Anarchy: Revolution

Insidious

Across the galaxy, on a station designed of three rotating sectors, shouts and the ring of training equipment echoed across hard, compacted dirt. Overhead lights glared against polished steel, while dust rose beneath boots, claws, wings, and heavier alien limbs. Simulations ran in tandem with physical and book learning, while displays held trophies and accommodations for soldiers who had once fought in wars and never made it home. Their names were etched beneath glass, lit by a steady blue glow.

This was Neo Solas. An interspecies training facility for the military where each of the attached levels was built for a different reason. One for training where teams were created, bonds tested, and rivalries were broken. The air there carried sweat, metal, and the sharp bite of charged weapons. Another was the dorms where the cadets were kept under strict safety regulations with a massive mess hall that served a variety of creatures and diets. The third was a consortium and presentation ground where final inspection and rank assignments were issued. Its wide floor gleamed under white banners, and every sound carried as if the room itself demanded attention.

Moving along formation lines as the cadets finished morning workouts, the Commander-General scowled. A Concloian with deep red hair and silver scarring along his arms and neck, Commander-General Ash Auger was feared by most of the military. He huffed out another breath as he passed the new groupings.

“In this place, you are nothing until you earn it. You eat when I say. Sleep when I feel like you deserve it.” He paused by an Arian cadet, bringing the data pad up to his face as he looked over the roster. “And, if you play your cards right, you might actually make it home alive after training. This ain’t no school for sissies. This is where we turn menial into monsters. Where ordinary people become extraordinary soldiers for the Coalition.”

Silence reigned as a soft wind created by the air circulation system stirred the dust.

Ash Auger continued making his way through the lines, occasionally stopping to inspect the cadets. Everything from his clawed feet to his horned head was covered in overlapping plates that served as natural armour. Yet, his soft stomach and vulnerable areas were covered in actual armour. His four-fingered hands were steady as he raised the data pad again. His chest rose and fell with each breath he took.

An Avian cadet ruffled their feathers involuntarily, and the Concloian Commander-General’s ringed black eyes snaped to the disturbance. “Who moved?”

No one spoke a word as the instructor worked his way back to the other end of the line. As he neared the second-last cadet, the blue-feathered Avian started trembling.

“Afraid, Cadet Izak? You should be. This facility breeds out the weak, the soft, and the ones who can’t follow orders. We instructors say jump, you best start jumping without question. We say sleep, you sleep. We say eat, you eat. We say you’re not good enough? Well, the shuttles home don’t leave for another month.” The Concloians lips curled upward in what passed for a smile. “I ask again, Cadet Izak. Are. You. Afraid?”

“Sir! No, Sir.” The Avian answered as he snapped to attention.

“Then why, Cadet, are you standing here on my field shaking like a flag in the wind?”

“Excitement, Sir. I’m eager to begin.” Izak replied before his brain could come up with anything else.

The Commander-General stood to full height, his eyes tracking movement from every possible angle. “Cadet Hentley, drop and give me twenty push-ups.”

“Sir?”

“My eyes see more than you think, Cadet. Drop before I punish the troop for your error.” Ash said, a darkness creeping into his tone.

The tall, black-and-gray stripped Katzenfurg cadet dropped to all four parts, his claws digging in slightly as he pushed against gravity. Glaring at the Commander-General, the male feline growled under his breath. A heavy boot came down on his back, pinning him to the ground.

“What was that, Cadet?” Lieutenant Greer grunted, pressing harder. “You say something?”

Hentley groaned under the pressure, tapping his paw twice on the ground in a desperate plea for air. The pressure eased slightly, and he drew in a ragged breath. “No, Sir. Dust got in my nose, Sir.”

“Continue, Cadet,” the Lieutenant said, moving down the lines the way the horned reptilian had moments before.

Clenching his jaw, Hentley dug his claws into the ground, not even bothering to retract them as gouges were carved beneath his paws.

Now back at the front formation after a few other cadets received punishment, the Commander-General puffed out his chest. His data tablet, opened to the final document glowed with ominous light, and he growled in appreciation. “Now, before you get any ideas that this is some kind of sleepover camp, I suggest you stop. You are not here to be coddled. We ain’t your mommies. We aren’t going to check your beds or closets for monsters, because we are the monsters. We are the things that go bump in the night, the things the enemy of the galactic government fear. We are warriors. Any questions?”

When no one spoke, the Commander-General nodded to his Lieutenant. “They’re all yours. I have a meeting.”

Snapping to attention, the second-in-command saluted his superior as the reptilian left the field. “Laps. Let’s go!”

As the cadets started running, dust clouding the air with each beat of talons, boots, claws, and paws, the Commander-General smiled darkly. His reptilian face a mask of sinful pride, he made his way up to the Commandant’s office.

Knocking twice, he stepped back until he heard the rustle of feathers. There was a squawk of irritation before the Avian Commandant barked the order to enter.

Walking into the room, the Concloian stood at attention as the silver and onyx feathered Commandant adjusted his official chest plate. Across the breast were several medals and commendations issued after ever successful mission handed down to him. Dark red eyes peered out of a vulture-like face while his taloned feet clicked ominously across the reinforced flooring.

“You wanted to see me, Commandant Sykes?”

The Avian’s long, curved neck swiveled until his eyes were locked on the reptilian. “Someone has been attacking medical research stations. Specifically, the ones that deal with the creation of DNA and blood exchange for the super-soldier program.”

“How would they even know where to find the locations? They are not registered to any one entity.” Ash asked, his scaled brows pulling together until his eyes were nothing but narrowed slits.

“Exactly,” the Commandant replied, tucking his feathers around his body. “And yet, there is apparently some people who believe rules do not apply and property ownership is naught but a suggestion.”

“Are there any actual information regarding who is behind it and how?”

“Nothing was left. Each attack happens the same way. Communications are cut before sensors can catch sight of any ships. Monitoring feed is somehow blank then goes offline. Internal communications goes down right as the researchers are calling it in, and then nothing. By the time the reinforcements get there, the station is in ruins with no way to piece it back together or find any readouts. The closest we’ve gotten was that the last station held a live specimen.”

“There was a survivor of the gene research?” Ash asked, opening the folder the Commandant sent to his data pad.

“Governor Hallobone of the Avian division has requested assistance in tracking down the valuable asset and returning it to quarantine.” Sykes advised, his gravelly voice holding a hint of irritation. “The girl was the only one whose body and mind did not reject the Andromedan DNA. Her neuro implant apparently doubled as a tracker but, so far, there are no leads.”

“Was the tracker active when she went missing? I mean, how do we even know she survived the station’s attack?” Ash asked, his scales turning a sickly green. The thought that a single entity was now lost was something that made the Concloian fear for his own life.

The Commandant shook his head. “It is as if she never existed. The tracker only worked as long as she was t was tied to the Andromedans compliant under the sedatives. If she was killed, then that would explain the lack of lifeforms. However, her body was not recovered from the wreckage.”

“No body equals no proof that the asset was actually lost.” Ash’s mind twisted with the implication that someone, somewhere in the universe, may have their hands on something powerful enough to topple governments.

“Exactly.”

“What other government is interested in this… asset?”

The Avian Commandant breathed slowly for a few minutes. Ruffling his feathers, he sat down behind the carved obsidian desk. Pulling up another file, he sighed. “The Terran delegation’s Corporal Higgins and the Arian Prince also have interest as they were part of creating the research stations.”

“So every single galactic Coalition member has some form of claim on it?” Ask asked, his ringed eyes focusing entirely on his commanding officer.

“That is correct. The faster we find it, the better off we will all be. The genetic factor is only a small part of it.”

The Concloian stared at the Avian in confusion. “Sir?”

“The last transmission of her capabilities was sent days before the attack happened to Station 17. She overpowered four Concloian training masters without weapons. She was faster than a Katzenfurg assassin and defended herself with lethal force. The researchers tried using Avian attacks and attack drones, but she levitated just enough to counter them. The last test was a highly-trained Elite Arian guard. He moved, she smashed his entire being into shards with three hits. Subject 44 is a masterstroke of military might, and we want it back.”

“I’ll place a few calls to some unethical people I know.”

“Report back anything you find.”

Saluting his superior, the Concloian turned on his heel and left the Commandant’s office.