The Siren, Part 7
The Mists of Eternity
The ringing in his ears drowned out everything around Krats. That was something one was not supposed to do while in closed quarters, but obviously someone was desperate to cause damage. Krats awoke from the daze the grenade caused to find he was only out from a few moments. Nagus was still next to him breathing heavy fading between fear and battle rage.
Nelson was on the floor with his right arm in cinders. he lay in shock with his weapon lose. Kramer continued to fire, screaming in fear. The grenade appeared to have an effect as one of the creatures lay insert with visible explosion damage. But pieces of it was still moving as if it were trying to reassemble itself.
Krats took the opportunity to grab the loose weapon while at the same time, grabbed Nagus’ shoulder. “The Fenrir! It’s here!”
Krats stood in a sudden burst of fear fueled bravery and opened fire while Nagus stood and charged the nearest creature. It was at least another head taller than Nagus and even more wider. Spikes erupted from all over the creature’s body, readying for close combat. Nagus had found a loose piece of hull supports and was using it as a weapon.
Ringing still in his ears, Krats stumbled off the command platform into a sprint to the door while pushing Nagus past nagus as he charged the creatures. There was a thin windows between the two beasts and with any luck, with Nagus as a distraction, he could get out.
Blasts and bullets flaw past him like a swarm of bugs. Krats was nearly to the threshold of the door when something grabbed his ankle. He looked down to see a spiked metallic tentacle wrapped around it. He turned the rifle he held onto the tentacle, hoping his panic would not disrupt his aim enough to shoot off his foot.
The blast tore through the metal tentacle and seared his boot and pant-leg. Free, he scrambled further toward the door, the better still raging behind him. He heard Nagus continue to scream his way cry as well, giving him a sign that the giant was still alive enough to fight.
Krats tentacled assailant was not deterred, however and was giving him chase down the hall. You would have thought that one target escaping was less important than the armed team in the bridge but apparently not. This is what they apparently meant when they said “..Defilers must pay.” And technically, he was the ultimate defiler, being the person that built the station in the first place.
Her turned his nearly empty plasma assault down the hall towards the creature and fired. It slowed him some enough for Krats to turn a corner. Where the hell can I go?
Summoning a lift, he entered it and quickly closed the door, hearing the distinctly metallic sounds of the creature coming down the hallway.
Krats cautiously stepped out of an armor of C level, armored with another fully charged plasma rifle and a few grenades. If he was going to get out of here, he felt that he was going to have to fight through more of those creatures or more GeePees.
Escape pods were not really an option for this station. Only the really expensive ones were shielded enough to handle the radiation from this pulsar. And no one was buying those expensive one enough that he could steal one or two.
All the shuttles and small ship were gone, probably confiscated or destroyed by the GeePees. Nagus’s ship! He made for the hangar where he parked the ugly small gunship of his – the Gungnir.
It would be a kind of irony that he would escape onboard the ship of his rival. Krats was certain he was dead by now. Pirate code? Ha ha, only in the holos. His crewmen died when he want down below in he first place. Why did he do that? Did he know something? Or have something?
He turned a corner expecting to see an empty corridor to the hangar bay door. It was not empty.
“Kratzolos Obledon! … ” the bleeding hulk of a man stood in front of the door. Dammit, should not have stopped at the armory. Nagus, missing his left arm, and bleeding from multiple deep gashes, he held a piece of the alien creature as a weapon. “… Nice trick back there, worthy of a pirate.”
Nagus lurched forward, the bio-enhancements and cyber-drug injectors the only things keeping him alive. Krats popped the pins off one of the plasma grenades. This is going to get messy. Krats took three steps towards the dorr, hoping he could dodge the barbarian enough to get through and leave him behind. An explosion from above and behind Nagus stopped him momentarily. Something exploded out of the ceiling onto the floor.
Look who’s back to get his arm back! One of the creatures, one arm missing, drove towards Nagus. The barbarian pirate turned and screamed another battle cry raising is weapon. The alien thing tackled Nagux and both went tumbling past Krats who hugged the wall.
Forgetting about the grenade in his hand, he deshed for the hangar door, seeing the barbarian’s ship still on the deck. Just as he started towards it, a head grabbed his shoulder.
“Kats!” groaned Nagus who seemed to have broken free of the alien thing enough to reach him. The thing returned however, now gripping and pulling the barbarian back into the hallway….”Don’t leave me…” he moaned further fighting back the metallic claws and appendages.
“Here, ” Krats handed Nagus the grenade. “This will help…” then pushed him into the grip of the beast.
The explosion knocked Krats down but he was able to get back up and board the ship before anything came through the hangar door again. He hit the emergency hangar door release remotely, recalling the code, and simultaneously hit the unlock on the deck locks of the ship. This results in a explosive decompression that sucked the ship out into space. Preflight be damned. That could be done later.
The GeePee capitol ships were already out of the system prepping for jump. Billidger was exhausted. He fought with the alien monk and himself. In the end, the orders were clear. Abandon any and everyone if the Vault was breached.
The alien monk – a species Billidger had never seen or heard of – was working with Terran Imperial Command. For some unknown reason, they insisted that the monk accompany the task force on this mission. He was apparently the only reason they had Nagus on the hook. They allowed him to find the key as part of a plan to convince him there was treasure. He leaded them right to the asteroid the base was on (otherwise they’d be searching forever)and give them the opportunity to bring it all down.
Nagus however, must have gotten wind of this planned and arrive earlier than planned to “get his treasure” and get out. And maybe earn the right to be pirate king in this sector on top of that, with all the other leaders captured.
Unfortunately for him, there was no treasure. The only thing Billidger was able to get out of the monk was it was dangerous. And if released, it was a threat to the entire sector, perhaps the Terran Empire. This monk also explained that the Song of the Sirens was by design but apparently something got lost in translation. Instead of a call to the system, it was originally a warning to stay away. In many ancient languages, what many aliens thought today was voices calling them to the system was actually a warning.
And now, with the slight changes made by the pirates, that message is even more distorted.
“We will correct it.” the monk said. “Soon enough.”