Colony

The Station was a complicated, maze-like construction, its architectural complexity, exterior and interior, a testament to the peculiar constructional practices of the humans from whom it was seized. Once a base in service of the Empire, the Station now functioned as the central headquarters for the Restoration. Its halls and walls, interior and exterior, were clad heavily in dense fortifications of many an alloy, demerium and adminite being the most abundant constituents. One could still find plastered on the walls, floors, and ceilings the boldly engraved sigil of the human Republic. It displayed the image of their home planet, Earth, light-years away, which the humans displayed proudly on clothing and items as symbolic evidence of their supposed global unity. They traversed the brightly lit hallways hand-in-hand. Commander and Captain. Husband and wife. Everywhere they passed, they were greeted by their three-eyed companions with stiff salutes and bows, accompanied by the usual persistent calls of “Captain” and “Commander,” all of which they responded to with nods and waves, as had become habit. Tina couldn’t help but notice Marlina, the recently widowed head doctor of the Station, glancing longingly at Lude. “Captain, Commander. Good morning.” Marlina was an older woman in her late thirties, twice married, twice widowed. Her eyes were a deep demerium grey that almost matched the cascading curls that ran from scalp to shoulder. Short in stature she was, wielding an alluring sort of plumpness, more pronounced at the bosom. Tina’s eye would not be deceived. Marlina’s gaze carried visible affection whenever it was aimed at Ludin, the Commander. Well, it was not like Marlina had attempted to conceal said affection. Nothing escaped the all-seeing eye, and every single one of their kind knew that fact very well. Marlina spent far too long in a painfully detailed explanation of her last surgical operation. It seemed she was graciously overjoyed with the new equipment they had received from Coalborne’s Department of Research and Development. She especially made repeated mention of the new micronium-powered surgical lasers, which provided much cleaner amputations. It wasn’t just Marlina, as Tina had come to realize, that had her eyes on the Commander. Even during their short descent down the magnetic lifts, Tina caught the woman who was there with them stealing lengthy glances at Ludin, an observation which prompted Tina to tighten her grip around Lude’s hand. Quite a large portion of the female populace, and perhaps even some of the males, Tina had observed recently, were infatuated with their young and sublimely charismatic supreme Commander: the two-eyed, silver-haired, eyepatch-wearing Ludin. Well, he’s mine, thought Tina, smiling. Tina knew very well that most of these women, whose eyes were constantly flinging affectionate gazes at Lude, would never have spared a second look for the famished, scrawny Ludin of her childhood. But now he had become their dearest desire. Even Krulila, who was supposedly happily married, was no exception. Well, it was understandable to Tina why Krulila would turn her eyes away from her husband. Lieutenant Joules was not the most pleasant man to have for company, let alone as a companion. How glad Tina was that no girl had developed or even shown the slightest interest in Ludin back then. Because of that, he was now hers and hers alone. Human standard had begun to leak amongst thier ranks. Her kind had never cared for what people displayed outwardly. They saw souls. Their third eyes had that ability. But human influence slowly began to corrupt their ways. Tina one of the ever-declining few unmoved by superficial ways imposed through the influence of human captivity. She saw young Luden for who he was; kind, loving, funny, not what he looked like; scrawny, thin, malnourished. She saw him for who he was. His frail frame, for her, became the embodiment of empathy, the personification of kindness, and the very image of hope itself. Despite that, though, it still remained a devastating shame to Tina, watching her people become more and more human, adopting more of their vices. That perhaps was the single-most troubling impact of human colonialism. The all-seeing eye had allowed them to see past physical beauty and observe the very soul of another directly, but now even the all-seeing eye was dwindling in sensitivity. That was why the other girls had failed to bear witness to the unbelievable levels of strength and beauty that hid beneath Ludin’s skeletal exterior. Never would Tina forget the days when Lude had kept himself deprived of the nourishment of meagre rations just so she could have more to eat. Even with his portion added to hers, she never once ate to her fill for even a day during their days in the micronium mine, with the exception of the day she had stolen food from the warden’s tent. And she would most certainly have lost her hand for that, but Ludin instead had begged for mercy on her behalf. She was spared, but not without a condition. Ludin was whipped, severely yet not fatally. Yet still, she remembered being quite happy back then, all because of the simple fact of her acquaintance with Lude. Recollections of those bitter-sweet days almost always managed to draw out a tear or two from Tina’s eyes. She looked up at him, flashed a love-weighted smile, tightened her hand around his, and away they walked. They came to a stop before a large metallic gate. The gate slowly spread open with audible friction, making way for them to enter into the cavernous vehicle hangar. A vast hall where their battleships slumbered. Rows upon rows of ships, some of which were in the midst of repair or regularly scheduled maintenance, were encompassed by teams of engineers and mechanics in overalls and helmets. Greeting them immediately to their right was a long row of B-6, new Quentillion-model ships, just about equal in height to a person, allowing them to see inside the cockpit. The ship, like all the other Quentillion models, had twin blasters, one on each side, that dispelled charged beams of concentrated and dispersed emissions. The micronium cores had been conspicuously kept out of sight on the smaller models, but for the larger ones, the micronium cores were well in sight at the base of the ship, in all their sparkling glow. They passed beneath the wide-spanning shadows of the large Cecilion models that were now relics of an age long past, obsolete. The same fate that the large Quentillions were now facing ever since the inception of compressed micronium technology. Atop one of the scaffoldings surrounding a smaller Merculian ship, they spied the Station’s chief engineer bellowing orders at a team of mechanics. The ship was Sabrera, and she happened to be Tina’s foremost rival in love. Not even Marlina, with her alluring curvaceousness, posed remotely as much of a threat to Tina’s romance as this inanimate intruder. In fact, Tina had never perceived even a whiff of a threat from all the beautiful women that littered the Station. But her? This ship, a being of alluring fabricated curvature, armed and armoured, born and bred for battle—The only rival Tina acknowledged. One of the mechanics was pointing towards them, and the chief engineer turned to look. “Commander!” the engineer called. “Captain!” The engineer had a stern, no-nonsense-looking face, neat stubble, and diligent blue-green eyes. “Great work, Zerkin. So how’s she looking?” Zerkin tapped twice on the Merculian’s body with a wrench, producing sonorous rings. “She’ll be ready to fly in no time.” “Excellent. My baby. Can’t wait to hop aboard her again and play with her buttons.” Tina immediately punctured Ludin with an accusatory gaze. “Is that so, Commander?” “What?” Ludin acted playfully oblivious. “Playing with her buttons is fun. Coalborne likes it too.” “I see. A love triangle. Her maker versus her master,” Tina jested. “It doesn’t have to be a battle, you know. Sharing is caring, after all.” Tina’s reaction to that was laughter before Zerkin’s voice entered. “We’re close to completing repairs on the damaged armour plates. The damage was thankfully minimal.” “Be gentle with my girl, will ya?” “Sure thing, Commander. You can count on us. She’ll be back in the air in no time.” The exit was a gate identical to the entrance. Tina was relieved to leave the vehicle hangar and gain temporary freedom from Sabrera’s imposition.

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