Somewhere in the cold confounds of the universe was a shielded world, no one had attempted to, successfully, turn those shields off. Until now.
‘Come on Yish, you’re wasting company time’
Her fingers froze over the keyboard, mid-way in entering some form of sequence, and struck dagger-like eyes at her boss. He stood in a staunch manner behind Yish, unfazed by her stare.
‘This line of work ain’t easy you know, unless you want to compile and reform ancient data?’ she retorted.
Those slim fingers resumed the dance of keyboard mashing. Her eyes were shaped of an opal, their colour- a powerful green. The woman’s skin was blue and dotted. For hair, were needles like that of a hedgehog, and some were on her forearms, yet they’d been trimmed.
He stood there with his morning coffee, to the same view he has seen for thirty years. It was thirty one actually as today was the anniversary of his employment, on this post. Over those years he had progressed from an ensign to commanding officer of this post. The old commander had to retire at some point, who also had a soft spot for this, at the time, young man. At fifty-eight, he may very well do the same.
The edge of his cup reached the man’s lips, and sipped. His eyes, as well as most of the man’s front body. were coated in bright blue. Beyond the observatory from whence he gazed shone a blue star, Epsilon Ursae Majoris (a.k.a. Alioth); a star that belonged to the Ursa Major constellation. No planets, no spatial anomalies, no traffic. Silence.
Cold, and a sharp agonising pain was what she felt. Her frozen eyelids broke asunder and saw their first light for God knows how long. The layer of glass above her lifted ajar.
‘Greetings Captain, I hope you have had a fulfilling sleep; but I have encountered an… interruption. I had to wake you early, for your immediate attention’
‘Early?’
‘Yes Captain’
She clambered her way out from the stasis pod and her eyes glanced to the others near her. No one but herself was awake. The Captain wobbled to a locker and got dressed, grabbed a calorie bar, a hot drink then headed for the bridge.
‘Our old enemies have been stirring amidst the shadows, eager to deliver a staggering blow to this empire’, a man said to his three colleagues who stood over a holographic desk.
All of them dressed in a regal fashion that reflected their high authority, that, and their clear position within the large, circular chamber. They stand in its centre-piece, surrounded by politicians of various ranks. These men and women listened to the four councilors, withheld their questions, suggestions, or any information they could gather to further their own agenda. Yet they had to wait for the chance.
Four councilors; one representing infrastructure, another for war, a third for knowledge and lastly, one for influence.
‘Indeed, my sources have investigated and discovered peculiar movements near our borders’, the man of war added.
‘Why, why now?’, the woman of knowledge asks, pinching her chin with long, thin fingers.
‘Perhaps they have got bored of killing each other’, chuckled the man of influence. Though none found it amusing.
‘We will need to fortify our defenses’
The politicians slowly rose from their seats, marvel took hold of their faces as they witnessed a black, gargantuan vessel enveloped in fire, it appeared from the upper layer of the sky. This council chamber resided at the very top of the tower it sat on, with the tower being at least seven thousand feet high. They were literally in between the clouds.
Marvel twisted into shock, then to fear and outright panic. The councilors, watched, frozen in their places as everyone else attempted to flee from the inevitable.
Like a sword through flesh, it cleaved through the tower, and shattered the supports that held it together. Everything fell, and everyone died.
