Beyond

Dustin slammed another magazine into his carbine, pointed it down the passageway that led outside, and held down the trigger. With the weapon on full auto, the clip emptied in a matter of seconds - but it was enough to shred the nearest few members of the horde that was moving in ever increasing numbers towards the narrow gap in the wall. Ducking back as Sammie took his place, her weapon spitting out controlled bursts now that he had driven off their closest foes, Dustin checked his suit’s ammunition pouches.

“Two more clips… how many of those damn things are there?” He swore, glancing down the passageway they’d taken from the lift, adding “and where the hell are the Moa’thif?”

Sammie ducked back into cover, a gout of flame indicating that one of the monsters had gotten close to the entrance despite their continued firing. Sure enough, a moment later its head emerged through the gap - and was promptly removed by one of Yril’k’s blade arms, the Vex’ess warrior striking from the side with brutal precision.

Another wave of heat tripped Dustin’s suit alarm as fire washed over Defia; the rogue Fractal had stepped forward over the corpse of the one Yril’k had decapitated, Fractal mass and stone cracking under her feet as she moved into the breech before knocking their latest foe back out into the storm.

As the red-eyed woman retreated again Dustin leaned around the corner, staccato bursts from his carbine barely thinning the massing army of zombies that shuffled ever closer. Pulling back as his weapon clicked empty, he cycled to his last magazine. “If our friends don’t get here soon we’re going to be overrun…” he called out over the din of Sammie’s gunfire, glancing towards the two melee combatants with a worried expression. “How long do you have left before you have to stop using your blades, Yril’k?”

The Vex’ess warrior glanced at a counter on her suit’s HUD before replying. “Around’k another thirty’k seconds before they’k start losing effectiveness’k. A minute and a half’k before they are completely’k useless.”

That left just Defia as their last line of defense. Dustin flicked his communicator. “How much longer?” he asked into the open channel, hoping the Moa’thif officer would get the concern in his tone despite the language barrier. Not waiting for the reply, he returned to keeping the rain of weapons-fire flowing through the gap in the wall.

Sammie’s carbine clicking empty a minute later sent a chill up Dustin’s spine. Both guns were out; it would be hand to hand now - everything was up to Yril’k and Defia. The two women glanced at each other, before forcibly moving Dustin and Sammie behind them and stepping up to the breach. Barely a moment later, a Fractal zombie burst through the gap; the two women moved as one, Defia stepping behind it to prevent reinforcements while Yril’k’s suit clicked open, blade arms descending and rising rapidly, the warrior moving as swiftly as she dared to take out their foe and retreat her biological blades to the safety of her suit.

Defia stood in the gap, body glowing in the light of yet another fire attack before lunging forward, her personal electricity adding to the lightning that arced all around outside. Two more of the zombies crumbled under her blows before she retreated. “Statement. There are significantly more approaching. I do not believe unit Yril’k and I will be able to hold. Request air support.”

Before Dustin could do anything, the sound of running feet echoed down the corridor. To his immense relief, a Moa’thif squad emerged around the bend at a flat out sprint, weapons held low. Within moments, the aliens had moved into place either side of the breech, their weapons driving back the zombies while a technician readied a temporary barrier.

“Appreciate-gratitude you holding the line-breach, Human’Earth ambassador. We’ll take it from here.” The leader of the Moa’thif gestured for Dustin and the others to retreat before speaking into its communicator in curt military tones. The light of mining lasers lit up the passage moments later as Moa’thif shuttles began strafing the horde outside, the combined **** sealing the gap that Dustin’s crew had held as he and his team staggered back down the passageway.

The battle was still raging beneath them when Dustin and the others were led back into a meeting room with the Moa’thif representative some time later. “Thanks-gratitude for your hard work, and for the assistance of your scientists, ambassador. We are relieved-glad that the issue with our building-nesters was not a plague-disease, although the presence of these enemies-aliens is concerning. Moreover, in our sweep-search of the lower levels, we discovered-found this.”

A crate on the table was slid open at a gesture from the representative, a glance inside telling Dustin all he needed to know. “That’s Durathisian writing on it, isn’t it?” he asked, to a curt nod from their host.

“Durathisian writing on a machine-device integrated with some of the hostile-foe alien matter. Our researcher-scientists think it is some form of communication-controller, for reprogramming-reassigning the things that we have been fighting.” The alien’s tone was stern, and Dustin remembered that the zombies had been at least partially made from the bones of Moa’thif dead. Gesturing at the device again, the representative continued “this will not convince anyone-outsiders that we were attacked-sabotaged by the Durathisians. To the wider galaxy-community, it will not change anything for you friend-alien of Earth. But to the Moa’thif, no matter where we grow-build our homes we will stand-align ourselves with you.”

Dustin held his hands out in the approximation of a Moa’thif bow. “You honour me with your words. I’m sorry for the destruction the fighting will have caused the bones of your dead; cleansing them of Fractal mass is not an easy matter.”

The representative shook its head. “Your sorrow-concern is appreciated, ambassador. Fortunately, once the deceased-gone have been sent into the beyond-outside, their parts-remains are no longer required-considered an item of respect. We will gather-collect what we can, but it is not as sad-tragic to us as it would be the Tho’unn-leaders. Regardless, you have our respect-thanks. Where will you travel-visit next?”

Sammie answered before Dustin could. “We’re going to visit the Uil’l; we want to see the Tho’unn eventually, but the plan is to visit all the other species in your collective beforehand, to get as many people to vouch for us as possible. I looked at the onward flight plan before we arrived in your space, and I gotta say as a pilot I’m looking forward to the flight.”

Her words prompted a smile from the alien opposite. “Indeed-correct. I once visited-travelled to the Uil’l homeworld when I was younger. I recall some of the systems-nodes on the flight path involved some interesting-exciting navigational issues. Well, ambassador, you shall have our word-approval in your onward-next endeavours with both species-friends.”

The onward flight was indeed ‘exciting’. Dustin stared out the viewscreen at the carousel of planets and stars whipping around the supergiant at the system’s heart. “A quintuple star system, with a frankly crazy amount of planetoids?” He asked, glancing over to Meli who nodded as she replied. “Yes, husband. It is a system of some scientific interest and even more of a navigational hazard, however the routes between the orbits are fairly well charted and Sammie is a capable pilot. Asides from making sure she is fed and hydrated during the flight, which I believe Naera already has well in hand, there is very little for us to do except enjoy the ride.”

About an hour later, Dustin stood on the observation deck, watching in awe as Sammie executed a gravity-assist through the upper atmosphere of one of the planetoids. Below them, red ice sheets rose and fell from tectonic stress, the burgundy and white of the cracking frozen mass sparkling in the distant light of multiple suns. He was dimly aware of the door opening behind him, but it wasn’t until Defia moved to stand next to him that he noticed her presence.

“Statement. It is pretty, isn’t it.” The rogue Fractal’s voice was soft, her eyes dim as she stared out at the world below. “Addendum. The liquid has an exceptionally high iron content, causing the red coloration of the ice. It is also generating significant magnetic patterns beneath the ice sheet. I will paint this later. I believe it will be a good image to use for practice with ‘impressionism’ which I have recently started to attempt.”

Dustin glanced over at the woman beside him. “Defia, are you ok? I know what we were fighting on Thif weren’t true Fractals, but they were as much zombies of your species as they were the Moa’thif.”

The rogue Fractal shrugged. “Statement. I am alright. They were not Fractal, and we do not place the same weight on our dead.” She paused, then turned to face him. “Addendum. To put your mind at ease, given my emotional simulations I thought it worth speaking with both Rye and Trea’k regarding my functioning after the battle. They have both given me what unit Bleu describes as ‘a clean bill of health’. Hopefully that alleviates your concern.” Pausing, the woman’s red eyes glowed as she tilted her head to one side. “Enquiry. May I make a request?”

It was rare for Defia to ask for things, so Dustin gestured for her to go ahead. “Statement. My work with Rye has been successful. I believe I have full control over my internal current. I am aware you stated that we would be ‘taking things slow’ regarding intimacy. Meli has indicated that this evening is intended to be my ‘date night’ according to the rota. Would you accompany me to my bunk and assist me with further testing?”