FSE

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** CHAPTER 50** Sector Zero

A faint buzzing soon managed to wake up a female mixed-breed Evocanis. Still more asleep than awake, she reached for her ComPod to turn off the alarm that went off 6am sharp every morning.

This yellow eyed Evo had one of the most important jobs in Canis Major, if not the most. She lived in a place known as Sector Zero; a sector located within the very core of Canis Major itself. She belonged to a line of Evocanis that had been taking care of Canis Major since the day the first Evos came out of the strange capsules that held them in a stasis state. They were known as The Originals; the Evocanis that gave birth to the species.

Sector Zero held not only Canis Major's new main computer, the old archives that were stored in the old computer, but also controls and monitoring systems for the entire colony. This was indeed, Canis Major's core; the very heart of the massive space colony.

Something was not right. The female Evo noticed this when she saw that the lights were still in Night Cycle mode. Finally grabbing her ComPod, she realized with horror that it was not the communication device waking her up, but the general alert in the Sector.

With the adrenaline now rushing in her body, she got dressed as quickly as she could and headed out the room where she and her family lived.

"Ariska, what's happening?" One of her family members woke up due to the alert and found her walking rapidly out of the special Zone Complex. It was a male of very similar appearance.

"I don't know; I'll go check." The female mixed breed replied.

"You need my help?" The male asked concerned.

"You stay here and take care of the Zone. I'll go to The Core."

Ariska ran as fast as she could to reach the main computer of Canis Major. Thankfully, the access was within her Zone Complex.

Accessing various doors after entering various codes on her specially built ComPod, she finally made it to a large spherical room. This was The Core; Canis Major's bridge.

She ran to the panel that was located in front of a vey large screen and entered all sorts of commands. She found out that the alert was initiated in Sector H2, in Zone 112 specifically. She immediately communicated to the Keepers of that Zone to ask the reason to raise such high alert.

"This is Ariska from Sector Zero. A level five intrusion alert was raised in your sector. I need you to confirm the reason."

It took a while for someone to respond, but soon the voice of a male Evo replied to her.

"This is Luke; zone keeper in Sector H2." The chestnut Evo said in a very alarming tone after he intercepted the call to his ComPod. "Ariska, you need to seal The Core right now!"

"Luke from H2, can you please confirm what happened? I repeat; I need confirmation!" Ariska said as she proceeded with the protocol.

"Canis Major has been breached. Seal The Core now!"

A shiver ran down Ariska's as she understood the danger in which they were. 'But how?' She asked herself; Canis Major was impenetrable. The first thing it came to her mind were the horrible memories of what happened many years ago when their race was almost exterminated. This couldn't be happening again.

"Sector Zero, this is Ariska. Seal the complex and take refuge in your rooms. I repeat; seal the complex and take refuge in your rooms!"

"What's going on, Ariska?" Someone asked through the ComPod.

"We've been breached. I have to seal The Core. Obey my orders now!"

Sector Zero was the smallest Sector in Canis Major. Only two complexes were built there. But the few Evos that lived there were all trained to look after the colossal space colony. They were head of the resource committee and the ones in charge of monitoring and maintaining the main systems of Canis Major; they knew what they had to do and they obeyed without hesitation.

Ariska made sure that Sector Zero was sealed and then proceeded to seal The Core. She rushed through all the systems of the computer before she finally entered the necessary commands to close the room where she was.

But suddenly, a noise behind her alerted her.

"I thought I told you guys to go to your room and make sure the Zone Complex is sealed. I am fine here." Ariska ordered. She thought one of her friends or family members came to help her.

She never turned back to see who it was. But something made her feel unsettled for a fraction of a second; whoever was approaching her didn't respond, and she could hear the steps getting close.

"I said I'm fine! Go to your Zone!" Ariska said as she turned to the one behind her.

Within the darkness of the room, she saw two bright grayish blue eyes staring emotionless at her.

"Who are you?" Ariska asked. She was startled a bit by the presence of this strange Evocanis.

It was a very thin husky Evo that she had never seen before. What was strange about him was his cold and stare. He seemed lost. The lack of any clothes made it even stranger.

"My friend, where are you from? We are in Level Five alert. You should return to your zone."

There was no response from the Evo. Instead, he walked towards the panel. But what Ariska saw in shock was what he held in one of his handpaws that he eventually raised against her.

"Brother, what are doing?" Ariska was very nervous and confused. Her voice broke when she saw an E.M.P gun being pointed at her by this strange Evocanis.

A white flash engulfed the room in less than a fraction of a second. Ariska fell to the ground motionless...

The most bizarre moment in Canis Major had now happened. The strange husky Evo stood in front of one of his own species; the E.M.P gun smoking in his handpaw after he shot at her. It was Blitz; the Evocanis that had been saved from the machine's hive not even a few days ago.

He dropped the gun to the floor and walked towards The Core's main panel. He's eyes were suddenly flooded with tears, but he never changed his empty glare. He just kept on walking until he reached the panel and immediately started going through the commands as if he knew what he was doing. But how could he know? He had spent all his life at the machine's hive and didn't even know how to speak, even less read through the screen's displays. But somehow he managed to deactivate the defense systems of Canis Major.

Immediately after, Blitz apparently started to struggle with himself for a second. He started biting his own arm until he ripped the skin and flesh of it. The yelps of agony were the only thing that hinted his doubts. Finally, with his muzzle covered in blood and his body shaking after the serious injury he inflicted on himself, he stopped.

But even stranger was what happened next, he searched inside his blood dripping wound until he found something. A very small mechanical device was ripped from inside his flesh and thrown into the panel.

The strange device started glowing until it grew strange hair-like metallic strands that buried into the panel. Blitz just watched as if he knew that was suppose to happen, but immediately started struggling again. He grabbed his head and threw himself into the walls and the floor of the room while he let out screams of fury, but also agony.

Close to Sector Zero, Hasky, Husky, Fx and Luke managed to track down the tram that Blitz left from in H2. Arriving at Sector Zero's station, the four of them quickly got in contact with Zone keepers, hoping that they were on time. Of course, they didn't know what had happened already, or didn't know what happened with Blitz.

"This is Luke; can you hear me, Ariska?" Luke yelled through his ComPod as he ran together with Hasky, Husky and Fx. "This is strange..."

"No response still?" Hasky questioned her friend Luke.

"No. I have her frequency. She should respond as we zone keepers need to be in contact during situations like this."

"I have a very bad feeling about his. Let's hurry." Husky then added.

As they ran into the entrance of Sector Zero's zone complex, they notice how the alarm was suddenly put to silence. The lights in the corridors went dull again and the doors all went from locked status to open. Something was dreadfully wrong.

As they made their way into the complex, they were encountered by other Evos that were perplexed by what was happening. These Evos instantly recognized the huskies and the fox-like Evo as D.E squad members; that made it even more unsettling.

"What's going on?" One of the Evos asked as the group rushed past by.

"We don't know yet. Go to your rooms!" Hasky yelled without stopping.

After a while they made it to the entrance of The Core. Luke was still perplexed due to the fact that Ariska had cancelled the alert. That was way outside the protocol as every alert should be taken very seriously and not cancelled until the problem has been taken care of. And this was no ordinary alert; this was an intrusion alert.

As the group made it through the series of corridors that took to The Core, their instinct raised their adrenaline levels to extremes. They couldn't shake off a horrible feeling.

Opening the last door which took to the core, the silence invaded the atmosphere. The lights were shut down and the bridge was solely illuminated by the main screen at its far end.

"Something is not right. Be on the lookout, boys." Hasky ordered as she unsheathed an E.M.P gun she hid in her clothes."

"I can smell blood." Fx added as he and Husky prepared their weapons as well.

They could hear the soft yelping of an Evocanis getting close as they approached the main screen. As they got closed they devised with horror an Evo lying on the floor quivering and barely holding on to consciousness.

The reaction of the four Evos from H2 was instant and they ran towards their fallen comrade. Luke immediately aided the female Evo and checked for any wounds.

"Oh no... What happened to you, sweetheart?" Luke talked to her, fearing for his sister Evo's life. "I can't see any wounds. She must have been hit by an E.M.P round."

"What?" Hasky gasped. "That means..." Hasky started making her own conclusions following the events of that night. She could've been hit by only one individual.

"That's preposterous!" Luke responded in anger when he realized what Hasky was meaning. It was not until he devised the E.M.P on the floor and knew Hasky's theory was right. It was the E.M.P that was taken from H2.

"Take her out of here, Luke. We'll take care of this." Hasky ordered.

"I don't want to move her. Any overstimulation might worsen her condition. We have to wait until the shock dissipates. That's the only choice we have." Luke said worried as he saw Hasky looking all around the room with her E.M.P readied.

"I can feel him." Advised Husky. "I know his scent. It is him and he's still here."

The mixed scent of blood and burnt fur didn't hide the familiar scent of the Evocanis they had rescued not a few days ago.

"Make yourself visible, brother!" Hasky ordered. "Everything is going to be alright. I know you did it for a reason and we won't judge you for it. Come out calmly and we will help you."

"You're one of us, brother. You are home now and you don't need to hide." Fx added.

The three of them dispersed trough the large room. They didn't even know what they were against. They knew it was their brother, but the reason of why and also how he did what he did wasn't clear at all.

The pressure intensified when they didn't get any response. They knew he was there, but there were too many spots to hide. The lights had been deactivated and they didn't know what they were going against. They felt the danger, but at the same time they didn't want to hurt their brother.

As the seconds passed and the pressure built, suddenly Luke's ComPod alerted him of a call. He didn't even think of answering but immediately saw that it came directly from R105's bridge. At this time? It must have been either that they detected the alert, or that something else was going on.

Hesitating and not taking his eye from his surroundings, Luke held closer to Ariska and answered quietly.

"We have a situation." Luke said before he even was spoken to.

"Where are you, Luke?" A voice said worried. He could recognize it as Silver's voice.

"Canis Major's Core. We've been..."

He couldn't end his words when he heard a commotion not meters from him. Something had jumped on one of the D.E boys and was having a struggle with it. He heard Husky's voice and his growls being echoed by the growls of someone else. Raising his head he saw Husky having a skirmish with an unclothed Evo. It was Blitz.

"We are your brothers! Don't do this, Blitz!" Husky yelled while he tried to defend himself from the rampaging Evo. Fx and Hasky approached but couldn't do nothing. Was there even anything that could be done? Evos had never encountered a situation like this.

Husky evaded the clumsy slashes and weak intents to get close and bite him. Blitz's body was weak and could do little to maintain his stamina and balance. Husky didn't want to hurt him so he only evaded the weakened husky Evo.

"Why did you do it, Blitz!?" Husky yelled again. His anger wasn't in the fight; not even on Blitz himself. Husky was infuriated by the situation.

Fx and Hasky managed to surround Blitz and Fx got hold of him from the back as Hasky tried to keep his head still so he didn't bite. Husky just watched him as he panted after the struggle that he had with the uncontrollable Evo.

Blitz eyes now looked lost. It was like he wasn't seeing his surroundings. He was just growling, twitching and his muzzle kept on foaming saliva. In an unexpected move, Blitz back kicked Fx on his groin and managed to escape his grip. Then he pushed him far away.

Blitz didn't look like he wanted to fight anymore and retreated.

"I'm okay, don't let him go away!" Fx yelled when Husky went to his aid.

Hasky followed behind Blitz when all of the sudden she realized what Blitz was going after.

"Don't grab that gun, Blitz! Don't make me shoot you!" Hasky yelled at him.

"Don't shoot him, Hasky!" Luke immediately intervened. "His heart might be weak after all that he went through during his captivity." From the ComPod, he could hear Silver yelling something. He didn't know what and didn't care at the moment. The important thing was to avoid anyone else getting hurt.

"Let it go, brother." Hasky talked softly at Blitz. She was trying to get close as slowly as she could. "We are your brothers and sisters. We love you and we would NEVER hurt you." Hasky's eyes were full of tears, but she never released the firm grip she had on her E.M.P gun.

"Put it down, sweetheart. If you make the wrong move, I will have to stop you. A shot from this gun is very painful and due to your condition, it might be very dangerous. Understand that I have to protect my friends and myself."

Any word was proving to be useless. Blitz handpaw shook violently as he raised the E.M.P. It was like a struggle held with himself. His blank eyes were now also full of tears and he let out faint yelps.

"Put it down..." Hasky whispered.

For a second she though she was close enough to grab and subdue Blitz, but before she could act, she saw with horror how in a second Blitz raised the gun with all the intentions to shoot.

It was too quick and she was to close to react in time. But in that brief moment, she saw how the gun passed from being pointed towards her, to being pointed at its own wielder.

"No, stop Blitz!"

Hasky's cries were in vain. A white flash illuminated the room as Blitz had pulled the trigger on himself. The mangled husky fell on the floor motionless by the shot that he had inflicted on himself.

The rest ran terrified towards Blitz, thinking of the worst. It all happened too quickly that no one there was able to grasp what had just happened.

Hasky held Blitz close to her, gripping him gently as she cried after what she just had seen. Like in slow motion she faintly heard Husky yelling something about bringing a medic and watched him and Fx run pass by her, going back into the complex.

Luke was lying next to her, taking care of Ariska. Luke stared at Hasky in disbelief. Both stared at each other as if asking for answers that they both didn't have.

The moment of shock was suddenly dissipated when Luke kept on hearing his ComPod yelling at him. Without taking his sight from Hasky, he slowly raised the device to his ears.

"Silver... we have a very serious situation. The Core was breached by one of us..."

"That's the least of our concerns, Luke! All of our systems have been compromised; Canis Major's and R105's. Oxygen has been cut from both ships, energy has been reduced to critical levels and our location is being transmitted to the open!"