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Deathworlders Should Not Be Allowed To Date! 65
🕑 Added 2024-12-16 21:41:29 +0000 UTCLuna VI query: Set the source to the leaked files of the first reconnaissance operation of Irisa.
No problem!
Luna VI query: Narrate Argor’s rescue.
***
The exact moment Argor's rescue operation shifted from being tangentially personal to deeply intimate was when Ryo heard the name 'Senator Eelzails' spoken over the comms.
Captain Dahala was the one who had unknowingly uttered the name, her sleek, color-shifting tail pointing sharply toward the virtual 3D projection hovering mid-air above a crate in the cargo bay. The image displayed a small, weathered ship gliding cautiously toward a gaping asteroid, its enormous edges illuminated by the facility’s internal lights. The scene was eerily reminiscent of a predatory creature, the asteroid’s cavernous opening resembling the maw of a giant, ancient beast. As the ship slipped into the brightly lit interior, the asteroid’s 'jaws' seemed to close with a sense of finality, sealing the vessel within its depths.
None of the Irisians or humans gathered around Ryo in the cargo bay could possibly grasp the storm that the simple mention of that name had unleashed within the Martian soldier's mind. This was because none of them had likely followed the interrogation of Zandrid's captured rebels as closely as Ryo had.
To him, the name 'Senator Eelzails from the Core Galaxy Alliance' was far more than just a random alien who might threaten humans and Irisians. It was the name of the very individual who had supplied Zandrid with the high-tech armor—the armor that had led to Ryo’s devastating defeat. That same armor was the reason he had been forced to witness the harrowing loss of Elysira’s tail as her claws snapped, one by one, in a desperate, hopeless struggle against the rebel.
No other moment in Ryo's adult life had impacted him as profoundly as that one, a trauma he still hadn’t come to terms with. Despite his carefully constructed façade of indifference, the pain lingered, raw and unresolved beneath the surface.
Unaware of Ryo’s internal turmoil, Captain Dahala casually brought up the Senator again.
“Can your robots follow Eelzails inside the facility, human?” she asked Thomas, her tail gesturing toward the floating projection showing the asteroid’s exterior. The surrounding Irisians could easily follow the conversation, having recently upgraded their legacy translators with Earth-provided versions to facilitate coordination during the rescue operation.
“Hold on a minute,” Thomas replied with a distracted voice as he appeared to juggle multiple tasks. “Our team is working on sharing the telemetry from the bugs with the whole fleet.”
Ryo stood across from Dahala, his arms draped over a nearby crate. His expression betrayed no interest in the mention of Eelzails, though he remained silently observant. Beside him, two other Martian soldiers clad in spacesuits mirrored his detached stance. They were part of the contingent sent from Irisa under Ivanov’s orders. Meanwhile, Dahala was surrounded by her highest-ranking officers, all Irisians, their natural camouflage ready and their bodies bare.
Thomas’s voice cut back in as the floating display began to shift. “Live feed acquired. Real-time translation available. AI overlay applied. What you’re seeing now is a real-time extrapolation of all the data collected by the bugs we sent in with the Senator’s ship. This will give us a precise picture of what Eelzails is doing inside the asteroid.”
As he spoke, the projection morphed into a detailed 3D representation of the asteroid’s landing bay, where the Senator’s ship had docked. The Irisians exchanged surprised glances, some unable to suppress flashes of purple on their skin, falling to hide their surprise.
Ryo, however, remained unimpressed, having long since grown accustomed to such tools. His eyes were already scanning the projection for AI-generated labels he knew would soon appear—summarizing key movements, conversations, and identifying any weapons or defenses close to Eelzails.
When the Senator finally emerged from his ship, the first set of labels materialized over the 3D rendering of the landing bay. The first was predictable: a marker above the Senator’s antennae read, 'Eelzails - Rumi.' The other two labels, however, caught Ryo’s attention. They identified two previously unknown figures approaching Eelzails's ship—an Asaidian with a long, unfamiliar name, and a female Noscid labeled Phora.
Ryo, already attuned to Elysira’s subtle expressions, immediately noticed that many of the Irisians around Dahala recognized the individuals on the projection. The faint but unmistakable flashes of yellow on their throats betrayed their urge to speak. Yet, under Dahala’s command, they held back, waiting for her to take the lead.
“That Asaidian…” Dahala begun, her voice carrying a hint of disdain. “He’s a well-known figure in the Alliance. One of the loudest voices against saving Irisa when we still had a representative trying to convince the Senators. He used to call us ‘mindless shadowlings.’”
Her words sent a ripple of red through the Irisians present, their emotions visible even in the smallest displays. The reaction spread, even affecting the other Irisian captains who were represented as floating faces alongside Thomas’s virtual presence.
“And what about the winged reptilian?” Thomas interjected, his gaze scanning the projection. “Does anyone know anything about her?”
Silence filled the comms. The Irisian captains exchanged puzzled glances, their confusion making it clear that no one had any information about the strange creature.
“All I know,” Dahala said eventually, “is that females of her species are rare. The males are so dim-witted they’re practically useless.” Her words weren’t rooted in prejudice but in harsh biological reality. Male Noscids were not only wingless but also had significantly smaller brains.
Ryo, observing silently, wasn’t one to crack jokes in serious situations, but as he studied the tall, winged creature, a thought crossed his mind—she looked like a poorly conceived chimera, the result of an unnatural blend of bat and dragon.
But it wasn’t just her that struck him as strange. Senator Eelzails was even more grotesque than Ryo had imagined. This wasn’t merely due to the hatred Ryo harbored for him. The Senator’s two antennae, protruding from above his nostrils, moved independently, their bulging eyes at the tips contributing significantly to his unsettling appearance. It wasn’t much better than the Asaidin, whose body seemed like a wet amalgamation of glued crystals, his face disturbingly soft and prone to contorting into angles that made it appear liquid, as if it might fall apart with a sudden movement.
The profound differences between these creatures and both humans and Irisians highlighted just how rare and remarkable relationships like Ryo’s with Elysira were. Across the galaxy, the ability to see beauty beyond one’s own species seemed to be a rare phenomenon.
As Ryo's thoughts wandered through these strange reflections, the virtual projection shifted, pulling his attention back. The group of alien figures moved deeper into the hidden facility, crossing a massive, reinforced door. The scene grounded Ryo in the present just as the AI provided a crucial piece of information from the intercepted conversation—Senator Eelzails was likely unaware of the true reason he had been summoned to this place.
This revelation sparked speculation among Thomas and the Irisian captains. They were all convinced that the reason for the Senator’s summons was Argor, though the exact nature of the connection remained unclear.
Ryo, however, had only one pressing question. “What’s the status of the offensive measures? If we’re not planning to send an assault team inside, I assume Earth has already deployed the alternative solution.”
By 'alternative solution' Ryo was referring to one of Earth’s deadly plans—bug-sized robots equipped with explosive charges at the very least, or perhaps something even more sophisticated, capable of neutralizing threats to Argor in mere seconds.
Thomas’s demeanor grew more serious. “The tunnels were dug quietly, and we can perform an active scan of the facility at any time. We are ready to deploy the solution, codenamed Flesh Eater, into the air system inside. I’m sorry, but I can’t go into specifics with someone in your position within the Martian military.”
Noticing the faint flashes of purple on the throats of the Irisian captains, Thomas quickly added, “Don’t worry. The solution is designed to be precise. It’s programmed to spare anything with either human or Irisian DNA. Argor’s safety is guaranteed.”
The reassurance seemed to placate the Irisians, though the tension in the room lingered. For Ryo, however, the name Flesh Eater and the vague explanation already hinted at some nano weapon, perhaps the kind that couldn't self-replicate or self-repair, but still was able to cause a lot of damage during their short operational lifespans, likely something similar to the Martian decomposition grenades.
Before Ryo could ask how long they planned to wait before giving the go signal, the virtual projection abruptly shifted. A detailed image appeared, revealing rows upon rows of living beings imprisoned inside glass containers, their forms illuminated in sterile, white light. The sight froze Senator Eelzails in place—and with him, all the Irisian captains and even Thomas. Silence filled the room until the AI intervened, summarizing the conversation between the three aliens for quick decision-making.
A glowing text pop-up materialized above the projection:
The conversation between the three targets suggests this xenobiology research station is an Alliance facility created solely to study lifeforms they refer to as 'deathworlders.' Senator Eelzails is unaware of Argor’s presence here and is visibly surprised by the facility’s existence. Further analysis indicates our database lacks information on more than half the species held captive as test subjects. Extreme caution is advised to avoid collateral damage during the rescue operation.
The Irisians’ colors shifted in intricate patterns of purple, green, and red, their emotions impossible for Ryo to decipher. Even Thomas appeared shaken, his face pale and sickly as he processed the revelation.
Ryo, however, focused on a critical implication. “Tell me your team can reconfigure the nano weapon to avoid the beings in the glass cages, Sergeant.”
Thomas hesitated, then replied, “Hold on. I need to contact the General.” Without another word, the floating window displaying his face vanished, leaving Ryo on edge. His instincts, honed by years of combat, flared. Something had gone wrong with the rescue plan—horribly wrong.
Though the telemetry from the bugs inside the underground facility continued to feed data to the teams, the situation on the ship began to unravel. The usually disciplined Irisians broke into parallel conversations, a rare breach of their hierarchical norms.
“Are those humans hesitating to do what must be done to rescue our prince?” demanded Zolor, a bulky Irisian standing beside Dahala.
“They are not wrong to hesitate, Zolor. Can you imagine the suffering those beings have endured? The only right course of action is to find a way to free them,” a female Irisian countered, her arms crossed and her gaze fixed on Dahala, waiting for approval.
For the first time since arriving in Irisa, Ryo witnessed the Irisians breaking rank. Voices rose, opinions clashed, and arguments spilled beyond their usual clan-based cliques. Some even invoked the names of Amara and Nathan, using them as leverage to strengthen their arguments that it might be worth saving those deathworlder creatures and having them as allies against the alliance. It was clear that, despite their typical restraint, the Irisians were also individuals who held their own beliefs.
“Enough!” Dahala’s commanding voice subdued the chaos, restoring order as the virtual projection shifted once more. It now displayed Senator Eelzails moving through a vast room filled with glass cages, riding on some kind of vehicle. Draping her long tail over her shoulder, she added, “The Queen will decide what happens next. Look at the other captains—they are already contacting her.”
Ryo raised an eyebrow, irritation taking over his expression. Both Earth and the Irisians, shaken by the revelation that the asteroid was some kind of hidden lab, had abandoned their autonomy halfway through the rescue mission. He clenched his jaw in frustration and discreetly sent a message to the two other Martians.
“Get your gear ready. Be prepared for anything.”
The pair nodded in silent acknowledgment, retreating from the spotlight and moving toward the ship’s wall. Without attracting attention, they checked their backpacks and equipment, their movements quick as they gathered ammunition and assembled their guns.
As they prepared, Ryo’s attention wasn’t on Dahala, the Irisians, or even the missing Thomas. Instead, his focus remained locked on the virtual projection of Eelzails. The Senator had crossed the room with the glass cages and was now being led into a smaller, mysterious chamber located at the back of the facility.
A new AI analysis flashed onto the projection:
Senator Eelzails remains unaware that the likely reason for his presence in this facility is to make a decision regarding the kidnapped hybrid. The room he is being taken to is near Tunnel Six, which could serve as an entry point for a rescue attempt, provided a standard pressurized access tube is deployed from a ship's hatch. Extreme caution is advised, as depressurization could endanger both the hostages inside the asteroid and the rescue team.
Ryo wasn’t the only one who noticed the update, but Dahala and the other Irisians seemed paralyzed, their focus on Amara. Her face had appeared on a virtual screen, though she was still being bombarded with a sudden and poorly structured briefing on the unfolding situation. Her skin shifted through shades of purple.
Ryo grimaced. It was painful to watch a carefully planned operation unravel due to a lack of decisive leadership. The unexpected revelation of the hidden lab with additional hostages had thrown Earth and the Irisians alike into disarray. Instead of acting decisively, both sides scrambled for approval from their respective leaders, wasting precious seconds and risking further confusion as those leaders struggled to grasp the situation.
“My queen, the human Sergeant still hasn’t returned,” Dahala began, her voice tense. “But what we’re seeing inside the asteroid is some sort of secret laboratory... a facility dedicated to studying living beings—deathworlders, to be precise.”
As Dahala continued to explain, Ryo’s attention shifted back to the virtual projection, her words fading into the background. His jaw tightened at the sight of Argor as Senator Eelzails entered the room.
The little hybrid was confined to what looked like a transparent, sealed stroller as if the facility’s staff feared even breathing the same air as him. Ryo’s unease deepened when his gaze fell upon a massive horizontal opening in the wall—its design and the harsh light emanating from it unmistakably marking it as a sort of incinerator.
Dahala was mid-sentence when Ryo moved. “And we have to worry about the cages now. If we—”
He crossed the room quickly, stopping before the crate where Dahala was surrounded by her staff. With a forceful punch to the crate, he stole everyone’s attention, even drawing a startled expression from Amara, visible on the virtual screen.
“If we don’t act now, Argor might die,” Ryo stated flatly.
The directness of his words caused a ripple of reactions among the Irisians. Some bit their claws, while others appeared momentarily stunned. Amara, however, responded before anyone else could voice their discontent.
“What kind of plan are you suggesting?” she asked.
Ryo didn’t hesitate. “No time for plans or explanations. Give me full control of this ship, and I’ll get your son.”
Dahala’s skin flashed an intense mix of purple and red, but before she could object, Amara made her decision. Her gaze sharpened, her voice as direct as Ryo’s.
“You have the ship. Do what you must.”
Even as Dahala processed the order, Ryo wasted no time. “Take us to Tunnel Six. Deploy the access tube as soon as we arrive. Move, now!”
There was a moment of hesitation—glances exchanged, colors shifting—but Ryo’s unrelenting focus seemed to galvanize the crew. Without waiting for further confirmation, he returned to his corner and dropped to the floor, starting the assembly of his weapon: an old Barrett M82 modified to fire comparatively new Martian-made smart bullets. The Irisian crew, perhaps inspired by his decisiveness, sprang into action. Within moments, the ship surged and repositioned, slowly aligning the hatch with the tunnel.
After the repositioning was completed, Ryo noticed that Dahala had personally taken charge of overseeing the deployment of the access tube at Tunnel Six. Her presence reassured the crew, allowing her to delegate the communication and strategic decisions for the fleet entirely to Amara.
Meanwhile, Ryo used the integrated systems to send a direct message to Thomas:
“I need unfiltered data from the asteroid, now.”
He didn’t wait for a reply. Instead, he signaled to the other two Martians, who immediately fell in line, and together they moved toward the hatch where Dahala was waiting.
She stood with her tail coiled in front of her belly, a clear display of anxiety, though her skin betrayed no emotion. “The tube is deployed and ready—that is if you trust Earth’s technology enough to bet your life on it.”
“The tube was always part of the extraction plan. Open the hatch, and we’ll see,” Ryo replied.
Moments later, the hatch slid open, revealing the pressurized access tube leading directly into Tunnel Six. From up close it was just a scary transparent construction that connected the ship, the void, and the depths of the asteroid.
Ryo took the lead without hesitation, slinging the Barrett M82 over his shoulder and securing his belt of ammunition and flashbangs. He crouched at the tube’s entrance and began crawling forward, propelling his body with the help of his arms.
The transparent tube offered an unobstructed view of the void, but he ignored it. His breathing steadied as the asteroid’s dusty surface came into view beneath him, a jagged, uneven terrain that seemed lifeless. As he crawled deeper, the surface transitioned into a strange, layered composition of solid metal, likely a natural result of its ancient and slow transition from liquid to solid.
The tube came to a sudden stop at a flat wall, the wall's smooth surface obviously artificial and totally different from the asteroid's rough metallic composition. Ryo ran his hand over the wall, checking the seals around the circular edges and sighing at how frail that instant glue looked.
He also noticed that the tube had space for more than one person at its junction with the artificial wall. Adjusting quickly and making room for the others, Ryo shifted his body to lie prone, positioning himself with the barrel of the Barrett M82 aimed directly at the artificial wall, ready for the stream of information he expected to receive—that is, if Thomas had authorized his access to the raw stream of data from the little spying device they had planted on the Senator.
A single mental command later, confirmation of permission came through in the form of a virtual reconstruction of the room beyond the wall, an illusion of transparency visible only to his eyes. Inside the facility, Ryo could clearly see three aliens surrounding Argor: a Rumi with two antennae, an Asaidian with crystalline growths covering his body, and a tall female Noscid who resembled some kind of hybrid dragon.
If all he wanted was to spy, he could have stopped there. But since he was here for action, he issued another command, instructing his AI to align the overlay with millimeter precision. While the AI worked on it, Ryo addressed his Martian companions, requesting additional data. "Gabe, I need the thickness of the wall. Sergey, analyze the composition."
"On it!" one of them said.
But Ryo wasn’t paying attention anymore.
After delegating every task he couldn’t handle alone, it was as if a burden had lifted from Ryo’s mind, allowing him to settle into his usual mental state—where he depended solely on his own skills.
With a quick yet almost gentle motion, he flicked the bolt lock open. A moment later, a bullet slid into the chamber, and his finger lightly touched the trigger.
The AI finished the alignment. Ryo received the measurements and composition of the wall. A green targeting line appeared in the overlay, compensating for bullet deflection.
That was the very moment Ryo knew he would keep his promise to Nathan—Argor would not die today.
Inside the facility, the conversation transitioned from a discussion about a law forbidding Deathworlders from dating to a heated debate about how to eliminate the baby. The Asaidian sounded particularly thrilled at the idea of using the incinerator.
Ryo felt no hate, no anger. His heart was as serene as a still lake inside a cave.
The alien conversation grew even more tense until Eelzails slapped the Asaidian, deforming his soft face.
Ryo calmly followed the slapped alien with his aim, his finger pressing slightly harder on the trigger as the Asaidian moved to touch Argor’s stroller.
When the Asaidian opened the incinerator’s door, the air left Ryo’s lungs—some instinct deep inside him already bracing for the recoil.
One hand began to push the stroller toward the flames, and another hand pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The bullet cut through the metallic wall as if it were butter, hitting the Asaidian squarely in the chest. The smart charge detonated on impact, with the shockwave focused upward to prevent collateral damage.
Sealed in his stroller, Argor remained protected, untouched by the grisly spray as the Asaidian’s insides scattered across the room in an instant, freezing the other two aliens in shock.
The recoil wasn’t as bad as Ryo had expected, though he suspected his eardrum had taken some damage.
Still, the pain was easy to ignore. His focus remained sharp, another bullet already loaded into the chamber.
Inside the facility, the winged Noscid moved uncomfortably close to the wall he had just shot through, seemingly in denial about the Asaidian’s death.
She grew restless, approaching the wall and muttering something about proving a point. Ryo had no idea what she planned to do, but he wasn’t about to let the lead scientist press any buttons or interact with the equipment.
BANG!
Another hole appeared in the wall, and another head exploded.
Ryo shifted his aim to the Senator, but the Rumi’s antennae had drooped, his eyes shut, and his body slumped against the wall behind him in apparent shock.
“Cut the wall now.” With his finger still resting on the trigger, Ryo watched as hot sparks fell over his white protective suit from the oxy-fuel cutter.
Soon, a glowing door appeared on the wall. Gabe and Sergey kicked it open, securing access inside.
The two Martians headed straight for the sealed stroller. Moments later, a few Irisians emerged from the tunnel, their active camouflage blending them seamlessly with the surroundings.
One of them, not bothering with camouflage, carried a cushioned basket—the purpose clear as she approached the stroller.
Argor was rescued from the stroller and quickly extracted from the asteroid inside the basket, leaving the team with three humans and four Irisians inside.
“We are rescuing the other imprisoned living beings,” Thomas’s voice broadcast to the team, audible even to the nearly deaf Ryo thanks to the direct neural interface injection. “They will have to be transported on another ship, so your next task is to clean the facility and take control of the landing bay.”
“What about the Senator?” Ryo asked, throwing a piercing gaze toward the Rumi. He could almost savor the interrogation he would conduct about everything this alien had done on Irisa—manipulating and giving high-tech contraptions to the rebels.
“Leave him be for now. Amara doesn’t want any prisoners on the same ship as Argor,” came the reply—not from Thomas, but from Dahala.
“Roger that,” he said.
Surveying his surroundings, Ryo realized his Barrett M82 wouldn’t be ideal for clearing the facility. Before he could comment, Sergey patted his shoulder and handed him a pistol.
Now holding the smaller gun, Ryo let out an ironic smile. Without hesitation, they advanced toward the vast room lined with rows of glass cages, just three humans and four Irisians against everithing else protecting this facility.
From all their spying, they already knew the lab didn’t have much staff—mostly scientists, not fighters. Yet, when they reached the cages, the rescue team was met with a scene that was hard to believe.
Instead of waiting to be saved, as the team had expected, the self-aware creatures in the cages seemed to sense their freedom approaching. Before the humans or Irisians could step in, the captives had already gone rogue. Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the shooting, they shattered the glass cages one after another, killing the scientists in their white coats and unleashing havoc throughout the facility—without even needing weapons.
Gabe and Sergey stared at Ryo from one side, while the four Irisians did the same from the other side. Ryo simply shook his head and muttered one word: “Fuck.”
What followed was nothing short of a brawl. Ryo and the rest of the team were forced to throw flashbangs and land countless punches, becoming the first humans to experience firsthand why the Alliance had classified Earth as a category-four Deathworld.
The mission to rescue the imprisoned aliens quickly turned into a mission to beat the unrestrained violence out of them, despite it being understandable and justified. Even the Irisians were forced to knock a few unruly captives unconscious, using their tails to constrict their necks.
Once the fists and tails had subdued most of the chaos, a larger and better-prepared team arrived through the main entrance, restoring some semblance of order. Still, tensions remained, especially with the presence of the Irisians. Even among Deathworlder species, they were viewed by some as the devil incarnate—a reputation stemming from the Alliance’s history of using them as mercenaries to suppress other 'problematic' species.
With the task of offering reassurances and building the smallest levels of trust handed over to more capable individuals, Ryo decided to return to the incinerator room, where he planned to interrogate the Senator.
But once again, reality betrayed his expectations.
Crossing the threshold, Ryo found a lean, brown-furred alien—far taller than himself—standing over what remained of Senator Eelzails. The Senator’s antennae had been forcibly removed, each one discarded in a different spot on the ground. His motionless body lay crumpled beneath the alien.
Ryo stared at the alien, which his AI identified only as 'Unnel.' Unsure if it even had a translator, he asked, “Why?”
The Unnel staggered, struggling to stay upright. Before collapsing, it mustered the strength to utter a single word, “Evil.”
***
This was an account based on Argor’s rescue. The previous narrative is based on the events of the twelfth month of the exploratory mission of Irisa. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.
