Chapter 4: Show Time
I awoke from my nap to a knock on my door
"What do you want," I said, I'm not a person to talk to if I have just woken up.
"It's Lucia, sir. We need you on the bridge ASAP."
"What for," I asked, "are we ready to initiate the plan?"
"Yes, sir, we are"
"I'll be right out," I said as I jumped up with purpose. Where are my clothes at I wonder. I hadn't gotten the chance to search my surroundings in the quarters much the few hours before since I had been so sleepy that I found my bed and just fell out.
"Aha," I found the button that opened my wardrobe. "Holy!" I didn't just find the button to my wardrobe but also to my personal armory, a tear formed in my eye as I quietly thanked the Admiral for making me so happy. He had put my custom blaster in there engraved with my name and the ship I commanded. I quickly put on my combat gear expecting the mission to go through within mere hours. With utmost care I strapped on my favorite blaster and straightened my gear.
"Captain on deck!" shouted an ensign on the bridge.
"At ease," I said coolly, "What's our ETA to target, and where are the patrols located right now."
"The patrols have left captain," said Lucia, "Their research vessel is an open target right now."
"Good then prepare the boarding team we're going in fifteen minutes after we get within boarding range."
"Aye, sir," said Lucia. She said it with a slightly more interested voice, not the usual militant drawl that I had become to expect from her.
As I awaited the acknowledgment from Kareem from coms, I looked around at the men I would soon be leading on this mission of vengeance and secrecy. I noticed some of the men were not moving at all, just staring into space, it made me uneasy until I realized they were having a staring contest across the room. Another group of men were gathered around a more charismatic soldier, they called him Iion from what I could gather by the other men who were around him. I started to sit down in a corner to meditate on the possible scenarios that may occur aboard the Vaygr vessel; when all of a sudden the intercom burst to life and the red light signifying heightened alert flickered into life.
"Sir, countdown of fifteen minutes has started as requested," rang the now thunderous, yet beautiful voice of Kareem.
"Thank you Kareem," I said acknowledging the message as I turned to my men who had started up and gotten their gear fully on. "Now men, I don't know very many of you. I was kept on ice for a long time so I really can't say I know anyone anymore except the admiral and a few others. Don't let this discourage you but guide you in your will, for what a perfect opportunity to show yourselves to me than on the Vaygr stained hulls of their own ships!" the last part of the speech rose into a loud excited yell to which the men replied with cheers of spirit and vigor. "Now," I continued, "I will brief you on the strategy we will employ on this mission of utmost importance. Firstly there will be three squads, one to watch the boarding entrance, one to storm the bridge, and the last and largest to sweep the ship. Once the bridge has been taken and sealed relocate some men to the last squad to quicken the sweeps, we wouldn't want one of those techies to get a chance at a counter attack. We are the fighting force of the 'Cryptic Messenger' we are the ones who shall utter the dark words of the end and the beginning of oblivion, we are Higarii's veiled dagger, we must strike efficiently, swiftly, and without hesitation!"
"SIR, YES, SIR!" came the determined and encouraged voices of the battle ready swarm.
"Sir," interrupted the intercom with Kareem's voice again, "please begin moving into the pit and seal off the blast door after you are situated. We have moved into position and are preparing to attach to the surface and begin cutting through."
"Roger, Kareem," I said as I signaled for the men to move into formations. "Ok men, this is it, do me proud and make your names as Higariians count for something against these vile Vaygr scum." The men filed into single file rows, each one with weapons at the ready. The sound of metal on metal reverberated through the hull in a dull thud as the two hulls of each ship met. Then a pneumatic hiss and the magnetic and ionic seals were locked onto the other ship. The ionic seals bonded the metals in an airtight seamless bond all around the mouth of the boarding port. The lasers hummed as they cut through the enemy's ship just on the other side of the blast door that would open as soon as pressure regulated.
"Come on… Come on…" I said in quiet anticipation as I watched the status light flash yellow. "Come on…" It ceased flashing and held a solid green tone now. The blast doors slowly pulled apart to reveal a perfect rectangular hole in the side of the other vessel. The plug of solid titanium alloy that had been there moments before had fallen forward into the ship destroying a cargo crate full of what appeared to have been a very good year of wine.
"Men go forth and accomplish your mission, if things go awry then fall back to the ship and we'll decompress the place."
The men rushed with utter enthusiasm, the plan had been hatched the objectives in reach, the possibility of new technology and the locations of the Vaygr fleet, maybe even their coms frequencies. The possibilities were endless; it was a glorious day to be a Higariian. Iion led the squad of sweeps around towards the armory while I lead my team towards the bridge. It was made all the easier by the navigation arrows along the walls color coded and labeled accordingly to the location desired by a passerby. As my team approached the first of the corridors on what would have been considered the main floor, we slowed our pace and began to listen intently for the footsteps of an alarmed crew… nothing. We continued in silence until we reached a hallway that had a different label than the one we'd been following, apparently ours turned away and went the opposite direction towards the front of the ship. I told my men to set up some auto turrets pointing down the hall anticipating a mass attack from that direction, especially since the label on the wall read: "Quarters". The men set up the turrets and then we set off towards the bridge again. A minute or so later we heard our first sound of disturbance. A far away sound of phaser shots and screams reached us from behind. I smirked as the satisfaction a trap well-laid came to fruition.
"Ok men, I want two column formations on either side of this hallway, approach the bridge carefully and keep those weapons hot."
As we crept ever closer to the bridge a room suddenly came up and opened out into a brilliant display of flora and fauna. Those techies must have been using this for food and oxygen since they wouldn't be moving enough to generate the gravitational forces required to power the generators for those life support systems. A catwalk stretched across the top of the room across the way, a few soldiers were patrolling on it, and they hadn't spotted us. As my men took positions amongst the man-made jungle my arm com read a message from Iion, he had secured the armory and killed seven Vaygr patrol soldiers. I wasn't about to be outdone so I assumed my position, took aim and with the precision of many years in the academy shooting range I smoothly picked off one of the guards, the rest of the mob following my lead took down the other patrolling guards and began moving up the stairwell leading to the bridge.
"We're finally here boys," I said as I drew my blade, "blades out boys we don't want to damage any counsels in there. Two if you stay outside the door with weapons ready in case reinforcements should arrive"
We ran into the bridge to find a lazily fidgeting crew, the sudden shock of our arrival and war cry shook them into fright. They surrendered immediately. I assigned some of my squad to take the prisoners aboard our ship and to keep them cuffed and blindfolded. Interrogation was just one of the many ways we would gather our beneficial knowledge from this research vessel.
"Sir," called Iion as he strolled past the outward-bound prisoners and into the bridge with his chest boastfully pressed forward. "Sir, we have sweeped the ship in its entirety and we even found the security room and scanned for heat signatures thoroughly throughout the ship. None were found except for a few cooling spots in the hall a way back, I assume it was your doing"
"You assume correctly Iion, now lets leave a skeleton crew of engineers on this hunk and take what we can before leaving it infected with that experimental virus"
"Virus, sir?" asked Iion incredulously.
"Yes, Lieutenant, a virus, fast acting and lethal within moments of contact. It's to prevent the reestablishment of this research facility, and if they wear hazmat suits and make it to the bridge a nuclear payload fail-safe will be installed to scuttle the ship and most likely destroy any of the pesky raiders or returning Vaygr."
"Sir, it just scares me to see what this war brings out in our ways"
"I know Iion, I'd be a liar if I said it didn't scare me either but, in the world of us or them, of complete xenocide, we must prevail. Prepare to go back aboard the 'Cryptic Messenger' and bring that coms record with you too"
As the men returned back to the ship and were debriefed Ion's words echoed still in Helic's mind. What had this inter galactic race war brought the combatants to? Had they any humanity left in them, were they still eligible to be thought of as a civil race of prosperity and wisdom, or were they monsters of war, cruelly destroying anything that came across their path just in the false name of survival. Helic decided to put it out of his mind as he laid down in his quarters and swiftly fell asleep, his dreams filled with the horrors of combat.
Thank you for reading my Homeworld FanFiction so far, I appreciate your support, reviews are also appreciated so don't hesitate to leave me a little advice or commentary.
Space Dust signing out until the next installment of 'The Cryptic Messenger' comes to light.