"So they're not going to help?" Mash asked Rodcheck as the Governor leaned back in his worn leather office chair, frosty air visible with every exhale.

  "I'm afraid not sir...however, I did what the asshole captain said and filed a request with that mind-numbing burocracy, left the system on auto ping incase someone happens to get lost and accidently wonders way out here. Rodcheck huffed, a plume of frost hanging in the air for a moment as he spoke. The Governor deflated in the chair at the news, to tired to do anything but accept the hand they were dealt.

  "Also... sir, the Potters, lost their infant, I told them we'll make arrangements when we can best assess the situation...." Mash leaned forward cupping his face in his hands.

  "Timothy...we should probably start preparing the boiler room in the basement for any more..."

  "Aye... sir, will do..." Rodcheck nodded with a heavy heart."

  ***

  "Captain Zurii... I'm picking up a distress ping in the outer rim sector," the coms officer pointed out.

  "Also... Ma'am... the Californian is for some reason within hail of the ping, unmoving."

  Zurii sat up in her captain’s chair, setting her coffee to the side as she turned to her coms officer.

  "Oh? Raise them on the monitor, maybe they need assistance with the distress call." The coms director did just that trying to contact the other ship... hails continuously being blocked.

  "Ma'am, they're ignoring our hail..."

  Zurii turned to her coms officer, somewhat stunned. Before she could say anything one of the piolets cut off her train of thought.

  "Ma'am... the ship is pulling away, about to jump sectors," called one of the pilots on the bridge.

  "What in bloody blazes is he thinking? Open an emergency channel to their bridge immediately!"

  "Captain... they cut coms and went silent..."

  *Phoosh*

  The screen showed the ship as a burst of light danced across the monitor, an empty void where the Californian once was. Zurii turned to her coms officer with a perturbed look on her face.

  "I'm assuming all this was recorded?" Zurii asked, her large almond-shaped eyes turning to two narrow slits.

  "Yes, captain, as procedure dictates," the officer replied, tapping away at the crystal inlay screen on her console as she saved the whole interaction— or lack thereof— of the situation.

  "Good—" she nodded in satisfaction. "Send me a copy. Forward it to HQ and when they respond, I want to be notified immediately."

  "Yes ma'am, will do." The com officer replied as she went back to her screen to answer the emergency distress ping.

  *Ding*

  Zurii picked up her data slate to check the notification that had just popped up while sipping on her coffee, reviewing the recording and what transpired with the other ship as it jumped.

  ***

  *Beep-beep-beeeeeep-beep-beep-beeeeeep*

  Rodcheck checked his data slate as he pulled the pocket-sized tablet from his holster. He about dropped it as he saw someone answered the emergency ping. The man darted from the boiler room upstairs to the coms room. A steady pulsing green light glowed on the panel with a soft continuous intermittent beep letting him know someone answered. He reached over, grabbing the mic and pressing the talk key on the side as he sat down.

  "This is Security Officer Rodcheck of the Sans Colony, can you read me?!?"

  A crackle of static replied, a soothing voice came through the mic.

  "This is the USS Bismarck, we received your distress ping. How can we assist?" the cheerful coms director chirped.

  Rodcheck relayed the situation about the Grizmonger and how it warped the bulkhead, trapping the town inside.

  "Understood, please hold. The Captain wishes to speak to you."

  This time it was different— no long pause, no false slow-beat waiting music— just a brief pause before someone else replied on the com.

  "This is Captain Zurii Cringinder of the USS Bismarck with the GSA— how can we assist?"

  At the introduction of the captain, Rodcheck almost dropped the mic again, his throat growing tight at the mention of the organization again. He swallowed hard, gathering his courage, and told her the entire situation just as he did with the coms director.

  When he finished, there was an unusually long pause. Rodcheck sighed as he was about to cut the feed.

  "I'm well aware we haven't paid tribute. If that will be all, ma'am, I have dead to tend..."

  Rodcheck moved his hand, hovering the mic to hang it on the receiver when Zurii's voice cut in.

  "How many...?" Zurii asked, heaviness deep within her tone.

  Rodcheck was momentarily stunned, bringing the mic back up to his mouth to speak.

  "Excuse me, ma'am?"

  Rodcheck was taken aback by the complete night-and-day shift between ship captains before finally answering.

  "How...many have you lost...?" She asked, a long pause settling over the air.

  "Are your still there?" Zurii asked hoping the feed wasn't cut.

  "Um, eight so far. More, I'm afraid, will follow with the heat broken and the way the temperature outside is steadily dropping."

  "...You... have my condolences. I'm ashamed of how the previous captain treated your people's misfortunes— do what you can to comfort the weaker ones. We'll send a drop ship."

  "But ma'am, we have no way to pay the tribute fee—"

  "To hell with the fee! I'm heading there with a drop team— personally, and the traitor who left your people to die over something so trivial will be harshly dealt with when I make my report! Now— gather your courage and hold tight."

  ***

  The transmission cut Zurii slumped in her captains chair rubbing her rhinestone-scaled brow for a moment, then stood up to address all the faces on the bridged.

  "Allright, look alive everyone, we have a rescue mission with a possible hostile local beast, I need medics, a breacher, a ground team and a shuttle ready in fifteen mina-cycles, are we clear?"

  "Yes Ma'am!" The room announced as everyone flew into emergency mode getting manpower together and everything needed or could be needed for the mission.

  ****

  The bulky ship drifted through the blistering snow with the grace of a brick as it descended from orbit, blindly following its trajectory course to the ghost colony of Sans.

  *Phoooooosh—thunk*

  The thrusters kicked in as the craft’s landing gear engaged. The dropship sank into the hardened snow up to the ship’s underbelly. The loading hatch hissed open as the platform slowly dropped down, forcing its way into the frozen ground.

  “Okay, look alive people, time is of the essence!” Zurii called out as the team hustled out of the warm dropship. Four armored men unloaded heavy metal boxes as she spoke.

  “Rico! Fetch the hover cart and help load the breacher kit. We need to get that door unlodged! You two, keep watch on the perimeter, I don't want any uninvited guest, the rest of you, get everything unloaded and set up, prep for sick and injured!”

  As she was giving her orders, another two ships dropped out of orbit, blindly finding their way to the team’s ship.

  “Rookie, you’re with me. Let’s go assess the situation and speak with the Governor.”

  A slender figure, kitted out in full silver battle armor devoid of any scarring, saluted her as he replied in a high?pitched, “Yes ma’am!”

  She nodded as she held her white captain’s hat on her quilled head, the tail of her long, white petticoat whipping in the wind as she and the rookie followed after Rico, who was pushing the large hovering cart loaded with the breacher kit.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Rico moved with the speed and precision of someone who’d taken down his share of unyielding doors. He set up the lines and gas cylinders, then flicked his metal?gloved fingers at the tip of the rig nozzle, igniting the gas in a blackish, angry flame. He twisted the knob on the handle, adjusting the flame, and when it was to his liking, he gave the handle lever a practiced squeeze, sending out a small burst of bluish?black fire as it licked the bent hinges in the door’s bulkhead, transforming the blast?proof steel to lava and sparks in a flash, his combat helmet lens auto?darkening as he started the process.

  The rookie stared in disbelief, seeing the concaved door molded to take the shape of the creature’s face, that with a few more strikes, could’ve easily unhinged the blast door if it desired.

  Zurii waited patiently, shielding her eyes from the bright light of the black flame with a hand. Her eyes shifted to the rookie, a curt smile curling her blue lips as she could almost read the thoughts going through the young cadet’s head, watching his helmet tilt upwards, scanning the door, trying to figure out what caused this.

  “Not getting cold feet, are we cadet?” she asked, lightly jabbing an elbow into the rookie’s arm, shaking him from his stupor.

  “Hu—um! No ma’am!” His high?pitched voice squeaked with a nervous laugh.

  “Calm down. You’re not in the Core anymore. Being too wound up is more dangerous than not paying attention.”

  His visor turned toward her, shifted up and down, then gave her a nervous thumbs?up.

  “Ma’am?” the rookie asked nervously.

  “Yes, cadet?” Zurii asked, calm but loud enough to speak over the steady whip of the wind licking around the building violently, the small alcove of the entrance offering little protection from the weather.

  “What caused this?”

  Zurii looked at him through his faceplate with a cocked, rhinestone?scaled brow.

  “Did you not read the briefing?” she asked, more concerned than angry.

  “I did, but what’s a grizmonger?” the rookie asked, nervously adjusting the grip on his carbine. She motioned with a finger for the rookie to roll his wrist showing the crystal inlay screen on the forearm of his battle armor.

  "Type in into your screen." He nodded clipping the carbine to the side of his suit as he tapped some things into the screen. she leaned over tapping a few things, then tapped an image, pinching her fingers as she spread them apart expanding the the photo of on the file document.

  The picture of the creature left the rookie speechless. The creature, in earther terms looked like a sabertooth tiger and a grizzly bear had a baby, was painted purple with black stripes, bulbus golden eyes, with a tuft of fur to tip off its long sinewy tail. the rookies helmet comically shifted from the picture to the inlay on the door. Zurii calmly patted his arm.

  "There-there, mummy will protect you." she spoke with a grin, a nervous chuckle emitted from the rookies helmet as he regriped his carbine.

  "Clear!" Yelled Rico as everyone stepped to the side as the torch melted the last hydrolic arm causing the crumpled door to fall forward with a ground shaking *thud.* Medics filled in after the door fell, some with floating gurneys, others with medical supplies, the sick and bad off where rushed off to one of the drop ships the medics took down, the rest where just checked, the able-bodied, adults where gathered for a meeting with the crew and what was left of the colony.

  ***

  “Okay, settle down…” Governor Mash called wearily.

  Bickering and airing of grievances continued like the Governor wasn’t even in the room. He frowned as he looked at the captain and her guard next to him, then to Rodcheck by his side before Mash turned his displeasure back toward the bickering adults.

  “Quiiiiiieeeeeettt!!!” Mash yelled at the top of his lungs.

  All conversations stopped in a harsh silence as they froze, giving Mash their full attention. An exhausted Rodcheck folded his arms, watching the crowd.

  “Look, everyone has their own ideas of what shoulda?coulda happened. Everyone has lost someone or something. But I know we’d still be stuck here freezing to death if they hadn’t stopped by to help. They didn’t have to help according to the rules in the GSA handbook. If you don’t pay, you don’t get the benefits, like the last ship made clear.”

  Zurii’s face darkened at this under the visor of her hat. A tight?lipped thin line tried its best to hide an angry scowl that wanted to bubble up as her black and gold eyes danced around the room.

  “Captain Cringinder, would you care to address the room?”

  Her gaze snapped from the audience of heavily dressed masses to Mash as she nodded, stepping forward.

  “First and foremost—you have my condolences. This should have never happened with the way Captain Anderson acted, regardless of the handbook rules.”

  Angry mumbles rippled through the room.

  “I can assure yo—” Zurii started, before getting cut off.

  “Why should we believe you or anything you have to say?” one angry man said, more voices following behind him after the first verbal rock of the room was thrown.

  “Yeah! Besides, we’re just *poor* bottom feeders. What’s in it for a bean counter like you? A promotion?” jeered another.

  Zurii’s large almond?shaped eyes squinted at this as she removed her captain’s hat. Her black quills, which had been laid flat and relaxed, spiked up in acute question.

  Mash stepped forward past Zurii, his voice booming in the small confines.

  “Enough! Let the woman speak!”

  He paused, looking squarely at the last commenter, glaring at the burly man.

  “Another crack out of you, Hammond, and I will personally throw you out in the snow to cool that attitude.”

  He paused again, looking around the room.

  “And that goes for anyone else that wants to act up! Please! Let’s act civilized.”

  The crowd mumbled, but quieted back down.

  Mash stepped back, eyeing Zurii and motioning that she had the floor. She gave him a kind smile as she stepped forward, her warm smile shifting to solemn.

  Zurii addressed the burly man directly. “Sir—Hammond, is it?” she asked calmly, in a motherly tone.

  “Aye, ’tis,” he replied gruffly.

  “Mr. Hammond—I assure you, besides a possible reprimand from the so?called bean counters, the only thing I expect in return is a good night’s sleep with a clear conscience… that we did our job, to help people in need…”

  Hammond grumbled at this, but the issue died on the floor as Zurii steered the conversation, her stern, soft voice the complete opposite of what her face portrayed.

  “Anyone willing that needs medical attention will be shuttled to the ship’s medical bay. I will ask for a volunteer that knows the lay of the land as we go hunt down this creature that caused so much trouble.”

  The room briefly grumbled before going silent.

  A younger man raised his hand as Zurii nodded to acknowledge the young lad.

  “Yes sir? And you are?” Zurii asked.

  The man stood up, taking his knitted cap off to address her.

  “Mellone, ma’am. Hans Mellone. I have a daughter and a son still out there…”

  Zurii’s expression grew tight at this.

  “Then we better get a move on. Grab anything you think you might need and meet us by what’s left of the gates.”

  She turned and looked at the rookie in her serious business tone.

  “Ready for a hunting party and a bit of search and rescue?”

  He nodded, giving her a sharp salute and a crisp, “Yes ma’am!”

  She smiled, slapping his shoulder. “Good. Put your game face on. This may get sticky.”