The UNS Hermes flew at ourageous speeds through the vacuum of space. The advanced technology of the United Nations of Earth made it possible to travel at five times the speed of light.
Outside the transparent steel windows of the ship's bridge, the dot matrix of the stars were now a continuous stream of white lines on a pulsating dark back drop. The visual effect was an eery psychedelic show.
In the cockpit, Captain Frank and his co-pilot Link, monitored the controls and readings given off by the myriad of instruments that lit up the faces of the older rough bearded man and his cyborg partner. Lights of various colours and sizes glowed, hummed and flickered wildly indicating unknown truths about the state of the vessel.
Colonel Lyn, the commanding officer of the science ship, the UNS Hermes, walked in and shut the door behind her. "Status report," she barked.
"Status of the ship is unchanged," Captain Frank replied. "I can't wait to get home and soak my troubles in a sauna, surrounded by Asian beauties. You're welcome to join us, Colonel. There's always room for one more."
Colonel Lyn took a deep breath.
"I need you to power down the ship," she said.
Captain Frank swivelled in his chair as he stared slack jawed at his commanding officer.
"Are you crazy?!" He said incredulously before taking a moment to regain his composure. "You'll forgive my outburst but you can't possibly think that I can do that. I would have to drop out of hyperspace and then switch to emergency systems…"
"Do it," Colonel Lyn replied.
"May I ask why?" Frank asked.
"I believe we're not alone on the ship," she said.
***
The UNS Hermes dropped out of hyperspace and began to drift in the vacuum of space. The thrusters were deactivated as all light and sound from the ship ceased.
The crew and fixtures of the Hermes floated weightlessly as the gravity generator powered down.
Wearing oxygen masks and exo suits hooked up to emergency canisters of air, Taisen, Link and Alita searched the entire ship for their suspected intruder. The fog of their breath creating mist on their visors and the miners lights that adorned the top of their exo suits resembled a futuristic cyclops with lights for eyes.
After an hour, they came up empty. There was no sign of their mysterious fifth passenger. Just as they gave up hope, a hot fluid touched the back of Alita's exo suit. On closer inspection she let out a scream and frantically tried to back away.
Colonel Lyn and Link tried her best to restrain her and after a few moments of grappling they understood why she was screaming. The hot fluid was blood. In the zero gravity of the Hermes it floated towards them uninterrupted in a straight terrifying line from the front of the ship. Co-pilot Link flashed a light to the direction it was coming from and it hit the expressionless and lifeless face of Captain Frank suspended weightlessly. A deep gaping wound was leaking tremendous amounts of blood in the middle of his torso but his visor was untouched. Whatever killed him seemed to dig at his torso and not attack him in any conventional way.
Taisen took in the situation, in a fraction of a second and sprung into action. He grabbed Alita and Lyn, carried them quickly and as gently as he could given the urgency to a secured storage are and locked them inside.
Then he broke the light held by Link and flung him to the back of the ship while also disabling the lights at the top of his exo suit.
Taisen took three quick breaths and unsheathed his blade, Mugen. The edges glowed red as he steeled himself. He had never fought in zero gravity but If he loses this battle, his journey as well as those of the crew of the Hermes would end here.
A shadow lunged at his core.
He kicked at the wall of the ship to move himself out of the path of the attack and slashed where his body had been only a moment before. His sword hit soft tissue and metal like bone, drawing a wail of anguish as the shadowy figure regrouped. It looked like an octopus that had just squirted black ink.
The monster lunged again but this time it swung its tentacles wildly. Taisen dodged a few, severed some more but was struck by one. It ripped his exo suit which made the oxygen he was breathing leak and create a turning motion that made it hard to stay balanced.
The battle continued for another few minutes as he slashed at the monsters remaining tentacles. Looking outside the transparent steel windows for a moment, he spotted an incoming object.
Again taking in this information in a fraction of a second, he pushed off from the edge of the ship, also allowing the thrust from his canister to carry him towards the ships cockpit. The monster lunged once more but the asteroid struck the ship first causing the hull of the Hermes careening to one side. The shadowy figure was forcibly planted to one side as a calculated throw of Taisen's blade hit its bulbous head and ended its life.