Starfade

by Gary Swaby

  Chiaki’s arm burned, and she started feeling hazy. She assumed that the dagger had hit an artery and she was losing too much blood, and thus, she’d need to tend to it soon. Whatever this species was, she knew it must have fast reflexes to throw the dagger while falling from the ceiling. “What the hell are you?” she asked.

  There was a shimmer of amber as it rolled its eyes. “Obviously, I’m one of the Elves from The Children of Yoy. I assumed you were smart enough to come to that conclusion.”

  She had indeed heard the entries that Tobi had read to her, but never once did she think the idea of Elves existing was a true concept. She thought perhaps that it was a clever title they were using to describe their race. But to see an Elf, looking just like the fictional depictions of them from Earth was too far-fetched for her to process.

  “Next thing you’ll tell me is that Santa banished you from the North Pole,” she said; her head foggy.

  “Let me guess…an Earth joke? Your people have been committing the Elves from Yoyvis to legend for centuries. After the Yoyvis refugees were seen, your ancestors on Earth passed down stories of us, until they became symbolic in your literature. And now I hear we’re popular in your visual entertainment too.” The Elf’s hand swayed as he talked. “Well, we are not to be romanticized, Ahnaf. And you should know that there is poison from that dagger working its way through your system. You’ll be dead within the next hour.”

  No wonder it’s burning so much—she thought. Who the heck even poisons people these days?

  “Nova, I am reading a blueprint file of this building,” said Tobi in her ear. “I will let you know if I find a suitable means of escape.”

  Chiaki knew she needed to take some action here if she wanted to live, and she hoped Tobi would find something useful, like a secret door right below her feet. In the meantime, she needed to keep the Elf talking while she thought of a backup plan. “So…all of the people from Yoyvis and you guys here on New Yoy are Elvish?”

  “The term we prefer is Elven. And no, Yoyvis was home to both Elven people and Ahnaf people. The Ahnaf are biologically identical to you. They are what you call, human.”

  “I guess that makes sense why there’s an Alliance marine from Earth related to you people,” she said.

  “Perhaps, but Elves can also interbreed with humans.” he smiled. “But I’m not suggesting that the marine is a mixed breed, of course.”

  “Nova!” came Tobi’s voice, “at the back of the room, behind the Elf, there is a ladder near one of the racks that leads to a trapdoor on a higher level. The lock is already disengaged.”

  How am I going to get behind the Elf and climb up a ladder without it coming after me? She was unable to respond to Tobi without the Elf knowing the context of her conversation, so she thought her response instead. Too bad Tobi couldn’t hear her thoughts.

  “Look, Yoy Boy, here’s the thing; I don’t give a shit about the Galactic Alliance or this data. Could you please give me some kind of potion to cure this and let me get out of your way?”

  The Elves’ fingers swayed before him, and then she saw a small blade expose itself over its fingers, as if the blade had emerged from his palm. “I can’t let you leave here with the knowledge you’ve obtained.”

  With her non-poisoned arm, Chiaki positioned her hand in a way that she’d be ready to grab her SMG. “But you just spent like five minutes giving me said knowledge.”

  “Yes; knowledge that will die with you.”

  The burning sensation was working its way up the entirety of her arm now. She knew she was running low on time. “Well…” she said, before faking a fit of coughs. “Since this is my last hour, how about you tell me your name; maybe I’ll remember it in the afterlife.”

  The Elf kept that same stupid, smug smile on his face. “The name is Rozzar. But…”

  Chiaki held up the SMG and shot a barrage of bullets at Rozzar. His reflexes were so fast that he was able to deflect the bullets with his dagger. She stopped firing, with the worry that the shots would rebound back at her.

  Now flustered, she ran around the terminal and swung her leg into the air, trying to catch his head. Again, Rozzar dodged her, and the two played a game of dodging punches and kicks. Chiaki was able to dip low and retrieve her hidden blade from a pocket on her shin. When she rose she swung the blade up to Rozzar with her right arm; but Rozzar was way too fast, and was able to knock the blade from her hand with a backhand.

  And then; Rozzar slammed his knee into her infected arm. Chiaki realized that she was at a severe disadvantage and began shooting glances in the direction of the ladder. Rozzar’s kick had intensified the burning in her arm and she needed to escape now.

  He stood there, with the dagger at his tips. She waited for him to make a move on her, but she could tell that like her, Rozzar was a defensive fighter. He preferred to wait until his foe made a move he could counter. Chiaki became impatient and flicked her thumb over the lock on her SMG, before tossing it at Rozzar, forcing him to dodge it. She used the short distraction to run to the back of the room. She kicked a cabinet on wheels into the path behind her, desperate to cause obstruction. But just as she saw the gunmetal ladder steps that were bound to the wall, she felt Rozzar’s arms lock around her neck.

  She didn’t know what she was thinking. In fact, she wasn’t thinking at all when she threw her weapon away. Perhaps the poison was slowly making its way to her brain. She felt sharp pain as Rozzar pulled the blade from her arm. He then dangled it in front of her chest.

  There was some kind of crashing sound behind them. Perhaps it was the cabinet tipping over after Rozzar had brushed passed it at his super Elf speed.

  She knew it was a bad idea to take this stupid job and now she could only hope that her people on Flade would be left alone once Pearson’s mission had failed. At least she would see her brother again.

  Suddenly, Chiaki felt the Elf release her and she suffered from a spell of dizziness as she staggered on her feet. She went completely deaf for a few seconds, and couldn’t register what was happening around her.

  Slowly, her vision returned and she saw Vraxen trading blows with Rozzar. Watching him save her life filled her with guilt for ditching him.

  Rozzar, in true show-off form had flipped backwards a few times to create some space between them. From across the room, Vraxen extended his arm and grabbed the Elf by the collar; he then lifted him into the air so that his body dangled in Vraxen’s hands. For the first time, Rozzar’s face showed panic, like he wasn’t in control anymore.

  But then Chiaki saw that Rozzar was holding the dagger that he’d pulled from her arm. “Watch out!” she cried. Rozzar stabbed Vraxen in the arm and Vraxen responded by hurling Rozzar across the room so that he collided with a rack of hardware. His body was curled up on the floor with his cloak blanketing him.

  When Vraxen made it over to her, he lifted her from her feet and rested her on a nearby table.

  “Vraxen, your arm,” she said. “It’s probably poisoned.”

  “Hm,” he grunted. She watched him pull the knife from his graphite skin and a thick blue substance dripped from it. He then poked the gash with his finger, and in doing so he grunted a few more times. And then, with thick blue goo over two of his fingers, Vraxen pressed them over Chiaki’s arm. She yelped at the stinging sensation and then took a sharp intake of breath to stop herself from screaming. Vraxen pressed his rough fingers against the wound and it felt like he was trying to push as much of his goo into her as possible.

  “Stowyth blood is immune from most poisons, and it has healing properties when used on humans. This may not get rid of the poison in your body because it’s been in there too long, but hopefully it will slow it long enough for us to get out of here and get you some help.”

  It took Chiaki several moments of huffing and puffing before she could respond. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Did you get the data?”

  “Yes, I have it,” she replied.<
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  She saw Vraxen typing on his Comm-link. “She has the data, Pearson. We need extraction now, and fast.”

  Chiaki sat herself up, feeling somewhat better. But she didn’t know how much longer she had, even with Vraxen’s blood helping her. “That asshole, Pearson,” she said. “He knew that the people on this planet had been killing Alliance Marines for years, yet he sends me and you here to do their dirty work. Probably so he won’t have to deal with more Alliance paperwork if we die.”

  “Nevermind that now,” said Vraxen, helping her off the table.

  Now back on her feet, Chiaki looked over where Rozzar’s body was but it had disappeared. “Oh shit.”

  “Watch out!” Vraxen cried as he extended his arm and pushed Chiaki out the way of Rozzar, who had been swinging a dagger at them from behind. The dagger had struck Vraxen’s arm once more, and drops of the glowing, blue goo dripped on the floor.

  The two of them continued to trade blows, with Rozzar being able to dodge a majority of Vraxen’s wide swings. Chiaki tried to think of a way to assist, but she still didn’t have full use of her arm. It felt stiff to move, and she could feel stinging throbs inside.

  She slowly moved around the brawl, in search of her SMG. She had just located the weapon when she was blindsided by a blow to her back. She fell on her injured arm, maximizing the pain. When she looked up she saw Rozzar leaning in to grab her, but she responded by sweeping her leg around, making her foot connect with the side of his head. Rozzar staggered from the blow and Chiaki looked around for Vraxen. She saw that he was on his knees behind Rozzar, with one arm leaning against a rack of hardware.

  Rozzar—clearly prioritizing Chiaki because of the data—approached her once he’d recovered. She continued to kick at him but he caught her by the foot and yanked her whole body towards him. Rozzar lifted her by her neck and held her high above his head. Chiaki could feel her supply of oxygen closing as he applied more and more pressure.

  From behind Rozzar, Vraxen’s arm reached for the SMG. Once he’d grabbed it, he extended his arm to Chiaki so she could grab it from right behind Rozzar’s head. Rozzar’s amber irises registered that her weapon had been handed to her, but it was too late. Chiaki flicked her thumb over the lock and then aimed the SMG down at the Elf’s chest before opening fire. She didn’t let the trigger go until she felt her body slam against the ground.

  ***

  Chiaki had blacked out. When consciousness returned to her, she realized that she was folded over Vraxen’s shoulder. She heard his loud footsteps rapping against a metal surface. She opened her eyes and saw they were on the platform where they had entered the building earlier, but Chiaki saw Vraxen run past the corner leading to the main entrance.

  “Where are you going?” she said.

  “Oh, Nova, you’re awake,” he said. “There is an elevator that goes up to the roof on the opposite side of this platform. It was non-functional earlier, but now it has a light on. Do you see it,” he said, pointing.

  Chiaki had to use the little strength she had in her body to raise her neck enough to see where he was pointing. “Yes,” she said. “I think Tobi may have activated it once I obtained access to the server.”

  “Tobi?”

  “My personal A.I.”

  “That explains it then. I think the building will soon be surrounded by the Thundercloaks, so it would be too dangerous for a ground level extraction. Pearson will meet us on the roof.”

  “Children of Yoy is what they call themselves. I refuse to use any name that lameass Pearson came up with.”

  “Explain later,” said Vraxen, as he walked around a corner of the platform.

  “Nova, the drone outside is picking up movement,” said Tobi. “I’m showing you the camera now.”

  She edged her injured arm up in front of her face and felt sharp pain. She stared at her Comm-link screen and saw a number of ground vehicles pulling up outside the front door. “They’re coming, Vraxen, the drone alerted me. Let me down please.”

  “We’re almost at the elevator,” he said. “And you’re not well, remember?”

  “I know, just let me down. I want to be able to defend myself if they catch up.”

  Vraxen obliged and carefully set her down on her feet. He then removed her SMG from a strap on his waist and handed it to her, before removing his assault rifle. The rife had been folded up to make it easier to carry. Vraxen unfolded it and locked it in position. He then took a clip from his belt and inserted it at the bottom of the rifle. Chiaki knew the clip in her SMG was low so she attempted to reload her own weapon, but her stiff arm made it difficult. Vraxen took the clip from her and slapped it into the SMG on her behalf.

  Then they heard a loud sizzling sound coming from the main entrance. Sparks were dripping from the door and a large slit was making its way down. Because Chiaki had rewritten the biometric authentication, they were unable to gain access through the door. It seemed they’d resorted to cutting a hole through it.

  “Come,” said Vraxen, reaching for her arm.

  “Ouch, watch it,” she said.

  “I’m sorry. Come quickly.” The two of them ran to the elevator, and Chiaki felt her head weave as she tried to force her legs to work. As Vraxen slammed his fist against the button to call the elevator, they heard a crash come from the main door. The Children of Yoy reinforcements were now in the building.

  The elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped inside. Vraxen immediately hit the button to take them to the roof and while they waited for the doors to close they saw over a dozen cloaked figures run along the platform across from them. Chiaki noted that there were both Elves and humans, but mainly Elves. Some of them were beginning to open fire so Chiaki ducked, while Vraxen opted to return fire. Luckily, the closing doors ate most of the exchange.

  They were now shut inside the elevator and it took thirty seconds before they felt themselves moving. Chiaki’s body now felt too heavy for her to try and get back up on her feet so she shifted her weight to her buttocks and stayed on the ground.

  “Hold on just a little longer. We’re almost out of here.”

  She looked up at Vraxen and nodded, feeling too exhausted to speak.

  “Nova!” Tobi called in her ear, “we’ve lost connection to the drone; it’s been destroyed.”

  “Shit!” she slurred. “There are more of them outside. Let’s just hope they don’t mess with extraction.” She looked up at Vraxen to make it clear she was talking to him. “Call your boss and see what the ETA is.”

  Vraxen complied, and she heard him speak with Pearson a few seconds later. “Pearson, what’s the ETA on extraction?” Chiaki couldn’t hear what the response from Pearson was. “Yes, we’re aware of them. Just make your way here as quick as possible and we’ll hold them off as best we can in the meantime. Please also have a medic at the ready to treat Nova for poison.” She appreciated his regard for her predicament.

  “Pearson says he’s three minutes away, and he saw a Thundercloak shuttle nearby our location.”

  “Oh, so Goldilocks is making an appearance himself, eh?”

  The elevator chimed and a light on the panel blinked to indicate they had reached the roof. Vraxen held his hand out to Chiaki and she grabbed it with her right arm. She pulled herself up with difficulty and stumbled to her feet. When the door opened they saw a flat and wide surface with railings surrounding the area. Aside from the bolts of lightning rippling through the air and the sounds of thunder that followed, it was a little too quiet.

  “Nova, once we see the shuttle come into view, I need you to climb on my back, throw your bad arm around my neck for support if you can. And then try to use your good arm to fire at the Thundercloaks, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “I will do the best I can to make a run for it,” Vraxen continued. The light on the elevator blinked, indicating that it was being called below. Vraxen grabbed Chiaki by her good hand and led her through the doors, holding his rifle
up cautiously as he did so. Chiaki looked around for any sign of the Yoy, but her vision blurred each time her head swiveled.

  “Look.” Vraxen whispered. She followed his line of sight and saw the Astrid descending through the sky. At the moment that relief started to fill inside her, a number of figures stepped into her peripheral vision from both sides. She looked left to right and saw a dozen cloaked individuals aiming blasters, different from the ones they’d seen downstairs.

  “Remember what I said,” Vraxen told her under his breath. He tossed his rifle on the floor in front of him and held his arms in the air. He then lowered himself as if submitting to the Children of Yoy. Chiaki moved her bad arm to see how much difficulty she would have holding onto Vraxen.

  In the distance, the shuttle was moving closer to the roof and some of the cloaked individuals started opening fire in its direction. Within seconds, the Astrid was returning fire, causing them to break formation and scatter to find cover behind generators.

  “Now!” Vraxen yelled. Chiaki pushed herself onto his back and swung her bad arm around his neck. The pain was so bad that tears fell down her cheeks as she groaned. She felt Vraxen rise to his feet and he hooked one of her legs under his arm. She felt more discomfort as Vraxen began sprinting, as the hardness of his body knocked against her.

  She had motion blur in her eyes as the Stowyth continued to sprint, but she could see red beams flying all around them. When she chanced a look behind, she saw way too many of the Yoy aiming weapons their way, the sight made her scared for her life.

  She drew the SMG from her leg that dangled freely behind Vraxen’s back and she fired a barrage of shots behind her, not paying too much attention to where she was aiming. She just wanted to make them take cover so there would be less chance of them getting a lucky shot.

  Soon enough, the Astrid’s engines could be heard. When Chiaki peered over Vraxen’s shoulder she saw Commander Pearson poking out the side door; firing somewhere behind them.