Episode 4: Rise of the Galadrius.
FLASH BACK to 9 years ago…..
Fourteen year old Verrick sat on a stool in a ship hangar and observed the gigantic Galadrius. He observed the fifty turbo charged nuclear engines that powered the space explorer and took note of all the oxygen gates. He was the only one in the hangar at the time until Colonel Rick entered.
"What are you doing here S24?" The Colonel asked curiously and sat next to Verrick.
"I am Verrick….why call me S24?" Verrick replied with a question.
The Colonel was silent at first. He patted Verrick in the head and smiled.
"Because in battle…..Verrick must die for S24 to live." Colonel Rick replied
BACK TO THE PRESENT...
[YEAR 2900 – PLANET ORBITO – HERPERO HABITABLE SYSTEM] NIGHT
"If we decide to flush the whole ship...while in space…..that means every single module will be depressurized." One of the soldiers manning the computer interrupted.
"Yes" S9 said blatantly.
"Everyone outside this room will die." The soldier continued.
S9 went dead silent. Everyone was confused and the metal door of the control room was banging and tearing. The Salakary was at their front door already. If there was any survival plan, it would be the right time to carry it out.
"The modules went silent minutes ago. You are from the western module, you saw what was happening. Everyone outside this room has been slaughtered…..six hundred soldiers....they are all dead. Even if they are not, sacrifices must be made for the greater good." Colonel Rick replied confidently.
"The Colonel is right…..this is the S.S Galadrius…..the most powerful Galadrius class ever built. It took humans a century to construct this ship. We cannot lose it….." S15 contributed.
The control room had close to twenty soldiers manning the control computers. They were all at alert and were ready to initiate any commands. Colonel Rick walked up to the front and faced everyone.
"We cannot lose the Galadrius…we cannot lose this particular Galadrius. We have six exploring the entire habitable zones right now but this one…..this one is the most powerful…..so that is why I am making this decision on behalf of the whole ship." The Colonel suddenly went silent. He didn't know how to break it down but he knew he had to.
"Every single soldier outside this room is already dead or wounded or perhaps hiding in a shit hole which we cannot reach…..they are all gone. So we will retire them and we will take back this ship. To do that, we need to fly this ship out of Orbito…..open the oxygen gates and depressurize the whole ship. We will flush every single thing outside this room into space." The Colonel yelled.
The engines were fired and the ship roared to life. Everyone took their seat and fastened their seat belts. The ship was vibrating ferociously as it was about to lift itself off the ground.
Everything was going smoothly until one of the soldiers controlling the ship took off his head phone and called the Colonel.
"Sir….I think we might have a problem." The control soldier said.
"What is it?" The Colonel replied as he took off his seat belt and walked over to the distressed soldier.
"The eastern oxygen gates are opened…..the sixteen engines of the eastern gates will not fire until the gates are closed." The control soldier stated.
"Well then close it" The Colonel commanded.
"That is the problem sir….the control is jammed….the Salakary must have tampered with the gates connection to the control room" The control soldier was not mincing words. He broke it down the moment he saw it.
"Shit."
S15, S9 and S24 knew what had happened. They unfastened their seat belts and walked up to the Colonel.
"The only way out of this is to shut down the gates manually….." The soldier said before resuming back to the control computers.
"Somebody has to go there….. And that person has to be me" S15 said as she grabbed her rifle.
"No….no….you are not going out there. Allow me." S24 yelled.
"Guys…." S9 yelled and he pointed at the metal door. It was close to tearing apart. They needed to hurry up.
"No need to worry. I will go to the eastern gates" The Colonel said in a cold tone.
"Colonel….you need an escort…..you can't survive out there alone." Verrick said.
"Exactly my point soldier. I have done my part for humanity…..if anyone is to go out there, it has to be me. My job is done…..its left to you….the next generation." The Colonel replied.
"The next generation needs to be guided by someone like you sir….you cannot go" Verrick S24 replied.
"No….I am done…..you are next." The Colonel said as he grabbed his rifle. He tapped a button on his wrist and his battle suit came on him. He transformed into S99, the prime soldier.
"Woah….the Colonel was S99…..damn" S9 yelled but was shut down by the others in one bombastic side eye.
"Everyone I fought along with during my days are dead…..I am S99….the prime soldier." Colonel Rick said. No one knew this, not even Verrick. They were all surprised at the new development.
Verrick was silent. He wasn't happy with what the matter had evolved into. Loosing Colonel Rick, the prime soldier wasn't on his bucket list.
Colonel Rick walked up to Verrick and pulled him close. They embraced for a little while before the colonel whispered something into his ears.
"When you get back to Oakland, make a copy of my journal and give it to General Ichiro….he knows what to do with it. You can keep the original. It's my parting gift to you Verrick." Colonel Rick whispered.
He detached himself from Verrick and smiled. He walked over to the air vent and was about to climb in. Everyone was sober; they knew he wasn't coming back. His suit was strong but there was no way he could survive the horde of Salakary he was walking into.
FLASH BACK to 3 years ago…..
Colonel Rick was sitting in the room where Verrick was training with a punching bag. Verrick kept punching the bag with everything he had. He didn't stop until the bag was torn to pieces. Another bag rolled in and Verrick resumed punching. Colonel Rick saw in his eyes rage and will. He knew Verrick S24 would be a great one.
"The more you punch…..the weaker you become S24." The colonel yelled.
"Leave me alone…..I am Verrick" S24 yelled back.
"The only way to survive out there is to kill Verrick and allow S24 to take over" Colonel Rick said in a cold tone and left the room.
BACK TO THE PRESENT…..
Colonel Rick was standing below the air vent and was about to climb into it when he turned around and faced everyone. He took one last look at everyone and then focused on Verrick S24.
"Always remember...In the battles of life and death….Verrick must die for S24 to live" The Colonel said and immediately climbed into air vents. He smiled as he crawled through. He crawled all through for about an hour before he finally reached the eastern gates.
THE EASTERN OXYGEN GATES…..
The Colonel peeped through the vent hole and saw hundreds of the Salakary. They were brooding and screeching. They were happy that they had won. There were hundreds of them but the prime soldier had taken down far worse case scenarios. He busted into the arena and landed almost like a superhero, his battle gear was shining in all its glory. He was about to have his last dance and he promised himself to make it a memorable one, even in his grave.
"So….they call you the Salakary….mmmhm" Colonel Rick said and smiled
The Salakary tore at him with rage and he proceeded to slaughter them mercilessly. He opened fire on them and shot them without regret or remorse. His goal was to shut down the gates manually so he activated his suit which enhanced him and allowed him to storm through the horde like batter. A Salakary tried to attack him from behind but received a metal boot to the chin. He slid among them and shot those who obstructed him. He was nearly invincible until one of the Salalkary exploded into poisonous acid. That was their last resort. The acid melted into the Colonel's suit but he kept running towards the gate's control. The Salakary began to explode one by one into bubble of corrosive acid which spewed everywhere melting the walls of the eastern gates and the Colonel's battle gear.
IN THE CONTROL ROOM….
Verrick saw what was happening through the cameras. He couldn't watch it all and looked away as tears dropped from his eyes. He pressed a button on the ship's control system which activated another eject console. He wanted eject the whole module due to the acid which was already melting into the main ship. He was about to when he was stopped by S15.
"We cannot eject an oxygen gate." Leeya whispered.
"The acid." Verrick said
"The main ship's core is protected by anti corrosive metals…..I know it's a viable excuse but you can't eject it, it's a survival module" Leeya replied.
"He's gone….just like that….they're all gone…..my platoon….my friends….my colonel…everyone's gone" Verrick said as more tears rolled down his eyes. Leeya S15 pulled him close and embraced him.
"You still have me…." Leeya said.
They were all in it together. S9 was standing a few meters away, he didn't know what to say or do. He just stood there silent and sober.
THE EASTERN OXYGEN GATES….
Back at the eastern module, the Colonel's suit had worn off and he was exposed. The acid melted into him and he groaned in pain as he fell to the ground. The control was just a few meters away so he crawled in agony as the acid melted into his organs. He didn't stop until he reached the gate's control and pulled it down. The gates closed and he smiled. His agenda was complete; so he lied down and faced the roof. He was about to die when the Salakary leader walked up to him, his eye sight was getting blurry so he couldn't see well.
"You did well Colonel Rick….your people will never forget you." The Leader said as he slashed off the head of Colonel Rick.
IN THE CONTROL ROOM…..
Everyone fastened their seat belts as all the engines roared to life and the ship took off. The Galadrius blasted off into space with unparallel power and velocity. During that time, Verrick knew what was next and he knew what to do. He had a new goal and the events on Orbito had just boosted his resolve.
He rummaged his pockets and brought out the black hard cover journal. He looked at the title "Journal of the Raptors". He opened, looked through it and saw different notes, diagrams, habitable zones, planets, weapons, ship classes, futuristic tech plans and battle strategies; it was all the data he needed to finally destroy the Raptors. As long as the Raptors lived, humans would always remain a prey. He knew he had to destroy them and he wouldn't stop until they were all dead. He wouldn't stop killing them…..without remorse….without regret…..he would find all the raptors and he would kill them all.
He closed the book and stared at S9 who nodded at him, it was a sign that he was supported. He looked to his left and saw S15 who also nodded. They knew what was happening and they knew what to do when they got to their destination.
As soon as they reached outer space, all gates were opened and the whole ship was flushed. Everything was blown into space and the gates were shut once again. The gigantic ship set course for the capital of the human race, a planet known as OAKLAND.
End of Episode 4
To be continued.