They Answered The Call

Rescue Hive Ship, Interstellar Space

Thirty-four solar days after leaving the Republic Hive world

6,982 light years from Earth, 2175 A.D.

Part one

Luna watched as the animal soldier and the machine animal made rapid noises at each other, wishing that she had the ability to learn the noise thoughts instead of relying on the claw signs the machine animal was currently giving her.

She devoted all her attention to the claw signs, not wanting to miss anything, though a lot of the signs were confusing or had concepts difficult to grasp.

What she did understand was the grimace on the animal’s face as it used a small device to communicate with the tiny object in space that was telling the animal where the others went.

The animal was happy, and that meant that they were on the right scent trail. The machine animal told her that the small object was sending thoughts telling them where the animals had gone.

Luna was shocked when the machine animal told her that the few remaining animals had taken a cruiser, a concept she had great difficulty grasping.

She did not think it was possible for so few animals to take over a cruiser that had thousands of drones defending it, but the machine animal was telling her that was what happened.

There was a small flash on the viewer that was showing the small object, and she realized that it had destroyed itself. The machine animal started signing to her again.

It told her that the cruiser was damaged, and moving at an animal speed she could not grasp.

She asked it to tell her the distance she needed to make the Hive ship go after explaining the measurements used by the queens.

The machine animal’s eyes froze for a few moments before resuming making claw signs at her, having converted the animal to Insectoid speed and distance equivalents.

They are like queens to have minds so powerful, Luna thought to herself as she displayed a mental image to the worker drone, telling it what direction to head in and the location of the first stop.

The Hive ship started thrumming as power was fed to the null space capacitors, and Luna felt several conflicting emotions making war with each other within her.

They were close to achieving the task Hive mother had set for her, and she gripped the edge of the bench she was sitting on as the Hive ship made the transition to null space.

“Giskard, did she understand the distance and speed calculations before flashing into null space?” Bader asked nervously as he shook off the unusual transition effects of the Insectoid null drive.

The android looked at him with its yellow eyes before replying. “Yes, Captain. I was able to convert their unique system to ours and translate it in a way she could comprehend.

Their basic measurement is the distance a queen can fly in thirty solar minutes, and then they use a senary math system on top of that. It was not difficult to convert.”

“What the hell is a senary system, Giskard?” Bader replied as he used his wristcom to access the navigational array of the command nullship in the cargo bay to verify their heading.

“It is base six math, sir. It is a much better system than the base ten math humans use. No offense, sir.” Giskard answered emotionlessly.

Bader chuckled as he continued to access the navigational array submenus. “I will take your word for it, Giskard, and no offense taken.”

“Captain, I have been meaning to ask why you chose the name Giskard for me, sir. It does not appear to be a typical name like the other androids receive, such as common pet names.”

Bader glanced up at Giskard, surprised at the question. He tapped an icon before replying.

“Well, I used to read a lot of old science fiction, and I named you after a robot in a book series I loved to read. Giskard was one of my favorite characters, and it is easier to say than your designation of AS-Two-One-Three. Does it bother you? I can use your designation if it does.”

Giskard regarded him with its yellow eyes, and Bader could see the barely perceptible side-to-side movements all android eyes made as they processed conversations with organics before it replied.

“I cannot experience the sensation of bother, Captain. Nor any other emotions. I can, however, understand your attachment to a favored character. I thank you for gifting me the appellation.”

Bader smiled at Giskard’s reply before looking back down at his wristcom.

“I am glad you like it; your designation is quite a mouthful. What was the estimated greatest distance possibly traveled by the cruiser again, Giskard?”

158,840,400 million kilometers, Captain. I instructed Luna to flash out every 52,000,000 kilometers along the course so that we can scan to confirm they are not in the area.”

“Good man, Giskard.” Bader replied. “I really can’t believe they managed to capture a derelict cruiser and use it to escape. Captain Navarra and his crew are serious badasses.”

“I concur with your unusual estimation of their abilities, Captain. I have been forced to revise my initial survival probability assessment. The three percent probability I calculated has been proven to be in error.” Giskard stated.

“Oh really? What does your assessment indicate now?” Bader asked as he flicked a holographic course map into the air between them.

“I have revised my calculations based on recent events. I now estimate a twenty-six percent chance of survival.” Giskard replied.

Bader gave Giskard a searching look before replying. “They are out there, Giskard; I can feel it.”

Giskard wisely chose not to reply to the captain’s statement and point out the illogical overreliance humans had in their intuition.

For the next three hours, Bader focused on taking the nullships out of standby mode and beginning the awakening protocols for the soldiers and marines on the troopships.

He sent Giskard over to the troopships to oversee the process and remained in the command chamber with Luna, his anxiety increasing as the first two flashouts showed no signs of the cruiser.

Giskard returned and updated him on the successful wake-up and recovery of the combat troops. They were currently gearing up for any potential action, and the nullships were ready and waiting.

Forty-two minutes later, they flashed out at the third waypoint, and Bader took scans of the local space with the spy drones he had deployed and attached to the Hive ship hull.

His wristcom beeped urgently, and he flicked the scanning results in the air as the holomap showed a faint blue line heading away from their current location.

“The drones detected a faint ion trail. We found them, Giskard!” Bader yelled out in excitement as the scanning results were analyzed by his AI assistant.

Another series of calculations appeared, and he turned to Giskard. “The AI analysis indicates they are 2,635,523 kilometers ahead of us based on the decay rate of the ion trail. Have Luna flash out 200,000 kilometers behind that location, Giskard.”

“Aye, Captain.” Giskard replied before turning to Luna and signing to her. As the Hive ship started thrumming again, Bader prayed for the first time since his wife died in the air car accident over two years ago.

Please, let them be alive. I could not live with myself knowing that they died, thinking we never came for them. I know I have not spoken to you since I buried my wife, but I need you now. They need you. Please.

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RSS James Donovan

6,982 light years from Earth, 2175 A.D.

Fifty-one days after the destruction of the John Cabot

The drone ran behind the animals, struggling to keep up with them as their two long legs moved them forward at a pace it could not match over long distances.

It did not want to fall behind the animals, and it tried to make its legs move faster, breathing heavily as its spiracles struggled to supply the oxygen its exertion demanded.

It felt a thought enter its mind for the first time since before, and it stumbled into the tunnel wall as it lost concentration of its legs from the shock of another thought in its mind.

An image appeared in its mind, showing it going to one of the panels and activating it. The thought was powerful, from a command drone. For the first time since before, it received a command.

The drone regained control of its legs and resumed its path towards the command chamber, no longer concerned with the animals. The powerful thought command was all that mattered.

The drone received the image again, showing it activating a series of commands on the panel. A part of the drone did not want to do it, but it had no choice. It must obey the thought command.

The image of the face of the animal sister that it loved entered its mind, and the command drone took control of the image and changed it, forcing the drone to look at the new image it created.

The image now showed the animal sister lying in a pool of its own blood with all its limbs torn off, causing the drone to recoil from the sight. Another thought command came.

The drone screamed with anguish in its mind as it unwillingly headed towards the command chamber to do as it was ordered.

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“Talk to me, Davis!” Navarra gasped as he burst into the bridge, almost knocking over Simmons as she abruptly halted in front of him to avoid knocking over one of the bridge crew.

Davis replied in a much calmer voice than the panic on his face called for as he looked at Navarra.

“They are 32,000 kilometers off our port bow, Captain! The life pod scanners are detecting signs of weapons being armed, and landers are headed towards us; they will reach us in twelve minutes.”

Navarra turned at the noise of the drone entering the command chamber and looked at Simmons, yelling for her to get the drone out of the way or off the bridge.

Simmons sprinted towards Indigo and was just about to take one of its claws to lead it away like she had always done when Indigo braced before suddenly kicking her in the torso with two back legs.

Navarra could barely register what had just happened as Simmons went flying back from the kick and into the wall behind her with a loud thud.

She crumpled to the ground, heaving with loud gasps, before blood started spurting out of her mouth as she coughed and fought for air.

“Shit! Shit!” Navarra screamed in shock, grabbing the pistol mag-locked to his right upper thigh to put Indigo down.

The drone darted towards him before he could aim his pistol and kicked him in the side of his left leg, causing a loud snapping sound and knocking him over from the unexpectedly powerful blow.

He tried to roll with the fall as the worst pain he had ever felt in his life shot up his leg and into his groin, rendering him senseless from the agony and taking his breath away.

All hell broke loose on the bridge as Indigo dodged among the panels and avoided attempts by the others to tackle it.

Indigo reached a larger panel that they had not yet figured out the function for and activated it, the previously dark panel now lighting up as Indigo continued to tap on it rapidly with its claws.

One of the bridge crew reached Indigo and jumped on its back, wrapping her legs around the narrow junction of the abdomen and the thorax before starting to punch the back of the drone’s head with her fists.

She cried out in pain as her right fist shattered against Indigo’s skull on the third strike, who barely seemed to notice the blows as it continued to work the panel in front of it.

Her leg grip weakened as she cradled her now broken hand against her chest, and the drone stabbed back with the first joint of its right thorax arm, shattering her right eye socket.

As she fell back off the drone’s back, it tapped on the panel three more times in quick succession and then grabbed onto the panel with all six legs as the engines turned back on.

The five humans on the bridge were unprepared and thrown forward from the sudden deceleration before all the panels went dark at the same time.

Indigo was still gripping the panel, and the shots Davis fired at it went wild as he was thrown forward off the raised dais and started sliding along the deck.

The engines fired again, much stronger this time, and the deceleration pulled him towards the far wall with enough force to break every bone in his body if he hit it.

He tried to grab Heinrich as she lay whimpering on the floor, her right eye dangling out of her obliterated eye socket by a string of flesh as he slid past, but he couldn’t reach her.

His hands shot out and grabbed the base of a nearby panel, and he held on for dear life as the engines fired again.

He watched in horror as she slid away from him and smashed her back into a support column, her body folding in half the wrong way as her back broke from the impact with a sickening crunch.

The gravity generators and inertial dampeners finally compensated for the reverse thrust, and he felt the extreme force that was threatening to tear his arms out of their sockets suddenly dissipate.

Davis looked at Heinrich and stared at her now glassy eyes before he saw movement from Indigo as it let go of the panel it was clinging onto and darted into the small opening of a maintenance hatch.

The large screen on the wall flickered and then powered up, and Davis, who was painfully making himself get back up, froze at the sudden sight of a larger than life Insectoid staring at him.

He could see the malevolent intelligence within its black eyes, and he flinched as it snapped its mandibles together in a threatening manner before the screen went black.

Navarra had been fighting through the pain and finally managed to roll onto his side before he slid forward from the abrupt reversal of gravity and slammed into a support column two meters in front of him.

He screamed in agony from the fresh pain and fought against the black and red cloud that dimmed his vision, forcing himself to stay conscious.

The screen flickered, and he saw the Insectoid glaring at them and clacking its mandibles before the screen turned back off.

Dread filled him. They had finally found them, and they were about to die. He pushed aside his fear with stubborn defiance and the desire to keep living; he needed to get back to his family.

He started fading from the agony and locked eyes with Davis, who was coming towards him with an already opened medkit as he pulled out a subdermal injector.

“Davis! Repel… boarders…” was all he managed to gasp before he finally blacked out from the pain and shock caused by Indigo shattering his femur.

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Rescue Hive Ship, Interstellar Space

The Hive ship flashed out of null space, and Bader fought against the disorientation of the transition as he clung to a support column. His wristcom buzzed and emitted an emergency alert.

He focused on it as the lingering effects of the transition dissipated and his heart jumped into his throat at the scanning results from the drones attached to the outer hull.

There were two vessels in front of them, and one of them was a Hive ship. He let go of the column and yelled out to Giskard, who was signing to Luna.

“Giskard, there is a Hive ship next to the cruiser! Tell her to prepare for combat!”

Giskard answered immediately while still signing to Luna. “She knows, Captain. Her scanners picked up both vessels, and she is preparing the ship for combat.”

Bader’s mind raced as he tried to regain control of himself and push away the panic that was threatening to overwhelm him. He decided on a plan of action and yelled out to Giskard again.

“Giskard, activate Combat Protocol One-Zero-four-Gamma! Authorization Bader PI-One-Seven-Delta! Execute!”

Giskard froze as Bader gave authorization to access its combat algorithms before snapping its head towards him.

Bader saw the yellow eye pupils turn black, and a different voice responded to him as Giskard confirmed the command authorization.

“Captain Bader, Authorization confirmed. What are your orders?”

“Tell Luna to allow you to take over the weapons station and to get within five thousand kilometers of the cruiser. Open the cargo bay doors and order the nullships to engage the Hive ship.

We are to protect the cruiser at all costs. I am going to take command of the assault troops and go over to the cruiser to rescue our people and repel boarding attempts.”

Bader turned and ran towards the tunnel exit, hearing Giskard confirm the orders he just gave it in the same different voice.

It took him almost two minutes to reach the nearest hatch that led to the massive interior bay in the center of the Hive ship.

He activated the hatch and ran down the airlock tube to the first of the two joined troopships, which were docked to each other with their own airlock tube.

He had been issuing breathless orders into his wristcom the whole time and charged into the open airlock before he slowed down and headed towards the combat bay of the troopship.

He entered it, seeing hundreds of marine pathfinders and army rangers already in their exosuits and boarding the assault landers, while on the other end of the bay, a squadron of eight starfighters was primed and ready for takeoff.

A suited figure waved at him, and he jogged over, seeing the back of his combat suit already splayed open for him.

He looked at the nametag of the suit that waved him over, seeing that it was lieutenant Klein, the commanding officer of the troop detachment.

Bader stripped down to his skin suit as he listened to Klein update him on the first wave that was about to disembark.

He stepped into his suit, feeling it close around him as it sealed him in. The suit AI activated, addressing him with her familiar voice as his HUD came to life and displayed information.

~Billy, all systems are optimal.~

“Thank you, Jenny. Are you ready to do this?” He replied, already knowing the answer she was going to give him. He gave the suit AI his wife’s voice and name, something he never regretted doing.

~I am ready, babe.~

“Good girl; let’s go kick some ass and get our people home, my love.”

Bader issued commands for Klein to get the second wave ready and then turned, sprinting to the lander that was waiting on him.

He leapt into the large rear hatch and grabbed a dangling handhold, returning the chest thumps being given to him by the black suited occupants as the hatch door closed and the shuttle lifted.

The nullships were already streaming out, and he could see that Luna and Giskard had already engaged the enemy Hive ship on the floating combat hologram displayed in the center of the shuttle.

There were multiple flashes and explosions erupting all along their hull as the unexpected attack from the Luna’s Hive ship caught them by surprise, and they started veering away from the cruiser.

Multiple pinpoint explosions flared as Insectoid landers were destroyed during their transit, but there were already over three dozen of the landers attached to the damaged hull of the cruiser.

Bader activated the command override channel and addressed the troops of all the assault landers as they accelerated to combat speed towards the massive opening.

“We are here to rescue the crew and bring them home. We will breach and board the cruiser, and then we will make these assholes pay for what they have done to our people.

I only have one order to give you; kill them all.”

Jenny filtered and reduced the volume as hundreds of angry Republic warriors responded to his words with their war cries, and the ones in the shuttle with him thumped their chests again in approval.

Bader sat down in a cradle and activated his harness as he stared at the hologram, his thoughts filled with worry as Jenny ran calculations on how many Insectoids each lander might hold.

The crew manifest was eighty-seven according to the beacons, and he listened as Jenny spoke.

~Babe, I estimate the Insectoid lander capacity at twenty to twenty-four Insectoids based on scans of the interior configuration and size of the Insectoids.

There are currently thirty-nine landers attached to the hull, and I detect another eighty-seven still transiting from the enemy Hive ship.~

“Thank you, sweetie.” Bader replied as Jenny displayed the total number of possible boarders in flashing red numbers on his HUD. 780-936 was the estimate being displayed, and he felt a cold pit forming in his stomach.

He accessed the outer hull sensors with his HUD, and his heart started beating faster at the sight of the squadron of starfighters shooting past the lander and heading towards the massive opening.

He sent a thought out to the crew of the cruiser with all his heart and soul, willing for it to reach into the hearts of the survivors as the assault lander blasted towards their target.

Hold on, we are coming.

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RSS James Donovan

Navarra gasped as he opened his eyes, seeing nothing but an opaque light before he heard Davis’s voice talking to him.

“Just relax, Captain. I am giving you another injection.” Navarra felt a dull pressure on his neck before hearing the telltale hiss of the subdermal injector.

He forced himself to be still as Davis continued to talk to him, and his vision returned to normal as he felt energy and a sense of well-being coursing throughout his body while the injection spread.

There was the distant sound of gunfire, and panic gripped him as he had a flashback to when the same thing happened on the John Cabot when they were being boarded.

He looked at Davis and listened as he updated him on the current situation.

“Captain, I am going to inflate the splint around your thigh to stabilize your leg while the medbots work their magic on you. You will be able to ambulate in about five minutes, so please stay still.

I ordered the crew to fall back to the secondary defensive positions; the gunfire you are hearing is from the security bots and the automated sentry guns engaging the boarders.”

Relief flooded through Navarra at what Davis was saying, and he felt pressure increasing on his left thigh with the faintest hint of discomfort as the splint stabilized his leg.

“How many, Davis?” he asked, dreading the answer but refusing to shy away from his responsibility as their captain.

“Six dead, several wounded, Captain. Your preparations and planning for something like this were on point and reduced our casualties by a tremendous amount.” Davis replied as he continued to monitor the splint from his wristcom.

“How many are we facing? Do we still have eyes outside the ship?” he asked, feeling useless as he lay there waiting for the splint to set. His crew needed him, and here he was, out of commission again for the second time.

Davis looked at him and answered, his voice seething as he bared his teeth like a predator.

“The bastards destroyed our pods before they landed and started breaching the hull. The last thing I saw was another Hive ship flashing out behind us and accelerating to join the first one.”

Navarra didn’t respond, and they shared a knowing look between them. They were done for; all they could do was make sure they made the enemy pay for every inch they advanced.

Navarra fumbled at his harness, looking for his comm. Davis grabbed his and handed it to him, nodding as Navarra took it from his hand and letting him know he was with him to the end.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he thought of what to say, it would most likely be his final order and words to the crew before they all died.

He activated the comm and waited for a lull in the distant weapons fire that was sporadically echoing throughout the ship.

“This is Captain Navarra. I just want to tell you that I am sorry I couldn’t get us back home to our loved ones. I am truly sorry; I tried my best.

I also want to let you know that I consider myself the luckiest captain in all the Fleet to have had a crew such as you.

We went to wonderous places and saw amazing things that no one had ever seen before together. We left our families and friends behind and made a new family among the stars, with each other, together.

It seems as if our time has come, and I only have one last request for you all. I want you to look at the ones with you now and realize that though the end comes for us, we are facing it together as a family.

You go down fighting. Do you hear me? You go down fighting with everything you got for your brothers and sisters that are with you now, and you make them pay for every one of us they kill!

You make them bleed for every inch they take. I want you to teach them what happens when they fuck with the wrong crew, and you make them regret ever coming across us. I will see you all soon, Captain Navarra, out.”

Navarra closed the channel and held the comm out to Davis, who shook his head. “You hold on to it, Captain; I’ll take the one on Heinrich.”

He looked over at Heinrich, seeing her body wrapped around the base of a support column the wrong way.

Anger flared in him at the sight, and he looked over to where Simmons had been kicked against the wall. She was not there; just the dark red blood that she was coughing out was left on the deck.

“Where is Simmons? Where is that fucking traitor, Indigo? Please tell me you shot it.” He barked as his anger continued to grow at what was happening to his crew.

“I injected her, and she got up to join the fight as soon as she was able. The drone disappeared in a maintenance hatch; there is a standing order from me to shoot it on sight.” Davis answered as he stood up and put out both hands.

Navarra reached up and took them, grunting slightly as he awkwardly tried to get up on his one good leg without using the broken one.

He was now standing, and he hesitantly put weight on it, feeling the pressure of the splint as it adjusted to his movements.

He could feel the tingling of the medbots inside his thigh as they continued to repair the damage, and the discomfort was a lot less than he expected.

Navarra waited impatiently as Davis quickly and efficiently installed the exo-leg components that would allow him to walk without crutches and disperse his body weight on the flexible cage being assembled.

After a few more minutes, Davis was finally done, and Navarra took a test step, feeling the exo-leg brace shifting as it flexed under his weight.

His head shot up at the sound of more weapon fire, this time much closer than before. Davis sprinted to the small side chamber and, after a few moments, reemerged carrying a bundle of weapons in his arms.

Navarra took an X-47 PDW and slung it over his shoulder before grabbing a quad-barrel combat shotgun. Davis grunted with approval at his weapons choices and held out a bandoleer with ammo and grenades for him to take.

As he clipped the bandoleer across his chest, a long burst of gunfire sounded, and Simmons’s voice came over the comms on the open channel.

“Commander Davis, they are approaching the secondary defense line. I repeat, they are approaching the secondary defense line. Only three security bots made it back, and the last sentry gun just fell off the net.”

There was a pause, and she spoke again in a lower voice, as if she didn't want others near her to hear.

“We are hearing thuds all around us followed by explosions. It sounds like more landers are breaching, sir.”

Navarra grabbed his comm and responded. “Simmons, this is the captain. We are on our way to you now. We practiced for this; make sure you keep a handle on our people until we get there.”

“Captain!? I am so glad to hear your voice. We will hold, sir. See you when you get here, Simmons out.”

Navarra followed Davis into the main tunnel as he led them to the secondary defense positions located in the middle of the cruiser.

Navarra planned for the Insectoids to find them and drilled the crew in defending the cruiser against boarding actions every single day since they took over the ship.

The layout of the ship and the tunnel system were perfectly suited for a small, determined defense force to be able to extract a bloody price from anyone trying to take the ship.

They set up a network of automated defenses with security bots, sentry guns, mines, and booby traps comprising the first line of defense along the outer hull.

As the crew fell back to the secondary positions, they would seal the multiple tunnels leading to their positions behind them, forcing any boarders to come at them through only four heavily defended chokepoints aligned with the aft, bow, port, and starboard sections of the cruiser.

If the secondary defense line collapsed, the survivors would blow those four tunnels and fall back to their third and final defensive positions within the heavily armored engineering section located deep in the center of the ship.

The engineering section could only be accessed via two heavily mined tunnels, forcing the attackers to assault two heavily defended chokepoints after passing through an extensive network of mines and booby traps.

If the attackers managed to breach into the engineering section, then they were lost anyway, so Navarra had the engineers set up explosive devices on the cooling systems to destroy them and cause the cores to overload.

Davis activated the comm he had taken from Heinrich’s body and informed the crew that they were nearing their positions and not to shoot them.

A minute later, they emerged in the large interior cargo bay the crew had fallen back to, and Simmons came over to them, dried blood still on her chin from when she was coughing it up.

“Is there anyone else coming after you, sirs?" She asked breathlessly when she reached them.

“No, you can blow the tunnel, Simmons.” Davis replied as he scanned the cargo bay. Navarra looked around, meeting the eyes of his crew and returning their smiles as they saw their captain coming to join them like he promised.

“Copy, sir. I am glad you are both here with us.” Simmons replied before turning to the engineers and yelling at them. “Blow bridge tunnel 1-A; there is no one else coming from there.”

One of the engineers nodded and accessed her wristpad, tapping on several holographic icons that sprang up in front of her before calling out a warning. “Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!”

She tapped on an icon a second later, and a series of explosions cascaded down the tunnel they had come out of, starting from the bridge and collapsing it up to fifty meters from the tunnel exit.

Navarra limped over the bank of holo screens floating in the center of the bay and returned the salute from the crewman that was working the sensors and nano cameras they had installed along the four tunnels that led to the cargo bay.

Simmons came back over and waited for Davis to join them before giving an update on the situation.

“We now have eight dead and over twenty walking wounded that can still fight. We gave them a bloody nose, and so far, they have not entered the last four tunnels, as you can see.” She said as she pointed at the camera feeds.

“Only three security bots made it back to our position, but there must be others still fighting because we can still detect weapons fire along the outer hull with the sensors that are still functioning.”

Navarra nodded when she finished, and he took his comm off his harness before asking Davis and Simmons to help him get up on an Insectoid cargo container so that he could address the crew and be seen by them.

Barely perceptible thuds, followed by distant sounding explosions that could only be breaching charges, reverberated throughout the ship, reaching even the isolated carbo bay nestled deep in the ship.

Navarra ignored the implication of the noises and the tremors that followed them and pushed down the rising anxiety he felt as he activated the loudspeaker function of his comm node with trembling fingers.

He raised the comm node to his mouth when there was another series of thudding and explosions, much louder than before.

A few seconds later, there were sounds of heavy weaponry interspaced with rapid explosions, and Navarra shared a confused look with Davis and Simmons.

The insectoids used laser weaponry, and the heavy gunfire they were hearing was most certainly not from any security bots or sentry guns still fighting along the outer hull.

Navarra looked towards the holoscreens showing the four remaining tunnels, and there were still no signs of Insectoids within them.

Every single comm node within the cargo bay squealed with static at the same time, scaring the crap out of Navarra and almost making him drop his comm as an unknown voice came over them.

“Crew of the John Cabot, this is Captain William Bader of Republic Rescue One. We are here; please respond.

I repeat, this is Captain William Bader of Republic Rescue One. We are boarding the ship and are here to bring you home. Please respond!”

Cheers erupted throughout the entire bay as Navarra stared at the comm node in shock, listening as the voice kept asking for a response.

He switched to the command override frequency and excitedly yelled into the comm. “This is Captain Anthony Navarra; can you hear me? We have fallen back to the interior cargo bay! I repeat, we are in the interior cargo bay! Please respond!”

There was another burst of static, and the voice responded with the sound of gunfire and the whine of laser weapons carrying over the channel. “Oh god, thank you! Yes, I can hear you! Hold tight; we are coming for you!

Navarra screamed into the comm. “No! Do not enter the four tunnels leading to the cargo bay; we mined and booby trapped them! I repeat, do not enter the four tunnels! We need to deactivate them. What direction are you coming from? Which tunnel is closest to you?”

The voice replied, breathing heavily. “Aft! Come to us down the aft tunnel. Do it quickly, we are engaging the Hive ship and need to pull you out now! There are more insectoid landers on the way, we got to get you off that ship!”

“Wait one!” Navarra replied as he signaled for Simmons to get over to him. She ran over, and he practically screamed at her, making her flinch as he issued orders. “Disarm the aft tunnel, now! We need to exfil as soon as possible!”

She didn’t bother responding to him; she turned around and immediately started yelling for the engineers to start disarming the mines and booby traps while Davis was bellowing for the ecstatic defenders to get a hold of themselves and prepare for departure.

“We are disarming the aft tunnel now, Captain Bader. What’s your situation?”

The captain replied almost immediately. “You guys did a nice job sealing the tunnels behind you; we are being swarmed by bugs and trying to cut through the ship to you now. I have teams heading to you; they are breaching through the walls and tunnels.”

Navarra listened to the sound of combat that was coming over the comm as Captain Bader yelled over the channel. Simmons ran back over to him, yelling frantically to be heard over the others.

“The aft tunnel is disarmed; we are good to go.” She turned and ran back to help Davis get everybody ready to leave.

Navarra spoke into the comm. “The aft tunnel is disarmed; we are heading your way now, Captain!”

“Outstanding, I’ll see you there, Captain.” Bader answered. “I’ll comm you when we reach the tunnel entrance.”

“Copy. See you there. Thank you, Captain!” Navarra replied before closing the channel and asking two nearby crewmembers to help him get down.

They got him off, and he declined their offer to assist him, telling them to help the seriously wounded instead.

He limped over and joined Davis, who was managing the flow of crew into the tunnel.

He sent four fire teams ahead first, and the wounded were now entering the tunnel. The remaining people would guard the rear in case the insectoids managed to breach one of the other tunnels and come up behind them.

“Captain, you should go with the wounded.” Davis said it in such a way as to let Navarra know he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

He nodded to him and joined in the stream of walking wounded as they passed into the tunnel. Navarra handed his shotgun to the crewmember next to him, who smiled widely at the firepower being placed into his hands.

Navarra stayed with the wounded, trying his best to ignore the increasing pain that was working its way through the painkillers as he limped along.

He eyed every single deactivated mine and booby trap suspiciously as he passed them, a part of him regretting not being able to see them exact a bloody price from the Insectoids.

Word was passed down the line that the fire teams up ahead were going to breach the sealed entry. Navarra hunkered down with the wounded, and they all closed their eyes and covered their ears.

A few seconds later, there was a large explosion, and they were buffeted by the weakened pressure wave that reached them a few seconds later.

Navarra was helped back up, and they started moving again; the sounds of the ongoing combat throughout the ship more easily heard through the newly opened tunnel.

There was a sharp staccato of weapons fire from ahead, and panicked voices came over the comms from the four fire teams up ahead.

“Contact front! Akello, cover the right! Move!”

There was more gunfire, and now the whining of laser weapons could be clearly heard as it echoed down the open tunnel. Navarra limped forward, yelling for others with weapons to join him.

Six crewmen went with him, the one with the quad shotgun taking point as he struggled to keep up. The tunnel opening was now less than twenty meters in front of him, and the sounds of furious combat were deafening.

There were multiple loud blasts, and now the sounds of heavy weaponry added to the mix, along with amplified voices that could only be coming from combat exosuits.

The whines of laser weaponry died out quickly, and by the time Navarra reached the opening, the firing had stopped.

A scene of bloody yellow and red carnage greeted his eyes as he limped out.

He saw seven crewmen on the ground around him, their unmoving bodies sliced up by laser weaponry or torn apart by the Insectoids that swarmed them.

There were dozens of Insectoid corpses scattered about, and he leaned against the wall as a black-suited figure approached him, the nametag on the right breast displaying the name Bader.

“Captain Navarra? I am Captain Bader. Let’s get your people home. I got you.” Bader said to him as he gently slid his arm around Navarra’s back and placed his gauntleted hand under his right armpit.

“No, I need to stay and make sure my people are evacuated,” he replied, trying to get out of Bader’s encircling arm. Bader’s grip increased, and the mirrored faceplate flipped up, revealing his face.

Navarra looked at the face of their rescuer, and he immediately knew this was a battle he would not win. He was looking into eyes that flashed with the inner fire of a warrior’s soul that would never yield.

“You did your job. Now let me do mine. We will take care of your people and get them home. Come, Captain.” Bader replied quietly as his suited arm started guiding Navarra towards a breach in the wall.

Navarra leaned against Bader and allowed himself to be taken through the breach. “Captain Bader, do you know if my family is okay?” He asked tentatively as Bader continued to bear him down the tunnel, almost afraid of the answer.

“Your wife and children are still waiting for you, Captain Navarra.” Bader replied. “As far as they know, the crew of the John Cabot is merely delayed.

The government has not informed them of what happened yet, preferring to wait for the outcome of this rescue mission before revealing the truth to the families of the crew.”

Navarra almost lost the strength to keep walking as relief overwhelmed him; he had been terrified that his family would think he was dead.

The sounds of weapons fire near them had ceased, and Navarra could only hear sporadic heavy weapons fire from distant parts of the cruiser as their rescuers cleared the ship.

As they continued walking, Navarra felt the need to correct Captain Bader on one error. “We are not the crew of the John Cabot anymore, Captain Bader. We are the crew of the James Donovan.”

Captain Bader’s faceplate was still up, and he glanced sideways at Navarra with eyes full of understanding.

He slightly nodded his suited head at the correction and patted him gently under his arm with his gauntleted hand before replying.

“Understood, Captain Navarra. Respect for the fallen.”

Navarra looked back at Captain Bader, not ashamed in the least by his now wet eyes as he replied.

“Respect for the fallen.”

Simmons walked the perimeter of the cargo bay one more time to make sure they didn’t forget any of the wounded or the remains of the dead during the chaotic evacuation.

After making two circuits, she signaled for the other two security members that stayed behind to go into the tunnel and catch up with the others before accessing her wristcom.

She started tapping on the floating icons as she activated the explosives attached to the cooling system and set them to explode when they received the signal and cause a core overload.

She heard rattling behind her and spun around, pointing her rifle at the general area of the noise as she backed up and took position behind a stack of Insectoid containers.

There was a loud clanging noise, and she peeked out from behind the containers, seeing an air vent grill sliding across the floor as her heart started hammering in her chest.

A second later, an unarmed drone came out from behind a stack of containers and stood still, questing the air with its antennae before looking right at her position.

She pointed her gun around the container, remaining behind the cover of the containers as she pressed the side button and activated the camera function.

A small hologram sprang up, and she aimed the reticule directly at the center mass of the drone, staring intently at the hologram as she awkwardly shifted the rifle using the barrel camera.

The aiming reticule settled on the center of the drone’s thorax, and she froze, seeing the small crew patch adhered to the upper right part of the exoskeleton. It was Indigo.

She scanned the rifle slightly to the left and the right, checking to ensure there were no other drones with her. She brought the rifle back around the container, conflicting emotions warring inside of her.

I should at least look her in the eyes before killing her. She thought as her anger at Indigo’s betrayal demanded the life of the drone. She slowly stood up and brought the rifle to bear on Indigo.

Indigo remained completely still and stared at her with her large black eyes, her antennae pointing directly at her and making slow, waving motions. Simmons took a shuddering gasp as she aimed.

“Why did you attack me, Indigo? How could you do that to me?” She yelled as she continued to aim the rifle at her thorax. Indigo wilted under the anger in her tone, and her antennae drooped down.

“You betrayed me, Indigo. Your treachery hurt me more than the broken ribs and the popped lung you gave me when you fucking kicked me, you traitorous bitch!” Simmons sneered as she placed her finger on the trigger.

Indigo had continued cowering in response to her angry voice, something it had never experienced from Simmons before.

A loud scraping sound erupted from behind the containers in the far corner of the bay, and two drones came out from behind them, charging right at Simmons’s position.

“Oh shit!” Simmons yelled as she shifted her rifle to the two new threats barreling towards her. She fired in a panic, missing the body of the drone she was aiming at and only managing to blow off one of the thorax legs as most of her shots went wide.

The drone she hit stumbled, and she knew she would not be able to shift targets in time as she swung her rifle back towards the other one.

The other drone was almost upon her, and it fired its laser weapon, piercing through the containers she was positioned behind, just missing her and singeing her skin with the heat of its passage.

Just before the drone reached her, it was knocked off balance and slammed into the ground by Indigo, who started trying to wrestle the laser weapon out of its claws while biting one of its arms with her mandibles.

Simmons backpedaled and fell on her ass as the wounded drone reached her position and jumped on top of the containers, struggling to bring its long laser weapon to bear on her with only one thorax leg.

She snapfired and stitched staggered rounds across its torso, causing it to rupture as the slivers detonated their tiny explosive charges and splashed her face with sticky yellow blood.

She heard the whine of a laser weapon firing and pressed herself flat to the ground, a smoldering line meandering across the containers in front of her as the invisible beam sliced through them.

The beam passed over her by mere inches, the ionized air bathing her back with heat before it went up and away from her.

She leapt to her feet and charged around the half-melted containers, pointing her rifle in front of her as she got ready to kill the other drone that Indigo had attacked.

The drones were still fighting, and Indigo was on her back trying to deflect the muzzle of the laser weapon away from her as the drone on top of her fired its weapon, the beam sizzling through the deck plating as it headed towards her head.

Simmons twisted on the rifle barrel, activating a nano-molecular bayonet that shot out from underneath the barrel and bellowed a war cry as she charged at them to distract the drone trying to kill Indigo.

It spun around, trying to bring its weapon to bear at the sudden noise Simmons had made as it used its legs to untangle itself from Indigo.

Indigo grabbed at the weapon again, causing the beam to shear off the top third of both her antennas as she disrupted its targeting.

Simmons reached them and drove the almost impossibly sharp bayonet into the middle of its thorax, staring into its eyes as she ripped the bayonet up through its head and sliced it cleanly in half with no effort.

The now-dead drone fell back, and she twisted the barrel back to retract the bayonet before reaching for the injured Indigo and grabbing one of her thorax legs to start dragging her out of the bay.

There was shouting behind her, and the same two security officers she had sent ahead of her returned, pointing their rifles at Indigo.

“No!” She screamed, waving her arms and placing herself in the line of fire before they could shoot Indigo. “She saved me from the others, do not fucking shoot her!”

“The XO issued standing orders to shoot the drone on sight. Move, Simmons.” Patel replied with a low, threatening voice as he started stepping sideways to get a shot.

“Are you kidding me, Patel? You were the one who made the patches and the first one to take a picture with her. You’re gonna kill her now? I’m telling you; she saved my life.”

Patel stopped trying to flank her, doubt crossing his features as she continued to stand in the line of fire with a defiant expression.

Indigo was hiding behind her, clinging to her belt as the other two humans pointed weapons in its direction. Finally, Patel dropped his barrel, Bernard following his example as she exhaled forcefully.

Simmons glared at them for a few seconds before addressing both Patel and Bernard. “I am taking her with me. I will deal with the XO, understood?”

They both nodded, and Bernard answered her in an accented Republic Standard. “Oui, Simmons. We must leave now, quickly.”

They both turned and jogged towards the tunnel opening before taking positions on both sides and waiting for Simmons and Indigo to enter the tunnel and take up the rear.

Simmons reached a shaking hand behind her, and Indigo clenched it with both claws that dug into her skin from fear.

Indigo followed her as she walked quickly, hanging on to her hand for dear life as they entered the tunnel. Simmons increased her speed, walking as quickly as she could with Indigo clinging to her.

Patel and Bernard fell in behind them and waited until they were a hundred meters into the tunnel before blowing the opening behind them and sealing it.

They sprinted and caught up with them quickly, and all four of them hurried down the tunnel, dread filling Simmons as she thought about how Davis was going to react when he saw Indigo.

She saved my life. I don’t know why she did what she did, but she saved my life when I needed her. I owe it to her to do the same.