Galaxy of Heroes

The roar of explosions and collapsing buildings was deafening. A rumbling storm of dust and wind whipped down the city streets.

Capt. Casey looked down at the dead man in HDF armor. She lifted his cracked faceplate with the steel toe of her boot.

Looking at the face of a dead human always pained her. This man didn’t come from the Heliac System. He was one of the uncounted numbers of human drifters that had hopped from barren rock to barren rock over the ages. This man had undoubtedly survived centuries of hardship and deprivation, only to have his life snuffed out by one hot slug of metal to the throat.

“Why are we killing our own?” Capt. Casey asked.

“I’ve seen this man before,” Sgt. Yancy said. “He was a bouncer at the House of Jod.”

Yancy took the dead man’s M-929 assault rifle.

“There are more of them moving down the main streets,” Capt. Casey said. “We’ll move west and cut off the next squad.”

“Roger,” Yancy said.

“Halt!”

Three armored personnel carriers followed by at least a dozen armed men on foot were moving up the street toward them through the dust clouds.

A Megalan wearing black body armor and a gas mask and carrying an M-929 trotted up to Sgt. Yancy and Capt. Casey.

“Fall back,” the Megalan said.

“Who the hell are you?” Sgt. Yancy asked.

“We are the Gallos Defense Force,” the large man said. “We were able to repulse the Crypto Syndicate’s attack on the city center. We’ve got them on the run. I need you two to take your men to the rear and help tend to the wounded.”

“I’ve never heard of a Gallos Defense Force,” Yancy said.

“We could use your help in the rear,” the masked Megalan said.

“Your column is not tactical,” Capt. Casey said. “One man on a rooftop with an M-929 could render you combat ineffective with three shots.”

“Fall back,” the Megalan said. “Please assist in the rear, ma’am. The humans there are suffering. Up here, you will only hinder our progress.”

“We better pull back, Captain,” Yancy said. “These people are better armed than us and appear to know what they are doing.”

“My men will take you to the city center,” the masked Megalan said. “The aid stations there are overwhelmed. We need all the help we can get.”

“Roger,” Capt. Casey said, reluctantly.

As she walked to the rear through the swirling dust, she turned to see the big Megalan hunch down over the body of the man that she had shot. The masked Megalan looked under the cracked faceplate and then looked back at her. He quickly averted his gaze when he saw that she was watching him.

Armed humans in gas masks signaled for Capt. Casey, Sgt. Yancy and the rest of their small band to climb inside an armored personnel carrier.

“This car will take you back to a staging area where the wounded are being treated,” a masked human said. “Be forewarned, it’s real bad back there.”

Capt. Casey’s makeshift squad climbed inside the vehicle. The rear door shut with a thump. She could breathe again once the car’s air filters cleared away the dust. She looked out a port and saw a city on fire as the armored personnel carrier slowly rumbled over rubble.

Their ad-hoc squad sat with backs leaned against the inside of the personnel carrier’s walls. They were covered in dust and grime and looked confused and a little shaken.

“Nice work out there, guys,” Capt. Casey said.

The only Megalan in the group was a big, blonde female. She wiped her face and shook her head. “One moment you’re getting it on with a hot cyborg,” she said. “The next moment you’re in a war zone.”

“I thought for sure the Craaldans had finally come to kill us all,” a dark-eyed Heliac man said.

“I thought it was the Craaldans, too,” a skinny Paltran woman said. “But it was this Crypto Syndicate Jod had warned us about. Those murderous bastards have betrayed us to the Diocon Empire.”

“They were targeting the Galazar District with indirect fire,” Rigo said. Rigo’s green lenses glowed in the dim light inside the armored car. “It’s all habitation towers there. They didn’t hit any of the commercial areas in the city center, or the habitation towers in the northwest quadrant.”

“What are you saying?” Capt. Casey asked.

“Galazar built and owns the northeast quadrant,” Rigo said.

“Galazar?” Capt. Casey asked. “The guy in all the commercials?”

“He is a Paltran businessman,” Rigo said. “None of Jod’s towers were hit in this attack. Now this army appears that none of us knew about.”

“Oh, quiet with your conspiracy theory,” the blonde Megalan female said, angrily. “Jod is trying to build a city here. This Crypto Syndicate is bad news. They are slaughtering innocents!”

“We must try to assess the situation accurately, before emotion overwhelms logic,” Rigo said. “Whoever heard of this Crypto Syndicate until Jod gave his little performance last night? We should recall our history and the deceptions used to gain power that corrupted our ancestors and consumed them with violence.”

“Silence, Paltran!” the dark-eyed Heliac man said. “Humans are dying. Maybe you are one of these Crypto infiltrators responsible for this maelstrom!”

Capt. Casey could see outside through the porthole that the car now slowly moved through a sea of humanity. Panicked, soot-colored faces looked about in fear. Adults carried wailing children and the bodies of the dead and wounded. The crowd surged and flowed as it moved on the streets. Thick waves of dust and smoke rushed over them.

Tarvey Rigo rose from his seat and attempted to open the rear door.

“Sit back down, soldier,” Sgt. Yancy said.

“I’m no soldier,” Rigo said. He pulled a crank and the rear door dropped open. Smoke and dust rushed into the car.

“Do not exit the vehicle!” a voice from the driver’s cockpit commanded.

“You’re not going anywhere, Crypto!” the Heliac man said, and grabbed Rigo by the shoulder.

Rigo rapidly spun around and rammed the butt of his rifle into the man’s groin, dropping him with a wince of pain.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Capt. Casey demanded.

She grabbed Rigo by the shoulder. Rigo hopped out into the crowd, pulling her with him.

“Do not let him go!” the cockpit voice ordered as the vehicle rolled away.

Capt. Casey fell onto her shoulder on the street. She watched Rigo dart away through the crowd.

The crowd closed over her in a crush of bodies. She tried to stand up to get back into the car but she was pushed and jostled. She was carried along in a surging river of humanity. She feared she would be trampled as she watched the armored car slowly pull away from her. She could see Sgt. Yancy standing at the open door scanning the crowd as the vehicle disappeared behind waves of dust and smoke.