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With the sirens blaring out of tune, the acting captain had to scream to ensure his orders were heard. "Move this ship around the damn star!"

Filled with tens of thousands refugees, the massive ship lacked combat equipment despite being composed of hundreds smaller ships. The crew was undisciplined and lacked any experience of operating a large vessel, and now they were entering a situation they knew nothing about.

"This is what we're made for, Alberto" stated a colorful anthropomorphic horned lizard, seeming delighted. Scars covered most of his body and his skin was pale in several spots, a sure sign of his aging. "The Velmarians are made for war! Launch all single fighters."

"Belay that order," snapped the well-dressed anthropomorphic tree frog. "This is exactly what we were trying to avoid, Joseph! The Empires must have found us. Get us around this damn star now. Who the hell is attacking the planet?"

"I don't know," replied one of the amphibian officers. He lacked the skill to filter out the sun's interference or bounce a signal off a nearby system satellite, but the officer did manage to get static-filled audio of an intense battle, or a slaughter.

The planet was barely habitable and far way enough from the Velmarian Empires that these refugees hoped to start a new life. Not one that revolved around war and greed that had only managed to dig the Empires in deeper holes than they could dare to climb out of. Ever since the factions split after the last Banished War, Velmarians could no longer sustain their own space-faring ships and relied heavily on piracy on their ancient enemies who banished them. For the past hundred years, even piracy hasn't succeeded leaving the entire civilization to scavenge for their needs.

"When are we going to clear the star?" demanded Alberto, staring at the bright sun. It was dulled enough to look at but it was still bright and harsh on the eyes. The blaring alarm shut off, but the bridge remained glowing in a dull red light.

"Three minutes," replied the same amphibian officer. He was watching one of the many screens filled with static and hostile icons surrounding a massive mass, the planet. The hostile icons were inconsistent, and kept blinking making it impossible to determine how many enemies or what type of enemies they would be facing.

While the longest three minutes of his life, Alberto shifted his weight from hindpaw to another. Nearly blinded by the nearby star, the planet finally came into view where dim blossoms of fire were orbiting it.

"Get me a close up on those ships," demanded the acting captain. On the main view screen, an enlarged image of the planet was shown but vastly hidden by the star's glare. Hundreds of ships were among billions of smaller pieces of debris, many engaging each other. The battle was chaotic. "Who are they?"

With only a few thousand civilians settled on the planet's surface, there were fewer than a hundred space-faring ships and none armed. There was no way that those few civilians could put up any type of fight.

"We're-" shouted one of the officers before his voice broke. Drawing the attention of the crew, it was obvious that he was panicking while he jumped from his seat. "We have-" he couldn't even spit it out. Without another word, he sprinted for the bridge exit.

"Catch him," shouted Alberto, briskly pacing toward the officer's station. With a quick glance at the screen, he shouted, "Launch defensive birds now. Redirect all energy to weapons. Inbound enemy contacts."

"That's the spirit!" shouted the older horned lizard. The second commanding officer seemed thrilled with a grin while he placed a headset on his head and took a seat.

"Keep them close, Joseph" Alberto demanded, obviously displeased with his mentor's attitude. "We don't have the resources to attempt any assault. Move us close to the planet, enough for the gravity to affect their projectiles but far enough to stay in orbit."

"Uh," stuttered the amphibian. "Right."

With the glare of the sun clearing, and the fighters near the ship, the acting captain finally caught a glimpse of the enemy. The design was the most bizarre Alberto has ever seen. The bulk of the ship looked far too sleek to be efficient and tentacle appendages that were sprouting from the ships latched themselves to nearby fighters, ripping them apart and firing strange projectiles at point blank range.

The defense was folding very quickly and it didn't take long for several missiles to break through the line and hurtle straight for the massive cluster of ships.

"Attention," announced Alberto over the ship wide intercom that didn't work in three fifths of the ship. "Incoming missiles. Everyone please evacuate away from the hull."

Watching the battle through zoomed in cameras, and the radar systems, Alberto could not make any sense from it. Some ships from the main battle broke off to engage the ships attacking the populated refugee ship. More ships followed and quickly overwhelmed their short supplied allies who turned and fled.

Quickly, the battle turned while dozens of ships retreated and the other several hundred gave chase or turned their attention to the planet or Alberto's ship. The persistent ships chased down everything until the fleeing dozen ships disappeared completely. There would be no way this slow ship could survive an outrun attempt.

"We- board-" a static filled transmission blared over the bridge's speakers. "Need-" The transmission cut off.

The ship was finally near the planet but attracted more of the tentacle ships that seemed immune to the gravity well of the planet.

"Evacuate the ship," Alberto ordered over the com. "All civilians to life boats. All military personnel rendezvous at Hangar A. All fighters, direct your attention on defending lifeboats."

"Thirty percent of our fighters are gone," declared Joseph, standing from his station. He didn't hesitate to walk over to a locker, pry it open and pull out several weapons, from basic swords to projectile weapons. He passed them out to the few officers and guard on the bridge, including Alberto. "Detach boarded compartments from the main ship."

"I can't detach them all," replied a worried officer. "Some are welded to the main ship. They'll have to be cut away."

"Not enough time," replied Joseph. "Do what you can."

"Seal the bulk head once we're gone," the frog demanded, loading and holstering his weapons. "Keep the ship in orbit and once the evacuation is finished, detach this section and head for the surface."

The officers looked frightened and shocked because their leader was about to leave them but they didn't voice their concern.

"Get ready to repel borders!" shouted the captain. Once his guards rallied around him, he headed for the exit of the bridge. "Keep me updated on the enemy and evacuation," Alberto ordered, donning on a headset. With no more words exchanged, he left the bridge.

The corridors lacked strong gravity, which slowed their progress, but they were able to walk sufficiently to reach the first of the civilian quarters. Chaos was ensuing as dozens of civilians were rushing every way. Children were being carried, others were being left behind or lost. Ignoring the civilians, Alberto and his team made his way toward the largest hangar of the ship.

They soon got caught up in a mob all heading the same direction, and pushing and shoving had already begun.

"Enemy contacts have been reported pushing toward Hangar A," informed one of the bridge officers over the radio. "There's a lot of panic. No one really knows what we're fighting but they're saying they can't be killed."

"Acknowledged," replied Alberto, pushing his way through the crowd with more urgency. Twenty minutes went by screams and gunfire was heard, panicking the crowd further. The mob began to retreat, or attempt a different route through living compartments while the team pushed toward the gunfire.

Down the corridor, two armed soldiers guarded a doorway connecting two of the ships, both firing into the other ship. Some brave civilians attempted to dive past the doorway, but two of them were shot in the attempt and were dragged out of the way by their family members or friends. No more attempted the stunt after a third was killed by a shot to the head.

Signaling for his team to continue down the corridor, while he approached the original guard from behind, tapped his soldier and glanced around the corner. He only got a glimpse at the enemy before a bullet whizzing by his head forced him to withdraw. The enemy looked no different than the Velmarians. If it is the Empires, then they had technology he's never seen before.

Taking aim with his assault rife, he fired. The Velmarian flinched while it absorbed bullets but it did not fall. One lucky bullet struck its weapon, making it fly from its claws. Without hesitation, it charged down the corridor. Alberto saw one bullet go right through its eye, but it did not slow.

The two guards backed up with the acting captain but the enemy lunged at the nearest guard, pinned him to the ground and thorny vine like appendages shot through his throat before retreating back into the body of the enemy.

Horrified, the frog slowly moved back but the thing looked at him. The eyes were pale and dull, and had no life in them at all. It lunged at him, forcing him against the wall. The other guard fled, leaving the frog to defend for himself against the reptile with tentacles sprouting from the body.

Keeping the arms away from his throat, Alberto struggled for the sword at his belt. The moment he grabbed the hilt, he pulled it free from its sheath with all his force, slashing his attacker nearly cutting it in half. The creature stumbled, several vital nerves being severed, giving Alberto a chance to bring the sword to its throat. With one slash, the head was severed, and finally the body collapsed to the ground.

Breathing heavily, the captain glanced down the corridor the creature came from before he kicked the body over. Very little blood leaked from the fatal wounds, instead a clear yellow sap bled from the neck wound.

Static filled the radio before a hardly audible voice broke through. "-no defenses left. Missile impacts- damage. Repeat, no dam- But we're boarded- Hangars C, E - P lost. Sixty percent - ship is lost."

Screams and angry shouts echoed from the civilians' alternative route. The ship was lost and hardly any civilians escaped. It was a disaster. Nearly a year cooped up on this forsaken ship, with thousands of civilians all for nothing.

Picking up his rifle, the captain ventured toward the civilians' screams. Before he could step away from the beheaded body, something latched to his leg. Looking down he saw the dead guard's body moving.

"What the hell?" Alberto asked himself out loud. He unlatched his sword again and slashed through the claw gripping his leg. Despite the lack of the limb, the arm continued to reach for him. Disgusted, he shoved the tip of the sword through gaping mouth of the fallen guard, through the brainstem. It finally stopped moving.

Thoughts flooding his mind, the acting captain hesitated before the echoes of gunfire drew his attention. He needed to get off the ship, and Hangar A was the quickest way. Urgently he jogged down the corridor, his amphibian eyes darting to every corner and sign of movement.

The lights flickered, causing him to halt. The lights continued to flicker, with the dark delays growing longer and longer. Despite the chaos, it was growing strangely quiet. Every time a scream grew more intense, it grew quieter immediately after.

Passing dozens of dead in the corridors, the failing lights followed him. Even the heat retreated from around Alberto with his breath misting in front of him. Darkness covered the corridors, heat and air fleeing before it, and the sounds of gunshots and struggles ceased.

Metallic groans and snaps replaced the chaos while the cluster of ships struggled to stay in one piece. His breath misted in the coldness that seeped into his clothes and slowed his movements.

Soon only a few emergency lights remained powered but they only displayed the carnage that awaited Alberto. Dead soldiers, civilians, males, females and the younglings alike lay outside a large blast door that separated the corridors from Hangar A.

Alberto hit the door control but there was no response. Frustrated, he shined his gun's light at the control and hit a few buttons only to discover the power was out for the door too. Alberto wasn't a technician but he knew that blast doors like these had a manual release. Prying open the control with his combat knife, the amphibian began pulling out wires and hoses before sorting through them.

Alberto jumped when he heard a low dying groan from behind him, turning the light to shine over the corpses. Checking each one within range with the light, and after seeing no movement, the Captain returned to the wires and hoses. Once finding a black hose, no different from the others, Alberto sliced it. A loud hiss filled the corridor when air rushed out from the hose with great pressure. Ten seconds went by before the air stopped.

Placing his claws at the seam of the door, Alberto pulled with all his weight. The door opened slightly but it took nearly five minutes before there was enough room for the skinny amphibian to squeeze through the door.

In the dull emergency light, the hangar lay in front of him with all its horror. Silent civilians were huddled on the main floor, all seemingly to assist warming a large flower. The roots of this flower connected with the civilians, and in many cases went through them. More wrights like the two he killed in the corridor.

On the far side on the hangar, there were some civilians who looked alive and struggling against the roots of the flower-based creature. Turning to search for an escape ship, Alberto saw one of his guards come around the corner. Vines covered his body and broke through his scales and clothes.

Shocked and confused, Alberto hesitated and was ignorant to the vine-covered arm raise with a pistol in claw and vine. The gunshot echoed through the hangar. What little heat was left in Alberto escaped through the wound while he collapsed, clutching his flank.

"This is what we wanted to escape," whispered Alberto, all hope and will bleeding out of him. His eyes grew wide but the horror-filled hangar faded from his vision. "Our idea was revolutionary for our war-plagued society. I was going to start a new society."

The amphibian failed to notice when several of the wights surrounded him but a distant and large explosion brought his attention. The hangar rattled violently, and almost immediately the temperature rose unbearably. More explosions followed in the distant parts of the ship. The ship was falling into the planet and burning as it went.

Alberto, captain of the makeshift colossal transport ship, last saw fire consume the flower creature and all the dead as well until it consumed him as well.