Page 53 of Uncovered By the Alien Commander
A group of darting, hovering drones and plodding droids are busy clearing the debris, while onlookers watch, wide-eyed, nervous expressions. I move with haste past them, hoping not to draw attention, which is difficult being a glorious son of Klendathor.
As I traverse the long corridor, nearing the exit, I spot the female Argorian in the white flowing dress, the boring one who introduced us to Fluxom Paradise, which seems an age ago. She stands composed, awaiting new guests, yet the slight trembleof her scaled hands and frequent glances back reveals her true anxiousness.
I hope to slip past amidst her addled mind, not wishing to be connected to the recent gruesome events, at least not until we’re off this Gods’ forsaken station.
Yet my hopes are dashed as, from the corner of my eye, she stiffens as if shaken awake from a nightmare. “Oh... My most sincere apologies for the terrible commotion. Please accept these complimentary sessions free of charge,” the female Argorian offers with a bow of her spiked head.
“That won’t be necessary,” I interrupt her with a quick wave of my hand as she’s about to enter something into her wrist console. “We couldn’t possibly endure any more... companionship,” I state with a smirk, gesturing towards the hobbling Logarn.
The Argorian tilts her head towards Logarn, yet her milk-white eyes reveal nothing. “Um... Is he well?” she inquires with false concern as her gaze flicks back to me.
“Oh, yes,” I chuckle, glancing back at the blond-haired youth. “He was so excited, he couldn’t help but charge in headfirst,” I add, leaning down closer to whisper in a hushed tone. “It was his first time.”
The female Argorian nods with a knowing smile. “Of course, I understand,” she whispers before addressing the three of us again. “Thank you for choosing Fluxom Paradise. I hope your desires were stoked and catered to,” she recites the rehearsed formal line.
Our desires for battle perhaps!I almost say before biting my tongue. “It has been a glorious experience,” Noroth interjects, his face beaming.
“I am glad.” The female bows her head, our cue to leave. I hurry past her, the massive golden doors of the cursed building opening at our approach. A small flutter of relief flows throughme, knowing we’re in the clear. Until it’s snuffed out by the building torrent of unease that threatens to consume my mind.I need to find Tyrxie. She’s in danger!Where this feeling comes from is a mystery to me, yet I know it to be true. I would stake my life on it.
“Noroth, take Logarn to the ship. I must hasten towards Tyrxie,” I urge, my voice laced with impatient resolve, as I hurry down the long steps.
“Tyrxie? Are you not to seek out your warvisor?” Noroth calls out after me in a confused tone.
“Yes, I meant the warvisor,” I lie, glancing over my shoulder, a sardonic grin twisting my expression. My warvisor now seems like a distant memory, a mere trifle versus the churning maelstrom of irrational concern for the human female.
My attention shifts towards the towering crystal core of the station, reflecting and refracting the garish colors from the darting iridescent drones. A glittering contrast to my dark thoughts and the seething hatred I now hold for this Omega Flux Station.
My long strides carry me to the looming crystal spire as onlookers dash out of my way, fear painted on their expressions. They fade into the background of my awareness. Numerous lifts of various sizes come and go in smooth silence.
Passengers emerge from the nearest lift, their eyes traveling up my body as they realize my presence, my disdain. I resist the urge to toss them out, my hands flexing with an illogical impatience that churns within my guts. “Out... Now!” I demand through bared fangs, glaring at the group.
The four aliens stiffen as if stuck before muttering nonsensical apologies. I’ve already forgotten about them as I step into the garish lift cast from the same material that surrounds it. Interacting with my wrist console shows one option: tier three,the tier one option appears locked. I select tier three, taking a steadying breath, which does little to settle my anxious nerves.
The lift falls smoothly as strobing colors assault my eyes, reflected from the contoured and beveled evaluator enclosure. Kaleidoscope of dazzling hues whirls and spirals with incredible speed, creating a nauseating spectacle which prompts me to shield my eyes from the assailing pompous display.
The lift comes to a smooth stop, opening to reveal a nightmarish landscape of oppressive horror. Identical blocky buildings in pale white stretch on for what seems like infinity. The sheer brutal efficiency of it stifles the soul, an affront to the Gods. Scanning in either direction reveals more of the overpowering sameness.
Beneath my scathing disdain is a faint sense of vertigo, tugging at the recesses of my mind. Like approaching an impossible maze-like labyrinth, it births a nagging doubt that it’ll be hopeless to find Tyrxie amidst the disorienting repetitiveness.
Guards clad in iridescent armor and hovering disc-shaped drones mill around, inspecting beings seeking entrance to the crystal spire. I hasten past them, paying them no heed, driven by an overpowering need to reach the human female, knowing, somehow, that she is on this tier.
I blitz through the shocking, disheveled streets, noting the broken disrepair of the surroundings and the hungry, desperate faces of the inhabitants. Hidden beneath the flashy colors lies the broken and the forgotten, proving light cannot banish the darkness within the hearts of sentient beings.
The sour scent of fresh blood and molten sulfur wrinkles my sharp senses. I waste no time adjusting my course, heading towards the source of the likely battle. Unkempt onlookers watch in awe as I rush past them in a blur of speed. Already, clear signs of combat become apparent. The walls and streetslittered with bullet holes, vast swathes melted and twisted, re-solidifying in a blue-gray mass, a clear sign of plasma discharge.
Yet it’s the lifeless bodies and pools of blood that paint the most vivid picture. My eyes dart with frantic movements, a sudden terror grips me as I consider the possibility that Tyrxie may be among the fallen. Various armed alien species in makeshift yellow armor, some with a uniform emblem emblazoned on their arms or chests, a clue this must have been a gang war.
I approach several members of the gang, two Jungarians and a Tuskarian, their hard faces creased with bitter sadness as they collect bodies of their broken and destroyed comrades. One of the Jungarians stands out, hidden beneath a hooded robe, and directing the others with a strange-looking cane. He appears to be their leader.
“You!” I shout towards the hooded one, gesturing at the heaped piles of dead. “Was there a female here? Tiny in size, strange to your eyes, with alien features not unlike my own.”
The hooded Jungarian turns his head in a languid motion, as if seeing me for the first time. Not with surprise or awe, but weary resignation, laced with sadness. “A female like a Klendathian? Do you dream in the waking world? Second, Commander.” His firm voice belies his stooped figure and scarred face.
His strange words surprise me as I smooth my half cloak adorning my shoulder. It’s clear this hooded Jungarian is familiar with us Klendathians. “No dream, strange one.”More of a nightmare.“She’s not a Klendathian, but a human, with pale skin, black hair and sad green eyes,” I explain, noticing some others in yellow glaring at me while fingering their primitive weapons, yet I do not fear them.
“I know the one you speak of,” the strange one replies, moving a hand to a bloody wound on his shoulder. “She left me this gift,”he gestures with a brief ironic laugh. “Sad green eyes? I saw only the manic glare of an assassin.”
Boiling rage flows through my veins at his words. As my hands clench into fists, I consider murdering him, murdering them all, knowing they sought to kill Tyrxie. It would be so easy, yet the tone and demeanor of the Jungarian stays my hand, lacking anger and suggesting she’s escaped. “Where is she?” I snarl, my gaze piercing.