“Hey, Blinky.” Flow tapped on Blinky’s shell. “Blinky… wake up…”

After another three taps, Blinky whirled into life, letting out a few beeps before Flow shushed him. She was dressed in her heavy armor, which covered most of her body in plates with only a few gaps for her joints. Out of her three sets, this was the one she wore the least and wouldn’t if she could avoid it.

“Come on. We got work to do.”

Blinky hovered after Flow as she walked down the ladder to the kitchen. On the table was the armor helmet, her assault rifle and shotgun. Her pistol was already in its holster along with ammunition for all three weapons strapped to her armor and utility belt.

Blinky gave a series of beeps before Flow shushed him again. “Mom’s still on downtime. We don’t need her on right now,”

Taking her equipment and putting her helmet on, Flow walked out of the Farm where her speeder was parked out and ready. It was still night, and only Brawn and Bouncer were around, locking their weapons on Flow as usual. Yet this time, Flow paid them no heed and powering up the speeder. Blinky beeped again.

“Yes I know what time it is,” Flow said as the speeder picked up off the ground. “Now let's go,”

Blinky floated towards Flow as she put up her hood, nestling at her right side. With the droid secured, Flow kicked the accelerator, speeding out of the gates, out on the open road lit only by the speeder's headlamp.

When they were a fair distance away from the farm Blinky beeped again, wondering where they were going dead in the night.

“We’re gonna get that warp core and energy crystal.” Flow said to her partner. “And there’s only one place on this entire planet where we’ll get everything we need.”

****

Flow came to a halt on a hill that overlooked a large complex on the outskirts of the colony. Five colossal buildings with three deep silos and five large dry-docks where ruined cruisers lay in decay. Stretched out before that was a vast array of spacecraft that had been left long dormant. Unlike everywhere else in the colony, there were still lights on in some parts of the building, with the generator that had long kept working even despite lack of maintenance. The Helos Space Port; one of the most dangerous places on the entire planet.

“And there it is,”

Realizing where they were, Blinky flew out from Flow’s hood beeping frantically.

“Of course mom doesn’t know we’re here,” Flow said as she checked her shotgun. “I bet she’ll rip me apart when we get back,”

She was about to walk on before Blinky flew right up to her face, now beeping hysterically.

“It’s like Clive said; we’re not gonna find anything by just crawling through the colony,” Flow pointed to the shadows of the skyscrapers. “We won’t be long. We just need to find a ship that has an active warp core and energy crystal then we’ll head back.”

Blinky continued to beep frantically.

“Fine. If it gets too dangerous I’ll head back. Happy?”

Blinky went silent and then finally let out a single beep.

“Great,” Flow nodded, resting her shotgun on her shoulders. “Lead the way buddy.”

Turning on his single light, Blinky flew towards the spaceport with Flow following behind.

****

There was only one way into the complex without being mauled to death; taking the sluice tunnels which came out at the entrance, then moving through them into the main complex, and finally through a gap in the wall of the second terminal wide enough for Flow to fit through. The short walk was enough for Flow to regret wearing her heavy armor, as well as the added weight of carrying two firearms. It hindered her momentum and by the time she had squeezed through the gap into the dilapidated service tunnel lit up only by Blinky, she was already out of breath.

“… Maybe I should have woken up Clive.”

Blinky beeped at her, agreeing with her rhetorical question.

“Alright, I got it already.” Flow turned on her helmet inbuilt flashlight, lighting up more of the dilapidated room. It was an old janitor's closet with equipment and shelves knocked over. On the floor was a skeleton of a janitor, laying against the wall. Whoever he was, he died hiding from the zombies, completely sealed inside this one room.

Readying her shotgun for whatever threats she may face, Flow moved towards the door, pulling on the handle. It was locked, but given the state of the door, it seemed time had not been kind.

“Okay, ready.” Flow slammed her foot into the door, which buckled following the impact. With one final kick, the obstruction was removed, slamming on the ground. Flow moved into the dark corridor, her shotgun poised. There was lucky no activity along the dark corridors, with very limited light coming from both Flow and Blinky, as well as some overhead lights that flickered, still working despite the age of the complex.

“You have a map of this place?”

Blinky brought up a holoscreen, showing a floor-by-floor map of the second terminal and where they were (roughly).

“Just need to head up for now. Then we can get looking for the parts we need.”

Flow walked on, passing underneath a fallen pipe as she made her way down the dilapidated corridor. With her experience in the colony, she knew just because something was silent doesn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. In fact, silence was often more dangerous since you don’t know who’s watching you. Fortunately, Flow encountered nothing and reached the way out of the basement. Unfortunately, the stairs had seen better days, with a large gap obstructing the way forwards.

“I got this,” Flow flashed her left hand, letting out some of her power to create an ice bridge for her to cross over to the other side. Carefully, Flow creaked open the door to the first level, still open to corridors. The sound of a muffled moan, caused her to immediately move behind cover, turning off her light as Blinky did the same.

Flow inched herself closer to the edge and then saw something shuffling into view, lit up by the broken lights enough for her to make out that it was a zombie, and one that had been infected in the dark for decades. Unlike most that could be found on the surface, these one’s were more deformed with the skin turning a sickly color and dissolving, with pustules and boils festering. With a mutated jaw, these creatures were far more dangerous than the common variety and made up a majority of what was waiting in the space port. These creatures served as one of the reasons why the spaceport was off-limits.

“Are there any others?”

Blinky let out a silent moan, keeping his volume down as much as possible to tell her yes.

“Better do this quietly…”

Flow broke her cover, and silently approached the zombie in front of her while it was unaware of her presence. Lowering her body, Flow flashed her left hand forming an ice knife before stabbing it into the creature’s nape. The area around the neck flash froze. Flow kicked it down, and the Ice shattered on impact, the head rolling away from its body.

“One down,”

Flow crouched down, hugging the wall as she continued forwards. “Okay buddy, where’s the others?”

Blinky floated ahead of her, dimly flashing into a room to the left. Flow inched closer and saw two zombies huddled together. This one’s clothing had completely shredded off, with the skin now a horrific mass of flabby skin, boils, and hardened puss-filled stubs.

Flow retreated back behind cover. She had to clear out the room one way or the other, as she couldn’t afford to take any chances of them stalking her from behind.

Guess it’s time to try out that new move.

Releasing her left hand from her shotgun, Flow coalesced her ice into her palm, forming an ice sphere. Once formed she threw it into the room. Once it hit the ground, it burst like a silent grenade, the two zombies becoming peppered with small ice stakes that quickly froze the flesh around them before toppling to the ground.

“Holy shit, that worked.” Flow said as she stood up. “I-I mean, I knew it would work,” She added to appease Blinky. “Any others?”

Blinky shook, letting out a small wine. They were in the clear.

“Okay good. Let’s move up,”

*****

Taking the stairs to the next level, Flow reached another roadblock in the form of an electronic door. Even though there was power, it did not seem to be working.

“Alright, work your magic,”

With a beep, Blinky began to scan the door and the area around it before focusing in on a specific point. Flow followed him and saw a small panel. It was a control box that would hopefully allow her to fix the door, but ripping the panel off revealed the machine inside it had decayed beyond salvage.

“Ah shit. We’re stuck now…” Flow growled. “They must have a contingency for power outages. Blinky. Give it another scan.”

Blinky followed the instruction, scanning around the junction box before signaling in on a single point. Flow searched the wall and after scraping away several layers of dust unearthing another panel. With effort, Flow wrenched the panel open.

“Found it!”

Inside was a leaver. Flow grabbed it with both hands and pulled, having to put her strength behind it. After a struggle, the leaver moved and was pulled down. There was a loud clunk from the door.

“Alright…” Flow grabbed a hold of the door and pulled. “Come on….” The door budge an inch but no more. In the end, Flow gave up and kicked the door in frustration. Blinky gave seven beeps.

“No we’re not going back,” Flow flexed her right arm. Mist seeping from her hand. “There’s always away.” Throwing out her hand, ice began to build up in the small gap that was created. “And…” With a swing of her hand, the Ice expanded outwards. With a loud shriek, the doors were both forced open, creating a gap big enough for her to squeeze through, only blocked now by her ice which Blinky beeped to point out.

“Give it a sec,” Flow tapped on the ice, which immediately cracked apart and dispersed completely. “And we're clear,”

Blinky let out a low whine. Flow grinned at him under her helmet before moving forwards through the gap created.

They were now in the old mall area of the southern terminal. It was once a large two-story complex that housed an array of shops ranging from supermarkets to toy shops that were still lit up by the lights and neon signs, albeit dimly. Flow could imagine that once many people would be crammed into this place while waiting for their flights. Now it was nothing more than a decayed ruin with everything from debris that fell from sighs and tiles from the ceiling and discarded luggage and personal artifacts that had been left in a hurry.

“This is creepy,” Flow kept her finger on the trigger of her shotgun.

There was a good chance she would need it for what was to come. Even as she moved through the mall, keeping one eye open for even the slightest hint of trouble, she could tell she was being watched. Years of expeditions into the colony had given her enough experience to know when something wasn’t right, and she didn’t need Blinky to give her an alert for it.

In the shadows of the shops, something was moving.

“They’re close, aren’t they?”

Blinky gave one beep.

Flow took one last step forwards before she heard something moving behind her. Immediately, she turned about and fired, blowing the head off a charging zombie. She turned again to her three o’clock, firing her off two shots at two more zombies that had emerged from the darkness. She turned again to her seven when a zombie tackled her, knocking her shotgun out of her hand. Staggered, Flow quickly threw out an ice wall at three charging zombies before bringing her assault gun to bear at the first, ripping it apart with a full-automatic burst. Another zombie then lunged at her from below, biting into her shin guard. Instead of wasting ammo, Flow stabbed it in the head with an icicle she created. Freeing herself, she was then assaulted by two of the zombies, but shook both off with her quick reflexes, emptying what remained in her magazine at the third before throwing ice blades at the zombies she ducked under. While both shuffled back, dazed as the wounds began to flash freeze the skin around them, Flow charged into them, knocking both to the ground as she retrieved her shotgun, firing and killing both.

“Whew…” Flow reloaded her shotgun before slotting in a fresh magazine into her rifle. Blinky didn’t give out another proximity alarm, which meant that she was safe for now. However, the loud noises she had made could have awoken any nearby hives. Her battle was just beginning.

With her shotgun in hand Flow continued through the derelict mall. Her destination was the engine bays and workshops, all of which were located in the main terminal. She walked in silence, daring not to turn on her helmet light lest it give away her position. Luckily she reached the end of the terminal without incident, bare from one major problem; the way to the central terminal was blocked by a makeshift barricade likely made by the survivors decades ago, and was annoyingly still standing.

“Oh come on,” Flow clicked her tongue. That was the direct route into the terminal. “Blinky, bring up the map.”

Blinky flashed the map of the space port, marking their current position. It was the old map that did not take into account anything that was blocked, like the passage to the north terminal. One option was to climb around the outside. Flow was fairly confident in her parkour skills picked up from years of exploring the colony, but with the armor and three weapons she carried, that might not be feasible. It was for that reason among many why she didn’t like the armor.

“Guess we can take the service passages.”

Blinky gave three whirls, communicating that he didn’t like the plan, and possibly recommend they go back.

“Nice try,” Flow said as blinky deactivated the hologram. “Now come on.”

****

The door to the service passages was also blocked, but luckily not as substantially as the way to the central terminal. Thanks to her ice, Flow was able to move the blockage before disintegrating it. Then it was a matter of ramming the door down. Unfortunately, the lights were out, which meant Flow and Blinky had to activate her light. The passage was narrow with a lot of holes and blind spots. An ambush here was more than likely, especially as Blinky’s proximity sensors were responding. With another beep, the droid pleaded for them to go back.

Predictably, Flow continued forwards with her shotgun poised. If anything jumped out at her, she had to be ready to respond in kind. Slowly she made her way down the passage, relying on the two lights as her only means to see what was ahead. It wasn’t long before something moved in the dark reacting to the light source. Flow’s light was the first to fall on the putrid, deformed face of a zombie which howled and lunged at her. The passageway was lit up by the muzzle flash of the shotgun as the zombie’s head was blown to pieces. The noise echoed, followed by scars from other threats that undoubtedly had heard it.

Flow took another step forwards when two zombies came into view in the lights. Flow fired at both of them, blasting large chunks of their flesh off. Blinky gave off a warning, but one that came too late as a zombie lunged from a blind stop, forcing Flow to the wall as she used her shotgun to force the threat back, only catching glimpses of the snapping jaw through the odd flashes of her light.

“Get… off…” Flow managed to overpower the creature and forced it to the ground, firing before it could get up. Barely a moment to catch her breath, Blinky gave off another warning, this time behind them. A hoard of five zombies was charging up the passage from the southern terminal. Rather than wasting more ammo, Flow created an ice wall behind her, blocking the hoard from reaching her (while also cutting off her means of retreat).

“Whew… that was close…” Flow sighed as she slid fresh slugs into the breach. She could hear the sounds of the zombies banging themselves against the solid ice wall she had created. “Come on, that won’t hold for long. I think…”

Leaving the ice wall behind them, Flow carefully stepped over the fallen zombies to continue through the dark. Out of instinct, she closed off any gaps in the wall she encountered, narrowing the areas where she could be jumped. They progressed uninterrupted until they reached the emergency stairwell where Blinky sized up, beeping in quick bursts.

“What is it, buddy?” Flow asked. It wasn’t his proximity alarm, that sounded different. “Is it… it’s not mom or someone from the farm?”

Blinky turned and shook.

“A…. signal?”

Blinky gave three beeps. This was where Flow wished he could communicate in some other manner she could understand.

“A… distress signal?” That one was off the top of her head, but Blinky’s reaction meant she was right. “Wait… really?”

That was difficult to believe. Any distress signals were long burnt out and the only one in the colony that was ever operational was one that Flow helped build on the farm. It was only active for three months before being deactivated due to the amount of power it needed to be on continuously and the fact no help came.

But it certainly wouldn’t be impossible if something managed to continue transmitting for all these years if it did hit home that no help from the rest of the galaxy was coming.

“Is it coming from a ship?”

Blinky blinked once, meaning he couldn’t tell.

“Guess it’s worth checking out.” Flow walked to the stairwell. “Come on buddy.”

****

The stairwell walked down two levels in total darkness, trying her best not to trip and fall while staying alert for any more surprises she had encountered thus far. She reached the end where the emergency door was partially open. Cautiously, Flow opened the door. It leads into a dimly lit large garage with two trucks still parked.

“I’m surprised things still work in this dump,” Flow said to herself while Blinky scanned for the signal. “So?”

Blinky flew towards the open garage doors then stopped. Flow followed which lead them outside into the freighter park lit up in spots by the overhead lamps. On the ground nearby were five zombies laying on the ground.

“Looks like a few beasts managed to get in.” Flow said, keeping her shotgun at the ready in case the beasts were nearby. “…. Wait,” It was only when she got closer she realized something; if it was the beasts, the bodies would have been dragged away or eaten on the spot.

When she got closer she realized it wasn’t beasts that dispatched them. The zombies were riddled with bullet wounds.

“But… how?” Flow examined each body. Each of them had been shot, some cases multiple times. Blinky gave a few beeps alerting Flow to a position close by. On the ground were several dozen bullet cases on the ground. “This… this was recent, wasn’t it?”

Blinky beeped twice.

“Is it a survivor?” Flow asked with some hope. Blinky whined, meaning he didn’t know. Not that she was expecting.

“…. The signal? Is it close by?”

Blinky beeped before zooming away. Flow followed, navigating through the maze of freighters. There was more evidence of fighting, with more zombies spewed around, each with the same wounds as the first group and more bullet cases.

“Do you think… someone living all the way out here?” Flow asked, to which Blinky gave an unsure beep. “But it’s not impossible! I mean, I’m here, right? So… maybe someone survived the fall of the colony. For… fifty years… Okay, that might be a stretch. Maybe… maybe they crashlanded here or… space pirates?”

Blinky whistled and beeped.

“Well you come up with an idea?”

Crunch. Crunch. Crack!

“Huh?” Flow stopped after walking on what sounded like broken glass. However, when she looked down and shine her light on the source she found the ground was covered in a fine layer of black quartz laid on the ground.

“What is this?” Flow stopped and scooped up a handful while Blinky scanned them. To her surprise, he blinked two red flashes. This meant his scan failed. “Really?”

Flow looked up and focused more of her light, joined by the flashing bulbs of the overhead lamps. There was even more black quartz, stemming from oddly specific piled with the odd glint of bullet cases and the odd bullet holes in the old freighters. From the direction, they seemed to be following the path of battle to wherever the signal was coming from.

“Hey… over there!”

In the dim light of an overhead lamp and close to the trail of quartz, Flow spotted a body on the ground and a rifle clenched in hand. “Hey! Are you okay!”

Flow rushed to the stranger’s side, a man, and rolled him to his front, confirming that he was dead. Hours by how cold his body was. By his clothing, he was a soldier but not one Flow had ever seen in the colony; his armor was a loose metal plate of a light brown dye. His face was obscured by a face mask and goggles strapped on his helmet. On his chest was a deep claw mark that rented through the breastplate’s protective layer.

“This… this was recent,” Flow asked out loud, conferred by a beep from Blinky. “Did the zombies do this?”

From a look at the claw marks, that seemed unlikely. Even with the zombie virus mutations to particularly the jaws, claws were not something that she had seen on them in her experience. And besides, the bodies didn’t seem as mauled as they would if it was a zombie that got them, much fewer signs that they would turn into one.

She could also rule out the beasts as the body was more or less still intact.

While examining the body for anything else, she spotted an emblem of a wing on the man’s right shoulder with the acronym SFSR on it.

“Do you know what that is?”

Blinky gave a beep for no.

“…. Just who are you?”

That was a question that had to be left unanswered as Flow left the body to continue on the fright path. There were two more zombie corpses along the path with yet more black quartz piles. Blinky then zoomed ahead past a turn. Flow followed, guessing she was coming to the source of the signal.

“What the…?”

Right in front of her was what was once a ship; now nothing more than a still smoldering pile of scrap.

“Is… is this it?”

Blinky beeped twice for yes.

“This… can’t be right.”

Flow approached the wreckage, surrounded by yet more of the strange quartz. There were three bodies, soldiers like the first one she saw. Yet the wounds were different. Two of them had large holes burrowed through the armor while another closest to the wreckage looked to have lost most to his left side, quite literally.

“There’s no way zombies or beasts did this,” Flow said as she picked up something from the wreckage, unsure as to what it used to be. She guessed whatever it was, it was about the size of the Icarus, or slightly smaller. But there was little left to identify what kind of ship it was. “…. Could you give it a scan?”

Anticipating what she was asking, Blinky flew around and scanned the wreckage before coming back to Flow with three red flashes.

“No warp drive? An energy crystal we can use?”

Blinky let out a long whine.

“Guess it was a long shot.”

It seemed the only place to find them was the shipyard on the opposite side of the space port. Which meant going through the central terminal, which was supposed to be very dangerous as the main hive of the zombies seemed to be. Blinky gave a few more beeps, once more pleading to Flow to go back to the Farm. Flow would usually dismiss this like before, but now her own instincts were telling her to go back. Whatever caused this may still be in the space port.

However, her curiosity got the better of her. If not for the parts, then to find out who these men were, what caused this, and more importantly; what were they after here of all places.

“Let's go.”

With a small whine of exhaustion from her robot partner, Flow continued towards the central terminal.

****

Vault door 1: unlocked.

WARNING: Fiends detected in the vicinity.

Initiating defensive measures.

Awaken #9; Pareminters of forced awakening not met. Awakening denied.

……

…….

……

#1 authorization signature detected.

ERROR. ERROR.

……

……

Securing Vault door 2. Awaiting further authorisation.