Orivar: Deep Black

02 - Quen Souq

Beyond the Federation's fringeward border is the small state of Tribesson whose capitol is Mirida—merely a shadow of its ancient glory—and is the largest of the Federation's fourteen protectorates. Deep within a relatively remote volume of Tribesson space sits the Hadrast system, home to a small orbital research facility operated by the Akkain Conglomerate subsidiary Akkain Technologies. Originally built as a geology laboratory situated above Hadrast's exceptionally mineral-rich fourth planet, the station has since been repurposed for the study of omnium and related technologies.

Doctor Quen Souq sat alone in his office checking his mail and sipping his coffee. He wore his white lab coat and other clothing generated from his civilian REMASS gear, all emblazoned with Akkain Technologies' corporate logo. He was a Larissian, and like his daughter, had lavender skin and violet hair. The scientist maintained a beard that he would scratch from time to time, more of a nervous tick than an itch. Above his desk hovered a lumigraph of his late wife, a Defense Force officer. The Souq Laboratory was on a lower deck of the station where he expected all forty-five of his scientists and technicians to be laboring away on the secrets of omnium bright and early in the morning while he sat in the comfort of his office writing grants and proposals to keep the machine humming.

Meanwhile, those within the station's security headquarters were left puzzled as their detection systems registered the presence of two unidentified craft on a course for the station, likely originating from the planet's barren, lifeless surface. Of course, the craft refused all communication. The station quickly mobilized its contracted security force of a little more than a hundred personnel who took up their posts around the station, primarily around the main hangar bay. They were equipped with Accellus 3: a generation behind the Military but the best the civilian population was allowed to possess under the law.

Both ships were black, largely flat, and were roughly frigate-sized. One of the station's chief security officers gave the order for the station's external weaponry to open fire, but the weaponry could do only minimal damage. The frigates returned fire upon the station, rattling everyone within and destroying the external weapons. Bits and pieces of the station broke off and entered their own orbital trajectories independent of the station, slowly drifting away and leaving trails of ash and dust.

The station entered strict lockdown. Amid the blaring sirens, flashing lights, and spontaneous rumbling, Dr. Souq did like any unprepared civilian would do: crawled under his desk and placed his arms over his head. His beating heart competed with the noise in his ears—every moment beating faster and harder. His skin became moist as his tension set in. All he could think about now was seeing his daughter Lieren again—the same gifted daughter he sent away to school after the death of his wife. The lights went out and the emergency lights switched on. Souq, feeling very alone, braced himself against the rumbling within the station.

The thunder now came from the battle that began when the first frigate hovered just beyond the hangar door. Soldiers dressed in black armor leapt across the meter-wide gap between the hangar and the frigate, firing their weapons before they even passed through the airscreen. The security forces began sacrificing their lives in an attempt to keep the scientists, most of whom were from the Federation, safe from the violence; however, they were quickly overwhelmed by the stream of black-clad combatants and were forced to retreat deeper into the station. Warnings from station security remained "shelter in place" despite the availability of escape pods. Security did not want to place the pods in danger of being blasted out of orbit by the attacking frigates. One daring security officer was determined to defy this warning.

Doctor Souq's door opened, sending a chill of terror down his spine. He struggled to contain his emotions, trying to keep from shouting. In walked an armor-clad security officer who called to him through her helmet.