Under the cover of night, the crew of the UNS Hermes landed a few miles outside Moira; the main city of the Quinian population located on the darker half of Avaros. Colonel Lyn, Ensign Alita and Taisen proceeded on foot through a lightly wooded forest and made their way to the city centre built right on a large rocky outcropping.
The city resembled a futuristic mine rather than an actual city that people lived in except for the interruption of tall structures. It was filled with mostly straight towers and tram lines built in and around rocky formations while the bare ground remained untouched. It looked like whoever designed the city was trying to avoid cutting trees or building on regular land.
There were no curves or circles in any of the designs. It was an architecture based solely on straight lines and edges. Bright lights were crammed into every crevice and corner. Understandably, when a city can never be seen properly because it never experiences daylight, it is only reasonable that you use lights to accentuate its appeal.
Everywhere the crew went was eerily silent. Even after walking for a few miles, they encountered not a single soul.
Along the road leading to the city, the crew spotted a pair of robotic sentries. They were each armed with what looked like heavy guns attached to their front. It looked like a large metal box with some glass at the top held up by two hydraulic legs that bent backward like a bird. It left large imprints on the ground when it walked.
Alita and Lyn opened fire on it with their thirty five millimetre blasters but the shots merely bounced off it, not even leaving a scratch.
The return fire from the sentries was brutal. It was strong enough to melt solid metal and cut chunks out of rocks. Alita and Lyn scrambled for cover until Taisen closed the distance between them and severed the hydraulic lines of their legs, immobilising them. He danced while avoiding being struck by their fire as he climbed the sentries and carved shapes into them with his long and slightly bent black blade.
"That was amazing! Even though we nearly died," Alita said. "Your attacks were precise and unpredictable. We were never thought this at the West Point."
"Thank you. I could teach you a thing or two if you want," Taisen said. "My blade is called the Mugen. It's bent at the hilt at an odd angle. Just enough to throw off my opponent."
He displayed the hilt of his blade for her to see.
"I've never seen anyone move that fast," Colonel Lyn said. "Is everyone on your planet this skilled?"
"Among my people, I'm one of the fastest but yes. We are all capable in hand to hand combat," Taisen said. "I cannot tell you exactly why. For obvious reasons."
"Yeah. We do not trust each other just yet," Colonel Lyn replied. "How did you know where to strike? Have you encountered this machine before?"
"Maybe in another life," Taisen said. "You called it a machine, I think you should take another look."
Colonel Lyn gazed at Taisen suspiciously for a few moments before doing a closer inspection of the fallen assailant. She realized that Taisen was right. It wasn't just a machine. At least not entirely. It had some elements of life like blood and beating heart.
"This… this is synthetic life," Colonel Lyn said incredulously. "But this is banned by the Sundhal convention! Who could be behind this? Did you know about this?"
"I had a feeling that there was something unusual," Taisen replied. "We should get going before we run into more."
"I know a shortcut," Alita said. "We can get into some of the largest buildings through abandoned tunnels."
***
After traipsing underground, the crew were able to covertly enter a large tower guarded by more synthetics on the ground floor as well as the top floor.
A group of blue skinned people in brightly coloured tunics and headwear were locked in makeshift cages. Alita recognized one and rushed over to free him.
"Dad!" She screamed.
"You should not have come," the man replied.
"I came here because you need our help," Alita said. "You're a captive on your own world."
"We don't need soldiers, just ships to evacuate," the man said again.
Taisen looked puzzled.
"Wait, you outnumber your assailants by a wide margin. Why won't you stand and fight?" Taisen asked.
"It is not our way. We are pacifists. We eschew violence," the man replied.
"You're telling me that your home planet has been occupied, your people kept in cages like animals and you won't stand and fight because it's not your way?!" Taisen said with an incredulous tone. "You're not a pacifist, you're just a coward."
"I don't care who you are, you're out of order. Don't ever speak to him that way," Alita said. "It takes courage to adhere to your beliefs even when things get hard."
"Then you and I have a different view of courage because from where I stand, your people are cowering in a corner, soiling themselves, just waiting for someone else to save them," Taisen replied. "They are weak and don't deserve our help."
"The UN star fleet exists exactly to fight for those who can't fight for themselves—" Alita was cut off by a raised hand from the older blue man.
"Alita! Enough! We don't need you to speak for us," the man said tersely. "You must go. We will find another way to free ourselves."
Taisen gazed at the man furiously. His actions went against common sense. Alita bowed and turned to leave before dragging Taisen with her.
"They might die," Taisen said to her.
"Then it will be with honour," she replied.
"What good is honour to the dead?" He respond.
"To us, honour is everything."