Elinsys woke up in a white room, a medical bay on the station. It must have been a private room, she was the only one in it. She cleared her eyes and looked around, immediately noticing the gigantic mirror on one side of the room. Was she in observation? “Hello? Anybody there?” Elinsys asked. Then the mirror turned into a window and revealed a team of scientists behind it. “Do not worry Major, you are just being observed for the traces of the drug and any possible effects it could have. How are you feeling?” “Hungry, starving. I haven’t had a proper meal for two days now, or is it three?” She wasn’t sure how long she was out, or how she got here. “Five days, actually. If the last meal you had was the one in that… restaurant.” One of the scientists spoke up in the back. “Yes, it is a brothel, Ir’ela I know. Just, don’t.” “I can hear you, also where is Nilni? Is she alright?” Elinsys tried to focus on Nilni, but a small part of her mind wanted nothing but food. “She is fine, woke up and we are doing some tests with her right now. To make sure she is really fine.” The other scientist once again interrupted. “She is a bit shaken up, well, traumatized probably, but we have great doctors who will help her.” “What kind of test do you need to do?” Better to get it started now. “Blood tests, heart pressure test… your standard medical check up with just a few extra on top of that. We will start with...” * Elinsys was sitting in her bed, cup of tea in her hand and test reports in the other. There were no more traces of the drug in her system, but she would have to stay until they finish the second round of tests. They have found some high traces of Corticosteroid and low amounts of Melatonin. She then heard the buzzer, which signalled someone wanted to talk to her. The mirror once again turned to glass. Behind the transparent wall were Melora and Henera, waving to her. She got closer to the mirror and sat down in the chair they provided her with. Melora’s hair was shorter than a few days before. “Elinsys, how glad we are to see you well and back to your old self.” Melora started. “When you went missing we were worried.” “Well, we were a bit more worried about the horde of drugged up lunatics trying to break every airlock and setting fires.” Henera interrupted. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about that yet...” Melora tried to stop it, but Elinsys wouldn’t allow it. “Tell me now what happened, please. In detail.” Melora looked down. “Let me, Henera. She will need pauses to process what happened, Goddess knows I needed them.” “Fine, just make sure it is the truth and don’t spare the details. She needs to be on the same page as us.” Henera added. “I will do that, not that I could ever forget anything from that night. Or the ones after.” Melora’s hands were shaking a bit. * Henera and Melora were sitting in an officer’s lounge, having a few drinks. Melora spoke up first. “I am very glad that dust is off our ships. I must say we have handled this rather well. Don’t you think so?” Henera raised her small glass, they were only having one or two small drinks. “I agree, Commodore. We have prevented a disaster.” “I couldn’t agree more. Cheers everyone!” Melora made a toast to the bar. Other patrons of the lounge joined in, too, nodding among themselves with agreement. A few of the younger officers even cheered, before they quieted down when other, more seasoned, officers looked at them darkly. One of the younger officers stood up. “Do you mind making a speech, Commodore? We would love to hear it.” She looked around the room and others gave slight nods of approval. “Well, if you insist.” Melora stood up, raised her glass and began her speech. “There comes a time in the life of every person in the service to the Empress, when we must ask ourselves...” Her speech, wonderful and full of hope, was interrupted by an officer entering the lounge. She had tears in her dress uniform and blood on her hands. “There are deranged citizens outside! We must help!” The other officers immediately stood up and started to head for the main entrance. Melora and Henera joined them too, but they found their way blocked by tables and chairs. The manager had ordered her workers to barricade the door. “What are you doing?” Melora shouted. “We are blocking off the mob from trashing this place. Use the backdoor if you must leave.” The cowardly manager was just standing there while the workers moved to barricade the doors. “Must be a noble.” Melora said derisively, while they exited by the back entrance out into a service hallway. “Now, we must head towards the gate and then towards the armory. From there...” * “Stop, stop.” Henera interrupted. “You didn’t say that. You told me we should go out onto the street and see what the commotion was about.” “Well, we saw it on our way there.” Melora tried to move forward with her story. “Anyway, we reached the gate and then made our way...” “No, no, this is all wrong.” Henera was getting agitated. “Let me start from the beginning. The Major must understand what happened, she has to have all the details. So, we were in a bar...” * Sitting in a private both, which Henera paid for, many empty glasses were strewn on the table. Almost all of them were in front of the very drunk Melora. “Did I tell you how much...” Melora started another story, but the alcohol was turning her words into mumbling incoherence. “And we...” She slumped over the table. Henera looked around. This was what they called an officer’s lounge? This bar looked like it was straight out of a seedy crime movie. Dark walls and dim light, as if made for officers to hide their sins in. “Why did we come here?” Henera looked over to the bar. There was a scantily dressed male there. She could almost see all of his chest! “Prostitutes? Uhh...” She groaned to herself. “I wish we could actually find a proper officer’s lounge one day. With tables with sheets over them, cutlery and...” Her train of thought was interrupted by a Shil’vati Marine entering the room, covered in blood and screaming. Her jacket ripped to shreds. “There are maniacs, lunatics outside! They are tearing people apart, out there! Quickly, barricade the door.” She moved over to the bartender, who was looking rather distraught at the sight of the woman. “All of you, help me out.” Coming to her senses, the bartender commanded all in the room, she must have been ex-military. Everyone who was sober enough to stand upright and carry a table or a chair helped to barricade the door. “If only we could get such efficiency on the Veneration.” Henera said under her breath while carrying Melora out of the bar by the back entrance, leaving them in the gap between buildings. “Mop, mop.” Melora said, hanging by Henera’s side. “What?” Henera asked. Melora raised her hand to point towards the street. “Mob...” Melora lowered her hand. In Front of them was a mob, covered in blood, ripped clothing and golden dust. Luckily for them, the disordered rabble failed to see the pair. “Up you go.” Henera threw Melora over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes, and carried her towards the gate. They must reach safety as fast as possible....” * “Turox shit! I was not that drunk. I might have had one more than I care to admit, but I wasn’t passing out in no service tunnel.” Melora interrupted this time. “And that place was better than some shady bar back on your home planet.” “No it wasn’t. Officers were getting drunk and grabby with the waiters.” Henera shot back. “It was basically a brothel.” “QUIET.” Elinsys shouted, then she instantly regretted it when the pair looked at her in fear and confusion. “I am sorry, but these caricatures you put forth of one another are annoying. I need the facts. Cold, uncaring facts.” Henera and Melora looked at one another then back at Elinsys. “Fine, fine. As Henera was less drunk than me...” Melora started. “I was not drunk.” Henera raised her hand. “Henera had one or two drinks, I had a few more. So, I propose she continues the story.” “Thank you.” Henera lowered her hand back down. “Now, where was I?” * The crowd was feral, moving from shop to shop and destroying all in their way. There were some soldiers who were overrun. The crowd surged over them, and they were lost under a tide of seething bodies. Their screams lasted far longer than Melora would care to admit, and the source of the blood on the crowd became much easier to discern. Poor bitches. “Come on Melora, we need to move.” Henera said while hiding behind a building’s corner. “Got any ideas?” Melora was crouching down behind her. “We could make a dash for it?” Henera looked where the gate was. She couldn’t see it, but she could see the crowd moving towards it. She heard the screaming and gunfire. “No way, we will get captured, and I do not wish to feel their knives on my skin.” Henera tried to find some way out. “Well, I have an idea, but I know you won’t like it.” Melora kicked in the floor with her boot. Again and again she kicked, making noise, so much noise. “What are you doing!?” Henera wanted to shout, but that would only make more noise. “You are ringing the dinner bell for them!” Then the floor shifted. “What?” Henera silently shouted. “How did you?” Melora smiled. “Stations need service tunnels, and you need to be able to enter those from as many points as possible. You should watch out for the markings. They are very useful.” She pulled the hatch open and jumped in. A few stragglers from the crowd were moving towards Henera, so she quickly jumped into the tunnel and closed the hatch behind her. “That was clever, mind if I steal the trick?” “No, not at all. If we make it out of here. Now we need...” Melora looked around. The service tunnel was lit only by the emergency light, the dim, red glow putting a nightmarish pallor over what she could see, with interspersed fields of gloom between the various lights, like pools of light in the darkness. To her and Henera’s surprise, it was quiet,nothing could be heard of the riot above. Only the slow turning of ventilation, the buzzing of the machinery and the hammering in their chest. “A map?” Henera pointed towards the wall, covered in dust, where there was a map, simple lines representing the tunnels. “Yes... Now, we need to take this path and then turn here. If we follow it we can make it all the way to the armory.” Melora moved her finger over the map, trying to remember the route. “What? No, that won’t work. There is definitely a security gate in the service tunnels. We must exit somewhere near the gate. We could exit here and then make a run for it.” “Make a run for it, you make it sound like it will be that simple.” Henera was annoyed. Sometimes Melora was too optimistic. “Listen, you were top of your class in CQC, well, most things, but CQC is the one which matters now. I suggest we make a run for it, you covering my back. And hope the soldiers at the gate will provide supporting fire?” Melora smiled, awkwardly. There was her naivety again, sometimes Melora seemed more like a Private straight out of boot training, thinking some great space adventure awaits. “Yes, ma’am. It could work. Odds are terrible, though. It would help if we could make a distraction and maybe get some weapons. Even a pipe would do.” “There should be a tool storage here somewhere. Maybe a wrench.” "Or a blowtorch, that could scare them away." Henera started fumbling around the hallways. The map said there would be a tool closet up ahead...found it! Tucked against the wall was a decrepit little room, the lock discarded a few feet away, various unknown liquids splattered on its surface. Running towards it, she swung it open forcefully. A wan light hung from the ceiling, casting only a partial visibility on the bulky shapes hidden therein. Raising her omnipad, she used her light to see what was salvageable. The musty smell that assaulted her was redolent with the bloom of mold. White and green trails of the stuff clustered everywhere, like a fuzzy menagerie. "What a wonderful smell you've discovered," Melora said woozily. Henera ignored her, moving purposefully to the rows of lockers, and throwing the contents on the flimsy table. Some old jumpsuits, a few naughty vids. A hefty flashlight, a weapon in its own right. Aha! Some bug spray and a crowbar. She could work with this. Handing the bludgeoning tool to Melora, she shouldered the pressurized sprayer, and went rooting for a source of fire. Melora took the crowbar. “I don’t know how useful a bug spray will be useful. You sure you don’t want like… a hammer?” “Don't worry, it’ll be alright.” Henera found what she was looking for, a blowtorch in working condition. They moved towards their exit point, stopping when they were under the hatch. Henera looked at Melora. “Are you ready for this?” “I hope so.” Melora stated, nervous and tightly gripping her crowbar. Henera opened the hatch and rushed out, making sure no one flanked her while Melora was climbing up. The crowd still was moving towards the gate, but they were sparse here, bodies lying on the floor. “Come on, Melora. We need to rush by them. Hopefully their senses are dulled and they won’t see us. Ready?” “Ready.” Together they started to move through the crowd, Melora wildly swinging her crowbar around, hitting those who got too close for comfort. Before they could reach the gate and the makeshift blockade before it they encountered a problem. Two maniacs started to rush at Henera, knives in their hands, ready to cut her down. She raised the bug spray and put the blowtorch in front of it. Then she let the spray do its job. Bug spray flew towards the blowtorch, then it lit ablaze and turned into fire. The two attacker’s smiles slowly turned into frowns, they tried to dodge out of the way, but they were too slow. Screams filled the air, as their clothes melted into their bodies, like a horrible wax figure, burning off the skin that wasn't fused into the molten mass. “HENERA!?” Melora shouted, raising her crowbar. “Stop it!” Henera stopped her makeshift flamethrower from burning the two even more. “They tried to attack a Shil’vati Empire Captain. Come on.” Henera moved quickly forward, Melora lagging behind. “Hurry up!” Henera shouted, they would reach the barrier soon. “Stop right there! Turn back!” A soldier's voice shouted at them. “I am Henera, Captain of the Javelin! Let us pass.” Henera shouted while showing off her markings of rank. “Captain, come on in. Quickly.” A pair of soldiers moved the makeshift barricade and let Henera and Melora enter. “Do you have any spare guns?” Henera asked the highest ranking officer, who was an older woman, clearly annoyed. “Over there, in that corner. Take what you need… Damnation! Women, cover the barricade. They are trying to break it again.” All of the soldiers moved to cover the barricade. Henera moved towards the corner and found a rifle and a pistol. “Which one of us is the better shot?” She turned around to face Melora, but all she got as a response was a fist hitting her in the jaw. * “Whoa! Slow down there. I didn’t hit you.” Melora interrupted. “Yes, you did.” Henera replied pointing her finger at Melora accusingly. “I did not hit her. It's not true. It's Turoxshit. I did not hit her. I did not.” Melora took a small pause. “Oh, hi Mrek.” A Shil’vati male, named Mrek, walked in. “Ma’am. How is the patient doing, Ir’ela?” “I am doing fine, doctor. How are you?” Elinsys asked. He looked tired, and he was. “I have had more patients the past two days than most have in their whole career. Some had their skin melted together.” He turned to Henera. “Others have concussions and brain damage.” Now he looked at Melora. “The lucky ones were shot and knocked out of the fight, the unlucky ones are in the morgue.” His tone was that of a very tired and very annoyed doctor. “Is there a supply shortage?” Elinsys asked. “Yes.” He said in surprise. “And those...” “The command won’t give you any more for the civilians. More important people need it. Nobles, officers, anyone who has enough credits for the smugglers, men prostituting themselves for…” She stopped when Mrek was clearly disturbed. “Sorry, sometimes I get carried away.” “It's the drugs. They stabilized you, but their side effects are very pronounced. We’re trying to get your hormones back to normal. It might be too powerful, we’ll need to do another round of tests.” He walked away to get his equipment. “I did not hit you, I slapped you. I am sorry, but you deserved it. Burning someone alive with a makeshift flamethrower and looking like you enjoyed it. We are officers of the Empress, we are her arm. We must defend and help, not light someone on fire.” “I was riding high on adrenaline, ma’am. I guess it took it a bit too far.” “I think I should continue now.” Melora gave Henera a look. “Back to it.” * Melora and Henera now were armed. Melora with a rifle and Henera with a pistol. “You might be a better shot when the target is not moving, but under pressure… I am the best shot.” “The guards are getting overwhelmed.” Henera pointed towards the crumbling barricade. A party of the deranged civilians were attacking the guards, stabbing at their armor and knocking them over. Melora raised her rifle and fired towards them, hitting the civilians. She made sure both her and Henera’s weapon was on the non-lethal setting. It still hurt like crap, but at least it would create burns and hopefully make them fall over. “Make a firing line, one row kneel while the other stands behind them!” Her voice caught everyone's attention. “On me! All of you!” Quickly, they arranged themselves around her like requested. Forming a small half circle around the gap and firing towards anybody who tried to attack them. “Cover me while I get that gate open.” Melora headed towards the gate. It was locked and she required a password to unlock it. “Anyone know the password?” “I do ma’am, but I am under strict orders not to...” The highest ranking officer from before answered, she was younger than Melora, younger than Henera too. “I do not care, open the gate now. We must retreat to the interior areas before we are overrun, there are more of them on the way and these bastards take multiple shots to go down. Now!” The officer opened the gate slightly, just enough for a Shil’vati pass. “There. Retreat! All of you.” She shouted. “One by one, the kneeling row first, then the standing one. Slowly walk backwards until you reach me, then run for it. Reform on the other side.” The soldiers did as she commanded moving one by one thru the gate, slowly leaving the gap uncovered. More and more of the mob spilled in. “Go, Henera! I will cover you.” Melora shouted. “But...” Henera answered while firing at the encroaching mob. “No buts, go now!” Melora shouted, slowly moving back herself. The ever growing mob almost reached her. Henera hesitated, but still ran past the gate and was now on the other side. Melora was all alone, and getting overrun. She decided to run too. She made it to the other side, seeing the soldiers in the formation she ordered. Then something grabbed her. A Shil’vati woman was holding her by the hair. Henra jumped to her rescue. Cutting Melora’s hair and freeing her from the woman’s grasp, then she shot the attacker in the chest a few times. The gate closed behind Melora, booming with a reassuring heaviness. They may be locked in here, now, but at least those things were locked out. She spared a moment of concern for those poor bitches that had barricaded themselves in the restaurant. I hope to Goddess those flimsy tables kept them out, I can't imagine being stuck in there, if they broke their way in. “Alrighty set up barricades on this side and cover the gate. I will go and learn what the situation in other parts is.” Melora helped set up the defenses and handed command to the young officer again. After she was satisfied with the state of the defenses, she and Henera made their way towards the armory. The rest of the station was controlled by the Admiral and was peaceful. A curfew was placed until the Promenade was secured, but soldiers were slowly amassing before the gates, armed and ready to stop the riot. The interior area of the station was buzzing with activity. Hopefully, they had a better handle on things here. From here, they should be able to get some real firepower, contact the ships, and coordinate with the others to contain and snuff out this riot. By now, someone should be starting a headcount of who was on station, and who was missing. Reaching the armory, they found it a disheveled mess. Soldiers yelling at the armourers to give them their guns and armor. The staff was not prepared for such a high demand and was lagging behind. A few officers even stepped up to help them out, they were just passing out weapons to the closest pair of hands. “It’s like they are handing out promotions at a noble party.” Henera said, earning her a few looks from the nearby soldiers. “Okay, here; keep my rifle safe. I will get us some armor and another rifle for you.” Melora handed her rifle to Henera and pushed her way towards the pick-up desk. “What is your…” One of the soldiers she pushed out of the way said, before quieting down. “Commodore.” “Armorer, give me a standard service rifle, with holographic sight. Two pieces of body armor, not the full suit, just give me the security package.” The armorer quickly handed over a rifle and two sets of armor, consisting of a helmet, breastplate, knee, and elbow armor. “Suit up Henera, we need to find Elinsys and others who might not be on the ships. I suggest we head for the communication room and warn our ships. Also to get the list of the missing officers, by the Goddess I hope it is short. And that those who aren’t on the ships are safe.” * “I am sorry, but you did not say that.” Henera interrupted again. “You were basically asking people politely to let you go to the front. Only when an officer spotted you and told everyone there was a Commodore present they quieted down. I suggested we go to the Comm room, you wanted to go after Elinsys, even if we didn’t know where she was.” Merk walked back, wearing a full hazmat suit and carrying a case in his hands. “I am sorry ma’ams, but you will have to leave now. The patient needs rest. You can come back tomorrow.” “Alright, come on, Henera. We should let Elinsys take a break. We will see you tomorrow then, same time?” Melora asked. “I will be here.” Elinsys smirked to herself as Melora and Henera left. After a few minutes the doctor entered the room. “This won’t hurt, maybe a small prick at worst.” He pulled some blood from her arm. “Is the suit really necessary, doctor?” Elinsys asked. “Admiral’s orders. When dealing with any patient who was in contact with the dust and has not been cleared, one must wear the proper biohazard equipment and try to limit and direct contact.” “How was Nilni doing the last time you saw her?” Elinsys was worried about Nilni, last time she asked she was told Nilni was in some sort of shock state, barely moving and refusing to talk. “I am afraid she is mostly the same as before. She ate a small bit today, had some water. We are going to give her some anti-anxiety pills we use to calm patients down before surgery, if that doesn’t work then we might have to prescribe her the anti-psychotics we give soldiers who are shell shocked. Hopefully, they will help her.” “Do you think I could speak to her? Maybe that will help her? We did talk before I blacked out.” “Maybe, or maybe it will make it only worse. Depends on how well the drugs work. For now, you should take some time to relax, and get some rest. We will need you to fill a pile of forms when you get better. Sleep well.” Mrek left the room, and turned down the lights in Elinsys’ room. The only remaining light in the room was the table lamp next to her. “Good night, Ir’ela.” Elinsys said while turning off her lamp. “Sweet dreams.” Ir’ela said.