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More from massXacceleration
Well it’s not the end of the month, or one month, but I think this is an improvement over previous upload times. Please enjoy this chapter, and if you liked(or didn’t like) what you read I’m always looking to improve.
RENI
Alarms blared, for a moment Reni was back on the rich Avali’s yacht. Red lights flashed in the cabin as metal groaned and creaked under the stress of warp jumping. Reni looked to her left to see Jack calmly staring out the glass, his gray eyes locked onto something outside the ship. Reni turned to look out the window to see what he was staring at. Outside the glass was empty blackness, there were no stars, no planets, and no nebulas, the universe outside that window was completely devoid of life and the sight of it sent a shiver down her spine. Reni turned to look at Jack only to find an empty seat. Reni scanned the cabin, but he was nowhere to be found. She pushed herself out of the chair to go look for him, but when she did, she found herself sitting up in her bed with the alarm she had set beeping from her desk.
Reni blinked a few times and inspected her surroundings, momentarily unsure if she was still dreaming or not, she looked at the bag on her desk and it clicked in her head. Suddenly remembering what today was, she scrambled out of bed and quickly began packing her important items left over from Tormoshi. When she finished she checked the time 0030, she had less than four hours.
Reni attached the sword to her belt and slung the bag over her shoulder. She opened the door and poked her head outside, surveying the corridor, no one was in the immediate area. Reni exited the room and did her best to try and retrace her steps from the previous day. She finally made it to the lift and pressed the same button the Lieutenant did. The lift dropped, and as she descended she realized she didn’t have an excuse to be there. Reni panicked slightly before looking down at her waist and seeing Jack’s knife hanging from her belt. She quickly unlooped the blade and stuffed it into her bag. The lift came to a stop and the doors slid open, she took a few steps into the communications room before an officer took notice of her.
“Are you supposed to be here?” He asked skeptically.
“Oh uh, no, b-but I was here yesterday and I think I may have left something in one of the comm rooms.” Reni replied nervously.
“Yesterday? I–”
“Well i-it was actually about nine hours ago, so technically it was yesterday but it might not feel like yesterday.” She stammered.
“Oh.” He said unamused. “Resalni! I need you over here.” A familiar looking Avali popped out of his chair and joined them.
“Yes sir?”
“Resalni, do you recognize this individual?”
“Yes sir, she was here a few hours ago to take a communication request.”
“Alright then, you can take care of it, I have too much to get done to be dealing with this right now.”
“Yes sir.” He replied. “Hello again Reni, I was not expecting to see you back here.”
“Hi, I would say the same, I was here nine hours ago, I would not think you would still be working.”
“Usually I would be done by now, but there is just too much happening right now for me to leave. Anyway, what can I help you with?”
“Oh I uh, I think I may have left something in one of the comm rooms.”
“What are you missing?”
“The knife I took from the Human.”
“Oh no!” He exclaimed. “That was such a beautiful trophy.”
“Y-yeah.”
“I can help you look if you want.”
“No no.” Reni said while frantically waving her hands. “I will be fine, I think your skills
would be put to better use out here, you have a lot of work to do right?”
“I guess you are correct.”
Reni breathed a sigh of relief.
“Go ahead and look, the doors are unlocked.”
Reni thanked him and entered the comms room, making sure to close the door behind her. The comfortable cool air of the dark room surrounded her as she made her way to the opposite side of the center console. Taking off her bag, she knelt down and slowly pulled back the zipper, grabbing a smooth metallic cylinder from within. She placed the device on the floor and pressed a button activating a magnet, causing it to stick to the base of the table. Reni pressed another button and a red light blinked on, then off. Reni zipped up the bag and slung it over her shoulder again before exiting the room.
Resalni looked back at her from his desk and asked. “Did you find it?”
“No.” She said. “I probably just left it in my room, I am a little messy.”
“I hope you find it.” He said before turning back to his work.
Reni called for the lift and stepped inside, as soon as the doors were closed she exhaled, relieved that her plan had worked. Reni opened her bag and pulled out her HUD visor, fastening it to her head. Reni checked the time, 0076. A small symbol appeared at the bottom right side of her visor indicating that she was receiving a strong signal from the device, which gave her some hope that her plan might actually work. The lift came to a stop and the doors opened, she stepped out and began wandering down one of the faded-beige corridors. After some time, she happened to find someone walking on the opposite side of the hallway.
“Hello.” She opened.
“Hi.” The other Avali said flatly, his face buried in a data pad.
“Can you help me find the hangar?” Reni asked timidly.
He looked up at her with a confused face, and with an unfriendly tone asked. “Why? Are you new?”
“Y-yeah.” Reni said while rapidly losing her confidence. “B-but do not worry! I will be leaving today.”
He looked at her for a moment before it dawned on him. “Oh, are you Reni?”
Reni nodded.
“Wow okay, I was not expecting to ever meet you.” The tone of his voice had changed dramatically. “C-can I see that knife you took?”
“Oh uh sure.” Reni reached into her bag and produced Jack’s knife.
“Amazing.” He said while staring at the weapon. “Humans really use these..?”
He reached out as if to touch it but Reni pulled the knife away. “So do you think you could help me find the hangar?”
He tore his vision away from the blade and returned his attention to her. “Oh, of course, follow this hallway until you find the lift. Get on and press the second button from the bottom and that should take you straight to the bay.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course.” He nodded, his eyes still tracking the knife as she put it on her belt.
Reni followed the soldiers instructions and took the lift down to the second floor. Reni stepped off of the lift and into a large open space that spanned several stories. The walls were lined with a small armada of light attack drones, stored together the most efficient way possible, leaving very little wall to be seen. From the ceiling hung larger manned crafts such as shuttles and other ship-to-ship crafts. And on the main deck there sat two ships, one was a shuttle with a sleek white surface and translucent orange solar panels sticking out the back. The shuttle had its boarding ramp open at the front and several Avali were coming in and out, loading supplies. The other ship was the yacht that she and Jack tried to escape on. The ship seemed to have been patched up with newly welded plates covering large swathes of the ship. From the side door of the yacht a thick black cable snaked its way out of the vessel and into an opening in the wall.
Reni looked around, nobody seemed to be paying her any attention. She casually walked up to the yacht and climbed inside. Reni followed the cable deep into the ship until it finally led into the reactor room. The cable was attached to a large outlet at the base of the reactor, she looked around the room, the battery she and Jack had removed was gone and the spot which it had been removed from had a new battery in it.
She thought about what this could mean. Obviously the destroyer’s crew were preparing to launch the ship, does that mean the ship had enough power to start the reactor? She walked back to the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot’s seat. This ship would definitely be easier for Jack to fly than the Avali shuttle, the only problem would be procuring codes to open the hangar doors. She inspected the console in front of her and flipped a switch titled ‘Main Power’ the interior lights fluttered to life and digital displays turned on. Reni panicked and quickly navigated the interface to turn the lights back off. Reni breathed a sigh of relief thinking for a moment that she had avoided detection.
An angry voice suddenly sounded off behind her. “Who do you think you are?”
Reni’s heart stopped, she was frozen in place, unable to think of anything to say in return.
“Look I get that this ship is a rare sight here,” The angry voice approached, “but that does not excuse you to–” Reni’s chair spun around and a female Avali was now staring at her with a confused look on her face. “Reni?”
“Y-yes?” Reni’s heart felt like it was pounding at over a thousand beats per second. “D-do you know me?”
Her cold expression melted slightly. “Yes I do, I was on duty when this ship was brought in, I watched them drag you out while you were holding onto that bloodied knife. It was quite a sight to behold.”
Realizing Reni might be able to spin this to her advantage she asked. “You remember that? T-this might interest you then.” Reni pulled out the knife for her to see, desperate to win her favor.
The other Avali tilted her head and inspected the blade. “This is the knife then. It is so primitive… Well Reni you still cannot be here, and I should honestly report this to leadership." Reni's heart jumped into her throat. “But… You have been through a lot recently so I think I can let this slide, as long as you tell me what you were even doing in here.”
“I-I am so sorry I know I should not be in here,” Reni pleaded, “it is just that I was in the area and I got curious when I saw the cable coming from the ship.”
“Curious? Honestly this is the last place I would expect you to come back to, given recent events.”
“I am not bothered by this place.”
“Hmm.” She looked Reni up and down as if she could tell if Reni were lying or not based solely on her appearance. “Well I hope your curiosity has been fulfilled. We are charging the ship just enough to get its reactor functional again.” She reached over and flicked the power switch back off. “We are, unfortunately, obligated to return this vessel to its owner.”
“I see.” Reni said in return. “My curiosity is fulfilled.”
“Good, now get out of here.” The Avali said while pointing towards the exit.
Reni nodded and climbed out of the ship. She looked over to the shuttle that was being prepared, two of the soldiers were looking at her skeptically. She hurried out of the hangar and into one of the corridors, silently cursing herself for her stupidity. Once she was a decent distance away she stopped and checked the time, 0162, less than two and a half hours, but there was probably only around an hour and a half of actionable time before security would be too tight.
Reni repeated her strategy from before and asked any crew members she ran into about where new prisoners were kept. Unfortunately for her not many people knew of Jack’s whereabouts, Reni suspected the reason for this was to keep tourism down, the prospect of seeing a real Human would definitely draw a crowd, it also explained everyone's infatuation with her knife.
Eventually she found a soldier who told her that he didn’t know where exactly Jack was but he knew that the prison was on the floor below them and that it wouldn’t take too long to find someone down there. She made her way back to the elevator she arrived on and pressed the bottom button. As soon as she made it to the lowest floor she noticed that the walls were now white and no longer at a straight ninety degree angle. The walls were bowed outwards at somewhere close to seventy degrees and in addition to that, there were almost no doors in the hallway. Usually there were plenty of doorways for things like offices, barracks, etcetera. But down on this level the walls were almost completely blank save for the few support beams that had the inverse angle of the walls and were pointed inward. Reni walked down the hallway for an extended period of time, looking for anyone that could give her the slightest idea of where to go. After a while, she stumbled upon a door that was guarded by two larger Avali. Reni checked the time 0205, she had about an hour before any guards should be showing up, how was she and Jack supposed to escape if they were watching.
She weighed the pros and cons in her head and decided that inaction at this moment would only leave her with less time later on. Reni walked up to the two guards with as much confidence as she could muster and asked. “You two guarding the Human, correct?”
The two guards looked at eachother with bewilderment, she had clearly caught them off guard.
The guard on the right spoke up first and skittishly asked. “Uh, w-who are you?”
Reni ignored the question. “Look friend, I need to get past you. I know that the Human is scheduled to be transferred to Avalon in less than two hours, and I need to speak to it before that happens.”
The guard on the left squinted his eyes and asked. “How do you know that?”
Reni smirked and said. “Obviously because the captain of this ship told me.”
“I-I think we should let her in.” The guard on the left stammered.
“What?” The other Avali demanded. “No, we were given orders, we are not supposed to let anyone into this room. And just because she said she talked to the captain does not mean she is telling the truth.” He turned to her. “And if the captain sent you down here, why have we not received any warning about your arrival?”
Reni paused for a moment before saying. “Well… the captain is a very busy person.”
“Not busy enough for you apparently.” He remarked.
“Correct, the captain took the time to personally greet me and to give me this.” Reni reached into her bag and produced a gray cylindrical object with various etchings on it.
“What is it?” Asked the right guard.
“A physical key to the ship.”
The two guards were speechless for a moment. The left guard broke the silence and said. “Okay, so you have a key, That does not change my standing orders. No one–”
“Hey.” The right guard nudged his friend. “Look at that.”
Left guard looked in the direction he was pointing. Reni saw his eyes widen slightly. “You are her.” He stated.
Reni knew they were referring to Jack’s knife as she had intentionally moved the blade to a more visible spot for this effect.
“That is proof, she has to be telling the truth.” The right guard stated.
The left guard was quiet for a second before saying. “Sorry, please enter.”
The guard pressed a button on a device attached to his belt and the doors slid open. Reni entered without saying anything, as she passed through the entrance she silently laughed to herself, she found it funny that she was able to bully those two so easily. Reni entered the room and the door shut behind her. The space was incredibly dim, several light fixtures casted weak soft light throughout the room. It was similar to that weird time right before nightfall as dusk is ending, where the dim last light of the sun just barely illuminates the ground, but people and objects become dark and featureless. Inside the room there were two sections, one section had a desk with several holographic monitors and what appeared to be at least ten data pads strewn across the surface. The other part of the room was barred off with no furniture of any kind and housed one sleeping Human. Unfortunately Reni was almost immediately confronted by a very concerned looking female Avali. “Um, I-I thought you were supposed to be taking the Human at 0300.”
“I am not the one taking him.” Reni responded. “I am just going to talk to him.”
“That would not be a good idea, he is very dangerous.”
Reni drew Jack’s knife and said. “I have beaten him before and I can do so again.”
“Oh, Reni, right… I-I still think that going in there is a bad idea.”
Reni turned to her. “Listen, I know what I am doing. Just look at him, he is already defeated and he knows it. Just open the door and let me talk to him.”
The Avali sighed. “O-okay, please do not cut him too bad though, it is my job to make sure he makes it to Avalon for trial.” She looked almost frightened of Reni.
“I do not plan on doing what I do not have to.”
The other Avali nodded and pressed a finger onto the lock of the cell and the door swung open. Reni walked up to Jack, who was asleep in the corner, and put a hand on his face. “Jack.” Reni whispered.
She waited but he didn’t respond.
Reni holstered the knife and put both hands on his head and shook him. “Jack.” She demanded.
Jack’s eyes shot open and he instinctively grabbed at Reni’s arms but froze when he saw that it was her.
“Hi.” Reni whispered.
“H-hi.” Jack repeated. “You’re here?”
“Yes.” She smiled.
Jack loosened his grip. “Why?”
“Why do you think I am here?”
“To say goodbye?” Jack guessed.
“No.” Reni smiled. “I am getting you out.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “N-no no–”
“Be quiet!” Reni covered his mouth. She turned back but the other Avali wasn’t looking at them. “I thought about what you said to me, ‘no second chances.’ I could not just let you go, not after you spared me on Tormoshi, not after you pulled me from that burning ship, and not after you trusted me to take care of you.”
“And what about when I said ‘remember me’ I am ready to die.”
“And what if they do not kill you?” She demanded. “What if they keep you alive on Avalon until you die from the cold or hunger?”
Jack didn’t say anything.
“I owe you my life, so let me do this.” Jack opened his mouth but before he could say anything Reni said. “My plan is already in effect so it is not even possible to stop now.”
Jack waited for a second before placing his forehead against her chest. “Thank you.” He said softly.
“O-of course.” She stuttered.
“What’s your plan for getting out of here?”
“When we leave, we are going to take the lift to the floor above us. Once the doors open I will sabotage the ship’s reactor. From the lift, it is a short sprint to a jump-capable shuttle that will have codes to open the hangar doors. We could take that or I could download the codes and we could steal the yacht we came here on.”
“That ship can’t fly anymore.”
Reni shook her head. “No, they fixed it, and charged the batteries enough for the reactor to start.”
“Alright, then we should take that one, I don’t want to chance it with a new ship.”
“Okay, now we just have to get out of here.”
“You don’t have a plan for that?”
“I had a plan.” She said defensively. “But it was a plan for one guard though and not three.”
“Where are the other two?” Jack asked.
“Just outside the door.”
Jack thought for a moment. “Alright, you’re going to walk back to the cell door and keep that Avali from closing it. I’ll run for the exit as soon as you’re in position.”
Reni nodded and turned to leave.
The other Avali was waiting for her. “What was that? How were you able to control it?”
Reni stopped at the entrance, positioning herself so that the other Avali couldn’t close the door. “Like I said, he has already given up ho–”
Reni watched in slow motion as the other Avali jumped back while reaching for something on her belt. Reni was pushed forward and hit the floor as a loud POP filled the room. Reni sat up and turned to see that Jack had wrestled a strange looking gun out of the hands of the Avali but not before getting hit. He plucked something out of his arm and tossed it to the ground. It was a dart, probably containing a sedative of some type. He cursed and returned the favor, shooting the other Avali square in the chest. Jack then picked up the Avali and pushed her into the cell, closing the door behind her. There was no time to reset because the main door to the room opened up, flooding the room with bright light, momentarily blinding Reni. She heard several POPs go off and when she regained her vision she saw that one of the guards had been struck four times causing him to stumble backwards and collapse onto the floor. The other guard, realizing that he couldn’t win, ran out the door, Reni scrambled to her feet and gave chase. The guard didn’t get very far before Reni drew her sword and pointed it towards his chest. The other Avali was quick to draw his own sword, knocking aside her blade. They traded blows and parries but it was obvious that he was more experienced at swordplay. He knocked her blade up and slashed down diagonally. Reni fell backwards in an attempt to dodge the attack but the tip of the guard's blade still managed to graze across her chest, leaving a trail of blood. Within an instant the guard was swinging down a fatal blow. Suddenly there was a clang of swords and the guard’s attack was deflected. Jack had taken the sword from the guard he had incapacitated and was fighting off the other. Reni jumped to her feet and grabbed her sword. Together her and Jack out paced the guard’s defenses until an overly forceful blow from Jack opened up an opportunity for her to strike. Reni thrusted her sword at the other Avali’s chest. Reni’s blade penetrated the flesh of the guard, as soon it did though her blade contacted bone sending a wave of nausea through her. This caused the muscles in her arm to go limp so instead of skewering the guard, he merely fell backwards instead.
Jack placed his blade against his neck. “Don’t try to comm this in.”
The Avali slowly stood up, putting his hands out to his side. Reni now recognized him as the right guard. “W-what do you mean? Why are you doing this?” He asked with fear in his voice.
“I know you do not understand, but if I did not do this they would have killed him.”
“Him?” He asked while pointing at Jack. “The Human? But you fought the Human, you took that knife as a trophy!”
“It was a lie!” Reni exclaimed. “This knife was never even mine.”
The guard stared dumbfounded at her. “But, he is a Human.”
“Why does no one understand? It does not matter that he is a Human! I am tired of these lies!”
“Lies?” The guard asked.
Suddenly a voice echoed from behind the guard. “You have made your point soldier!”
Reni recognized the snarky tone of Lieutenant Khaa, but why was he here?
Reni took a step to the side to look at the green and blue Avali. “Lieutenant, I do not want to hurt anybody.”
“I do not know if I should believe you.” He responded while walking towards them.
“Why are you here?” Reni asked.
“You were too open with our captain, he thought you might try to visit the Human before you left so he instructed the guard to contact him if you did.” Reni took a half step back as Khaa stopped in front of them, raising her sword again in the process. “I did not think one guard would be enough so I posted two of my own soldiers outside. I knew that you would try to disobey orders, but I really did not think you would betray your own people.” Without warning, Khaa drew his side arm and pointed it at Reni's head.
As Reni stared down the barrel of Lieutenant Khaa’s gun, she found herself unable to move. “We just want to leave, Lieutenant.” She implored.
“You are a traitor and a liability!” he shouted. “But you are still an Avali so I will not kill you. But I will have to do this.”
The lieutenant swung his arm over and aimed at Jack. Without thought or hesitation Reni sliced upward, cleaving the pistol right out of his hand along with one of his fingers and shattering the tip of her blade in the process. For a moment they just stood there staring at the injury. No blood leaked out of the wound and there were no cries of pain from the lieutenant. “An augment?” Reni wondered out loud.
Jack thrusted his sword at the lieutenant but Khaa was able to jump back to avoid it. Reni saw that Jack was trembling, the tranquilizer must be taking effect. The guard saw this as an opportunity and retrieved his blade, falling back to his leader.
“I knew I should not have trusted you to do the right thing!” Lieutenant Khaa screamed. “Soldier, you hold off the Human, I will kill this traitor. “
Reni at this point felt like she had no other choice, if she didn’t, reinforcements were sure to arrive. She tapped her visor and detonated the explosive she had planted in the comms room earlier. There was a low rumble and the ship shook slightly, Reni waited for the lights to go out but nothing happened.
“What was that?” Asked the guard.
“It does not matter, you have your orders, soldier!”
The guard lunged at Jack with a second wind. Meanwhile the lieutenant made no attempt to fetch his side arm and instead opted to approach with his bare hands. The augment on Khaa’s right arm looked exactly like the real thing, making her wonder what else on his body was an augment. Reni held her sword out in front of her to help keep the distance between the two of them but with a third of the blade gone the distance was far too short. Reni swung her blade flat from left to right but Khaa simply let it slide off his arm. There was a terrible screeching noise as the blade tore up his green and blue colorings to reveal a silvery metal skin underneath. The lieutenant clawed at her with his remaining fingers, slashing across her body with both hands. Reni parried and batted away as many strikes as she could but still ended up receiving a few cuts on her arms and shoulders. Reni was quickly running out of energy, her training in the army did not prepare her for this fight for her life. Just as she suffered another gash on her forearm Lieutenant Khaa dove to the side, just narrowly dodging Jack’s blade. Jack had been fighting his own battle just to the left of her and he took his moment of extra time to help her win. She used this chance to swing down onto Khaa’s shoulder, gambling that the lieutenant wouldn't be able to block the attack with his right arm. UNfortunately, this time Lieutenant Khaa reached out with his left hand. The blade cut through to the middle of his palm before shattering completely. Khaa leaped forward tackling Reni to the ground, wrapping his hands around her throat. Reni beat on his arms and tried to pry his hands off as she felt the lieutenant’s claws dig into her neck. Reni’s vision started to close in as she repeatedly kicked Lieutenant Khaa’s gut.
Khaa gritted his teeth and glared at her. “I will have this glory.” He hissed. “I will be championed by the Illuminate for killing you.”
Reni tried clawing at his face but his arms were longer than hers. Reni then heard a blood curdling scream. She tilted her head as much as she could to see Jack holding one hand over his right eye with blood seeping through the fingers. The ship then rocked suddenly and violently causing the already fatigued and weakened warrior to lose his balance. The Avali he had been fighting used this opportunity to drive his blade through Jack’s chest. The Avali stood there looking almost like he was confused, as Jack toppled backwards.
“The wretched animal finally dies!” The lieutenant cried out with glee.
Reni tried to scream for him but Khaa’s grip was squeezing her windpipe shut. In an uncontrollable hysteria of rage and fear, Reni drew Jack’s knife and stabbed Lieutenant Khaa in the side over and over again. The lieutenant fell to his side, gritting his teeth and wheezing in pain. Reni, finally able to breathe again, spent no time recovering. She immediately flipped onto her stomach and crawled over to Lieutenant Khaa and stabbed him in the chest repeatedly. He tried desperately to push her away but Reni didn’t let up until he stopped moving and breathing altogether. Reni struggled to push herself onto her feet and face the other Avali, who now looked at the body of his leader with dread. The guard was frozen in place, eyes wide and unblinking, as a walking horror approached him. Reni screamed and ran at him, the guard screamed back but, not as a cry for battle but as a cry of terror. The guard turned and ran, causing Reni to slip and fall as she tried to catch him. She screamed and cursed him as he ran off into the ship somewhere.
As the fog of battle cleared from her mind, she just now realized that the lights had been turned off except for flashing red emergency lights. Reni also heard an alarm going off as well as several loud and continuous explosions happening all across the ship, which sounded like gun fire. But at the moment these noises didn’t mean anything to her. Reni tried to stand up and walk but immediately tripped as the adrenaline had already left her system, leaving her muscles feeling like lead weights. She crawled to Jack who was lying motionless on the floor with the sword still sticking out of his chest. When Reni got to Jack’s side he was choking on air, unable to get a breath in. There is no one word to describe what Reni felt in that moment, it was a mixture of unforgiving rage, overwhelming sadness, and completely petrifying fear. How could this have happened? She had a plan, it would have worked. Reni struggled to comprehend how this could have been an outcome. She should have killed that damn guard when she had the chance.
She clawed at her head as her tears splattered onto Jack’s tattered white shirt. “What do I do?” She cried.
Jack didn’t say anything, he only did his best to continue breathing.
“What do I do?” She demanded.
And as if it was a cue given by the stage director, a large explosion happened somewhere down the hall, followed by the sound of what she assumed to be gun fire. Without thinking she screamed at the top of her lungs for help. She didn’t care who it was, they had to be able to help, they had to. She screamed again, and again, until she saw them. Humans, or at least they were shaped like Humans. Their bodies were clad in black armor and their faces were covered by helmets that had strange looking tubes where the eyes would have been.
When the soldiers saw Reni, three of them raised their weapons towards her while one of them barked orders for her to lay on her stomach. With nothing more she could do, she let herself fall next to Jack, before having her hands tied and taken away.
Hello there! If you actually read the entire chapter then I thank you for giving my crappy little story the time! If you liked what you read feel free to share your thoughts(because, god those last couple of paragraphs were cringe). Anyways, thanks for reading!
Extra: The time reading 0076 and 0162 was intentional, 60 seconds a minute, 60 minutes an hour is a Human concept. These Avali use Galactic Rotational(GR) time. GR is based on the amount of time it takes the Milky Way to complete one rotation, this number is divided hundreds of millions of times down to a value that is more digestible, this value is what represents a year. GR was not an Avali invention however, GR was created by an inter-species conference to establish a standard time for commerce, diplomacy, and general communication. Humanity and Avali both use deca-decimal numerical systems so 100 seconds/minute, 100 minutes/hour, 25 hours/day, was an easy first step, 35 days/month, and 10 months/year would be agreed upon later. Humans commonly refer to GR time as ‘Star Date’ due to pop culture.
If it’s not obvious, this is not official Avali lore, it’s just world building for my own universe.
RENI
Alarms blared, for a moment Reni was back on the rich Avali’s yacht. Red lights flashed in the cabin as metal groaned and creaked under the stress of warp jumping. Reni looked to her left to see Jack calmly staring out the glass, his gray eyes locked onto something outside the ship. Reni turned to look out the window to see what he was staring at. Outside the glass was empty blackness, there were no stars, no planets, and no nebulas, the universe outside that window was completely devoid of life and the sight of it sent a shiver down her spine. Reni turned to look at Jack only to find an empty seat. Reni scanned the cabin, but he was nowhere to be found. She pushed herself out of the chair to go look for him, but when she did, she found herself sitting up in her bed with the alarm she had set beeping from her desk.
Reni blinked a few times and inspected her surroundings, momentarily unsure if she was still dreaming or not, she looked at the bag on her desk and it clicked in her head. Suddenly remembering what today was, she scrambled out of bed and quickly began packing her important items left over from Tormoshi. When she finished she checked the time 0030, she had less than four hours.
Reni attached the sword to her belt and slung the bag over her shoulder. She opened the door and poked her head outside, surveying the corridor, no one was in the immediate area. Reni exited the room and did her best to try and retrace her steps from the previous day. She finally made it to the lift and pressed the same button the Lieutenant did. The lift dropped, and as she descended she realized she didn’t have an excuse to be there. Reni panicked slightly before looking down at her waist and seeing Jack’s knife hanging from her belt. She quickly unlooped the blade and stuffed it into her bag. The lift came to a stop and the doors slid open, she took a few steps into the communications room before an officer took notice of her.
“Are you supposed to be here?” He asked skeptically.
“Oh uh, no, b-but I was here yesterday and I think I may have left something in one of the comm rooms.” Reni replied nervously.
“Yesterday? I–”
“Well i-it was actually about nine hours ago, so technically it was yesterday but it might not feel like yesterday.” She stammered.
“Oh.” He said unamused. “Resalni! I need you over here.” A familiar looking Avali popped out of his chair and joined them.
“Yes sir?”
“Resalni, do you recognize this individual?”
“Yes sir, she was here a few hours ago to take a communication request.”
“Alright then, you can take care of it, I have too much to get done to be dealing with this right now.”
“Yes sir.” He replied. “Hello again Reni, I was not expecting to see you back here.”
“Hi, I would say the same, I was here nine hours ago, I would not think you would still be working.”
“Usually I would be done by now, but there is just too much happening right now for me to leave. Anyway, what can I help you with?”
“Oh I uh, I think I may have left something in one of the comm rooms.”
“What are you missing?”
“The knife I took from the Human.”
“Oh no!” He exclaimed. “That was such a beautiful trophy.”
“Y-yeah.”
“I can help you look if you want.”
“No no.” Reni said while frantically waving her hands. “I will be fine, I think your skills
would be put to better use out here, you have a lot of work to do right?”
“I guess you are correct.”
Reni breathed a sigh of relief.
“Go ahead and look, the doors are unlocked.”
Reni thanked him and entered the comms room, making sure to close the door behind her. The comfortable cool air of the dark room surrounded her as she made her way to the opposite side of the center console. Taking off her bag, she knelt down and slowly pulled back the zipper, grabbing a smooth metallic cylinder from within. She placed the device on the floor and pressed a button activating a magnet, causing it to stick to the base of the table. Reni pressed another button and a red light blinked on, then off. Reni zipped up the bag and slung it over her shoulder again before exiting the room.
Resalni looked back at her from his desk and asked. “Did you find it?”
“No.” She said. “I probably just left it in my room, I am a little messy.”
“I hope you find it.” He said before turning back to his work.
Reni called for the lift and stepped inside, as soon as the doors were closed she exhaled, relieved that her plan had worked. Reni opened her bag and pulled out her HUD visor, fastening it to her head. Reni checked the time, 0076. A small symbol appeared at the bottom right side of her visor indicating that she was receiving a strong signal from the device, which gave her some hope that her plan might actually work. The lift came to a stop and the doors opened, she stepped out and began wandering down one of the faded-beige corridors. After some time, she happened to find someone walking on the opposite side of the hallway.
“Hello.” She opened.
“Hi.” The other Avali said flatly, his face buried in a data pad.
“Can you help me find the hangar?” Reni asked timidly.
He looked up at her with a confused face, and with an unfriendly tone asked. “Why? Are you new?”
“Y-yeah.” Reni said while rapidly losing her confidence. “B-but do not worry! I will be leaving today.”
He looked at her for a moment before it dawned on him. “Oh, are you Reni?”
Reni nodded.
“Wow okay, I was not expecting to ever meet you.” The tone of his voice had changed dramatically. “C-can I see that knife you took?”
“Oh uh sure.” Reni reached into her bag and produced Jack’s knife.
“Amazing.” He said while staring at the weapon. “Humans really use these..?”
He reached out as if to touch it but Reni pulled the knife away. “So do you think you could help me find the hangar?”
He tore his vision away from the blade and returned his attention to her. “Oh, of course, follow this hallway until you find the lift. Get on and press the second button from the bottom and that should take you straight to the bay.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course.” He nodded, his eyes still tracking the knife as she put it on her belt.
Reni followed the soldiers instructions and took the lift down to the second floor. Reni stepped off of the lift and into a large open space that spanned several stories. The walls were lined with a small armada of light attack drones, stored together the most efficient way possible, leaving very little wall to be seen. From the ceiling hung larger manned crafts such as shuttles and other ship-to-ship crafts. And on the main deck there sat two ships, one was a shuttle with a sleek white surface and translucent orange solar panels sticking out the back. The shuttle had its boarding ramp open at the front and several Avali were coming in and out, loading supplies. The other ship was the yacht that she and Jack tried to escape on. The ship seemed to have been patched up with newly welded plates covering large swathes of the ship. From the side door of the yacht a thick black cable snaked its way out of the vessel and into an opening in the wall.
Reni looked around, nobody seemed to be paying her any attention. She casually walked up to the yacht and climbed inside. Reni followed the cable deep into the ship until it finally led into the reactor room. The cable was attached to a large outlet at the base of the reactor, she looked around the room, the battery she and Jack had removed was gone and the spot which it had been removed from had a new battery in it.
She thought about what this could mean. Obviously the destroyer’s crew were preparing to launch the ship, does that mean the ship had enough power to start the reactor? She walked back to the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot’s seat. This ship would definitely be easier for Jack to fly than the Avali shuttle, the only problem would be procuring codes to open the hangar doors. She inspected the console in front of her and flipped a switch titled ‘Main Power’ the interior lights fluttered to life and digital displays turned on. Reni panicked and quickly navigated the interface to turn the lights back off. Reni breathed a sigh of relief thinking for a moment that she had avoided detection.
An angry voice suddenly sounded off behind her. “Who do you think you are?”
Reni’s heart stopped, she was frozen in place, unable to think of anything to say in return.
“Look I get that this ship is a rare sight here,” The angry voice approached, “but that does not excuse you to–” Reni’s chair spun around and a female Avali was now staring at her with a confused look on her face. “Reni?”
“Y-yes?” Reni’s heart felt like it was pounding at over a thousand beats per second. “D-do you know me?”
Her cold expression melted slightly. “Yes I do, I was on duty when this ship was brought in, I watched them drag you out while you were holding onto that bloodied knife. It was quite a sight to behold.”
Realizing Reni might be able to spin this to her advantage she asked. “You remember that? T-this might interest you then.” Reni pulled out the knife for her to see, desperate to win her favor.
The other Avali tilted her head and inspected the blade. “This is the knife then. It is so primitive… Well Reni you still cannot be here, and I should honestly report this to leadership." Reni's heart jumped into her throat. “But… You have been through a lot recently so I think I can let this slide, as long as you tell me what you were even doing in here.”
“I-I am so sorry I know I should not be in here,” Reni pleaded, “it is just that I was in the area and I got curious when I saw the cable coming from the ship.”
“Curious? Honestly this is the last place I would expect you to come back to, given recent events.”
“I am not bothered by this place.”
“Hmm.” She looked Reni up and down as if she could tell if Reni were lying or not based solely on her appearance. “Well I hope your curiosity has been fulfilled. We are charging the ship just enough to get its reactor functional again.” She reached over and flicked the power switch back off. “We are, unfortunately, obligated to return this vessel to its owner.”
“I see.” Reni said in return. “My curiosity is fulfilled.”
“Good, now get out of here.” The Avali said while pointing towards the exit.
Reni nodded and climbed out of the ship. She looked over to the shuttle that was being prepared, two of the soldiers were looking at her skeptically. She hurried out of the hangar and into one of the corridors, silently cursing herself for her stupidity. Once she was a decent distance away she stopped and checked the time, 0162, less than two and a half hours, but there was probably only around an hour and a half of actionable time before security would be too tight.
Reni repeated her strategy from before and asked any crew members she ran into about where new prisoners were kept. Unfortunately for her not many people knew of Jack’s whereabouts, Reni suspected the reason for this was to keep tourism down, the prospect of seeing a real Human would definitely draw a crowd, it also explained everyone's infatuation with her knife.
Eventually she found a soldier who told her that he didn’t know where exactly Jack was but he knew that the prison was on the floor below them and that it wouldn’t take too long to find someone down there. She made her way back to the elevator she arrived on and pressed the bottom button. As soon as she made it to the lowest floor she noticed that the walls were now white and no longer at a straight ninety degree angle. The walls were bowed outwards at somewhere close to seventy degrees and in addition to that, there were almost no doors in the hallway. Usually there were plenty of doorways for things like offices, barracks, etcetera. But down on this level the walls were almost completely blank save for the few support beams that had the inverse angle of the walls and were pointed inward. Reni walked down the hallway for an extended period of time, looking for anyone that could give her the slightest idea of where to go. After a while, she stumbled upon a door that was guarded by two larger Avali. Reni checked the time 0205, she had about an hour before any guards should be showing up, how was she and Jack supposed to escape if they were watching.
She weighed the pros and cons in her head and decided that inaction at this moment would only leave her with less time later on. Reni walked up to the two guards with as much confidence as she could muster and asked. “You two guarding the Human, correct?”
The two guards looked at eachother with bewilderment, she had clearly caught them off guard.
The guard on the right spoke up first and skittishly asked. “Uh, w-who are you?”
Reni ignored the question. “Look friend, I need to get past you. I know that the Human is scheduled to be transferred to Avalon in less than two hours, and I need to speak to it before that happens.”
The guard on the left squinted his eyes and asked. “How do you know that?”
Reni smirked and said. “Obviously because the captain of this ship told me.”
“I-I think we should let her in.” The guard on the left stammered.
“What?” The other Avali demanded. “No, we were given orders, we are not supposed to let anyone into this room. And just because she said she talked to the captain does not mean she is telling the truth.” He turned to her. “And if the captain sent you down here, why have we not received any warning about your arrival?”
Reni paused for a moment before saying. “Well… the captain is a very busy person.”
“Not busy enough for you apparently.” He remarked.
“Correct, the captain took the time to personally greet me and to give me this.” Reni reached into her bag and produced a gray cylindrical object with various etchings on it.
“What is it?” Asked the right guard.
“A physical key to the ship.”
The two guards were speechless for a moment. The left guard broke the silence and said. “Okay, so you have a key, That does not change my standing orders. No one–”
“Hey.” The right guard nudged his friend. “Look at that.”
Left guard looked in the direction he was pointing. Reni saw his eyes widen slightly. “You are her.” He stated.
Reni knew they were referring to Jack’s knife as she had intentionally moved the blade to a more visible spot for this effect.
“That is proof, she has to be telling the truth.” The right guard stated.
The left guard was quiet for a second before saying. “Sorry, please enter.”
The guard pressed a button on a device attached to his belt and the doors slid open. Reni entered without saying anything, as she passed through the entrance she silently laughed to herself, she found it funny that she was able to bully those two so easily. Reni entered the room and the door shut behind her. The space was incredibly dim, several light fixtures casted weak soft light throughout the room. It was similar to that weird time right before nightfall as dusk is ending, where the dim last light of the sun just barely illuminates the ground, but people and objects become dark and featureless. Inside the room there were two sections, one section had a desk with several holographic monitors and what appeared to be at least ten data pads strewn across the surface. The other part of the room was barred off with no furniture of any kind and housed one sleeping Human. Unfortunately Reni was almost immediately confronted by a very concerned looking female Avali. “Um, I-I thought you were supposed to be taking the Human at 0300.”
“I am not the one taking him.” Reni responded. “I am just going to talk to him.”
“That would not be a good idea, he is very dangerous.”
Reni drew Jack’s knife and said. “I have beaten him before and I can do so again.”
“Oh, Reni, right… I-I still think that going in there is a bad idea.”
Reni turned to her. “Listen, I know what I am doing. Just look at him, he is already defeated and he knows it. Just open the door and let me talk to him.”
The Avali sighed. “O-okay, please do not cut him too bad though, it is my job to make sure he makes it to Avalon for trial.” She looked almost frightened of Reni.
“I do not plan on doing what I do not have to.”
The other Avali nodded and pressed a finger onto the lock of the cell and the door swung open. Reni walked up to Jack, who was asleep in the corner, and put a hand on his face. “Jack.” Reni whispered.
She waited but he didn’t respond.
Reni holstered the knife and put both hands on his head and shook him. “Jack.” She demanded.
Jack’s eyes shot open and he instinctively grabbed at Reni’s arms but froze when he saw that it was her.
“Hi.” Reni whispered.
“H-hi.” Jack repeated. “You’re here?”
“Yes.” She smiled.
Jack loosened his grip. “Why?”
“Why do you think I am here?”
“To say goodbye?” Jack guessed.
“No.” Reni smiled. “I am getting you out.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “N-no no–”
“Be quiet!” Reni covered his mouth. She turned back but the other Avali wasn’t looking at them. “I thought about what you said to me, ‘no second chances.’ I could not just let you go, not after you spared me on Tormoshi, not after you pulled me from that burning ship, and not after you trusted me to take care of you.”
“And what about when I said ‘remember me’ I am ready to die.”
“And what if they do not kill you?” She demanded. “What if they keep you alive on Avalon until you die from the cold or hunger?”
Jack didn’t say anything.
“I owe you my life, so let me do this.” Jack opened his mouth but before he could say anything Reni said. “My plan is already in effect so it is not even possible to stop now.”
Jack waited for a second before placing his forehead against her chest. “Thank you.” He said softly.
“O-of course.” She stuttered.
“What’s your plan for getting out of here?”
“When we leave, we are going to take the lift to the floor above us. Once the doors open I will sabotage the ship’s reactor. From the lift, it is a short sprint to a jump-capable shuttle that will have codes to open the hangar doors. We could take that or I could download the codes and we could steal the yacht we came here on.”
“That ship can’t fly anymore.”
Reni shook her head. “No, they fixed it, and charged the batteries enough for the reactor to start.”
“Alright, then we should take that one, I don’t want to chance it with a new ship.”
“Okay, now we just have to get out of here.”
“You don’t have a plan for that?”
“I had a plan.” She said defensively. “But it was a plan for one guard though and not three.”
“Where are the other two?” Jack asked.
“Just outside the door.”
Jack thought for a moment. “Alright, you’re going to walk back to the cell door and keep that Avali from closing it. I’ll run for the exit as soon as you’re in position.”
Reni nodded and turned to leave.
The other Avali was waiting for her. “What was that? How were you able to control it?”
Reni stopped at the entrance, positioning herself so that the other Avali couldn’t close the door. “Like I said, he has already given up ho–”
Reni watched in slow motion as the other Avali jumped back while reaching for something on her belt. Reni was pushed forward and hit the floor as a loud POP filled the room. Reni sat up and turned to see that Jack had wrestled a strange looking gun out of the hands of the Avali but not before getting hit. He plucked something out of his arm and tossed it to the ground. It was a dart, probably containing a sedative of some type. He cursed and returned the favor, shooting the other Avali square in the chest. Jack then picked up the Avali and pushed her into the cell, closing the door behind her. There was no time to reset because the main door to the room opened up, flooding the room with bright light, momentarily blinding Reni. She heard several POPs go off and when she regained her vision she saw that one of the guards had been struck four times causing him to stumble backwards and collapse onto the floor. The other guard, realizing that he couldn’t win, ran out the door, Reni scrambled to her feet and gave chase. The guard didn’t get very far before Reni drew her sword and pointed it towards his chest. The other Avali was quick to draw his own sword, knocking aside her blade. They traded blows and parries but it was obvious that he was more experienced at swordplay. He knocked her blade up and slashed down diagonally. Reni fell backwards in an attempt to dodge the attack but the tip of the guard's blade still managed to graze across her chest, leaving a trail of blood. Within an instant the guard was swinging down a fatal blow. Suddenly there was a clang of swords and the guard’s attack was deflected. Jack had taken the sword from the guard he had incapacitated and was fighting off the other. Reni jumped to her feet and grabbed her sword. Together her and Jack out paced the guard’s defenses until an overly forceful blow from Jack opened up an opportunity for her to strike. Reni thrusted her sword at the other Avali’s chest. Reni’s blade penetrated the flesh of the guard, as soon it did though her blade contacted bone sending a wave of nausea through her. This caused the muscles in her arm to go limp so instead of skewering the guard, he merely fell backwards instead.
Jack placed his blade against his neck. “Don’t try to comm this in.”
The Avali slowly stood up, putting his hands out to his side. Reni now recognized him as the right guard. “W-what do you mean? Why are you doing this?” He asked with fear in his voice.
“I know you do not understand, but if I did not do this they would have killed him.”
“Him?” He asked while pointing at Jack. “The Human? But you fought the Human, you took that knife as a trophy!”
“It was a lie!” Reni exclaimed. “This knife was never even mine.”
The guard stared dumbfounded at her. “But, he is a Human.”
“Why does no one understand? It does not matter that he is a Human! I am tired of these lies!”
“Lies?” The guard asked.
Suddenly a voice echoed from behind the guard. “You have made your point soldier!”
Reni recognized the snarky tone of Lieutenant Khaa, but why was he here?
Reni took a step to the side to look at the green and blue Avali. “Lieutenant, I do not want to hurt anybody.”
“I do not know if I should believe you.” He responded while walking towards them.
“Why are you here?” Reni asked.
“You were too open with our captain, he thought you might try to visit the Human before you left so he instructed the guard to contact him if you did.” Reni took a half step back as Khaa stopped in front of them, raising her sword again in the process. “I did not think one guard would be enough so I posted two of my own soldiers outside. I knew that you would try to disobey orders, but I really did not think you would betray your own people.” Without warning, Khaa drew his side arm and pointed it at Reni's head.
As Reni stared down the barrel of Lieutenant Khaa’s gun, she found herself unable to move. “We just want to leave, Lieutenant.” She implored.
“You are a traitor and a liability!” he shouted. “But you are still an Avali so I will not kill you. But I will have to do this.”
The lieutenant swung his arm over and aimed at Jack. Without thought or hesitation Reni sliced upward, cleaving the pistol right out of his hand along with one of his fingers and shattering the tip of her blade in the process. For a moment they just stood there staring at the injury. No blood leaked out of the wound and there were no cries of pain from the lieutenant. “An augment?” Reni wondered out loud.
Jack thrusted his sword at the lieutenant but Khaa was able to jump back to avoid it. Reni saw that Jack was trembling, the tranquilizer must be taking effect. The guard saw this as an opportunity and retrieved his blade, falling back to his leader.
“I knew I should not have trusted you to do the right thing!” Lieutenant Khaa screamed. “Soldier, you hold off the Human, I will kill this traitor. “
Reni at this point felt like she had no other choice, if she didn’t, reinforcements were sure to arrive. She tapped her visor and detonated the explosive she had planted in the comms room earlier. There was a low rumble and the ship shook slightly, Reni waited for the lights to go out but nothing happened.
“What was that?” Asked the guard.
“It does not matter, you have your orders, soldier!”
The guard lunged at Jack with a second wind. Meanwhile the lieutenant made no attempt to fetch his side arm and instead opted to approach with his bare hands. The augment on Khaa’s right arm looked exactly like the real thing, making her wonder what else on his body was an augment. Reni held her sword out in front of her to help keep the distance between the two of them but with a third of the blade gone the distance was far too short. Reni swung her blade flat from left to right but Khaa simply let it slide off his arm. There was a terrible screeching noise as the blade tore up his green and blue colorings to reveal a silvery metal skin underneath. The lieutenant clawed at her with his remaining fingers, slashing across her body with both hands. Reni parried and batted away as many strikes as she could but still ended up receiving a few cuts on her arms and shoulders. Reni was quickly running out of energy, her training in the army did not prepare her for this fight for her life. Just as she suffered another gash on her forearm Lieutenant Khaa dove to the side, just narrowly dodging Jack’s blade. Jack had been fighting his own battle just to the left of her and he took his moment of extra time to help her win. She used this chance to swing down onto Khaa’s shoulder, gambling that the lieutenant wouldn't be able to block the attack with his right arm. UNfortunately, this time Lieutenant Khaa reached out with his left hand. The blade cut through to the middle of his palm before shattering completely. Khaa leaped forward tackling Reni to the ground, wrapping his hands around her throat. Reni beat on his arms and tried to pry his hands off as she felt the lieutenant’s claws dig into her neck. Reni’s vision started to close in as she repeatedly kicked Lieutenant Khaa’s gut.
Khaa gritted his teeth and glared at her. “I will have this glory.” He hissed. “I will be championed by the Illuminate for killing you.”
Reni tried clawing at his face but his arms were longer than hers. Reni then heard a blood curdling scream. She tilted her head as much as she could to see Jack holding one hand over his right eye with blood seeping through the fingers. The ship then rocked suddenly and violently causing the already fatigued and weakened warrior to lose his balance. The Avali he had been fighting used this opportunity to drive his blade through Jack’s chest. The Avali stood there looking almost like he was confused, as Jack toppled backwards.
“The wretched animal finally dies!” The lieutenant cried out with glee.
Reni tried to scream for him but Khaa’s grip was squeezing her windpipe shut. In an uncontrollable hysteria of rage and fear, Reni drew Jack’s knife and stabbed Lieutenant Khaa in the side over and over again. The lieutenant fell to his side, gritting his teeth and wheezing in pain. Reni, finally able to breathe again, spent no time recovering. She immediately flipped onto her stomach and crawled over to Lieutenant Khaa and stabbed him in the chest repeatedly. He tried desperately to push her away but Reni didn’t let up until he stopped moving and breathing altogether. Reni struggled to push herself onto her feet and face the other Avali, who now looked at the body of his leader with dread. The guard was frozen in place, eyes wide and unblinking, as a walking horror approached him. Reni screamed and ran at him, the guard screamed back but, not as a cry for battle but as a cry of terror. The guard turned and ran, causing Reni to slip and fall as she tried to catch him. She screamed and cursed him as he ran off into the ship somewhere.
As the fog of battle cleared from her mind, she just now realized that the lights had been turned off except for flashing red emergency lights. Reni also heard an alarm going off as well as several loud and continuous explosions happening all across the ship, which sounded like gun fire. But at the moment these noises didn’t mean anything to her. Reni tried to stand up and walk but immediately tripped as the adrenaline had already left her system, leaving her muscles feeling like lead weights. She crawled to Jack who was lying motionless on the floor with the sword still sticking out of his chest. When Reni got to Jack’s side he was choking on air, unable to get a breath in. There is no one word to describe what Reni felt in that moment, it was a mixture of unforgiving rage, overwhelming sadness, and completely petrifying fear. How could this have happened? She had a plan, it would have worked. Reni struggled to comprehend how this could have been an outcome. She should have killed that damn guard when she had the chance.
She clawed at her head as her tears splattered onto Jack’s tattered white shirt. “What do I do?” She cried.
Jack didn’t say anything, he only did his best to continue breathing.
“What do I do?” She demanded.
And as if it was a cue given by the stage director, a large explosion happened somewhere down the hall, followed by the sound of what she assumed to be gun fire. Without thinking she screamed at the top of her lungs for help. She didn’t care who it was, they had to be able to help, they had to. She screamed again, and again, until she saw them. Humans, or at least they were shaped like Humans. Their bodies were clad in black armor and their faces were covered by helmets that had strange looking tubes where the eyes would have been.
When the soldiers saw Reni, three of them raised their weapons towards her while one of them barked orders for her to lay on her stomach. With nothing more she could do, she let herself fall next to Jack, before having her hands tied and taken away.
Hello there! If you actually read the entire chapter then I thank you for giving my crappy little story the time! If you liked what you read feel free to share your thoughts(because, god those last couple of paragraphs were cringe). Anyways, thanks for reading!
Extra: The time reading 0076 and 0162 was intentional, 60 seconds a minute, 60 minutes an hour is a Human concept. These Avali use Galactic Rotational(GR) time. GR is based on the amount of time it takes the Milky Way to complete one rotation, this number is divided hundreds of millions of times down to a value that is more digestible, this value is what represents a year. GR was not an Avali invention however, GR was created by an inter-species conference to establish a standard time for commerce, diplomacy, and general communication. Humanity and Avali both use deca-decimal numerical systems so 100 seconds/minute, 100 minutes/hour, 25 hours/day, was an easy first step, 35 days/month, and 10 months/year would be agreed upon later. Humans commonly refer to GR time as ‘Star Date’ due to pop culture.
If it’s not obvious, this is not official Avali lore, it’s just world building for my own universe.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 123.7 kB
woo yaaay new one less gooo, the only kinda critic i can give with my lack of writing (and english) experiences is the whole "then reni did" being a bit much but other then that quite intrigung (heck if my text to art translation skills werent so shit id try my hands on drawing reni) i mean whaat
ps: oooo headcannon universe confirrmeeedd ;33?
ps: oooo headcannon universe confirrmeeedd ;33?
I tought that everything is going to be a bit naive (every story have some kind of naive moments sometimes), but all those naive plans got crushed down really hard and i like it!
Also i am glad that we finally met the real human forces, i hope they wont be some obsolite crap.
As always thanks for work, can't wait to read the next chapter!
Also i am glad that we finally met the real human forces, i hope they wont be some obsolite crap.
As always thanks for work, can't wait to read the next chapter!
Also i think worth mentioning that in space combat scenario (ship to ship and onboard battles) depressurization is a thing, so pilots, crew and ESPECIALLY boarding assault squads must wear spacesuits/hardsuits.
Also magnetic traction systems and ropes/belts with carabiners might be extremely useful for managing different G maneuver situations.
Also magnetic traction systems and ropes/belts with carabiners might be extremely useful for managing different G maneuver situations.
Pressure and gravity is something that I've heavily considered while writing this. This is mainly because the official Avali lore was intentionally designed to make Humans and Avali incompatible and it does so very effectively. I've toned down the differences significantly, but the consequences will become more visible in coming chapters.
Also those are some good ideas, I might have to steal...
Also those are some good ideas, I might have to steal...
Yeah, having those differences narrowed down is actually a good idea for the story, because Avali's water and ammonia biochemistry works a bit difficult, so they would have significant limitations, they might even need some powered cooling implants or other devices/thing to fight the incapabilities. In addition, they should drink or eat something that have not only water, but also ammonia in it (ammonia might be mixed with something to lift its boiling point) to support their biochemistry.
Besides that, alot of things in Avali lore either unspecified, highly doubtful or both.
Thus, all of this would be a mess, if you would try to be tight to the canonical biology, that would create roadblocks for storytelling, so don't botther that much about it.
Besides that, alot of things in Avali lore either unspecified, highly doubtful or both.
Thus, all of this would be a mess, if you would try to be tight to the canonical biology, that would create roadblocks for storytelling, so don't botther that much about it.
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