Cosmic Dust

No one really knows who was responsible for the construction of Atlantis. Or rather, no one remembers. For as long as there is record, the city thrived hidden deep underwater. Citadel forces struggled to pin down the haven in which all major criminals in this galaxy met to scheme their future mischief. Now, having finally found it, the berserker troops charged in, eager to seize control of the legendary city, the dream of every enlisted rookie.

The city’s defences delivered nothing but swift death. Even though it had no unexpected visitors for hundreds of years, the automated security system was as effective as it should. The city’s architecture appeared to be prepared for anything, like the presence of aliens other than mareki.

Having once been filled with water, the spheric buildings’ only purpose was to provide safe shelter from the predatory wildlife. With the birth of the black market, the whole city was redesigned from scratch. Water was vented from inside, forcing all newborn mareki to undergo a surgery at birth, implanting a device that would allow them to breathe on dry land. Floors were placed to allow other species to move about. And below the floors, the machinery that granted power to each district was installed, along with hangars, warehouses, and cells.

Dust was thrown in the cell without mercy by a dumah, a muscular humanoid species with black skin as hard as rock, and piercing red eyes. Behind the electric fence, Big Boss watched, smiling.

“You’ll wait here. Once I recover the ship’s remains, you and the other specimen will undergo plastification.” she turned around, her cape over-dramatically waving in the air, and walked away.

“Plastification? What’s plastification?” Dust asked, a bad feeling igniting in her gut.

“Ahahah... you’ll see.” she answered while turning around a corner. The dumah took guard in front of the electrified exit.

Dust raised from the ground, checking her shoulder in worry that the wound would open once again. In her perspective, she had been electrified, hanged from her hooves, shaken around, frozen, cut and hit in the last two days. Not to mention emotional pain of losing her mother, which she tried not to think about, the feeling of failure for letting down Jake, and the constant betrayals of Koopak, her short lived ally. The satisfaction the algae cakes brought would not last long, and eventually the weight of the trauma her body had endured would break her down for good.

And now she would be plastified... Her whole body shuddered at the thought. She had an idea of what it might be, but she didn’t want to hypothesise for her own sake. Right now she needed a plan.

‘My magic’s still not strong enough for teleportation spells, so escape is out of the table. And after that last fight, I’m not sure I’d be able to fight even a small marekus, much less this rock-skinned giant waiting outside. Coercion? If only the guard was as mentally weak as Rhaiku, I could very well pull it off. Is it worth taking the chance though?’

Looking around, she saw a pitch black orb, floating near the ceiling. It reflected the ambient light in all directions, emitting a faint glow. Dust knew what it was. ‘A camera. Keeping an eye on me are you?’ The pony sent a menacing look, hoping it would somehow shake the head marekus, although the idea of achieving such feat when Big Boss considered her nothing more than a prize was unrealistic.

Her train of thought was halted when the loud buzz announced that the electric gate had been deactivated. Without thinking twice, Dust ran at it, only to be kicked in her breast by the dumah, who in turn tossed a familiar marekus inside. After that, the passage closed once more.

Using his impressive agility, Koopak rolled before reaching the ground, and grabbed the pony before she hit the electrified back wall. Dust shook her head, stunned by the impact. “Thank you... YOU!” she yelled, quickly shaking off of his arms as if they were tainted. “You did this! I should have ended you when I had the chance!”

Kapook walked back, keeping a safe distance from the unicorn whose horn already rained magical sparks. “Little Dust calm down! Let Koopak explain!”

“What is there to explain?” she yelled once more, the dumah turning around to witness the fight with curiosity. “You tricked me into killing someone! And now you just sent me and Jake to die! You’re a monster!”

Koopak sat down, circling his finger on the floor. “Koopak is sorry. I really am!”

“Wha- You can talk properly?!”

“You see, if I played dumb, Dust would not suspect of me lying. Although I’m not very good at Krall, I talked worse only to fool you.” He closed his eyes, expecting a hit.

Something snapped inside her due to the marekus’s craftiness. “You... YOU!” Dust’s horn sparked, sending a jolt of magical energy that scorched the ground right next to Koopak. The dumah placed his hand near the cell controls, ready to charge in. Dust leaned close to him so no one else would hear. “You’re lucky I have to save my magic, otherwise you’d be toast.”

“You say I am monster... Yet you are one wanting to kill me.”

Dust’s eyes widened, and she slowly walked away to her own corner. ‘Buck, he’s right. I’m getting too angry for my own good. Since when was I like this? The first time I had this urge of hurting someone... was when I first saw Jake. And the second time... was when I saw Jake for the second time.' Dust giggled at the silliness of her own thoughts, earning a confused look from Koopak.

“I think you crazy. Besides dumb.” Koopak interrupted.

Dust sighed. “You obviously didn’t do this just for fun. Did you...?” Koopak shook his head. “Uh, at least you aren’t that low. So why? What was your motivation?”

“I don’t want to talk about it...”

“Care to be reminded who’s got the upper hand here?” Dust interjected, her horn sending threatening glows.

“Huh... Okay. You see, I grow irha for a long time, and I had good business not just in Melchiah, but in other nearby districts as well. But then Big Boss came... She set up shop, and expelled me from main hub. Still she wanted irha, so I kept growing irha, for her and her mean mareki.”

“Couldn’t you have moved to another district?”

Koopak shook his head. “Koopak has family. They work for Big Boss under leash. If I stop giving irha, she stops giving food. I had to... Rhaiku was strongest marekus. He also gave the beatings. He is sick twisted marekus, he enjoys seeing others in pain. If he was dead, someone else less strong would replace him as new slave master, and family wouldn’t cry as much.” He sobbed slightly, avoiding Dust’s glare.

“Or, an even worst maniac would step in place! And since you were caught, your family might suffer the repercussions!” Dust suddenly felt awful for wishing Koopak’s death. “If you were honest with me we wouldn’t be in this situation!”

“I just wanted to help family!” he said, finally breaking into a cry, his tears mixing with the water that enveloped his skin. “Is it wrong?”

Dust sighed. “I guess not. If I was that desperate... who knows what I would have done too. I’m sorry for being too quick to judge you.”

TIme passed as the cell stood silent, both prisoners in opposite corners, waiting. A voice echoed in the room.

“Bring the horned rat to me RIGHT NOW!’

The dumah, startled by the command, woke up from his half.sleep and disabled the entrance’s electric field. Pointing at Dust, his harsh voice vibrated: “You. Come.” Dust trotted to the exit, Koopak getting up. “YOU. STAY!” Koopak shrieked back into place. It wouldn’t be a good idea to fight against someone as large as the door.

Dust walked in front of the dumah, who kept kicking her hind legs to speed up her pace, almost making her trip. Every now and then he’d rumble “left” or “right” to guide the pony through the sinuous maze that was Melchiah’s underbelly.

There were no flat walls: only a cacophonic web of tubes, terminals and capacitors carving corridors in the area, hot steam being expelled in every direction. Dust was glad she didn’t attempt an escape, she would definitely be lost. Inside a special set of transparent tubes, the snakes moved about, despite of the illumination provided by flat fluorescent white dishes holding to the ceiling.

The air was hot, heavy, yet unbearably humid, its odor resembling a sea dock by the dawn. The salty fragrance brought the algae cakes back to her mind, reminding of her necessity of a proper meal.

Looking down, she noticed the whole extension of the floor was gridded, draining the occasional water away from the machines. Below the drain, the pony saw something fascinating. The water being drained was returned to the ocean by a one-way forcefield, its surface glowing gold with the constant stream of matter.

“Keep moving!” the guard grunted, breaking her concentration.

At the end of the corridor they made it to the edge of the sphere. By the present machinery and the ship-sized forcefield entrance, Dust recognized the place as being an hangar.

Floating in place over a magnetic dish, the ship’s wreckage was thoroughly examined inside out by a light pink volkar. Dust became horrified as she saw the wreckage ended just a few hooves away from the sleeping pods. The cut that had severed the vessel in half was as smooth as butter sliced by a hot blade. The pony realized her own protective shield had not been wide enough upon descent to encase the whole ship, the defensive beam destroying the engines and everything else outside.

On the other side of the force field, metallic nets floated by holding a variety of exotic plants , basking in the released heat. Groups of mareki swam about, harvesting the products of their work.

Sat on a nearby bench, a frustrated marekus played with her hair between her fingers, growing impatient. At the sight of the approaching prisoner, she got up, sending a look to the dumah, who turned around and returned to his guarding post.

“Your associate told me that your true name is actually Little Dust, am I correct, Ambassador Kali?”

“That’s Dust for you.” she replied dryly, trying not to sound too aggressive. “You have me at a disadvantage then, Big Boss. What is your true name? Surely not even those who raised someone like you could be that cruel to give such a name.”

“Eheh, I see what you are trying to do, but tell you what, it is not going to work.” She extended her metallic arm, pointing Dust to move towards the Mk. II.. “You, report.”

The volkar stopped examining the vessel and instead jumped at a device standing near the ground, carefully avoiding the floor. As if it was being vacuumed, the volkar infiltrated the device through fissures that no matter how small, allowed passage. With a buzz, the device’s screen lit up, displaying a sound wave of the same colour as the alien inside.

“Test, test. Testing. One, two...” the sampled voice chimed.

“Just get on with it!”

“Oh, yes, sure.” The voice, although artificial, held so much expressiveness it had Dust struggling to hold a laugh. It coughed, as to clear its non-existent throat, and continued: “The remains of the ship are in most part, in perfect condition, considering the amount of damage dealt to its tail. The technology is archaic though, it thrills me just to witness such a relic, thank you for this opportunity Big Boss, thank you, thank you, thank you...”

“Volkar!” she roared. “May I remind you what I do with unproductive workers?”

The electronic voice gasped: “N-no need! Well then, where was I? Oh, yes. What intrigued me most was the cryo sleep technology.” Dust’s ears perked up, suddenly focused on the conversation. “Instead of suspending time inside the chamber, it freezes the user, and stores their brain waves in a local memory core. Most fascinating.”

“Yadda yadda, so?” the marekus interjected, growing ever more impatient. “Can we wake it up or not?”

“I’m not 100% sure. There are several circular holes in the outer hull, cause by cylindric metal pieces, which I’ll assume to be projectiles. These lodged themselves in the right chamber’s memory management computer, damaging it.”

Dust felt the burden on her shoulders increase tenfold. The screams that she had heard while sleeping... Were screams of death. Jake had never fallen asleep, and once more, his blood was on her hooves.

“But can it be unfrozen?” Big Boss asked once more.

“Yes,” the volkar assured “but if he survives, it’ll be with major damage to his nervous system.”

“Good enough for me!” she said, much to Dust’s shock. “Unfreeze it and prepare plastification!”

“No!” Dust screamed. “You said you wanted us alive, didn’t you?”

“Alive, yes, but I couldn’t care less if you’re conscious or not.”

“Why? What’s the reasoning behind this?” Dust asked in disbelief, the volkar sliding out of the communicator and crawling back into the exposed ship’s mainframe.

“I’ll put it simple,” Big Boss started, brushing Dust’s pink and lavender mane, causing her to feel disgusted upon the touch of the slimy hand. “live statues sell for more.”

“I guess Koopak was right, you are dumb.” she grinned. “As a merchant specialized in the trade of rare artifacts, I am always interested in the acquisition of new goods. Call me a collector, if you wish. And I wouldn’t want my collection to rot.”

Dust stared down, her eyes watering. “That’s... that’s so wrong.”

“What is wrong and right anyway, Dust? Is it any worse than you beheading my underling? “

“Rhaiku deserved no mercy! He too had his own room of horrors!”

“He did, didn’t he?” Big Boss chuckled. “The idiot wanted to collect as well, but since I did not allow him to even come close to the plastification machine, he carved statues instead. The fool always followed me around... I even think he had a thing for me.”

“You are all sick...” Dust stumbled, feeling a sudden drain of power.

Steam escaped the ship’s opening, the ice melting from the chamber at an alarming rate. The pink volkar was nowhere to be seen. Behind her and the ship, something that previously resembled a locker opened as Big Boss inserted a code on her robotic arm’s keypad. Inside it, a gooey white mist floated about, not leaving the locker’s confinement.

Dust gulped. ‘The plastification...’ she thought. Shaking her head, she snapped back to reality. “Enough!” she screamed while launching forward, spinning in place on her forehooves as she delivered a buck to the marekus with as much strength as she could muster. While Big Boss stepped back, it was not enough to make her lose her balance.

Big Boss gripped her only hand around the holster in her waist. “You vermin! Know your place! How dare- uh?”

The threats were interrupted by the spark shower emitted by Dust’s horn. The milky white glow steadily increased in intensity, forcing the marekus to cover her large black eyes.

‘Is it okay to feel like this? This anger, taking over me... I don’t like it. I don’t want it. It’s not me. But it makes me powerful, doesn’t it? It’s for a good cause. Yes! I promised after all! I will make justice to my name, and reduce this... bitch to nothing but dust!’

Electric sparks flashed from nearby apparels, glass cases cracking under the pressure that was felt in the room. Papers aimlessly floated about, light itself fluctuated, the lamps threatening to give away, while the spying snakes escaped in fear. The steam pressure increased in the pipes, the metal on some of them melting, blocking the passage of hot air.

‘Allow the anger to consume you...’

Dust rose from the ground, levitating as her mane and tail waved frantically. Her eyes shined with the same fiery brightness as her horn. Big Boss lost her balance and fell on her back, struggling to crawl away.

The magical outburst reached its peak.

“BE JUDGED!” a thousand different voices echoed in unison from Dust’s mouth. The light increased in intensity, her own coat appearing to shine. For a moment it was impossible to see through the blinding light.

And then nothing.

Dust plummeted to the ground, her jaw hitting the gridded floor, putting her in a daze. Her whole body felt numb. The shine from her eyes faded as the green of her iris returned. She felt confused, misplaced.

‘What did I just do? Did I lose consciousness? Did my magic run out? No... I can still feel it. Then what happened?’ She tried to pull herself up, but couldn’t. The only other time such a magical overdrive was felt she had controlled her own emotions to keep it contained. She had no way of knowing if it would be successful.

Almost if hysterically, Big Boss raised from the ground, laughing. Her hand searched around her waist in an attempt to grab the handgun. Her constant shaking and eye twitching indicated she was completely terrorized. “Eheheh! You think a fireworks show is enough to scare me?” Dust felt tempted to nod, but her whole face ached from the fall. Tears streamed across her face, not from sadness, fear, or horror, but pain.

Finally holding the gun and pulling it from its holster, she aimed at the pony.

‘I’m sorry Jake, for letting you down.’

“I don’t care anymore! You aren’t worth plastifying!”

‘I’m sorry Rose, for failing to keep my promise.’

“A freak like you deserves to be put down!”

‘And I’m sorry Mother, for disappointing you.’

“See you on the other side, freak!”

Dust’s eyes widened, not from that intriguing last quote, but by the heavy metal box, with the letters I.S.A. carved in it, being held by the human in the lab coat above his head.

*BANG*

With one quick sweep, the crate hit the side of the marekus’s head, making her fire at random, a red charged energy blast melting the bench she had previously sat on.. Jake, whose skin was pale blue, chunks of ice still melting from his body, fell to the ground, his legs refusing to cooperate after their sudden awakening.

Either by extreme coincidence or a boost of hope upon the scene playing before her, Dust lifted from the ground, ignoring the pain, and bucked the dazed marekus once more.

She stumbled back, waving her robotic arm around at random in a failed attempt to hit anyone, a green line of blood running across her head.

Jumping from the mainframe, the volkar extended himself, grasping both the ship and the wall with his body, stretching to seemingly impossible lengths to create a rope. In one final step back, Big Boss’s leg came in contact with the volkar, forcing her to fall back, this time however, ending right inside the plastification locker.

She opened the one eye that wasn’t covered in blood, and upon realizing where she was, she leapt forward in a final attempt to escape. But it was too late. Half her pony-like legs were already petrified. The mist circulating her attracted itself to her body, solidifying upon touch.

“Help me! Ugh, get me out of here!”

Jake, although confused, was terrified. Dust, however, couldn’t help but grin. “You are the freak. You deserve to be put down.”

“Shut up! Just pull me out! I won’t plastify you! I won’t!”

Dust remained quiet. ‘This is justice. This is not wrong. I’m not like them. Am I? No. I am not.’

“AAAGGHHHH!” Big Boss screamed, the white stone covering her waist, her arms, and finally reaching her neck. The process seemed to slow down, the blood in her face vaporizing before the plastification was complete. “They... they will know.” her weak voice whispered. “I, Aphestis, will tell them, and they will kill you all. They will...”

The statue was complete.

“Where are we? I don’t understand...”

“I’ll explain everything later, okay?” Dust reassured, resting a hoof on Jake’s shoulder, while she balanced a steam exhaling tube meant to warm the human with the other.“It’s a miracle you managed to survive.”

“Actually, not quite so.”

Pony and human looked towards the voice, their eyes meeting the communicator’s sound waves bursting in pink.

“The subject’s mind was frozen, so I repaired the computer to salvage it into memory, activated the unfreezing procedures, and restored his consciousness. Quite simple actually. Hihihi, it is so exciting to work with such an artifact!”

Jake looked as clueless as ever. “What?”

Dust understood why. “Oh, right, you don’t speak Krall. Just let me do the talking, okay?” Jake nodded, finding no reason to object. “Thank you for everything... but why?”

“If you have been around the district for long enough, then you know why.” Dust nodded. “And I don’t see myself being an illegal mechanic for the rest of my life. I have dreams and aspirations too!” the volkar said, putting enough emphasis in the last sentence to make Dust chuckle. The electronic voice laughed along too.

*BOOM*

An explosion shook the whole area, disrupting even the ship’s magnetic levitation. The alarm that had been buzzing ever since Big Boss melted the ventilation tube stopped at the same time. The exhaling steam increased in pressure, a nerve-wrecking whistle echoing all over the underbelly.

“The machinery room! It overloaded!” a dumah of slightly smaller stature screamed, running inside the hangar. Upon seeing his superior frozen in place, he roared, charging at the pony, his steps seeming to make the room shake more than the ongoing quake.

Swiftly evaluating the situation, Jake rolled to the side, ignoring the numbness in his lower body, and grabbed Big Boss’s handgun. A couple shots left two melting holes in the alien’s rocky skin, falling back with a thump. The sudden adrenaline shot had him shaking, firing a third shot that simply scorched the ground. Dust took the weapon away from him with caution, afraid that he might worsen the situation.

‘Oops, sorry.’ Jake thought, looking apologetic, although he was not sure what for.

The pony’s ears perked up, having forgotten their mental link. ‘Don’t worry, it has been a real mess.’ she answered.

“Oh dear, that can’t be good.” the volkar proclaimed, reflecting the thoughts of the other two.

“We have to get out of here! Do you know any way-”

“Dust, is this supposed to do that?” Jake interrupted, pointing at the force field.

The once yellow brightness had faded, small, expanding holes erupting all over its surface as water transversed inside. At every explosion in the distance the already existing holes doubled their size, turning small streams into torrents.

Before they could react, the shield completely lost power. Water violently poured in, dragging the ship against a wall, Jake and Dust right next to it. Dust tried her best to conjure a magical bubble, but Jake’s presence rendered it impossible. When the water stream slowed down, Jake grabbed the pony below her shoulders, and swam out of the hangar, leaving the lab coat behind as it would only hinder him.

Inside the upper section of the district, explosions flashed through the tunnels, only to disappear as the rampaging water devoured them. Mareki both swam away in fear or rushed inside to help. Looking around, Dust saw something amazing. In a splash of colours, hundreds of volkars swam upwards like jellyfish, seeming to propel the water below them in perfect synchronization. She could almost swear she heard them humming a song.

Jake struggled to swim against the immense pressure of being in such depths. His head bursted with pain, his ears popping. After all, being a park lake swimmer doesn’t qualify for such trial. And even if he was in perfect physical shape, there was no way he’d be able to hold his breath all the way to the surface, which was nowhere to be seen. The only lights were the ones provided by the city below, darkness only awaiting above.

‘Damn it! I can’t take it much longer!’

‘You can do it!’ Dust reassured.

A sense of tightness assaulted Jake’s chest. His whole body cried for air, it demanded it. Yet he couldn’t. He had to keep going. But the urge was too strong, his brain no longer thought properly. Instinct took over, and he opened his mouth wide.

“AAAGGGHHH!” he cried out, his faint voice dissipating in the water.

‘Jake! Ah!’

Jake dropped her, bringing his hands to his neck, scraping the skin with his nails as if an invisible rope was tightened around it. His legs shook in every direction in an attempt to find some footing, his body twitching as each spasm filled him further with water.

And then he stopped, floating in place. ‘Oh no, I’m going to die, no, not again, not that feeling again, I don’t want, I DON’T WANT TO, NO...’

Dust shook her hind legs the best she could to propel herself upwards, but with little success. She couldn’t stand what she was hearing, knowing it was all her fault. Again.

Suddenly, two hands grabbed pony and human. Dust held on to Jake as she got closer, trying to invoke a restoration spell that never came. ‘Bucking hay, no!’

The cold air assaulted their bodies as they breached out of water, being airborne for a couple of seconds before splashing down. The sky was painted with a million tiny lights as the moonless night greeted them, the sea kissing it on the horizon in all directions.

Jake’s mouth opened as water sprouted as if it was a fountain. The gagging slowly reduced itself to a cough, and their saviour released its hold.

‘I’m alive...’ Jake noted, perplexed. ‘But how?’

‘I don’t know...’ The pony lied. Of course she did know. She was just too afraid to admit it. Panic hit her as she realized she wasn’t being held by anyone anymore. Her hooves clang around Jake, threatening to choke him for good.

“Ahahah! We did it! Yippie!” a cheerful voice was heard.

Dust’s hind legs were in a frenzy, afraid that the water might swallow her whole once again. Jake held her, still awestruck, his legs keeping them in place, the breath of fresh air returning his strength. It was however, nauseating, the intense smell of sea churning his insides. His throat burned with the cleansing.

Combing her wet mane out of her face, Dust narrowed her eyes to see the barely visible silhouette of the happy marekus jumping in and out of the water. “Koopak! You saved us?”

“Yes! Koopak needed to make up for lies, so I save you and human!”

Jake flinched as his brain caught up to the word human. “Is it talking about me?”

Dust giggled, and leapt forward to hug her saviour, when a light blinded her vision.

“You three, stay where you are!” a radio voiced ordered.

The darkness was swept away as an incandescent beam of light flashed in front of them, forcing them to cover their eyes, specially Koopak for not being used to such strong lighting. The source of the light remained silent, until a door was heard sliding open.

‘Jake, don’t run.’ Dust warned him. He gasped, not daring to begin with.

The lights dimmed down, still providing clarity of vision but no longer blinding the trio. In front of them, a very different type of spacecraft floated around, its headlights focused on the surface of the water. The vessel was almost a perfect sphere composed of different layers, about twice the size of the Mk. II.. Its layers dashed across its surface, almost like a spheric rubik’s cube. The lack of engine sounds or exhausts had Jake both fascinated and afraid.

A door was slid open on its side, the opening remaining stationary as other sections of the shielding moved about, and from it an armoured humanoid stepped through, floating over the water with the aid of a set of jets attached to its legs. Although its shape resembled a human, the deep crimson red armour covered its actual appearance. For all they knew it could be a robot. Dust however, knew the colour pattern.

Extending its arm, the berserker revealed an attached weapon and pointed it at the three individuals in the water. Although Jake head was hurting for a variety of different reasons, he was able to think through what it meant. “I wake up and you’ve gotten us already in trouble, hum?” he said jokingly, not realizing how much the statement hurt the pony he held in his arms.

The eerie lighting of the ship hurt Jake’s eyes. No matter how many terminals and flashing lights were spread across its inside surface, the red ambient light was prevalent, blending with the single humanoid who controlled the vessel, in a strange control interface at the center. It floated in place, either by magnetic repulsion or some other magic outside of human understanding, as its fingers ran across holographic panels filled with alien characters Jake could not decipher.

Magnetic attraction however was what kept Jake in place. The shackles that their captor forcefully had them wear under gun point were holding him, Dust, and the weird looking monkey fish against the floor, slightly to the left of the humanoid.

‘He’s not a monkey fish, he’s a marekus!’ Dust reminded him mentally.

‘Huh, sure. It’s just too much to take in at a time.’ Jake answered, still going over her narration of the events in his mind. A chill went up his spine as he realized he was not only naked, but soaking wet. ‘It’s a wonder I’m not sick yet.’

Dust cleared her throat to make herself noticeable, and then said: “Excuse me? Aren’t you supposed to be a berserker? A warrior under the Council’s rule? Someone sworn to protect the Galactic Alliance?”

The berserker looked over to her for a second, and then resumed his activity.

“Hey! We are not criminals! We-”

“Do you deny that marekus has been involved in criminal activities?” the rough voice sounded through a speaker embedded in the armour.

“Well, I... yes, but-”

“And do you deny that you are associated with him?” the warrior asked without losing focus on the holographic panels.

Dust looked to her side, her eyes meeting Koopak’s. No matter how she looked at it, they had helped each other. And knowing the Council’s methods, it would be best to be honest than suffer the repercussions later.

“Your silence speaks for itself.”

Koopak turned his head away from Dust. ‘I know how it feels to hold guilt inside...’

‘What do you mean?’ Jake asked.

‘Oh, nothing.’ Dust answered. She wasn’t ready to ask for forgiveness for everything. Not yet, not in this situation.

Not an hour had passed and the berserker jumped from his floating stance, releasing the magnetic locks. Jake rolled to the side, his back snapping in different places. He felt the urge to spread his arms and stretch, but in fear of the crimson red watcher he remained uneventful.

“In front of me, move.” he ordered. The place where his face was supposed to be was a glassy black in the helmet, probably preventing those outside from recognizing his appearance, while still allowing the wearer from seeing clearly. The door sliding open. Koopak, who had been silent the whole short trip, was the first to walk through. Pony and human exchanged looks, and then followed.

Jake was caught by surprise when he found that the entrance was leveled with the ground, meaning the opening could literally change its relative position.

Just like two kids in a candy shop, their eyes widened at the sight. They were inside a hangar, one of massive proportions. The ceiling stood almost fifty meters above their heads, several gates opening and closing as they allowed passage to transversing shuttles.

Literally hundreds of ships equal to the one they just disembarked from plagued the floor, only their top halves showing as the others locked in place in spherical depressions on the ground. Mechanics of different species moved about, either working on the vessels at hand or just carrying parts. Between the ships, the floor was covered in a maze of cables almost as thick as Dust’s torso, meant to recharge the innumerable spacecrafts. Other warriors with differently coloured armour also were present, indicating that the colour was representative of rank.

The berserker poked his weapon on Jake’s back, forcing him to walk. Human, pony and marekus made their way across the hangar, getting looks from the many aliens there present. Jake would be freaked out, but after all that had happened so far, he didn’t know how to react anymore.

While stepping over a cable Dust tripped, rolling forward and hitting her back on one of the ships. Every single berserker in the proximity turned to her and pointed their weapons. Suddenly, the intense chattering went silent as the blood rushed from Dust’s face. Jake and Koopak jumped immediately between her and the troops.

“Lower your weapons!” the escorting berserker ordered, revealing some authority over the other units, as they returned to their previous affairs. With a swift pull, he grabbed Dust by the tail and flipped her back on her hooves with relative ease.

“Ow, watch it!” Dust complained, massaging her backside with a hoof.

“Just watch where you’re going. Keep moving!”

She complied, moving forward along the hazardous floor. The berserkers showed no difficulty in moving about, and the same could be said for Jake, having a similar physical shape to them. Koopak... did the usual. He jumped about, leapt over cables, rolled. But he did so in such a fluid manner that it didn’t look as foolish as before, instead it could be taken as a legitimate form of locomotion. Dust wondered if he was being more careful not to worsen their situation, or if his previous silliness was just another lie.

The other ships that had landed opened their own doors, and their passengers exited to the hangar floor. Koopak slowed down as hundreds of marekus, chained by the same cuffs, exited the spacecrafts while being leaded by berserkers.

“Don’t stop.” Dust whispered on his ear, and he quickly snapped back to attention.

Reaching the end of the hangar, two berserkers in dark green armour pulled the door open upon their superior’s command. Once again, Koopak was the most affected by the sudden change in light.

Tall buildings sprung out from everywhere, spiraling upwards, contrasting with the rectangular geometry of the hangar. Vehicles of all shapes and sizes slashed the air as they flew about between them, carrying their drivers to their destinations. Everything had a shade of blue, as if they were seeing through a turquoise filter. Two bright blue stars the size of marbles shun up in the sky, one slightly larger than the other.

The whole city was built on rocky red soil resembling hardened clay, the lack of paved roads explained by the abundance of air transportation. However, creatures of all sizes and shapes still moved between the towers. What Jake still couldn’t understand (besides almost everything) was how there were so many human-like creatures. One of about his size walked closer, curious to examine him. Its skin was deep blue and it didn’t have ears or nose, its face being almost a perfect oval.

“Oyoloi shniye?” she asked in its native language.

“What?” Jake asked, stepping back and bumping into the berserker.

He pushed her away, and proceeded to warn the passing civilians to maintain their distance.

Jake was awestruck by everything around him. His whole life he had dreamed of a day like this, of stepping into a foreign world and take it all in. This kind of mind assault he accepted with pleasure, his eyes trying to capture every single moment as if the planet could suddenly disappear.

Amongst the buildings, a single one stood out. A spire taller and larger than all others, converging up into a single point way beyond the blue clouds, which circled around it like the peak of a mountain. Purple sheets of metal covered its surface, carved by red glowing lines that spiralled around it, only adding to the drill shaped resemblance. The glowing lines pulsated, brighter nodes moving up and down the spire, almost like if those were veins pumping blood. Its towering presence had Jake feeling sick, yet Koopak was marvelled.

“Is that... it?” Koopak asked. “Is it, little Dust, is it?” he turned to her, jumping around.

“Yes, yes it is.” she confirmed. “This, is the Citadel, and that is the seat of the Council, the Alliance Spear.”

“The Council?” Jake asked, fighting his vertigo. Dust nodded. “We made it, hum?”

“Yeah... we did... But something feels off. I just don’t quite know what.” Dust said. Jake turned to her only to find her with a concerned expression, her eyes narrowed. He tried to reach her mentally, but he couldn’t just invade her like she did.

The blue stars disappeared as a transport vessel slowly lowered from the skies, and landed in front of the hangar entrance. The berserker walked to the driver, stretching his arm.. “To the Alliance, fast.” he ordered.

The driver, a thin creature with claws instead of hands shook his head in disagreement. “Sorry pal, but I am only here to bring the captain to the Council.”

“I am the captain, you imbecile!” he shouted, his authoritarian voice shaking the driver in his seat. Pointing the gun, he had Dust, Jake and Koopak board the carriage, quickly followed by him.

Now in an actual planet, the vessels lacked any inertial dampeners. The lift off was sudden enough to make Jake hit his forehead on his knee, leaving a bruise in his skin. Dust struggled to keep in place, Koopak holding her with both hands as his legs wrapped around a nearby railing.

“Don’t you go falling now.” the berserker warned, seeming unphased by the turbulence.

Dozens of other vessels flew by at ridiculous speeds, blue fire exhausting from behind, leaving Jake wondering how they weren’t crashing against the spires. ‘Don’t look down, don’t look down...’ he thought to himself, closing his eyes.

“Wow!” Koopak exclaimed, his eyes seeming to go wider than usual. Jake pushed Dust’s mane out of his face, the wind fighting against him, to see what the marekus was marvelled at. Getting ever closer, the Alliance Spear was monstrously tall, his head bobbing back in a vain attempt to see the top.

Finally slowing down, the driver landed the carriage in one of many balconies of the Spear. The berserker captain signed for them to get out, and walk inside the majestic building.

Jake expected corridors, rooms, or even a big opening area. Instead, they met an elevator. They walked inside, and the berserker clicked a button on the wall.

“Please choose a destination.” A pre-recorded voice echoed in the elevator.

“Assembly. Class A priority.” the humanoid guard answered, sounding as monotone as possible.

“Assembly selected. Class A court restricted. Initializing voice recognition. Voice recognition complete. Captain Naden confirmed. Security clearance check. Beginning transport.”

A loud noise was heard as the elevator started moving backwards into the spire, forcing Jake out of balance. Koopak grabbed him before he hit the ground, extending his oversized arms.

Jake quickly shook him off, shuddering at the touch of his slimy hands against his naked skin. Dust drew an expression of concern.

Jake froze for a moment, not knowing how to react. Realizing his prejudiced action, he pledged: “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to... I’m just not used to... other species. Thank you for catching me.”

Koopak tilted his head. “He is dumber than you, little Dust.”

They both giggled as Dust translated Jake’s apology.

‘Making fun of me again, hum?’ Jake asked mentally, growing frustrated.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll teach you some words when we have the chance.’ Dust reassured while wiping the tear in the corner of her eye.

“Be silent!” the captain roared, his voice subduing the laugh. “You are about to meet the Council’s representatives, so behave!”

“An audience!” Dust clopped her hooves together. “Finally we can end this massive misunderstanding. And I’ll be expecting an apology!” she said, putting extra inflexion into her last sentence so that the captain would get the hint.

“What did he say?” Jake asked, curious for her sudden excitement.

“We are going to have an audience with the Council’s representatives, elected officials that speak for the whole Galactic Alliance... very important people. Just let me do the talking... Not that even if you said anything it would matter.” Jake frowned at the remark.

Their balance constantly shifted, indicating that the elevator followed a specific path inside the tower.

“Arriving in three, two, one.”

Jake didn’t need to know Krall to understand a countdown. Expecting it, he kneeled on the ground to prevent him from being catapulted forward. The doors slid open, and behind them a dark corridor awaited.

“Are you sure they will listen?” Jake asked while taking the lead.

“Everything that happens in the galaxy goes through this building, and the most important decisions fall on the Council. We took down an important figure of the galactic organized crime. They will listen.”

“Ah! Stop! Little Dust, help!”

The unicorn turned around to the panicking marekus, only to find Naden cuffing him like the others in the hangar, pinning him down on the floor. “What are you doing?!”

“Restraining the beast, won’t it run off on its own.”

“Stop that at once!” Dust threatened, stepping forward. “This is a direct violation of the Common Rights law!”

“Criminals don’t have rights.” he answered bluntly, lights flashing inside his helmet. “The Council will now have you. Move.”

‘Can’t you really do anything for the poor mon... marekus? Some spell to knock that guy out?’

‘I... I can’t.’ Jake looked confused, and before he could respond, Dust simply thought: ‘We’ll talk later.’

Leaving Koopak back there alone with the berserker, his arms magnetically pinned to the metallic floor, didn’t feel right. But at the moment there was no other choice, and explaining everything to the ones in power would be their best bet.

After crossing the bland lightless corridor, they entered a very different type of room. In fact, Jake wasn’t even sure it was a room. The very glow that spiralled upwards the tower covered the walls which seemed to pulsate with every light burst.

The path ahead was a bridge over the chasm that was the rest of the room, ending in a dead end. Jake peeked over the edge. He was sure to die of fright before reaching the ground if he slipped. Regretting his decision, he stepped back, breathing heavily.

“Oh, Mother, if only you were here...” Dust sighed. “This is the Heart of the Council. Place where they hear what their subjects have to say.”

“Subjects?” Jake gasped in dismay.

“Well, they are in a way the rulers of the galaxy. You’d think such a title would be worthy of reverence.”

Jake shrugged, not following her logic. Sure, the burden must be bigger than anything he could ever imagine, but fanaticism was just too much. ‘Nah,’ he thought to himself, dismissing the ridiculous idea. ‘no one this advanced would be that stupid.’

Dust ignored the snarky comment as three gigantic holographic faces took shape around them.

One was a berserker, a golden helmet adorning his head. To the left, a strange creature with no eyes but a large toothless mouth seemed to know exactly where to look, turning to Jake as if it knew he was staring.

Avoiding his glare he turned back, only to find another blue skinned humanoid, this one having nose and pointy ears. That meant she was either from another species, or... Both him and Dust shuddered at the shared thought.

“Huh, they must have elected new officials.” Dust pondered. “After all, I’ve been away for over twenty years.”

The berserker supposed commander was the first to speak. “Welcome to the Council. Do you know the motif behind this audience?” His voice didn’t seem to differ much from the captain’s, probably due to the speakers embedded in the armour.

“Yes, and it’s all a big misunderstanding. You see...”

“Be silent, citizen! Only answer what’s requested from you, are we clear?” the eyeless alien interrupted.

“Yes...”

‘Not a good start, it seems.’ Jake noted.

‘No kidding.’

A hologram video appeared over their heads. “Our AI parsed through the video footage relayed to us by the berserkers stationed at Atlantis prior to your arrival, and found this.” The woman explained.

In the video Dust was undergoing overdrive, the camera suffering with static. A chill went up her spine upon seeing herself. ‘Did I really do that?’

“Do you confirm that the individual in the footage is you?” the commander inquired.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“What is your species, your homeworld, and your name?” he asked in a methodic voice.

“Pony, name’s Dust. I am a traveller.”

The floating heads exchanged looks, and then nodded. The woman was the one to speak. “It is settled then. We shall begin the trial.”

“Trial?”

“Dust, what’s wrong?” Jake asked upon noticing her shocked expression.

“Today we judge the pony Dust, for the crime of mass-murder of thousands of sentient creatures, in the planet of Atlantika.”