Gunshots could be heard throughout the metal corridors as Havoc squad moved to their destination, screams of dying soldiers or orders unfollowed echoing behind the sharp sounds as Ebony found the correct hallway to go down.
There was a pneumatic hiss that led to a heavy thump that could be just barely felt through the floor that caused everyone to pause and draw their weapons to the ready. Stephanie, being the most silent of the group, crept up a clean hallway that had yet to be stained with combat as it also seemed to lack any enemy forces.
Their journey through the ship had been surprisingly uneventful aside from a brief firefight as they made their way up deck from the med bay, two squads of marines stumbling across them in a rush towards the main fighting against the Inquisition. The farther they moved from the main Inquisition force, the less enemy they found as the Federation marines focused on tackling the main body of insurgents and apparently ignoring the concept of enemy forces branching off and spreading through out the ship.
Stepping up to a sharp left turn with no where left to go Stephanie peered around the corner to find the next hallway devoid of life, two sets of heavy doors along the left wall, one being only ten feet from the corner with the other another 80 feet down the hall, and three smaller doors on the opposite wall equidistant from each other. This caused quite a problem for Stephanie as she tried to recall how loud the sound was in accordance to where the doors were located, the inability to pinpoint where the noise came from without further information meant that they were likely to walk into an ambush.
Stephanie turned back to her team and signaled her lack of findings, using a bastardized version of Federation hand signals mixed with her own sign language, something Ebony had ordered her to create several years prior.
Ebony sighed indignantly as she looked down at her data-slate. “Well, our target is in the first room on the left-seems to be one of the storage rooms with a terminal connected to a different circuit. I doubt there will be anyone setting an ambush in there but let’s be careful regardless,” she stated in a hush tone keeping the possibility of the enemy being close in mind.
“Let me go first, boss,” Aleksei offered as he hoisted his homemade ballistic shield in reference to his defense in an ambush setting.
Ebony nodded, “Yeah, Henry, watch the hall. Stephanie follows, then Jackson, me then Taylor.” Her eyes met Taylor’s with the silent order to open fire as soon as the enemy was within sight if it came to it which led him to double check his ammunition level within his current box of rounds; only sitting at a half of a box earned a partial swap, unhooking the box magazine from the rifle and letting the unspent belt dangle freely as he hooked a new box underneath and fed just enough of the new belt out for a hot reload.
Seeing him finished his preparations, Ebony nodded to Aleksei, letting the giant step in front of the line and around the corner hiding behind his shield as Henry slide across the semi-polished metal floor and lean around the corner, his back against the wall behind Aleksei, aiming down the hall in search of movement.
Without the sound of combat starting, Stephanie silently approached behind the demolitions expert, a resounding clink responding as he pushed the button that was supposed to open the massive bisected door.
“Hey boss? Need you to open the door,” Aleksei stated, his voice carrying farther around the corner than anyone was comfortable with.
Ebony scowled as she rounded the corner, pushing her way past Jackson and over to the small panel that operated the door, prying the maintenance cover from the bottom of the panel and hooking her data-slate up to it. In under a minute the doors slid open with a loud pneumatic hiss, clanking even louder as their massive weight slammed into the wall.
Aleksei stepped into a light-less room with his shield out. Moving slowly, he could see the faintest of light coming from deep within the storage room, “Can someone get the lights? I think I see the thing EB needs.”
The rest of Havoc squad, except for Henry who watched the corridor like a hawk, stepped into the pitch-black room slowly, feeling for the panel that controlled the lights along either wall of the massive doors.
“Got it,” Jackson announced quietly before switching on a large breaker and blinding everyone in the room.
As their eyes adjusted to the blinding light that flooded the room Havoc squad was greeted with a surprising sight. “Why the fuck do they have war-walkers?” Ebony asked aloud, eyeing the three short rows of the squat, bi-pedal war machines all equipped with a devastating array of weaponry. A war-walker was a walking cabin piloted by a single person with two to four weapon systems; from rocket pods to massive flamethrowers and everything in between and plated in inch and a half thick metal plating meant to stop small arms fire and even low yield explosives. However, what they looked at though were smaller models of war-walkers short enough to fit down the main corridors of a starship even as small as a Destroyer, just brushing past the towering height of nine feet tall, where as the models they knew were often 15 feet tall and instead of carrying an multitude of weapons, the smaller models seemed to carry a singular weapon of variety with a twin barreled anti-armor system attached to the right shoulder.
“I heard about these,” Taylor muttered stepping forward from the group and inspecting the closest walker, “Back on the Chevelle, some of the engineers mentioned a new war-walker. Something that could be dropped into combat zones with more mobility and speed… they even mentioned how they could be used to board other ships, something equivalent to a tank without trying to drive a tank through a ship.”
Aleksei let out a loud groan of anticipated pleasure as he lowered his grenade launcher and turned to Ebony, “Boss, we have to take these! Think of all the mayhem we could cause!”
Ebony rolled her eyes as she moved closer to him, slugging him in his armored shoulder before commenting, “You’re already a walking tank, and how do you think we could get these back to the ship? We don’t know how to operate them and we also don’t know if we could fit them on the Archangel…” she paused as she pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, announcing the Inquisition ship as their home ship now felt odd to her, especially saying it out loud.
“I don’t think Big Boss would mind. Bet she wants one herself! I mean, who wouldn’t?” he stated factually as he looked over one of the war machines with endearment and a savage grin.
“We need to worry about our mission first, you can ask about looting them later,” she ordered with annoyance before stepping in between two rows of walkers and headed to the back of the room where her awaiting console would be.
There was a clatter of metal on metal and the sound of gears ratcheting against each other that made everyone jump and raise their weapons defensively. A loud heavy foot step resonated through the room as Ebony shuffled backwards between the row of walkers as she watched the last walker in the center row come to life, stepping into the path between with a panicking pilot fidgeting with the controls.
“You’re not going to get me you alien loving scum! Think you can get us because we’re a small ship? I’ll show you!” the man inside the walker rambled as he fought to find the controls he wanted, the sheer nonsensical announcement emphasizing his desperation as the walker’s humanoid designed arms held giant belt fed assault rifle within its mechanical hands at the ready.
“Aleksei!” Ebony called out as she turned to run across to the opposite side of the room, Jackson and Stephanie following suit as they too saw the hulking metal war machine stomping down the aisle slowly.
Aleksei placed his grenade launcher into the cut out of his shield and stepped into view, “I got it!” he announced before pulling the trigger and landing a propelled grenade squarely into the cabin glass, the geometric viewing glass barely cracking as the explosive went off leaving Aleksei dumbfounded as the he watched his grenade barely bother the machine.
“Ha! There we go!” the pilot cheered as the twin barreled rocket pod on its shoulder shifted over the plated shoulder on a track and aim directly at Aleksei with Taylor stepping into view.
In a profane shout, Aleksei dropped everything he was carrying and dove at Taylor, carrying the respectively smaller man with him as a rocket launched and slammed into the space that had been right behind Aleksei, the anti-armor rocket punching a large hole into the floor as the explosion propelled the two into a stack of crates that barely registered their bulk.
“What the fuck was that? Why didn't you use your launcher?” Ebony demanded from across the room before a loud torrent of gunfire drown her out, the pilot having figured out the massive assault weapon.
“I got an idea, distract him!” Taylor grunted as he and Aleksei pried themselves off the floor.
“Seriously?!” Ebony groaned before nodding at Stephanie and Jackson.
Aleksei looked over to see the smoldering shattered shell of his grenade launcher that landed near the wall next to him before pulling a smoke grenade from his belt and tossing it in front of the walker.
Within seconds smoke began to flood the area around the active walker who made no effort in ceasing the constant barrage, aiming more wildly as his vision became obscured; all the while someone took pot shots at him.
The noise drew Henry’s attention instantly and touched his comm, “What the hell is going on in there?”
“We got it! Just don't let anyone come up behind us!” Ebony ordered; her voice barely audible as the comm mainly picked up the gun fire.
Several large bullets ripped through the wall close enough to his position to cause him to dive to the floor in panic. “Doesn’t sound like it!” he barked at it just before catching a glimpse of three marines rounding the corner at the end of the hall. All he could do was hope not to get shot through the wall by armor piercing bullets as he took aim at his new targets.
Taylor climbed his way up the crates as Aleksei drew a heavy revolver and fired into the smoke, “Aleksei! Go for the feet!” he called out as he climbed higher. Upon the quick inspection of the war-walkers, Taylor noticed that the knee joints were exposed from the back and the feet operated on short range gyroscopic joints that allowed for easier movement through rough terrain though the feet of the walkers were not designed for every scenario. Gyroscopic designs are designed with stability in mind however, they’re sensitive and easily damaged by abrupt uncalculated movement.
Aleksei, pissed about his destroyed weapon, did not argue as he rushed into the smoke. The grey smoke darkened in his view as the massive leg pivoted in his direction, the massive firing machine gun illuminating its position as it sprayed in a wide arc. Aleksei ducked underneath the large weapon and grabbed ahold the machines forearms, pushing with all his strength to aim the weapon towards the ceiling. “Now, Taylor!” His thunderous voice overcoming the onslaught of machine-gun fire.
Taylor, from atop of the stack of crates that filled the room on either side of the mass of war-walkers, dove onto the active war machine and slapped a lock breaker onto the roof that had been boldly pre-armed before falling to the ground and rolling away to avoid the stomping legs that fought against Aleksei.
The scent of mixing chemicals followed by the blinding light of a lock breaker that ate away at the metal roof of the walker. Aleksei closed his eyes as he recognized the smell moments before a small section of metal turned red hot and began dripping molten slag into the cabin. The molten metal dripped onto the pilot who screamed in agony and panic, losing control of the war-walker as Aleksei gave it one final heave.
The joints in the ankles of the groaned as the pilot was unable to compensate for the sudden shift in gravity before the stress caused the joints to snap, toppling the machine backwards a mere inch away from a scrambling Taylor.
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Rather than getting up, Taylor aimed his light machine gun through the hole in the top of the cabin and fired a small burst, the screams of agony cutting short as Taylor’s rounds pierced his skull, ending the threat that instant.
“You good?” Aleksei called out, breathing heavily having wrestled a war machine and stepped around to see Taylor laying on the ground relaxed in relief.
Taylor nodded, Aleksei turning and kicking the shoulder of the machine with a shake of his head, “That was disappointing. Don’t think I want one now.” Taylor snorted at that as he smiled, shaking his own head before sitting up in time for Ebony to come out from behind the rows of machines.
“Good job you two, now, I gotta call the Inquisitor,” she stated before accessing her data-slate, remotely uploading the information she had gathered. “Inquisitor, the FTL drive has been disabled-I am also sending Sister a series of files I found as well as a partial schematic of the ship,” Ebony stated into her comm.
“When the hell did you do all that?” Taylor asked incredulously.
“Very good, Ebony. Continue with the assault. The Archangel is preparing to anchor in a few moments,” Morrigan responded over the comm.
Ebony sighed with relief before turning to Aleksei and Taylor, “To answer your question, while you were fighting that thing. You two seemed to have handled it just fine,” she said with a sly smirk, her tone a confusing mix of being sarcasm and pride.
Aleksei just shook his head with his hands on his hips, “That’s rude, boss.” Taylor grunted in agreement before getting up, turning to see Stephanie and Jackson weaving out of the war machines unscathed, letting relief outweigh the annoyance that the two of them had been abandoned to fight while the rest of the team finished the mission.
“Henry, you good?” Taylor called out.
There was a worrying pause, a long stretch of silence that nearly spurred the team into action before Henry replied, “Sorry! Was scratching my balls. Had three but they're no longer a problem!”
Havoc squad snickered to one another in levity, Henry’s poor wording bringing much needed humor to the situation. All in all, their mission was complete and everyone was alive, which was their goal of every mission they had.
◇◇◇
Helen inspected the massive open throne room, forever in awe of the crystalline lattice that covered the walls in a kaleidoscopic hue of cerulean blue, creating its own monochromatic beauty from every angle. She sat next to the throne in an elegant embroidered couch that had set to the right of the massive white crystalline throne to signify her status as a guest of the queen.
“I hate to pry but do you know how long your friend shall hold on to my grandchild?” Myshkali asked in a royal tone.
Helen smiled softly as she picked up the sheepish undertone in her voice as she folded her hands in her lap and looked up at the regal Eskarii woman. “Well, depending on when they actually conceived… it should be around eight months or so, give or take a week,” she responded with a hint of amusement.
The queen, in a break from her royal composure, slumped forward and let out a long, longing groan that made Helen smile.
“This is really your first?” Helen asked as if never believing that a woman with so many children could only be expecting her first grandchild.
Myshkali leaned against the arm of her throne and placed her chin in her palm, her free hand flippantly expressing the reluctance of only expecting her first, her face on the other hand attempting a pained look. “Yes, you see… Cheronn, my oldest son, had been expecting a child. A young woman of House Caelis, she bore my son’s seed and…” the queen’s eyes shifted down sullenly, “the foolish child of mine dragged her along to war, thinking he could protect her better than here within these walls…”
Helen nodded in understanding, “When he was killed combat; it was not only him that suffered from the violence,” she stated knowingly.
Myshkali nodded, “For as intelligent as he was in the art of war, he was a fool of the heart. His only reason to drag her into the world of conflict was his inability to be apart from her.”
Helen nodded along with her host before leaning back, “I can’t imagine… I expected Mori to get pregnant early, her and Taylor’s inability to be apart was, dramatic, to say the least yet she was well behaved when it came to sex…” Helen snorted to herself as she shook her head in amusement, “That girl couldn’t behave to save her life; picking fights, causing trouble and becoming the target of an entire government. Yet, she managed to keep her pants on, heh.”
Myshkali looked at Helen curiously as she studied the way she spoke and the subtle changes in her expression, “You seem both grateful yet disappointed?”
Helen shrugged as she spied the massive archway door that was left of the throne where Jen and Torvil had been whisked away so Jen could be properly attended to out of sight. “Well, she has a girlfriend now instead so that kind of cuts out the expectations of a grandchild for me. Which isn’t a bad thing given what she has been doing as an Inquisitor.”
“Your daughter has mated with a female? How does that work if it does not allow for proper reproduction?” the queen asked as if the concept was alien to her, though Helen knew better than that.
“Your people have relations with those of the same sex, it’s no different really. The heart wants what the heart wants; I am not one to put such expectations on my daughter,” Helen stated, watching Myshkali attempt to process what she said.
“But… yes, we do however, we do not allow the choice of mates of similar sex. Without proper mating our species would die out. Any relationship between two women or men of the Eskarii is purely circumstantial pleasure,” Myshkali responded.
Helen chuckled at her comment as she grinned, “Yeah, we have the same thing. They’re called “friends with benefits” however, there is a substantial difference between the Eskarii and Terrans,” Helen said factually, piquing the queen's curiosity which only made her grin turn into a sweet smile, “Birth rates. The average human female can conceive any number of children once every 18 months or so, depending on how many eggs are available at the time and from an early age biologically speaking... Yet, from what I’ve been told, the Eskarii birth rate is far slower, leaving the window of pregnancy to start at age 40 or so, and only being able to conceive every decade or so if not longer.”
Myshkali gave Helen an impressed look, nodding along before responding, “It’s slightly more complicated than that however, that is a very good understanding for someone who has not been part of our education in our biology.”
Helen sniggered, “Yeah, thus giving Terrans a lot more freedom in the mating department. Take Jen and Torvil for example,” she said gesturing towards the door, “If humans had such stringent mating rules, you wouldn’t be expecting a grandchild now.”
Myshkali groaned again in contempt for the wait she was forced to endure, “Time moves so slowly for the universal miracles,” she said wistfully, her thoughts fantasizing about the coming addition to her family which made Helen giggle.
Just then, the space around the queen’s head shimmered just enough for Helen to notice before the queen sat up abruptly, “I apologize ahead of time,” she stated as she composed herself.
The next moment, the giant archway doors that separated the throne room from the rest of the underground cavern metropolis opened loudly, the sound echoing around the room as a dark purple haired Eskarii shuffled into the room. Helen could see his long flowing hair was slightly disheveled and his face expressing fury as if he had rushed across the city, watching him storm closer to the throne; Helen looking between the male Eskarii and the queen in confusion.
“How dare you sit upon that throne consorting with a Human as one of our worlds burns!” He shouted, his voice carrying across the room in perfect clarity, biting pointedly in Eskarii as if to keep Helen from understanding his frustration.
“Chancellor Hyst, you are bold to step to the throne in such disorder,” Myshkali stated calmly, her words hinting at the expected retaliation if he kept up his aggressive nature towards her.
The man did not miss the veiled threat and slowed his pace to a stop, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to straighten his look and compose himself. “You not only break your own laws by having these mongrels dirty our city but you also do nothing as our most prominent world is assaulted by their kind!”
Helen cocked her head to the side curiously, pretending to be attempting to understand while instead, analyzing the man's foreign words for deeper meaning.
Myshkali looked down from the throne that sat upon a massive dais, her eyes piercing the man’s gaze in with the full weight of her royal stature, “I am aware. It was only a matter of time till the Federation began targeting our worlds-such is why we have prepared for this day long ago. As we speak our forces evacuate the planet as our fleet defends against the enemy ships that rain fire down upon the surface.”
The Eskarii man only growled at her response, his eyes darting towards Helen briefly before pointing at her, “How do you explain that! You keep a human as a pet while humans kill our kin!”
Helen looked at the queen with a quirked eyebrow, also curious of what her answer would be. Meanwhile, Myshkali stood from the throne causing the man to step back a single step before resolving himself, “This Terran is a guest of the Eskarii as the mother of the one who shall save all our worlds. You cry in outrage over a single planet while our entire race hangs in the balance… I have no joy for the sacrifices we must make but…” she paused as she stepped closer, watching the man begin to panic and search for dark corners where he knew certain guards waited in the shadows.
As she stepped within a few feet of the man she stopped, “I have seen an all consuming fire, burning everything to ash with no chance of escape… my heart goes out to those who cannot avoid the violence of the Federation however, what is a small number of lives against all lives?”
The man hesitated, his face telling Helen that he desperately wanted to rant and rave about the situation and yet, the man could only hiss through his teeth as his eyes darted around the room before turning on his heels and exiting the chamber. The queen’s words were not lost on her either and more so, her tone.
As Myshkali returned to the throne Helen processed the grieving hidden within her words and upon her face, uncertain what was happening within the galaxy.
“What’s going on?” Helen asked, unable to resist the worry building inside of her.
Myshkali took her seat and sighed, dropping her regal demeanor and turned to Helen as if she were more of a friend than a guest to keep at arms length, “Gelia burns as we speak…”
Helen’s mouth dropped open in shock as her brain processed those words. She knew Gelia was the false home world of the Eskarii. A vast and lush planet of jungles and wildlife too numerous to comprehend while serving as a integral resource to the Eskarii race as well as having many Eskarii call it home… burning as the she and the queen made small talk. Helen could not understand how the queen sat so idly as one of her own worlds was under assault though Helen knew very little of what could be done differently about it.
Another question came to mind that Helen had been pushing off asking; the mysterious foresight that the queen had. However, before she could bring it up the other door to the left of the throne opened.
Both Myshkali and Helen looked over to see Tali step into the chamber, looking around in sleepy curiosity as she rubbed one of her eyes. Tali wore a sleeping gown of soft silken material as vibrantly pink as her hair that ran down to her bare feet that padded softly across the floor, her green eyes settle on her mother.
“Mother, who was yelling…” her voice trembling like a scared child who had woken up suddenly, though it was obvious that had been the case.
Myshkali sighed again as her face soften, “That was Chancellor Hyst, he was upset over something trivial as he often is,” the queen lied to her daughter.
Helen could see the girl’s lip quiver as she listened to the explanation as if it would satisfy being woken up by angry shouting. “He’s so rude, I was sleeping and…” Tali trailed as off as she rubbed her eyes to stem the tears that ran down her cheeks.
It astonished Helen on how slow the Eskarii emotionally developed, or developed in general having thousands of years of human development to compare it to however, having lived around Mo’Emori for a couple years filled in many mysteries of the Eskarii race for Helen.
Dropping the notion of prying into the weird power the queen held, she focused on the upset child instead which was something she could handle far easier. Helen raised her arms out towards Tali, “It’s okay, sweetheart. Why don’t you come here till you fall back asleep?” she asked in near fluid Eskarii to help ease Tali’s frazzled nerves.
Tali looked to Helen with wide green eyes before looking to her mother. Myshkali smiled sweetly and gave her a gentle nod, giving her either permission or letting her know it was safe. Although Helen had interacted with Myskali’s children on a regular basis in-between shifts of deciphering stolen Federation intel, Helen realized it appeared to be a customary thing to ask the head of the family permission to interact closely with non-family members which was something else she intended to learn more about in time.
Tali shyly padded towards Helen who adjusted herself on preparation to hold the child-like Eskarii girl, one who unabashedly sat in her lap and leaned into her.
Helen grunted as she chuckled lightly as she pulled the girl into a good position for cuddling, all the while Tali giggled softly as she squirmed, “You’re almost as big as Mo’Emori, soon you’ll be bigger than she is,” Helen stated tenderly as she smiled, casting her gaze to see a similar smile upon the queen’s face as she watched closely.
“Yeah, I’ll definitely be bigger than my sister. Mo’Emori is so short!” Tali chirped before settling into a comfortable position and let Helen run her fingers through her hair.
“Yeah, but this is something she loved doing, and you’re never too big for cuddling, right?” Tali preened at Helen’s notion and nodded as she began gnawing on the tip of her thumbnail.
“Especially if sister Mo’Emori thinks so, she does have the most fun ideas… I miss her,” Tali said dejectedly though she knew better than to question where her sister was.
Helen kissed the top of the young girl’s head and hummed in agreement before continuing to gently running her nails through her hair, “I miss her too but you know what? When she gets back you and your siblings will get to meet someone super important.”
Tali lifted her head in lethargic curiosity as Helen’s tactic of cuddling the young girl made very little effort to coax the girl back into a state of sleepiness, her soft green eyes shimmering with excitement her body rejected, “Who?”
Helen smiled as she resisted chuckling at the adorable look upon Tali’s face, “My daughter, Mori. She’ll be coming to speak to your mom as well as see Torvil and your new aunt Jen,” Helen said softly, letting her tone deepen the haze of sleep that was filling Tali’s mind.
“Mo’Emori mentioned her, that’ll be fun,” Tali said as she yawned, nuzzling her face against Helen’s chest before closing her eyes. Meanwhile, Helen simply looked up at Myshkali and grinned, both women sharing a silent laugh of levity as the youngest daughter fell fast asleep in Helen’s arms with little effort.
