Alien Buster 2000
For theotherdigit, sci-fi, action and interracial slash!
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately,” the computer voice proclaimed. Judging by the tone, it might as well have been a dinner announcement.
The lights flickered and died. The complete darkness reigned supreme, until the emergency procedures finally woke up the emergency power supplies.
“Let’s recap,” Ana said, firing a round into a couple of guys in wrong uniforms. Well, right uniforms, to be exact, but wrong faces. Speciesism was of course discouraged in the TAF troops, but it didn’t change the fact that Garraaghs (affectionally dubbed fuckin’gators), tended to be on the opposing site. Quite conveniently, since their elongated jaws really made target identification easy. One had to wonder why they bothered with the uniforms. “The whole ship is being blown to pieces, engines are failing, we’re minutes away from sudden, frozen death of explosion, and you’re going to raid the labs?”
“Wizz is in the labs,” Kee replied, casually burying a knife in another alien’s neck. He took a moment to wipe clean it on the alien’s jacket.
“Wizz being your mystery date of last week?”
Kee looked weirdly uncomfortable. “Yeah.”
“Kee, I love you, but can I get more than a token grunt of explanation?”
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately.”
“I’m not leaving without Wizz.”
“Gee, that helped.” It did, a little. Kee on a date was pretty big, Kee taking time off while the world exploded, wow. This Wizz must be special. “I meant, why do we assume Wizz will be in the labs? We’ve been on code red for hours and total evac was ordered some forty minutes ago.”
They rounded the corner and ran smack into a group of aliens less obvious in their alignment, but in enemy uniforms, trying to break through a door.
Thank the Heavenly Spheres for the uniforms, I can shoot without asking, Ana thought. “Hm. Might need this,” she said, handing Kee her pistol and flipping the safety on her shiny new Alien Buster 2000. It was actually a poly-resonance shotgun, but ever since the general of Terra’s Armed Forces accidentally let his tongue slip during presentation, there was no going back to political correctness.
Ana was good at her job. The five aliens didn’t even get a chance to look up once she started shooting. Good thing too, she thought stepping over the corpses. Lirialers’ eyes gave her the creeps. They, as a race, looked human enough, once one got over the colouring, the scalely markings and funky ears, but their eyes… Ana shuddered. How could anything see with eyes like black holes, she’d never understand. And she couldn’t even build up a proper prejudice, or get all speciesist, because they were on all seven sides of the conflict and as such couldn’t be labelled as the bad guys.
Life was so hard, Ana thought as Kee produced a card that was obviously not a standard issue pass and inserted it into the lock. The doors slid open soundlessly.
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately.”
“Those fucking rich bastards,” Ana muttered to herself. The lab looked like a luxurious apartment, with a shiny floor, couches and drink cabinets. The only suggestion of science taking place there was a table with an assortment of vials and other equipment standing in the corner and a computer almost as sophisticated as the one on the bridge. “As usual we have to save their asses.” She nodded at Kee, and slipped through the door.
The lab had obviously been abandoned in quite a hurry. Apart from the unholy mess there was no sign of living creatures, discounting one willowy figure in a white labcoat. He was sitting on a high chair, fiddling with something which had a lot of wires. There was a soldering iron, hovering over his shoulder. Ana’s eyebrows raised a notch. Was that a tail? Not many species she could think of had tails. None that she, as a human, would find attractive. But Kee had always been a freak. Then her gaze slipped onto the coat, and the eyebrows raised even higher. A scientist, with these insignia? Kee sure knew who to sex up.
The mystery loverboy turned to them and she had to bite her lip to contain the hiss. A Lirialer! Oh man, Kee was so gonna pay. Then another thought flickered in her head. Lirialers had tails?
Whaddya know. Ana gave Kee a speculative glance. Just imagine the possibilities!
“Hi honey,” Wizz was saying. He made no move to acknowledge the wads of paper and other (mostly broken) pieces of stuff on the floor, instead he ambled towards them gave Kee a kiss. Ana wondered if the “We’re being invaded” memo got through the barrier of shiny hair and fluffy ears. “Hello miss. Could you close the doors please, there’s all manner of unsavoury characters running about today.”
Ana gave Kee a long look. “And I thought I liked them dumb.” He had the decency to blush, however slightly.
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately.”
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately,” the computer voice proclaimed. Judging by the tone, it might as well have been a dinner announcement.
The lights flickered and died. The complete darkness reigned supreme, until the emergency procedures finally woke up the emergency power supplies.
“Let’s recap,” Ana said, firing a round into a couple of guys in wrong uniforms. Well, right uniforms, to be exact, but wrong faces. Speciesism was of course discouraged in the TAF troops, but it didn’t change the fact that Garraaghs (affectionally dubbed fuckin’gators), tended to be on the opposing site. Quite conveniently, since their elongated jaws really made target identification easy. One had to wonder why they bothered with the uniforms. “The whole ship is being blown to pieces, engines are failing, we’re minutes away from sudden, frozen death of explosion, and you’re going to raid the labs?”
“Wizz is in the labs,” Kee replied, casually burying a knife in another alien’s neck. He took a moment to wipe clean it on the alien’s jacket.
“Wizz being your mystery date of last week?”
Kee looked weirdly uncomfortable. “Yeah.”
“Kee, I love you, but can I get more than a token grunt of explanation?”
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately.”
“I’m not leaving without Wizz.”
“Gee, that helped.” It did, a little. Kee on a date was pretty big, Kee taking time off while the world exploded, wow. This Wizz must be special. “I meant, why do we assume Wizz will be in the labs? We’ve been on code red for hours and total evac was ordered some forty minutes ago.”
They rounded the corner and ran smack into a group of aliens less obvious in their alignment, but in enemy uniforms, trying to break through a door.
Thank the Heavenly Spheres for the uniforms, I can shoot without asking, Ana thought. “Hm. Might need this,” she said, handing Kee her pistol and flipping the safety on her shiny new Alien Buster 2000. It was actually a poly-resonance shotgun, but ever since the general of Terra’s Armed Forces accidentally let his tongue slip during presentation, there was no going back to political correctness.
Ana was good at her job. The five aliens didn’t even get a chance to look up once she started shooting. Good thing too, she thought stepping over the corpses. Lirialers’ eyes gave her the creeps. They, as a race, looked human enough, once one got over the colouring, the scalely markings and funky ears, but their eyes… Ana shuddered. How could anything see with eyes like black holes, she’d never understand. And she couldn’t even build up a proper prejudice, or get all speciesist, because they were on all seven sides of the conflict and as such couldn’t be labelled as the bad guys.
Life was so hard, Ana thought as Kee produced a card that was obviously not a standard issue pass and inserted it into the lock. The doors slid open soundlessly.
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately.”
“Those fucking rich bastards,” Ana muttered to herself. The lab looked like a luxurious apartment, with a shiny floor, couches and drink cabinets. The only suggestion of science taking place there was a table with an assortment of vials and other equipment standing in the corner and a computer almost as sophisticated as the one on the bridge. “As usual we have to save their asses.” She nodded at Kee, and slipped through the door.
The lab had obviously been abandoned in quite a hurry. Apart from the unholy mess there was no sign of living creatures, discounting one willowy figure in a white labcoat. He was sitting on a high chair, fiddling with something which had a lot of wires. There was a soldering iron, hovering over his shoulder. Ana’s eyebrows raised a notch. Was that a tail? Not many species she could think of had tails. None that she, as a human, would find attractive. But Kee had always been a freak. Then her gaze slipped onto the coat, and the eyebrows raised even higher. A scientist, with these insignia? Kee sure knew who to sex up.
The mystery loverboy turned to them and she had to bite her lip to contain the hiss. A Lirialer! Oh man, Kee was so gonna pay. Then another thought flickered in her head. Lirialers had tails?
Whaddya know. Ana gave Kee a speculative glance. Just imagine the possibilities!
“Hi honey,” Wizz was saying. He made no move to acknowledge the wads of paper and other (mostly broken) pieces of stuff on the floor, instead he ambled towards them gave Kee a kiss. Ana wondered if the “We’re being invaded” memo got through the barrier of shiny hair and fluffy ears. “Hello miss. Could you close the doors please, there’s all manner of unsavoury characters running about today.”
Ana gave Kee a long look. “And I thought I liked them dumb.” He had the decency to blush, however slightly.
“Proceed to the evacuation pods, immediately.”