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Chapter 4

Date: August 28, 2741

The next day they awoke to silence with the acception of a few transports moving through the station itself and the ventilation system pumping air in. Jack and Kyle got out of bed and showered then got ready. Today was the day. Jack followed Kyle over to the dock where he was told that, due to the amount of work that was done today, they wouldn't need him. So Jack asked him to join him on the Avius. They made their way over to the ship where the head mechanic, a male ape in a flight suit with strands of grey throughout his fur, was standing at the ramp leading to the Avius.

"She is ready for you Mr. Lockhart." He said. "We installed a jamming device as an additional counter measure as well as put in a whole new shield generator, top of it's line, and reinforced the hull plating in key parts of the ship. We have reloaded all missiles and have made sure the plasma turrets are ready for use."

Jack nodded to the man and took the pad and put his signature on it. "Thanks." He said as he looked over everything else. Engines were indeed upgraded to a higher tier than he originally paid for but for the same price as the tier he wanted, the shielding module was no extra same for the plating. Weird. "You sure you want to give me these upgrades for free?" He asked.

The Ape laughed. "Oh, you're staying here to help us defend the station. It's the least we can do to make sure you're as safe as possible while out there. Just make sure to make it back in one piece." He said.

"Hopefully with all the ships out there we can make it through and won't lose the battle." Said Kyle somberly, his ears drooping a bit.

"Kyle, we are not going to lose this fight. We have at least one hundred ships, about ten of which are warships, majority of them are freighters with heavy armaments, two carriers, and a capital class star ship. I doubt those Lothians would even be able to make a dent in the defenses. not to mention the dozen or so ODP's orbiting around the planet with their ARC's ready to go." Jack said, trying to stay upbeat about the coming fight and keep Kyle's spirits up.

Kyle nodded lifting his ears up a bit. "Yeah, we should be able to make it through this." He said.

The Ape nodded to the two as they boarded the Avius. There was a spare seat that was tucked away into the wall of the cockpit that was for copilots that Jack pulled out for Kyle. He had told him that there was a spare flight suit with reserve tank in one of the rooms in the living quarter and after an hour of pre-flight checks they were off. They left the station and joined the group around it in a defensive posture. Jack keyed his com over to the stations and listened in as it's defense force checked in. Jack glanced over at Kyle to see him completely tensed up, his eyes focused on the displays in front of him. "Weapon Systems are online and ready to go." He reported to Jack.

"Good, shields are up counter measures are ready." Jack responded. He looked out the window to the space in front of him when he caught a flicker of pseudo motion. He saw a small light appear away from the planet but going straight for it. He magnified his view as much as he could and saw the marking's of the UGSM on it. "What the..." He said as he examined the ship. "It's a Patrol Ship." He said to Kyle. He examined it closely and saw that it had already taken some damage and was venting atmosphere in sections of it's hull. "Get ready." He said. and suddenly, behind it, there dozens of flickers of pseudo motion as several warships, two carriers, and a few freighters appeared behind it. All of them glowing dark red with the black scale like hull plating glimmering in the distant sun's starlight. He gasped with Kyle as they watched them open fire on the Patrol Ship tearing it apart. He cut the magnification but not soon enough. They caught glimpses of bodies being flung out into space then being hit by the ships as they rammed through the remains of the Patrol Ship.

"All ships, do not engage enemy until they are within the kill boundary." Came a sharp female voice over the com.

"Affirmative Aura Station." Jack responded along with the other ships pilots. They waited for another few minutes before all hell broke loose. Explosions, phaser fire, and plasma turret fire ripped through space impacting on ships from both sides. Hundreds, if not thousands of smaller shapes left the two carriers on the Lothian, and hundreds left the Carrier on their side along with the multiple other warships. Him and Kyle took care of a few of the fighters that got close to the station while the other ships moved to engage the small freighters coming towards it. There was a brilliant flash as one of the defending ships exploded, a majority of it atomized quickly but they saw debris flying towards the station. "Shit!" Jack shouted as he maneuvered the Avius out of the way of a giant chunk of hull plating. He looked at where it was heading and saw it going towards the bottom of the station. He swung the Avius around to go after it. Kyle began locking all weapons on the chunk and fired. Sections of the chunk started to atomize and splinter off into smaller bits but it was too late. It collided with the bottom of the station. A small portion of the round sphere beneath shattered and atmosphere escaped along with a few bodies squirming in the vacuum of space. Jack bit his lower lip and moved them into position to take on the remaining Lothian forces. He saw one of the UGSM's warships obliterate and then a Lothian warship get cut in half then start to explode with pockets of explosions rippling through the hull.

..................

The station shook violently and Levin was flung off his feet and onto the ground. "What happened?!" He screamed over the cacophony of klaxons going off. Air was rushing past him and he felt the air get thinner.

"Hull breach!" Responded a voice as a hand reached down to help Levin to his feet. "We have to leave!" The man said as he Levin got stable. Sparks flew from the now dangling power cables, glass shattered all over the floor with metal plating loose and some of it bent into multiple shapes on the ground. There was another explosion and a scream that was cut off immediately.

"The specimens are loose!" Came a female voice, it was ripe with panic as she started to run towards Levin but then was stopped when a paw wrapped around her face and pulled her back. Levin watched in horror as a young Wolf Pelzigan bit into her neck and tore a chunk out. Blood spraying into the air and her screams dying out.

"Get to the elevator! Initiate Containment Protocol One!" Levin ordered as he and the remaining scientists near him moved quickly to the elevator. One of them hit the call button and the doors suddenly opened. They crawled into it and started to punch the button for the elevator to ascend. Levin watched as the young Wolf Pelzigan stopped eating his meal then looked over at the group in the elevator. He parted his dry cracked lips showing razor sharp teeth then opened his mouth to reveal what was originally a tongue, now a bulging pulsating sack that hung out. His face was partially destroyed revealing bits of muscle of bone, his entrails barely managing to stay inside after what appeared to be shrapnel hit him in the gut. His left foot was fine, however his right foot was but a stump. a parasite squirmed it's way out of the sack and onto the floor then started to move towards the elevator, same as the young Wolf. Levin screamed in horror as the elevator door closed. The young Wolf slamming face first into the doors denting them, and the parasite now inside with them. It jumped up and tried to attach itself to Levin's face. He could rows of razor sharp teeth biting away as he held it at arm's length screaming in terror. The other scientists around him shouted in horror. One of them grabbed it from behind and helped Levin yank it off then threw it on the ground. Levin regained himself just as the scientist had tossed it then stomped on it. Black red goo splattered all over the elevator as he squished it causing a few more screams. Levin continued squishing it until it stopped moving and, as far as he knew, died. They all breathed heavily as the elevator shot upward. One of the scientists gave a sigh of relief.

"Containment Protocol One is initiated sir. The lab is now completely sealed. All vents shut down and blocked off down there along with multiple bulkhead doors sealing it off completely." She said as she slid down and sat down looking blankly at the pad in her hand.

Levin nodded. "Good, we need to report to the Rear Admiral as soon as we get out of this elevator." He said.

..................

The battle raged on for at least another hour. The Orbital Defense Platforms, or ODP's, fired away at the hulls of the enemy ships with their Accelerated Rail Cannons, or ARC for short. The rest of the defense force slammed away at the attackers defenses until only a few Lothian starships remained and were then forced to retreat. Jack and Kyle watched as the last ship flickered with pseudo motion then vanished. Jack took a deep breath and let it out. They had survived but with some damage to the Avius. "Well," Said Jack "We did it. It's over."

Kyle nodded. "It's over." He said slumping into his chair.

Jack maneuvered the ship into an angle for docking into Aura Station. "ASC this is the Avius, request permission for docking and repairs?" He asked over the com. There was silence and static. "Aura Station Command this is the Avius, requesting permission to dock and repair. Do you read me?" He said again.

After a few more seconds of silence the com came to life. "This is ASC, sorry for that Avius we are experiencing a communication malfunction. Our array took some damage in the fight. Request is granted and you are clear for docking." Came a relaxing female voice. "Please proceed to Docking Bay Thirteen."

"Copy ASC, will go to docking bay thirteen." Replied Jack. He reached over to Kyle's paw and rubbed it with his. "Time to go home huh?" He said looking at him. Kyle nodded. Within a few a minutes they were docked at the station and leaving the pad, paw in paw, smiling and wagging their tails. Inside there were a few loose panels and sparking electrical and power cables dangling from the ceiling, crews moving back and forth working on repairs. They made their way over to Kyle's place and then sat down on his couch once they got inside. The fighting was intense, but within the next day or so those that were evacuated from the station and planet would start returning.

Kyle went into the kitchen to prepare a meal for the two of them while Jack relaxed and turned the TV on to see if anything was now playing. The news stations on the planet were reporting the failed attempt of the Lothians while also stating that aid was on it's way from Leben along with a detachment of Guardians to help ensure the peace on the planet. He eventually got a channel with an, from what he gathered, was an ancient Human movie about some subterranean monsters attacking a small town in some desert landscape. He sat back and watched it. After a few more minutes Kyle returned with two plates of food and handed one to Jack. "So, what's Leben going to be doing?" Asked Kyle as they watched a man get sucked through a tire and eaten making Jack giggle a bit at the cheesiness.

"Leben is dispatching a detachment of Guardians to help ensure the peace along with aid for those that remained behind." Jack said watching the movie. Kyle relaxed right next to him and laid his head on Jack's shoulder. They sat there watching it until the end when one of the protagonists jumped out of the way of the monster and let it plummeting towards the ground below. "You know, I will never know why Humans keep such ancient entertainment playing, but i do like some of it." Jack said as he looked over at Kyle and smiled seeing as the Canine was falling asleep. He wagged his tail as he remembered what the Humans would call him, a Great Dane Pelzigan. Interesting to him. He put his plate on the floor along with Kyle and then lifted him up in his arms and made his way over to the bed and tucked Kyle away then curled up next to him. They had made it.

........................

Doctor Levin was sweating bullets at the site of Rear Admiral Whitcomb's gaze. "We had to initiate a Containment Level One on the lab sir. The impact had allowed some of the specimens to escape. We also had multiple casualties of our own down there." He said.

Whitcomb nodded in acknowledgement. "As long as it's contained. I don't want word of this getting to the Pelzigan Government. We all know how they would react to this." He said. "When do you think it will be safe to reenter the lab?" He asked.

Doctor Levin swallowed. "It's hard to tell, we never really got around to seeing how they handled zero G, let alone a lack of atmosphere sir. They could still be alive or frozen completely and dead." He said. "And even so, I won't be going down there without some form of protection to see."

Whitcomb nodded again. "I will detach a group of my most trusted marines to the station to help you investigate the lab. If any of the specimens are still alive they will either be recaptured or destroyed completely. Doctor Stentsky was able to move some of them, and Project L over to the Yurin Station correct?"

Levin nodded. "Yes sir, two days ago. Project L is showing promise with merging Human gene's with Pelzigans." He said.

A smile crept across Whitcomb's lips. "Perfect." He said.

After several more minutes of the debrief of the incident Doctor Levin was back in his quarters attempting to relax, but unfortunately failing. Hopefully they could regain the lab and continue their research here.

Within several hours he received a message that the team had arrived and went to meet them at the labs elevator. All of them dressed in black combat gear, only one of them, a Human Female with black hair, brown eyes, and her dark brown skin almost matching the suit saluted to him. "Doctor Levin, my name is Alicia, we are ready to go in." She said.

Doctor Levin nodded. "Now, I am sure all of you read the info that was given to you however there is one thing I need to let you people know. Doctor Liddy is one of the infected. If she has survived she should be easily containable and I'd prefer her alive. She's showing something completely different with the parasite and I'd like to study her further. The rest, it'll either take extensive shots to key parts of the body with multiple rounds to kill the infected. The parasites have wrapped themselves around the Cerebral Cortex and the body can take a punishment before giving out. You want a clean kill, aim for the head. It'll destroy the parasite releasing the host and then killing them. Be careful down there. We have examined a few of the specimens possibly changing via camera's that we still have operational down there." He handed the team leader a pad. "This pad will allow you to see what is going on in the area's with the working camera's. Once you are down there we will lock in containment so only three ways this mission ends for you guys. Either kill and or recapture all specimens, escape via vacuum over to a nearby ship that Rear Admiral Whitcomb will have near the lab, or death. We can not allow this parasite to get loose under any circumstances. If there is a chance containment will fail we will detach the lab section immediately and once the thrusters attached take it to a safe distance we will destroy it completely with Phaser fire by the Relentless. Good luck." He saluted them back out of respect and watched as they pulled off a service hatch and climbed in sealing the hatch closed behind them. He really did hope they would successfully regain control of the lab.

...................

They made their way down to the lab within an hour climbing through Service hallways and Jeffery Tubes until they reached the sealed bulkhead door leading to the lab. "Ok people," Alicia said, "Be ready for anything. The specimens are dangerous and volatile. Any movement from them then use your stun gun to detain. If that fails switch to rifles and take them out for good. They may look like kids, but they are not." She watched as Calvin, her tech expert, knelt in front of the bulkhead door and started putting in the code. They all wore suits designed for combat in Zero Gravity and Space. The air around them, according to her sensors, was vented and the suits air supply kicked in immediately. The bulkhead door slid open without a noise. All she could hear was her own breathing. Complete silence. They exited through the bulkhead door then closed it behind them locking it up. Inside the moderately sized lab she could see the extent of the damage. A portion of the lab on their side was torn away revealing the twinkling stars of space with two bodies floating lifelessly in space. The hallway arced around a central area with dead computer monitors and panels. All the lights were completely dead except for emergency lighting which didn't help them see much. "Activate night vision." She ordered as she tapped a small button the side of her helmet and suddenly the area around her was washed in green and all the items and bodies outlined in bright yellow lines. Much better. "Gutierrez, Minok, go check on those two floating there, make sure they are dead and then drag them back here. Rest of you with me. Watch your six." She ordered through her comms. There were the usual acknowledgements as Gutierrez and Minok deactivated their magnetic boots and used the thrusters on their backpacks to move into space to check on the two bodies. Alicia and the two remaining squad members continued down the hallway. It would be easy, move along the outside of the lab and take care of any infected there, then move into the lab itself and secure it then call in the repair craft to fix the damage. At least she hoped. She knew how fast these missions could go FUBAR. They found three bodies and, after checking them to see if they were still 'alive' they shot them in the head several times just to make sure. After twenty minutes of searching the area outside the lab, and Gutierrez and Minok returned, they entered the main part of the lab. What Alicia saw she knew that no amount of drinking would let what she saw be forgotten. In the mouth of one of the young Pelzigans, a Wolf, more like a Timber Wolf type, held the remains of a man's body by the neck in it's jaws. It's eyes still seemed to shimmer with some life but did not move. If it was making any noise they wouldn't be able to hear it at all. Gutierrez gave a disgusting noise as he made his way towards the Pelzigan and dead Human scientist. When he got close there was a twitch of movement from the Pelzigan and the eyes shifted towards him. Gutierrez screamed in surprise over the com system and backed away holding his rifle ready to kill it. It's jaw slowly released the neck and the body drifted slowly down and bumped against the floor. It's movements were extremely slow in the Zero Gravity but nonetheless, it was moving. Once it stood up she fully saw the Pelzigan was fully naked. He was missing a foot as well as what appeared to be his entrails drifting around him in the complete lack of gravity. Gutierrez fired several shots into it's head and it slowly slumped and started to drift aimlessly.

"What the fuck?!" Gutierrez shouted in the com. "How?! The other two me and Minok checked were definitely infected but they weren't moving! Let alone 'alive'! How was this one still 'alive'!" He panted.

Alicia took a deep breath. "Apparently there's more to these things than Doctor Levin told us. Come on we still have Doctor Liddy, three more Pelzigan Infected, and now two more scientists to locate and destroy, or capture." She said over the com. Within thirty minutes they located the two remaining scientists, both torn apart and certainly dead after they fired their weapons into their heads. But where was Doctor Liddy and the two Pelzigans? For another five minutes they searched until Minok muttered something. "Come again Minok?" Alicia asked.

"Ma'am, above us." He said through clenched teeth.

She looked up above and her mouth dropped open in horror. Above them she could see Doctor Liddy's distraught face poking out of what she assumed was a black mass of goo with the two Pelzigans, eyes glowing red, staring down at them. Their arms and legs dug into the black mass but had what looked like snarls spread across their faces. "Jesus Christ." She muttered. She aimed towards the black mass and waited for any movement. And there was none except for the red eyes following the Humans moving about beneath them. Doctor Liddy's mouth moved but Alicia had no way of hearing what she was saying, then a shrill sound seemed to drive into her head. She screamed out in pain as voices started to fill her head. None of them making sense. She glanced around and saw the rest of her team doing the same, kneeling over with pain stained faces. She looked up and saw the two Pelicans starting to move slowly towards them, digging their claws which where abnormally large into the black mass and soon into the metal as they crawled down towards them. She felt hot tears streaming down her face as she fought the pain and aimed her stun weapon towards the nearest one. Both where no older than teens she thought as she fired a blue bolt of energy towards the Female Pelzigan. It connected with the body and it seemed to writhe in pain then slump over in the darkness of space. They had already confirmed the death of most of the specimens and scientists. And the main prize here was Doctor Liddy. But one more Infected to be captured was a plus. She then dropped the stun gun and hefted her rifle still fighting back the urge to just give up and let whatever these things wanted to do happen to them. She aimed towards the other one and fire several shots. All of them missing. She cried out again as a new surge of voices and pain filled her head. It felt like her skull was being split open! She panted and moaned in agony as she aimed again and fired. This time the shots connected with the Infected and it flew backwards against the wall. It slowly got up and then crawled on all fours digging claws into the metal towards her. She started to cry as she fired several more times hitting the thing. It once again flew against the wall and stopped moving completely.

The voices and sounds seemed to be stopping now. She panted trying to calm down and then looked at her team. And was horrified at what she saw. Two of them stood up but their suits were torn up venting oxygen. They stumbled towards Gutierrez and she could hear the panting moans and groans of agony as they reached him. Gutierrez screamed a horrible cry of agony as they got on top of him and started to pull him apart tearing away at the suit then the skin. She screamed in anger as she stood up and unloaded on the three. After a minute of continuous fire she stopped panting and crying looking at the three bodies. She then looked around for Minok and saw him curled up in a ball in one of the corners shaking back and forth. She slowly made her way towards him and saw that he was, physically, fine. "Minok." She said to him. "Minok can you hear me?"

Minok looked up at her in horror. "Alicia, Ma'am, how could you?" He stuttered. What? She thought. "How could you kill them?!" He shouted at her when he saw the confused look on her face.

Her eyes widened in terror. "I didn't- They were already dead! They were killing Gutierrez!" She screamed at him through the com.

"No they weren't! They were helping him back up and you just shot them all!" He shouted back at her as he got to his feet then aimed his weapon at her. "God damn it woman you killed them!"

She backed away from him, eyes wide, mouth dry. "But....I couldn't have..." She said. She looked back at the three bodies and saw fresh oxygen leaking out of the holes in the suits, but didn't see any tearing marks on the suits. Oh god, she thought with sudden realization, what had she done?

...................................

Doctor Levin was at the hatch with a security detail when he got word from Minok that the job was done, but with three casualties. They had lifted the containment to allow them to come back up and when they did, what Minok told him, he couldn't believe.