A Space Opera Ch. 4 part 1
#4 of A Space Opera
A SPACE OPERA CH. 4 Part 1 - Violence and Force
Alarms screamed throughout the station as the normally bright artificial light of the station was replaced by a ruddy glow of the emergency lights while the sounds of gunfire blended with the screams of the dying and fleeing into a chaotic symphony of terror. Blessedly the vacuum caused by the blast had not lasted long. Though invading forces had begun to board through a tube like appendage of foreign design attached to the breach, and in the few brief moments that he had to act as the invading forces boarded and began to assault the Leon station Konstantin was paralysed with fear and confusion. It wasn't until he felt himself pulled- practically dragged by someone with Tanya also in tow- was he finally able to think or act. He was unable to see who was dragging him until he managed to stumble to his paws, and when he managed to the wolf breathed a sigh of relief as his gaze fell to Gregory Illyovich, General of the Leon stations armed forces and security. While he and Tanya struggled to keep up with the imposing bear, he was already barking orders into the small comm-unit that was standardized through out The Party's forces. They leapt behind a small corridor branching out to more private gardens for cover as impacting rounds showered them with debris as the yet unidentified assailants drew a bead on them. Both Konstantin and Tanya moved up tight against the wall with their eyes screwed tightly shut as if to trying to wake from a bad dream. General Illyovich on the other hand continued to yell into his comm, shouting orders for all military forces to respond, as his other paw fumbled to get his las-pistol from its holster as Party enforcers began trying to hold the invaders off in a counter assault.
Konstantin eased his eyes open, the abject terror that had gripped him in the chaotic heat of the moment fading as he tried to regulate his pounding heart and regulate his unevenly hard breathing to be replaced with a surge of adrenaline. He inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly through his nose, struggling to calm himself in the unfolding firefight as close by enforcers had started to hold back the swell of attackers. He gave up however as General Illyovich also returned fire, the whine of his las fire and the smell of ozone and blood starting to hang heavy in the air as both sides suffered losses with the meagre defence losing out. A few shots from the retaliating barrage hit the wall opposite the trio, sending a shudder down Kostya's back as debris pelted him while he held Tanya to him tightly, afraid to let her go in the ensuing pandemonium as civilians fled and ran in any direction not facing the nameless enemy that mercilessly shot them down. The General bade them to kneel behind the cover the corridor afforded them before turning away from his diminutive comm unit.
"You need to get out of here, fast." He started in -for Konstantin- a remarkably cool and even voice as he slammed in another energy pack into his pistol. "Head for the core of the station, either the barracks or the Party headquarters." He continued as he led them down the corridor, his sheer size dwarfing the normally spacious hallway. Stopping at a small service shaft, he kneeled down on one knee in order to put his eye to the scanner. The sophisticated computer took a scan of his retina before granting him full access as a high standing member of the Party. The door slid open silently before the arboretum was rocked by another explosion as more assailants began the boarding process. "GO!" The general shouted, as they struggled to remain on their paws, before forcibly shoving them into the maintenance ducts relative safety.
"What about the others." Konstantin asked, yelling above the din to be heard, his worry undisguised by the cacophony.
"Worry about yourselves." Came the bears gruff reply before the general closed the access and commanded it to seal, cutting of any rebuttal. Though when he had asked about the others, Kostya had truly been worrying about a specific bat.
"Vlad.... Vlad please... pick up" Neil very nearly begged of the comm-link he had given the bat. The explosion could be felt throughout the station, and the dock had been no exception. His rooms' computer -an extension of the ships- had entered the stations lines to get him a surmised report of the emergency. Regretfully he cut his link to Vlad and had it open the report.
====================
Leon Station Comm Channel
Report
Wrath of Gaia extremists have attacked and boarded the Leon station arboretum via explosives.
Immediate response by all armed personnel ordered by Chancellor Strachen.
No further data.
====================
Neil slammed his paw against his desk in frustration and fear. Frustrated with the reports lack of any real information, and a deep sinking fear that something had happened to Vladimir. He took a deep breath to calm himself, after all he needed to be the captain, and the last thing the crew of "Little Dreamer" needed to see was how truly weak he was. Thusly steadied -on the outside at least- the lithe feline contacted the bridge, and his first mate Braun. "Aye Captain?" Came the curt reply.
"Braun, I want to be prepared to leave at a moments notice, have Amy do what she can for any remaining repairs. Once that's done I want everyone to be ready for combat, hopefully it won't come to that, but it can't hurt to be ready."
"Aye aye sir, one other thing." There's a Gaian vessel attempting to board through the docking hatch." The bear rumbled.
"Approximately how long till they get through?"
"It's armoured and they aren't trying explosives, they appear to be trying to cut their way through it, so fifteen minutes at best."
Neil let out a deep sigh. "Thank you Braun, that'll be all."
The bear saluted until Neil cut off the vid feed, no doubt a throwback to the others military service. With that out of the way and with a few minutes until his orders where carried out, Neil decided to try to contact Vlad one last time. The screen blanked out black for a moment before displaying the broadcast sign.
"...Vlad?"
Vladimir groaned lightly as he slowly regained consciousness with his head throbbing and the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. Slowly rising to his hands and knees, he struggled through the pain in his head and back into a sitting position before he gingerly put a paw to the back of his furred skull. Wincing as he prodded the wound a little too firmly, his hand came back slick with a small amount of blood, much of the bleeding thankfully having stopped while he lay unconscious.
Looking up to see what had happened, the bat let out an audible gasp. War was being waged on the platforms above him, and with the visual everything else suddenly rushed at him as sounds of las-fire and a rougher more haltering sound from the invaders weapons mixed with the smell of blood, ozone, burnt fur and something else, something foreign. That was when a body armoured horse met his eyes. For a split second everything seemed to freeze, and only Vlad's instincts saved him. Diving behind the nearest cover he could find - a tree- even as the equine invader raised his gun to fire at where the bat had sat only a second prior. It was with small relief that he noticed the horse was using archaic weaponry with kinetic rounds, and even as the front of the tree was shredded by the metallic slugs Vlad was searching for a way out, preferably to the station hub and from there the docks, hoping that Neil would try and wait for him. He knew the area well enough to know that further down was a grav-well to take him to the upper level of the arboretum; however that seemed to be where most of the fighting was concentrated. Taking a swift look from behind the trunk as the firing stopped he made the decision and bolted for the well while the horse reloaded, leaping into the cover of a more forested area as another magazine was slammed in and more rounds struck the dirt behind him.
Laying in the dirt and panting hard as his heart hammered inside his chest, Vlad forced himself to his feet with a grunt, pausing for a second to gather his wits. He decided against it as a round tore through the dense foliage mere metres from where he stood. With adrenalin pouring into his system he began a mad dash to what he hoped was relative safety. Praying that the canopy was enough cover, he moved between or around trees in an erratic fashion, hoping to throw off anyone's aim as more shots ripped through the artificial forest. The grav-well was just up ahead, Vlad had very nearly stumbled as he reached it, a mistake which almost cost his life as a the bat felt air displaced by a bullet mere inches from his face before he fell into the well, his chest heaving as his aching body struggled to draw in air. He gave himself the luxury of a few moments before activating the elevator like construct and rising to the main level to be greeted by crumbled pillars, shattered vases and more than a few broken bodies. Just in front of him lay the remains of a hyena dressed in a military uniform under standard armour, the las-proof chitinous plates useless against less advanced armaments as testified by the gaping hole in the chest piece, the fur underneath matted with gore. Doing his best to avoid the dead hyena's glazed visage, he quickly took a glance around the corner of the now deactivated grav-well. The cover was lacking, but more friendly forces continued to arrive and rally around the large bear Vlad recognized as General Illyovich, forming a more cohesive resistance. The bat ducked back around quickly as a storm of fire struck the cover around him, one round severing the railing a few feet from the general himself as another enforcer was hit, a large canine that fell to the floor with a scream on his lips as he twitched on the blood soaked floor. That horrifying image and very real fear made the decision for him, his drive for survival over-ridding any crippling effects of fear as he took the hyena's pistol with muttered thanks, cringed at the black humour and ran for the maze that was the Leon Station's myriad of corridors and passageways.
Tanya had long since torn the hem of her dress away in order to run, her wedding gown now tattered around her knees, sacrificed with the pragmatism she had been raised with. Sprinting through the poorly lit access tunnels, the wolfess took a myriad of seemingly random turns that left her male companion worried and disoriented though he remained silent, trusting her to lead them to safety. Tatanya herself was operating on memory, uncounted hours of pouring over the blue prints to the station ingrained into her mind lending each step its confidence as they unerringly made their way to the stations hub, and its most heavily defended fortifications. They did their best to remain silent throughout the mind-boggling twists and turns of the ducts, the only sound the clacking of their blunt claws against the cold hard steel, a disturbingly stark contrast the cacophony of the battle they had fled. She stopped abruptly, Kostya bumping into her as she heard something aside from the harsh echoes created by their steps. Nerves stretched taut as they both strained to listen, only silence replying to their attention. It seemed ages that they stood there to Tatanya, though she knew it to only be moments till she was satisfied and once again continued to lead the way hurriedly. Clinging to the desperate hope that Gregory Illyovich would be there waiting for her.
Konstantin was less positive, his silence more a reflection of his anguish at leaving behind his life long friend Vladimir, he had been so paralysed and stunned that he hadn't even looked for the bat, hadn't even considered him until he was being forced into safety. That thought twisted the emotional knife deeper, the idea that he hadn't been able to worry about anyone else until he himself was safe. Was he really so selfish? He asked himself, only to be dismayed at the lack of an answer. Languishing in his own mental torment, he sullenly and wordlessly followed his fiancé down yet another turn.
Gregory Illyovich fired the last few shots his power clip had left, three in total. The first two were dispersed harmlessly by the figures plated armour, the third however overwhelmed the enemy's defences, burning through the glossed abdominal covering and into his gut. The hapless fur dropped his gun like a brand, his paws cradling the bleeding hole as he screamed in agony on the floor. The general smiled grimly; glad to have given the bastard a gut wound, taking dark pleasure knowing he hit the other in the most painful place to be shot aside from the kneecaps. He hoped the las round had burned through his stomach as he popped in his last battery and ordered a covered withdrawal, unable to hold the arboretum as more attackers swarmed over the bodies of their fallen. His troops obeyed the order flawlessly, small groups heading for the many passages that lead all over the station, preparing for hit and run tactics as the remainder of his forces provided them with mostly ineffective cover fire; only two more extremists falling dead with smoking holes where the energy based rounds had penetrated their armour. The imposing bear was one of the last to go, sprinting immediately for the station hub, where his duty was to protect the party at all costs and hopefully find Tanya. Secretly ranking the latter higher among his priorities.
Neil slumped in his seat on the bridge, the view screens in front of him crowded with various feeds, constantly updated status reports of the Leon Station, multiple comm-links throughout the ship, one to Amy -the small albino mouse in the engine room who was finishing her last minute touches, another to his first mate Braun, and one private link he kept open with diminishing hope should Vladimir try to reach him, all on just a single screen. Much of the other vid-displays were concentrated on the ships defences, giving him a real time uplink with his two gunners, one a rabbit named Damien, the other an older crow named Jim hailing back from the Morning Star. Damien had scored highly in simulations, but as a recent addition to the crew he was untested whereas Jim was highly experienced and unafraid to use deadly force when called for, and though the "Little Dreamers" defences were technically legitimate, no smuggling vessel (no matter how much it paraded as a merchant ship) did not contain a few illegal armaments. He made sure that they had targeted the docking hatch, prepared to blast their way out and take as many Gaian forces out as possible. Everyone else was both armed and placed at the entrance to the ship on standby or busy at their stations, each one familiar with the procedure.
The display for his communications link with his intelligence officer started to flash and he quickly opened it with a keystroke at his armrest, pressing the button with memorized ease.
"Yes James?" He asked of the small wiry rat that appeared on the other end of the vid-link.
"Captain, that request for a more detailed report is being blocked by high level government authority. They've cut us off from any outside feeds."
"Damnit!" The feline cursed, clenching his paw into a fist. "I don't care how you do it James, get me that report."
"Aye captain." The rat replied with a nod of acknowledgement before cutting the feed.
Neil couldn't help grin despite circumstances, recalling how he had found his officer originally attempting to hack his ships computer, back when the he had first taken command and James little more than a cyber-thief stealing to make ends meet. A small offer of free room and board with hot meals had the rat eager to sign up, and he'd proven himself invaluable ever since. Still, his grin was quick to disappear. Neil could justify waiting till the Gaian shock troops made it through the docking bay to make his escape seeing as they couldn't simply blast through themselves, but if Vlad didn't hurry Neil would have no choice but to make good his escape. Once he relinquished command to Braun and boarded onto the station, Hell would freeze over before he would abandon Vladimir.