u/Fragmented_Earth_277

Location: Alliance underground bunker base.

Strategy room

John

We stood around the table. A holographic display showed the prison's layout according to the latest intel report.

"The prison is heavily fortified, quad plasma cannons guard it from ground and in atmosphere assaults. However, they don't have the range to directly fire into space. Enemy fleets guard the planet's orbit and upper atmosphere. We will need to get through their fleets first before we can land a full-scale ground assault."

I said to the room full of officers.

Liam spoke up and took his turn laying out how the plan should go.

"Conner will lead a strike force on the ground with their Titan to destroy the cannons while our Union allies are going to assist us in getting past their fleets around the planet. Once we are inside the prison, the Xenlo will teleport the prisoners back to our base, after that it's a race against the clock before their reinforcements show up so we'll have to load up strike fast, and get out of there as soon as possible. Any questions?"

"Why can't the Xenlo just teleport all of us for the ground invasion and extraction?"

One of the junior Raltary officers said from the back of the room.

"That would never work, there are too many of us and their teleportation does have limits. Time will not be on our side so we'll have to use the elements of speed and surprise to our advantage. Anything else?"

This time it was a senior Raltary officer who spoke up.

"What will keep the enemy from immediately calling for reinforcement sir?"

"An excellent question, a covert infiltration team will be sent in to infiltrate the prison a day ahead of the invasion. They will disrupt enemy communications and weaken their defenses on the inside. Unfortunately, they won't be able to grab the prisoners just by themselves as the prison is too heavily secured. Now, without any further questions, you may go inform the troops. Dismissed."

The officers filed out of the room leaving me alone with Liam.

"Do you really think this plan will work John?"

I placed my hand on his shoulder as I told him. "I have faith in our men, Liam."

He sighed as we looked back over the prison's layout.

"We're placing a lot of our people's lives on the line for those prisoners, I just hope this'll be worth it."

"Me too Liam, me too.. So, who is this covert infiltration team we'll be sending in?"

Liam turned to me and spoke with pride in his voice.

"ISF-55"

...

10 minutes later

The hallway to training room 105

Liam

"So what are you going to tell me who exactly they are, at least their names?"

John asked me as I led him down the hallway to one of the many training rooms their underground base had, although this particular group of Raltary requested one of these rooms all to themselves.

Who knows what kind of modifications they've made to the training room since we fully relocated to the Xenlo's base.

"I think it'll be better if you just meet them." I told John.

I placed my hand on my head and shook my head as I let out an exaggerated sigh as we stopped just in front of the door to the training room.

"John I know we don't keep many secrets from each other but before you meet them you should know something, one of their squad mates is different.."

John looked at me and sent a signal of confusion to me.

"What are you trying to say, Liam?"

I placed my hand on the back of my neck as I confessed what I had done.

"We.. copied some of the research that you did when you were developing Emma.."

I sent John an emotional signal of sincere apology.

John sent a mix of signals, annoyance, confusion, relief, and regret.

Then he spoke.

"I'm not happy that you had to steal some of our research but I will forgive you, we were planning to release some of the information to you anyway."

John shrugged as he continued.

"Well, at least I can now meet the first ever, female Raltary."

...

5 minutes earlier

Training room 105

ISF-55 squad

Nova

I ran around the obstacles ducking and dodging as soft projectiles were launched across the room through the obstacle course not even getting hit once, the rest of my squad wasn't so lucky however.

"Ha! Told you boys I was faster."

"No fair your newer and more advanced."

"Come on Havoc, are you going to let a lousy prototype beat you?"

"Do you seriously have to keep taunting me Cobolt!?"

I giggled as they argued.

"Are you going to let him talk to you like that Havoc, or do you need 'The Prototype' to stand up for you?"

I said as I joined in taunting Havoc.

A rubber ball hit Havoc's shoulder as he stood up from the cover he was hiding behind, he stomped his foot as he yelled.

"THAT'S IT!"

Havoc is much taller, larger, and a lot stronger than the average Raltary trooper, but despite that, he was always a 'gentle giant' so to speak, but when he's pushed he will find a way to get back at you, without seriously harming you.. Well at least mostly unharmed..

Havoc started changing at Cobolt, running straight through the obstacle course.

When Havoc starts running almost nothing can stop him, that's why we nicknamed him, the 'Bull'

We nicknamed him that after meeting a few Human soldiers from the Union, they explained what a bull was and we made a joke about how Havoc was like a bull, and after that, the funny nickname stuck.

"Uh oh.."

Cobolt said as he started climbing his obstacle a bit faster.

I started laughing as I saw Cobolt being chased down then tackled by Havoc.

The two wrestled and smashed through one of the obstacle walls, almost crashing straight into our Sargent.

"Watch out Rix!"

Shadow yelled as he grabbed Rix by the shoulder pulling him back as Havoc and Cobolt smashed through the wall and continued wrestling.

"Havoc drop him!"

Rix said as he joined the fray.

Shadow turned his head and looked at me, I was holding my sides because I was laughing so hard.

He shook his head and said.

"Yeah, I'm not getting in the middle of that either.."

"Havoc! I said, DROP. HIM!"

"He started it, Sarge."

"And I'm finishing it! Hahaha!"

"Like hell you are Cobolt, you kept taunting me so now I'M ending it!"

Shadow turned his head to me again but this time he looked right past me.

He jumped in surprise then he frantically tried to do a salute.

"Commander sir!"

"Oh shit!" I practically shouted as I looked behind me.

Havoc, Rix, and Cobolt all stopped their wrestling match as we all saluted Commander Liam and Scientist John.

...

Liam

We entered the training room and saw what I could only describe as pure chaos.

The Sargent and two of his squad members were fighting as the other two were standing there watching, or more specifically one of them was while the other was laughing.

...

John

Liam face palmed as we watched the fight unfold.

I leaned over and whispered to him.

"Are they always like this?"

Liam sighed as he answered.

"Sometimes. I know what this looks like but trust me John their only like this to each other in their free time while not on a mission."

I nodded as I whispered back to him.

"I trust you, Liam."

As we watched the fight continue one of them turned his head and noticed us, he was shocked before he quickly did a salute then spoke.

"Commander sir!"

I then heard a female voice nearly yell out in shock.

"Oh shit!"

It was a little weird to hear another female voice from our kind that I knew wasn't from Emma.

Liam stepped forward and said in a commanding tone.

"Infiltration Stealth Force 55, line up!"

The Raltary squad lined up shoulder to shoulder as Liam introduced them to me.

"Shadow, he's the squad's designated sharpshooter."

"Havoc, he's the demolition expert, as you can see behind them.."

Liam gestured to the destroyed obstacle course as we moved on to the next member.

"Cobolt, whether it'd be a locked fence, door, or data terminal he can break into it or hack it."

"Rix, he's the squad leader and is SUPPOSED to keep them from fighting each other."

Rix flinched at Liam's statement as we moved on to the last member of his squad.

"And we finally have, Nova. She's smart, fast, and agile, she can think on her feet and adapt to almost any situation."

I looked down at Nova, she was slightly shorter than the average Raltary trooper and I could tell even without the emotional signals, she was very nervous.

"So you're the one Liam talked to me about."

Her voice shook as she hesitantly spoke.

"Y-yes sir, s-sorry we had t-to keep m-my existence a s-secret, sir."

I turned my head to Liam, he nodded and spoke.

"Alright ISF-55 we have a mission for you, you are to infiltrate an enemy prison facility and extract the prisoners to these coordinates, dismissed."

Liam gave a device to Rix before they turned around and started to leave the training room.

"Except you lady Nova." Liam said.

Nova froze in her tracks before she turned around and walked back to us.

She looked at Liam expecting him to give her orders, but instead I spoke up.

"Nova this is off the record. I would like you to meet Emma sometime."

Nova emanated a signal of surprise, and confusion.

"But.. wouldn't she be mad at me for being a slightly different copy of her..?"

"Nova, don't be hard on yourself just for who you are. Emma would love to meet you, she will be thrilled to learn she's not alone."

"You really think so sir?"

"Yes, and just call me John."

"Y-yes John, thank you."

"Your welcome Nova, your dismissed."

Nova walked away leaving the room as I talked to Liam.

"Are you sure they're the right team for this mission?"

"Trust me John, they might be.. unorthodox, but they excellent at what they do."

"Ok.. Now let's hope everything else goes according to plan then.."

...

Location: Xenlo Dagger class ship.

A random Raltary soldier

We buckled ourselves into our seats.

We checked our rifles and our gear as the ship prepared to teleport and meet up with our Human allies, then in a flash of light the ship went from the hangar bay of the Xenlos base to right beside a massive fleet of Union ships, thankfully they're on our side.

...

Location: Bridge of the Union battleship York

"This is the Union battleship York, unidentified vessels please transmit clearance codes."

"This is the CyberCore Xenlo Dagger class ship transmitting clearance codes now."

"Clearance codes received and verified, welcome to the party CyberCore."

"Preparing for FTL jump to enemy prison facility in 3, 2, 1."

...

Location: Planet Harsha, behind enemy lines.

ISF-55

Nova

We landed our ship behind some mountains and were completely undetected, just like how we've been trained.

"Shadow, tell me what you can see of the prison before we make our way down there."

"Yes, sir."

Shadow raised his rifle and looked down the sights.

"Hmm."

"Is that a good hmm or a bad hmm?"

"Well Sarge, they've got guard patrols on the wall and outside the prison, and I see at least 15 quad plasma cannons."

"I see.. squad, it will be tricky, but we will get in that prison unseen. Here's the plan."

...

25 minutes later

Location: Prison cell 2B

Vidor

I was laying on the floor talking to Will through the wall.

"So do you think there's any weak spots in the prison walls?"

"Unfortunately, no. They built this place to keep in.. monsters. Vidor I need to tell you something, it's very important, I'm-"

Blaring alarms and flashing red lights cut William off.

I stood up and made my way to the door, I heard the sound of stomping boots rush by.

"Hey what's going on?!"

"Quiet prisoner!"

I backed away from the door.

"Will, do you know what's going on?"

William was silent for a second then spoke.

"Sounds like your people have found you Vidor."

I was shocked but also overjoyed.

"William you know what that means."

"This is our opportunity to escape."

"Y-yes. We're finally getting out."

"Vidor, listen to me, there's a loose screw in your cell door. Remove it and you can kick the door open."

I was taken aback as Will spoke with a serious tone.

"Wait, why didn't you tell me about this William?!"

"Im sorry for lying to you Vidor but I was waiting for the exact opportune moment to make my move."

William went silent, I found the screw and got it out.

I prepared myself then kicked the down, I winced from the strain that kick did to my injured body.

I looked up and was face to face with a Human the same height as me, which was very unusual as normal Humans were shorter then the average Raltary.

He was wearing a gray prisoner uniform.

"William, is that you? How did you get out?"

"I've been planning this for a very long time Vidor, and I'm sorry for deceiving you. My name's not William, my real name is Kaizen."

"Why did you lie to me then?"

"Because I had to, I was worried you wouldn't trust me if you knew who I actually was, but that's behind us now, we need to find a way out of here, but first I need to find something that belongs to me, there's a storage room not too far from here, we might be able to find it there."

I followed Kaizen as we avoided the guards.

"What are we even looking for?"

He turned his head back to me as he spoke.

"Something that is of great value to me and will aid in our escape."

We reached the storage room and entered I stayed by the door as a look out before Kaizen found what he was looking for.

"Alright let's get out of here."

Kaizen said as he took the lead.

We made our way around a corner and were meet with a team of strange looking Raltary.

...

Nova

We found a way into the prison thanks to Cobolt and Shadow.

Suddenly a tall figure walked around the corner.. a tall Human.

Rix pointed his plasma carbine at the strange Human.

"Hold it right there!"

Then a Raltary who was apparently standing behind the tall Human stepped forward.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot!"

"Vidor?"

"Rix?"

"How did you escape Vidor?"

"Well that was actually thanks to my friend here."

The tall Human stepped forward and introduced himself.

"My name's Kaizen, and we need to get out of here."

"Whoa hang on, we still need to free the other prisoners." Rix said.

"Well that will be impossible as we are the only two prisoners here."

Vidor emanated a signal of confusion.

"What? But you told me-"

"I told you what I thought would keep the fighting spirit in you so you wouldn't die on me, I didn't know if you were seriously injured or not, so I said what I thought would give you hope. Now, are we going to leave this place or not?"

It was at that moment two prison guards rushed around the corner them halted in their tracks.

"Intruders!"

The other guard held up his hand to the guard beside him.

"No look."

...

"Lord Kai?! Call it in! We need reinforcement!"

We all stood there stunned and in disbelief at the reveal.

This Human named Kaizen was a Seeker?!

They raised their plasma carbines and took aim at Kaizen.

"Former Lord. Now just Kaizen, and you won't be needing anyone soon."

The tall Human held up something in his hand and one end ignited a deep orange colored blade.

"Open fire!"

The guards took a few steps back as they shot plasma bolts at Kaizen.

We took cover behind metal boxes and watched as the former Seeker rushed the two guards, they never stood a chance..

In just a few seconds the two guards were cut down were they stood.

The tall Human turned around and walked back to us as he deactivated his plasma sword.

"Now if you're not too busy hiding down there we should get moving before more guards show up."

We stood back up now cautious of the former Lord.

"R- right, let's keep moving."

Rix said as we kept a safe distance between us and the Seeker as we made our way silently out of the prison and back to our ship.

...

Location: outside the prison facility

Conner

I just destroyed another enemy Strider as I received a transmission from Liam.

"Conner, we've successfully extracted the prisoners. Its time to get out of there."

"Roger that."

The troops began loading back in their shuttles.

I grabbed two and prepared to teleport back to our base.

"Xavier times up, time to go."

"Affirmative- Wait, What Is That?"

Xavier looked up into the sky as we heard the tale tale sound of something dropping out of FTL in a planet's atmosphere..

It kinda looked like me but it was more like a suit and was a dull gray color.

It looked like it had magnetic gauntlets and an unknown propulsion system it was using to float in the air.

"We are coming for all of you."

It spoke through one of the external speakers.

Xavier threw his sledge hammer.

The unknown being caught the hammer with the magnets built into the suit and threw it back at Xavier knocking him down.

"You will all. Die."

The being jumped into FTL and left, leaving us shocked and dazed.

"Xavier are you alright?"

"That Definitely Hurt. Let's Out Of Here Before More Of Those Things Show Up."

Location: On board the Dragon's Fury.

Outside of UGC territory

Unknown destination

Rorx

I slowly awoke, I was slumped over the pilot controls, there was a throbbing pain in my head.

I slowly stood from the pilot seat.

"Ahh, my head..."

I stumbled to the door control's and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Come on!"

I tried the door controls again, sparks flew from the panel.

I covered my eyes as the sparks landed harmlessly on my scales.

I stepped back and tried to focus.

"Alright, the doors broke, I'll have to bypass the door controls."

I walked back to the flight controls and started working on the damaged door and flight controls.

...

Passenger compartment of the Dragon's Fury

Emma

I felt a pain in my abdomen as my systems slowly came back online.

I was still unable to move or see, I had to make sure I was still in one piece first.

'Well this is going to be fun..'

I thought to myself with sarcasm as I went over my body's damage reports.

'Hmm, Let's see here.. well at least I'm no longer losing energy'

I felt strange foreign objects in my abdomen.

'Oh what's this?'

I scanned the foreign objects, they were mostly made of iron, copper, and other various metals and electrical components..

'Robert used regular cold dead metals to repair me!?'

If I could move at that moment I would've face palmed.

'Well it's not ideal, he did what he could with what he had.. It'll have to work, for now.'

I quickly looked over my health reports, other than low energy levels and some mild pain it looked safe for me to move around without any risk to my health, so I did.

I restored my bodily controls and vision.

My eye visors lit up to their natural white glow, I looked down and saw Loxar holding me.

He appeared to be.. crying?

...

30 minutes earlier

Loxar

I couldn't tell how long we were in FTL, it felt like forever.

We finally dropped out of FTL, the whole ship shook and jumped violently making me hit my head on the wall that I had my back pressed up against.

My head fell back down and landed on Emma, I slowly turned my head to the side looking up at Emma's face before I blacked out.

I don't know how long I was out for but when I regained consciousness I heard what sounded like something mechanical moving under my head..

Emma..!

I sat up fast which was a mistake as my head got dizzy and my vision blurred.

"Emma.."

My vision cleared and I saw Emma, she was still unconscious.

"No. No no no! Emma wake up, please!"

I grabbed her shoulders.

"Emma you have to wake up! Please!"

I closed my eyes as tears welled up in them.

"I'm so sorry Emma."

"I told you it wasn't your fault, dummy."

I opened my eyes and wiped the tears away.

"Emma! I was worried you wouldn't wake up."

"Honestly I was too, but I'm ok now you big fluff ball."

"I suppose you should be thanking me for that."

Me and Emma turned our heads and saw Robert and Lunara standing in the doorway to the back section of the ship.

"Oh guess we need to introduce Robert to Emma, right Lunara?"

She didn't answer me, instead she was looking at Emma in confusion then spoke.

"Emma are you feeling ok? You look a little tense.."

Now it was my turn to be confused, I looked back at Emma and saw her staring at Robert.

She leaned over and whispered to me.

"Loxar, don't move. I'll handle this."

Before I could process what she had whispered to me she leapt up from the table and grabbed something from the belt on her waist.

It looked like the hilt of a sword without its blade, I was extremely confused in why she was doing all of this.

I saw her press a button on the hilt and a black blade with a white glowing outline appeared from the hilt it looked like it was made out of pure plasma.

The whole room went silent apart from the constant buzz of energy from her sword.

Emma broke the silence as she spoke with hostility in her voice.

"Who are you, which side are you on!?!"

...

Robert

I was beyond confused, I was utterly perplexed.

Emma stood there holding her abdomen with one hand and pointing what looked like a light saber at me, a very badass looking light Saber in my opinion.

"Lunara step away from him, he's dangerous!"

Lunara looked at me, I was half expecting her to step away, instead I saw the same look on her face as I had.

Then Lunara finally spoke up.

"Yes he's dangerous, but he's a deathworlder just like the Droxy, he's our friend."

"Well your friend still hasn't answered my question! Who's side is he on!"

I finally got tired of all the mysterious notions.

"WHAT SIDES?!? I have Zero idea of what your talking about!"

"Don't play dumb with me! Your kind hav-"

She was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door screeching open.

"Robert, I need you to find out the extent of the ship's damage."

Rorx yelled down the hall.

He entered the room and froze as he saw the scene before him.

He pinched the bridge between his eyes as he took a deep breath.

"I guess this is what I get for leaving you all unsupervised. Now tell me, what the fuck led up to THIS?!?"

Emma spoke up first.

"None of you understand, but im trying to protect you."

"Protect us from what!??"

Rorx interjected.

"From him."

Emma gestured to me.

Rorx took another deep breath before speaking.

"Look lady we're all on the same side, so can put away that weird sword so we can talk this all out."

Emma looked to Loxar for support but just Loxar responded.

"He's right."

Emma looked back at me taking a long look before she huffed and said.

"Ugh fine."

She deactivated her sword putting the hilt back on her belt.

"I'm going to start first."

Rorx suddenly said as he stepped forward.

"Yes he's dangerous, but he's a deathworlder same as us, he's dangerous, we're dangerous, but that doesn't mean we're going to hurt anyone."

"It's, not that.."

She shook her head as she said that.

I stepped forward making her flinch.

"Then what is it? I promise I don't know what your talking about. Please, tell me."

She lowered her head and her voice softened.

"Alright, it's time for the truth."

She walked over to Loxar and sat beside him.

"511 years ago a species that we named 1415-8 attacked our homeworld, they glassed the surface of our planet and many others, they pursued us ever since."

She shook her head as clasped her hands together.

"We are the only space fairing people left from that purge."

We were all shocked and horrified by her explanation, even Loxar looked.. somber.

"I'm sorry to hear that Emma, but what does that have to do with how you reacted to seeing me?"

"You really don't know do you?.."

"Know what? Please just tell me."

"We only recently found out their name..."

She paused as she looked at me, even without facial expressions I think she was looking at me with pity.

The machine woman spoke again, her voice took on a sad and somber tone as she spoke a single name..

"Humans."

...

My whole world shattered into a million pieces as she said that name, my species name.

Everyone gasped, I felt my head get dizzy and I fell to one knee as a single tear rolled down my cheek.

"Heh haha hahahaha..."

I covered my head with my hands as I shook my head.

"No. This can't be! Why. Why!"

Looked back at Emma, a thousand questions ran through my mind but I could only get a few words out.

"How- how could they.."

"I don't know Robert. But they're all not like that, my people are allied with the Human faction known as The Union, they've been in a Civil War with The Separatists for at least 511 years now, we only now know of them because they saved one of our own."

Emma then nodded to the two Droxy.

"This is why I'm here, we need Lunara and Rorx to convince their government to help us so that we may finally put an end to this war."

"But what about the UGC can't you have asked them for help?"

Lunara said as the rest of us processed everything else Emma had said.

"We didn't want to drag the UGC into this mess, we had hoped to spare the lives of innocent people in the UGC, my kind die in the shadows so they may sleep peacefully, they will never know what it's like to lose their home or to grow up without their homeworld and we intend to keep it that way."

"Yet your will to put the lives of the Droxy on the line, and why us specifically?"

Rorx said with skepticism and suspicion.

She leaned back in her seat as she pointed at herself with her thumb.

"We CyberCore are deathworlders, just like humans and the Droxy. Trust me if there was another way we would try it, but the Droxy are our only hope."

Rorx nodded.

"Hmm I see, however this ship isn't going anywhere for a while turns out we've crash-landed on a planet and the FTL drive is offline, Robert and I will have to scavenge for resources to fabricate the parts needed to repair the ship, I know this is all a lot to take in for everybody right now but we need to get back to UGC space, who knows who or what is going to be after us next.."

Emma nodded.

"Agreed we should get going as soon as possible."

"Emma, what about your teleportation?"

I suddenly stopped in my tracks when I heard that.

"It's no good, I'm too hurt to be exerting my body like that-"

I immediately cut her off by asking.

"Wait hold on, you can teleport?!?!"

...

Kane Draven

I exited FTL as I approached my destination, it would take quite some time to search this solar system

"Hmm, which planet would you be hiding on.. Corporal Miller!"

Location: UGC capital planet, Franix.

Name: Anar

The Setar senator of the UGC

I got up from my custom-made bed despite my sleep-deprived brain begging me to go back to lie down.

I carefully rubbed my antenna with my upper pincer appendages as my lower manipulator appendages rubbed my four eyes.

I clicked my mandibles as I stretched my six legs.

"Another day, another round of debates.."

My communicator lit up on my desk as I received an audio message from my assistant.

"One of the Zaon senators wishes to discuss the external UGC threat problem with you, Miss Anar."

The Zaon were always the best for investigations like this, they have really good perception making them excellent for finding the truth amongst the sea of lies, even though they do look a little weird with their floating gas-filled bodies.

I let out a sigh as I dressed myself in the official UGC senator uniform and left my room.

I walked through the halls of the main capital building, I was never not amazed by the beauty of the capital building.

Some sections of the walls were hand-painted, they all told the story of UGC history, from our founding to treaties and scientific discoveries.

I finally reached the Zaon senators' meeting room, the security door scanned me then deactivated the energy field letting me in.

"Ah senator Anar, it's nice to finally meet you, please have a seat, my name's Kazan."

The Zaon senator said as I stepped into the meeting room and sat my lower body down onto the specialized Setar accommodating seat.

"You called me here to discuss the external threat problem?"

"Indeed, my people have received news that the investigation has found three of those contacts so far."

I was shocked to say the least, were the investors that incompetent or was something else going on here?

Kazan seemed to have noticed my shocked expression and immediately tried to clear up my confusion.

"Well.. uh.. there's no easy way to say this... A large number of people suddenly went missing, coincidentally they were all also prime suspects for those supposed contacts."

That only raised more questions.

"What do you mean they all just went missing?"

"Like they all just seemed to vanish, around the same time no less, I'm just as confused as you are about all of this."

My lower manipulators rubbed my four eyes as I tried to think about the information we do know.

"What about the three contacts we've detained so far?"

"They've all kept quiet so far, they know their rights down to the letter like someone taught them if they ever got caught."

So someone or something must've prepared them for this exact situation..

I didn't like how this was starting to look, whatever is out there is more dangerous than what we thought, and what's worse they know how the UGC works.

"So we still don't know what we're dealing with then."

I said with despair and frustration.

"That's not entirely true."

I picked my head up as Kazan spoke.

"When we were analyzing the last transmission in hope of finding clues about who or what these things are we detected another transmission, it came from a different direction this time."

I was stunned, was it the same beings from the last transmission or was it someone or something different?

"Would you like to listen to what we found Miss Anar?"

...

Location: Prison facility-01

Name: Kane Draven.

Rank: Seeker.

I stood and watched the machine on the camera, he absorbed the radiation just as intended, replenishing his strength.

I see the lieutenant has a sense of self-preservation after all.

A red blinking light lit up from my communicator on my arm I was receiving a message from the Admiral.

"Lord Kane, we have tracked the target's location. Deal with them."

"Yes, Admiral."

I received the coordinates and left the security room.

I walked past some of the prison guards.

"Prepare my ship."

"Yes Lord Kane."

I walked through the halls until I saw the lieutenant.

"I'm departing, make sure both high-value prisoners do not leave this facility!"

"Y-yes Lord Kane.."

...

Location: Alliance underground bunker base. Conference room.

Secured audio recording log 2210

John and Liam

"I had hoped we would have met again under different circumstances."

"Likewise Liam, there are certain things that you and I must talk about."

"Agreed, I'm going to start first, one of my troopers is currently missing, he went MIA during the Battle of New Marox, so far all our attempts to locate him have not yet succeeded."

"Hmm, that could be a grave security risk for this location Liam but given the fact that we're not outright dead yet, that means he's either dead or captured and if he is captured he's doing an excellent job resisting interrogation."

"Our people's fate rests on his shoulders then. What about your plan to have the Droxy join us?"

...

"John..?"

"I'm- sorry Liam. We've lost contact with Emma, she was supposed to report in several hours ago.. She's missing too."

"Shit.. Do we have any good news at all then?"

"I- I'm sorry Liam, we don't."

The room was filled with silence until John spoke again.

"Your Titan is fully repaired but we've been having trouble with the energy shield technology, among other things.."

"Wh- what are we going to do then.. our last hope was the Droxy."

"We still have Mia and her people Liam."

"Yes but they won't be enough, we're going to need a miracle."

...

A Raltary intel officer burst through the door, despite the Raltary and Xenlo guards trying to stop him.

"Sirs, you need to hear this, it's urgent."

John and Liam looked at each other then nodded

"Proceed"

The guards holding him let go as he spoke.

"We found Vidor, he's being held in a high-security prison by the enemy along with other prisoners that could provide us with much needed intel."

"Thank you for bringing this information to us we'll discuss our next course of action, dismissed."

The officer and guards left the room as John and Liam planed what to do next.

"We must gather our officers and coordinate a swift strike and extraction from the prison."

"Agreed, do you think we'll need the Titans?"

"Xavier is ready but your people can't operate in space so Xavier will have to only provide ground support."

"Xander will have to stay behind, he's still not fully upgraded yet, best you tell him Liam, he looks up to you."

"Right.. I'll have to let him down easy."

"Good luck Liam, I hope this jailbreak will give us a lucky break for once."

John and Liam stood up and shook hands then left the room.

End of secure audio recording log 2210

Uploading to archives

...

30 minutes later.

Location: Titan hangar bay repair room.

Xander

I fell and hit the floor shaking the large room.

"Come on get back up brother, I didn't hit you that hard."

Xavier said as he held out his hand helping me back up to my feet.

"Haha, very funny Xavier."

"I'm serious Xander I didn't hit you that hard.. are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, just.. feeling a little dizzy."

"Xander you need to take some time to rest."

"Agreed."

We turned our heads and looked towards where the third voice came from and saw Commander Liam standing on the catwalk looking up at us with his arms crossed.

"C- Commander! We were just, uhh.."

I tried to come up with a cxcuse but Liam cut me off.

"I think it's pretty obvious you two have been sparring again, but that's not what I'm here for.."

Liam let out an exasperated sigh before he spoke again.

"Xavier may I have a moment?"

My brother nodded then turned to me and patted my shoulder before he teleported away with a flash of light.

"Xander, you really need to rest especially with all the technology tests and repairs your body has been through."

Deep down I knew he was right, but the guilt of letting my people down weighed on me.

"I- I know Liam, but if I don't get back out there what will keep the enemy from attacking anyone else the same way they attacked us?"

Liam spoke again but with pity in his voice this time.

"We are preparing to strike a enemy prison soon, I'm sorry Xander, but you have to stay here for now."

I let out a sigh and lowered my head.

"Fine, but I'm immediately going out when I'm ready."

Liam was thoughtful for a second before he reluctantly answered.

"Alright, but you won't be going alone."

"Thank you Commander, I won't let you down."

Liam nodded his head then left the room leaving me alone, I clenched my fist and vowed.

"I won't let anyone down ever again! I'll give whatever it takes of myself to end this war."

Location: Alliance underground bunker base. Liam's office.

I sat at my desk looking at a picture of my best friend and me.

I saw him for the last time in a park next to the Main Operating Base.

I still remember that day, our home was glassed and we couldn't do anything but watch as our world burned.

I was one of the lucky ones who got off world before the surface of our planet was destroyed.

I still remember the explosions and screams.. I was already halfway through town when they played their message.

They told us it was their right to kill all of us, and it was something that needed to have been done!

How could anyone do that to other people?

I can only guess it was because we look like machines, but even then it was still so.. cruel.

We lost a lot that day... our home, our friends, and our families, and they didn't stop with us either.

They hit planet after planet, homeworld after homeworld, species after species, until they finally met some resistance with the Vonn'daro, but by that point it was already too late..

They wiped them out too, until we were all that remained of the great space-faring civilizations, until the UGC was found over 300 years ago.

We vowed to defend them, to spare them from what we and others had to endure.

We give our lives every day so they can sleep peacefully at night, even if they'll never know it.

I wish I still had my friend by my side to help me, especially through these hard times.

Scorch would've been a wise leader if he were still here..

Even now, over 500 years later his loss still hurts me.

The weight of responsibility has never been heavier, I'm the only highest-ranking member of my people left.

I'm the Commander now, and it's my job to lead the Raltary.

My people depend on me, I have to stay strong for them, it's what Scorch would've wanted.

"Commander Liam, you asked for me, sir?"

I was pulled out of my thoughts as Captain Thorn entered my office.

"Y-yes Captain, please take a seat."

Thorn sat down as he asked me "What do you need Commander?"

"I want you to tell me your firsthand report of the recent battle of New Marox."

"Yes sir, I led my men to reinforce our allies 6th armored company, we encountered an enemy Titan mimic, Xavier arrived and helped us retake the planet..."

Thorn paused as he looked down at my desk.

"What's wrong Thorn?"

He lifted his hand and rubbed the top of his head before he continued.

"We... We found a bunker, it was abandoned, and it wasn't any normal military bunker that we've seen before, it was some sort of science research facility that they were using to do tests.."

He took another pause as he processed what he was about to tell me.

I had a bad feeling it was going to be something horrific, what have those monsters done now!?!

"We found newly built cryostasis pods in a storage room, it looked like they didn't have time to take all their stuff with them before we took the bunker."

I emanated a confused signal that Thorn picked up then proceeded to clarify.

"That wasn't all, we found the prisoner section of the bunker, and they... executed all the prisoners.. even some of their own that looked like they were defending the prisoners."

He slammed his fist onto my desk.

"How could someone do something like that! And they have the nerve to call us the heartless killing machines!..."

I let the Captain take a moment to calm his mind as he recounted the battle's events.

Ever since the destruction of our home and the enemy chasing us immediately afterward it put a lot of stress on us, even the new generations like Captain Thorn wasn't spared from the constant stress.

"I- I'm sorry, that outburst was unprofessional of me Commander."

I looked him in the eye and told him.

"It's alright Thorn, we all feel the same about their actions, why don't you take some time off today, you've earned it, you're dismissed."

He got up from his seat and made his way to the door, he stopped then turned around.

"There's one more thing Commander. We detected a ship leaving New Marox after we gained control, we assumed it was those researchers and scientists but we weren't certain."

"Thank you, Thorn."

He nodded his head then left my office as I received the casualty report on my data device.

47 Raltary gave their lives taking that planet.

Every single death of my people took a heavy toll on my already burdened mind.

I scrolled through the list of names that were lost in the battle.

Lion, he was very brave, he might've been a bit foolish at times but he always knew how to boost morale when we were at our lowest.

Fank, he was.. bold headed and stubborn, he had no filter he never really saw eye to eye with Lion but they respected each other.

I kept scrolling seeing name after name until I saw a name with an urgent message icon beside it.

I hesitated, I was about to listen to one of my people's last moments... I still had to play it out of necessity though, so I did.

"AAH!"

The trooper cried out in pain and I felt grief well up inside me.

"This is- trooper 8197, named 8ball. Heh looks like my luck finally ran out haha- aArh!"

He grunted as he was no doubt hit with another wave of pain before he continued.

"My left leg is busted and there's a hole through the lower part of my chest plate, I don't know how long I'll last like this."

"I overheard the enemy as they were retreating, they're planning something and they're going to strike soon!.."

"It's been an honor, Commander."

The message ended leaving me in silence to process it all.

8ball is gone, he was only 26 years old...

I kept scrolling through the list of names.

Dopper.

Deacon.

Sean.

Blackout.

Brawl.

All Killed In Action, I reached the bottom of the list and saw the last name.

Vidor, Missing In Action.

I did a double-take as I saw he was MIA.

Why would Vidor be missing??

Why would any Raltary or Xenlo go missing in that fact? There's nowhere for us to go other than back to the base.

I set the data device down onto my desk then I put my head in my hands in stress and frustration.

He's either dead, a traitor, or.. captured.

I got up and left my office to find John, if I remember correctly he must still be in the Titan repair and upgrade sector, we still need to discuss a few details about his plan and future projects for the war.

Location: Titan hangar bay repair room.

Xander:

I stood still as a new energy shield generator was mounted to my left arm, I felt its pull of my core energy as it was wired into, then welded onto my arm.

"Energy draw is stable at 10%."

One of the Xenlo engineers said as they monitored my vitals.

John nodded his head and replied to the engineersaying.

"Excellent, now let's test shield strength and active energy draw."

John turned to face me as he spoke.

"Xander, activate the shield and face the plasma cannon."

I did as he asked, the shield flickered to life and I felt its pull grow stronger on my core as I faced the cannon.

I was beginning to feel nervous, no other weapon or defense system that I ever had put this much strain on my core before.

"Energy draw status?"

"Increased significantly but it's holding 42%"

John put his hand on his head as he spoke to the engineers.

"Hhm, that's a major increase in energy consumption.. but we still need to run the full test."

I nodded my head as I raised my arm putting the shield between me and the cannon.

"I'm Ready When You Are John."

He turned back around to tell me one last thing before the test began.

"We're only going to use 40% plasma energy to test on the shield for your safety, Xander. Recovery drones are on standby of course."

With that pep talk out of the way the last test truly began.

"Charging plasma cannon."

"Plasma cannon fully charged."

"Firing in 5.. 4.."

I thought about the last fight I had and how close to death I was.

I thought about how I would never get to see my brother again.

"3.. 2.."

I have a second chance now.

I must pass this test so that I can help end this war!

"1.. firing."

The cannon's barrel glowed to life as it shot its plasma bolt.

I felt the impact on the shield and the dissipating heat from the plasma before the shield deactivated from its emergency energy drain failsafe.

I felt the pull on my core grow until it was unbearable.

"AAhh!"

I fell to my hands and knees as my body involuntarily shook from the energy drain.

Emergency drones rushed over to me as I rolled onto my back.

"Xander! ... Someone please tell me what the fuck happened?!"

The engineers scrambled rushing from one monitor to another.

"The shield's energy capacitors burnt out leading to an immediate spike of energy consumption capping out at 89% sir."

"What!? That only makes even more questions!"

If we Raltary and Xenlo had a nose I was pretty sure John would be pinching the bridge of his right now.

"Alright get that thing out of his arm and find out exactly what the hell went wrong, I'm going to go schedule a meeting with Liam."

John left the room as the engineers rushed back to their stations.

I lay there on the floor as the drones were still operating on me.

"Well.. At Least The Shield Stopped The Plasma Bolt."

I said trying to cheer up the engineering staff and look on the bright side.

"Umm, about that.."

One of the engineers said as he pointed to the lower half of my body.

I lifted my head and saw a large burn mark on my metal that ran all the way up from the left side of my abdomen to the lower half of my chest almost reaching up to my core.

"Dammit!"