunition landed true, stitching the Queen's carapace before detonating a compromised section of exoskeleton in macabre fashion beneath her remaining functional limb facing the Invader. Involuntarily, her grip faltered on the saber, and momentarily loss of focus on Nossa was enough for the beguiled Invader to spring a surprise counter attack of her own. Moving with expedited purpose, her PAK legs propelled her like an emerald bullet directly into the Queen's back. An enraged reactionary screech and sharp turn denied Nossa's follow-through as she struggled to remain on her larger opponent's back.
Unfortunately for her, it placed her within reach of the Vylatian's mandibles. Either an act of desperation or the intent to make her suffer all the more, she bit into Nossa's visage and torn her flesh asunder like tissue paper, eye and all stripped to bloodied bone. Among the best Invaders in the entire universe or not, everyone had their threshold of pain and Nossa smashed headlong into hers as she fell to the deck in a writhing heap of agony, clutching at her tattered, bleeding face in screaming pain.
"Nossa!" Kiz quickly discarded the Vylatian weapon with no means to reload it and withdrew her grenade launcher once more. She drew the pump back, dumping out the fragmentation grenade and inserting a shotgun shell grenade before rapidly closing the pump and firing, aiming for the freshly made wounds from her previous shot.
"Get over here, you dumb bitch. Come get me."
The Queen of Queens did not rise to her taunt. Rather, her head turned, tilting towards Kiz. Disturbingly, the torn strip of flesh and sinew from Nossa's face hung from her mouthparts. Blood dripping, running in rivulets down her body and mixing with her own, the Invader's tissue slowly devoured, disappearing into her body. All the while, Nossa made a mess about the deck with her animated movements and wailing pain.
"Now that I am satiated…you will bear my next brood."
With that, she leapt into another aerial burst of speed, wings deployed.
Wait…wait…another dodge. Though this time it cost her all of her PAK legs as she fell to the deck. Her plan worked. A loud thud emerged from within the pod. She deposited herself within just as she hoped. Scrambling to her feet, Kiz slammed on the control panel to launch the pod. Even as the door slammed shut, she didn't relax until she heard the pod launch and propel its occupant back to Vylat.
Surprisingly enough, once she realized where she was and where the escape pod was destined did her fury subside.
"...and in the end, it didn't even matter. A few thousand years young to best me, mite."
Guess she got to go back home like she wanted after all…
"Damn it…Sko's gonna kill me." Kiz made her way over to Nossa, digging through the Invader's kit, withdrawing an injector to deliver a much needed painkiller to the ailing woman. "We need to get off of this ship or we're both dead."
The relief barely made a dent in the enduring agony but enough edge dulled to reach out and grasp at Kiz's uniform for purchase. A bloodied, metal hand grasped inside of her armored vest with her remaining eye screwed shut in pain.
"Go. Wal'" She managed through grit teeth and clenched jaw…both of which were visible on the left side of her face stained a sickly green with torn remnants of tissue clinging to their bone anchors.
Nossa was going to need one of the best surgeons and technicians in SpecOps' medical department by the look of thing. The Major rose, bringing both of them to Nossa's waiting ship in the hangar. Setting the ailing Invader down in a seat and strapping her in, she made her way to the cockpit, fired up the engines and propelled herself as far as she could get from the ship before the reactor went critical, the battleship tearing itself asunder from a myriad of explosions. At least there wouldn't be an infestation of the rest of the fleet.
"General, you out there?"
"Oversight reads, Major, good to hear from you. Status?"
"Invader Nossa's in critical condition. I've lost an antenna, PAK gear is busted…she has major priority."
"Make for the General Krad. Marshal Yim and I have set up shop with Mirage in the interim."
"The Supreme Commander?"
"Moved to a heavy cruiser."
"That's a relief."
"And the Queen? Ci'al'kai'ka?"
Silence
"She escaped didn't she?"
"Yeaaaaaaah."
"...Fuck."
"'He 'HAT?!" Nossa incredulously snarled, a disturbing macabre mess made all the more terrifying in anger. "'ow?!"
"She went into an escape pod. Jettisoned the blasted thing." Kiz loudly sighed, shaking her head. "Automatic systems must've kicked in on the pod. Tracked a clearing on Vylat to land and made its way there."
"Well maybe I'll have Mirage turn their guns on her pod then."
"General, much as I'd hate to admit this, Grimm's assessment is correct. You glass her, the other hives will oppose us to the bitter end and whatever the General's plan is won't even matter."
"What's your proposal?"
"We go nuclear, hypothetically speaking. Large thermobaric warhead, right in bug city. Have this allied hive deliver it. Use Mirage as support."
"'Ix my 'ace 'irs'," Nossa attempted communication, finally making use of a reflective piece of equipment to inspect the damage. The surreal sensation of placing digits directly to bone held her attention. The open air stinging against freely-bleeding flesh.
"Lucky for you, Nossa, Mhar's one of the best. All right, Major, you got your wish. I'll make sure Mirage is prepped for another go down to Vylat. I'll need time to get the warhead prepped, but they're going to have to go it without Mhar and possibly one other medic to assist him. He's going to need to fix Nossa's face."
"I thought he was a combat medic."
"He doesn't like too much recognition, a real streak of humility, that guy; he's attached more prosthetics and cybernetics than you realize. He's one of the best surgeons in SpecOps. Next to General Vaukt's own Zutel from what I know."
"Sounds like you're in luck, Nossa."