Out of This World

Krel

He faintly heard Zadra yell "What in great Gaylen!?" before the line went dead.

"Blanks activated, self destruct in three mekrons," Mother droned.

"Ay-yi-yi," Krel griped, tossing stuff over his shoulder.

"And they called you a genius on Akiridion-5. This dump heap of humans must be rubbing off on you," Mother sneered.

Krel sighed. "Actually, I've found that human tech is not so bad." He sat up, smiling, opening a menu.

"Two mekrons to self destruct."

He grinned, scrolling through the menu. There. This was it! He whipped out his phone and connected it to the control panel. He'd done it. He'd disabled Mother.

He grabbed onto one of the giant cords hanging from the ceiling, and began to slide down it into the chamber that Aja and Omen were in. "I'm DJ Kleb! Taking control of our Mothership!" He started to get into the music that he'd put on, grinning at his own achievement.

"You've finally hacked Mother, and you're playing music!? Priorities, Krel!" Aja yelled from where she stood on one of the platforms below him.

"Oh, right!" he gasped, as Omen lept towards him. He fumbled with the phone to press a button and squeaked "on your knees!" just before the reprogrammed blank got him. Omen dropped to the ground on its knees, lifeless.

Krel dropped down next to it. "You want to see it blow up?" he asked, pointing the phone at it with panache.

"NO, NO!" screamed Aja, running towards Omen. "Mama and Papa's cores are inside!"

"Oh thank God, Krel!" he heard Andy's voice in his ear say. "I thought for a moment there we were goners for sure!"

Aja bent down and pulled out their parents's cores. "Mama, Papa! I have you, you're safe," she gasped, gathering them into her arms.

"Self destruct sequence suspended, rerouting audio-video feed," Mother droned.

Krel trotted up to where Aja was sitting and knelt next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder as he pulled out his phone.

"Krel, what are you doing?" she asked, looking at him in puzzlement.

"Bringing back hope," he replied, pushing the broadcast button on his phone. They were about to go live to the entirety of Akiridion-5.

"Hello!" he said with a chuckle, as the broadcast began. "Akiridion-5! Akiridions, if you can hear me, you are always in our cores." He put a hand over his core. "I learned something here on Earth, in a place called 'history class.' A great man once said 'We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the fields, and on the streets!" His core burned in his chest with passion at his words. "We shall never, never surrender! Do not give up hope. By Seklos and Gaylen, we promise we will fight for you on every planet, and we will return to you!"

Suddenly, the broadcast stopped.

"What's the problem?" Aja asked breathlessly.

"My battery is dying!" Krel exclaimed woefully.

"Are you kidding me!?" she cried indignantly.

"Aaaand it's dead," Krel huffed, looking down at his phone.

"Your battery may be dead, but mine isn't," said an all too familiar voice. Krel turned to look behind him in horror as Omen rose to its feet. It backhanded him across the face with incredible force, sending him flying across the catwalk. Where he landed with a thud and a grunt.

"Krel!" Aja yelped, whipping out her serrator. With a fierce cry she launched herself at Omen, but it deployed an arm, grabbing her around the neck and pinning her to the wall.