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Chapter Three

**Uncharted Space

HR 3259 System**

May 24, 2550 CE

The one thing to be said about the jungle is how easy it is to lose your bearing. After moving through the jungle away from the wreckage and those that may become his pursuers, Azuk found himself in the thick underbrush among tall trees, and with no sense of direction. With night approaching, Azuk knew he was in a bad state. He hadn't quite gotten far enough from the interceptor to trust that starting a fire wouldn't get attention from anyone else. He also had no idea how low the temperatures would drop overnight and if he'd really need it.

As he pushed through another bush Azuk took note of one of the larger trees he'd noticed so far. Most of them appeared to be very tall, though not particularly thick. This one had a several meter thickness and a height that seemed to go far above the canopy. Azuk extended the strap on his rifle and threw it over his shoulder. With night coming, he figured that it would be a safe bet that hiding in the trees would prolong his own life.

Azuk noticed as he got close that a few vines appeared to be dropping from the upper levels. A thought crossed his mind that he could climb up top and possibly find shelter for the night. He knew better than to do that though. He despised heights, especially without any sort of guarantee to safety. One mistake and it would probably kill him. Instead, he looked to the base of the tree and found an area where roots appeared to go over the ground by about a meter and that same spot has nearby bushes. It wouldn't be ideal, but if he could at least squeeze into some shelter it might keep him safe for the night. It would definitely be better if he took the time to cover the roots to mask his location better.

Drawing closer to the roots, he found that the area under the roots had considerably less dirt than the area around it, and the bushes he saw were, in fact, just a leafy covering of the roots. Dealing with the soldiers was one thing, but he knew someone else built this shelter. The possibility of running into another unknown wasn't thrilling, especially when it could be just about anything on this uncharted world.

Azuk dropped to a crawl along the jungle floor. For the first time in years he finally had a reason to use all of his senses. Sniffing carefully around the shelter, looking for any scents that were out of the ordinary, he found nothing. Inside the shelter there was nothing. It smelled like nothing; not even an old scent. It looked recent though, as the plants providing some of the cover hadn't dried yet. He hesitated in heading into the shelter itself, expecting a trap, but he couldn't see anything.

The need for somewhere to sleep and hide until morning overrode the caution after several minutes of laying in the dirt and listening to everything around him. Carefully he crawled into the shelter and found nothing inside that indicated a trap, but he did find several leaves on the bottom of the shelter. He supposed those were probably for a bedding of some kind, but Azuk had a better idea. He'd be able to sleep without it, but he didn't know what kind of sight the soldiers had. Azuk put the leaves against the entrance of the small shelter to block most sight into the hole. He just hoped it would work.

With some room to move around, but not very much due to his size, Azuk managed to pull his pack off and set his rifle against the tree. Now that he had some shelter and wasn't being chased as actively, he opened the backpack to go through it properly. Inside he found six emergency ration packs. He knew they could be broken apart to last more or less a day for a human, and he just hoped it wouldn't be six days until he's rescued. Below those, he found a flashlight like the one he used during the power outage, along with two cells for it. Next to the flashlight, in a sheath, rested a knife. Azuk took that to check the blade and the hilt. The blade was sharp, and the hilt had a compass built into it. He'd find a use for both of those.

At the very bottom, Azuk found what he was truly looking for: a long-range emergency beacon. The beacon could be activated and shut off at will, but once activated it can be picked up throughout a solar system within a few hours, and then pinpoint his location at close range. The only thing he feared, however, was activating it while being pursued. He was sure that the aliens would be able to chase him down with no effort. He wouldn't make it that easy for them.

Next to that beacon sat a radio like the ones on the Valiant. He figured those were primarily for any situations where multiple people are trapped on the ground and needed to keep in contact. Right now though it wouldn't be much good. The range would never reach the Valiant, where the communications array is needed to bounce off to function, especially since it's probably on the other side of the planet or even at another planet entirely. He turned it over and found, different from the ship radios, a solar panel built onto the back. That would be useful.

In all Azuk had some considerable supplies. Assuming it didn't take more than six days, the only concern was locating clean water or any water at all. Even it being clean wasn't necessary if he could at least drink it. That would be a concern for tomorrow though. Azuk looked out through the leaves and saw that it was definitely darker now. As he looked outside, and listened to the growing sounds of the night jungle, he hoped that the planet's predators didn't come out at night and he would remain undisturbed.

Azuk put the bag aside, wrapping an arm through the shoulder loops just in case something tried to take it. If it tried he'd at least feel the movement and should wake up. He wasn't so concerned about the gun unless the soldiers appeared. Content that he should be fine until morning, Azuk did what he could to get comfortable under the roots and in the mud. Someone had definitely slept here before, and the spot where they slept was barely large enough to fit him.

Sleep didn't come easily for him as the jungle came alive at night. The sound of the different fauna and insects grew in intensity as the night progressed. What sleep Azuk got was spotty. Every time he heard a new sound, especially when it seemed closer, he awoke and looked around to make sure he wasn't in danger. Even when sleep returned, it was always something else that woke him up. By the time the sun rose and the jungle grew lighter, and the sounds of the jungle dwindled into relative silence, Azuk found he was able to sleep much better.

Hours passed into the day before Azuk woke up properly. With the light coming into the shelter now he could see that nothing had changed. The rifle was in the same place as he left it. His bag wasn't ripped open or something and was still on his arm. He pushed himself up to put the bag on his back again, then picked up the rifle. He was pretty sure he wasted several hours of daylight and needed to get moving. He had to find something to do to spend the days. Running from soldiers that may or may not be pursuing him for the next several days certainly isn't ideal.

While crawling out of the shelter, Azuk heard the snapping of a branch nearby and froze while halfway out. He turned his head toward the source to see one of the alien soldiers approaching. This one didn't wear a full helmet like the ones at the interceptor, but they were still too far to make out any features. The quick glance showed only that one soldier, so Azuk hoped he was indeed alone. They didn't yet appear to have actually seen him. Slowly Azuk crawled backward into the shelter. Once he was obscured, Azuk pulled the rifle from his back and kept it ready. He'd have to wait for the soldier to get closer so he could probably ambush them.

It felt like hours before the soldier came into sight and approached the tree. The soldier's first mistake was the soldier turned right, away from Azuk. Taking advantage of that, Azuk sprung from his hiding spot and placed the rifle behind the soldier's head. The gun clicked with the back of the soldier's helmet, and the soldier froze. Up close, Azuk realized that the soldier was actually a bit shorter than him, and the armor almost looked like a human design. With no further prompting the soldier dropped their weapon. He glanced down at it and saw it was definitely some sort of beam weapon. Azuk prodded their shoulder with the rifle, and they turned around to face him. With them turned around, Azuk lowered the rifle slightly, pointing at the chest in surprise. That was his first mistake.

The alien in front of him, despite a few glowing red markings on the face, seemed entirely human. Even then the soldier was female, and the blue eyes glared at him with something that could only be read as 'hate'. She said something in a language that, of course, didn't even remotely register with Azuk's translation implant. Despite being human seeming, the language is entirely alien. Without a response, the alien even laughed at him in a still remarkably human manner.

When Azuk said nothing for several seconds after the laugh, and seeing the the gun lowered, the soldier moved quickly and slammed an armored right fist into Azuk's head. The impact knocked Azuk off balance, sending him to the ground and losing control of the rifle. As soon as he hit the ground, he scrambled for the rifle only to have an armored boot come down on his left leg. He knew it didn't break anything, but the weight stopped him nonetheless.

A few shots rang out, and Azuk immediately froze. It was a kinetic weapon, which seemed unusual. The bullets that the alien fired, however, exploded around him. One piece of shrapnel from the bullet hit just below Azuk's left eye, causing him to hiss in pain. They were warning shots. At least he hoped they were. He figured that if they weren't though, he would be dead. He might have survived one normal kinetic round, but he doubted he'd survive one or more of the explosive bullets. No longer moving, and with the tables turned, Azuk laid on the ground. The soldier let pressure off his leg and kicked him gently in the side. Taking it as instruction to roll over, Azuk rolled onto his back. He looked up into the barrel of a large caliber pistol pointing down at him.

With him under the gun, the alien started saying something. He presumed it was into a headset or something built into their helmet. Being beaten after having the element of surprise is almost insulting, but Azuk accepted the reality. The fact he wasn't dead though was a good sign. It meant they probably didn't want him dead despite everything he did. He actually supposed that they probably had no idea just what he had done but simply tracked his landing and then followed up.

The soldier, after speaking, kneeled down. Azuk watched a metal spike extend from the alien's left wrist. It is only a few centimeters in length and about as thin as a medical syringe, but Azuk still started to move as he watched it extend, only to be stopped with the leveling of the pistol at his head again. Quickly the alien jabbed Azuk in the neck. As soon as it impacted the spinal cord, Azuk felt every single nerve in his body fire in a mix of feelings. Mostly though he had the overbearing feeling of pain, but he couldn't do anything about it. With the insertion, his whole body locked up. This feeling existed for a while longer before Azuk felt the spike withdraw and he regained some control again.

"Do you understand me?" The woman said.

Azuk shuddered violently as he tried to move, let alone speak. With some effort through the tired muscles, he managed to grumble out, "What did you do?"

"Translation software was detected. Transferred our language to your implant. I figured it would make things easier." The woman said. "You're being captured and will be transferred to a temporary holding facility. Name."

"Go to hell." Azuk said. That earned a hard kick in the stomach. As he groaned from the impact, he rolled over to his side from the pain.

"I recommend that you comply." The woman said. "Name."

Azuk coughed a few times before groaning. "Lieutenant Azukhannja Tulrikvah."

"Interesting name." The woman said. Azuk saw that she had a datapad of sorts in her hand and was typing information in. "Who do you serve?"

"No one." Azuk said. "I am under corporate contract."

That made the woman stop. "We've been engaging a corporate entity?" She said aloud. "Rather impressive actually. Anyway, you're obviously the pilot of the craft we've recovered. Damage is consistent with one of the raiders on the local task force. You do realize that you will be facing execution, correct?"

"I expect as much." Azuk said.

"Good. On your feet. Don't try anything or I will put you down." The woman said as she tucked the datapad into a pouch on the armor then watched Azuk.

It took quite a bit of effort for Azuk to push himself to his feet and even more effort to stay upright. Still recovering from the metal spike and the effects of that insertion, Azuk moved shakily forward. It took several minutes of careful, slow walking before Azuk was able to continue in a somewhat normal manner. Whenever he started to move in the wrong direction, the soldier was quick to hit him with her rifle to get him back on track.

"So who are you then?" Azuk finally asked as he continued to walk. If he was going to be led to his execution, he wanted to make sure he actually knew who he was dealing with.

"Irrelevant for you." The woman said.

Azuk was quick to say, "Right, so I'll just call you Angry Cunt then." That earned him a hard jab in the shoulder with the barrel of the soldier's rifle.

"You can just call me 'Major' if you must call me anything. Understood?" The Major said.

"Oh good, I got a senior officer. Lovely." Azuk said. "How did you get stuck hunting me down?"

"Your stunt up there managed to kill most of my company." The Major said. "Now hold. Shuttle is on the way down."

Azuk came to a stop almost as soon as she said that. True to what she had said, after several minutes of waiting, a small craft broke through the canopy of the jungle. The craft itself was smaller than the one he had seen earlier when the interceptor first crashed, however it still couldn't fit through the dense jungle trees and so it hovered above the floor while ropes were dropped down. He waited and watched the Major grab onto hers and be reeled up. She didn't give him any instructions, so he took advantage of the moment. After taking a step forward toward the rope, he pushed off his foot and broke into a run away from the shuttle.

The first shot from the laser missed Azuk, but it still threw him off balance. Several more shots missed him by mere inches at most. He scrambled behind a tree to at least lose line of sight from the shuttle and the alien soldiers. The engines of the shuttle appeared to grow more faint and Azuk peeked from the tree to see it lifting off from the ground. For a short moment Azuk thought they already gave up on him.

"Don't make me hunt you, cat!" The Major shouted out. "If the planet doesn't kill you, I will."

In the back of his mind Azuk regretted just running when they might have even let him live. With that threat though he also had no reason to actually comply. Of course now he had no supplies. It was certainly a foolish idea to run off and do this now, he quickly realized. Further he realized that standing behind the tree in one place was equally foolish. As he heard the steps of the soldiers getting closer, Azuk broke into a sprint away from the group of soldiers.

He didn't get far. As soon as he broke from cover he felt a stun round hit him in the back. The surge of pain dropped him to the floor of the jungle. In only a matter of moments, he felt a boot press into the back of his neck. "I thought cats were supposed to be faster." The Major said as she pulled Azuk's arms back and, with a loud zip, pulled restraints tight against his wrists. "Right, come back down. He didn't get far."

"How did you hit me this time?" Azuk said, stuttering it out as the effects of the stun shot started to fade.

"You weren't that far away." The Major said as she pulled Azuk up and started to drag him across the floor of the jungle. As he looked up he could see the other two soldiers trailing behind her. "It's a good thing I didn't have to hunt you down. It means that maybe you'll end up getting a fair sentence."

The shuttle dropped down through the canopy once again, this time coming all the way to the ground with some difficulty. Azuk was thrown into the shuttle first and he scrambled up into one of the seats. The three soldiers climbed in right after. As soon as the third one boarded, the shuttle lifted off the ground and the side doors slid closed. A thought crossed Azuk's mind that he may yet be able to escape, somehow, if he put a little effort into it. He looked down at the restraints and they appeared to be some manner of plastic. With some force he knew he could break them, but he also had three soldiers right next to him that would hear it, and two of them appeared to be in powered armor.

It took a matter of minutes for the shuttle to move from the surface up to orbit and approach the alien dreadnought. Azuk could see the extensive damage that the antimatter torpedo caused, but it didn't seem particularly severe. It was clearly still functioning, given the shuttle approached the vessel and one of the hangar bays on the side. Being this close he could actually get a true grasp of the size of the vessel. It, easily, had to be almost three kilometers long. Azuk had been close to an Ambassador Class, the largest vessel of the Alliance, and yet this warship, even with its damages, made that look tiny. He knew it had to be larger, but he hadn't imagined it as being triple the size of an Ambassador.

As soon as the shuttle touched down inside, the side doors opened. The Major climbed out first, grabbing Azuk as she did so and pulling him out of the hangar. Immediately the smell hit him. The air, being breathable, was noticeable however the air had the overwhelming smell of burning electronics and an especially artificial atmosphere smell. He couldn't truly explain it, but it smelled like a disaster had occurred, and indeed it did. Azuk couldn't help but figure that he was being brought aboard just to see the damages that he caused, or at least ordered.

The Major pulled Azuk through the hangar out to the large blast door. The blast door itself remained half open, barely open enough for the Major and himself to walk through. The main corridor ran to the left and right and remained exceptionally dark. Azuk looked to the lights and figured that they were actually in a low power mode given how the entire hall felt dark. They didn't see to have, or at least they weren't using, emergency lighting. Despite what he had expected though, the halls remained clean with only a few soldiers walking through the corridors as the Major pushed him ahead.

Walking through the ship seemed to drag on almost endlessly as Azuk turned down multiple corridors and went up several lifts. Eventually blast doors opened to a corridor around a hexagonal control room. Inside he identified several soldiers that were probably guards. It looks like a prison, and it was only confirmed as Azuk was pulled aside into a small room adjoining the main control area. Inside, only a metal desk and a couple chairs sat. The Major pushed him down into the chair and then stepped out of the room without another word. The door closed behind her.

Azuk sat for several minutes in silence in the room, and restraints, waiting for something to happen. When the door opened, Azuk waited for the person to sit down, not even bothering to look at the person that stepped in. As he sat there and he couldn't see the individual, he started to turn his head, only to feel a hand clamp down and hold his head in place. Azuk tried to struggle, to no avail, as the hand kept him in place. Moments after he felt a pinch as something was inserted into his neck. It felt like it was in there for several minutes, but only a few seconds passed before it was removed. Only seconds later Azuk was sleep.

Alien Dreadnought

When Azuk finally came around, he awoke face down on a metal slab, his head turned toward the side facing a small metal room with a door at the far end. On a shelf next to the door, he saw something folded and presumed it was clothes. As he moved around he realized that he was still somewhat wet and the slab he laid on had a slight angle and a drain toward the wall. It didn't take long for him to recall being stunned on the world and realizing that he now woke up in yet another prison cell. The main difference was that his head pounded with a headache unlike any he had felt before. If he had to describe it, he'd say it felt like someone that raked their claws through his brain.

As he stood up, from the slab, he realized that the cell was rather large with high ceilings and probably about nine square meters. It was more than he had on New Home. The first thing he did was step across the metal floor toward the shelf. Folded on the shelf appeared to be clothes. If he was captured, he had a feeling they took his measurements. As he picked up the clothes and let them unfold in front of him as he held them, the found it to be a solid orange jumpsuit built with a rather thick material and reinforcement around the knees and elbows. That part he found interesting.

It took a matter of minutes to slip into the jumpsuit, and that was long since he had to work the legs around his own physiology. It appeared that the suit was likely made for a standard humanoid shape. As such he had to roll the legs of the jumpsuit up over his knee. It wasn't comfortable there due to the reinforcement in the knee, but it did hold in place well enough. As soon as he zipped the front of the jumpsuit to the neck he had expected the doors to open to pull him from the cell and on to his execution, but that did not happen.

Alone and with no idea just where he was other than presumably aboard one of the alien ships, Azuk walked back over to the metal slab and sat down. He hoped someone would be by soon, but accepted that he'd probably be sitting there for quite a while. Soon after he took a seat, however, the cell door opened revealing two soldiers in powered armor carrying rather dangerous looking kinetic rifles, accompanied by the Major from on the surface wearing a dress uniform instead of a suit of armor.

"Lieutenant Tulrikvah. The Admiral authorized your release. Get up." The Major said. As Azuk stood up and approached, the soldiers grabbed him and pulled him from the cell and into the corridor. The two soldiers pushed him down the hall, keeping him roughly at the Major's side as they proceeded. "We extracted what information we needed while you were unconscious. We also reached an agreement with your people, making use of what we pulled from the translator. They'll cease fire so long as we release you, so you're going back to them."

Azuk wasn't sure just what he wanted to ask about first; the extracting of information or this agreement that was supposedly made. He made a quick connection that the lingering throbbing in his head was the result of that extraction of information, but he had no idea just how invasive they were. As he ran his hand over his head, he felt no bald spots or other abnormalities. They didn't seem to actually go in physically. Then came the fact that they had made an agreement. Why wouldn't they have attempted to make contact before? Had he and Omniwatch actually dealt such a blow that they had to negotiate and stand down? The thought actually make Azuk smirk. They were clearly more advanced, or so Azuk assumed with no evidence, so the idea of making them stand down was quite amusing.

He kept his silence, figuring that was the better option, as he was led through the ship and down several decks. Eventually he was pushed through into a hangar bay with several of what he presumed to be shuttlecraft on various pads. The nearest shuttle had several soldiers around it, and the soldiers behind Azuk pushed him toward it. The side door of the shuttle opened and the soldiers climbed aboard the shuttle. The soldiers behind Azuk stopped him before they climbed aboard.

"For what it's worth, good try on the escape." The Major said. "Do try to be smarter next time though and not get shot down. From an officer to another, good luck. Let's hope this conflict doesn't blow up again. You'll be brought back to your ship." Against anything he expected, the Major actually extended her hand to him. He presumed that was the result of probing his mind.

Hesitantly Azuk grasped her gloved hand and shook. "Thank you Major." With that she gave a nod and returned to the exit of the hangar bay. He climbed aboard the shuttle immediately, eager to actually get back to real safety. Despite the fact that they were at odds, he couldn't help but have some degree of respect for that Major. She could have killed him multiple times and held back. He knew it was just orders, but he also knew few Tesgno, let alone other humans, would have the discipline to hold back.

The shuttle took off from the landing pad and exited. Only a few kilometers from the ship, the dreadnought he had led the strike on however long ago that was, he could make out the Valiant. As the shuttle drew closer, Azuk watched out the viewports as two Omniwatch interceptors took their places on the sides of the shuttle. He wasn't sure if they were blocked on the outside, but he did see Jack - or at least his helmet's insignia in the cockpit of the interceptor. The interceptors didn't break off as the shuttle drew closer, which was also a relief for Azuk.

As the only hangar on the Valiant, the shuttle landed in the front of the ship and the side doors opened. The soldiers inside didn't step out of course, but one motioned to Azuk to leave the shuttle. Sitting by the left side door, Azuk simply turned out of the seat and set a foot down on the landing pad. As soon as he was off the shuttle, the doors closed behind him and lifted off again, departing the hangar quickly and surprisingly safely. He expected they'd hit something just to spite the crew.

"Tulrikvah, report to the Captain's office immediately." A voice over the hangar intercom said. Azuk wasn't sure just who they were, among the few officers that he knew on the ship, but he knew it was safe to assume that it was likely one of the commanders. What concerned him was that they didn't use his rank.

The walk to the bridge was very simple. He left the hangar bay and walked straight down the corridor to the lift. It ran directly to the bridge, but it was usually ID locked. Azuk, not having an ID, let alone one with bridge access, still hit the button. It appeared to process the request before the lift began to move. It took a matter of seconds before it reached the command deck. Despite being labeled as 'bridge' in the lift, it only came out outside the bridge and its blast doors. That was good, however. The Captain's office was in front of the bridge, around a few corners of the perimeter corridor.

Despite wearing an obvious orange jumpsuit and no ID, Azuk wasn't stopped by the security teams as he approached the captain's office. He pressed a button on the door frame, requesting access. The office door opened in moments and Azuk stepped in. Having never been anywhere near a ship's captain, stepping into the ornate office took him by surprise. The captain sat at his desk, which appeared to be made of real wood. Likewise, the gravity plating was covered with a layer of wood. From stepping on it, Azuk could tell that is real too. Wood in space is a rarity, so of course a captain would get it. Of course Azuk knew all too well it was also Omniwatch. They had the money to spend on luxury.

"Tulrikvah. Sit down." The human captain said as he watched Azuk. Once Azuk took a seat in front of the desk, the Captain adjusted in his seat. "What happened out there? How did you get captured?"

"Sir, it's a very long story." Azuk said. "I made an error in judgement which caused my interceptor to crash. I then hesitated on the ground and got myself captured."

"And why are you still alive then? They are aware that you were involved with the various strikes, correct?" The Captain asked.

"Yes sir. I am not sure I am alive. I think while I was unconscious after I tried to escape on the ground, they did something. They said they probed my mind." Azuk said.

"And yet they let you live." The Captain said. The tone he had sounded skeptical. "What did they probe, if you even know?"

"I don't know sir." Azuk said. "I would assume everything."

The Captain rapped his fingers across the surface of the desk for several seconds, clearly thinking. He finally shook his head and said, "Tulrikvah, I can't fault you for the failures that occurred here. I'll expect that you didn't just tell them everything. Medical will give you a physical and make sure everything is intact. We are going straight to Alpha Centauri for refueling and repairs. For now, your contract will remain active since the mission isn't over yet. Return to your quarters after checking with Medical. There won't be flight operations for a while yet. You're dismissed."

Azuk stood up and left the office without another word. He knew already he was going to be terminated once the mission was considered complete, which would likely be shortly after arrival at Alpha Centauri. Until then he still had to report to Medical. Heading back the way he had come, he went down several decks to the main deck of the cruiser. The flight deck and pilot quarters are one deck below the main deck.

Outside the lift, signs are hung on the wall to show where each major section is. Medical sat toward the front of the ship, so Azuk continued straight down the corridor. Only a handful of the crew were out, most of them being the engineers and medical personnel. The entrance into the medical bay was left wide open, though Azuk could see where the bulkhead could be closed in an emergency.

The medical lobby is rather small, with space four about 20 people at most to sit around and await being called back. Like most medical areas, the floors are white tiles and the walls are white metal panels but with a green stripe about one-third of the way up the wall from the floor. The seats themselves are a typical metal chair with a thin cushion to give some modicum of comfort for those that have to wait. On the side opposite from the entrance, two airlocks sat with the same green stripe as the walls across it, plus glass panels to see into the medical area. Between those airlocks is the reception desk.

The receptionist desk remained unstaffed, technically speaking. Replacing a full-time crew member to handle the desk and any paperwork, a basic service android stood. Being a relatively new technology, it made sense to Azuk that Omniwatch would make use of an android to do basic work and communication. He knew they'd have a basic program installed that could answer questions properly and comprehend what is said to it. It's certainly not an AI.

"Welcome to Medical. What can I help you with?" The android said in a clearly robotic tone.

"Azukhannja Tulrikvah. Need to get a physical done. Captain's orders." Azuk said.

"Understood. The Chief Medical Officer has been notified. Please have a seat." The android said.

Despite having hoped to just get into Medical with no wait, Azuk took his seat across from the port side airlock. He expected he'd be brought back through there. It was only a matter of minutes of waiting before the airlock opened and Azuk saw the blue labcoat that was standard of an Omniwatch Chief Medical Officer, or so he had heard.

"Mister Tulrikvah, please follow me." The doctor said. Azuk stood up and followed him back into the medical bay.

Like the lobby, the main medical treatment area is all white in the walls and floors. Compared to the hospitals on Great Home or the medical areas on Tesgno ships, Azuk found that the open area in the center of the room wasn't used for additional patient rooms. Instead a number of covered beds, all open, attached to various computer consoles sat through the middle of the medical bay. It looked rather advanced, but he didn't know for sure if that was truly the case.

The doctor stopped at one of the green beds. "Please step into scanner. The scan will only take a few minutes."

Hesitantly Azuk looked into the scanner. It is definitely built to hold larger individuals, but Azuk was careful while climbing in. With his head to the back of the scanner, as instructed by a panel inside the scanner, he was just barely able to fit inside. Shortly after the top of the bed came down and sealed with a hiss of air. He heard a quiet fan turn on, which was only heard because his head rested next to the machinery of the device, and then felt a cool breeze come in. It helped to ease some of the concerns about being trapped inside. Underneath the cushions of the bed Azuk felt some vibration. He finally closed his eyes to try to focus on something other than anything going on around him.

Despite what the doctor had said, it took more than a few minutes before everything shut down and the bed opened once again. When it opened and the doctor said he was clear to get up, Azuk pushed himself down to put his legs out the far end of the sleeper and then turned to sit up on the side. When he stood up, the doctor was focused on a datapad. The look on the doctor's face appeared to be somewhat concerned.

"It appears there's a number of additional implants in your skull compared to your first physical with us." The doctor said. "A frequency scan was performed and they don't appear to be broadcasting anything. They were likely added by your captors. That said, we didn't find any scars that would indicate a surgery. They were either very efficient or there's an anomaly on the scanner and there's no actual implants. However, there are anomalies in the brain such as a malformation in the temporal lobe. It doesn't appear to be dangerous, but I'm going to want to take a look at it and the other implants, with your consent of course."

Azuk really wasn't quite sure what half of that meant. He did know, at the very least, just what a temporal lobe was, but he didn't really want to consider the idea that the aliens that captured him had experimented on him. He didn't feel different or notice anything unusual. Whatever the implants were, they didn't seem to actually be dangerous. That didn't mean he wanted them.

"When would you do this?" Azuk asked.

"We can do it right now." The doctor said. "I'll just have to call my surgeons in and they can handle everything from there."

"Very well." Azuk said. "Might as well get it out of the way. Maybe I'll be up and moving by the time we get to Alpha Centauri."

"Alright. Wait here then and I'll get my lead surgeon." The doctor said before heading off.

Immediately Azuk regretted saying he'd take the surgery now, but he could only hope that nothing would go wrong as a result.

**Alpha Centauri System

Orbit of Horizon**

May 30

It took several days to traverse the vast distance between HR 3529 and Alpha Centauri, however it was far faster than if they went back to Procyon and then through the jump gates to Alpha Centauri. On arrival, since Alpha Centauri rested at almost the core of the Colonial Alliance, there were no orders for the pilots to launch to provide escort. Instead a pair of Alliance frigates took up positions alongside the light cruiser as it proceeded into the system, bound for the Omniwatch headquarters on one of the various moons in the system.

Following the medical scan several days prior, Azuk was rushed into surgery. The doctors opened up the skull and investigated a number of the anomalies and the other implants. After the initial incision and skull removal, Azuk had been awoken as they prodded around the brain and stimulated various parts of the brain. Likewise, they tried to figure out what the extra implants actually were, but to no avail. They left the implants in place as they closed the skull since they were too well embedded to actually remove without causing additional damage to the brain. Azuk was given two days in the medical center to recover and for observation before being released.

Despite the events that occurred in the HR 3529 system, from the interceptor strike to the surgery, Azuk found himself in good spirits as they entered Alpha Centauri. Unlike the other systems they had been in, this felt like actual exploration. He had never been outside Procyon before the start of this mission, and he always had this idea about the human core worlds having some sort of amazing technologies and ways of living compared to Procyon and Great Home. He simply looked forward to arriving at the Omniwatch headquarters in the chance he had time off to actually visit the primary Alliance world in the system. It wouldn't be the same as visiting Earth or Mars, but it was still the first real human colony.

Under the Alliance escort, likely due to the damages sustained by the light cruiser, the Valiant entered orbit over Omniwatch headquarters. The surface of the orbiting moon of Horizon, the main world of the system, was made up of the various Omniwatch facilities. From the low orbit over the moon the buildings glowed. It was considered a corporate world, but only Omniwatch controlled the moon and its headquarters dominated almost a third of its surface, with even larger facilities underground. It took nearly an hour before the Valiant was given clearance to land on the surface of the moon.

Azuk kept a watch on the display in the recreation room that showed the approach and landing through a forward mounted camera. The Valiant went in on a shallow approach, bound for one of the false craters of the moon that had several large hangars around the sides of the crater. Due to the size of the cruiser, the top of one hangar opened as the ship approached. The control of the ship was slaved to the Omniwatch AI traffic controller and it guided the vessel safely into the hangar. The large structure completely held the cruiser inside and the doors above closed. It was several more minutes before the docking arms of the hangar extended to connect with the cruiser.

"All hands, we have arrived at headquarters." The Captain said over the ship intercom. "Leave for the majority of the crew has been authorized for the next 72 hours. Check your datapads for confirmation and keep the pads on you at all times. There may be an emergency departure, in which case you have six hours to return to ship. That is all."

Having almost expected some manner of leave, Azuk was slow to actually stand up from his seat. He was rather comfortable and knew there was no rush to get down to Horizon. He had checked his account the other day and indeed Omniwatch had sent over part of the payment so he had money to spend on the ground. He'd need real clothes again that weren't an Omniwatch jumpsuit. They were comfortable, but he didn't want to announce his employer to everyone in the heart of known space's anti-corporate worlds. He was also fairly sure that the headquarters, given its size, had to have residential areas and likely some manner of Omniwatch owned clothing stores.

It took a matter of minutes for Azuk to reach the nearest docking arm. Only a few crew members had reached the arm. Along the way, Azuk checked his datapad and assignments to confirm he had been cleared. It wasn't like the pilots could do much anyway from inside a hangar. Even under ideal conditions they'd have to pull up straight vertical to leave the hangar as soon as they left the cruiser. That was probably the purpose of an emergency call if that ever came down.

On board the headquarters facility, the walls of the structure were a pale blue metal, lit by various panels overhead. As he stepped into the arrivals bay to the port side of the ship, the bay also had windows facing into the hangar toward the Valiant. From this angle he could actually see the damages to the cruiser. Scorch marks covered the port side, but most noticeably was the missing communications array. That explained why they had to go straight to Alpha Centauri and headquarters.

Azuk followed the groups through the arrivals bay and followed the signs toward Customs. At Customs, despite having four different lines, they were still backed up by about a dozen people each. Azuk picked the shortest one and got ready for a long wait. It appeared they were checking any luggage through a scanner, and then everyone had to step through a full-body scanner, and then finally to a customs officer that probably checked any identification. Azuk carried most of the identification in the wallet. His Omniwatch ID rested in a front pocket under a piece of transparent plastic so it was clearly visible.

It took about half an hour for Azuk to come up next. One of the security officers waved him to the body scanner where he was told to put his arms out and then hold. After several seconds he was given a green light and proceeded to the customs desk. "Government ID please." The officer said. Azuk fished it out of his wallet and presented it to the customs officer who typed a few things into his computer and handed it back. "Thank you. Next."

Figuring it was only because he had nothing on him and because he was a corporate employee, obviously, Azuk was content that it only took about a minute to get through. Now though he had to find out where exactly he was going. On a hunch, Azuk pulled the datapad from his pocket and ran through the information. Sure enough various maps of the commercial area of the headquarters had been downloaded upon setting foot on the base. Right now it showed he was in the arrivals section and ahead was a tram system that would take him to the base's hub where most of the stores and restaurants were.

After narrowing down the stores to clothing stores, Azuk found them very vague in just what they would be selling. He finally settled on one that was called 'Terran Imports'. He at least had an idea of how humans dressed and figured they were largely the same regardless of the world. That one also had the possibility of importing from Earth, hence Terran, or perhaps Mars. It would surely be more expensive, but Azuk hoped that it would also be a higher quality than most other stores would probably carry.

Despite acting as one of the arrivals areas for the station, the corridor to the trams remained relatively empty, with only a few dozen people in the 20 or so meter long corridor. Notably though he noticed that all of them are human. With it being relatively open, Azuk picked up his own pace to get to the trams before the one currently sitting at this end left. He could only see one and didn't want to wait however long it would take the next one to arrive. Getting down the corridor and up to the platform took only about a minute. Azuk managed to slip into the tram just before the doors closed. The tram itself only had a handful of people on board, so he was able to find a seat.

As soon as the tram doors closed, the car began moving. Starting slow on its magnetic rail, it was traveling quickly out of the arrivals section of the headquarters as it reached the partially submerged section of tunnel into the hub section of the headquarters. The transparent roof of the tunnel allowed sight of Horizon and the rest of the corporate headquarters. The tunnel didn't last long at the high speed the tram traveled at, disappearing under another building as the tram slowed to a stop in the hub section.

Azuk left the tram quickly as the doors opened and followed the directions on the datapad to the Terran Imports store. Unlike the arrivals section, the hub is full of people. It took him through the lower level of the hub and then up a set of stairs to the second floor. On the second floor, the store was on the corner of a crossing between the two main corridors of the hub. Azuk tucked the datapad away as he looked over the store. It had all glass around the section the store took up in which Azuk could see the various racks of clothing. All the clothes he could see, as expected, were very human. He was sure he could find something though.

Upon stepping in, Azuk noticed the cashier, human of course. He gave a look over to Azuk that could be best described as 'confused'. "Ah, welcome." The cashier said. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"A new outfit." Azuk said. "Something other than the jumpsuits the company provide." He added on just in case being an Omniwatch employee would give some manner of discount.

"Oh we certainly have that. I figure since you're in here you're probably looking for something less... well, Tesgno?" The cashier said. When Azuk gave a slight nod, the cashier did the same while pointing to one corner. "Right, well I am not sure if our pants selection will fit you appropriately. I can have our tailor come in to refit any choice you may make. Most shirts should be fine." He pointed to another corner of the small store. "I'd also recommend a jacket for you if you're going down to Horizon. It's colder than Great Home and I'm not sure if you're used to that. Most should fit well enough. If you have questions, I am here. Dressing rooms are in the back if you want to try anything on."

The first corner Azuk went to was for the pants. They were all folded rather neatly on the shelves with a few tags for the various sizes. It didn't take long before Azuk realized that the sizes he saw here compared to ones he was used to on Great Home weren't nearly the same as the ones he saw here. Being fairly large, by Tesgno standards, Azuk picked out one of the bigger pants sizes and unfolded it. As he held it up to judge the size, he was fairly certain that he could have fit someone else into the pants if he tried to wear it.

Going down several sizes, Azuk settled on a dark blue pair that appeared to be about his size. He could feel they are just a basic, if heavy, fabric and hoped they'd fit mostly well. He carried the pants over an arm and grabbed one of the belts that caught his eye first. From there he went over to the shirts and just grabbed a fair sized grey shirt. It appeared to be a simple grey fabric shirt. With no logos and seemingly nothing more than pulling it on over his head, he figured it would be about the same as the Tesgno equivalent. With the clothes in hand and draped over an arm, Azuk headed into the dressing rooms at the back.

It took several minutes for Azuk to make the clothes fit properly, and that took some modification. He had to roll the pants up above the knee, where they stayed in place with only some pressure around the knee. With the belt he was able to make the pants fit properly. The shirt ended up a bit too large, but Azuk just tucked it into the pants as he had seen on other humans with other clothes. He wasn't really satisfied with it, but he figured it would look fine. As he looked into the mirror, he knew he needed a jacket as recommended.

Azuk stepped out of the dressing room in the outfit. He had checked for tags prior to actually putting them on and found none so he figured he could just pay for it even with them on. Given he had a jumpsuit and didn't want to work his way back to the cruiser just to change clothes, he hoped it wouldn't be an issue. As soon as he stepped out, he went for the racks of jackets. After pulling out the only one that caught his eye immediately, Azuk put it on. With the weight and the stiffness he knew it was a leather jacket. Satisfied with the coat since it fit well, Azuk went to the counter.

"Well, that looks rather... well, human. Good choice." The cashier said. He tapped a few buttons on the computer. "That comes to eight hundred twenty credits."

Despite having expected it to be more expensive compared to any other store, the price still surprised Azuk and he hesitated at the price. Azuk pulled the card from his pocket and handed it to the cashier. He had hoped it would be less expensive since he only had a little less than a thousand credits, but knew he'd probably only wear the outfit for a day or two at most. In moments the card was returned to him and Azuk left the store. He had removed his corporate ID from the jumpsuit and left it behind since he didn't want to carry it around and knew Omniwatch would either get it back to him or otherwise clean it and put it back into their stock.

As Azuk looked around from outside the store, he was thinking about anything he could do to kill time. Before he could actually decide on something, his datapad chimed with the noise meant to signify a new message. The message itself was simple. Only a few paragraph long, it stated that his contract had been terminated and he is to report to the Valiant for transfer back to New Home. Part of him wanted to flee to Horizon, but he knew all too well if he didn't start moving toward the Valiant, Omniwatch's security teams would probably escort him there against his will.

It took less than about fifteen minutes for Azuk to return to the Valiant. Outside the airlock, a pair of the ship's security officers stood. As soon as they saw Azuk they grabbed him and pulled him through the ship to the brig on the bottom deck. The officers removed everything, including the clothes he had just bought, and then put him into another orange prisoner's jumpsuit. The brig of the Valiant only had a few cells, and Azuk got the smaller one. Unlike the solid door of the alien ship, the Valiant's cell made use of metal bars to keep him inside.

Azuk sat down on the thin foam bed and looked out past the bars. He wasn't surprised that it came to this after losing one interceptor and then getting captured. The silence in the cell, like the alien one for the few minutes before he was moved, gave Azuk more time to think. Something told him that it was Rahimi that got his contract terminated, but he didn't know for sure. What he did know was that he wasn't just going to sit here and be sent back to prison.

The repairs would take about three days, if that was the reason for the leave, and then it'd be about four days back to Procyon. In that time he could come up with an escape plan.