Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning
A station of madness - Trident Three - 1

Everything had been said and everything possible had been done. Now, there was no turning back. So there it was, Trident Three, a space station that normal beings in the galaxy would simply describe as disgusting. Built with the technology of those who had once wanted to subjugate everything and had mercilessly spared no aversion in doing so. The First Ones were a thing of the past, but in their place, PGI now used their power and was prepared to defend it with a formidable defence. Trident’s own weapons were reason enough not to attack the station without further ado, while in space around it sixteen autonomous platforms remained in a constant position over short and medium distances. The thick platforms were around 200 metres wide, with a tapered underside and equipped with a variety of guns that were effective against both aircraft and ships. Coupled with the PGI fleet present, consisting of a total of 65 different types of warships, the main core of which was a Calanian battleship a good kilometre and a half in length, Trident Three was a more than formidable bulwark. Whether victory or defeat - this place was a guarantee of death.

However, it was to begin with the weakening of the outermost PGI defences when the Consulate’s vanguard, in the form of ten ships, emerged from the IPF into the void of space. There was no concentrated formation and each unit was a light and manoeuvrable frigate, with magnetic guns and torpedoes for long range attacks. The enemy platforms furthest from the station, without the protection of their own ships, reacted swiftly, targeting the rapidly approaching attackers from their twin-barrelled turrets. They opened fire and light blue projectiles cut through the darkness of space, but the prepared Consulate frigates used their agility to evade the attacks almost effortlessly while opening fire in return. It was much easier for them to hit their targets, simply because of their constant position, but they needed considerably more hits to do so. Their main weapons were not as powerful as those of a heavy frigate or a cruiser, for example, and the shields of the platforms could take a beating. In addition, some of the much less fast torpedoes could be intercepted by the enemy. Nevertheless, the frigates managed to destroy the first platforms without suffering a single loss or hit, but that was the end of the element of surprise.

“Enemy fleet approaching!” announced a stern but calm male voice on the enemy channels to which the consulate had no access. “Take up split formation at marked positions and await further orders!”

The light frigates had long since turned away and were at the edge of the place where they had previously come out of the IPF. They were far enough away not to be caught by the gravitational effect caused by their now appearing allies. If it started again with just a few ships, suddenly dozens of ships appeared within seconds and where there had been black space before, there were now more than just steel machines flying around. Each incoming unit brought with it the fine breath of a red cloud and whenever the next ship arrived, it was as if an invisible hand dipped its fingers into this breath and began to swirl the small, transparent carpets. It was not mere chaos, however, but nature itself, an artist weaving the dark energy together and creating a gold-tinted red at the back of the Consulate fleet, its perfect veil worthy of the name Dawn.

“All ships,” Admiral Jonathan addressed his fleet. “Assume formation and remain in passive attitude! Carrier ships one to three, unload sixty per cent of all combat drones immediately and send them out to attack!”

“Order being executed!” said a female, Davoc-sounding voice. One of many responses. “Launch drones!” Hundreds of automated combat drones were released from the carrier ships’ cargo bays, a small, metallic river slipping between the forming Consulare fleet, whose numerical superiority was now clearly evident. The asteroid belt to the right was used as a natural shield and from there a line was formed, like a staggered wall, which became an arch to the left and the further it went to the end of the arch, the fewer ships there were. The main part of the force consisted of a handful of scout ships, combined with a large number of corvettes and variously equipped frigates, as well as destroyers, between which individual cruisers repeatedly served as a strong point of defence. Finally, two dozen ships remained at the rear of the main array, of which Admiral Jonathan’s 836 metre long heavy cruiser formed the backbone. The rest around him were carrier and escort ships, like the Nebula, whose flanks were also covered thanks to the asteroids and the bow tip.

“The enemy is moving to a direct frontal attack!” stated the stern voice, which was the commander of the PGI fleet. “Hold your positions! Order to all platforms - send out every combat drone for immediate intervention!”

Drones also began to pour out of each defence station, but the capacity of the facilities was no match for carrier ships and was only matched by the sheer number of platforms. The machines from within them were unmistakably as characterised by the technology of the First as Trident Three.

The waves of drones from both sides were heading towards each other without restraint, as if this battle was in the Dark Ages. Only the firing of ranged weapons bore witness to the modern age, before finally steel clashed on steel and a line of small, repeated explosions was drawn through the void of space. The superiority of the PGI drones quickly became apparent as they all had high-powered lasers which they fired without pause. Most of the Consulate missiles, on the other hand, were equipped with hyper MGs and only a fraction with standard lasers, with both types of weapon having to contend with the enemy’s equally superior shields. However, the attackers had prepared for precisely this scenario and some of their drones, which brought up the rear in the first wave, at least had reinforced shields and had been equipped with explosives instead of weapons systems. Thanks to this prepared tactic, the consulate compensated well for its technological disadvantage, albeit not completely.

“Combat zone established!” Admiral Jonathan announced over the channels. “Ships of Group MX - launch combat drones, send them into the zone and put manned fighter squadrons on standby. Carrier ship one, initiate next phase! - Remaining drones and all manned fighter squadrons and heavy fighters to attack!”

“Carrier One confirmed, Admiral!” replied the female Davoc voice from before. “Available drone capacity will be fully utilised. Squadrons to follow in loose formation for flank attack!”

Safe with Jonathan’s heavy cruiser and its escort ships, one of five carrier ships released its remaining drones into space and squadrons of interceptors and attack fighters followed from the two opening hangar doors on the sides. Six groups in total, each with a strength of ten aircraft: forty fighters and twenty heavy fighters. With the drones as spearheads, the fighters headed for the asteroid belt and flew under its protection towards the combat zone.

There, the battle between the automated machines raged on, with reinforcements dispatched from some of the Consulate’s forward ships beginning to turn the tide. Even with their superior technology, the PGI drones were not invincible, though they were tough opponents.

Support for the front line did not come from the small enemy flotillas, most of which had organised themselves into five to seven-ship circular formations. Narrow hatches on Trident Three’s surface opened and a new, far more massive wave of dark drones left the station.

On the bridge of the PGI battleship stood the commander of the fleet, an almost pitch-black scaled Palanian. “What are they up to?” he murmured quietly to himself as he watched the enemy’s signals along the asteroids. “That would be suicide.”

“They’re hesitating, as planned,” Admiral Jonathan commented over his fleet. “Phase two, launch attack!”

The machines on the asteroid belt had left the combat zone behind them and left the protection of the rocks. They were heading straight for the nearest defence platforms and the first PGI ships.

“You really dare!” growled the Palanian PGI commander. “Reinforce the defences on the marked flank with drones from the station! All nearby ships, maintain passive defence!”

The distance was still too great and the small defence weapons of the PGI ships did not hit a single target. Only the platforms, which were much closer, took out the attackers’ first drones.

At the same time, the enormous stream of Trident Three split up, like a fork in the road in the middle of space.

“It’s time!” Admiral Jonathan breathed in meaningfully and focused again. “Crusher group - open fire!”

All at once, a good third of the Consulate ships in the bow formation began firing torpedoes, which flew over the combat zone and the approaching drone wave and were focussed on Trident Three.

“Sir, an attack!” reported the bridge crew on the PGI command ship. “The enemy is targeting the space station with torpedoes!”

“Scan the projectiles immediately!” reacted the supreme commander astutely. He was clearly speaking from experience and such an attack made no sense to him, especially as the Consulate fleet had not taken up a proper attack position and was attacking from a rather ineffective angle. “Are those special bombs?”

“Analyse ... negative sir! Ordinary torpedoes!”

“Something’s wrong here - intercept those torpedoes!” the Palanian ordered, symbolically extending his arm to point a finger. “We’ve got enough drones on the way from Trident Three! Let some of them break off formation and destroy the projectiles!”

Some of Trident Three’s drones had long since advanced to the battle zone and were engaged in combat there, but there were still enough on the way to suddenly break above and attack the torpedoes, which were in fact only torpedoes at first.

The Consulate, however, continued to fire without fail and soon, prepared specials smuggled themselves into the hail, carrying extra shield generators instead of explosives. However, this initially went unnoticed in the confusion of the battle and even though some of these special probes were destroyed, a handful of them penetrated very far - far enough for the approaching boarding troops.

“35 seconds to go!” a male voice announced over the internal speakers of a Bolt Dropper. “Signal from buoys confirmed!”

Kysaek stood inside, ready for battle, holding on to one of the upper handholds. “Everyone, this is it!” she said simply and emphatically at the same time over the frequencies. “You are brave and smart enough to know what we are facing! It’s all been said by others and I’m sure several times! What remains for us now is to turn words into deeds! Watch each other’s backs, draw a clear line and tell PGI: Enough is enough! Let’s remind the galaxy together that there is still good that will not stand idly by and watch the evil! Losing is not an option and on that note - see you on the other side!”

For a few seconds, the red, dark energy surrounded the six, 125 metre long transport ships as they flew in the IPF. Suddenly, however, the red disappeared and the ships struck the centre of the battle for Trident Three.

The furious effect of their IPF exit swept the rearmost ranks of enemy drones in all directions, but even nearby enemy fleet formations were not spared! Nothing could be seen and yet the sheer gravitational power of the dark energy could be traced as it tore through almost half the PGI fleet like an invisible hurricane, leaving a huge hole in the defence! Hurled enemy drones hailed as projectiles against the shields of PGI’s ships and defence platforms, while far more destructive collisions followed! At various points five ships, four frigates and a cruiser, crashed into each other and a convoy ship hit one of the platforms, but that was not all. Debris shot wildly about and in the chaos the ships affected by the shock tried to regain control, avoiding new collisions here and there by a hair’s breadth!

With parts of the enemy formation blown up, the Consulate was also able to carry out its flank attack without hesitation, further weakening the enemy near the asteroids as it engaged the stations and defenders there.

In front of the station, things had to move all the faster and the transporters not only gave full thrust to their engines, but also opened the doors of their cargo holds. Dozens upon dozens of bolt droppers shot out of the bellies of the larger machines in seconds, splitting up as they unloaded their cargo. Each transporter went on a self-destruct course with its target, and in return the imposing magnet defence cannons on the forward arms of Trident Three began to move. They began to rotate, but their sheer mass alone demanded time, which they barely had. Almost all the transports were too close and too fast and the first, powerful shot was fired, but it whizzed past below the targeted ship, just as the second cannon missed its target. One of the flying bombs, with a defence weapon on the underside as its target, brought up the rear of the six transports and, although unmanned, the ship became the first major casualty of the Consulate forces. A single shot pierced the front of the transporter, whose flaming demise was extreme due to the stored explosives and mercilessly engulfed Bolt Dropper too close. However, this one setback was all that remained for the time being, because while the first two ships flew close to the station and circled around it to reach the arm behind, the remaining transporters completed their mission and blew three of the four frontal defence cannons into thousands of pieces.

Meanwhile, the rest were on the attack and with the help of mounted missile batteries and within the enemy shield radius, the intact Bolt Droppers took aim at the station. Normal defence installations were scattered on the surface: laser weapons, hyper MGs and other normal-sized magnetic cannons. These were the targets of the missiles that were now being fired, and on some sections of Trident Three’s dark steel skin, huge amounts of red bubbles burst in seconds. Not all of these were devastating hits, however, and surrounded by smoke and remnants of fire, the station’s defensive equipment returned the attacks. This brought down a few bolt droppers, while the first wave of machines also landed in secure areas at the end of the station’s arms. The door flaps of the troop carriers retracted and, slowed by the weightlessness similar to walking underwater, the infantry streamed out of the interior in slow motion, securing their footing on the metal surface with magnets in their boots.

Even with Kysaek’s knowledge and experience, it was still bizarre to her that the vast vacuum of space made not a sound of the massive, fast-paced battle going on around them. To them, it was one, too colourful, silent film. “Hurry up!” Kysaek announced over the internal frequency as she left her dropper. “Crack the maintenance hatches!”

Brute force was the only quickest way inside, and the crews set to work on the nearby hatches at their landing sites with powerful, two-handed, laser-supported plasma welders. The station’s technology was that of the First Ones, but the scouts’ scans had revealed that most of the material, despite its high quality, was galactic standard.

Suddenly, Kysaek looked up as a bright yellow light caught her attention. She saw one of the remaining transports skid heavily against the side of Trident Three, only to immediately drift off and be cut in half by an explosion.

“Boardingship Six has been destroyed!” Admiral Jonathan echoed. “How long until you enter?”

“We’re almost inside!” reported Kysaek, and although the station was in her field of vision, she could feel the brief eruption under her feet as the last ship took out its target. This meant that four of the six heavy cannons were no longer a threat and one of the remaining weapons was on the other side of Trident Three, making it almost impossible to use the gun against the Consulate fleet. “I’ll give you my next report when we’ve advanced into the centre of the station!”

“Understood! Admiral Griffith out!”

More and more Bolt Droppers scattered around the arms of the facility and only a few more were shot down. Nevertheless, the losses of the Enter group were already considerable, so the breakthrough at the first hatches was a relief. “We’re through!” announced one of the welding soldiers.

The cracked point was close to Kysaek and she slowly stomped off with her team of Tavis and Thais. “Secure the entrance!”

The welded steel of the entrance was already floating in the vacuum and was easily pushed away from the station by a Davoc soldier before he floated elegantly down the shaft, assault rifle at the ready. “Oh damn!” the soldier grated.

“Enemy contact?!” asked Thais.

“No! The shaft is protected by an atmospheric shield and I almost crashed because of the gravity!”

“You’re tough and we know now of the gravity!”

The Davoc laughed sarcastically. “It can only get better from here! Everything is clear! No defence to be seen!”

Not stopping there, Consular units all over the arms began to enter the interior, as did Kysaek eventually. She immediately grabbed the struts at the entrance to avoid falling, and a few seconds later, she felt the familiar, comforting pressure of gravity pulling her downwards on her muscles.

The alarm sounded muffled through the interior of the somewhat narrower maintenance tunnel, even though it had certainly been triggered long ago because of the space battle and the first units were already advancing towards the main station, while a few soldiers guarded the other side to avoid any nasty surprises from behind.

However, the fairly rigid path of the shafts was not used for too long. The tunnels only ran for a limited distance and not strictly to the end.

“Try to utilise the element of surprise for as long as possible,” Kysaek ordered after she had reached an exit door of the tunnels. She watched as the obstacles were worked on with welders. However, the seams were not fully completed and soldiers placed bombs at the critical points before Kysaek gave the command. “Blast!”

A large bang broke the door from its frame and signalled the final starting gun for the fighting inside Trident Three. In handy teams of two, the Consulate soldiers advanced into the next area and it took less than ten seconds for them to open fire on enemy sentry bots.

Kysaek hadn’t gone through the door yet and just stared at the open hole. Beyond lay her hopefully final battle against PGI, but only now did she truly realise it. She had arrived at her destination and it was holding her in place.

“The big show is waiting for us,” came from the side. Tavis loaded his double-barrelled plasma shotgun and posed seriously with it. “And we’re the stars, not the spectators!”

“I’ve never liked front seats anyway!” Thais admitted dryly, but the sturdy Talin would have preferred to be anywhere right now and her armour was glowing with prismatics. “Let’s throw ourselves into the spectacle!”

The Palanian was never at a loss for words, just as Thais’ long experience conveyed certainty, and yet they both waited patiently for Kysaek’s approval. “Right!” she nodded and set off. “Time to play by our rules! Let’s go, let’s end PGI’s charade!”

The final battle against Skarg Peek’s corporation had now fully begun, now that the boarding teams had entered the station and were able to make a good advance quickly in the chaos of surprise. Not even the oppressive facility, an unsteady mix of normal light and ominous, flowing green, could falter the brave attackers for a second. The security forces of Trident Three were still too disorganised and were literally overrun in many places by the attacking consulate soldiers. A lot of doors could be opened easily, which made sense, because otherwise the PGI would slow themselves down in defence. However, there were also locked security doors at important intersections and they were the only real resistance to the invading troops at the beginning, but this was not the case for long. At some points the PGI guards reacted too hastily, certainly in the belief that the enemy could not have advanced that far yet, and the consulate stormed against those important, open paths. The breakthrough was not successful at all points and PGI even managed to close doors again or at least set up a reasonable defensive position. Not everything was needed for the consulate, however, and while the last defenders were still falling at a few of the passages, suitably equipped Tech soldiers sabotaged the doors by destroying the controls and placing narrow but effective electro pulse grenades on sensitive elements so that the steel remained unlocked.

“Careful!” warned Kysaek as she walked through a secure cut point, aiming her pistol at the ceiling. A gun came out of a crate and was shot by her. “Watch out for traps! PGI is starting to know what hit them!”

Thais formed the front line, fortified by a prismatic barrier over her skin. “A good time to enquire about the rest!”

“That’s right!” replied Kysaek, making contact with her people. “This is Kysaek - I hope you’re all still here?”

“Bumpy landing!” escaped audibly from Vornn’s nostrils and the familiar sound of his rotating arm cannon accompanied the report. “Our shuttle has been shot down and -doctor whines a lot- he’s got a few bruises, but he’ll survive and we’re already in the middle of it! According to the signal, much further than you are!”

“Congratulations, but no matter how fast you get to the reactor: The data has priority!”

“Fine by me” said Vorrn, before he heard a loud bang. “The longer we have to hold the reactor because of you, the more will have to come to us.”

“Sounds convincing! Team Glass Eye, status!”

“We’ve landed safely and are inside!” Galaen reported obediently. There was far less battle noise and she gave the reason in a sober tone. “However, Dorvan had to fix some malfunctions first. Remotely controlling his bot in the station seems slightly problematic.”

“Unfortunately, that’s true,” Dorvan added matter-of-factly. “However, I had already anticipated such problems, but there was nothing I could do about them at first. Now the errors have been rectified and I’m fully operational.”

“That’s the most important thing!” said Kysaek. Now haste must not come before safety. At least not too much. “Now that you’re ready, start your search for all relevant data! In the meantime, we’ll try to cause as much chaos as possible!”

“Acknowledged,” Galaen replied obediently. “Another team has already located a possible database! We’ll take a look at it! Akaro out!”

“If we want to catch up with the reactor team quickly, we should find a way away from the fighting,” suggested Tavis as he checked his weapon.

Thais was trying to access a terminal on the wall, but it was coded. “Without a floor plan of the station, that’s going to be difficult, or what did you think?”

“Maybe the way inside this arm of the station would be quicker. We penetrated and are penetrating everywhere through the outer hatches and everything is moving from there towards the centre. That means more defenders, while the innermost part of the arm might be less protected and from there we could also advance towards the station core.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Thais turned to the Palanian. One of the longest-standing victims of the PGI’s games, she couldn’t fully deny her thirst for revenge and raised her clenched fist. “But this is probably our last chance and I want to finally bring the same suffering to this corporation as it did to my sisters on Cipi, and that’s hard to do if we avoid fighting!”

This was a very unfavourable time and Kysaek didn’t even try to start a discussion against it. She hadn’t been as connected to the rest of the disciples, but part of her desire for retribution tugged at it as well. Still, her vision was clear enough to recognise Tavi’s suggestion as wise, and Kysaek marched resolutely past Thais without raising her voice. “We’ll make PGI bleed again - but not until I say so. We’ll follow Tavi’s suggestion.”

Agreeing to the desired revenge and strong-willed words kept Thais in line. “I’m glad we see eye to eye. Right behind you!”

With their new route, the group made their way through scattered lone fighters, guard bots and a smaller unit of PGI. Nothing the three couldn’t handle and their actions rewarded them with an insight into the station.

Beyond an unguarded door, a huge circular tunnel opened up, big enough to fit a whole city block, and it seemed to stretch almost from one end of the station’s arm to the other. There was a lot of empty space between what, despite the abstract technology, could be clearly identified as manufacturing machinery: Mobile rings that existed at intervals throughout the tunnel, as well as mechanical arms, with various dimensions and attachments, unused hover platforms and inactive fusing magnets, alongside disconnected welding spikes - this was a shipyard.

“Bella’Sa,” came quietly and intimidatingly from Thais. “I’m reminded of PGI’s facility on Trayden, only this, it’s ...”

“Complete and operational,” Tavis finished, no less meekly, before using his vortex cuff to take pictures and scans of the tunnel. “And initial evidence.”

Nowhere did it say PGI, nor were there any logos or other indications of the company on the structure, but Kysaek appreciated the input and moved on with her team. “Could end up belonging to anyone, but it adds to our credibility that we’re in trouble for things like this.”

“We built this, clearly,” Tavis joked sarcastically. “I can see the headline already.”

“You’d better see that one up ahead,” Kysaek said, holstering her gun but not firing.

Far on the other side of the tunnel, an unarmed group dressed in black and yellow PGI research jackets ran from one corridor to the next. They were not fighters and therefore not a threat. Moreover, the tunnel felt with reinforcements from the Consulate as a unit appeared near this position and advanced towards the core. Suddenly, however, shrill screams pierced the shipyard, as if multiple, steel nails were scraping across glass, giving those listening more than goosebumps. The bitter sound caused paralysis that lasted for seconds, it was so intense and came from excessively fast-flying monsters, the Soul Rippers.

What had previously been Calanian had become an obscure nightmare with the help of the technology of the First. The cone-shaped head was now the rear, without eyes or apparent purpose. Jagged barbs spiked the dark, wildly swirling tentacles that served as the front, while the Soul Rippers flew horizontally stretched in the air. A wide maw always opened between the limbs for a new scream or to spit out reddish energy projectiles, exposing hundreds of razor-sharp teeth in their maws.

“Ripper!” shouted a Talin soldier of the Consulate as the paralysis subsided. She and her comrades immediately opened fire, but the attacks initially bounced off the shields of the windy and rapidly approaching enemies. “Isolate your helmets!”

This meant blocking all audio recordings, but the warning came too late. Again the soul rippers screamed and almost all the soldiers were caught in the second-by-second paralysis again. More than enough time for the agile monsters to take a nosedive, spreading their tentacles and tearing open their maws like a vicious flower, which mercilessly stretched over the soldiers’ bodies. The Soul Rippers made it to the hips and began to whirl in circles, shredding armour and flesh with ease. Only two soldiers had been able to protect themselves from the paralytic sounds and were able to shoot at the defenceless, sensitive rear ends of the creatures. It was the source of their flying ability and energy for attacks and defence. However, there were still too many Soul Rippers alive, too many for the surviving soldiers.

“Attack!” ordered Kysaek. She intervened in the battle by catching some of the SoulRippers with her prismatics

Long range combat was not Tavis favourite situation, but he pulled out his Magnet Pistol and gave it his best shot.

Even the battle-hardened Thais had her problems. After all, she hadn’t exactly prepared and equipped herself for such long-range combat on a space station. But with the help of her mixture of powerful prismatics and assault rifle, she made up for this.

After the last soul ripper had been eliminated, one of the unharmed soldiers, a Palanian, raised his hand and murmured over Comm: “That was close! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome! Keep your heads up!” Kysaek replied and immediately passed the information through all channels. “Attention everyone! As suspected, PGI is relying on units from the First! We’ve just finished off a horde of Soul Rippers! Extreme caution is advised!”

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