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CH 6, The First Engineer

The meeting of the guild masters in the old guild house was not as the usual gatherings where they discussed new business, ore production, scrap processing or the design of a new ship. Not the dissatisfaction of the general population and ways to deal with them were on the agenda. The Union embargo was still new and had just been implemented. Yet it was much more effective than the Guild masters wanted to admit. Union markets were suddenly closed to them, but that was not the worst. The Union Armada had turned around and was now entering Karthanian space. The Resource manager standing before the big table facing the powerful guild masters. "They are all gone, every single worker has disappeared. I pursued a fleet of scrap scows, most likely filled with the escaping scum, but a Union warship threatened me with destruction if I was to open fire." The Hull Builder became very nervous. He, like the others, knew of course that there were Union citizens among those slaves, but he knew there were some that knew of his secret, the hidden Freon colonies. Aloud he tried to be boisterous and said."Send our warships to deny the Union entry into our space. We do not want xeno contamination." The Ship Outfitter responded ."The Oghr that operate our ships do not want to engage the Union armada and the Karthanians able to operate ships do not know how to fight them." "We stand no chance against the Union juggernaut, we should negotiate and see if we can defuse the situation by offering reparations and a change in policies." The Steel and armor master suggested. Now the weapon master asked."If we have such a weak force, relying on mercenaries that swear to one master only, the one called money and have none of our own that know how to fight, how would we have stopped a Togar invasion?"

--""--

The corridor outside our prison cell was bare bones as the room we had been kept. There were a dozen or so similar doors, most likely leading to similar prisoner holds. The corridor itself terminated on each end with a sturdy looking doors and an obvious visual sensor. "If someone is watching visuals of this corridor, the subtle way is out my shiny friend." "Only the one to our right is active. The one of the left is deactivated. I don't think the camera is pointed the right way to see all the way down to where we are." "That means one entrance is guarded and leads to somewhere while the other is not." He pointed to small lights mounted above each door."If those indicators are what I think they are, two of these cells are occupied. Shall we burden ourselves with other prisoners or try to get away ourselves?" "I think we better check on them, we know nothing of this place. Maybe one of the prisoners has more information we can use." "Give me one moment, Captain." "For what? Want to kick that piece of work back in there?" "It would provide me with temporary satisfaction indeed, but the distance to the active camera is quite long for my nanites. If we move anywhere further to the right, we are certain to be seen." He made sense of course and I was very thankful for the resourcefulness of my Chief engineer. The active security sensor was now slowly changing its ankle. Circuit explained. "My nanites affecting the positioning drive. All they see now is a gray wall." I gave him a nod and actually hoped someone would come and check why this camera was looking at a wall, I really felt the need to find an outlet to my anger." Circuit had no problem using the egg-shaped device to open the other cell doors. The first one held a Karthanian who leaned against the gray wall and grunted."Do whatever you want with me, I am not selling out." He looked up and with a surprised tone in his voice."Captain Velvet?" I too found it unusual that a Karthanian would recognize me on sight. The only Bone faced Karthanians I know were Captain Sposhtrah, who was hopefully on Alvor's Cove and that traitorous Grtonner Icylemh, that lay dead a few doors down. "You know me?" "I am Grtonner Icylemh, of course, I know you, Captain. You saved all those slaves and freed many Karthanians!" To call me confused was an understatement. "I am pressed for time as it is, but if you are Grtonner Icylemh, who did I kill?" To Circuit I said."I did kill that bastard, did I?" "Affirmative captain, this is not some sort of cyber reality. They don't work on my nanites." The Karthanian got up. "That was my older sibling, no doubt. I shed my secret identity too soon, upon return to Itheamh, I was captured. My sibling Gharrhtur Maceuyt was the one that sent me to the Smelter Moons in the first place. I have not ascertained how exactly he was able to take my place or fool all of you but I am glad he is dead." Somehow it made sense. It certainly validated my friend Narth. "We don't have much time indeed, are you against Xenos?" "Captain, I spend more years along Xenos than I did among my own kind. I was betrayed by Karthanians and I keep being rescued by so-called Xenos. I love and respect my friend Ninety as much as a Karthanian can respect and love a Togar." Circuit said."Do you know where we are?" "Yes, I think we are in the basement of the old Guildhall. This part is maintained by the Engine builders." I peeked back out, there was no movement so far."Do you know where these doors lead?" He also peeked out the door and pointed towards the door with the active, but thankfully now badly aligned camera. "This one leads to the Chambers of the Engine builders and has exits to the surface and the big entrance to the old guild hall. There are sentries, both live and automatic ones." Then he turned and pointed towards the other."This one leads to the old basements, I do not really know what is down there, other than storage of all sorts of alien tech we captured or collected to be analyzed and if useful copied." "Let us check what they stored, maybe there is a passage or connection to the sewers or some other exit." "Why not the other way?" Grtonner asked. "To engage armed guards we need weapons and I am not sure how much back up they can call." Circuit pointed to the other door with an active light."Can we check who's behind that one?"

--""--

Stahl stood with his legs apart and his hands crossed behind his back before the large view screen. Those who knew him called this his no-nonsense pose and his most serious responses were to be expected. He was on the verge of exploding, even Captain Harris did his best turtle expression, even though none aboard the ship was the target of the Immortal warriors' anger. The viewer changed and it showed the image of several Karthanians grouped around a central chair upon which an impressive dressed Karthhanian sat. "I am the High guild master of the Hull builders and demand that you turn around your invasive presence at once." "I am Admiral Richard Stahl. I care not at what you find offensive. The catalog of Karthanian offenses against the United Stars, however, is extremely offensive to us. I am authorized to use whatever force I deem fit to deliver you our answer. The latest offense by kidnapping a Union Captain of a planet that made an application to Union membership, however, is beyond everything you did so far. I am going to use Planet busters on every single planet, even considered Karthanian. I will rain Marines on Karthania and kill every single one of you, no negotiations no second chance. If said person is not returned to us within sixty minutes from now, I will demonstrate to all of you how I earned my reputation. There will be war; the war of the ultimate kind. There won't be any Karthanians left." Stahl gave his Comm officer the sign to disconnect. "You will reject any contact attempts of them unless they call with the coordinates where we can pick up Captain Olafson." To the tactical officer, he said."Any ship that leaves that planet is an open target. Not as much as an automated drone is to leave that world. Deploy all Wolfcraft! Psionic assets to scan for Union minds in the system. You detect any captured Union citizen use whatever force necessary to free her or him. I am done pussyfooting around these xenophobic seahorses."

--""--

"Nineteen ships have been destroyed! Our sacred system is so thick with Union and Nul ships that we could not evacuate a Juki fly!" The Weaponbuilder master complained."It is their Eternal Warrior himself. We can do nothing but comply! Why did you abduct one of their captains?" The Hull builder was aware of his many sins and he was already thinking if suicide might be an acceptable solution, but he had no idea about any abducted Captain. "I did not authorize or order any such action. I do not know what that cursed Union demon is lying about!" "He is many things, Hull builder," the Ship systems master yelled, "he is a forceful enemy, he is uncompromising and he is hated by many, but the entire galaxy knows he never lies, he does not have to." One of the aids to the Engine builder stomped forward and pointed his long finger at the Engine builder. "At the dusk of our civilization, I can not remain silent. It was us, the Engine builders. Gharrhtur's son who is our leader now sanctioned what his father did. We abducted the person that initiated the liberation of the smelter moon slaves and an associate of hers." Hehrrhtur Maceuyt, the current engine builder guild master knew about his father's scheming. It was through those actions, the Icylemh have swept aside and the Maceuyt became the guild leaders. He knew his father kept doing things to maintain that position and worked on gaining the lead overall, but he did not know any details. He spat."Will you listen to the fabricated lies of a doomed aide or my word? I know nothing of any abducted captain." "We believe the facts. The Union is here with accusations that your aide has just substantiated." The Hull Builder responded."Now for the sake of preventing war, release the captured at once. We have little time!"

--""--

The being in the other cell was completely unknown to me. It had gray skin, a large head with black almond-shaped eyes. The only other being that I saw, looking like that was the stasis frozen Freon in the secret bio lab hidden under the surface of Tabernacle 12. The being showed signs of torture and looked at us, quite equally unprepared to see someone else than Karthanians. Grtonner, however, made a hissing sound and said."It is true then, the Hull Builders hiding a Freon colony." "Freons?" I said disbelievingly." Aren't they made extinct even before the Union was formed?" The gray being got up."Yes, we were made extinct by the cursed Terrans indeed. Genocide in form of robot bombs rained on every Freon world. Our civilization destroyed in a mere moment." "Well, that does it for me. You are not an ally." I was about to turn and finally get started on our escape when the being said."Will you leave me here, the Engine builders cannot afford to leave me alive when my existence becomes known." I sighed and walked out."Try to keep up then, we are not exactly a rescue party but prisoners who managed to escape their cells, but not the prison." The door with the non-functional camera, looked like it hadn't been used for ages, but the grime and dust-covered door sensor actually recognized Grtonner's biometric and it opened for him. The door squealed in its tracks as the mechanism pushed the door panel open. Light elements came on and revealed a downward leading ramp. The air was dry and stale. As we advanced down the steep ramp, the door behind us squealed shut. We didn't talk much as we kept advancing down. It was hard to estimate but I guessed we had covered at least a klick before the Duro-crete ramp leveled into yet another corridor. This one was wider and had alcove like storage bays to each side. Filled with crates and machine parts, nothing I could identify or make use of. The being identified as a genuine Freon of all things had not spoken much either when it yelled."A sentry robot!" The next instant, a bipedal tall robot with raised weapon arms stepped into the corridor. It spoke in Karthanian first. Circuit whispered. Captain this is a genuine Cerberus Mark One. Issued to the fleet in 3502!" I went out on a gamble."The robot, recognize Captain Erica Olafson, United Stars Spatial Navy. Scan MITI" The robot switched to standard Union lingu."MITI scanned, command authority recognized. Additional software of non SII origin has been installed." "Purge all non Union apps, reset to factory conditions. Recognize Union authority alone." "Please stand by, this unit must reboot." Just as the robot shut down, six armed guards. Five Oghr and a Karthanian in green and blue uniform leading them came running down the ramp we had just cleared. Grtonner yelled. "What is this, Hull builders in the basement of the Engine builders. Is the conception and betrayal of cursed Hehrrhtur Maceuyt going even past guild lines?" I had nothing on me in terms of weapons, as I saw the armed Karthanian aim his line blaster, so I yelled on top of my lungs and rushed as fast as I can towards the alien. My scream and my approach must have affected his aim. He didn't hit Grtonner but burned a sizeable hole in the shoulder of the Freon, who went down with a painful groan while I collided with the Karthanian. Now in close combat, I brought my boot heels in play. Using my toes I had switched the heel profile and razor-sharp ultronit edges had appeared. With my left foot, I swiped across the snout of the first Oghr, while I pulled with all force I could muster on the Karthanian's arm. Circuit was not far behind me, using his machine speed to avoid the weapon blast of another Oghr and twist the head of the one he attacked, with a rapid and quick move. I could hear the sickening cracking of bones over all the other noise. The fourth and fifth Oghr, however, had time enough to react and would have been our doom, but a sun bright TKU bolt rendered most of the fourth Oghr's body into molecular ashes. The weapon bolt originated from the apparently rebooted Cerberus. The last Oghr had no chance to even surrender, he too was killed by a weapon blast of the robot. Circuit tossed the Oghr he had just killed and rushed to the fallen Freon. The Oghr with the sliced snout had both his hands pressed to his bleeding face but was not making any moves in the presence of the old but still a quite lethal Union war machine. Circuit shook his head as he looked at me."The Freon is alive but I doubt he will be much longer, he is unconscious but I do not know if it from wound shock or something else." To the robot I said."Shoot the Oghr if he makes any sort of offensive move." "Instructions understood." I gathered the line blaster of the Karthanian, I saw Circuit and Grtonner doing the same. I now focused my attention on the blue and green dressed Karthanian. He was still alive, but it appeared Karthanian physiology was not the same as that of a human. I had basically yanked its arm right out of its socket. Greenish almost black blood seeped from the sleeve, only now I realized I was still holding the Karthanian's arm that was completely separated from the rest of the being's body. "I want answers, Karthanian or I tear the other one out too!" He was obviously in a world of pain, but he mumbled. "The Freon! His existence must be kept secret by all means..." He didn't say anything else because I realized he had died. Just then another thundering bolt burned the wounded Oghr to ashes. The robot explained."The designated individual made an apparent offensive move." "Let us barricade the ramp just in case there are more, who knows how much energy that old robot has left after all those years." "One does know its energy levels." Circuit checked the readouts and said."I do too, that old timer has twelve percent energy reserves left before it shuts down. Perhaps two or three days worth." With the help of the robot, we placed heavy machine pieces before the ramp exit, in the hope to slow down any others coming after us. While we did that, Circuit discovered a well-hidden service hatch, behind a steel shelf. The robot had no problem ripping it right out of the wall, the opening was just big enough for us to crawl through but not for the Cerberus. "Robot stand guard and prevent anyone from following us." "Instructions understood." I crawled through and rejoined Grtonner and Circuit. We had emerged into a cavernous chamber of sorts. The walls lined with blue odd shaped and different sized bumpy tiles. The floor was of a similar bluish almost translucent material. In the middle of that large hall was a huge octahedron shaped object, unlike the dim illumination coming from the walls and the floor, the central thing looked dead. Grtonner said."We actually made it into the Chamber of the First Engineer. I had no idea there was a crawl way connecting it to our own basements." I looked around and didn't see anything or anyone else."While we are here, any chance we can wake the guy?" He has been asleep for over 700 of your years and long before I was born. I know there is a missing chip or key component and it has to be inserted somewhere, but I have no idea how or where. I have been here before trying to wake the engineer somehow, but I was captured." "You have failed them and you will fail now." A booming voice declared. I could not locate the source of the voice that apparently came from everywhere. Circuit held up the little black thing."I think I do have that key. Some of this looks like very old X101 technology. Long before the X101s were Union members or even forced slaves to the Kermac." The voice became even louder."You must not wake the Engineer! I summoned those who will prevent your attempts." From opening wall panels, ball-shaped things with many legs appeared. Almost like spiders but with perfectly spherical bodies and no apparent heads or eyes. They had the size of large melons and were bluish in color. I had no desire to find out what these things would do if they caught up with us. Concentrated and with a forced calm I aimed and fired. The weapon blasts did destroy or kill whatever these things were, but more and more panels opened and more of these things kept appearing. "Grtonner, Circuit go try to wake whatever it is inside that Octahedron. I try to keep these crawlers from reaching us. Go hurry up, there soon will be too many for me to shoot."

--""--

The sixty minutes were almost up as Stahl was informed about a planetary assault already commencing. He was already annoyed and quite concerned about Erica. The USS Tigershark had failed to intercept the fast little destroyer in time before it reached Karthania. The Tigershark was now sitting in one of Devi's hangars while Har-Hi, Narth, Shea and most of the Tigershark senior crew were on the bridge of the Devi. They had no active function aboard the Devi and had to remain quiet observers. Stahl responded to the report."Whoever jumped the gun has to answer to me. We still have 11 minutes to go. Whatever the situation. I always keep my word!" "Sir, those are not Union units. The Nul are here and attack everything Karthanian in sight!" Stahl formed the words."The Nul?" Silently and then turned to Xon who was like Sobody and several of the new crew members also part of the Tigershark crew allowed on the Devi bridge."The Nul?" "Sir, I mentioned the details of the situation to my life giver. He declared Erica...I mean Captain Olafson to be a member of our family after she saved my life. We Nul take those things very seriously." Stahl sighed."In another situation, I would almost feel sorry for the Karthanians." Then he motioned to his Communication Officer. "Establish a connection to the All Gray please."

--""--

The situation was anything but looking good. We had no place to go. The round spider things flooded the room and the only reason we had not been overrun was the fact that they hesitated every time I vaporized a bunch of them. Now I was low on energy, but I could not switch to another weapon, even a few seconds would have been enough for them to overwhelm me. Circuit and the Karthanian worked on something behind me. I could not tell as I did not dare to look and miss one of those creepy things. They made no sounds other than the clicking of their legs if these things were life forms they died without a sound. "Hurry up guys whatever you are doing." Circuit responded. "Almost got it, captain. Someone really went all out to make sure this thing isn't waking. They even gunked up the activation receptacle..." "Circuit, I got maybe twenty bolts left, and there are still hundreds of them." "Well the key is in and it appears energy levels are rising fast." A cracking sound from behind me told me that something was happening. Grtonner spoke in Karthanian and Circuit's voice was not to confidence inspiring, especially as he used it to say."Sweet Mothermachine what in the Galaxies name is that?" A new voice spoke."Xenos here?" Again Grtonner spoke in an urgent tone. Whatever he did made the spider things stop their advance. Not a moment too soon, as I was down to my last bolt and the things were now less than two meters in front of me. I used the moment to toss the overheated and completely depleted Karthanian Line Bolter and reach for the second one I had taken from one of the dead Oghr. I risked a peek. The Octahedron had cracked open like a blue egg and an utterly strange being was rising in its center. Engulfed in slimy white goo, dripping of the creature in honey like drools. The thing was about 12 feet tall and there was a very remote resemblance to Karthanians. The thing was bluish and had some red streaks in its organic shaped body. The thing had two arms with long thin claws. What I assumed to be its head did resemble at least in shape a Karthanian. Grtonner stood before the thing in a very devote fashion and kept on speaking in Karthanian. The thing appeared to be made of a similar material as the wall tiles. Some kind of translucent bluish stuff. Now the creatures turned his head directly towards me."A soft-shelled Xeno! An intruder bringing doom to Karthania. Tenders will remove you, the mechanical Xeno appears of X101 origin and may stay to render services that I need now that I am awake!" The spider things kept moving again. I had about enough of this and aimed the gun at the big entity."Stop them, or this soft-shelled xeno will send you back to sleep, permanently!" "You dare to threaten me? I am the First Engineer?" A shimmering force field engulfed the being."Your weapon is rendered useless. Now be devoured." The first spider thing had reached me and I kicked it as hard as I could, a second one replaced the one I had kicked away. The forcefield collapsed just as the First Engineer finished speaking. I didn't waste the opportunity and fired a bolt into the bluish rubble before the being."Sent your helpers back or by Odin, I empty that line blaster's energy into your head!" The engineer howled in anger, but the spider things retreated. "How can this be? I am supreme on Karthania." Circuit held up his hand."I render services to my Captain first and I got most of your systems under control." Grtonner now spoke in standard lingu."First Engineer you have been asleep for a very long time. These Xeno's helped me to wake you, as Karthania is under the control of traitors!" "You are the traitor." There was that loud voice again and this time we could see from where it originated. A dozen or so Karthanians in dark green outfits appeared from an opening wall panel, accompanied by a large number of Oghr and odd looking battle robots. Their leader, prominently leading this force spoke again."You managed to wake the First Engineer, but now that he is exposed we will shut him down forever." I jumped over the bluish rubble, splashed into the whiteish goo and took cover. A laser blast cooked a piece of the bluish stuff, just as I managed to duck behind. I aimed carefully and drilled a big black hole right into the blue dressed leader. While he collapsed the loud voice did not fall silent to my dismay."Foul Xeno wench we will..." The rest of the threat was drowned in an ear-shattering explosion. Much of the opposite wall collapsed into debris and dust. A horde of purple four-armed monsters in battle suits and armed with large Nul Froth casters stormed in, stomped spider things to mush. Nul attacked! The Oghr turned in a panic, the Karthanian dropped their weapons and the strange looking Karthanian battle robots were rendered to scrap in mere moments. One of the purple monsters yelled."Are you Black Velvet?" "Yes!" "Our prince was very upset about you being abducted by these cowardly weaklings, our All Leader sent us to make sure they will understand the error in their action." Now Union marines came in along with a platoon of Type XI Cerberus. The First Engineer, who moments ago wanted me devoured was, despite being utterly alien, quite shocked. However long he had slept, he clearly remembered the Nul. "Is this the day of doom, that has been foretold?" "I would say this is very likely!" Through the breach hole, another marine stepped into the chamber of the First Engineer. Wearing a dark red Quasimodo with the letters USMC and an old symbol depicting an eagle, a planet and an anchor. Coming from an ocean planet with old-fashioned boats, I knew what an anchor was and looked like, but I could not identify the unit that logo belonged to. The face that stuck past the helmet initiator ring, however, was well known to me, Admiral Richard Stahl!" "Olafson take your friends and get out of here. You have never been here. We talk later and I take care of the situation here." "Sir, how?" "There is a landing tank outside, piloted by a certain Dai. Your ship is in orbit."

--""--