Carson was waking up. The night of sleep on the cold iron floor had been far from pleasant, but considering his exhaustion and lack of options, he didn't have many choices. The guard looked around, realizing he was still in the Command Room and that everything was sealed. However, he quickly noticed something: neither the mercenary nor Tlerra was anywhere in sight. He instinctively reached for his shock baton as he stood up. He wanted to shout, hoping someone would answer him, but fear held him back. The monsters outside the ship might hear him and become more motivated to break in. Besides, he wasn't even sure if they were still interested in the ship. He hadn't heard any banging on the metal hull or any attempts to force entry. It was eerily silent, which only made Carson more uneasy.
As Carson moved toward the exit of the room, he heard footsteps coming from the far end of a corridor. There, he saw the tall figure of Tlerra, carrying a small metal box filled with cans. She seemed well-rested. "Already awake?" she said. "I was just about to wake you up to divide the rations."
"Rations?" Carson asked, confused, as he put his baton back on his belt and narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the contents of the cans. To his surprise, it was food.
Tlerra set the box down on a chair in the Command Room and began removing the cans, sorting them by type and nutritional value. "Yes, it's important to divide what we have. Since there are only three of us, it'll be easier to manage the supplies."
Carson watched her carefully. It seemed the miners had been well-stocked for a long mission before everything went wrong. "By the way," he asked, "speaking of three people, where's our mercenary friend?"
"Oh, him? He's checking on a droid I found in the ship. He look useless for combat at first glance, but you never know. Honestly, the situation doesn't look great. It's already morning, and we haven't received any signals or word from outside that weren't from those strange creatures trying to get in." She spoke calmly as she continued separating the cans.
"So, they're still out there..." Carson said, his worry deepening.
"Yes, they haven't forgotten we're here. In fact, it feels like they're saving us for later. They seem smarter than we initially thought," Tlerra explained as she finished sorting the food. "Take two cans of substantial food for today and one for a snack later."
Carson complied, selecting two cans that looked the most appetizing and another for later, then sat down in a chair. "While we're here, why don't we talk? Do you have any idea what those things outside could be?"
Tlerra sat down too, stretching out comfortably in her chair, her gaze fixed on the metal plates covering the windows that protected them from the outside. Her voice was thoughtful as she replied, "I'm not sure. I got a good look at them while the door was closing. They're... strange. Too animalistic, even more so when you hear them talking."
"Talking?" Carson asked, surprised.
"Yes, they speak. I overheard some of them communicating with each other. They speak very quickly," she said, a hint of fear in her voice. The implications of intelligent creatures made their situation even more dangerous.
"Did you understand anything they were saying?" Carson asked, hoping that deciphering their language might give them a clue.
Tlerra shook her head. "No, I couldn't make it out. I've heard a lot of languages in my time tending bar, but this wasn't like any of them. Their speech was rapid, with strange clicking noises, like their teeth grinding together, and the unnerving sound of their tongues clicking."
Carson rubbed his chin, deep in thought. The distress signals they had sent out, the strange disease affecting the tourists, the absence of any evacuation efforts at the port—all of it was starting to make more sense. "The City Hall..." he muttered aloud, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes.
"What about it?" Tlerra asked, trying to piece together a plan.
"It's the safe place. If all other contingencies failed, the guards would retreat to City Hall. It has an independent shield generator. What we heard yesterday must've been the attack before the shield was activated, and I'm certain it's up and running now," he said with conviction.
"But the city's out of power," Tlerra replied skeptically. "Does the shield have its own reactor?"
"No, but City Hall has an emergency reactor with plenty of fuel, water, and food. We've always been prepared for pirate raids or Separatist attacks since the war began," Carson explained. "If we can reach City Hall, we'd be safe. We could regroup with the rest of the guards and civilians and figure out what's going on and what to do next."
Tlerra was silent, clearly uncomfortable. She knew Carson was right. If the creatures found a way in, they wouldn't last long, no matter how much ammunition they had. "How long do you think we need to survive all this?" she asked, gesturing toward the outside.
Carson thought for a moment, trying to predict how long it would take for help to arrive. "At least a week before the Republic sends anyone. The first distress signal we sent was about a strange disease, so they're probably trying to reach us by conventional means. When that fails, they'll send a team to investigate. If these things are pirates, they might flee when help arrives."
Tlerra crossed her legs and rested her head on her hand, deep in thought. "What if we fuel the ship?"
"I've thought about it. It's not impossible, but how would we get fuel with those things out there? If we step outside, it's either to escape or to die. There's no way we can search ship to ship for fuel,our only option is to make a run for it to the City Hall." he explained.
Tlerra had to agree. Given the circumstances, it seemed far too dangerous to attempt such a thing. "Do you know if this ship has any parts that can be sealed off or ejected without compromising the rest?"
Carson was puzzled. "Well, I've heard stories about illegal miners ejecting cargo bays to lighten their load and fly faster, but I don't know the specifics."
"I've got an idea, but for that, I'll need your help, Carson. Let's go to the mercenary; I'll probably need him too," she said, quickly standing up.
Carson followed her to the cargo bay. The cargo bay had many metal baskets full of ores—planetary ores, still rough and covered in dirt. He noticed the mercenary sitting in the middle of the bay, working on a very old mining droid, model EX-40's. Its four spider-like legs were rusted from time, and its head was cobbled together from various other droids. One eye appeared to be from an IG's droid, while parts of its processor and face were from an HK-40's model. It also had a flamethrower on its back, which made sense considering the dangers miners faced. Beneath its body, in a metal box, was a matter laser cutter, a useful tool for cutting geodes and elements, as well as mining dangerous areas prone to collapse.
The Toydarian mercenary looked up, finishing his work on the droid, speaking with some enjoyment from the distraction, "Ha! What a piece, isn't it? Those miners sure had something nice here, but it looks like this little guy had an accident during their last mining trip."
Carson approached, resting his hand on the droid's head and noticing the various dents in the metal. "Huh, maybe the tunnel collapsed on him," he speculated, as it made the most sense.
''Yeah, looks like that's what happened, but I'm fixing it up good. Soon it'll be running smoothly, and maybe with its flamethrower, we can find a way out of here," the mercenary said, quickly snapping back to the reality of their situation, even though he'd momentarily enjoyed repairing the droid and had forgotten a little about the dangers of the situation.
"About that," Carson said, turning to Tlerra. "Mind telling us your plan?" He rested his elbows on the droid's head and leaned forward, watching her intently.
"Oh, a plan? Let's hear it, then," the mercenary said, taking off his welding glasses and focusing on Tlerra.
Tlerra knelt down, looking at both of them. "Think with me for a second. This cargo bay is detachable from the ship, and those things outside are looking for a way in. I know there are a lot of them, but what if we do this?" She pointed at the mercenary and the deactivated droid. "You and the droid start piling up everything in here to create a barricade that will block the door to the bay. Once it's ready, you send the droid alone into the bay and have it cut a small opening in the wall, leading outside. The creatures will see the opening, and with the flamethrower, we'll draw all their attention. When they start entering the bay, you fall back to the command room, and Carson and I will head out."
Carson's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "Woah! Hold on, that's suicide!"
"They'll be distracted, too focused on trying to break into the bay. It's the perfect chance for us to quickly slip out and search the other ships for fuel. While the Mercenary guards the door, we grab the fuel, come back inside, close the door, fuel up, and once we're airborne, we detach the cargo bay and escape," she explained, making a quick motion like an arrow shooting into the sky.
Carson still looked uncertain, while the mercenary stroked his chin and chuckled. "Has anyone ever told you you'd make a great mercenary?" he laughed, standing up. "Yeah, I agree, the plan sounds solid."
Though Carson remained hesitant, he knew they didn't have many options. "Alright then... I just hope we find fuel on the first ship we check," he said, his tone still cautious. He understood that this was probably their best, and perhaps only, chance, especially with the possibility of the City Hall already being overrun, he din't want to think on this possibility, but after seeing how many of those creatures were out there, he was't sure if survival was even possible.
"So, I'm counting on you two," Tlerra said, her red skin seeming to glow brighter with confidence. She needed this plan to work, and she was determined to make it happen.
They began preparing for the plan. Ammunition was counted, slowly fixing the droid,and they fashioned makeshift armor from spare iron plates in case they encountered danger outside. However, as they worked, Carson noticed something unusual in one of the cargo baskets.
Inside the basket, there was a strange green glow. Approaching it while Tlerra and the mercenary were preoccupied programming the droid, he examined the peculiar green rocks. They had an oddly hypnotic shine, with sharp edges and a glow that darkened toward the core. It looked so... warm. Comforting, even. As Carson studied the stones more closely, he glanced around to ensure no one was watching, he felt, as if he was about to do something wrong, he could't explain why. Feeling a faint ringing in his ears, he reached into the metal basket, picked up a shard no bigger than a fingernail, and slipped it into his pocket as a good luck charm.