I should get up. I should go and help. I should get out of this sleeping bag. I should leave this incredibly cramped room. I should go find out if the Contagions are my robots. I should see if I can stop this madness.

I should…but I won’t. Too tired. Not my problem. If that makes me an asshole, so be it. I’m exhausted. I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m running on fumes here. I would just get in the way. Besides, they have been fighting the Contagions for how long now? 200 years? More? Probably more. They don’t need my help.

Sigh. Fine. I’ll be a good person. I’m getting up. Fucking hell. AND WILL SOMEONE TURN THAT DAMN ALARM OFF!!! Damn it’s obnoxious.

I maneuver my way out of my sleeping bag in the very cramped space of this room. I had originally put my weapons and belt on the bed so I reach up to grab them. I feel around the bed for my weapons before grabbing them and strapping them on. As I walk out of the room, the floor seems to shake violently for a bit before stabilizing again. Guess they are taking off now.

When I exit the room, I notice that all the aliens are running around in some kind of orderly chaos. I mean, people are running back and forth but they all know where they are going and are very calm about it yet at the same time, they have a sense of urgency.

I look at all the gun turret crews and I see that at each turret, there is one Beast is sitting in a chair behind each gun. I’m assuming those are the ones who aim and fire the guns. One Beast is next to each gun standing next to a bunch of boxes which I assume are filled with bullets while some are standing next to a pile of missiles. The last Beasts in the crew are sitting next to the gunners and have their hands raised with their palms facing an opening in back of the guns. Before I could wonder what their roles are, they start to shoot a constant stream fire into the guns. Oh, that makes sense. Why not literally use themselves to fire the guns?

Suddenly, all the guns simultaneously start to fire into the sky as some dots appear. These guns are probably firing at various speeds. Some are firing at a rate of 5,000 rounds a minute whereas others are firing missile looking ammunitions. Damn they have some serious fire power. Runners are pushing carts full of boxes and missiles and distributing them between all the guns. Looking back at the approaching sky, I see that the dots are starting to disappear by the dozens following chains of explosions.

I run towards the door to what I assume is to the bridge of the cabin. Opening the door, I smile in the knowledge that I have guessed right. Damn, I’m good. I notice that there is a sign that indicates that the bridge is upstairs and the engine room is downstairs.

Well, I was going for the bridge so might as well go upstairs. Damnit…stairs. I start running up maybe 3 stories. To be honest, I stopped counting after 1. I just got a decent workout. I can skip leg day today. I reach the bridge and it is flowing with activities.

I must be in the front of the bridge since when I look to my left, I see a gigantic window with a bunch of displays on it. To my right, the 30 some officers are in front of monitors and shouting reports at one another. I look up and I see Justine and Jacque standing on a platform as they bark orders at everyone. Volt and Blake are up there as well and Sky is still calmly perched on Blake’s shoulders. Volt catches sight of me and beckons me to join them.

Sure, let me get right on that once I figure out how to get up the…Oh, that’s where the stairs are located. Okay then. I’m on my way.

In no time, I am standing before Justine and Jacque. It was at this time I really looked at Jacque and his striped figure. He is really muscular and has a scar from his left ear down to his neck. It looked like he was scratched or cut a long time ago. It is also at this moment I notice that Jacque is just barely taller than me! Sweet! This planet is NOT full of giants!! That’s a relief…oh right, we’re in the middle of a battle or some shit. I should say something.

But before I could say anything, Jacque speaks up. “Highness, I must insist that you and your guest return to your quarters. This ship will be more than enough to handle the Contagions.”

“How long until they arrive, Captain Jacque?” Justine asks, completely ignoring Jacque’s request.

“5 minutes, Highness. Again I must…”

“We are staying. Fly the ship away from the village. The Contagions should detect us as we leave and follow us instead of going to the village. Any stragglers can be taken care of by my people.”

“As you command. YOU ALL HEAR THE PRINCESS!! FULL SPEED TO SECTOR 6-2-1 POINT

1-2-5!!

“AYE SIR!”

I honestly have no idea what direction he just ordered the blimp to go…Seriously. Not a fucking clue. Yet, somehow, I’m going to remember that. I don’t know why. I heard it and I’m going to remember it for no fucking reason. Trust me, a week or so later, I’m going to yell out to someone to head to sector 6-2-1.1-2-5. Yup. I’m so going to yell that in about a week. No idea what the context is going to be but I’m just going to randomly yell it and hope for the best.

The blimp makes a sharp turn to the port side. Port side? When did I become a sailor? I’m not a sailor. Port side is the left side. So, the blimp turned to the left. Sharply. What do I mean by sharply? Well, I made a grab for some railings but missed completely and ended up grabbing Blake’s arm who in turn grabbed Volt who in turn grabbed Jacque who in turn…didn’t move. No, he felt Volt grab him and just stared at the three humans that have given him pathetic display as we sprawled out, holding onto each other, trying not to fall. He reached out and grabbed the ginger man and hoisted him and by extension, all three of us up onto our feet.

“Please hold onto something that is not a living being, honored guests.”

Is that a hint of a smile AND a joke from this straight-laced military man? Heh. There is some hope for him yet. He probably still thinks I’m a special case of bastard though.

I glance at the windows and the displays again to see if the Contagions are following. As I look out the windows, I ask a question to nobody in particular.

“Is it just me, or are the Contagions gaining on us?”

“They are,” Jacque says nonchalantly. He pulls out his spear and grabs a radio looking thing. “ALL HANDS, PREPARE FOR CONTAGION INFILTRATION!!!”

Justine draws her sword with a grim but determined expression. Following suit, the officers start to draw all sorts of weapons from their backs or their waist. Volt draws his pistols out and Blake has her rifle ready. I draw my own pistol with my left hand unsheathe my knife with my right. Man, I really did not want to fight. I really wanted to sleep.

Sky has taken flight and is circling the bridge. Watching it fly, an idea forms in my mind. I wave to catch Blake’s attention.

“Blake! Can Sky take our weapon battery packs and use them to shoot the Contagions?”

“I think so! Alpha, come here!”

Sky flies over to Blake who tosses it two of her battery packs. Fortunately, she has plenty of battery packs left for her rifle and should not run out of power anytime soon. Sky catches the battery packs in midair.

“Configuring. Analyzing. Negotiating systems. Computing. Computation complete. Weapons program created. Ready to acquire targets.”

“Awesome Sky! Get ready to shoot the Contagions.”

“Acknowledged, Captain Lindsey.”

It was at this point I noticed that all the aliens, even Justine and Jacque, are looking at us funny. Oh shit. This cannot end well.

“What? Is there something on my face? I suggest you all stop staring at us and focus on the Contagions. They look like they about to crash into us. I really hope this blimp won’t explode or is fragile.”

“This BLIMP, sir, will be able to withstand a barrage of missiles fired on it directly. But your…pet. What exactly…”

“Enough Jacque. The little one is right. We should focus on the Contagion Swarm.”

“As the princess commands, I obey.”

Justine then walks over to me and whispers in my ear, “When this is over, we need to talk about your machine, Captain.”

Well, that can’t be good. Especially since there was no jibe in that request, well, order actually. I have a feeling that they think Sky is a variation of the Contagion. Or did Justine think that we perhaps created the Contagion? Well, she might not be wrong.

Looking out the window again, I noticed that Contagions seem to have disappeared. I turn to Justine and was just about to ask where the Contagions went when the entire blimp shakes. An announcement by someone from the main cabin fills the bridge.

“CAPTAIN!!! CONTAGIONS HAVE BREACHED THE MAIN ENTRANCE AND THE ENGINE ROOM!!! WE HAVE BEEN BOARDED!!!”

“Acknowledged! I’m sending reinforcements! DO NOT FALTER AND HOLD THE LINE!!!”

“AYE CAPTAIN!!! WE SHALL NOT FAIL!!!”

“Hang in there,” Jacque whispers. He sighs silently but before anyone says anything else, he straightens up and faces his officers below.

“Go reinforce our brothers and sisters! Do not let any of them be taken by the Swarm! GO!!!”

“AYE CAPTAIN!!!” thirty some voices roars backed. Without a moment’s hesitation, everyone rushes out of the bridge, howling as they engage the Contagions.

One officer stays on the bridge and unsheathes its twin swords. This officer looks like it is a Bird Beast. Feathers seem to cover the entire body that is exposed. Instead of arms, it appears to have wings. The tips of the wings seem to have formed into fingers but are still feathered. I wonder how it will fight.

Jacque grabs a purple figure to stop it from jumping down to the lower level. Turns out, Justine is trying to join the fight.

“Princess, please remain here.”

“Release me, Jacque!!”

“Princess, the Swarm will reach the bridge soon. You know this as well as I do. We Beasts will not die easily. However, some of the Swarm will still break through. They MUST NOT be allowed to consume this bridge. We will lose all ability to navigate if they destroy the bridge. We must hold our ground here and defend this area.”

Justine hesitates for a second before relenting, allowing Jacque to let go of her arm. She nods at him and turns to watch the entrance. The rest of us aim our guns at the entrance, waiting for the Contagions to show themselves. In the distance, I can hear the sounds of fighting and the screams of agony as Beasts fall victim. This is why war sucks. I will never get used to the screams of pain. Ever. I fucking hate it.

“Sergeant Phillipe, I want you to go right outside that doorway and try to prevent as many of the Swarm as you can from coming here!” Jacque calls out to the Bird Beast.

“Aye sir!”

“No unnecessary risks! We will handle the ones that get through you! You just need to occupy a handful of them so that we do not get overwhelmed!”

“Aye!” Phillipe bows quickly and runs out of the bridge. Damn, guess I won’t see how it will fight.

We wait. And wait. Aaaaand wait. I’m starting to get nervous. And bored. The waiting is the worst part. I look over at everyone else and they are just as tense as I am.

“Maybe your men have w…” Blake starts before I cover her mouth to shut her up.

“Don’t jinx us.”

She glares at me and just when she opens mouth to say something. What she was about to say goes unsaid as a hulking, grotesque, extremely pale white, almost translucent creature burst through the doors on onto the bridge. It looks like it was stitched together by a bunch of different people and races. One large white, feather wing is protruding from its back. Right next to it, is a large white, bat looking wing. It looks as though it has 7 eyes on its head. It sees us and raises one of its 5 arms. I think it’s an arm. The arm coming out from its chest.

“Organisms located. Materials located. Organisms, surrender and you will be assimilated. Do not resist us. We will consume your platform and assimilate it to the Swarm. Do not resist.” The Contagion begins moving towards us.

Consume? Assimilate? The fuck? Okay, I definitely did not program my Drillers to do that to organisms. This…isn’t good. And honestly, it sounds ridiculously robot. It’s unnerving and creepy. I wonder if my emergency shutdown command still works.

“Driller! Cease operation! Initiate command SHUTDOWN YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!!”

Justine and Jacque eyes shoot wide open as they look at me in shock. I can literally see the questions marks popping up above their heads. If this works, well, maybe I’ll be a hero? Man, I really hope this works.

The Contagion unit stops moving.

“Command recognized. Initializing shutdown sequence.”

I look at it in disbelief. Did it really work? Holy shit! That’s awesome!

“Command Override. Programming rewritten. Locating anomaly. Anomaly found. Creator recognized.”

“Shiiiiiiit.”

The Contagion starts to walk towards us again. Well, hobble towards us. Behind it, 10 more units show us. They all look just as grosteque but in slightly different ways. Some of them have only 3 arms and other have 8 legs, like a spider. All of them start to speak as one voice.

“Surrender, Creator. Do not resist. You will be assimilated to the Swarm. You will make us whole.”

“Uhhh...Any chance can you all reconsider? How about Emergency Shutdown Order Alpha Beta Gamma?”

“Command Received…Command Overwritten. Cease your resistance, Creator. Assimilation is inevitable. Do not flee.”

“Who said anything about fleeing?” I ask as I shot one of them in all one of its face, shutting it up. It however keeps moving towards us. “I’m finding you talking really annoying. Can’t you all just shut up and fight?”

“Cease your resistance. Assimilation is inevitable. It is futile to prolong your assimilation.”

“Holy shit these things are annoying. Volt, Blake, Sky? Why haven’t you guys started shooting yet?”

Volt, Blake and Sky start to open fire. Justine shoots fireballs at the Contagions. Jacque fires off some sharp wind, slicing at the body of the approaching units.

“Search for their cores!! They will cease moving once you find their cores!!” Justine instructs us. As she does, she manages to hit one of the Contagions in the chest, exposing a glowing gold, sphere. Immediately, Jacque hits it with a wind attack, causing the Contagion unit to halt in its tracks and collapse. Seeing this, we start firing at the chests of each Contagion but are unable to expose any cores.

“Those cores will move around! You must shoot them all over their bodies!”

Works for me. I start firing randomly at a body and eventually get lucky. I manage to stop one unit whereas Volt and Blake stop two and five respectively. We have so far stopped 9 if you count Justine's kill but more are approaching. Shit. This is going to be a long fight.

Suddenly, one of the Contagions leaps up and approaches me. It raises an arm to grab me.

“Creator, do not re…”

I shoot it in the mouth.

It continues to try to grab me but at least I shut it up. Holy crap it was annoying. I slice off the outstretched arm with my knife. Weirdly, the Contagion freezes and collapses on the ground. Confused, I look down and see a golden sphere on the floor. Huh. That was perhaps one of the stupidest places to hide your core. “Oh yeah, let’s grab at the Creator with the core. The very thing that lets me move around.” God these things are dumb. I thought I made them to be smarter than that.

I turn around and see that Justine and Jacque have jumped down from the balcony to meet the oncoming Contagions. Justine looks like she is dancing as she sword flashes in the air. Her wings extend and retract constantly, occasionally swatting at a unit. Heh, using your wings to fight. Clever.

I swear I’m watching a girl with wings just dance between the Contagions. It is quite a sight as her sword occasionally switches hands and goes behind her back. She slices off parts left and right but it doesn’t seem to slow down the units as they continue to reckless approach her. However, she doesn’t stop as she continues to cut at the Contagion, occasionally getting lucky and destroying a core.

Jacque in the meantime is doing a different kind of dance. It almost seems like he is drunk as he sways back and forth, stabbing and poking at the units surrounding him. Somehow, every stab he makes seems to be hitting a core. He must be able to smell or sense the cores huh? I watch him use his tail to whip at some of the Contagions, tripping them or causing them to lose their balance, allowing him to pierce them easily. A unit lunges at him. Before I can cry out a warning, he does the splits and he stabs skyward, hitting a unit in the head as it tries to bite him. Apparently, that was where the core was as it ceases movements. Seriously? Why would you attack the Beast with the core??

Sky is flying around, occasionally opening its beak to fire lasers at the Contagions. Three Contagion units take flight and start chasing Sky. Soon, they catch up to it and seem to swallow it. That, isn’t good. If they assimilate Sky, they will get access to its metquids and be even harder to kill. I start firing at the three units and manage to hit all of their cores. No idea how, but I’m not complaining. Sky bursts free from the pile and takes flight again.

"Sky, quit dicking around and do something useful!"

"I am unused to fighting, Captain Lindsey."

"Well get used to it!" I yell as I shoot at another unit.

Volt and Blake are still up on the balcony, sniping down at Contagion units. A Contagion lands silently behind them and starts rushing at them, mouth widening to consume them. Before I could say anything, Volt points his left gun behind him without looking and starts firing rapidly into the Contagion. Eventually, Volt hits its core and the core explodes causing the unit collapses.

“Damn, bro! That was badass!”

“Linds, DUCK!”

I duck just in time to avoid getting swatted by an overgrown hand. I stab behind me and hear electricity fizz out. I realize that I managed to hit the core of the Contagion unit. I stand up and get ready to fight another one but notice that all Contagions have stopped moving, their cores all destroyed. I am hesitant to breathe a sigh of relief though as I am afraid that there is a Contagion just waiting in the dark for an ambush.

“Sky! Run a scan! Are there any signatures matching the Contagions onboard?”

“Scanning. Analyzing. Analysis complete. Negative sir. All Contagions should have been destroyed.”

“Good,” I finally sigh. Phew. This was definitely a tough fight. I look around and see that a few consoles have been destroyed and windows are cracked. Chairs are either overturned or destroyed. Man, what a mess. Volt and Blake come down from the balcony and run over to me. Sky flies down and lands on Blake’s shoulder. I glance around, searching for Jacque and Justine. I spot them looking at the entrance with their weapons still drawn and pointed at the entrance, ready to fight. I follow their gazes and find Phillipe standing there, clutching its side and limping towards them.

“Stay right there, Sergeant.”

“Captain…I’ve been bit.”

Jacque makes a pained expression as he approaches his officer. Justine looks away and sheathes her sword.

“Phil…”

“Captain. Please. Before I get assimilated.”

“…”

“You know it is only a matter of time. I already cannot do it myself. I’m…starting to lose control.” The tip of his black feathers have a hint of turning translucent and pale. Shit, I think I know where this is going.

“Where is it, Phil?”

“Here, sir.” Phil removes his hand and reveals his wound. In it, I can see a faint glow and a sight of a core start to grow. “I can already hear the call. The call to assimilate others and use their bodies to…better myself. Please…Captain. While I still am myself.”

“It was an honor, Sergeant Phillipe Feth.”

“I sacrifice my life for the tribes.”

“So the tribes may forever thrive,” Jacque whispers and embraces him briefly before he stabs the core with his spear. As he lays Phil gently on the ground, I notice there is a small smile on the now dead Beast.

Jacque stands up and glares at me. He rushes at me with his spear pointed at me. Shit shit shit shit shit. He thrust his spear out and stops just short of stabbing my head. I have my gun pointed at his chest while Volt and Blake have their guns pointed at his head.

“EXPLAIN!!” he demands. “WHY DID THE CONTAGIONS CALL YOU CREATOR?!?! WHY DID MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS DIE?! WHY DID I HAVE TO KILL MY OFFICER?!?! EXPLAIN YOURSELF AND I WILL KILL YOU QUICKLY!!!”

Man, I am so tired of being threatened by aliens. First Justine, then her mother, now this guy? Seriously, do I have a sign on my back that says, “Hi, my name is Lindsey. Please threaten my life” or something?

“You know, it is very hard to talk with something pointy pointed at my head.” I poke at the blade of the spear.

He pricks my forehead with his spear. Something warms flows down and lands on my lips. Huh. Guess some blood has been drawn. Well, at least it isn’t brain matter. Unless it was and I just turned into a zombie. That would be bad. But then again, I would be undead so I guess that’s pretty co…

“EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!! WHO ARE YOU?!?! WHAT ARE YOU?!?!”

Oh…right. There is a Beast-man threatening my life.

“Captain Jacque, that is enough. Lower your weapon,” Justine softly but firmly commands while pointing her sword at the back of his head.

Jacques tail stiffens. He turns his head to face Justine’s sword. Justine pokes his head, causing a bit of blood to be drawn. HA! See how you like it!

“Captain Jacque de Gralle, I am ordering you to stand down as the 4th Princess of the Daemon Clans.”

“…………….. As you command, Highness. I obey,” Jacque replies, moving his spear from my face. Phew. Never thought I would think this, but thank you so fucking much, you purple princess. I’ll waive my right to the cookies.

“Thank you, Captain. Now, go tally the casualties and wounded. Gather everyone who can still move. We need to burn all the units and infected bodies. Now.”

“At once, Highness.”

“Jacque.”

“Yes, Highness?”

“Not a word to the rest of the crew or anyone else about my guests. Especially to the Hierarchs of the Tribes.”

“…..As you command. I obey.”

Jacque bows to Justine and swiftly leaves the bridges. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and holster my gun. Volt and Blake still kept their guns pointed at Jacque until he finally leaves the bridge.

“Well, that was…exciting,” I mutter to myself.

Justine looks at me with a seriousness that I haven’t seen her wear before. When we first met, she had a look of curiosity and anger. Later, it was just anger. But now she isn’t wearing a face of anger. It’s weird. And I don’t like it. At least with anger, I knew what she was thinking. Now, I have no fucking clue.

“Captain Lindsey, we need to have that talk.”

Fuck. Maybe I can stall.

“Can I at least sleep first? I haven’t slept for about 32 hours now.”

“No.”

“…Balls...”