"This entire sequence is illogical garbage!"
The shout echoed against the metallic walls of the laboratory. It was not a scream of fear but rather the sound of pure, unadulterated frustration.
Raya, or Prof as the crew called her, slammed her hand onto the holographic desk.
The impact was enough to make her four identical clones standing around the room freeze instantly. They stood there like mannequins in a department store that had suddenly run out of budget, staring blankly at the original.
This is how we start the story.
Two years have passed since the madness, and apparently, scientific rage is still the primary fuel source on the Xeca.
On the other side of the room, sitting on a spinning chair with the grace of a man who owns the place, Ragia laughed.
"You are persistent, Prof," Ragia said, spinning slightly to face the scientist. "Two years. It has been two years and you are still staring at that data like it owes you money.
"Have you not given up yet?"
Raya adjusted her glasses. She waved a hand, dismissing the frozen clones who dissipated into shadows.
"I do not give up, Capt," Raya replied, her voice sharp.
"I analyze. And the analysis of that event still bothers me. That Mars rice wine... that Ginjang... it acted as a complete biological reset button. To you, it was a miracle. To me? It feels like lazy writing. It feels like a Deus ex Machina."
Ragia smirked.
He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked good.
His black hair was messy in that calculated way, and he radiated the kind of energy that made you want to either salute him or punch him.
Usually both.
"Maybe the universe just likes me, Prof," Ragia said.
"The universe is indifferent," Raya countered, turning back to her screens. "However, the data is not.
"Look at this." She pulled up a holographic chart.
It was a mess of jagged lines and red dots.
"The effects of Ginjang," Raya pointed, her finger tracing a line. "The DNA sequence from the Krall Queen's fang I kept in stasis. The biological samples you collected during our skirmishes over the last twenty-four months.
"They are pieces of a puzzle, Capt. And every single piece points to the same location."
"Mars," Ragia finished for her.
"Precisely."
Let me introduce you to the genius.
This is Raya Spielba. She is an Alumos, a race of tall, pale women from the Uranus colony. They are a fascinating species, evolved to be hyper-efficient. The most distinct feature of their biology is the Irita, a prehensile organ that allows them to...
"Hey!" Ragia looked up.
He was looking directly at… me.
Yes, me. The one narrating this scene.
"Cut it out," Ragia said, his golden eyes narrowing. "You are doing an info dump. And watch your mouth. Remember the new rules? This is a PG-13 story now. We are trying to get a movie deal here."
My apologies.
I forgot myself. We are keeping it clean. No detailed anatomical lectures.
Ragia turned his attention back to Raya, acting as if he hadn't just spoken to a disembodied voice. Raya blinked, looking around the empty room.
"Who are you talking to, Capt?" Raya asked, her brow furrowing.
"Nobody, Prof," Ragia shrugged. "Just a ghost in the machine. You were saying?"
Raya shook her head, deciding to ignore her Captain's eccentricities. She tapped the screen again.
"The data," Raya continued. "Every time I try to access the old archives from the Reagalus servers on Mars, I hit a wall. It is as if someone is scrubbing the files. The High Council is hiding something about the Krall Queen."
"I smell something fishy," Ragia muttered. He stood up and walked over to the viewport, looking out at the swirling storms of Jupiter. "And I don't mean the smell of the mess hall on taco night. I mean Vexal."
"Councilor Vexal," Raya noted. "He is from the Mer race. They are naturally secretive."
"He is a slimy politician," Ragia corrected. "He knows something about that encryption you found. I am just waiting for him to slip up."
Ragia turned away from the window.
He looked serious now. The playful demeanor vanished, replaced by the grim focus of a soldier.
"How is the project coming along?" Ragia asked. "The Mug."
"It is not called Mug," Raya sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It is Serum GX-778-C. And stop calling it that in front of the crew.."
"Arala called it Mugururu, and Mug… is the shorter," Ragia grinned. "So? The new stocks? Is it ready?"
"Not yet." She walked over to a containment unit. "I need a fresh sample. I need the raw energy signature of your Queen Form to stabilize the new batch."
Ragia nodded. He stretched his neck, cracking it to the side.
"Alright," Ragia said. "But be quick. You know the drill. Without the Mug… or Ginjang, I can only hold the Queen Form for three minutes before it starts to eat my brain."
"Three minutes is sufficient," Raya assured him. "Ready when you are."
Ragia closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.
You could feel the air in the room change. It grew heavy. Static electricity danced along the metal surfaces.
His shoulders slumped, then reshaped. His jaw softened. His black hair bled out, turning a violent, deep crimson.
When Ragia opened his eyes, the gold was gone. In its place were vertical, reptilian slits.
He stood there, a terrifyingly beautiful woman with red hair and eyes that promised destruction.
The Queen Form.
Raya stepped forward with a scanner, her face a mask of concentration.
"Energy output is optimal," Raya murmured. "Hold it right there."
Ragia... or she... nodded. A smile played on her lips, but it wasn't a nice smile. It was a predator's smile.
Then, the red alert klaxon screamed through the ship.
The transformation reversed in seconds. The red hair faded back to black, the curves sharpened into hard angles, and Ragia stood there, panting, a man once more.
"Duty calls," Ragia said.
He didn't wait. He bolted for the door, Raya right on his heels.
They burst into the command center. The room was bathed in the rhythmic pulse of the emergency lights.
"Report!" Ragia barked as he reached the center of the room.
Tonix spun her chair around. She looked calm, her fingers flying across her console, but her eyes were tight.
"Contacts," Tonix announced. "Atmospheric entry. Sector 4. It looks like a Krall raiding party. Troopers and one Viper class."
Ragia looked at the tactical map. He assessed the situation in a heartbeat.
"Alright, listen up!" Ragia commanded. "We are going to welcome them to Jupiter. Navi, Chef, you are with me. We are the spearhead. I need Fire and Ice on the front lines."
"On it," Gin said, already pulling a knife from her belt.
"Aye, Capt!" Tonix nodded.
"Prof," Ragia turned to Raya. "I need you on the high ridge. Use your Shadow Construct. I want clones with sniper configurations covering our blind spots."
"Understood," Raya replied.
"Stealth!" Ragia pointed to Gap, the quiet Mer girl in the corner. "You are on defense. If anything gets past us, you put up a wall. Nothing touches the colony."
"Yes, Capt," Gap whispered, nodding.
Ragia looked at the rest of the crew.
"Iya, Arala, Shorty, Mira," Ragia said. "You are back up. Stay on the Xeca. Keep the engines hot and monitor the comms. If this is a trap, I need you ready to pull us out."
"Boring," Arala pouted, crossing her arms. "I wanted to smash something."
"Next time, Arala," Ragia promised.
Iya walked up to him. She didn't care about the audience. She grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him down, planting a hard kiss on his lips.
"Good luck," Iya whispered. "And don't do anything stupid."
"I make no promises," Ragia grinned.
The airlock hissed open. The wind of Jupiter roared outside, a chaotic symphony of gas and storms.
Ragia, Gin, and Tonix stepped out onto the landing platform, with Gap and Raya trailing behind.
The landscape of the colony was bleak.
Grey metal structures jutted out of the swirling orange mist. The gravity was heavy here, pressing down on them, but they moved with the ease of veterans.
The battle began before they even cleared the ramp.
Krall Troopers dropped from the sky, their red carapaces gleaming in the dim light. They screeched, raising their plasma rifles.
"Chef! Light them up!" Ragia yelled.
Gin threw her hands forward. A wave of blue fire erupted from her palms, engulfing the first wave of enemies.
"Cooling them down!" Tonix shouted.
She slammed her foot onto the ground. Ice spikes shot up, freezing the burning Krall in place, shattering them into thermal-shocked dust.
Ragia charged.
He didn't use a weapon. He was the weapon. He punched a Trooper so hard its helmet crumpled like tin foil. He moved like a blur, a whirlwind of violence in the center of the storm.
It was a majestic display of brutality. The way his muscles rippled under his jacket, the way the orange lightning of Jupiter framed his silhouette against the backdrop of an endless, swirling cosmos that whispered of ancient mysteries and...
"Hey!" Ragia shouted, punching another Krall. "Narrator! I said no purple prose! Keep it punchy! We are fighting, not writing a poem!"
Right. Sorry.
They fought. It was messy.
Raya's clones appeared on the ridges, dark silhouettes against the storm. They fired synchronized shots of shadow energy, picking off the stragglers.
Gap stood near the colony gates, raising massive stone walls whenever a stray shot came too close.
Ragia grabbed the Viper class Krall by its tail. He spun it around and slammed it into the ground.
"Is that all you got?" Ragia yelled at the sky.
The enemies lay broken on the ground. The wind howled over the victors. It seemed like it was over.
But then, the radio on Ragia's belt crackled to life.
Static hissed, cutting through the silence of the aftermath.
"Mayday... Mayday..."
The voice was weak. Male.
"This is... we are… heavy fire... engines critical..."
Ragia froze. He looked up.
Through the breaks in the heavy clouds, a massive shape was descending. It wasn't a Reagalus ship. It looked like the skeletal remains of a whale, twisted and dark.
A Gyra.
And the voice was coming from inside it.
"Please..." a female voice joined the male on the radio, sobbing. "Help us..."
"Inquor…" Ragia stared at the ghost ship hovering above them.
"Well," Ragia whispered. "That complicates things."