Using their thrusters, TO and DH made their way to the port airlock. They expected to have to go through more security procedures, but the airlock opened up almost immediately and let them in. When the door closed, the artificial gravity set in once more.
“I never want to be in zero gravity again.” DH muttered once their feet hit the ground. They put a hand against the wall, holding onto it as though that was the only thing keeping them upright.
TO didn’t respond; though the armor was still holding their injured arm in place, the sudden resurgence of gravity made pain arc through them like electricity. They suppressed a whimper and did their best to stand straight.
The airlock started beeping, and then the door opened, revealing a hallway in which two figures stood; one of them had moth-like wings, bulbous eyes, and four arms-
==Heteropod; Specimen is Adult. Ask pronouns; likely He/she/Them. ==
==Galactic ID: Pom 734-1432546734. Name; Dusk. Pronouns; They/them. Occupation; Galactic Portal Security Agent.==
– while the other had skin so transparent that if TO looked closely, they could see the blue muscles flexing under the skin, with the edges of silvery bones showing like jewelry
==Vitruopel; Specimen is Adult. Ask pronouns; likely She/they. ==
==Galactic ID: Cav 642-17523467. Name Amber. Pronouns; She/Her. Occupation; Galactic Portal Security Agent.==
As soon as the door opened, they both dropped to one knee.
“We deeply apologize,” came the translation through their helmet, “The failure of our security-“
“How did it happen?” TO asked, and again there was that flinch. TO was sharp, but they didn’t think they had snapped or even spoke particularly loudly. Well, it didn’t matter for now; TO and DH had nearly died; MANY had nearly died! If the civilians were a little scared, well, maybe that was good.
“We can show you the security tapes and brief you on what happened,” Dusk said, without standing up. Somehow, the tone of their words in TO’s ear didn’t match with their body; the translation seemed so formal and matter-of-fact. but the way they moved, the way they looked about, reminded TO of an animal awaiting attack.
Of course, TO then realized that the whole dock had just been under attack, so that made sense, didn’t it? Of course they’d be on edge. “Alright; lead the way.” TO said.
The two flinched again, but got up and led TO and DH down the hallway, which was too bright with their sharp lights and white walls. That only gave TO a moment of discomfort as the helmet quickly shifted the tinting on the visor, casting everything in a dimming blue tint. They walked for a little while, ignoring the sound of announcements over speakers and the sight of others running down the hallways, only to see them and suddenly turn and head in the opposite direction. Finally, the officers stopped and opened one of the many doors they were passing by. They moved aside and gestured for TO and DH to enter.
“They seem afraid of us, TO.” DH said through their personal communicator.”
“I know.” TO said back, “I think they’re just generally afraid; they were just attacked.”
“But the ones on the other side of the portal acted the same way.”
The room was a large, circular room; far larger than any office that TO had ever seen before. There were comfortable looking chairs sitting before a polished,round table set in the center of the room. It seemed to be made of actual wood, which surprised TO who had never seen a piece of furniture that wasn’t made of synthetic materials.
“Please, sit down.” Amber said as they walked across the room to the other side. TO and DH both sat down in strange, padded chairs.
“Do you think they made this from actual wood?” DH asked over their communicator.”
“Unsure.” TO said. “If it is, it’s not recycled or reprocessed wood. Who even uses this anymore?”
Amber pulled open a control panel on the wall and pressed a button. The space before them flickered to life and turned into a curved screen displaying the docks outside; All the ships were slowly being brought into the sealed dome of the dock, and some were already being repaired. There was a collection of maintenance personnel going about on thrusters, working to repair damage to the docks as well.
“This is what’s happening at the docks right now.” Dusk said. They reached out to the wall and gestured; the scene froze, then flicked back, the date working backwards until they went back two Galactic days.
“This is when it happened.” they said, and they let the scene play out.
The docks seemed normal. There were a handful of ships already in place; mostly the ones that were now still out there; all that was missing was two synth ships. In the distance,the video showed a very large shipping vessel approaching. There was a hum of static over the speakers, and a voice spoke.
“Docking security. We have an unidentified shopping vessel approaching. Over.”
“Copy that. Sending Requests for identification; Standby.” another voice said.
“This is where we send an automated message for identification.” Dusk said, “it’s written, not verbal. Once a ship is within range of our main communication devices, we can send a message to it without an ID.”
The ship continued towards the docks, and a moment later the voice came up again, “Ship is providing royal identification and passage licenses; it’s good. Lock them in an prioritize vessel for transport. Do you copy?”
“It seems odd though?” Came the response, “It’s a civilian ship. They shouldn’t have royal identification. Over”
“You want to question royal identifications, you go right ahead. I’m approving the vessel for transport, and I suggest you do the same. Do you copy?”
“Copy that. Over and out.”
TO watched as the ship drew closer. It slowed as it came into the area immediately around the docks, and then came to a stop. An anchor ring moved around it, and the ship seemed to power down.
Lights around the anchor glowed as it locked the ship into place.
“Security to Dockmaster; that ship should have powered down; Send instruction to close cargo and power down. Over.”
“Already sent; no response given, and -Shit!”
The message cut off as the drones spewed forth like a swarm of insects. They were smaller, and so numerous that the defence mechanisms closer to the docks couldn’t stop even one fifth of them.
“Normally, we’re able to identify any threats well ahead of this, and our long-range weapons make quick work of such threats.” Dusk said, “But with Royal Identification, we’re limited in the amount of security checks we can do-“
TO held up a hand to silence Dusk as they watched the video. They knew why security had allowed the ship in–the issue they were more concerned about was how the insurgents had gotten the identification. That would be something they’d have to report to Ark-1.
They watched as the smaller drones went about and destroyed the defensive weaponry before hovering around the ships that were already in place. After that, a handful of larger drones exited the civilian cargo ship and headed to the building.
“As far as we could tell, everything was unmanned.” Dusk said as they fast forwarded the video, “There’s not much left to this; the other synth ship came and locked in, but we were told to put them aside. They glanced at TO. “They instructed the Dockmaster to do so through a drone that was giving us orders. The insurgents also disabled all of our communication devices, save for the one intended for confirming transport which they monitored. We were told to refuse everything but the synth ships.”
The video went ahead, stopping once TO and DH saw their own ship enter the area.
“The larger drones had their own communication system, and were being remote controlled by someone else; we don’t know who. We were told if we didn’t comply then they would kill everyone.”
“Where’s the dockmaster who mentioned that the ship was odd in the first place?” TO asked.
“... Dead,” Dusk said as she took a step back “They got shot while trying to fix damage done to a defensive laser.”
“... We thought the insurgents were just trying to stop synths from coming through.” Amber said “We thought… Well, we’re unsure if we took the proper action in this situation.” They glanced over to Dusk, their brows furrowed with worry. “We had no way to call higher authorities.”
“We can handle that from here.” TO said as they stood up.“We will need to power up our own ship and communicate with our own superiors.”
Dusk’s wings seemed to fold tighter against their back, while all the muscles in Amber’s body seemed tense up all at once. A sign of nerves? Well, it made sense; if TO were in their shoes, then they’d be terrified, and they’d worry over if they did things properly.
Of course, these were civilians, not criminals, and not synths. What’s the worst that would happen to them?
“I will relay all the details of the situation to my superior we well.” TO added, “If you had gone against their orders, then it’s most likely that the insurgents would have attacked and killed everyone here, destroying the port and effectively cutting Arkane off from the rest of the Galaxy for some time.”
Maybe that’s what the insurgents had been planning, anyway. If they were planning something big on Arkane, then they would want to cut off the portals and keep King Decon from sending a larger force! They’d want to stop other synths from going to Arkane, and they would want to capture any synths that they could for interrogation.
Interrogation.
GiDi!
TO felt their ears pin back inside their helmet. If the insurgents hurt GiDi, then TO swore to themself that they’d find out. They’d find out what happened to GiDi, and they’d punish any insurgent that had so much as looked at their friend.
They’d rip every insurgent apart with their own claws.
“I want all the technical details that you have about their entry, their process, and their ship. I want every scan, every message, everything.” they got up. “I want to examine the drones,and the carrier. Understood?”
The two civilians flinched and took a step back. “Understood.” Dusk said, “I’ll see that we find drones that are still in decent shape for your examination, and we will provide a shuttle to take you to the carrier.”
“How long will it take?”
“We can’t do anything until we’ve properly repaired the shields.”
A growl escaped TO’s throat. But they were certain that the helmet didn’t let it play through the speakers. “And how long will that take.” They demanded.
“It might take a while.” Dusk admitted, “We haven’t gotten to see the real extent of the damage, so it’s hard to tell-”
“Fine.” TO snapped. They didn’t want to wait. They wanted to get this information together, and figure out where these ships came from exactly. TO would wring out as much information as possible so that they could track down the insurgents. “We’ll return to our ship, power up, and relay the information to our superiors.” They turned and headed to the door.
“I’m afraid... I mean.” Dusk took a step towards TO, their hand outstretched as though trying to stop them. As soon as TO turned around they froze in place, their eyes growing big. “F-for safety reasons, we can remove no ships from the anchors until we finish repairs. And… and ships can’t power up while in the anchors.”
“You’re telling me that until that shield is fixed-”
“TO…” It was DH’s voice playing in their ear, “They’re civilians, but they can’t help this... And look at them; you’re scaring them.”
TO took a deep, calming breath. They weren’t angry at the civilians; they were angry at the insurgents, and at the delay. “So until the shield is repaired,we cannot power up our ship, correct?”
“That is correct.” Dusk said, “We have accommodations for such situations! We’re currently placing everyone stranded here in temporary lodgings. We will provide you with a room with secure communications so you can contact anyone you need to.”
Secure communications? Well, they’d see about that.
TO still felt so angry at the idea that someone might have hurt GiDi. They had thought about that beforehand but hadn’t really been able to consider it until now; it had been information placed on a shelf in their mind to be examined when the immediate threat was over… Now that it was, the idea of GiDi being hurt was making TO stomach sick.
“Very well.” TO said, “bring us to our accommodations.”
