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The Fall of the Orpheus

Discussion in 'FanFic' started by ZombieSashimi, Jun 19, 2022.

  1. ZombieSashimi

    ZombieSashimi Well-Known Member

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    To go along with my painting of the miniatures from the Defiance I was inspired to write a series of short stories revolving around the characters of the Orpheus. Namely Rahman Rouhani, Trishalla, Victor Messer and Aida Swanson.

    I will be releasing each of these stories with a video of my painting of the characters and an audiobook style reading. The stories themselves I will publish in this thread along with the video links.

    If you take the time to either read the story, or listen to the video versions, then thank you very much for your time and I hope you enjoy them.
     
    Abydog and burlesford like this.
  2. ZombieSashimi

    ZombieSashimi Well-Known Member

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    Part 1 - Rahman Rouhani




    Blood was weeping into his right eye, but it was only a superficial wound. The explosion throughout the ship had taken them by surprise. What had happened? Were they under attack? How damaged was the ship? He put these questions out of his mind, as right now he had a patient who needed his attention.


    They had been in the firing range practising ballistics. Rahman Rouhani only ever carried a pistol for defence, but knowing he was likely going to be in situations to use it soon for their mission, he had decided to spend as much time as he could training to use it. He never enjoyed firing it, but he had taken a certain pride in his accuracy and form. Aida on the other hand seemed to relish in firing her twin Sub machine guns in the range. Whenever he was training alongside her it was when he saw her smile the most. There was a certain wicked quality to that grin that unsettled him, but it also stung his pride when he saw how well she could shoot. Where he took his time to draw his aim, correct his posture and make carefully aimed shots at the training dummies, two in the chest and one in the head, she would often draw up both her guns at once and just relish in the carnage that was wrought to the poor mannequins. This wouldn’t be so bad if it meant that her shots went wild, but she seemed to manage to place most, if not all of the burst into the dummies chest and head. It amazed him how naturally it seemed to come to her, like an artist with a brush. He mused that it was most likely what others thought of his doctoring skills. He never had to put much thought into treating the wounded on a battlefield, his body would just go into motion and his hands would do their work. His mind would block out explosions, gunfire and the screams of men and women. It was like a practised meditation where his total focus was on his work in front of him.


    That laser focus was now on Aida and her leg. The explosion had erupted from the far wall of the shooting range. It caught a number of the mannequins in the blast and ripped them to shreds, sending shrapnel down the range toward them. As Rouhani had ducked behind one of the waist high walls, a small piece of shrapnel cut across his head above the right eyebrow. It stung and bled, and would likely need stitches, but other than being a nuisance, it wasn't going to cause any grief. If anything the sting of the pain would only help focus him more.


    Aida wasn’t so lucky. She had been firing from a position on the range where there was no wall, leaving her completely open to the shower of material being blasted like buckshot in their direction. As the explosion erupted, she acted immediately and dived toward the cover of the wall. A few seconds passed as the noise of the blast rang in Rouhani’s ears, a constant tone that slowly dissipated as reality came back into the fore.


    The emergency systems kicked in and sprinkler systems doused any fires, putting them out quickly and effectively. Looking over to Aida, he could see her clutching her leg, a grimace of pain across her face. Rouhani just acted. He bounded over to Aida, his eyes and hands looking for any and all injuries. Upon seeing the piece of shrapnel sticking from her thigh, at least 4 inches in, his hands went into motion, grabbing the auto-tourniquet on his medi-belt. He placed the small device, a round disc about 2 inches in diameter, onto her thigh above where the shrapnel was buried and pressed the button in its centre. Two inch wide straps flung from either side and connected to one another where they met. A high pitched whir of motors sounded as the straps were pulled tight, stemming the flow of blood to the wounded leg within a second. The sudden tightening caused a brief pang of intense pain and Aida flung her arms back to catch her from falling as she arched her back. As soon as the tourniquet was in place he removed the shrapnel with no small amount of force. This caused a further sudden and intense sharp pain to course from Aida’s wound and she slapped him across the cheek. Rouhani met his gaze with her intense stare and raised a single eyebrow. His cheek already burning red, it wasn’t the worst a patient has done to him whilst he tried to save their life.


    ‘Sorry, I don’t deal with pain very well.’ Her voice didn’t carry much apology in its tone. He looked back to the work at hand, his expression unchanged. He sutured the wound with a device he ran along the length of the gash, seemingly pulling the wound shut and leaving a fresh scar where the skin met. Finally, he rubbed a gel over the area that soothed and cooled. Aida let out a breath at the sudden relief of pain that it brought. Rouhani then released the tourniquet, the straps flying back into the disc and he pocketed it back onto his belt.


    ‘As good as new, well, almost. You aren’t going to be able to put any weight on it for a while.’


    He looked up to Aida, she was looking intensely at him, not saying a word. Taking careful notice of her eyes he realised she was not looking at him, but just past him, at something behind.


    As Rouhani turned his head, Aida’s gun was up and firing. The consecutive rounds pounding in his ear. He could feel the heat from the chamber burning the cheek that she had slapped earlier. When she released her pressure on the trigger and he could bring his senses back he saw what had been behind him.


    A humanoid form in obsidian armour. Its legs, having two joints like that of a bird, lay dead at the entrance of the shooting range. Its head had been ripped asunder by Aida’s Submachine gun, but it was still easy for Rahman to identify the creature. Shasvastii. An alien of the Combined. A race used by the Evolved Intelligence to infiltrate the nations of the Human Sphere and gather intelligence, sow seeds of misinformation and, for some, to take human form and work their way into positions of authority. If they were here that meant they knew about their mission and the Orpheus was under siege.


    A look of alarm crossed Rahman’s otherwise stoic face at this realisation.


    `We need to leave now.’ He grabbed Aida’s arm, slung his own around her back and lifted her to her feet supporting her weight with his body.


    ‘Where are Victor and Trisha?’ Aida asked as Rahman shifted his weight to better support her. He looked over his wrist computer.


    ‘Last known position was in security. System diagnostics of the ship report that the engines were targeted, that’s why the blast came from where it did. They should be in a better place than us to deal with anything coming right now. Come on, we have to get moving.’


    Rouhani carries Aida past the dead Shasvastii on the ground. Unable to take his eyes off it as they pass, he cannot get the sensation out of his mind that it might not be dead yet and could come after them at any minute. Aida just keeps looking ahead, unable to use her leg she relies on Rouhani for support, her arm slung over his shoulder, and her free arm gripping her gun tightly.


    Entering the long corridor they look down both directions, but see no sign of the invaders. Red lights flash and spin down the length of the corridor illuminating the shadows for brief cycles.


    Aida turns to look at Rouhani ‘We have to get off this ship. We are close to the docking bay and my shuttle is there. If we can get a message to the others, we can get off this wreck.’


    Rouhani leans over to his wrist computer. ‘Trish… Victor… come in… Aida is hurt and we are making our way to the docking bay. If you can hear me, make your way there. We are under assault from Shasvastii.’


    Rouhani shakes his head and lets out a sigh. ‘I don’t know if they are listening, our communications may be jammed.’


    ‘There is no better hacker than Victor, and Trish has more experience than all of us combined with dealing with situations like this. We have to trust they will get the message and meet us there.’ For the first time in his experience, Aida looks pleadingly at Rahman.


    Rahman takes a moment to contemplate the situation, but then nods slowly in agreement. ‘Then we need to get moving before any more of those Shasvastii turn up. There can’t be many of them, otherwise we would have been overrun by now, but it won’t be long till they know that one of them is down and the rest come looking.’


    ‘Come on then, I can’t get there by myself.’


    Rahman braces himself to take Aida’s weight and they make their way down the corridor. Aida works hard to keep them both moving, but her injury is preventing them from making good time. They come to a T junction and as they turn the corner, the clang of running feet can be heard on the walkway to the right getting closer. Knowing that they cannot outrun the Shasvastii, they duck behind a console extending from the wall hoping to be unseen by the rushing alien. As they sit, trying to keep silent and out of sight they both listen intently, their fear of being discovered heightening their senses to everything around them.


    The clang of rushing feet goes quiet, and a softer, more careful padding can be heard edging closer and closer to where the two sit. Aida’s wound was bleeding, the suture splitting from the exertion they were making to escape the ship. A dark red pool started growing over her bandages.


    Still closer the padding feet came when suddenly they stopped. From the sound Rahman estimated that the alien was within 10 feet of them, the other side of the T-Junction. Guttural noises and insectoid clicking could suddenly be heard, the alien communicating with others of its kind. There was something sickening to the sound. So totally alien to any animal’s speech that Rahman had heard before. It grated at the mind and caused him to lock his teeth together, like hearing the scrape of metal on metal, that ring in the ear that turns your stomach.


    Aida had her gun out. Rahman shook his head at her, willing her to stop what she was doing. She stared back at him, a defiant look in her eyes. Ever so carefully she released the empty ammo cartridge. The click of the release seemed deafening to Rahman, but the Alien didn’t seem to notice. When Aida then reloaded a new ammo feed, sliding it into place ever so delicately, the click this time alerted the Shasvastii. Aida popped around the corner of the console and released a volley of shots. Many pinged off the surprised Shasvastii’s obsidian armour, but others blew holes through its shoulder, leg and stomach. The force of the hail of bullets threw it off its feet and down to the ground writhing. No sooner had it hit the floor, but three more appeared from the corridor the downed shasvastii had come from. Aida flung herself back behind the console, wincing as the sudden movement put more strain on her wound.


    The Shasvastii come pounding down the corridor toward their position. Rahman swings round with his pistol, firing well aimed shots at the charging Shasvastii. The shots ring true, one hitting an alien in the chest, knocking it on its back, the others take cover to let him run his ammo dry. The aliens then fire back from their position. The alien Rahman blasted to the ground also getting back to his feet peppering their position with combi rifle fire.


    The console giving them cover slowly disintegrates to the withering fire from the aliens, pinning the two of them without escape. When suddenly a loud hiss and clang is heard ending the gunfire. Looking tentatively round from what once was a console, Rahman sees that the door at the T junction had come down, splitting them from the Shasvastii. The door opposite their position hisses open. Aida looks to Rahman for some answers, and he simply responds with a raised quizzical eyebrow in return.


    A very loud impact draws their attention back to the door at the junction. This is followed by another, and already the door starts to buckle under the impact. Rahman doesn't wait another second longer and picks up Aida, who curses through the pain of her leg. Rahman carries Aida limping through the now open door and they race as fast as they can to go toward the docking bay.


    A crash is heard behind them. Aida is getting heavier under Rahman’s arm and as he looks down to her he sees her eyelids flickering struggling to keep consciousness, let alone carry herself. The wound must have opened and glancing back he sees the trail of blood left behind them. If only they can get to the shuttle, once off the ship he can help her, but not before.


    ‘I think they are through the door. Come on, we are almost there.’ Seeing the blast door that leads to the docking bay, adrenaline courses through his veins and he takes on more of Aida’s weight. Rahman rushes through the door and hits the door's lock. The warning siren sounds with flashing yellow lights and the door slowly closes.


    Rahman, now exhausted, drops to the floor with Aida. ‘Come on… Come on… Come on’. Hearing the sound of the Shasvastii soldiers closing in on their position, it feels like the blast door is taking an eternity. The blast door closes like an iris of an eye, closing into an ever decreasing circle. Just as it is about to close two great claws come through the gap and begin forcing the blast doors open. Something very big is on the other side of that door!


    Rouhani pulls his pistol and empties a full clip into the claws. They retreat back behind the blast door and the iris closes. Rouhani lets out a breath, closing his eyes and breathing heavily. He is quickly brought out of his lethargy when he hears the impacts from the otherside of the blast door. That thing is brute forcing its way in. With the last ounce of strength he has left, Rahman grabs Aida and drags her toward the shuttle. The weight is too much and after only making a few metres, he stops again to catch his breath. That is when he hears the gunfire coming from the Bow Blast door. That's the direction from security. Could they have made it? The gunfire stops and a pit of anxiety sits in his stomach.


    Victor comes running round the corner of the blast door covering the corridor with his combi rifle. Trish comes running round the corner and screams ‘Fire in the hole!’


    This is then followed by a blast that erupts from the corridor, the flames licking at the corners of the door. Trish returns to a position of cover, but there does not appear to be any resistance, so Victor runs over to Rahman and Aida.


    ‘Quick, we don’t have much time.’ He grabs Aida, helping Rahman in carrying her and continues talking.


    ‘They snuck up on us, but just before we got here, I was able to hack the Shasvastii communication network on their ship and introduce a virus to their system. We have a small window of time to book it out of here before they are able to reboot their systems and pursue us.’


    ‘How long is a small window?’


    ‘Could be an hour, could be a minute. Hacking an alien system wasn’t like anything I have done before, I don’t know how well their cyber security will deal with the virus. Let’s assume we have a minute.’


    The four of them make it onto the ship.


    Trish looks around the inside of the ship and at Aida, coldly analysing her surroundings. She then pulls her attention to Rahman.


    ‘We need her to fly this thing now. Bring her back to a conscious state.’


    ‘It could kill her. She has lost a lot of blood.’


    ‘She will die alongside us if we don’t leave now.’ Trisha says it so matter of factly, as if either result means little to her.


    Rahman takes out his medinjector and inserts an adrenaline vial. As soon as he injects the concoction directly into Aida’s chest, she sits up taking a breath of air as if she had been drowning.


    At the exact same time the blast door can be heard tearing open. Looking down the boarding ramp of the shuttle Victor sees an Alien 9 feet tall and almost as wide brute forcing the Blast door open.


    ‘Errr, guys, we really need to be out of here right now!’ Victor lets off controlled bursts from his combi rifle, but it only seems to anger the creature more, making it tear through faster.


    Aida sits up at the controls, her face as pale as death. ‘I will get us flying soon, but we are going to need some cover. Keep those alien bastards back while I get us into the air.


    Trish and Rahman join Victor at the boarding ramp and help add their firepower to his. The giant alien, the Charontid, a hulking mass of armour and muscle, now stands in the space where the blast door once was. Smoke and sparks silhouetting it ominously. The crew's shots bounce harmlessly off its thick armour. It reaches down and in one hand pulls up a rifle the size of a human man.


    Victor looks on in horror ‘Aida, we really need to get out of here right now!’


    ‘Just give me a minute!’


    ‘We don’t have a minute.’ Victor continues to rain firepower down, but his panic causes his aim to falter.


    Trish stands and moves back to the cockpit placidly.


    Victor looks over to Rahman, who is continuing to place careful shots with his pistol. ‘Where does she think she is going?’


    ‘No clue, keep firing, I don’t want to see what that gun can do.’


    The Charontid under the hail of fire brings the great gun to bear. It charges with a green glow, until it looks white hot. The released shot blasts into the boarding ramp, turning the impact into a molten crater.


    Rahman and Victor catch each other's glances, silently confirming that they both still exist. Trish then walks in front of them carrying a large pack. She swings and throws it in the direction of the Charontid, turns and clicks a detonator in her hand.


    Just as the pack explodes behind them creating a wall of fire between them and the alien, the ship lurches up. Victor drops his combi rifle, losing it out the open boarding ramp and grabs hold of the closest hand hold to keep his balance.


    ‘Damn, I really liked that gun!’


    Rahman hits a button closing the ramp and they start to pull away through the atmospheric shields and out to open space.


    Trish looks over the flight console.


    ‘The Shasvastii are not in pursuit, looks like the virus worked. Get some distance and we will contact O-12. We need somewhere safe to hold up until rescue.’


    Rahman enters the cockpit and comes to Aida. He looks over her wound, applying new bandages and doing his best to make Aida comfortable.


    Aida continues looking out through the view port as she pilots the shuttle. ‘Thank you. Rahman.’


    Rahman just nods as he continues to clean and check her wound.


    ‘And I am sorry…’


    Rahman looks up quizzically. ‘For what?’


    ‘You know… oh… nothing… forget I said anything.’




     
  3. ZombieSashimi

    ZombieSashimi Well-Known Member

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    Part 2 - Trishala N33



    A doctor, hacker, smuggler and a security operations specialist. This crew aboard the Orpheus she had been attached to was going to be the scalpel to the Defiance’s sword, and she was the one to wield it. On the bridge, connected to the rest of the ship, information poured in and she was able to process it within a blink of an eye. The hum of processors, climate control units, air recyclers and engine vibrations set her mind at ease.


    ‘What do you think they are up to?’


    Her peaceful serenity, cut short by that constantly chattering hacker! Trishalla opened her eyes and looked down at the grinning idiot in his sleeveless jacket and spiky red hair.


    ‘I assume you are talking about Doctor Rouhani and Miss Swanson?’


    ‘Well, yeah, who else? There is no-one else on this bucket of rust. And why’d they put us on a freighter of all things? Surely we could do a lot more with one of those fancy O-12 ships!’


    Trishala closes her eyes for a moment. If you were to look closely you would have seen the eyes moving behind the lids as she processed the entire ships com data and status reports.


    ‘They are in the training room practising ballistics. Rouhani has an above average target score. Aida shows impressive prowess with light arms. Her scores are close to Uma Sorenson's best. A ‘fancy’ O-12 ship would bring too much attention. Also, the minotaur engine would rip through a warship's engine core. Freighters, although unsophisticated, are built for heavy work loads. Warships are built hard on the outside, freighters are built hard from the inside. They have a… strong heart.’


    ‘Woah… I think that is the closest I have ever heard you get close to anything resembling a ‘feeling’, and of course it’s for a cold metal machine. But, hey, it's something, am I right?’


    Trishala stares back, showing no emotion either way to the comment. A few seconds pass before Victor raises his eyebrows and gets up from his console.


    ‘Well, that wasn’t awkward in the slightest. I’m going to go stretch my legs.’


    ‘According to my data your console has been running its auto-cardio protocols. Even sitting, you have been stretching. You would not need to go to do that.’


    ‘For the love of Aleph! It’s a bloody expression. You could make a Fiday feel uncomfortable. I am going for a walk cause you wind me up and I need a break. Is that clear enough?’


    Trishala continues to stare unblinkingly at Victor. Victor waits for a response that doesn’t come.


    ‘Gah!!’


    He throws his arms up and leaves the room, stepping far louder than was necessary to Trishala’s mind. She did find, what was it, some… amusement from the exchange. She thought it quite appropriate that Victor disliked her ‘quiet’, as much as she disliked his ‘noise’.


    Now alone on the bridge, she closed her eyes, returning to the peace of the data stream. Engines were at peak efficiency, checking navigation they would rendezvous with O-12 on Paradiso ahead of schedule by her estimates. They were less than an hour out from being in orbit for the drop ship.


    Crew members' vital signs were as expected. She let herself have the briefest and smallest of smiles seeing the slightly peaked vitals of Victor. Most likely irritation from their previous conversation. But for a man that let his feelings make decisions for him, he was a most capable hacker. She processed his reports within seconds. Yes, she could see why O-12 picked him. It seemed no system was safe once he had decided to take a look inside. She only wished he was more… sensible. But there was something to be said for a person’s ‘intuition’ and how surprisingly it could be relied on. She would still only trust in the data. Information. That’s what she relied on. She let the wave of information wash over her.


    Immersed in everything the ship is. She felt its systems like the breath in her body. The shape of the ship, the movements of the crew inside, the automatic systems and computers running their routine programs. It felt as comfortable as her own skin.


    Then there was the itch… something not quite right in the stream of numbers… an anomaly. There was something hidden. Taking into account all known cargo, personnel, ship specifications and margins of error, there was an excess of total mass. All the results and self diagnostics came back without error, but her immersion in the system, able to pull data from multiple sources, pulled at her… intuition.


    There was definitely something the size of a small dropship hidden in the numbers and not accounted for. After discovering the error, it didn’t take her long to know what the problem was. She snapped her eyes open and jumped toward the bridge's console to enable the red alert system, but just as she did so the ship was rocked by an explosion.


    Victor ran back onto the bridge in a panic. Through his surprise and the lurching movement of the ship caused by the explosion, he smacked his knee into the nearest console with a sharp corner.


    ‘For God’s sake!’


    Victor then hobbles the rest of the way and shakes out the pain of his leg.


    ‘What in the Human Sphere just happened?’


    Trishala is accessing the console at great speed, but showing no signs of panic, unlike Victor.


    ‘An unknown vessel has hitched itself to our ship. For how long I don’t know. But they made a lot of effort to keep themselves hidden. By the force of the explosion, the change in trajectory of the ship and my preliminary damage reports, they have just made a controlled detonation from their ship to ours to simultaneously board and knock out our engines. Both goals have been successful. From my calculations of the ship's size, we can assume at least six combatants are now boarding us.’


    ‘At least six? How many could there be?’


    ‘At most fourteen.’


    ‘Fourteen?! We are screwed! Wait a minute, weren’t Aida and Rahman in the shooting range? That's near the engines! Are they alright?’


    ‘Visuals and communication repeaters around the training facility have been knocked out, most likely from an EMP blast accompanying the boarding charges. Vitals suggest that Dr. Rouhani is conscious, but with an elevated heart rate. Aida seems to be worse. She is most likely injured, but not killed. It would seem that the enemy, whoever they are, are jamming our systems preventing us from accessing visuals or communications. Make yourself useful and get us back control of our ship.’


    ‘Alrighty then.’ Victor plants himself down at his console taking care not to knock his weakened knee, cracks his knuckles and starts accessing the systems.


    ‘Erm… Trish… this code isn’t like anything I have seen in the Human Sphere.’


    ‘As I expected. We are being boarded by the Combined. Most likely a Shasvastii assault squad. Are you saying that we cannot regain control?’


    ‘Oh… I think I can get us some access, it just takes a bit more time to feel the rhythm of the music. This is a score I have never heard before, if you get what I mean.’


    Trishala ignores Victor’s chatter and pulls enough information out of security to identify the locations of the assailants. A team of three… no… four are closing in on their comrades' location, but without visual confirmation Trishala cannot pull enough data on everyone’s exact locations. If she could only know exactly where everyone was, maybe she could help.


    Victor sits up in his chair, hands motioning furiously as he makes his hacking attack.


    ‘Take that you arsehole! Trying to fry my brain? Have a taste of my Trinity program! Their hacker is going to have the mother of all headaches!’


    Realising Trishala is staring at him, Victor calms himself down, looking a bit awkward.


    ‘You have access now. Maybe not for long, but for the time being anyway.’


    Trishala just turns back to her console. Multiple camera screens appear and she monitors 40 visuals all at the same time without breaking a sweat. Dr. Rouhani is carrying Swanson down a corridor. It seems her leg is badly hurt. Further along from their position Trishala pinpoints the team of Shasvastii closing in on the pair. The visuals begin to flicker.


    ‘Victor, I am already losing visuals.’


    ‘What? Damn they are good. Let me see if I can keep them out of our system.


    Suddenly a crackle and hiss is heard over the intercom system.


    Trish… Victor… come in… Aida is hurt and we are making our way to the docking bay. If you can hear me, make your way there. We are under assault from Shasvastii

    ‘... Aida … hurt … our way … docking bay …’


    The communication cuts off and only a hiss is left. Victor jumps out of his seat, but looking far less joyous as he was before. Brimming with anger and frustration he punches the nearest wall.


    ‘Gahhh! Get vented you alien bastards!’


    Victor looks over to Trishala with what looks like shame in his eyes. Even Trishala is surprised to see that emotion from him, but she shows nothing of it.


    ‘They have taken over again, and I can’t do anything about it.’


    Trishala continues to stare at Victor.


    ‘Look, I just disconnected before they turned me into a dribbling vegetable. They have the system in lockdown. Any attempt to hack them now is only going to result in my death. And I like me too much to do that!’


    Trishala returns to her console, continuing to monitor the data she can get.


    ‘They are headed to the docking bay. We will go and meet them there and evacuate, if they make it. I can buy them some time. I may not have access to our security, but I still have access to maintenance programs. We can lock down the doors between them and the Shasvastii and give them a safe route to the docking bay. It is us who will have to fight our way to their location. At least two enemies are approaching our location to the west entrance.’


    ‘What?’


    Victor springs to action, opening the emergency armoury and taking two combi rifles. He throws one to Trishala who catches it in one hand, not even taking her eyes off the monitors. Victor then moves toward the door ready to cover the corridor.


    ‘Stand down.’


    Victor stops in his tracks. Completely befuddled by the command from Trishala.


    ‘Have you got a screw loose? You said they are coming. We need to take up a defensive position.’


    Trishala speaks with purpose ‘I said stand down!’


    She then pulls a small device from her belt and clicks the trigger with her thumb.


    The explosion’s flames engulf the corridor by the West Entrance and almost knock Victor to the floor from the heat and surprise.


    ‘Was that there all along? And you didn’t tell me?’


    ‘Plan for the worst, and all surprises will be pleasant.’


    Trishala continues to look at Victor with that same placid look.


    ‘Are you kidding me? Is there a bomb in my chair? Under my bed?’


    She continues to stare, not confirming or denying any of his questions.


    ‘I think it is best we go to the Docking Bay now. More Shasvastii are on their way to our location.’


    Victor closes his eyes and shakes his head, putting all his questions and fears behind him before opening them again.


    ‘Look, even if we make it to the Docking Bay, what's to stop the aliens from pursuing us and blowing us out of the sky?’


    Trishala looks coldy back at Victor.


    ‘There is a good chance they will, but calculating the odds, it is still our best bet for survival.’


    ‘What if I said there is another way?’


    Trishala continues to look coldly at Victor, but ever so slightly angles her head questioningly.


    ‘I cannot take back control of security, they will be preparing firewalls to secure what they have already taken. I reckon they will be blindsided by a cyber attack on their own ship. I can introduce a virus and it may give us a bit more time to book it.’


    Alien voices and footsteps can be heard approaching the bridge.


    ‘By all means, do it. But do it quickly.’


    Victor jumps back onto the console, a fever gripping him as his hands motion through his Augmetic Reality program. He looks like a maestro at work as he breaks through security protocols and dodges detection, sweating with practised concentration.


    The Shasvastii can be heard closing in on their position. They are close now. Trishala pulls another detonator and flicks the switch. Another explosion and the Shasvastii screams are heard only ever so briefly before the blast of wind and dust. None of the commotion tears Victor from his work. He continues until he grabs his head in both of his hands.


    ‘...’


    ‘We have to go.’


    ‘I did it.’ He turns to look at Trishala ‘I did it!’


    ‘Good, let's go.’


    ‘That's it. Good? That's all you have to say? I just introduced a crippling systems virus to an alien ship with alien tech. That has never been done before, and all you can say is good!?’


    ‘Yes, good, now, let's go.’


    ‘By all means… lead the way, your highness.’ He gestures with a bow and hand toward the now blast burned corridor.


    Trishala then leads the two of them with Victor muttering to himself. Something about ‘high and mighty’ and ‘damn crazy bitch’ being the most audible comments.


    It took them ten minutes. That's all they needed to get to the docking bay. Trishala led the way. Every engagement she ordered Victor to move and for all of his complaining he followed her command, even when it seemed she led them into dead ends. Everytime, it was simply positioning the Shasvastii where she knew a bomb was and triggereing them for maximum damage. Victor counted six of them going down to Trishala’s explosives. He only managed to shoot one of the aliens. Soon enough they were in the hangar. Victor ran over to help Rahman and Aida. Both looked exhausted and in pain. Trishala made her way to the drop ship and opened up the boarding ramp for the rest of the crew.


    As soon as everyone was on, Trishala turns to Rahman, indicating toward Aida.


    ‘We need her to fly this thing now. Bring her back to a conscious state.’


    Rahman Rouhani looks back at Trishala, staring daggers. It doesn't faze Trishala at all.


    ‘It could kill her. She has lost a lot of blood.’


    ‘She will die alongside us if we don’t leave now.’


    She watches as Dr. Rouhani brings Aida back to consciousness. Gunfire erupts from the boarding ramp quickly followed by Victor’s shouts.


    ‘Errr, guys, we really need to be out of here right now!’


    Aida sits up at the controls, Trishala isn’t even sure she is going to be capable of piloting the ship in her condition.


    ‘I will get us flying soon, but we are going to need some cover. Keep those alien bastards back while I get us into the air.


    Trishala grips her combi rifle tightly and takes up defensive positions alongside Victor and Rahman. And that is when she sees it. The Charontid. She had seen classified reports of the creature, but they didn’t do it justice. Built like a tank and armoured like one it carried an alien Plasma rifle in one hand as if it was nothing.


    Victor looks on in horror ‘Aida, we really need to get out of here right now!’


    ‘Just give me a minute!’


    ‘We don’t have a minute.’ Victor continues to rain firepower down, but his panic causes his aim to falter.


    Trishala stands and moves back to the cockpit placidly. She drops the rifle onto the deck.


    ‘Aren’t you going to need that?’


    ‘I will buy you some time. Get us off this ship as fast as you can. I cannot promise this will hold them back for long.’


    Aida looks over at Trishala with puzzlement… or is it concern?


    ‘You’re not going to… you know… sacrifice yourself are you?’


    Trishala continues to pack a bag of demolition charges with a variety of canisters, all with the flammable warning printed on them.


    ‘I don’t think that is necessary, so, no, I am not going to sacrifice myself. I do not understand why you are all so dramatic.’


    She turns away and walks back to where the gun battle rages on. Swinging with all her force she can muster, the demolition charge sails through the air and lands only a few feet in front of the Charontid. As soon as the pack comes to a stop, the trigger is in Trishala’s hand and the explosion lights up the Docking Bay with a wall of fire. The ship lurches up, knocking both Rahman and Victor off balance. Victor even drops his combi rifle and watches it go sliding off the ramp and to the Docking Bay floor. He watches it go with a sullen expression.


    ‘Damn, I really liked that gun!’


    As they fly, Trishala turns and enters the cockpit, followed by Rahman and Victor. She looks over the flight console.


    ‘The Shasvastii are not in pursuit, looks like the virus worked. Get some distance and we will contact O-12. We need somewhere safe to hold up until rescue.’


    As they fly over the planet of Paradiso, away from the fallen Orpheus, Trishala closes her eyes and reviews the events on the ship. How did nobody notice the enemy ship? There must have been a procedure overlooked to allow a slip up like that. How did they all survive? All of her survival calculations presented this to be the least likely outcome. Could there be a saboteur? A traitor in the crew? Too many variables. Need more data. Need more information.


    Trishala's head twitched. She was not finding peace. That itch was back.
     
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  4. ZombieSashimi

    ZombieSashimi Well-Known Member

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    Alright the Third and final part to the trilogy is complete and this story focuses on the Charontid leading the Combined Army on the assault of the Orpheus. Enjoy




    Fall of the Orpheus - Episode 3 - The Charontid


    Tap, tap, tap.


    Three days their shuttle had been silently clasped to the hull of the Orpheus.


    Tap, tap, tap.


    Throughout that time the Charontid had been battle ready, prepared for combat without need of sleep or sustenance. A hulking great mass of muscle encased in power armour, built and engineered for the purpose of leading the Combined Army on assaults against its enemies.


    And it was bored.


    Tap, tap, tap.


    It continued to rap its fingers on the command chair’s armrest. The Shasvastii were able infiltrators and showed an unworldly patience, but his blood screamed for the intensity of combat. However much he wanted to just breach the freighter and bring death to its human occupants, the Enhanced Intelligences orders rang through its brain and prevented his own will from taking complete control.


    Tap, tap, tap.


    The ship they had come in on was adept at keeping itself stealthed from their prey, but it still took two hackers to mask their presence working in tandem without stop, and although they had come with a full team, they were not like him and tired easily in comparison. Such weak things these Shasvastii. But the EI in its wisdom makes good use of them.


    Tap, tap, tap.


    The hacker to his left focused all attention on stealthing their ship from any scans from the Orpheus, while the hacker to his right was in charge of monitoring the Freighters systems activities, giving them forewarning of possible detection. A ping pops up on the Charontid’s virtual display.


    It stops rapping its clawed fingers and they become a fist. The report highlights the Aleph human is digging deep into the systems diagnostics and she may have found an irregularity. If she continues this search she will discover their presence. Finally, an end to this cowardly hiding, time to make their presence felt. Its fist comes down, nearly shattering the armrest.


    The Charontid stands giving a guttural roar mixed with chattering teeth like a cross between a ferocious animal and insect. The Shasvastii Nox troopers sitting at standby along the walls of the ship suddenly stand to attention grabbing their rifles and forming into teams. They all take positions at the breaching door, where the ship had previously made a vacuum seal with the Orpheus’ hull. A large cannon dispenses from the ceiling and manoeuvres into a position to point toward the breaching door. The Charontid takes a position at the front, his head next to the barrel of the great cannon. It shoulders a plasma cannon the full length of a fully grown human, it takes a deep breath taking in the quiet before the storm, its mandibles quivering in exhilaration for the upcoming battle. Silence sits for a moment, time appearing to stop as the alien soldiers stand ready. Nox troopers grip their combi rifles with clawed hands, all eyes focused on the breaching door.


    Sparks move in controlled lines, burning through to the Orpheus. As the breaching lasers meet making a clean red hot rectangle in the door, it falls away revealing the innards of the Orpheus.


    That's when the cannon runs white hot and releases a barrage directed at the opening.


    The force of the blast shoots like a rail gun through the freighter severing the engine from the thrusters of the ship, causing it to drift dead in space. This wasn’t a matter of luck. The Shasvastii were very thorough when it came to collecting information. Through their infiltration efforts, they had full schematics of the ship they had attached themselves to. It meant that they not only could hide their presence from the crew, but also position themselves to disable the ship when combat was to begin.


    And now combat had begun and the Charontid’s blood began to sing.


    The teams of Nox fanned out through the opening and made their way through the corridors of the ship. The Charontid made slow purposeful movements as it ducked its immense mass through the breaching door and brought its great plasma cannon to bear.


    Through its tactical display, the Charontid sends waves of his Nox troops to hunt down the Aleph at the bridge of the ship. It wished so much to bring her to her knees and crush her in his might. As soon as it had the thought, it dropped the plasma cannon in agony and grabbed at its own head. It felt like there was a vice-like grip inside its brain, squeezing until it was going to pop. The voice of the EI screamed inside his head.


    ‘The Aspect of Aleph is not to be killed… not yet!’


    The force paralysing the Charontid suddenly releases and it drops to his knees. The Charontid teeth smash together in frustration as it reaches for its firearm and brings itself back up to its full height.


    A report comes up on its display of a sighting of the doctor and smuggler, just before the Nox sending the transmission falls prey to the smugglers gunfire. The Charontid turns on the spot and beguiling its size, steps into a full sprint toward the transmission's source location. Every impact on the corridor's floor reverberates the walls with the sheer force of the Charontid’s gait.


    A team of Nox are already engaged with the doctor and smuggler, but are held back by the two crew members suppressive fire. The Charontid imagined itself blasting the smuggler into oblivion, and a sharp pain struck its temple. It quickly discarded the thought and moved its murderous thoughts toward the doctor… nothing… good, then that meant that the EI considered him to be acceptable collateral damage.


    As it rounds the corner to the human’s position a blast door closes shut, cutting off the Charontid and the Nox from catching their prey. With a roar of frustration, the Charontid charges the door. As the great beast slams into the blast door it buckles, but holds. Putting the Plasma cannon to the ground, the Charontid braces its claws either side of the blast door and with all its strength, puts its full body weight slamming into the door. The door begins to bend out of shape and sensing it will be broken through soon, the Nox assemble themselves ready to take chase.


    Another slam echoes through the ship's corridors, followed by another. Each one tearing more of the blast doors away, until finally a hole is made large enough for the Nox to jump through.


    As the squad tear down the corridor in chase of the humans, the Charontid grips the opening with both hands, and using all its might, its muscles bulge with intensity as it forces the blast doors apart. The motors of the door push back, preventing them from opening any more, but acrid smoke begins to pour out from under the strain. The Charontid roars and pushes with greater effort and a gear can be heard breaking as the doors fly apart. With only a single deep breath, the Charontid picks up its cannon and leaps into a sprint.


    The Charontid stops suddenly and turns to look back down the corridor it came from. His link with the Nox had just given him a jolt, and then the report came in. Two of the hackers back on the ship had just been burnt out to husks and they had lost control of the ship. A guttural rumble of frustration emitted from the Charontid’s throat as he sent orders to the remaining hackers on the ship to wrest back control. Even knowing the Orpheus’ hacker had helped cover their presence from the Aleph, it could not help having another murderous thought toward him. This was quickly stifled by the EI’s presence in his mind. It quickly refocused its efforts toward the doctor and continued its sprint down the corridors toward the docking bay that the humans were clearly heading for.


    Reports came in from the other teams in the station, and they were faring poorly. The aspect of Aleph had set explosives throughout the ship and many of the Nox fireteams had been led into trap after trap as they attempted to hound the security agent. Foolish creatures! So adept at information gathering, yet blindsided so easily in their ignorance and self assured nature.


    Another blast door. Putting a palm to the door the Charontid could feel the vibrations of muffled gunfire… and an explosion… then nothing. Time to break through and give these humans something to truly fear.


    Dropping its gun to the floor again, the Charontid rubs its hands together and punches a tear in the door. Not enough to break through, it gives the monster a grip and it pulls with all its might. Slowly, but surely, the blast door begins to separate. Soon enough, a gap between the doors opens, and it is enough for the Charontid to put all his upper strength into the top door and push down with a foot on the lower. With the increased leverage the blast door slides open as if there had been no resistance to begin with.


    Smoke poured from the blast doors and the Nox poured into the docking bay taking positions of cover while laying down combi rifle fire. Gunfire returned from the small dropship with its ramp lowered at the end of the docking bay, but had little effect on the Shasvastii advance. Then two more of the crew joined the first and the fire power tripled from the little dropship. This was enough to stop the Nox fireteams and cause them to hold their positions in cover as the fire fight raged. It may have been cause for concern for the weak Shasvastii, but it was not for the Charontid, the aspect of the Enhanced Intelligence itself. The gargantuan creature stepped forth, combi rifle rounds pinging all around, some even making contact with its armour, but at this range, the rounds had little to no effect and the monster kept closing the space between it and the dropship.


    With its optically enhanced visor, the Charontid was able to make out the faces of the human crew. It drank in their fear and shock crossing their eyes as their gunfire did nothing to slow down its approach. Time to give them something to really be fearful for. What could only be described as a playful grin crossed the creature's awful face as it raised its great gun. A white hot glow builds from the gun's reactor and then releases with great force. The light of the projectile zips through the air, creating a tunnel through the smoke before exploding on the ramp at the feet of the hacker.


    The Charontid’s teeth chattered in delight as the hacker's white pale face drained of blood at how close the shot had come. That was for burning two of its Nox hackers out and disabling its ship, and although it could not kill the hacker, even if it wanted to, it could still put the fear of death into him.


    Time to stop playing, now it was time to destroy the doctor. The one human it did have permission to kill. Bringing the gun to bear and cycling up its power core, the Chaontid brimmed with anticipation as he fell into its sights. Just as it was about to pull the trigger, the damn Aleph woman stepped across his line of fire blocking its shot. The Charontid tried to pull the trigger anyway, but lost control of his muscles as the EI paralyzed its body with pain. The power core of his gun winds down and the built up energy vents out the sides of the gun.


    Now released from the EI’s grip, it looked back to the Aleph. She was carrying something. A large container of some kind. With surprising strength the woman swings the container and releases it causing it to sail through the air and land a few feet from the Charontid. Looking from the container and back to the Aleph, it sees a … smile?


    The Charontid brings up his arm in front of its face as blinding light and heat erupt from the container. As it climatizes to the sudden light, and vision returns clearly a wall of fire separates it from the dropship. Quickly, the Charontid recovers from the disorientation and its visor enhances its vision through the fire and smoke. The dropship's boarding ramp has already retracted and the ship is rising up from the docking bay floor as its engines ramp up and it prepares to leave the fallen freighter.


    The Charontid steps through the fire, unfazed by the heat and looks out into the space beyond. The escaping ship draws away into the black void. The Charontids eyes then focus on the planet below… Paradiso…


    Its visor brings up a star map of the system. It zooms close to the position of the Orpheus approaching the orbit of Paradiso. Nothing else. They cannot have lost them.


    A status report from their ship comes back. The hacker had crippled them very effectively and the systems were currently undergoing a complete reboot. He had done too good of a job to keep his cover solid with the rest of his crew. The anger in the Charontid began to rise before the hand of the EI in its mind, instead of squeezing and paralysing it, soothed and caressed, sending feelings of complete relaxation. The EI spoke from within, calming and reassuring him that it should have faith.


    Ping…


    A small red dot appeared on his star map. Slowly making its way to the surface of the planet. The hacker had activated a tracker. Their dropship was going to lead them straight to O-12.


    And once there, nothing would hold the Charontid from engaging its bloodlust.


    A wave of ecstasy flowed through its muscles.


    ‘Soon child, they will have no escape!’
     
  5. borisgreymenace

    borisgreymenace killer heckler

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    finally got around to listening. i really like how the changing perspective of the attack on the Orpheus added new information to the previous chapters, kind of like Rashomon. look forward to the next story you tell, or even just the mission 3 cinematic playthrough. :)
     
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  6. ZombieSashimi

    ZombieSashimi Well-Known Member

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    Thanks ever so much. I am taking a little breather at the moment between projects as work is crazy busy, but I hope to write a few more short stories in the future and get on with those damn Defiance videos!
     
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