Galactic
Unity 2
By: Mark J. Hadley
* * *
"Approaching Centraxia, everyone," Blossom said, watching the navigational screens as she prepped the computer to pull them out of faster-than-light travel at the appropriate time. There had been some worry that any nearby Invaders would spot them as they left the nebula, but they were fortunate; sensors picked up nothing in the area, and it looked like their passage would go unnoticed. Even as they neared Centraxia, they saw no sign of them, which filled them with relief.
Nodding at her announcement, the professor said, "Everyone secure yourselves in your seats."
"Okay, Professor," Bubbles said, pulling the safety restraints over herself, and looked over to see Buttercup did the same from her seat. Smiling, she sat back and said, "Silver, c'mon, you too."
Silver had been pacing anxiously by the window, but finally returned to his seat when Bubbles called him, still not taking his eyes off the window as he strapped himself in. Buttercup grinned a little at him and said, "Getting excited, huh?"
"I can't believe we're almost there," Silver replied. "I'm going to lay eyes on my homeworld for the first time. You don't know how much this means to me..."
"You're going to love it," Blossom said, looking back around the edge of her seat. "If we're approaching from the right side, we might be able to spot the Repository from space."
Silver fidgeted a little more in his seat, then looked over at the professor, commenting, “You haven’t seen Centraxia either… I would have thought you’d be as excited as I am, but you seem so cool about it. How do you manage it?”
“Oh, I’m excited, all right,” the professor replied, smiling. “Believe me, I’d be hopping up and down in my seat as well, if conditions were different.” He stopped smiling and looked forward again, continuing, “I’m just reminded of the seriousness of this trip. This is no longer a sightseeing tour, after all…”
Nodding, Silver said, “Yes… do you think the Repository will really be able to figure out how to stop the Invaders?”
“Perhaps,” the professor said, “but perhaps not. At the very least, the data we’re bringing from our encounter should help. We know they’re vulnerable to concentrated light, but resilient to physical damage otherwise. I hope it’s significant, although I don’t see any relation to their ‘infection’ ability.”
“Me either,” Silver agreed.
Before the conversation could go any further, Blossom announced, “Everyone secure? I’m going to drop us out of faster-than-light…” Everyone reflexively gripped the arms of their seats to brace themselves, as Blossom activated the singularity generators, jarring the ship to a halt once again. This time around, the professor recoiled from the stop, but recovered quicker, as he was better prepared for it.
“Are we there?” Bubbles asked, already starting to unbuckle herself from the seat.
Blossom nodded, “Yes, we’re approaching… the…” She trailed off as she looked out from the window. Bubbles looked at her curiously, then glanced out of the window, along with the others, and gasped at the sight.
Previously, Centraxia had been a sight to behold: a planet covered in cities of gleaming silver, bright even from space. Now, that brightness was gone… how much of the city lay in devastation was difficult to tell from orbit, but it was extensive. Large, telltale scorch marks, each maybe a hundred miles wide, dotted the surface. The sheer contrast with how they remembered Centraxia was staggering.
A silence hung in the air as they all stared out the window at the sight of the planet, in shock. After a few moments, Buttercup spoke up, “The Invaders,” echoing what everyone else was thinking.
“Has to be,” Blossom agreed. “My gosh… it’s…”
“…it’s horrible…” Bubbles finished for her, eyes welling up with tears.
Silver got up from his seat and walked slowly over to the window, pressing his hand against it. His face showed a mixture of sadness and disbelief. “Everything I ever wanted… it’s gone now, isn’t it?”
“Maybe not,” the professor pointed out. “Blossom, is the Repository still there?”
Blossom worked the controls and scanned the surface. She checked the readouts, and her heart sank as she reported, “It’s… not there. It’s completely gone…” As everyone’s faces fell, she suddenly added, “Wait… but I am picking up life…”
“Survivors?” Silver asked, brightening.
“Yes,” Blossom answered, and smiled as she confirmed the readings, “A lot of them. Biomechanical life signs everywhere… they’re scattered, but they’re still there!”
“We don’t have time to lose, then,” the professor said. “Find a landing spot and bring us down. We have to help them, any way we can. Try to put us near where the Repository was, so we can examine the area, too.”
“Roger!” Blossom nodded, keying in the landing cycle. Everyone got back into their seats as the ship descended towards the planet. It’s amazing how often things have changed, Silver thought, buckling himself in his own seat… What started off as a voyage of discovery has turned into a mission of war, and now probably a rescue operation. I can only guess what other surprises are in store for us…
* * *
The ship penetrated the cloud cover and continued its descent… it was dusk on this area of the planet, but even though it was getting dark, they could see the damage, especially now that they were up close to it. Some buildings were toppled, others smashed or damaged by weapons fire. A large number of buildings remained more or less intact, though, which seemed odd, considering the rest of the devastation. But the city was definitely not sprawling with life like it was before… there was no movement at all, no sign of anyone about. Noting the lack of visible survivors, Bubbles asked, “Where is everyone?”
“Probably inside,” the professor said. “Taking cover, or taking care of wounded. My goodness, look at this place…” He watched as the ship glided past a building that had partially collapsed, leaning up against the side of another building, debris littering the streets beneath it.
Buttercup nodded, “Yeah, it’s a wreck… how come the Invaders didn’t destroy it, though?”
“Probably wanted to capture it,” Silver suggested. “But… if that were the case, wouldn’t they still be around? I don’t see them anywhere…”
The professor rubbed his chin, “Hmm… maybe they were after something, and once they got it, they left. That would explain how come they didn’t finish it off. Or maybe… the Centraxians might have found a way to fight back against them.”
“We’re almost there,” Blossom said, pointing out the front of the ship as she guided it forward. The site where the Repository used to stand was up ahead… a huge, empty gap where the once towering structure stood. Now that they were practically there, however, they noticed another significant detail…
“It’s not there at all?” Bubbles wondered. “Not even pieces of it?”
Blossom shook her head, “It doesn’t look like it. No debris, just a big empty space. It’s like it was just taken aw—…” She suddenly gasped, as she said, “Professor, maybe that’s what they were after! The Repository!”
“Yes… yes, that makes sense,” the professor agreed. “All the knowledge about the galaxy they collected was in there… knowledge they could use against us.” He bit his lip as he continued, “If they got a hold of that, we could be in more serious trouble than we thought.”
“I’m bringing the ship down near the edge of the clearing,” Blossom said, keying in the final landing sequence. “We can investigate from there.” The ship lowered slowly down to the ground, landing on the terrain with a few soft bumps and settling into place. Once they landed, everyone got out of their seats and started heading for the rear of the ship.
The hatch opened, and they emerged out into the desolate landscape. There were a few small vehicles that had been abandoned, and one that had crashed into the side of a building. There were various signs of wreckage littered across the streets, and some rubble from a building that had collapsed across the center of it. Bubbles looked around, then cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”
There was no reply, just an eerie calm, the only sound coming from a slight breeze that blew through the street. Bubbles looked up at the professor, who said, “All right, let’s find them. Were there any readings near here, Blossom?”
“Plenty,” she answered. “There were a few in that transport station up ahead.” She took to the air and started flying towards it… the other girls each took one of the professor’s arms and lifted him into the air, following Blossom. Silver spread his wings out and crouched, leaping into the air and flapping a few times to gain some altitude so he could glide after them.
It took them about two minutes to reach the transport station. The transport, which looked something like a hovering train, had left the magnetic rail and crashed into the side of the station. A huge gap had formed where it impacted, which gave them plenty of room to find a way inside. Blossom reached it first, and carefully drifted in, calling out, “Hello? Anyone in here?” The others approached from behind, following her inside, and Blossom continued to shout, “It’s okay to come out, we’re friends!”
No answer came for a few moments… then, they heard the sound of some rubble in the distance shifting. Smiling, Blossom headed further inside… it was dark, but she could still make out the outline of someone climbing up from behind some debris. “Are you okay?” Blossom asked.
The figure made its way up and started towards them… as it emerged from the darkest shadows, though, all of them froze in alarm. It was definitely a Centraxian, but his skin had taken on a darker color, a spider web of black metal covering the surface like a discoloration. He was clutching his arm, likely due to an injury, and as he approached, he looked up, opening his eyes… they didn’t glow the familiar blue they expected, but rather, a deep red. The eyes showed menace and hatred, but also something else, something that looked like fear…
“What… w-what happened?” Blossom stammered, backing up a step. The Centraxian didn’t answer… instead, he give a strange hiss and suddenly started moving faster, running towards her. He let go of its arm, and the claws emerged from the hand, pulled back in preparation to swipe. With a startled yelp, Blossom leapt into the air, avoiding his swing.
The group kept their position in the air, looking down at him, who looked back up and gave a snarling hiss, in an animal-like fashion. Silver was gaping at him from where he was hovering… What’s wrong with him? He thought. It was almost like a polar opposite of the intelligent, peace-loving Centraxians he had been expecting…
“Look!” Buttercup said, pointing… deeper inside the station, they saw more glowing red eyes becoming visible, more of them approaching quickly. The one on the ground, in the meantime, had unfurled its wings and was preparing to take flight. Buttercup gritted her teeth and said, “Uh, maybe we should get out of here…”
“Agreed!” the professor said, and all of them quickly turned to fly out through the gap from which they entered. As they emerged into the dusk night, they could see the other Centraxians in pursuit, five of them emerging from the station and taking flight after them.
The professor had already figured it out, and started explaining as they headed back towards their ship, “Girls, it’s the Invaders… their ‘infection’ works on computer systems, and at the cellular level, Centraxians are robotic. It must be the infection controlling them!”
“I think you’re right,” Blossom said, glancing behind her, “but they don’t really look like they’re under control, if you know what I mean.” The Centraxians were keeping up pretty well… she wanted to fly faster, but she knew that it might cause Silver to be left behind…
She suddenly realized what it meant if the professor was right, and called over, “Silver! Don’t let them get too close to you! You might get infected, too!” Silver nodded back, and tried to keep up with them the best he could. Their ship wasn’t far, and Blossom wondered if they had enough time to get inside and take off before the other Centraxians reached them.
It didn’t look like it would matter, though, since up ahead, they began seeing more shapes taking to the skies… more infected Centraxians. They were converging on their position, cutting them off from the ship. “Now what?” Buttercup shouted. “Do we fight ‘em?”
“There’s too many!” Blossom said, trying to think of a solution. “We have to watch the professor and Silver, too!” She looked below to see if she could find a safe avenue of escape, but her heart sank as she saw more of them emerging from the rubble and looking up at them. We’re surrounded! she thought. By now, the first Centraxian they had seen had reached them, and as it flapped furiously to catch up, it bared both of its claws. Blossom was the closest, and raised her arms to defend against the attack when it came…
A blast of energy abruptly flew up from below them, striking the Centraxian in the chest. Electricity arced across its frame, and it went into spasms, falling out of the air a moment later and plummeting towards the ground. Glancing down, Blossom looked for the source of the blast in confusion, and spotted it below: a shuttle-like vehicle amongst the debris. A Centraxian female was perched on the vehicle’s roof, some type of rifle in its hands. The Centraxian looked normal, not infected like the other ones.
“Down here, quick!” she called out, and the group didn’t hesitate in heading for the shuttle. As they descended, the Centraxian jumped down from the roof and climbed into the cockpit. The rear door opened, allowing them inside, and they flew into the back quickly. The doors closed behind them, and the shuttle quickly sped off into the fields of debris, leaving the infected Centraxians behind. They gave up pursuit as they were outdistanced, one of them letting out a loud, echoing screech in frustration.
Inside, everyone settled down on a set of benches in the back to catch their breath. “Wow… thanks!” Bubbles said, floating up towards the cockpit. “Who are you?”
“My name is Jiexela,” she quickly explained, not taking her eyes off the shuttle’s course, steering to avoid debris. “It’s a good thing I spotted you… we can get you to safety now. I’m afraid I don’t have anything better for defense other than this stun rifle, though, and that only slows them down.”
“What happened to them?” Silver asked. “Was it the Invaders?”
Nodding, Jiexela said, “They came here, looking for the Repository. Our defensive shields held against their initial attacks, but then they started sending troops in. That’s when the first of us started to get infected, which turned out to be a blessing as well as a curse…”
“What?” Blossom said. “How could that be any good?”
Jiexela looked back over her shoulder and said, “I’ll explain shortly. For now, we just need to get to safety, before they track us down.” She faced forward again as they entered the darkened tunnel. Everyone stayed quiet, saving their questions for later. Silver especially had a lot to ask, and despite all the terrible things that had happened to Centraxia, he found himself thrilled to be in the presence of another of his species. He knew he would have to do his best not to let his curiosity get the better of him, since he was now more concerned about his future than his past…