Category: Story Post

“Ah, Mrs. LeFay. How kind of you to join us,” Captain Lucas Tankersley quipped. He was a decorated Navy officer, who’d been given the job of ‘herding cats’ aboard the Aurora as an easy way to finish up his career – and keep him away from the front lines. At least, that’s what Alex had heard, but she didn’t know why. She guessed that the perpetual cup in his hand had something to do with it. “Sorry, sir.” “Well, as long as you’re here, take your station. We could use your expertise.” “What’s happened, sir?” Tankersley nodded towards the main viewer. Alexandra followed his gesture and gasped. There, frozen on the screen, was the grainly, black-and-white image of an alien’s face. It looked male, though Alexandra had no way of confirming that without a more extensive examination of its anatomy. It also possessed a sleek pelt and pointed ears on the top of its head. Its features were startlingly similar to human interpretations of anthropomorphic animals. In this case; a cat. “Copernicus detected the first radio transmissions from their world less than a hour ago,” Lucas informed Alexandra. “We have a triangulation on them; only ten light-years away. We’re moving out, immediately.”

The combat golem shook and staggered back, internal systems processing the force of the kick. It determined that it had not received lethal damage and continued the attack, stabbing down at her viciously. She hissed as one of its claws pierced her tunic, withdrawing with traces of blood upon its edge. The golem was not allowed to inflict lethal wounds, but it could injure an unwary opponent all the same. She was slowing down. Sensing weakness, the golem pressed its offensive, jabbing at her with its many limbs. She grabbed its forearms tightly, servos hissing as the unit attempted to pull itself out of her grasp. She brought her knee up into its underside and the golem shuddered, but again it determined this not to be a lethal-level attack. She threw the golem back, buying herself the time to climb to her feet, a single drop of blood slipping down her side from where the unit’s claw had broken her skin. Her arms and legs felt as if they were made of lead and the golem still functioned. Damp with sweat, her outfit clung to her skin. The automaton prepared to a charge, but she held up a hand. The machine froze in its tracks, recognizing the order to abate. It was only a training match; there was nothing on the line, nothing to prove against a simple automaton. But it kept her fit, kept her toned and ready. Another moment was coming, one in which she wouldn’t be pitted against a simple device, but against flesh-and-blood Enemy. In that fight, there would be no surrender, nor could there be. It was what she was, what they all were. There was no creation without destruction, no glory without sacrifice. No survival without murder.

The ship shook. Three – four – times in rapid succession. “What happened?” a junior officer asked, his dirt-streaked face drawn, eyes wide. “Are they firing on us?” Goldstein laid a hand on the cadet’s shoulder. “Steady, lad. And no, they aren’t. Unless I miss my guess, they hit us with breaching pods. We’ve been boarded.”