(Photo by Sergey Katyshkin)

Waking was a slow and arduous task for Fas. Each moment of consciousness brought with it only a few sensations at a time. The smell of something burning. The noise of scraping metal. Flashes of pain that she couldn’t quite locate on her body. And always there was an ever-present darkness that her eyes could not penetrate.

Slowly, her moments of consciousness grew longer and longer, bringing more of her senses along with them, until finally Fas could begin to truly analyze her situation. Though she was in a significant amount of pain, primarily in her head and legs, nothing felt broken or seriously injured. There was no light in the small space beneath the Ka’Rak ship.

“Hello?” Fas managed to croak, her mouth and throat were coated in so much dust that speaking was proving difficult. “Anyone else still alive?”

“Fas?” groaned Immolator Gres from nearby. She sounded only marginally better than Fas.

“I am alive,” Li’Ko grunted, “but I’m hurt.”

A dull light clicked on, revealing Li’Ko, a handful of Ka’Raks, and Immolator Gres who was holding the small orb emitting the light. All of them were lying in a shallow depression in the earth. The hull of the Ka’Rak ship curved upward, dented from its impact with Fas. The two combined to create a small pocket just large enough for the survivors to be able to sit up. It was, thankfully, much wider than it was tall and it was for this reason that there were as many survivors as there were.

The ground itself was slick with blood, slowly seeping in along the edge where the hull met the ground. Fas pushed herself gently into a sitting position, moving slowly to avoid slipping and aggravating any of her injuries. Immolator Gres was already sitting up, as were some of the Ka’Raks. There didn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong with Immolator Gres, just a few cuts and bruises. Li’Ko, on the other hand, was not so lucky with both legs pinned beneath the ship’s hull, just below the knees.

“You,” Fas said to the Ka’Rak who seemed to be the least injured, “see to their wounds. I need everyone up and able to move or be moved as soon as possible.”

The Ka’Rak nodded, picked up a medical bag that hadn’t been there a moment ago, and set to work treating the injured Ka’Raks. Meanwhile, Fas slid over to Immolator Gres who had already begun cleaning and wrapping a few of her own cuts. It was standard procedure for soldiers of all ranks to carry at least a handful of basic medical supplies. Fas went through the motions of cleaning and bandaging her injuries, as well as those of Immolator Gres that she couldn’t reach on her own. All the while her mind was focused on how they might get out from beneath the Ka’Rak ship. There was no way for them to know which direction they should head in, but more than that how were they going to go in any direction? Digging through the compacted soil with nothing but their hands didn’t seem very appealing but breaking through the hull seemed both more difficult and more dangerous since it would be placing them within the Ka’Rak vessel where they would assuredly be surrounded and overpowered by the invading Ka’Raks.

Trapped as they were, Fas wondered how far she could press the Ka’Rak’s belief. Would she be able to get them to create any tools or weapons? The one Ka’Rak had been able to produce a medical bag so Fas held onto the hope that they’d be able to help in facilitating their escape.

“How’s your head feeling?” Immolator Gres asked, turning towards Fas and inspecting her injuries.

“Pounding headache,” Fas said.

“Oh, is that all?” Immolator Gres replied with a sarcastic chuckle. “Considering what hit you I’m surprised you can feel anything at all.”

“Thank the empire for my suit and its protections.”

Fas looked herself over. It had been a long time since she’d been without her suit. The basic uniform she wore beneath the suit was serviceable but offered none of the protections. Now that she was looking for them, Fas began to notice the remnants of her suit strewn about the ground. None of it would be of any use to her now.

“I’ve never known a suit that could survive this,” said Immolator Gres, keeping her voice low in an obvious attempt to avoid being overheard by Fas’ Ka’Raks.

“It didn’t,” Fas pointed out.

“And we should have been crushed as well.”

“Personally, I prefer being alive.”

Immolator Gres made no response to that and finished bandaging Fas’ head in silence. During their brief conversation, Fas hadn’t been paying much attention to the Ka’Raks but now turned her attention back to them. They were clustered around where Li’Ko was lying and it was difficult to see exactly what they were doing. Their hushed conversation was difficult to hear and Fas was suddenly struck by how suspicious they were all behaving, as though trying not to be seen or overheard.

Not wanting to spook them, Fas eased herself over to see what they were doing.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Li’Ko was saying, still hidden from view by the crowded Ka’Raks. Li’Ko sounded much better from before and there was curiosity in their voice.

“Can you feel them, though?” asked another of the Ka’Raks.

“Sort of,” Li’Ko replied and there was a soft, metallic clinking sound, similar to a ratchet or set of gears.

Fas moved a bit closer until she could angle her head over the Ka’Raks to see what they were talking about. Li’Ko, no longer pinned beneath the hull, was sitting up, the stumps of his amputated legs protruding a few inches from beneath the hull behind Li’Ko. Beside Li’Ko was the Ka’Rak Fas had ordered to tend to the wounded. The medical bag was open and several tools of indeterminable use were laid out on a cloth beside them. All of that was seen in a moment and explained why Li’Ko had been talking about not hurting. However, there were two things that caught Fas’ attention. The first was a sizeable hole that had been cut into the hull of the Ka’Rak ship, from which numerous pieces had apparently been removed and then piled in front of Li’Ko where his legs would have been had they not been amputated. The pieces were even laid out in a sort of mimicry of the missing limbs. Having satisfied herself that nothing untoward was going on she was about to announce her presence and see about setting them to work on getting out, but then Li’Ko moved their legs and Fas realized that the metal bits weren’t just set there. They were grafted into Li’Ko’s thighs, articulated and moving easily, all the while making the metallic clicking noise she’d heard before.

“How…Um, how are you?” Fas stopped herself from asking how they had made such intricate and functional prosthetics, knowing the answer would be either nonsense or result in the prosthetics no longer working.

The Ka’Raks were only mildly surprised to find Fas looking over their shoulders and parted to make room for her. Fas shifted into the semi-circle around Li’Ko and got a better look at their new legs. The metal blended into the skin as though it had been there the entire time and there was no sign of bruising or even stitches.

“The Kindling and Spark Li’Ko are fit and ready to serve,” the medic Ka’Rak announced, gathering up their remaining tools and packing them away into their bag.

“Excellent work,” Fas replied, “and I see you’ve already begun work on breaching the hull. Excellent use of the pieces you’ve removed, making Spark Li’Ko new legs. I expect you’ll be able to make us all armor and weapons with the scrap you remove while making our way into the ship.”

A pair of Ka’Raks turned toward the hole they’d already started and began cutting away at it with plasma torches. Li’Ko, however, motioned for Fas to come join them while also motioning for the other Ka’Raks to give them some space. It was an odd gesture, but given the circumstances Fas was willing to allow some small deviations in protocol.

“I’m glad to see you doing so well,” Fas told Li’Ko but the Ka’Rak waved the comment away and held her gaze, their eyes still glowing and making her uneasy.

“We can see now, thanks to you,” they said and then added while pointing to their legs, “and we are doing things we had never before thought possible.”

“What do you mean, you can see now?” Fas asked.

“The effigies,” Li’Ko said, “we saw what you did to Igniter Skith and his soldiers. That allowed us to see that we can do that too. We didn’t see our power before. We don’t think any Ka’Raks before you have seen their power. This will mean new changes for our people. Big changes.”

“We’ll have to overcome this invasion first,” Fas said with careful emphasis, testing to see whether or not Li’Ko and the Kindling were still loyal.

“We can see now,” Li’Ko said casually, “the other Ka’Raks will follow you when they see like we do.”

“We’ll still need to get out of here quickly and reestablish communications,” Fas pressed, not liking how Li’Ko was dodging around confirming his allegiances. “We still need to coordinate reinforcements from the rest of Insef.”

Li’Ko gave her a strange look, as though confused.

“Can’t you hear them?” Li’Ko asked.

“The neural network went down when the communications array was bombed,” Fas explained.

“No, not them,” Li’Ko said. “Can’t you hear the Ka’Raks?”

Fas wasn’t sure how to respond. She didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, but Li’Ko obviously believed she should be able to hear the Ka’Raks which should enable her to hear them. She sat for a moment, trying to listen, but not hearing anything out of the ordinary.

“You don’t hear them,” Li’Ko said with some surprise.

“No, I don’t,” Fas confirmed.

Li’Ko placed a hand on her shoulder and then leaned forward, slowly moving their face closer to hers. Fas was so surprised by the action that she didn’t know what else to do than just sit there until their foreheads touched.

Voices, just on the edge of hearing, echoed around her in every direction. Even though they were all distant, some of them were a bit clearer than others. As she focused on those voices she found that she could hear them more clearly, as though they were suddenly much closer. Although the voices were speaking they didn’t convey words as much as they did ideas, feelings, or images. It felt more like Fas was getting a glimpse inside the thoughts of the Ka’Raks rather than being spoken to.

“You hear them now,” Li’Ko said.

“I do.”

“You forgot how to listen,” Li’Ko said, “and now I’ve shown you how, like you showed me how to see.”

Fas wondered if Li’Ko was doing this as a means of paying her back so he wouldn’t be indebted to her. Even as she thought it, she became aware of Li’Ko’s voice among the echoes, speaking of duty and service to her and she knew the Ka’Rak would not betray her. Immediately, all concern regarding them left her and Fas relaxed.

“If you’re done over there,” Immolator Gres said uncomfortably, “I think these other Ka’Raks want a word with you.”

The hole the Ka’Raks had been working on was now as large as a standard doorway and had already breached into the ship. Standing in the opening was a pair of Ka’Raks arrayed in a style of uniform Fas wasn’t familiar with. It wasn’t uncommon for the different Ka’Rak fleets to have unique uniforms, though, so this wasn’t altogether surprising. What was surprising, however, was that the two Ka’Raks were saluting Fas.

They spoke no words to her and yet Fas could hear them, knew that they would follow her and do whatever she commanded them to do.

Fas moved over to the opening so she could stand and face the newcomers.

“Report,” she said, placing a hand in turn on those of the Ka’Raks.

Both Ka’Raks immediately stood at attention and the leading Ka’Rak spoke.

“The initial assault and landing phases are complete,” they said. “Planetary defenses and communications are down. Four of the invading ships have been destroyed. Three more are unable to deploy their troops. The remaining five ships are deploying with varying degrees of success due to the damage they’ve sustained.”

“Order the troops to immediately begin assessing damage dealt to the planets infrastructure and organize search parties to locate the injured and dead. Triage units should be given priority with regards to resources and personnel. Do not engage in any further acts of aggression and see that all troops are dressed in the appropriate uniforms to avoid confusion. If anyone questions your troops, they are to explain that they are the Ka’Raks assigned to serve under Conflagrator Fas.”

The Ka’Raks nodded, their uniforms already altered to match those of a Novae and Nebulae, marking them as the commanding officers aboard this ship.

“Dismissed,” Fas said and the pair turned and left.

The moment it seemed the two Ka’Raks were out of earshot, Immolator Gres grabbed Fas by the shoulders, spun her around, and slammed her up against the hull.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Immolator Gres demanded. “You’re the one who brought them here?”

“What? No!” Fas said, pushing Immolator Gres off of her and stepping back to put some more distance between them.

The Kindling and Li’Ko all watched them with uncertainty, caught between the desire to defend Fas while also not wanting to attack a superior officer. They looked to Fas for clarification and she shook her head, not wanting them to get involved either.

Regardless, Immolator Gres drew her sidearm and swept it back and forth as though expecting to be attacked at any moment.

“Immolator Gres,” Fas said, taking great care so as not to aggravate her any further. “The Ka’Raks who came to invade have, I believe, changed their allegiances and will no longer pose any threat to Insef.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe that you didn’t have anything to do with this?” Immolator Gres replied. “Rather convenient, that they attack shortly after you’re removed from my command. Then right after they arrive, they just turn around and become our allies? Seems to me you’re just looking for another quick promotion by claiming this farce of a victory for yourself.”

“I assure you I had nothing to do with this invasion,” Fas said, “and I don’t care about promotions. All I did was convince the Ka’Raks to stop fighting us and to instead join us.”

“No,” Immolator Gres said. “Those two came here, looking for you, ready and willing to take whatever orders you had to give them. So don’t try and tell me that you had nothing to do with all this.”

“Immolator Gres,” Li’Ko spoke, much to the surprise of both Fas and Immolator Gres. “The Ka’Rak are–

Immolator Gres spun, pointing her sidearm at Li’Ko and fired. The energy blast struck Li’Ko square in the chest, covering Li’Ko in pulsating plasma. A pair of Kindling leapt forward and dragged Immolator Gres to the ground, prizing the weapon from her hand, and pinning her down. The coruscating plasma blast was short lived and soon faded to reveal Li’Ko, standing unscathed from the shot.

“How…?” Immolator Gres gasped, the shock of seeing Li’Ko so unaffected by the shot causing her to stop struggling against the Ka’Raks that were holding her down.

“I did not believe your weapon would hurt me,” Li’Ko stated.

“Fas,” Immolator Gres growled, turning as best she could towards Fas, “You can kill me here and now, but trust me when I say that no one will believe all of these things were just coincidences. They’ll see right through it all and you’ll have nowhere to run.”

Fas stared long and hard at Immolator Gres. The situation certainly kept getting more and more complicated, even as their previous problems were diminishing. It couldn’t be denied that what Immolator Gres said was likely to be the way things played out. There were too many coincidences but Fas was not a murderer and Immolator Gres hadn’t done anything to warrant death.

“Let her go,” Fas said at last, “and give her sidearm back.”

The Ka’Raks obeyed but Fas could hear their doubts about that decision echoing all around her. Immolator Gres was surprised as well, though she didn’t seem in the least bit convinced that Fas was telling the truth. Still, she holstered her weapon and didn’t say anything.

“We should get going,” Fas said once it was apparent that no more fighting was about to break out. “Li’Ko, lead the way with the Kindling. Immolator Gres and I will follow behind.”

As they all began making their way through the Ka’Rak ship, Fas listened to the echoing voices, reaching further and further out from herself, trying to understand how this had all happened and whether or not the situation was salvageable. Who would they believe, Fas or Immolator Gres, and what would either outcome mean for them?