Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning

Kysaek had not believed it, but Skarg Peeks had kept his word, even if not to the letter. Again she put on her new equipment - level-three-equipment. She didn’t think it was very different from before, but she realised that the number three had changed everything, not only for her, but for her whole team. All the guards from level one had been promoted and this had made itself felt to Kysaek. Everyone treated her with respect and said that it was only thanks to her that they all now had a better position and more foreign exchange. Even Phonor paid her a little respect, but that didn’t make him any more sympathetic to her, on the contrary - as SC3, he was all the stricter and pushed the team even more. Kysaek compensated for this, however, and could hardly believe that preventing a theft paid off so well. In the meantime, she was no longer interested in what had been under the cloth, because her life was in too pleasant a phase for that. And she said to herself: Who would change that now? No, Kysaek didn’t want to make waves and stay on her current course. The course upwards.

Ready and equipped, Kysaek went to her new workplace, in the third security ring of Annex A. It was a new surveillance room. “When are you going to stop grinning like that?”

Jim stood in front of the camera screens with a very serene twisted mouth. “I’m more wondering where your grin is! Really, Kysaek, we’ve hit the jackpot!”

“I don’t have to run around with a rapt expression just to show I’m happy,” Kysaek countered. She was in a decidedly good mood, as were the rest, but eventually everyone’s continued glee got slightly on her nerves.

“Now don’t tell me all the commendations and nice faces are too much for you⁈” Jim looked incredulous.

“Well, it’s just enough with time. It’s like little kids pulling at your skirt all the time, reminding you not to forget the yummy ice cream.”

“Trust me,” Jim said, remembering that he had a family. “Kids are far worse. Mine certainly are. They toughen you up.”

“Your family. How did your wife react to your new salary?”

“Like all women. She spent a lot of it right away,” Jim smirked sarcastically. “No offence, Kysaek.”

“The stronger sex,” Kysaek teased gloatingly. Being a little mean was just what she needed right now. “Every now and then women have to remind you guys.”

Jim pretended to be robust. “It’s not that bad. She bought a few overdue things for herself and the kids and I still have enough. Six times the old salary is just six times the old salary.”

“And we’re doing the same thing as before, except now we’re sitting a bit lower in the building,” Kysaek said, sitting down in front of the cameras. Unlike the previous surveillance room, here she had new insights into the complex and its research areas. “And finally the mystery of the level three labs is solved.”

“Weapons development. I had expected more. It’s not something that needs to be so closely guarded.”

“You’re free to be the hero in the next attack. I’m sure that would give you two rings again and then we’ll know the secret to level five!”

“And then we’ll surely realise that level five is not the core,” mused Jim. He climbed up onto the joke wave. “Surely there’s a super-secret portal to another world there, or a lift, deep underground, to a top-secret and illegal research department.”

This was too absurd for Kysaek now. “You clearly watch too many crime and spy movies.”

“Maybe.”

In the middle of the conversation, Phonor spoke up over the radio, “SC3 for Kysaek.”

Relaxed, the guard reported back. “Kysaek listening, sir.”

“I have to go to Annex B and take care of something. You take command of the third ring.”

At first no word came from Kysaek’s throat, so caught off guard was she.

Phonor did so grimly. “Do you understand me, Kysaek⁈”

“Aye, sir!”

Mac complained. “SC3 - are you serious? Kysaek⁈”

“You’d better be quiet!” warned Phonor, mentioning the day of the incident. “After your enormous delay in the terrorist attack, you’re lucky they didn’t kick your ass out.”

“Yes, sir, you’re right. My apologies,” Mac murmured, aggrieved.

At that the silence, the all too familiar silence returned to Kysaek’s workplace. Yet it was completely different in her own neighbourhood at the moment, and in extreme proportions, so she didn’t like the silence. She felt like she was waiting for a big bang that - inevitably - would just come if her neighbourhood had its way.

Since the latest attacks by Neo Solaris, the tension of many species was heating up and they were taking it out on innocent people. Starting with small protests and smeared walls, it took over in the last few days. Human businesses were vandalised and there were massive riots in which two people died from lynchings. They were completely harmless and had nothing to do with Neo Solaris.

Kysaek realised every day that the scars of the Solaris war were far from healed and the galaxy was not busy licking its wounds, but bleeding unimaginably. The core areas had recovered the fastest and were safe, as was what lay on their borders. Much beyond that, however, was wild and unsafe territory. Warlords and other figures had risen up after the war and exploited the weakness of the major galactic powers. Thus, vast numbers of new powers arose, but also fell, such as the Maw. Even before the war, this part of the galaxy was known for its enormous lawlessness and was a refuge for anyone who wanted to hide or carry out their machinations undisturbed. In the course of the Solaris-War and afterwards, however, the Maw continued to spread and this was partly due to one woman - the Eporanian Ilia Volon. She was considered, even by Eporanian standards, to be very intelligent and no less ruthless, and was the unofficial ruler of the Maw, the Queen of the Underworld. Nothing and no one did business in this area without her knowing about it or being involved in it.

But Kysaek saw the Maw as only the tip of the iceberg, and she wondered why the heroes of old had let the galaxy down so badly. Magna, his crew - never had there been braver and more self-sacrificing fighters for the common good. They had all united the galaxy against Solaris and brought victory. After that, however, they were heard of less and less, and now most lived their lives, caring for no one but themselves.

Out of the blue, there was a very loud crash. It sounded like an explosion from outside and the booming alarm in Kysaek’s building howled. “Heavy explosion registered at main gate,” the automated announcement warned. “Repeat: Severe explosion registered at main gate. Aggressive individuals are storming the premises. Unauthorised use of firearms has begun.”

“What now⁈,” Kysaek jumped to her feet. Abruptly she switched to the outside cameras and witnessed a brutal spectacle.

The usually well-guarded main gate and its heavy artillery had been almost completely destroyed and were ablaze. Using force of arms, dozens of people and bots rushed into the compound and even two-armed airmen appeared in the sky, immediately unleashing a hail of missiles and blasting everything in front of the invading attackers with incendiaries.

The few PGI guards who were spared from the fiery onslaught took up positions at corner points and vehicles standing around.

Choppy came Phonor’s voice over the radio. “Hi-- S-3!-it’s d-- Sta--s?”

“Evil, sir!” said Kysaek. She had understood enough and described the battle. “The compound is being stormed, by a heavily armed mob. There are fighter bots and air units in the sky too, and they’re pushing the few guards back fast!”

“I thought the wretched war was over long ago,” it came clearly from Phonor now. “Send everything expendable to the compound immediately and hold the fort inside, Kysaek!”

“Will do, sir!”

Not long after, another disturbing announcement came through, “Digital software malfunctioning. Unauthorised access taking place. Hacker attacks registered. System on the verge of collapse. Emergency protocol zero is initiated. All security levels are overridden. All staff are given free authority to be...” The voice failed, as did many systems and the lights.

An extreme feeling of déjá vu came over Kysaek. The parallels to the last attack were there, although this time it was far more violent and not a sneak-in. Could someone really be so stupid as to do the same thing again? But the thought got her nowhere. “Jim, what’s it like in the tunnels?”

“It’s going to be tough. I’ve got to see if I can get a signal somehow,” Jim replied and set to work. All the screens stayed dead, but at least he was able to produce a 3D model of the tunnels, despite the hacking. “All clear. Dieneu installed doors and security systems are all intact.”

“Are they really going to do it by sheer force this time?” thought Kysaek aloud.

Some exterior cameras Jim brought back, although the images were buggy. “Do you really think it’s the same people?”

“Who knows?” murmured Kysaek doubtfully. In the fierce fighting, it would be hard to take live prisoners, especially with old soldiers like Phonor on the way.

Outside, Phonor held the fort at a landing platform and had gathered a squad of guards around him. He was causing enormous problems for the invaders, taking a tactical and merciless approach. Especially when the SC3 went into close combat between a row of parked transporters, he showed his skills. With well-aimed blows he knocked down opponents and stomped so hard on their faces that blood splattered far to the sides. At this sight, a hooded Talin immediately let go of her weapons voluntarily and fell backwards. She begged for her life, but Phonor did not grant the woman that. He slit Talin’s throat with a knife and ran past her as she bled out, gasping.

“We’re slowly regaining control,” Kysaek estimated as the initial storm faltered and degenerated into a solid stand-off. “Jim, do a check on all the guard stations!”

Because of the system failure, Jim had to resort to the armour’s internal radio equipment. “This is Jim Baker, level three, guard station one. I want a status report on all posts.”

They all reported back one by one and at no point was there any sign of trouble or alien intrusion.

“I guess stealth really isn’t their plan,” Jim commented, becoming deprecating. “Lousy scum! I thought it was safe in Auranis and on this planet, but somehow someone always has to cause trouble.”

Without Kysaek thinking much, she asked, “Is this what the Solaris-War was like?”

“Little skirmishes like this one tended to be the quieter days of the war,” Jim said bitterly. “And there weren’t exactly many of those.”

“Then I get my first real impression of what it was like back then on the quiet days ... “Suddenly there was such a sickening crackle in the radio channel that Kysaek and Jim grabbed their ears. The crackling was followed by a panicked male voice: “We need backup immediately!”

It took time for the scratchy sound to disappear and for Kysaek to be able to reply. “Who is this?”

“Facility A, level zero,” the man identified himself and barely had breath to speak. “They’re everywhere! The bots! Th...” The contact broke.

“Hello? Who’s everywhere? And where?” inquired Kysaek, but to no avail and she expressed her irritation. “What the hell is level zero?”

Phonor promptly supplied the answer. “The section deep under Annex A, further down than the tunnels! It’s only known to the SCs and staff of level zero, and it can be reached via the lift from level five!”

“Nice of you to tell us about it, sir, but why only now?” asked Kysaek, aggrieved, though of course she could guess the answer - it was certainly top secret.

“For the same reason you don’t know what’s in levels four and five! Company secrets!” said Phonor, appearing on a new camera image, between narrow, blazing garages. He was still in position battle, but he continued to speak calmly, “But now all protocols are overridden and we need to get down there now and see what’s going on!”

“Are you coming back, sir?”

“No. We need to clean up the situation out here just as much,” Phonor said, and he was right.

The battle was not yet won and the attackers were recovering - thanks to treachery. Suddenly PGI’s bots were stabbing the security forces in the back and they weren’t just light machines, there were special models.

Some were as wide and tall as a wagon and heavily armoured. They ran very slowly but had enormous firepower, which included grenades and small rockets.

Others had four legs, similar to a spider, and created an energy field around them that intercepted many attacks.

Combined in this way - light and agile, heavy and powerful, and with extensive protection - the in-house bots posed a serious threat to the PGI guards and, with the help of the terrorists, encircled them in some places.

That’s when Kysaek made a decision. “Okay - I’ll take care of it!” she said, instructing Jim. “You stay here and try to help us by any means possible. Maybe you can fix the system failure or get us some plans. We need an eye to guide us.”

Jim rehashed the conversation from earlier. “So like last time, and it looks like you, not me, are going to get us our next promotion.”

“Only for your wife,” Kysaek asserted. In truth, she hadn’t thought about what had gone before. She felt a strange feeling inside her, an unfamiliar one. Holding the reins had never been her thing, though she wanted it and had often dreamed of it. Kysaek made her way to the centre of the building and it was anything but easy, for there was heat everywhere. The bot rampage was not limited to the outer grounds or level zero, and she collected every guard she could along the way.

Other guards, however, who had already rushed ahead, or civilian staff who had hidden or entrenched themselves, lined the perimeter largely as corpses.

In the end, Kysaek had a whole six guards with her when she reached the centre, and of that she was richly disappointed.

Level five was a warehouse, where strictly sealed containers, some damaged by the fighting, and a single hoverwheel transporter stood. None of the staff, guards or non-guards were alive, but there were no signs of near danger. The aforementioned lift was also impossible to miss, as it was a gigantic platform.

Before the rescue unit could descend, another call for help reached them. “We’re trapped!”

“Stay calm!” replied Kysaek. “Where are you?”

“In the west wing of ring four. I’m the last of my unit and I have a dozen civilians here. The wretched bots are closing in and there are too many of them. Please help us!”

Kysaek thought. Her orders were clear and were to secure level zero. There were certainly important secrets down there and innocent employees as well. But what made those in the depths more important than the lives that were just as much in danger up here? Secrets could be replaced, those still alive after their deaths could not. Kysaek decided - it would be wrong to save only one side. “You three,” she instructed her companions, “march to the west wing immediately and help the people!”

While two of the three nodded obediently, one Talin voiced concern. “We have our orders. The west wing is not a priority.”

“Let me worry about that!” retorted Kysaek. “If there are consequences later, I’ll carry them. So let’s go!”

No more rebuttal followed from Talin and the three guards hastily made their way to the west wing.

Kysaek then set the wide lift platform in motion, which was an extremely slow undertaking, and the steel creaked disconcertingly. The fact that the little light was diminishing rapidly, as the walls of the lift shaft had hardly any lamps or they were switched off, increased the ominous mood.

“We don’t know what awaits us down there” Kysaek admonished. Now she hoped that all the fantasies she had made with Jim about the secret research remained that - fantasies. “Check and load your weapons. As soon as the platform is down, fan out.”