Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning

From now on it was - Kysaek, on a half-naked mission and unarmed. Her only aids were the outdated blueprint of the former slaughterhouse stored in her vortex cuff, a lock-picking program from Tavis and the homing signal determination from Dorvan that the hacker had included in the data packet. He was being held in the lower floors of the building, but Kysaek’s number one priority first was to let her allies into the slaughterhouse through the sewers and that required all her skill.

While the club and Serus’ room could still be classified as elegant and the sounds of lust from the other rooms the naughtiest, the scene initially turned into a wicked and smoky gambling corner. Here astronomically high stakes flew and the tables were occupied by small circles. The most common game was 21 Lies, a game that could be played with real or virtual cards and where you could improve your own hand or damage your opponent’s hand with special cards.

But that was nothing compared to the real damage and rampant acts of violence perpetrated on defenceless people far from the hilarity. In a fresh cold, it was a matter of breaking bones, collecting debts through beatings and torture, or making examples. Dead bodies covered in blood hung from hooks, like cattle, and a few metres away, slaves under heavy guard handled drug parcels and meat - but there were no animals in the former slaughterhouse from which the meat could have come, and the thought of the source was terrifying.

What there was plenty of, though, was guards and the further Kysaek made it, the more this place fit the word transshipment point. She did realise that this was not a fully engineered security facility manned by experienced soldiers, but the sheer volume of thugs meant that she had to weigh every move carefully, and in addition cameras controlled the important angles. Many corridors and side rooms were unaffected by the glass peepers, however, and although they meant a diversion, Kysaek preferred to take such routes. Almost everywhere she found meat carts with wheels, but in them there were more drugs and weapons than edibles, and most sections of the diversions offered her more darkness, which was an advantage. When guards were close to her or passing by, Kysaek took advantage of the many shadows and pressed herself against walls or squeezed between rusty pipes or carts. It got her far until at one point Kysaek had to rely on her opponents, because the blueprint was really out of date and where there should be a path was a dead end and where there should be a turn there was an electronically locked door. The guards went through the gate at will, while Kysaek’s didn’t budge a bit and there was no other way for her. She timed the narrow window, as soon as a guard passed and the door closed again, she began to use the lock-picking program Tavis had installed. There was a Galig running at her back, in the other direction, but all he had to do was turn around and she would have been caught! She was spared that, however. It was only a few corners further on that it happened, and footsteps clattered from every direction, because of which Kysaek, in her distress, hastily disappeared under one of the curtained meat carts, cursing inwardly. Am I stupid!!! Her hiding place offered little room to curl up and was just within the radius of a cone of light from the ceiling.

“On’Dus!” one of the Talin guards shouted across one of the corridors. Her voice echoed sickeningly loud. “Where’s the second shift?!”

“Half are dead!” a Galig called back from the other end of the corridor.

Kysaek was right between the fronts and the beam of light diminished her protective shadow. If any of the guards got close enough, detection would not have been out of the question, and the unwanted chill from the crisp air and cold wagon steel did not improve her prospects.

“They were fine yesterday, you idiot!” the Talin blapped back, gradually setting foot after foot towards the unrecognised intruder’s meat wagon. “What did you do?!”

“I did?! All finished, used up! More skin than muscle! And the ones that are left won’t make it much longer either!”

“Did you forget to feed them again yesterday?! Or did you sell their food again for some extra foreign currency for your own pocket?!”

“What if i did?!” retorted On’Dus. He did the work and saw no problem. “I help catch the slaves, so I’ll just get the next load! I hardly waste food on vermin who aren’t supposed to live forever anyway!”

“That may be! But if production doesn’t continue when you change, they might throw you in with the vermin, and then they’ll surely eat you out of sheer hunger!”

Kysaek would have liked to punch both of them now, with her fists and the gun, even if she was aware that it was Themis. Was the galaxy really all sick pigs, conquerors, oppressors and corrupt corporations like PGI? Where was the justice? Where were all the good guys? What about the heroes she had heard so much about as a child? She was not naïve and had long since learnt that everything was more appearance than reality, but there had to have been something to the chatter. Only where were the good guys?!

“You’re getting on my nerves big time, Tilia!” waved On’Dus off. “Your slaves work the least of all anyway! So you’d better watch out that they don’t throw you somewhere and then fuck you properly before you get eaten!”

Tilia was now standing right next to Kysaek’s meat wagon, but the angry Talin was engrossed in the war of words. “Do you want to have this out now and here! Are we at it again?!”

“You don’t think I’d kill you?!”

“I don’t believe in anything with you,” Tilia said condescendingly and turned back. “At the most, you’re finally going to get your remaining slaves!”

“This isn’t over yet!” retorted On’Dus meekly. “Stupid slut!”

After making sure the coast was clear, Kysaek finally went for her first target and found the heavy steel hatch that was one of the entrances to the sewers. The hatch could only be opened old-fashionedly from the inside and without the help of the existing chain-pull system next to it, Kysaek would have been lost, because even with that, opening it was decent work.

“That took quite a while!” greeted Thais quietly as she climbed up out of the hole, carrying a heavy box with Tavis. “Did you take your job too seriously and party or what?”

“Yes, ha ha, very funny,” Kysaek grumbled, immediately looting the crate, which contained weapons, her clothes, explosives and a pair each of old, but serviceable, military-issue joint and arm protectors. “While you were waiting, I was freezing!”

“You’re a little cold?” retorted Tavis. He was polite and looked away as the half-naked woman undressed and changed, or was simply on the lookout for opponents. “I’m sure I caught a cold in that filthy sewer and several infections. My species isn’t exactly sensitive to cold.”

“Who’s squeamish now?” grinned Kysaek. “Is the firebomb ready?”

“Yes,” Thais nodded. “Do you know where you’re going to detonate it yet?”

“They’ve got vans full of drugs and guns all over the place. I think they will go crazy if something burns there,” Kysaek said. The firebomb was planned as a diversion, with a countdown set.

As a group of three, everything was much more conspicuous, but the motto was still secrecy. Engaging too soon would have been dangerous, simply because of the extreme superiority of Reed’s henchmen, and although they had all prepared well, their equipment was not designed for prolonged combat. Together, however, everyone’s strengths complemented each other and it was a silent approach, yard by yard. Kysaek served as scout, for she had the right mixture of audacity and overview, and she was not entirely unskilled at quietly taking out thugs.

However, it was mainly Thais job to disable the opponents, with her brute strength, a snap of the neck here and a quick knife there.

A talent Tavis did not share. But the honourable crook proved his grasp of technology, manipulating cameras or cracking electronic doors.

Finally, the firebomb capped the intrusion as the countdown ran down and it detonated to distraction and the voices of thugs roared everywhere. “Fire, fire! It’s on fire!”

“The guns! We have to put everything out or they’ll blow up in our faces!”

No one shouted alarm or sabotage, which was a good sign, and the exploding guns could disguise gunfire if it fell soon, and a pretext was found at the prison.

“Do you see that?!” murmured Kysaek almost silently. She couldn’t quite believe her eyes when she saw PGIE soldiers, the elite of the company, standing in an office next to Reed’s thugs. “What are they doing here!“”

“Well, well,” said Tavis as the pack in the office, despite the distant fire, were calm themselves. “Perhaps the fine Mister Peeks is coming to collect his goods?”

“He can forget that.”

“Yes, I’m sure the soldiers won’t see it that way.”

“Then we’ll make their decision easier,” Thais interfered. “We have to get through that door. Dorvan’s origin signal was sent from there.”

“Yes, I think it’s time for tougher methods. We’re about to attack and blow the door,” Kysaek said. She wasn’t really aware of it, but she made military hand signals and was about to initiate the attack, but she paused.

“Let me out!” boomed a rasping voice in the office, where one of Reed’s Davoc henchmen unlocked the prison gate and from the cordoned-off hoard a PGIE soldier pushed an empty food trolley. “That’s the last time I’m doing this. It’s not our job to take care of people! Our only job is to make sure nothing happens to them.”

The henchman who had opened the gate smoked an almost incensed Satios cigar with relish. “And by filling the stomachs of the prisoners, you make sure they don’t die. What’s the problem?”

“My problem is this dump of a planet and that I’m not a waiter. I hope Reed gets what he wants soon and we can get out of here with the prisoners.”

“We couldn’t agree more. It’s time for you fine fighters to go and for us to get out of this hole. I want to be back out on the road shooting somebody. I’m just as tired of sitting here.”

“There’s a fire in one section,” the soldier mentioned as if it were perfectly normal. “If you want to do something, why don’t you run over there and help put it out?”

The Davoc stubbed out his cigar. “Not interested,” he replied. “I’m sure someone smoked there and just threw it in one of the carts. I don’t clean up other people’s mess.”

Fire - that was Kysaek’s cue and she shouted. “The fire is spreading! Help, help!”

“What the?!” the davoc bristled. “Here?! What a mess! Come on!”

He wasn’t the only one to rush out of the office and have a rude awakening when suddenly several gun barrels appeared in front of him and shot down everything in front of them. The glass of the office shattered and a dozen green plasma particles scorched a lot of bodies and furniture when fired from Tavis’ sawn-off shotgun. Not a single thug or soldier could begin to offer anything that could be called resistance and with them dead the plan entered its hot final phase.

Thais secured the only entrance outside the office while Kysaek and Tavis entered the prison. It was a slightly modified disposal chamber, with several final storage facilities and Dorvan was being held in one of them.

“Prepare everything Tavis!” said Kysaek. The many explosives had not only served her as a precaution against obstacles, but also played an important part in her escape from the slaughterhouse. She left the placement of the bombs to the Palan, however, who placed them all over the cell block and in front of it, while Kysaek hammered on one of the steel doors . “Hello?! Dorvan?! Are you in there?!”

Quite muffled and stifled by the thick steel, the familiar male voice from Warehouse Three replied moderately. “I’m here. Are you Nora?”

“Who else, or did you order someone else to rescue you?!” joked Kysaek, straining. She had to open the cell door like a safe, a wheel she turned for ages and suddenly Kysaek had a belly in front of her and saw light, nut-brown fur on two powerful arms. ” ... Dorvan?” Astonished, she put her head back and wandered up the body of a real, muscular giant before staring at the rigid but exhausted face of a Davoc.

The guy was at least 2.50 metres tall and certainly a head or two above the normal average of his species. “Hello,” Dorvan greeted cautiously, in the face of danger and death, as new shots rang out outside the prison. “Did you bring it?”

Despite the calm manner that presented itself to her, Kysaek gulped as she was towered over by the giant’s shadow and collected herself. “With it? ... Oh! No, eh I mean yes, yes!” she nodded fixedly and handed the prisoner a brand new vortex cuff and luckily the things were made of a flexible material or it would never have fitted around that enormous wrist.

“Thank you.”

“I’m almost done!” reported Tavis, responding to Dorvan in similar disbelief. “.... is that our hacker? More likely a mercenary, right?”

“I swear - it’s me,” Dorvan merely replied. “Are you still helping the others too?”

This was difficult for Kysaek, extremely difficult because Thais was now already backing up to the entrance of the cell block and could barely fight the enemies. “We don’t have time Dorvan!” she affirmed, “I’d like to, but you can see for yourself what’s going on here!”

“Please. A bad fate awaits these people. This can’t be happening.”

Kysaek didn’t think Dorvan sounded drained now. He seemed rather strange to her, like some weird super genius who didn’t understand the implications of the situation. “I’m sorry, but are you crazy?!” she fussed, making the situation clear to him. “There must be hundreds or even thousands of people trapped in the slaughterhouse here and our backs are already against the wall! Are we supposed to slaughter our way through all the guards?! How do you imagine that?!” It was really getting dicey and Tavis rushed to Thais’ aid, which at least gave the situation a brief respite.

“So many prisoners? I didn’t know that, but I meant the people in this block anyway,” Dorvan said, lowering his three eyes sorrowfully. Around him were more than a dozen cells. “They are like me and are to be handed over to PGI. Is that what you want?”

“No, of course not!” replied Kysaek, and that’s when it hit her - this was a new chance for her to do some good, on one of the worst planets in the galaxy, and do more than just help herself. Besides, the bombs might have killed the fellow prisoners despite the thick cell doors, but she didn’t know until here that they were right there with the hacker. “Let’s do it! Help me lift the trapdoor first though!”

Dorvan was standing right on top of a hatch, a former steep tunnel chute for waste and that was the planned escape route via the sewers. “Can the two of us do this alone?”

“Now don’t make me weak!” said Kysaek, shooing him off the steel. She was about to call Tavis because the escape route was secured by two digital locks. “Don’t tell me youre not a big, strong boy?!”

Like a magician, Dorvan waved his wide arm with the vortex cuff over the locks and they were unlocked. “It’s more in my head than in my arms,” he asserted. However, as the hulk lifted the massive hatch practically single-handedly after that with no problem, that was the quintessential understatement. “It amazes me, though.”

Kysaek looked up from the gloomy, water-intoxicated hole. “You’re killing me already - I’m freeing your friends and you’re staying right here, is that clear?!” A nod told her that the giant had understood her and in turn she began the time-consuming process of opening each cell, which made her sweat quite a bit.

However, Thais and Tavis could barely hold on and their last resort was to close the prison entrance. The Palanian melted the lock with a plasma charge and the Talin blew up the explosives outside the door in time-honoured fashion.

“What are you doing?!” complained Thais strained.

Kysaek had a good half of the cells open and the block was filling up with free prisoners, but no one thought to give her a hand. “The right thing to do and if you help me it will go faster!”

“Bella’Sa. What I’m going along with you,” groaned the Talin, but Thais helped freeing the prisoners. “Every minute wasted here is a minute of our advance. They’re not going to take forever for the fire outside the door and certainly not the cracking.”

“I thought that was why we were blowing up the cell block?” interjected Tavis, turning his cell door. “We’ll have all the head start we need.”

Thais rolled her eyes. “Great .... you’re just further reinforcing Nora’s behaviour.”

“You ...were going to blow all this up?” asked Dorvan uncertainly. “With the people?”

The last cell was open and Kysaek was out of breath. “I changed my mind, after all! And if you still want to complain, we’ll put it off until later!” she said, giving a fixed address to everyone. “Now listen to me, all of you! We let you out, but we are here for Dorvan more than anything else! Your freedom leads through this sewer and what you do down there is your business! You’d best split up into small groups, because we can’t protect you, I’m afraid, and we have to get out of here very quickly ourselves!” No one contradicted her, although they were all puzzled and run over by what had happened. “Glad we understand each other and now go - we can’t detonate our bombs until you’re gone!”

The gift given was gratefully accepted by the perplexed prisoners and some nearly overran each other as they climbed into the hole in turn and slipped into the darkness.

“That was the last one,” Kysaek said. “It’s our turn.”

“Give me a moment,” Dorvan begged.

“What’s wrong with you! Haven’t you been in this place long enough?!”

“Too long, but I can simplify our escape.”

“...And that looks like what?”

“Confusion and blockade,” Dorvan replied, raising his voice all at once over the slaughterhouse’s speakers, which he had no doubt hacked with his vortex cuff. “Attention, attention everyone - we have been infiltrated and are under attack! Many guards in the lower and middle parts of the building are traitors! There are too few of us! Release the slaves and arm them to help you -that is an order!” Prank number one was not Dorvan’s only one, however, as he finished the announcement. “I have pitted the guards against each other and overwritten every digital lock in the slaughterhouse and locked the respective doors. Now we can leave.”

As fast as the hacker had worked, no one could keep up.... This was out of any league and what was left was the escape. “Tavis first!” ordered Kysaek, and the Palanian leapt into the wet pleasure. “Now you and me!” However, she probably should have phrased that differently, for Dorvan clutched Kysaek effortlessly with both his arms. “He-heyy-!” she screamed as the hacker dived with her, her voice echoing in the channel.

The honour of bringing up the rear fell to Thais and in one breath she did three things: hopped, dragged the hatch down with her and armed the bombs to wipe at least part of this hell out of the galaxy with a considerable blast and block the escape route.