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Unity

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode Eight: Discarded Asset

“I don’t get it.” Invar remarks.

“Get what?” Roku turns her head toward him.

“As big a project as Unity is, it’s not guarded. What’s up with that?”

“Well, the Dezonians are a big fan of secrecy. They feel it’s better to have a hidden project than waste the resources of thousands of guards and leave it sitting out in the open, tempting their enemies to attack it. Black mode was their idea too; they didn’t want family members to be security leaks, according to all of the new training literature that I’m reading.” Roku explains.

“I don’t know... I guess it makes sense in a heartless, insect-like way, but I like my way better. More blasters and more chance for action.” He smirks.

“Yaaa!” Draz exclaims.

“Wow.” Roku giggles.

“What? ... What’s so funny?”

“Are you sure that Prat isn’t really your dad?” Roku teases.

“Only in spirit. My DNA is half a match with yours, whether you want to accept it or not.”

“Unfortunately.” She says with a smirk.

Sharing a soft chuckle, Invar turns back, watching the holoscreen with Draz lying on the bed, curled up into a ball between himself and Roku. With the volume turned down, they barely hear the reporter’s voice as he explains the sight unfolding on the screen. As project members, both of them are already well aware. Having increased the speed of construction, the Dezonians need the interior modules for Unity; they’re being prepped for launch, where they will fly under guard to the secret patch of space where the Unity is being built. As large a vessel as it is, it couldn’t be made in Earth’s or Mars’ atmosphere, the mass being too great to launch effectively.

“So much for August taking you home tomorrow...” Invar remarks, his eyes glued to the screen.

“Lucky you, right?”

“Sure! I don’t already have enough of his chores on my plate.” He says, petting Draz.

“It’s not his fault... Somehow, he managed to keep his job, and I can’t blame him for that.”

“Heh. He must’ve really given Ayanda something to miss if he was gone.” Invar interjects with a little wink.

With her lips twisted in a mixture of frustration and disgust, she smacks Invar in the back of his head.

“Ow.”

“In any case, he’ll be back soon. I’ve been told that production is going so quickly that Unity will be unveiled in a couple of weeks, instead of a couple of months.” Roku continues.

“Oh good! You’ll get all that brotherly love I know you’re missing.” He teases.

Roku smacks him again, with even more force.

“Ow!”

“You’re disgusting.” She grumbles.

“Just as the laboratory made me.” He smirks.

“Keep this up and I’ll need to stay here a few more days, recovering from illness.”

“Pfft. No sense of humor...”

Turning back to the screen, they watch in silence for a moment, witnessing the interior modules being flown to the launch facility in the Sijian desert. The news ship flies overhead, watching the caravan nearing the base, shaped like a series of metallic donuts. Suddenly, a moderate explosion appears near an exterior section of one of the rings, the pilot of the news ship veering away as Invar and Roku’s eyes grow as wide as dinner plates. Roku brings her hand to her mouth, covering her gaping maw as she briefly relives the experience which placed her in that hospital bed.

“Alright, team! Now that we’re back, it’s time to get to work!” Ayanda cheerfully begins, standing at the head of the central table in the headquarters’ main hall. “With the Unity already nearly completed, we’ll be carrying out certain tasks early. Sihl, you’re going to stay here and help me catch up on reports. Luckily, with two months of work obliterated from the schedule, it shouldn’t take long.”

“You only love me for my fingers.” Sihl’Ahzen says with a teasing wink.

“Of course!” Ayanda smirks. “Stefan and Kellan will head for the recruitment office. Collect their reports, scrub the drives and then initiate green mode. Start bringing in the most essential crewmembers.”

“Damn... Alright.” Stefan sighs.

“Is that a problem?” Ayanda asks.

“Oh, no! I love doing scud work like destroying documents and calling taxis for people!” He facetiously replies.

“Well, you could always thwart a terrorist attack while you’re there. Maybe shoot a few dozen Marionettes armed to the teeth, looking to assassinate some of the crew.” She retorts.

“Point made! Let’s go, Kellan!” Stefan chirps.

Grabbing Kellan by the shirt sleeve, he pulls him away from Sihl’Ahzen, passing by Drayusa. The pair lock eyes and Drayusa cannot help but gaze quite longingly at Stefan as he heads for the door. Ayanda takes notice, her eyes narrowing as she watches the younger, black and purple swirled female. Leaving the main hall of the headquarters, Stefan and Kellan disappear into the hallway, the reinforced door swiftly sliding shut.

“Almost, girl...”

“Huh?” Drayusa turns her head toward Ayanda.

“You can have him as soon as black mode is over. At this rate, you won’t be waiting long.” Ayanda replies.

“Oh... Er, yes, Miss Ayanda.” Drayusa bows her head, as much to hide her embarrassment as anything else.

Apparently, she doesn’t suspect that they’ve already consummated their relationship last night, and if she does, Ayanda isn’t saying anything.

“So, on to you three.”

“Three?” Fizona raises a brow.

“Yes. The first of the interior modules are being launched today. I want the rest of you to head to the launch site and make sure their security is up to par; they were still updating everything when the Dezonians increased Unity’s construction speed.” Ayanda answers.

“But Miss Ayanda, only Fizona and I were scheduled for that task.” Drayusa remarks.

“And for two months in the future. Things change.” Ayanda retorts.

“But why this?!”

“... Because I said so...” Ayanda growls.

“... Understood.”

“Now, Sihl and I have work to do. Do your job to the best of your ability, and report to me when the launch pattern initiates.”

Turning toward her compatriots, Drayusa looks between Fizona and August. Fizona looks quite surprised, while August merely shrugs, a blank expression on his face. Leaving their headquarters, they pass through several security checkpoints on their way to the garage. Taking a black, unmarked, older model hovercar, Drayusa drives as they head toward the Sijian desert. An uncomfortable silence befalls the trio, and looking into a simple mirror, which hangs above the reverse camera, she notices August’s expression change as he sits in the back.

“Are you alright?” Drayusa asks, breaking the silence.

“Hm?” He turns his head.

“You don’t look yourself.”

“I’m fine...” He murmurs.

Glancing over to her right, she sees that Fizona appears equally depressed. As she’d inadvertently caught Fizona leaving August’s quarters aboard the SM Deliverance, who in turn caught her leaving Stefan’s, she can’t help but be curious about their personal matters. Are they having difficulties hiding their relationship, or is it something else?

“You look a little tired, Fizona. Are you alright?” Drayusa asks, feebly trying to initiate a conversation.

Fizona slowly turns her head, glaring at her. Early this morning she and Drayusa watched each other leave their chosen male’s rooms while still aboard the cruiser. Feeling a wash of embarrassment as Fizona stares, Drayusa flushes and shifts her focus back to driving.

“You both just seem... Well, if either of you feel like talking, I’m here.” She offers.

“I’m fine...” Fizona and August both grumble in unison.

After an uncomfortably silent, hour long drive to the Sijian desert, Drayusa enters the high security facility, parking the hovercar in an open field near the southernmost building. The massive, metallic, donut-like structures are, in fact, refueling stations and loading bays encircling landing gear pads. Designed for Dezonian craft, which are nothing like the ships designed by the Solakus, the six structures are recent additions to an otherwise unused expanse of bronze colored dirt. In the shape of a five-pointed star, with the largest structure in the center, the buildings are still installing much of their security systems, as none had expected the Dezonians to increase construction speed as they had.

“Alright... I can check building six. That’s where they’re centralizing this facility’s security. It should be done by now. You two can check buildings one through five, to make sure the cameras are installed.” Drayusa says to her fellow agents.

“No, I’ll go with you.” August replies.

“Are you sure?!” She asks in surprise.

August glances over to Fizona, who looks back in kind, a little frown upon her face.

“Yeah.” He insists.

“Let him go with you.” Fizona softly speaks.

“... Alright.” Drayusa sighs.

Splitting up, Fizona walks alone to the nearest building, number five. With her badge at the ready, she commandeers the construction crew to make sure that they’ve installed the security cameras and advanced bio scanners as they should’ve. Meanwhile, Drayusa and a frustrated looking August walk in silence toward building six, the large, central structure of the complex. Crossing a hundred-meter field of hot, bronze soil in near perfect silence, Drayusa finds herself feeling uncomfortable. Looking over several times, she can see the expression on his face. Unsure of what’s wrong with her teammate, she clears her throat.

“I don’t know what’s bothering you and Fizona, but whatever it is, you can speak to me about it if you wish.” She begins.

“Well, I don’t. Try asking her.” August grumbles.

“I don’t wish to pry, but to be perfectly honest, this is beginning to distract even myself. If you can’t speak with me, you should speak with someone. Please forgive me for saying so, but I’m only concerned for both of your well-being, and that of the team.” She continues.

“It’s alright. I forgive you.”

“Thank you.”

“But you’re right... We do need to talk.”

August’s tone is drastically different as he speaks, catching Drayusa off guard. She stops and turns, her brow furled as she faces her fellow agent.

“About wha-”

Drayusa stops mid-sentence, seeing the blaster in August’s hand. Though he doesn’t aim it at her, the anger in his eyes and the weapon in hand give her pause.

“W-what are you doing?” Drayusa asks.

August cannot reply, merely slowly shaking his head. His fingers flex over the grip of the blaster and Drayusa’s heart sinks. He opens his mouth to speak, but before he can utter a word, he’s distracted by something. Leaning over, he looks beyond Drayusa. She turns to see what’s drawing his attention. A man in coveralls, with the appearance of a mechanic or maintenance man repeatedly attempts to open a secured door with a key card. The outdated technology was chosen specifically because few people use it, or remember how to hack into it. The man calmly attempts to open the door no less than seven times, even though the lock flashes red.

“What the hell?” August thinks aloud.

The sign on the door reads ‘Ventilation Controls’. August walks around Drayusa and approaches the man, calling out to him.

“Hey! Let me see some I.D.!”

The man stops, leaving the key card in the door on his eighth attempt. With the lock continuously flashing red, he reaches both hands up to his chest and unzips his coveralls. August holds up his blaster as Drayusa draws her own, joining her fellow agent.

“I’m not going to tell you again! Turn the fuck around and show me some I.D.!” August growls, his tail swaying gracefully behind him.

The man slowly, almost robotically turns, revealing his blank eyes and expressionless face, as well as his chest mounted explosive device. It begins to whir, the strange electrical sound growing louder. Without delay, August opens fire before the Marionette can collect its own weapons. Moving unusually slow, it appears that the programming of the brainwashed slave was somehow faulty. Did it not know how to handle the key cards being changed? It was a precaution that Ayanda suggested they take when she spoke with the project’s Directors, using the Deliverance’s comm system and Captain Krais’ authorization to place the call.

Round after carefully placed round strike the slowly moving Marionette in the head, neck and upper torso. Both Drayusa and August manage to avoid damaging the explosive device as the Marionette falls dead, having never even fired a shot back at them.

“Evacuate!!!” Drayusa yells over a compact comm.

“Wait!” August shouts.

To her horror, he darts toward the fallen Marionette, dropping his blaster and kneeling beside the twitching corpse. As the whirring grows louder, she’s torn between retreating and assisting him. August plays with the device mounted on the Marionette’s chest, pressing a few buttons and removing a card from a slot near the left pectoral muscle. The whirring suddenly stops as he breathes a sigh of relief.

“It’s clear.” He begins, speaking over the comm.

“What’s going on?!” A panicked male voice asks.

“It’s alright. Marionette down. They’re using type nine explosive devices, still with factory settings. Take them out and deactivate it before thirty seconds and we’ll be fine.” He answers.

“Affirmative. Sending security teams to sweep the area.” The male voice replies.

“Be advised, this one was dressed as a technician in coveralls, repeatedly using an outdate key card.” Drayusa adds.

“Copy.”

Stepping up to August, she reaches out a clawed hand, a little grin on her face. Looking up to her, he doesn’t share the glee, his eyes slowly scanning her. Taking her hand, she pulls him to his feet. Dusting himself off, he squats down and collects both blasters from the dirt, holstering his as he examines the one belonging to the Marionette.

“Help! Under fire! Under fire! I’ve got one at building four!” A shrill voice exclaims in an obvious panic.

“Fizona?!” August gasps, his heart sinking.

“I need backup now!” Fizona pleads.

“Is it charging the bomb?! What’s going on?!” He asks.

“I hear a strange noise. I can’t move from my position; it’s got me pinned down!”

“Lay covering fire and get out of there! Do you hear me, damn it?! Get out of there!!!” August yells.

A faint blast several hundred meters away reverberates, bouncing off of the metal walls of the building that August and Drayusa stand beside. His eyes well with tears as he takes off running, racing toward her as quickly as possible.

“Marionette down! Moderate damage to building four! Respirators on!” A voice repeats several times over the comms.

Drayusa races to catch up to him. It doesn’t take her long; Kanorakus are more agile and faster runners than any Solakus. Grabbing onto his shoulder, she tries to slow his pace.

“Stop, August!”

“She needs me!” He exclaims.

“Type nine devices! We don’t have respirators! Do you want to breathe in nerve gas?!”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?!” August growls, spinning around and throwing her arm from his shoulder. “Leave her there to die?! Fuck you!”

He takes a few steps back before turning around and dashing off again. Drayusa shakes her head as she watches him leave, slowly following behind. Reaching into an inner pocket sewn into his agent’s trench coat, he pulls a small device from within. With a small bit shaped for his front teeth, two little cannisters stick diagonally from the device. Biting down on the bit and wrapping his lips tightly around it, he enters a cloud of pale green smoke as he looks for Fizona. He uses a powerful flashlight to aid him as he looks left and right, unable to see even the nearby building.

Careful not to breathe through his nose, he can feel his eyes stinging as the gasses from the explosive device attack his body. As the beam of light sweeps the ground, he doubles back to a horrifying sight. A faint but visible trail of blood moves from behind a pillar and away from the cloud. Following the blood trail, he soon finds a wounded Fizona, struggling to breathe and barely able to hold herself up. A chunk of shrapnel juts from her right shoulder as she crawls on hands and knees. Dropping down to the ground, August is briefly taken by his horror.

Quickly shaking it off, he takes a deep breath and holds it, removing the bit and giving his personal rebreather to Fizona. She panics as his hand comes into view, swiftly calming as she looks up at him. He places the devices carefully into her mouth before scooping her into his arms. Though not necessarily the strongest male, his adrenaline more than makes up for his lack of brute strength; he carries her like a bride, dashing out of the smoke and into the warm rays of the sun and the clean, fresh oxygen at full speed. He gasps for breath as he enters the fresh air, walking her away from the pale green smoke for a few dozen more meters before setting her down.

Spitting the rebreather from her lips, she gasps and coughs. August pets her head comfortingly as he repeatedly calls for a medivac on the comm, using a beacon built into it to make finding them easy. Walking up to her teammates, Drayusa’s heart warms at the sight as August leans forward, hovering over the injured Fizona.

“Shh... It’s going to be alright. We’ll fix you right up, okay?” A worried August assures her.

“I... I’m sorry.” Fizona wheezes, struggling to breathe. “I didn’t... Want...”

“Shh, it’s alright. We’ll worry about that later.” He whispers into her ear.

He gives her a gentle kiss upon her cheek, nuzzling her affectionately as the trio wait for the medivac to arrive.

“How’s she looking?” Drayusa asks.

August turns to her, his eyes on fire with rage. Overcome by his emotions, he can’t even speak. He looks back at Fizona, nuzzling her again and trying to keep her comfortable as faint sirens draw ever closer. Drayusa watches on, her heart swimming in the pit of her stomach.