This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/jpitha on 2024-07-02 20:24:19+00:00.

First / Previous / Next

Eternity was a large ship, but it was still dwarfed by the Gren station. With a puff of thrusters, and a clang of hulls, the Dreadnought made contact.

The boarding party stood a few meters from the sally port. The shock troops mirror polished, black armored pressure suits stood in opposition to Fen’s Empress armor. Hers was pure white with gold and blue accents, almost like porcelain.

“I must reiterate, Empress, you don’t need to-” The commander started to speak.

"Regardless, I am coming. This was my home. I know this place better than any of your maps. Fen’s body language was hidden by her armored pressure suit and solid white helmet, but the commander could hear the warning in her tone. She shifted her battle rifle slightly.

“O-of course, Empress. Still, it is our responsibility to protect you. You will be safest aboard Eternity.”

“Your responsibilities are to capture Tam’itarr alive and ensure the survival of your team. Leave me to me.”

The commander saluted, and said nothing.

Fen turned towards the sally port. All of her Dreadnoughts had them in a few strategic locations. Ships had missiles, slug throwers, and exawatt laser batteries, but sometimes they had to board ships and capture them. It looked like a regular airlock, except the outer door was replaced by high speed cutters. The ship would make physical contact with the object to be boarded, and the cutters would force an opening, allowing boarders to attack in person.

After a few minutes of cutting, the light over the port started flashing yellow. “Get ready,” the commander shouted. “Remember, keep collateral damage to a minimum, do not go wild. We’re here to capture someone, not take over the station. Guard the Empress.”

The light turned green, there was a loud buzz of an alarm, and the sally port snapped open. Everyone’s rifles snapped up and they entered the station.

The captain had chosen their location well. They were attached midway down the station, in a random corridor. Fen had been slightly worried that they would open up right inside one of the common areas and would be under attack immediately, but she had nothing to worry about.

It was… odd. Fen wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t this. After exiting the hall, Fen was able to orient herself easily. Down this way, turn here, around this pillar, through this archway, past the warning light that has been blinking her entire life without ever being repaired.

She was home.

Only, it wasn’t home. Not really. With no Ma-ren, this place was only a pile of memories and hurt. The sooner they captured Tam’itarr and left, the better. Fen shook her head slightly inside her helmet, making sure the helmet didn’t move. She tried to shake herself of the memories.

Fen led the boarding party walked through the station, weapons at the ready but not actively pointing at anyone, but the few people they came across… didn’t care. People barely looked up, let alone running away or attacking. The only people who bothered to look at them were children. As soon as they did, their parents shooed them back into their domiciles. The third time it happened, Fen felt a little silly and had everyone lower their weapons. They all straightened up and began to walk more normally.

“Empress… do you know what’s going on?” The commander said, looking around. “This wasn’t the reception I was expecting.”

“No, commander, I don’t know either. Many people on the station had joked that they had seen ‘everything’ and that nothing would surprise them, but I didn’t think they would take it this far.” Fen’s faceless white helmet turned towards the people sitting in cafes who were pointedly not looking at them. She toggled her comm. “Weapons, please confirm you disabled their reactors.”

“Empress, we have confirmed strikes on three of the five energy sources that we determined to be reactors. Additionally, we were not fired upon while boarding.”

“It sure doesn’t look like their reactors are down, Lieutenant. Lights are on, there are no alarms, everyone is enjoying their afternoon.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “Empress? You’re sure? Everything is up and running?”

Fen tisked. “Why would I lie to you, Lieutenant? It’s almost as if you didn’t strike any of the reactors at all.”

“W-We will reconfirm our shots, Empress. We will contact you in moments.”

The line disconnected and Fen stopped walking. “I don’t like this.”

“Yes, Empress. it feels like a trap.”

“Weapons ready.” Everyone snapped their rifles back to their shoulders and spread into a defensive pattern. Meanwhile, Fen strode up to a young Gren man sitting at a cafe, reading a pad. “You. What is going on?”

“Hmm?” He lifted his head and looked at Fen. His expression tried to remain the same, but she saw his mouthparts twitch slightly before he spoke. “Nothing is going on, it’s a normal day.”

“Oh for the love of-” Fen cleared her helmet and locked eyes with the Gren. “W̴͈̃h̸̐ͅá̶̞t̷͇̽ ̷̪͌ì̵̬s̶̪̀ ̵̢͛g̴̹̿o̶͓͒ï̷̪n̵͚͆g̶͕̍ ̴͌͜o̴̲͂n̶̨̛?̴͇̇”

“We were ordered to ignore you.” He answered immediately, almost without thinking. Once he realized what he said, he reared back, frightened.

“Who ordered it?”

He stood up from his chair quickly, knocking it over. He was backing away from her gaze, trying to escape. “Tam’itarr ordered it! He runs the place now!” Still reversing the Gren tripped over a table set and turned around and took off down the hall, running. One of the soldiers readied his rifle.

“No, don’t shoot him. There’s no point. He told me what I needed to know anyway.”

It felt like someone was pushing her over. That was the thing she remembered first. Fen had no idea what getting shot was like, but it really felt like someone took a sharp shove to her shoulder. Her suit squealed at her that she was taking fire, and to get to cover. Fire? She’s being shot at? Her second thought was of Ma-ren. Was this how it felt for her?

Fen fell to the deck with a thud. The armor had absorbed the majority of the shot, but there was still bruising and pain. While on the ground, there was another shot to her helmet. This one was much louder, with a metallic thwack sound that came from behind her. They absolutely were shooting at her! The nerve! Fen rolled onto her back to try and get up, and she was shot again. The suit was getting quite cross with her, with the internal screens lighting up with GET TO COVER in red and AVOID GETTING SHOT. Hmph. That seemed a little sarcastic.

With a rush of noise, her perception of the world sped up. The commander was leaning down and clinked his helmet to hers, enabling the suit-to-suit. “Empress! Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m all right. The suit - even though it’s sarcastic - is doing well. Have we determined the source of the attack?”

“No, it’s from multiple locations. We need to get to cover!” He helped her up, and everyone encircled her. Crouching low, below them, they started moving as one towards the restaurant that Gren was eating at before the attack. Fen could hear the shots ricocheting off the strong Imperial armor, but if they brought out any heavier weapons, they’d start taking casualties.

“Empress! Empress!” It was the Lieutenant from weapons. “We were duped! The energy sources are gone, the reactors weren’t there. It’s a trap, you need to get off the station!”

“Yes Lieutenant, we were able to figure that out on our own.” Fen’s vision blurred slightly. That shot to her head had made her brain vibrate some. “Please fire upon the station. I would like for them to stop shooting me.”

“Uh… Empress? With all due respect…”

“Yes Lieutenant, spit it out, I am under fire right now and don’t really have time for protocol.”

“Why don’t you just Voice them and make them stop shooting at you?”

Oh for Ancestors sake. “Yes, thank you Lieutenant. That’s an excellent idea.”

Fen stood up straight from the huddle of her soldiers and toggled her external speaker.

Č̶̨̚ě̸̬a̵̓͜ṣ̷͊͝ẻ̵̪ ̷͇̼́͋F̴͎̒í̸̺̌r̵̡͇̈́̋e̶̡̤̋̿!̵̧̥̇!̸͔͝

The shots stopped immediately. There was a commotion coming from some hidden corners. Probably attackers trying to figure out what is happening.

S̴̺̒h̵̺̃ȏ̷͙w̴̘̄ ̸͎͌ỳ̵̰ö̷͙́ȗ̶̡r̷͚̂s̵̠̕e̸̬̿l̶̛͜v̵̻͋ȇ̴̩s̶͓͊ ̷̋ͅr̴͉͐i̷̦͒g̵̡̒h̶͚̅t̸̻͋ ̵̫͌n̷͙̐ò̵͎w̶̩̑.̶̠͋

About a dozen people walked into the hall from three locations, one behind, one parallel and one in front of them. It was a motley crew of mostly Gren with a few K’laxi and some Sefigans with them. All were using modified human rifles and submachine guns. Old, poorly maintained ones, modified for other sapient use.

“Where’s Tam’itarr?” Fen said.

“He’s holed up somewhere up towards the top. He has a group of those old K’laxi refugees with him.” One of the Gren said. He was shorter than most of the other Gren, with a dark fur flecked with gray.

As Fen’s eyes passed over the group, she came across a familiar face. A face that was burned into her memory. A K’laxi with half of an ear notched, with dark brown fur and a smug grin.

It was him. The one who shot Ma-ren.

“You!” She pointed, her finger shaking with rage. C̴̦͗ǒ̴̰m̷̻͐e̷̘̾ ̵̜̚h̷͔̀e̸̠͋ŕ̶̫ȇ̷͕.̶̨̀

The K’laxi stepped forward, walking robot…

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1dtvrhd/between_the_black_and_grey_51/