Karisian

‘Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Fat load of good that did for these poor souls’ I think to myself. The grandeur of this space station was now lost. For all of its luxuries, it had become nothing more than a mausoleum. Some unknown force had reduced this place to a smoldering husk of its former magnificence. As my co-pilot manoeuvres around a chunk of floating debris the size of a car, he lets out a low, long whistle. And I don’t blame him.

The entirety of the starboard side of the Karisian had been torn off and was missing. This was by no means an easy feat, the Karisian was over 12 miles wide. We navigated to what looked like a clear spot, or at least what once remained of a large banquet hall maybe. Cal gracefully set the craft down and began to shut down the craft.

Cal and I descended down the ramp, both a little nervous. This response wasn’t like any other we’d been on. For starters this was the Karisian the most luxurious space station in the known universe. In over 50 years of operation, there had not once been a distress call. There had not once been an attack. As I looked around this decimated ballroom, I realised, that today that illusion was broken. Not since Malak Katarn discovered faster than light travel had mankind stopped. This would make them stop. The safety net that protected the ultra wealthy, let alone the rest of us, was gone now. “Hey” Cal started “No point lingering on it, we’ve got a job to do.”

I nodded. Through his blast shield I could see him smiling reassuringly at me. I gave him a double thumbs up and smiled back. He returned the thumbs up, before turning and heading into the wreckage. This once extravagant ballroom now lay in a twist of burnt wreckage, splintered wood and blackened carpet. There was a distinct lack of people or Sunner bodies, which made me feel even more uncomfortable. It was almost as if we weren’t the first responders, but a part of the cleanup crew? It just didn’t make sense.

In the distance we could make out a door and decided to head that way. An eerie feeling descended upon us as we half floated half walked through the vast yet empty ballroom. We felt like we were being watched, however we pressed on. As we neared closer to the blast doors, we came across a large abyss. Something had shorn through layers of steel and wood, leaving something with very few jagged edges. If we were anywhere else, that would almost be impressive. Now it was terrifying. “Let’s get a run up and jump” I suggest and Cal nods. When you’ve worked together for as long as we have, sometimes you know what the other person thinks instinctively. We take a few quick steps back, before rushing forward as quickly as possible. As we jump we hit our boosters and sail easily over the daunting nothingness.

We land with ease and Cal pumps his fist in excitement. Now the real challenge was beginning. We set off, winding down the tall yet seemingly narrow corridors, we passed many doors. We stopped when we found one slightly ajar. Cal instinctively took the lead as I fell in behind him. He nudged the door open further slightly, it leaving no noise in the vacuum of space, and we crept further into the room.

The place was ransacked. Drawers had been ripped out and their contents thrown everywhere. The cupboard was stripped bare. Cal stopped and I very nearly walked into him. “Hey what’s the …” I start before he raises his hand to cut me off. He points towards one corner and that’s when I see it. The dark figure of a Spectre in the corner, looking for something. Cal indicates behind us and I nod.

As Cal and I try to back out of the living quarters, glass crunches underfoot. “Oh no” Cal whispers as the nearest spectre turns towards us. It raises itself to its full height before screeching at us. “RUN!” We both scream as the spectre launches at us.

Cal and I move at best pace back to the ship. The spectres grew closer, screeching horrendously at us as we ran and floated down the darkened passageways towards the importune hanger. We round a bend, before another. We shimmy through the half shut blast doors and finally can see the ship. “I’ll start the launch procedures.” Cal tells me through our comms channel. I don’t respond, the horror at the chaos that we’ve seen keeps me from talking. With a few rapid inputs into his wrist communicator, I see the ship lift slightly, the dull blue flame kicking lazily from the engines. Our heavy footsteps leave no sound in the vacuum of space. We bound down the hall and launch ourselves back across that abyss.

Cal and I land heavily, but scramble to our feet. We rush around the ship and up the ramp, and I smack the hatch control panel, forcing the hatch shut and the ramp home. Cal settles behind the controls in the cockpit and as the ship begins to bank and leave this ruined space station, I strap myself into my flight seat.

“I can honestly say that I have never seen such destruction or devastation in over 130 previous response missions Cal.” Barely getting the words out I shudder at the realisation. I’d seen scavengers, pirates and hunters leave damage in their trails. Nothing like this though. Whatever had caused this was a different type of monster. No one had been spared. No one was safe anymore.