Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning

From the eastern part of the wall, where she was heading, Kysaek hoped to get a different view of things than judging the situation from the drone pictures or street fights. She wasn’t surprised that she and her people had a free hand in the complex. Without weapons, they were hardly a threat, and even if they had captured any, there were still the First’s considerable number of ground troops, not a few bots and other defence systems. It wasn’t these things that Kysaek paid constant attention to, however, but the shield high above her head. The barrier emanated from a spiky, lightning-covered energy conductor in the approximate centre of the area and, at fifty metres, it was the tallest building here. From inside, Kysaek could see clearly through the shield and the holiday-ready tropical weather. There wasn’t a cloud on the blue front at the moment, but she couldn’t enjoy the beautiful picture. The skirmishes in the suburb, as short and light as some were, never seemed to stop and Kysaek might be able to close her eyes, but her ears were exposed to the warlike reality without pause and suddenly there was an ominous rumble in the sky, like thunder.

Yellow balls of light mingled with the picturesque blue, far too many! “Oh no!” Kysaek was startled. She sprinted for her life to the nearest shelter, but it was too late. Before she could make it, the energy shield was under a continuous, deafening bombardment from space. However, Kysaek only realised that the attack had not got through the barrier once she was safe, and even when the attack was intensified and supported by missiles from the hills - the shield did not collapse! Nevertheless, its surface was literally on fire and where the blue of the heavenly beach paradise had previously been visible, a raging firestorm was now raging.

Had the people had to endure this constantly since the first day? Had they got used to the terror? At least there was no panic on the grounds and Kysaek could hardly imagine what it must have been like for weeks. She herself had only experienced one real deployment in the military, under the most difficult conditions, while the rest had been trivial routine and no real danger. However, the feeling from back then came back to her when it came down to her for once and the fear of failing completely again and losing almost everything, just like in the military. This memory made her breathe uncontrollably, made her heart race violently and she was on the verge of overheating.

However, the bombardment did not last forever and as the fire receded, so did Kysaek’s terror for the time being. Now that her thoughts were clearer again, she had one more point to consider as she stood at the top of the eastern wall and looked at the PGI base a few kilometres away. She had already thought it when she saw the drone pictures, but now it was all the more clear in her mind - the corporation was snooty. Kysaek didn’t deny that it had a superior armed force, but the company was so arrogant that it didn’t even use an energy shield for the base. Or was that not arrogance, but a sign of dominance? After all, the company had every conceivable advantage and that made Kysaek uneasy. She leaned on the wall because she felt as if she could no longer stand on her own, as if something was trying to pull her into the abyss. The siege and its circumstances were simply a whole new level for her, a completely different dimension.

“You’re not seriously thinking about it?” Vorrn murmured from behind. He came with Thais and Tavis and surprised everyone with his words. “I say we grab the captured PGI employees and make a quick getaway.”

“Why the change of heart?” asked Tavis hesitantly. “What happened to the fighting spirit all of a sudden?”

“Nothing has changed, but now we’re supposed to help defend these weak workers against a superior force. It’s going to be a one-sided fight where we get slaughtered and one-sided fights are boring whether you win or lose.”

“The people let us in willingly. They could have fought to the death and we might never have got in.”

“That was their fault, not ours,” emphasised Vorrn, referring suspiciously to the circumstances. “Besides, the workers were expecting something from their goodwill. That wasn’t a good deed.”

“Not a benefit, but it wasn’t a mean trap either,” Kysaek said indecisively. “If you were in such a situation, you would do everything you could to survive and hope for any help, wouldn’t you?”

“I would never let it get that far and even if I did, it would only be for me or against me. My domicile is governed by my rules.”

“And the people here give us a choice. They don’t force us.”

“That’s right, Kysaek,” Tavis agreed. The Palanian’s words didn’t quite fit in with his mantra of business. What did he care what happened to the labourers? “We get to decide for ourselves and I for one wonder how we can fight PGI on the one hand and at the same time consider letting so many innocents die doing the same?”

Vorrn’s nostrils flared. “What kind of criminal are you?”

“An honest one.”

“Then be honest enough to recognise reality,” Vorrn growled. “This isn’t our fight, but we can use it! Let PGI come! When the battle rages, we’ll take the prisoners and leave!”

The Hishek and the Palanian were behind Kysaek, like two voices on her shoulder. One counselled her to be courageous and compassionate, the other to be single-minded and even cunningly ruthless. Only one voice remained silent. Was she the golden path between both? “What do you think, Thais?” asked Kysaek. “Should we do what’s best for us or for others?”

“Neither,” replied Talin calmly. “We should do what’s best for everyone.”

Kysaek hadn’t expected an answer like that and she marvelled with the corner of her mouth raised, but it wasn’t a sign of joy. “You know me and Philosophy aren’t friends and I imagine Tavis and Vorrn would agree with me on that one.”

Yes, the men didn’t know what to do either and Thais explained himself. “It’s something I learnt in the war, a lesson that is important and necessary, just as it can be bitter, but also life-saving,” she sighed with lowered eyes. “In the end, it’s not the few that count, but the many and, even if I don’t favour Vorrn’s methods, he’s right in the end.”

“It’s hard for me to see it that way. You’re not one to resort to violence, but what do you mean by the many and the few?”

“I see it like this: We have a very good opportunity, even though we can’t get to the servers,” Thais mentioned. She saw so much more than witnesses and although her lips didn’t move, her facial expressions made up for it. “The high-ranking staff might know things that will lead us to new places and new leads! We don’t have to hand them over right away because I wonder if they alone would be enough... because they’d have to talk first and who knows how quickly PGI would be there to stop that or if anyone would even want to listen! Either way, though, the prisoners are an ideal opportunity that we need to seize and if we can bring down PGI through them, I think we’ll save a lot more lives than the few that are in that factory right now.”

“So we have to make sacrifices for the greater good,” Kysaek realised, and it was difficult for her. “Leaving a few hundred to die now so that worse things can be prevented...”

“That’s what I was getting at, yes,” nodded Talin. Hundreds of years of wisdom and the experience of a cruel war - who could argue with such an argument? And there was truth in it.

“The woman has the grit that the man lacks,” commented Vorrn. He alluded to Tavis. “If Kysaek comes to this realisation now, you should probably disappear from the group, Palanian.”

“I stand by my opinion, but my willingness to fight is independent of whether it is supported or not,” the Palanian countered, questioning the Hishek. “Can you say the same for yourself?”

Vorrn had said that he would not condone stupidity and in the end he was a bounty hunter and mercenary, but attacked so openly, his warrior dignity was at stake. “I’m not a coward!” the Hishek said loud and clear. “What do I care who shares my opinion? If we are really fighting here, it is the will of my ancestors that I am here and I will kill so many PGI soldiers that I can pile up their corpses as a second wall! And this wall will either be my grave or my salvation!”

For Kysaek, the confrontation between the men was both exhausting and helpful. Her thoughts wavered more and more. “It seems we really must commit a small evil if we want justice.”

“It’s not an evil,” Thais denied. “We don’t do it out of arbitrariness and cruelty.”

“Call it what you will - it’s an evil and the circumstances are just so convoluted and we don’t know ... ...” she murmured as Kysaek faltered. Did her group know what was going on? What were PGI’s plans? Was it just about profiting from forbidden technologies or something more? She didn’t know and that brought her to a decision. “We’ll stay here and help!” she decided, because she wasn’t prepared to sacrifice innocent people for the sake of an uncertain future. She was afraid she would regret it. “What do we know? What if it’s not what we imagined? No great danger, nothing that saves many and then the few have died in vain! Besides, I agree with Tavis! We have so few allies that we shouldn’t abandon those who share our fight!”

It was hardly surprising that Vorrn wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, but Thai’s expression changed, as if she was seeing everything from a new perspective and there was no need to start with Tavis. “That’s the way it should be,” nodded the Palanian.

“Nice fantasy,” said Vorrn as he stuck his snout out over the wall, heading straight for the PGI base. “And how are we going to beat that in reality? We can’t escape and with just a hundred would-be soldiers, a crowd of monsters and cannons, we won’t win. Not against such a well-equipped and trained army, which also has air superiority and cover from space.”

A recent event was Thai’s starting point. “Yeah, this isn’t like Central, where we got unexpected help. There’s no one outside the facility to fight for us.”

“Or are you trying to force someone to?” Vorrn asked teasingly.

“Force them? How could I...” Kysaek replied slyly. The little male squabble from before and the Hishek now gave her an idea. “Exactly, that’s what I want!”

“It won’t do any good to line up everyone from this factory for battle.”

“I don’t want that either,” Kysaek said, hurrying back to the factory in high spirits. “Come on!” She didn’t know when the aforementioned storm would come and had taken her time so far, so every second counted even more now. Kysaek conveyed her decision to the doctor and again interrupted the melodic operatic songs of a new aria between man and woman. “We’re going to help you!”

“Great Dorothy, then get started and don’t keep spoiling my music!” complained Wolfgang, but he was clearly pleased with the message. However, he quickly tried to hide it. “And why are you so excited, like after a pot of coffee?”

“Because I know how we can all survive!”

“You know? What do you know?”

“One thing at a time: We need a lot, and our drone is the first of them. Will you help me signal a message to it?”

“Did I miss a power shift or is this a hostile takeover? When did you start giving the orders, Dorothy?”

“I made a request of you, a question,” Kysaek countered, goading the scientist. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? So are we executing a clever plan now, or were you just talking when you said you could do a lot of things perfectly?”

“... only if I can listen to the right music. The opera Götterdämmerung seems appropriate to me.”

“As long as I can still hear myself, please. Let’s get started.”

Kysaek’s plan was daring, there was no denying that. An important part of her idea involved the summoned drone, with the mechanical scout only moving across the border of the ring of interference and not actually getting close to the complex. It was just a matter of giving her the necessary instructions for the crew left behind and a recorded message, like on Central. Later, outside the jamming area, the video message was sent to all the nearby, surrounding corporate sites that Wolfgang had named for Kysaek as sometimes driving forces on Trayden.

“This is a message and a warning to you all, and you’d better listen carefully if you care about your property!” she said in a personal and weighty tone. She was unmasked, like her companions and surrounded by them, as were the Doctor, Timmy and some of the armed labourers.

“We have taken control of Test Site Nine, but I’m sure you all knew that long ago. After all, you ignored the calls for help from here and minded your own business, but that’s over now! I’m sure you cowards from PGI will be shitting yourselves and wondering how it can be that a video message is flickering across various channels when you’ve shielded everything around testing ground nine! Your only luck is that all the corporations control interstellar communications and most of Trayden’s space traffic, but that won’t save you forever...someday, somehow, that message and its contents will get off the planet and then you’ll be finished and I’m not just talking about PGI! But it will be PGI that takes you down with it!”

Fear! Fear, mistrust, lies and deceit were the key pillars of Kysaek’s plan. She gave all the viewers a taste of what could leave the planet and showed a short montage that Dorvan and Wolfgang had created. Cracked security gates to servers, the forbidden technology in the factory and a supposedly huge data package on all the research results were Kysaek’s leverage - nothing more than a risky but all-important bluff!

“Yes, take a good look at this! Do you know who that was? Dorvan Ilegas ... surely a name that PGI should be familiar with! There will be no neutron bomb and no smear campaign full of lies to save you from this evidence! Are you good at galactic history?! Remember the Punisher incident?! Even Spectrum-sanctioned research that went wrong was mercilessly destroyed by a High Sentinel! That’s what you’ll all face too! Everyone is far too nervous when it comes to the Firsts! PGI will fall because they are the roots of evil and the rest of you, oh hehehe, oh you’ll be dragged into it and Trayden’s independence from galactic laws will no longer matter to anyone, but it won’t end here!” Kysaek implored ominously, but she didn’t overdo it in the grand finale. “No matter where your name is emblazoned across a building in the galaxy, it will all be confiscated! Your companies will be dismantled, your assets frozen, your stocks will plummet and everything you’ve ever achieved will be worthless and you’ll be in jail or dead, unless! ... Yes, unless you prove that you knew nothing about it until now! Maybe PGI intercepted every call for help to you. Maybe you, like us, are just pawns that were used until this moment! If so, prove it and help us immediately! Show yourselves and come to Test Site Nine! Help us defeat PGI, on the ground and in space, so that we can escape safely from Trayden! Do this and we will prove your goodwill and innocence to the galaxy! Only PGI will perish! If you don’t and we have to face PGI alone, we will fail or win, but it will be the same! No one will speak for you and this message will reach its destination! ... Possibly through a company that saves itself by putting everyone else to the sword! Or our too-small ship will slip through your defences! That’s how we came to this world in the first place! How will it go?! Is it only PGI?! Will it hit them and all of you?! Or will it hit them and almost all but one traitor?! Make up your mind, because I’m sure ... now that PGI has heard this, the battle will soon begin ... there is only for us or against us and we win even if we lose ... ...”

“I have to say yes,” Wolfgang confessed on the wall after the message had taken some time to sink in, eating crispy crisps. “That was really good theatre, Dorothy.”

“Yeah, but so far we’re missing a lot of actors for the final scene,” Kysaek replied. Her message had accelerated PGI’s mobilisation to sunset, and away from the base, half a dozen ready-to-launch land cruisers lined up in bright spotlights “But we have our extras, too.”

“Don’t ruin it with your bad puns. That was too clumsy.”

“Get used to it, that’s me.”

“That would require long-term co-operation,” Wolfgang replied and threw the empty, crumpled-up bag off the wall. The ball landed on the head of a Runner, but he didn’t react at all. The beast was waiting to be used, as a new contingent of shock troops from all sides had begun another offensive in the suburb and were fighting against the units of the First that remained on the outskirts.

“As long as they don’t destroy the shield, we have an advantage,” said Vorrn. “Only with energy converters can PGI create small passages in the barrier, and they can’t get so many units through at once.” He and Thais were the most experienced when it came to war and had worked out a strategy. According to both of them, it was important not to get involved in any major battles too far from the wall. Once the battle began, it could only take place under the shield and only ranged weapons could be fired at external targets. PGI had to blast their way through the shield, as well as the wall or gates, and at these choke points would be the chance to hold off the enemy troops long enough to increase their chances of survival.

“Yes, but think of the sky,” Wolfgang remarked. There was a specific reason why he didn’t let the installation’s weapons fire on the base. “They’ve already tried it from space a few times and will definitely do it again now.” The doctor was talking about boarding pods, also known as assault pods. Like certain missiles, they could also penetrate energy or protective shields through a converter and had already attempted several lightning landings in the facility, which were only prevented by the facility’s defence weapons before the capsules had even hit the ground and were therefore constantly on standby and pointed towards space.

“Not just definitely,” nodded Kysaek. She wasn’t a complete amateur when it came to tactics. “If we’re distracted at the wall, it’s the perfect opportunity. The more capsules that get through, the more enemies will have the chance to destroy the shield tower.” If the barrier fell too soon, it would be the end for the defenders. Everyone was aware of this and Kysaek’s hopes were still pinned on the hopefully forced reinforcements. Besides that, there was only one other thing that reassured her a little and sent a shiver down her spine at the same time.

As far as she could see in the courtyard, and Kysaek knew there were more in the buildings and elsewhere, the throngs of the First’s monstrous ground troops were lined up so that there was barely room to walk between them. Most of them came from the underground vaults of Test Site Nine, the purpose of which was now familiar to her - PGI wanted to build up an army and was transporting overcrowded container ships away from Trayden at regular intervals. Wolfgang had told her this after her willingness to help, but the doctor didn’t know where the shipments were going or what exactly the company was building an army for. It really had to be something big, Kysaek thought. Does Skarg Peeks want to start a second Solaris war? After all, for a private organisation, PGI already had a powerful arsenal, but anyone who wanted to build an impressive army, reinforced by superior and forbidden technology, surely had more in mind than mere self-protection or indecent profits on the arms market.

“One question,” Tavis said, but it didn’t sound like he really wanted to know the answer. “You’ve been fighting for weeks?”

“Yep,” Wolfgang replied.

“And you must have lost a lot of these creatures in battle?”

“Yep.”

“More than you can count?”

“Yep,” the doctor repeated, growing tired of it.

“And you made these things in this factory?”

“Do you ever get to the end?”

" ... where do the supplies come from?”

Wolfgang knew no pity in this respect. “It’s right outside the front door.”

" ... really? Do you do the same with the people from here?” asked Tavis, alarmed.

“What, you actually think I would do something like that to the workers or the fallen? Never! But I have no scruples when it comes to the prisoners and the fallen of PGI! At least for once in their lives, these people are serving a noble cause, even if it won’t save them from the flames of hell!”

“I don’t know. As a scientist, don’t you have an ethical code? No morals?”

“As the saying goes,” Wolfgang began, peering up at the red-coloured sky. “And whoever harms his neighbour shall be treated as he has done. Damage for damage, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, as he has hurt a man, so shall it be done to him again. I have morality on my side, or as I threatened PGI: Your misfortune if you fight for the wrong people.”

“I’ve never been keen on religion,” Tavis shook his head. He had understood the statement without having a clue about human religion. “Too arbitrary and out of date.”

“True. In a galaxy where a horror like PGI has free rein, faith is, of course, arbitrary...”

“Did the threat at least achieve something?”

“How you take it. PGI has been sending only humans to the front for a fortnight now ... the runners made from them are the easiest to kill and it takes longer to make iron masks from them ...“, sighed Wolfgang.

Iron Masks were also created from humans and were stronger than Runners, had a kind of rifle instead of an arm and their faces were covered in a characteristically striking, grid-like mask. However, they could neither climb like acrobats nor jump particularly high and their speed was moderate. On the other hand, they were smarter when it came to tactics in battle and didn’t just run mindlessly towards the next target.

Tavis sighed sympathetically. “Smart of PGI, unfortunate for us. On the other hand, I don’t think anyone, not even one of PGI, should become such a monster.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Vorrn said. “Human faith may be a lie, but it seems to have some good life lessons in it.”

Wolfgang had built some neutron grenades and handed them to the Hishek. “Then put them to good use.”

“Yeah, definitely with those things, hehehe.”

Tavis only saw the grenades now. “Don’t they fall under the galactic ban on small weapons of mass destruction?”

“Not on Trayden,” said Vorrn gleefully, and it was true, as the planet did not recognise galactic laws. He tossed the Palan a grenade. “Here, so you’re not completely useless in this fight.”

“Too kind.”

Kysaek did not interfere. Everyone was preparing for what was to come in their own way, but instead of being as brash as ever, she was now introverted and hoped that no one noticed her uncertainty. Had she made the right decision? Had she thought through her feint? Could she even win this? Judging by what she had just seen, that was not the case, as PGI formed grey, silvery blocks of bot metal on the east and south fronts. That was twice, if not three times as many machines as the PGI soldiers themselves - ten or fifteen thousand machines.

“Something’s coming!” said Thais, coming up to the wall.

“We see it,” Kysaek replied.

“Not that! The facility’s sonic sensors are registering new objects from all directions and the cameras have picked up ship movements in space! Take a look for yourself!” reported Talin. The communication was interrupted, but the telescopes and sound sensors could not be suppressed by PGI - this was the moment of truth.

Six unknown columns appeared on the sensors and it quickly became clear who was throwing the most into the ring. To the north, a wall of signals spread across the surveillance systems, outlining land cruisers, transport ships and raves. No doubt none of the other columns could match this spectacle, but the wall in the north was one of the slowest and furthest away. The remaining five, each on their own, did not even offer half of that, but there was still the question of who was in favour of whom and which troops would unite to form something more massive.

PGI, however, either had no choice or didn’t wait for their potential opponents or allies to enter the fray and deployed their tinny army. Hover tanks covered the bots and despite the fighting in the outskirts, the synchronised step of the machines could be heard. All the land cruisers took to the air and every available bluster, forty to fifty of them, made their rounds over the landing pad. The PGI guns to the south began firing on the ruins, not the shield again, and a chorus of bolt droppers, with either a blockade breaker or a flare spider locked underneath, heralded the real attack!

“I’ll prepare the container ship and gather the workers!” said Wolfgang as he hurriedly set off. It was all about the people who couldn’t fight. They had to be ready for the escape, the last and desperate resort if everything failed. “Don’t do anything stupid here!”

At that moment, the fighting in the suburb was finally decided as the Bolt Droppers released their mechanical cargo at full speed and crashed like hard stones into the city ruins! The Crushers rigorously cleared the areas thanks to their enormous firepower and with the help of their limited energy shield domes, the Luminous Spiders secured landing pads for the Bolt Droppers and the soldiers storming out of them. Furious Rampage, who unleashed their impressive power on Blockade Breakers and the last, hidden Runners and Cluto, inflicted minimal casualties on the advancing enemies, but there was nothing more to be gained outside the facility. However, this did not make things any easier for PGI.

At last, everyone on the wall was able to engage in battle with Magnet sniper rifles, compression cannons and heavy rocket launchers. The compression cannons and launchers in particular were excellent weapons against the superior number of intruders and they were hardly helped by the protective ruined houses or the powerful breakers as obstacles - almost everything fell to its knees at some point! The glow spiders, however, were the exception and it took a lot to bring down first their shields and then them and they were the number one priority. Their shields were able to combine with those of the complex to create a cramped, passable passage for the soldiers. However, the pathways opened up were too small for the Breachers and they were unable to provide any cover for the soldiers, who placed prepared plasma charges on the walls under heavy fire. A truly high price in blood for the company, but apparently the soldiers of the Vanguard were worth no more to the corporation than the Bot army, which was halfway there

In their rear, from the east, two of the previously unknown columns also completed their routes and reached the battlefield, right by the PGI base. They were the smallest of the new parties, High Council Havoc and Radiat Services, and unfortunately for the defenders, these companies did not attack PGI, no worse - they joined the approaching tin army, although their ridiculously few foot troops were hardly a match for the PGI force. In the skies, however, things looked a little different and the air units of the three companies joined forces. Instead of patrolling the battlefield, all the planes surprisingly manoeuvred to the north.

How was that to be interpreted? Was that a good sign? Kysaek hoped so, because she was only interested in the fact that PGI was shifting its air superiority to another location. “They’re slowly melting holes in the wall and the gates are about to be rigged with explosives!” she said, “Time to go down!” While a handful of iron masks remained on this section of the wall and offered resistance from there, the rest retreated along with the armed workers and Kysaek used the telescopic images to get an overview elsewhere.