As the ship flies away, no one says a word, all is quiet. Soon everything goes dark as the single light emanating from the back of the ship closes into a narrowing hole, getting tighter with each second. Are we in a tunnel? Where are we going? The ship then starts to slow down, allowing the others to pass by. We make a right turn and travel a little further before coming to a complete stop. The ship the gently drops, landing on the wet ground below. The man from before exits the ship first, follow by us.
More armed men surround us, those these were less armored and more relaxed. A man stands in the middle of them. He approaches us and reaches out his hand to Oniv, who just stares at him.
"I am so glad you made it off the station safely."
"I wont shake your hand until my questions are answered." Oniv says
"Is that right? I am guessing you are referring to my college. Sorry, he's not much of a talker. My name is Earl. Welcome to our hidey hole."
"What do you want with us?" Clara asks.
"What? The minister advised me you might be nearby, and to provide assistance if you are in trouble."
"You know the minister?" Angel asks.
"Of course. We all fight the same enemy."
"Then you might be able to shed some light on some things." Oniv says taking a step toward Earl. He backs up a little to give some space, and looks at him eye to eye. Earl is much shorter than Oniv, so he finds himself having to look up at him a little. The ground shakes again, though no one takes notice this time.
"What do you need to know?"
"You can start by telling us about that station," Dern says, "And explain why the queen is here to test it."
"The queen is here?" Earl asks turning his attention back to Oniv.
"She just arrived."
Earl looks around for a second at the rest of his men. Some of them shrug and others looks around. Clearly this is news to everyone.
"Follow me."
Earl leads us through the long caves, passing by the makeshift barracks and armory. They are armed to the barrel. Heavy duty equipment hung on the racks along the walls. There were anti-tank rifles, machine guns, rockets. We pass by a hanger where the armed ship from before make their landing and we even see a ship opened up in the back, as if it were preparing to be rearmed for battle.
We head up a staircase toward a makeshift war room. In the center sat a holographic projection table. The openings in the rocker reveal the outside world as the morning light starts to pour into the room. It was the only source of light, so the shadows in the room were long and eerie. We all surround the table and the holoscreen resets.
"Welcome to our base of operations." He says. "Come close, we have a lot to discuss."
Everyone leans into the table as the rest of the room is cleared out for us at the same time. Everything has now gone quiet.
"Start from the beginning." Oniv says.
"Two cycles ago, that station arrived in high orbit. It shut down all trade to this planet, killing our supplies to and from Celestia. We were cut off for months. Then the shaking started."
"The shaking? You mean form the planet?" I ask.
"So you have noticed. What ever they are doing up there is having inverse effects down here."
"They activated something on the station. We don't quite understand what has happened yet, but..."
"Someone traveled from the other side...correct?"
"You know?"
"Get to the point." Dern demands.
"Right. Over the last few months, something has been firing out of the station. It started as small bursts, but its been getting brighter and louder with each passing day."
"What are they doing up there?" Clara asks
"They are opening a door. A big one and something nasty is waiting on the other side."
A man runs up the stairs, yelling for Earl as he goes. I can see the panic in his eyes. He's seen something, and its making him deathly afraid.
"Sir! Sir!" He says.
"Go ahead."
"The station! It's in firing position!"
"Already?"
"Whats happening?" Oniv asks
"We need to go! Follow me!"