United We Stand

by Christian Messe

  The fighters swooped down, following the alien that kept calling the shots.

  “Fire, fire here!” He yelled. He started firing at a gap between the warship’s heavy armor, and the other fighters followed.

  “Fire missiles!” He yelled. They did. Dozens of standard-Cyrisian missiles flew from their launch tubes, and crashed into the gap, blowing a massive hole through the bottom decks of the warship. The entire ship made a loud doouum… sound. Its power was failing, and the whole ship was deactivating. After a few seconds, the lights flickered off, and the warship was dead in space.

  Lewis watched as the last Jupitain warship was defeated. Everyone in the fighters were panting. They didn’t lose one person with that technique. They headed back for the hanger of their highjacked warship. The alien in the hangar bridge was waiting, hitting the control boards softly, like drums. He watched with relief as the fighters flew into the hull. He closed the hangar gate after the last one, expecting more. Everyone landed and were celebrating. Even though there were heavy losses, everyone was lucky to be alive.

  Abigail hugged a few people too, but what they were waiting for, was for the alien that had taken charge to come out of his fighter. They all stood outside of it, waiting for him. It was weird why he wouldn’t come out.

  “What’s he waiting for?” Someone asked.

  The door opened after a few seconds, and he walked out, wearing a brown cloak and hood, hiding his face.

  “Hey, you ok?” Abigail asked, walking up to him. She put her hand on his shoulder.

  The alien took a deep breath and took the hood off. He had pitch black skin. Tattoos all over his face…

  “Oh God,” Abigail said, stepping back.

  The alien was Cyrisian. Everyone was dumbfounded, some people gaping.

  “The only reason I don’t kill you where you stand,” someone said, “Is because you’re the only reason we’re all alive.”

  “Cyrisian scum,” someone else mumbled.

  “That’s how you knew your tactics would work. They were your damn ships!” Another person yelled, “If it weren’t for your kind, we wouldn’t even be here!”

  Angry mumbling turned into mindless yelling. Then Abigail asked a question.

  “How’re you alive?” She asked, “Your entire planet was wiped out in minutes.”

  The Cyrisian finally started to talk, “Hundreds of us, are still alive… there were…” He paused, “There were evacuation ships, scattered across the planet, just encase the experiments were to go, wrong.”

  “Shocker, they did,” someone said, sarcastically.

  “Please, just… I knew this would happen, I’m not personally responsible for the outbreak of the Demons, I swear it, but I know I carry the responsibility simply by being Cyrisian.”

  “Damn right,” The same sarcastic alien said.

  “Please, just listen to me, we’re in this together… I know the Demons have done things across the Galaxy, that are simply unforgivable. They killed senselessly before Karalus hacked the AI, and whoever they didn’t kill, they enslaved. What we need to focus on, isn’t me, but Karalus’s plan to destroy the Galaxy! The. Entire. Galaxy. If we do that, we can focus on ridding worlds of the Demons as well!”

  There was silence among the crowd, then Abigail said, “He’s right guys, and trust me I’m not a fan of the Cyrisians either, I used to be a rebel, constantly fighting their tech… but we don’t have a choice. We either focus on how he’s a Cyrisian and hate him, burn him on the stake, or we focus on killing Karalus, the guy who had every opportunity to destroy the Jupitains, but instead is a psychopath and wants to destroy everything. I think that’s a better person to hate, instead of the guy who just won us this battle.”

  “Fine,” someone said, “But don’t expect me to start liking you anytime soon.” He looked at the Cyrisian, grimacing.

  “Thank you,” The Cyrisian said, sincerely grateful.

  “What’s your name?” Someone asked.

  He looked at the crowd, “Arron.”

  Lewis was trying to reboot the engine systems, to get the main engine up and running again. He was constantly pressing buttons on the bridge’s control pads, and rerouting energy flow towards broken off circuits.

  “Um, Lewis…” Reverend said, “A giant shockwave just came from the battle next to Mars… both the Jupitain and United Worlds fleets were destroyed… instantly.”

  “Wait, how?!” Lewis asked excitedly, “Are you saying Karalus is dead?!”

  “No… I’m saying Karalus went to Hypotonic via, some kind of Tesla force engine… it sent out a shockwave so powerful that it destroyed everything near him. He’s headed right for this system’s star…”

  “He didn’t want any loose ends…” Lewis said, realizing what he was saying. “How long do we have?”

  “The battlefield is one hundred fifty million miles away from the sun… so with a ship that big, I'm guessing maybe... five minutes?”

  Distraught washed over Lewis’s face, “It’s over,” he said. “He’s really gonna do it…” Reverend and Samung didn’t have anything to say. They just looked down.

  He tapped into the hangar’s intercom and started telling everyone about their fate. “Everyone… it’s been; it’s been a hard fight but, it’s too late.”

  Everyone in the main hangar just looked at each other in disbelief.

  “Karalus is now on his way towards the sun, my sun… and he’s going to destroy the entire Galaxy. We've fought hard, but, it’s over. We have roughly four minutes…” He kept speaking, but Arron didn’t waste any time. He pushed and shoved people out of his way, and sprinted for the bridge.

  He ran in, and asked, “Who’s the Commander here?!”

  Samung pointed at Lewis.

  “It’s not over prim,” he said, “I know how we can delay this!”

  “Well, by all means, do it!” Lewis said, not wasting any time. Arron took the main control board, and started furiously tapping buttons, and pulling switches. He knew exactly what he was doing.

  “How’s he so good with the controls?” Samung mumbled.

  Then suddenly, the main engine roared to life, and a blue energy surged through the entire ship, lighting up the hallways in a dim blue light. The engine spun around, clinking and clanking, blue fire emitting from it.

  “What’re you doing?” Lewis asked, shocked that the ship was shaking a little. “How’d you turn the engine back on?!”

  “I’m getting us to your star first,” Arron said. He carefully maneuvered his hands on the control pad, and gracefully flew the warship towards the one they had deactivated, “This ship is dead, but that one… heavily armored, faster, more advanced, we’ll use it to get to Karalus.”

  “But it’s deactivated!” Lewis said, while Arron slowly piloted the ship next to the deactivated one.

  “We’ll board it, and I’ll reroute the power through an alternate hallway… we don’t have time to talk more though; we only have four minutes left!” Arron said. He carefully maneuvered the warship right next to the disabled one and docked them together. He leaned into the intercom, and said, “Everyone, everyone, we are taking control of the enemy ship. Get to the airlock immediately! We’re taking that ship. Grab whatever weapons you can find on the way there, we need everybody! We’re rushing the bridge; we only have a few minutes!”

  Everyone sprinted for the airlock, grabbing various assortments of weapons, from black hole grenades, to a few sleek Cyrisian laser-Gatling guns.

  On board the deactivated ship, a Jupitain was inspecting the airlock, after hearing the sound of another ship docking. Suddenly, the door was blown open, and it flew into the Jupitain, crushing it, and its visor. Out came dozens of aliens, shouting and shooting at everything around them. Arron had taken a small laser pistol and sprinted ahead with Lewis trailing behind. Arron shot a Jupitain through the visor mid-sprint. They had to get to the bridge… fast.

  Everyone pushed through the Jupitains. They had caught them off guard. On
e of the aliens used the laser Gatling gun to clear the entire hallway while shouting the whole time. Another threw a black hole grenade into a Jupitain patrol, causing them all to be sucked in.

  Arron and Lewis blew through the bridge’s entrance and killed two Jupitains that were about to leave it. Arron shot visor after visor, clearing a path for the control board. Lewis tackled a Jupitain that was about to impale Arron. He struggled with it, but Arron shot it in the visor, making Lewis fall a few inches where the Jupitain had been, now just a pile of goo.

  “I hope you know what you're doing,” Lewis said, concerned.

  Arron didn’t say anything back; he was fully concentrated on the controls. He pressed a few buttons on the control pad, then flicked the administer switch to grant access to his command. A loud hum echoed from the ship’s engine, and it started to spin rapidly, turning back on. He had rerouted the power. Without wasting any time, he tapped a few more buttons on the control pad, and a blue light started to glow through the entire ship.

  The ship turned around, to face the way where Karalus’s mothership was, and sped into space at the speed of light, destroying the docking mechanism with the other hijacked Jupitain warship.

  CHAPTER 21

  “Where does the visor say to go next?” Mark asked Douglas.

  “Hallway B15,” He replied, “I haven’t seen any Demons around here. I think this part of the ship is a clear zone.”

  “What does that mean?” James asked.

  “It means Karalus wanted this area to himself… I dunno why, if he had Jupitains here we probably would’ve been dead already.” Suddenly, a faint beeping sound came from the floor. Douglas looked down and saw that he had stepped through a laser tripwire.

  “Oh, shi…”

  A laser spread close to the hallway’s roof then lowered itself to the level of where Douglas’s head would be, then it moved through the hall extremely fast, ready to decapitate anyone near.

  “Everybody duck!” Douglas ordered. They all hit the floor, and the laser sped over their lowered heads. The laser disengaged and turned off.

  “So that’s why it’s a clear zone,” James said.

  “Watch out for tripwires,” Douglas mumbled sarcastically.

  They got up and started to walk slowly along the hallway. Every time they saw a laser tripwire, they stepped over it, until they encountered something a little harder. A laser field that would be utterly impossible not to hit.

  “What now?” Mark asked frustrated.

  Douglas shrugged and threw a Jupitain laser rifle he had gotten earlier into the laser field. It hit about ten of the laser beams, but it didn’t activate any of the traps.

  “I’m gonna go up there, and I’m gonna touch the lasers… really, really frickin’ fast, then we’ll keep our heads low, and see what happens.”

  “Are you serious?” James and Mark stammered at the same time.

  “Any other options?” Douglas asked.

  They didn’t argue there.

  Douglas walked over towards the laser field, slowly, and put his hand through one of them. It fazed, then turned off. Nothing happened for about five seconds, then all the lasers turned off, one by one.

  “Huh,” Douglas said simply. Then, a laser gate formed fifty feet behind them, making a little cage that would trap anyone under that part of the hallway, with no way to escape.

  “Run… run!!” Douglas yelled. He sprinted away, and Mark followed him. James was a little slower.

  Douglas sprinted for the end of the hallway and made it to the entrance of the B15 sector. Mark was right behind him, but James couldn’t keep up.

  “Pick it up; come on!” Douglas shouted.

  Mark made it, but the laser cages were getting faster and faster, and before James could make it, a laser grid formed in front of him and trapped him. He punched it multiple times, but it didn’t phase. Douglas shot the laser’s projector with his laser pistol, but it was shielded.

  He cursed.

  “W-what are we gonna do?!” Mark asked frantically.

  “I… I’m sorry, I just couldn’t…”

  Douglas bit his lip, “No need to be sorry kid.” Without any hesitation, Douglas reached for a dart in his pocket, loaded it into his laser pistol, and shot James in the shoulder with it.

  “Wait… what was that…” James didn’t have to finish the sentence.

  “Darsakian Holo Warp transportation sequence, activated,” an automated voice said from the dart.

  “No,” James said. “No no no no! I’m not letting you guys do this without me! I-I have to help, somehow!”

  “Get outta here kid,” Douglas said simply, “Besides, I wasn’t gonna let you just die, stuck in there.”

  “But-but it’s not fair. You guys should’ve had that, not me! I… I don’t deserve it, I, I didn’t even deserve to be a Captain…”

  Mark looked at him, straight in the eyes, “I’ve been waiting to do this for nine years cap,’ but you, you’ve still got a future. Still got family.”

  James didn’t cry. He just looked at Mark, a completely different person from when he first knew him.

  “3… 2… 1. Holo Warp sequence… activated.” A bright, purple-blueish aura whizzed around James, and then, as quickly as it had formed, it dissipated, and he was gone.

  “Where’d he go?” Mark asked.

  “Vietnam,” Douglas said, “Only coords I could think of… now, if your done feeling all, heroic and sacrificial, let’s keep moving.”

  Mark nodded, and Douglas gestured for him to follow him. Douglas started for the main engine room, while Mark looked behind, where James had been, turned back around, and followed Douglas.

  “So… what are we gonna do when we reach the engine room?” Mark asked Douglas.

  He didn’t reply for a few seconds. “I dunno,” Douglas said honestly, “That Dart could only transport one person anyway, and I only had one...”

  Mark looked straight ahead. They walked fast, until they reached the entrance of the main engine room. The doors were tall, about ten feet. Douglas took the control pad and cracked the code in less than ten seconds. Karalus was a genius, but Douglas had decades of rebel experience. They walked through the doors, and what they saw was impossible not to take their breath away.

  Thousands of Dark matter pipes, everywhere. Hundreds of generators, metal walkways, and a towering ceiling. Below them was a hole that went down at least a thousand feet. Generators were everywhere, lining the walls. In the center of the room, was a large control station, with thousands of switches, buttons and control modules. A dim light emitted from the very bottom of the hole below the engine room walkway. A loud hum from the engine constantly echoed through the room.

  “This place is… massive,” Mark said.

  “One of the most technological engine rooms I’ve ever seen… definitely not Cyrisian.” Douglas walked over to the control board and analyzed it.

  “How’re we gonna stop this thing?” Mark asked.

  “Wait a second,” Douglas gasped.

  “What is it?” Mark asked.

  Douglas dug through the data on the control pad, “Oh my God,” he said, sounding shocked.

  “What?!” Mark asked, getting frustrated.

  “All of these Dark matter pipes… they’re leading to that giant container we saw earlier, Karalus… he’s gonna fly right into the sun…”

  Mark went quiet.

  “He’s gonna put all of this Dark matter, into a giant ball of gas…” Douglas and Mark both knew what that meant. “He’s gonna cause a matter rupture so strong it’ll… it’ll destroy the entire Galaxy.”

  Before Mark could reply with anything, a familiar voice echoed through the engine room from the entrance.

  “Impressive, isn’t it?” Karalus leered. He looked horrible, his veins were pitch black, from the Dark matter that was flowing through him. He was wearing an exo-suit, with Dark matter pipes flowing around it. Tubes were connected to his arms, and legs, powering the suit. It cla
nked with every step. He was carrying a heavy, bulky looking laser rifle. He also had a power source on the back of his suit, that was glowing bright blueish white. A blue fire like energy, surged through the torso of his exo-suit, powering the core, and flowing through the rest of it.

  Douglas knew immediately that there was no time for discussion with this psychopath. He raised his laser pistol and fired three shots of green lasers at Karalus. All three hit his suit, with no effect.

  “Pathetic,” Karalus said simply. He charged for Douglas, Mark diving out of the way. Karalus picked up Douglas by his back and threw him into the wall. Douglas grunted and lifted his pistol to shoot Karalus again. He did, and this time, he hit one of his pipes, causing it to leak, but not do any damage. Karalus roared, and grabbed Douglas again, and slammed him into the wall. When he looked knocked out, Karalus turned around and started looking for Mark.

  “I’m doing this for you-you know. You need this just as much as me!” He tore apart crates and lifted energy containers, “They left your entire fleet, to die! The Kelisians, they didn’t care. They never cared!! You should be happy. You should be helping me! Helping me make their kind extinct, you don’t have to die for nothing, you can know that you did the right thing, by just letting me end the Kelisian’s existence forever!!”

  Mark jumped out from his cover and shot Karalus with Douglas’s Jupitain laser rifle. Karalus grimaced and shot Mark in the stomach. Mark grunted, then fell to the floor, bleeding out.

  “Such a waste,” He picked up Mark, smiling at the pain showing in his face, and threw him against a wall on his back, next to a Dark matter container. He fell on his stomach.

  Douglas looked at Karalus slowly, closed one eye, aimed his laser pistol, and fired at Karalus’s power cell. He hit it dead on, and the back part of the suit exploded, destabilizing the entire right side of it.

  Douglas laughed a little, coughing up blood at the same time, “Take that you son of a bitch.”

  Karalus screamed and looked back at Douglas, “Someone thinks he’s a hero…” He limped over slowly to him. “I’m the only hero here,” He growled. He grabbed Douglas by the back of his head, lifted him up, and slammed his face against the wall, over, and over again.