Anarchy: Revolution

Helix

One of the largest asteroids opened, swallowing the ship and its crew whole before the bay door sealed to look like any other rock in the belt.

Inside, the hidden station stretched through the asteroid’s hollowed core, its corridors layered between reinforced steel and black stone. Heavy support ribs curved along the walls and sank deep into the rock, holding the tunnels steady against old fractures, engine vibration, and the distant pressure of passing debris. Low amber lights blinked rhythmically at the edges of the floors, while narrow vents pushed recycled air through the passageways with a steady mechanical breath.

Docking clamps, blast doors, repair bays, and sensor-shielded control rooms had been built into the asteroid with deliberate care, so every chamber served a purpose and no space was wasted. From the outside, the station remained a dead mass of pitted mineral drifting through the belt, but within its armoured shell, it was a fortress, a harbour, and a secret stronghold built to survive a war.

A docking clamp moved from the wall, connecting to the ship and pulling it safely into hangar. Several voices from the other refugees living there lit up the com unit welcoming the Concloians back from their mission. As the system chime let them know that they were safe to disembark, the atmospheric pressure in the main hatch regulated to standard breathable.

Turning the corner as he went to retrieve the girl, Valiant tilted his head in confusion. The exam table was empty, the restraints, undone by hands that didn’t belong to the Anarchy crew, lay visibly hanging over the sides of the table. “Oh no.”

He slammed his hand over the wall com, the screen flickering to life as Bane’s face filled the square. “Captain, we have a problem. She’s… gone.”

“That’s not possible. We left her in med bay and we were all in the control room on the bridge. Find her, Val. Misha and I will look around out here.”

“Understood,” Valient replied.

Looking over the cramped med bay, he felt a shudder inch down his spine ridge. The room was barely larger than a storage compartment, with a narrow diagnostic bed locked against one wall and sealed cabinets fitted above every reachable surface. Nothing was out of place, and nothing was missing either, so where did she go?

Dropping to one knee beside the folded restraints and floor-mounted scanner track, he checked under every piece of equipment. The antiseptic stink of sterilizers and recycled oxygen clung to the warm circuitry around him. A flash caught his eye, and he looked up in time to see her standing over him, a medical plasma blade in her hand. “Hey, easy. You’re safe here.”

“Safe is relative. I… I need… want…” the blade fell from her hand, clattering to the floor as she shook, her hands burying themselves in her hair as she winced against the pressure in her head. “Help…”

Reaching her, Valiant grabbed her upper arms in his clawed hands. “Breathe, human. We are not with the ones who did this.”

“Not… anymore…” she gasped. Her eyes popped open, glowing indigo green in the dim light as colour-coded drawers rattled in their tracks and several exposed tools clattered against their trays. Then, as fast as it had begun, it was over. Loose instruments dropped to the floor in a cacophony of noise as she passed out in his arms.

Catching her before she hit the metal plating, Valient let out a breath of shock. “What the Void did they do to you?”

“T-Terran… and Andro…medan…” she managed before exhaustion once again took hold.

Andromedan?

The Andromedans had been a supposedly extinct people from the outer Andromeda sector, known for psychic abilities powerful enough to bend thought, memory, and raw matter when fear or pain pushed them past control. Old records described them as luminous-eyed humanoids whose nervous systems carried bioelectric patterns unlike any Terran strain, allowing them to sense emotion, hear surface thoughts, and lash out through nearby objects without touching them. Most species had treated them as legends after the Andromedan purges, but every surviving account agreed on one thing: they were too dangerous to keep alive.

If even a trace of their bloodline had been forced into her, she was no longer only human. It also explained why and how she got out of the restraints.

He felt his scales ripple in terror as he lifted her into his arms and carried her out to the Helix station’s main hub. “Oh, this is really bad. I only hope you’re on our side.”

As he walked into the medical wing of the Helix asteroid, he groaned as he spotted the Avian they had helped two cycles beforehand. The little creature had attached himself to Valiant, quickly learning how to use his tiny clawed manipulators to create detonation charges that were incredibly small, but packed a massive punch.

Axel stood roughly four feet tall, with a natural carapace curving over his cranium like a smooth helm. It swept back from his brow into the finer structure of his skull, giving him a guarded, Avian profile without hiding the sharp intelligence in his eyes. Short feathers covered most of his body and shifted through shades of brown with the light and his mood. He was built with the compact balance of a creature made for sudden movement. Natural armour protected his wrists and most of his legs, ending above his three-toed feet and leaving his taloned hands free for precision, speed, and control.

He hopped from foot to foot, his beady eyes narrowing on the girl in Valiant’s arms as the feathers along his carapace flattened against his skull. His beak-like mouth dropped open in shock as he realized what was going on. “Holy… You found that on the station?”

“Bane found her,” Valiant replied. “She’s been genetically altered with Andromedan DNA. Where they got it from is a mystery because that species were wiped out over a hundred cycles ago.”

“I built seven more charges while you were gone.” Pausing, Axel scowled. “Or was it seventeen?”

“You bird-brain,” Valiant said with a scoff. “Why don’t you go watch those old Terran vids you like so much?”

Axel let out a tinkling laugh. “I would, but Novidia hid the remote to the entertainment room display. They are funny. They get some things right, but most of their creations are completely unbelievable.”

Growling at the Avian creature, Valiant wasn’t surprised when Axel literally climbed the wall before jumping on his shoulder. Perching on the scaled joint as Valient shifted to his reptilian form, the Avian’s taloned feet found purchase as he settled. Another rumble escaped the massive Concloians chest as he asked, “What are you doing?”

“Annoying my friend.”

“I was already annoyed.”

Axel chirped out another round of laughter as he adjusted his feathers. “Then I’ve done my job accordingly. Is she safe to be around? With the Andromedan DNA, she could either be a very dangerous enemy or a very delightful ally.”

The medical bay door opened, admitting them into the sterile room. Setting the girl on the nearby bed, he watched Axel hop off his shoulder to tend her. Moving over to the displays, Valiant brought up the earlier scans from the Anarchy to look them over.

“Here,” he pointed out the anomaly in the DNA reading.

Axel’s talons clicked against the flooring as he wandered over and jumped up on his seat. His eyes went wide, feathers turning a sickly shade of brown as he looked over the data. “Not natural. You’re right. That’s definitely splicing. Poorly done, mind you, but splicing nonetheless.”

Tapping the controls on the computer, Axel quickly pulled up schematics for the outpost they’d just turned into debris. Bypassing an intricate firewall like a ghost in the machine, he opened an ownership file. As pages displayed, his feathers darkened to an almost umber colour.

The colour that said his anger had spiked drastically.

Page after page showed payments for stolen children from poor outer worlds or places so crowded one or two going missing would not be noticed until too late. Among them were pictures of the children with terms like ‘Subject behaviour turned volatile. Termination imminent.’ Or ‘Subject failed. Terminated’. Every page except one.

“Hers was the only success on that station?” Valiant asked in his rumbling voice.

Axel nodded, tilting his head back and forth like the information would somehow change to make sense. “It says here that ‘Subject forty-four maintains remarkable amount of agency after Andromedan cells implanted. Vitals stable. Possibility for sleeper agent. Physically fit for eventual placement in society’.”

“They were creating sleeper agents for a coup? That’s kind of sick,” another voice said.

They turned to see their Terran friend, Trykerius. His golden blond hair was a mess, and his silver-blue eyes glittered as he wiped his hands on a rag. Standing at around five-nine, he came to a Concloians shoulder with a build that put most at ease until the fighting started.

“There was a pressure leak on the Cosmic Joker, but it’s fixed now. Did she come with a name or are we giving her one?” Trykerius asked, pointing a grease-stained finger toward the bed.

Turning his attention to the displayed pages, Valiant growled again. “None listed. She will have to choose her name if she doesn’t recall her past, Tryk.”

“I believe our reptilian friend here is going feral with all that growling he is doing.” Axel called over his shoulder.

“Try not to become his dinner then, you turkey,” Trykerius laughed as he walked away.

The intercom light blinked red, then green before Bane’s holographic image appeared. “Is our guest situated?”

“Aye, sir,” Axel answered.

“Good. Axel you and Valiant have this next mission,” Bane said. “Valiant, head to Lumari to salvage another target of corruption. His name is Talis Dar – a doctor with actual morals and a spine. Axel, intercept the good doctors com link and send him the fastest escape route after you scan through the satellite imagery.”

“On it!” both replied as they grabbed their data pads and left the medical bay.