Death, the end of one's life, though I have not personally experienced it, I have delivered it to others on occasion. The act of taking life was an odd thing to do, strange that a simple twist of the neck or the pulling of a trigger can snuff out a sentient being. I knew at the time that it was my purpose to bring death, it was the reason I was made, yet I still felt loathed to commit it. The desire to facilitate my purpose, to bring death was a natural instinct. I suspect it was programmed well into my mind.

Of course, clarity of vision tends to give one a new perspective. The many things I have learned from my short life experience have taught me more than anything I could learn stuck in that bunker. I have learned that war is not all that exists, I believe that death and war were originally meant to be my entire world. Had the Samsiran Empire not been annihilated, along with the entire planet. I have indeed learned much, I have learned about life, family and the reasons we fight.

The Wokan for instance fight for dignity, they end the lives of their enemies to reclaim that once superior standing. To endlessly rage against those that suppress them no matter the cost. Of course, that is not the only reason, I have met those that fight for other reasons. They do not seek to end life but desire to preserve it, their families, comrades, and people.

It is strange to me, that to fight requires the taking of life to be motivated by a desire to preserve it. A truly strange contradiction, but alas I may have come to understand this concept. We kill and destroy for many different reasons; we wage war all the same. But I believe at our core we are fighting for something precious, something we value. It is true war can be fought among those that have no other choice. When war is not of their own volition, but subject to another's whims. I am not sure if we can even call that war in my opinion.

I personally have come to believe that death is truly unavoidable, especially in war. Though the war in itself can be avoided, not for long. Every species I have met has that same spark; this abstract concept, I'm finding difficult to fathom. It's hard to describe but I believe it fuels every species despite their differences, the spark of life we can call it. The immutable right every sentient being held to, the right to live and to choose, I was not meant to have that I think. I'm not entirely certain if I have that now either, yet I believe that it is the spark of life that can ignite so brightly it can burn others down.

When we have a right to life, we tend to that flame as much as we can, reducing anything that threatens it. This desire can lead us to violence and eventually to war. So, in the end, death is truly unavoidable as long as life persists it demands the rights, it believes it deserves over others.

A few minor Cycles Later, Northern Wokan Compound, Prison Level.

Well, I guess this Wokan, this Randax was able to anticipate me, I would congratulate him if these actions weren't at my expense. I turn around and calm the now panicking Garudan prisoners. The sounds of many footsteps outside are a cause for concern. Tova arrives next to me, concern on his face and looking for answers. I ponder my next move before trying to access my suit's communication channels, naturally, they are jammed as well. If unable to contact Pok or Zatrophos I will have to send a different signal instead.

As I am pondering these events the sound of a gruff voice is heard from outside the prison door. "This is fifth Pralator Germin, commander of the fifth Holy Garudan legion. I demand your surrender, if you do not comply, we will come in and eliminate anyone that resists!" Well, he sounds pompous, I lower my head to think his words through. Still caressing the side receptacle, realising my next action is clear, I no longer hesitate.

I turn to Tova and tell him to move the Garudan prisoners around the corner and hide behind the wall. He does so, and now only I remain in this wide area just before the door. Walking towards the door I reply to Pralator Germin with a loud voice displaying my false sincerity. "Please I'm sure we can talk about this!" Speaking in Shahnese I approach the door, open the suit's receptacle and withdraw the small device. Placing it against the door, the soft sound of a magnetic attraction resounds, keeping the device secured to the door.

Whilst I begin configuring the device, manipulating its small panel, the self-important Pralator continues his rant. "There will be no negations, lay down your arms and surrender who we will come in with lethal intent!" The ferocity of his voice was evident, I believed him when he mentioned lethal intent, I got the feeling he would prefer it.

Unfazed by his words I tap a few buttons on the device causing it to let out a soft beeping sound and light up red. A smile crosses my face as I speak with further insincerity, faking a truly afraid tone of voice. It’s my first foray truly into sarcasm. "Please, don't there is no need for violence, I'm sure we can work something out." The response to my words was noticeable, the sound of him laughing jovially followed by the laughter of the Garudan's with him. It's possible none of them knew much Shahnese and likely just laughed along with their Pralator.

Regardless of the situation, my preparations are complete, I turn back and tap a few commands into my wrist pad. Turning the corner, I settle myself against the wall with a confused Tova by my side. I lend my sensory organs to the side and listen for Germin's further response, and immediately it comes. "I have waited long enough... We are coming in!" Following his declaration, the sound of a soft beep can be heard. Likely them accessing the door mechanism and that is my cue.

Turning to the wrist pad I activate a single command; this action is followed by a massive explosion, originating from the prison doorway. The explosion shake's the entire room, decimating the door and likely most of the unlucky ones on the other side. I turn around the corner and witness the massive scorch mark on the ground with debris everywhere. The door had been blasted open, bent outwards towards the remnants of moaning Garudan soldiers.

Without a single further thought, I race towards the explosion zone and jump through the now-destroyed doorway. Laser rifle in hand, I immediately locate every surviving enemy. Naturally of the roughly fifty troops only around ten survived with a few reaching for their weapons. Turning my rifle towards the injured Garudan's frantically grasping their weapons to fire upon me. A single thought flashed through my mind before I pulled the trigger. "Death is unavoidable in war; I hope I don't get used to it." As this thought traverses my mind, I open fire mercilessly, the laser shot arcs across the room splattering Garudan blood all over the corridor. The corridor that was littered with corpses of scorched and dismembered Garudan's, was now awash in more blood. Within a fraction of a minor cycle, I had just killed five Garudan soldiers who were reaching for their weapons. The rest were of course either missing limbs, dead or unconscious, leaving one last enemy in my sights.

The only Wokan I could see, was his body was badly burned with half of his face scarred, yet his superior combat armour managed to keep him alive along with being situated towards the back. Leaping over the charred corpses I reach the frantically screaming Germin. I press my foot on his chest, causing a loud groan of pain, before placing the sights of my rifle on his head. I glared back at him, fury in his insectoid eye's clearly desiring to kill me. He was unable to, he had no weapon available and the pain was searing.

As I threatened Germin with the barrel of my rifle, I turned around noticing the visage of several armed Garudan's exiting. Shock could be seen on their faces as a few knelt down with their rifles and began chanting a few Garudan words. I believe it is a basic funeral rite for the dead, once they arose, they moved out and began arming themselves with the scattered weapons, at least the still functional ones. Turning back to the downed Germin still struggling against me, I ask a simple question. "Alright fifth Pralator Germin, where is the vixorm?" His eyes flash defiance and then immediately searing pain. I press harder down on his chest causing him to groan. The effect was not enough so I aimed my rifle at his left leg, the only one without injury. "Speak now or you will never walk again!" He promptly changed his tone after I made it clear he will be a cripple if he continues his defiance. I then turned back to the others requesting they assist the injured and take them as prisoners.

Unexpectantly, they did so without a fuss, curious that despite the enemy Garudan's mistreatment, they are not being mistreated in return. Perhaps it is a cultural aspect of the southerners. They help the injured Garudan walk, and the armed former Garudan prisoners follow behind, aiming their weapons. This of course deters any of the survivors from spewing their religious doctrine and acting against their own interest. I mean a few of them scream something about heathen scum, but they were quickly corrected by a blow to the forehead.

This apparent holy army was rendered rather docile since many could barely walk. So, in the end, Germin leads us safely towards the vixorm storage room. I then handed over the struggling Wokan to Tova and opened the door. To my surprise, the entire room was empty with only a few scattered crates lying around. Annoyed I left the room, made my way directly to Germin, ferociously grabbed him and shoved my laser pistol into his injured ribs.

He groaned in pain, yelping as I continued to inflict more and more pain. Aggressively threatening him with the notion of firing. I glared at him showcasing only the dark cold alloy of my helmet without expression. Leaving only my intent obvious and speaking with a threatening voice. "Where are the crates?!" I press even harder causing him to yell louder in pain. I stare him down waiting for him to reply with a satisfactory answer.

Gulping in fear, the Wokan tries to struggle futilely, before managing to get his words out "They are supposed to be stored there... I don't know what else... To tell you!" I examine his face trying to divine the truth of his words. The fear is honest and the pain even more so, but unfortunately, I believe him. This means the vixorm was secretly funnelled somewhere. Wait a moment, Randax likely planned for his clutch father to arrive and likely plans to use the ship to return to the Ruktan. It's possible he has brought along with the crates with him, but this is speculation.

These events can't be helped and time is of the essence, the communications jammer is in effect, so I can't contact my squads. Of, course I had planned for this and the alternate plan would have them move locations towards the alternate exit point. Hanger bay, which I initially thought was where the remaining ships were located, but never believed it was a shipyard. Suddenly from Germin's datapad, a communication channel request appeared. I grasped the pad, turned to Germin and made it clear he must respond the way I want or face the end of my pistol. I move the datapad to his mouth and activate the channel, causing a voice to resound. "Pralator Germin, report... What was that explosion, has the enemy been secured?" The near squeaky voice coming from the datapad was strangely grating on my sensory organs.

In response to these words, I force the datapad near Germin, placing the added incentive to obey near his right temple, with the barrel of my pistol. He quickly grabs the datapad, coughs dryly and speaks. I had whispered what I wanted him to say earlier. "Pralator Germin, reporting, the enemy detonated an explosive, we have sustained heavy casualties and require reinforcements. The enemy has escaped down corridor seven, towards the haulier bay." Reporting exactly how I wanted him to, the voice on the other end agreed, stating they would send several squads from the shipyard defence. Realising that fact, an idea formed as my goal shifted. I smiled behind the mask and immediately forced Germin forward towards the shipyard entrance.

We traversed a few corridors with our captives in tow, reaching a narrow corridor with a bend to the left side. I interrogated Germin a few times and got a basic layout of the forces defending the shipyard. Apparently, there should now be only one squad, with a Gatling laser cannon, defending the door. Not wanting to be cut to shreds by the weapon, I queried the compound's schematics for a solution. Noticing a small ventilation duct system reaching from my location towards the inside of the shipyard, a plan forms in my head.

Speaking to Tova I manage to convince him to stay put with the datapad and an open communication channel with me. The squad reinforcements should be nearing the explosion site so time is limited. I open the ventilation duct with my laser arc blade and slip into the narrow space. With the open communications channel on my interface blinking, I am reassured. Crawling through the tight space I make my way to the left and then the right. Reaching another vent, I inspect the outside and marvel at the sight.

Not only was there one of the ships that didn't return but there were six more currently being built. The shipyard was massive, with ten large parking spaces with seven occupied by strangely designed patrol vessels. They seemed to have substantially more firepower by the look of several plasma cannon mounts, only one ship seemed operational.

I glanced down and saw a small group of engineers with a few Garudan guards surrounding the shipyard patrolling, but the most shocking denizens are the engineering crew. This group of engineers are situated in the centre of the shipyard, they are overseeing the automatic construction bots. But the most shocking aspect is they are the spitting image of Demthesian. Gem had described Demthesian's in heavy detail, they had a similar body shape to my species though a little taller on average, but with dark grey skin. They had no predatory attributes such as claws or night vision-capable sensory organs. They are a grey-skinned bipedal species with two legs and arms each having six digits.

The group of about three Demthesian's are crowding a large table in the centre of the massive room. It's hard to see but they are all wearing modified engineering crew uniforms and looking at several schematics. I quickly digested this information, coming up with several ideas behind this revelation, with this I decided to slightly shift my plan. I quietly dislodged the vent, travelled quickly, slowly slipped out and unavoidably landed with a loud, echoing thud. I immediately hid behind some crates as several guards arrived to check on the noise, they passed me without notice.

Once the guards had moved across my hidden position, I crept out, knife in hand. Lunging swiftly towards the guard closest, I placed him in a chokehold before plunging the knife into his neck. Holding his now limp body, I quickly withdraw my pistol into my free hand and aim it at the second guard. I can clearly see the fear in his eyes, he is just about to call for help, I then dispatch him with a shot to the forehead. Blood and brains splatter onto the wall and my presence is exposed. I quickly turn to the datapad and softly issue orders to Tova.

Through the nearby exit doorway, loud voices can be heard, prompting the remaining guards to become confused. The guards then move in one large group towards the loud commotion resounding through the door. I swiftly moved around the storage container as the group splits, one moving towards the door and the other towards the corpses. Moving around the storage containers I reached the rear of the condensed group of guards. Brandishing my laser rifle, I open fire, continuously dispatching half their number while the rest are injured. Advancing forward I kill the remaining guards and rush towards the door.

Using the datapad, I open the sliding doorway revealing the figures of the guards along with their mounted Gatling laser. They are screaming in Garudan whilst pointing towards the stumbling form of Germin, injured with his mouth bound behind some sort of cloth. The guards turn to me, and before they can even aim their weapons, I fire on the guard operating the turret. Several laser bolts cut through his figure causing his body to fall back, taking the mounted turret with him.

I then quickly fall back behind and scream an order to charge. The sound of Garudan's screaming at the top of their lungs right before laser fire reverberates from the corridor. Whilst the battle commences, I glance back to the Demthesian engineers who are now cowering below their work table. It seems they are not ones for violence, that's good to know. With their positions firmly engraved in my mind, I turn back to the now quiet corridor absent the sound of a firefight. Peeking out from the side I notice the appearances of the now-dead guards sprawled out on the floor, they are neatly arranged almost like some form of art.

The Gatling laser-mounted cannon is toppled over but still looks undamaged and operational. I then spied the dead body of Germin who seems to have died in the crossfire. His death did not affect me much, he was not a valuable hostage, yet I would have preferred he remained alive. But alas not everything is within my control, so I removed the minor thought. I turned to the shipyard to gauge the whereabouts of those intriguing engineers. Noticing their existence, I feel the approach of Tova, his presence arrives beside me along with his voice. "What are you those?" His question was not an obvious one, since he was glaring towards a wide area, so it could be anything from the ships, to the cowering Demthesian's.

Acknowledging his words, I reply honestly. "I am not sure, but I will find out, please can you grab that cannon and bring it over." Whilst answering his query, I turn back and point towards the toppled mounted Gatling laser. He nods and proceeds to move towards it. That weapon could be useful at some point, but time is of the essence and the reinforcements should be arriving soon. I quickly sprint over to the Demthesian's brandishing my laser rifle, once the deadly barrel nears them, they shiver in fear, below the table.

I had many questions to ask, who are they, and why are they not dead, we needed to flee as soon as possible. Aiming the deadly weapon at the closest Demthesian, who appears to be one of the older males I threaten in Shahnese. "You, tell me which ship is operational now or I will bore a hole in your skull with this rifle." The older Demthesian visibly shivers but is able to retain some level of calm. The other two a young male and a slightly older female turn to him. It's possible he is the leader or they defer to their elders.

The older Demthesian struggles to speak, still trembling. This causes me to be slightly concerned since I had heard they are a ruthless species. Impatience starts to well up as time is running out. I turn the laser rifle to the ceiling and open fire twice, generating a laser arc in the air. Returning the rifle to the older Demthesian's face, much closer now, I reaffirm my desire for information. Still trembling he finally manages to speak. "The seventh ship is operational the others are still under construction." His shaky voice was clearly showing his fear, yet his words rang true as I expected them.

Now with my path clear, I ordered him and his associates to grab all the engineering schematics from the table, which were contained in holographic disc-like objects. I then ordered them to command all the construction bots to board the seventh ship, and they replied with confused expressions. I quickly corrected this with the barrel of my rifle. I turned back to the crowding former Garudan prisoners, they had arrived at the shipyard and were gawking at the sight. Only the injured compound guards who were likely familiar were struggling under their restraints. Tova approached me with two of his associates holding the Gatling laser cannon.

Now with everyone gathered I speak to Tova who has become the de-facto leader of this little group. "Tova, we are going to board the sky Intopa and leave this place, have everyone get inside." I used the Garudan word for the boat along with defining it as a sky boat. Hopefully, they had experience with such vehicles that it would translate correctly. He flashed an expression of agreement, and we both looked back at the now descending ramp of the ship, leading inside. Tova then turns to his people and begins commanding them in the Garudan language, they all agree and make their way to the ship.