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         You hear an apathetic rhythm of boots upon the titanium catwalk beneath his feet. This man always appeared to be in a daze, his eyes wondering about and occasionally halting on an invisible point of interest. It was as if he had left the world around him behind in favor of one which granted much more freedom. As a result of his constant apathetic demeanor, this man had come to be known by the crew and his men as Shrink. Not a particularly complimentary label, but Shrink payed no attention to what could be described as a minor hindrance.
         While on his afternoon leave, Shrink entered the ship’s cafeteria and grabbed the usual meal. A Private peered over Shrink's shoulder, "Sir, why do ya' always eat that crap? The food the chef makes is great compared to this slop in the dispenser." Shrink turned and looked him in the eye as another marine grabbed him on the shoulder.
         "What are you up to, Money? Not everyone has their wealthy grandparents credit serial," the Seargent commented as he grabbed the other shoulder and forced the Private to his seat. Every soldier had a choice between basic rations or a real, cooked meal. The only difference besides the taste was rations were free, and cooked food cost the equivalent of a sales clerk's weekly payment. This was a direct result of the packaging methods for long distance operations. The freezing process broke the food down to its base components and restoring the food back to its original state was so complicated and inefficient it took hours to get food prepared for the kitchen. The reason behind it was sound, however. Deep space travel has its risks, and a year long journey like this one needs a few ways to get home.
         Shrink turned away from the counter and began walking towards the tables in the back of the galley. His mind wandered along with his vision. His trance was abruptly interrupted as he bumped into another soldier. His face resembled that of a battle-hardened dwarf; he was anything but. As anyone has come to realize on this ship, nicknames are handed out like candy. The one that landed on this menacing fellow was Gimli. True, yet ironic in a way. Shrink moved on and ignored the incident. He probably didn't feel a thing with the amount of muscle that lay under his uniform. As Shrink looked up from his seat he noticed Gimli giving him a glare of disgust. He set down his knife and looked him in the eyes for a second, seemingly unimpressed by his physical display of hate.
         "Why are you staring at me as if I just threw away your Teddy?" Shrink said with a passive tone. And with that, Gimli threw a punch no average man would ever hope to awaken from.
         Shrink rose to a splitting headache. He looked to his right and noticed he was in the infirmary with Gimli in the bunk beside. Apparently the fork he used to stop the first punch did far more damage than the man let on. Right after he broke both knuckles, another punch came flying and knocked Shrink out cold. What would warrant such aggression from a stranger? Maybe Shrink's carefree attitude made it appear he didn't take his job seriously. It seems a common occurrence for newbies to mistake a slow pace for lack of motivation. Although who could say he was motivated? Shrink’s record was long and considerably dull. He had served on this ship for many years, seven and one month to be exact. The Garius had seen little action during those years. It had been in two minor engagements with rebel ships, but nothing spectacular. The rest of his time was spent gathering his thoughts. Shrink stood up and grabbed the folded clothes beside him. As he was gathering his things a woman quickly jogged over to him, holding out a small aluminum case.
         “These are for the pain, and I suggest you take it easy for the rest of the day. I already got permission from the Captain for you to skip tomorrows watch, so don’t waste it, ” she said rather quickly. Shrink nodded, snatched the box and headed towards the hall.
         “I see you’re mingling with our new transfers fairly well,” came a voice directly outside. Shrink instantly recognized that arrogant tone. It belonged to Lt. Haden. If Haden knew about the scuffle between these two, then that kid must have been fairly important.
         “Now this kid is gonna have to sit in med for the next week instead of training to be my new CQ spec. And that’s all thanks to you’re attitude. Perhaps if you stopped walking around in wonderland and actually showed some resolve you might avoid pissing off those of us who actually give a damn about what we’re doing out here, ” Haden stated with a egotistical tone.
         Shrink replied almost mechanically, “I wasn’t at fault. I don’t have any control over the impressions of others. I can do without your usual sermon, Preacher.” Haden winced slightly at the mention of his own nickname as Shrink continued, “We all know why we’re out here. Just because I don’t display my enthusiasm every waking moment doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten. And if you’re concerned about your new draftee, don’t worry. I just taught him a lesson in assumptions.”
         Haden and Shrink stood there, eying one another for the better part of a minute. Haden’s eyes slimmed, as if he was trying to break into Shrink’s mind and catch a glimpse of what the man was thinking. Then a noticeable twitch could be observed in his left eye, like the “white flag” of surrender. The lieutenant retreated down the hallway.
         The lights flickered to life as Shrink entered his quarters. He set down his jacket and sat down at his desk. He opened up the cabinet on his right removing one of five large carbon-steel packages. Within it was a black velvet interior housing a collection of chess pieces. Shrink removed the black Knight; an ebony dragon with a lance wielding rider. Setting the piece down, he opened another small box which had previously been on the table that contained cleaning solution, polish, and a spherical microbrush.
         Shrink cleaned every piece in every box.
         A magnificent collection of chess sets was slowly exhumed from storage and displayed upon the table and desk within Shrink’s room. He took great care in placing each back into their respective containers, making sure they were placed to display their individual character the best they could. Even a man this calm and distant minded had a soft spot for something.
         Upon completing his routine, Shrink made way aft. Due to being rarely manned and the nature of their propulsion, the last third of the ship was weightless. The only way the Garius would even be able to reach this far into space was with the utilization of a warp drive. This drive had been fantasized about in the early years of human technological advancement. The idea was right, but the means was wrong. In order to properly generate the bends in space-time they needed to create an engine which drew power from dark matter. The result was a machine that looked more alien than human. As Shrink floated into the reactor deck his view was overwhelmed with light. The blue-red coolant pipes gave off an unearthly glow. By manipulating the structure of dark matter through heavy MM (magnetic moment) neutrino bombardments one could generate enough gravitational force to bend space time stern and aft of the ship. This alien coolant was the only thing that would absorb enough wavelengths of energy to make things practical. That's not to say they are stable engines. They are limited to move at barely five times the speed of light. Even at that speed, it still takes roughly half a year to get to their location.
         The Garius was currently scouring the remains of a tri-star system. A twenty-five-year-old supernova in the area destroyed most everything in it, resulting in a newly formed neutron star destined to become a black hole. The small remnant was slowly devouring the two blue giants, creating a dancing swirl on the horizon anyone would appreciate.
         But it was not the stars that had the Sol Planetary Federation (SPF) interested so much as the remains of the planets. This huge asteroid cluster had become a haven for those who didn’t want to be found. Most of these people were rebels; remnants of the Terra Conflict. But even the largest of the rebel groups had been silent for at least six years, so it was unlikely the Garius would find anything on its last voyage before decommission.
         Shrink inched towards his destination via the mounted hand-rail on the wall. The holographic environmental recreation chamber, or HERC, pod was a large and elongated dome attached to the outside of the hull. It was a room designed for deep space missions to help alleviate the stress of being off-world for months at a time. One could visit a holographic representation of anywhere he or she pleased. They could also choose to either float through the experience in zero gravity or initiate the rotation sequence of the room and have it mimic up to two times earth’s gravity.
         Shrink spent many days in this room, and as usual he loaded up his own custom program. The landscape constructed itself before him and he soon stood at the edge of the high cliffs off the coast of England during sunset. Shrink closed his eyes and sat down to listen to the tide’s struggle against the cliffside. The rhythmic pounding was soothing, almost trance inducing. But Shrink’s island getaway was soon invaded by a sea of yellow; a stand-by alert. It would seem they had found something.
         Shrink waltzed calmly into the security armory. He grabbed his gear and slipped it on as easy as a glove. The other three men in his team had already finished suiting up, but said nothing about Shrink’s slow pace. While buckling up his torso piece, the yellow was quickly consumed by a far more menacing red accompanied by a glaring alarm. Whatever it was they had found out here, it certainly wasn’t too happy about it. Shrink only now jumped into action and quickly finished constructing his suit, grabbed his rifle and headed into the hall towards the main lift with his men behind. They needed to get to their main post; the Bridge.
         Shrink struck the call button when a fairly strange thing happened. The hull was reverberating. They had been hit by something, but what? Just as it began to end, the entire ship went silent. Every light, access panel and even their flashlights and HUD went dark leaving the team in a silent abyss only their anxious breaths broke.
         “Was it some sort of EMP round? Shouldn’t our shields have stopped it, ” yelled the man across from Shrink, certainly startled over what had just happened. Then the ship began to re-coop from its recent encounter. First the access panels, then their HUD’s and lastly the corridor lights flicked back. A second or so passed, the silence ended with a few hums of sub-machine gun fire. The four men looked down the hall and listened as they heard several more bursts then saw a marine fly into the wall at the end of the catwalk. Something was obviously not right.
         Before any of them could think about what could be happening something new came into view. The marines stood motionless as three figures emerged from around the corner. These creatures were well built and wore armor that looked similar to emerald encased in glass; almost like crystal statues. The things stood an average eight feet tall and had heads that resembled a drop of water with no evidence of a face at all. They did not have guns but pole-arms which glowed a brilliant burgundy and gold.
         While trying to figure out just what was unfolding one of Shrink’s marines broke under the strain of the monumental confrontation. He fired three healthy bursts of rifle fire at the foremost creature. It cocked its head a bit, then moved its hand as if to catch the rounds. The bullets rippled and disintegrated into mere sparks of molten metal, showering the alien creatures who had now come to a halt. The squad remained in awe. How can one possibly explain something that could seemingly destroy bullets on command?
         “Hold your fire,” shrink commanded as he looked at his frightened companion. When his gaze returned to the enemy that stood before him, the lead creature vanished. A deep static was heard followed by an obnoxious red line on Shrink's HUD, urging him to look directly behind at the man who first opened fire. It was that action which revealed the creature standing there with the soldier behind it, impaled by the spear.
         The lift door opened with a loud smack. Shrink signaled a retreat and the four remaining men dove for the elevator and smashed the emergency door button. The panels slammed shut and they left the three intruders behind.
         The squad arrived at Garius' bow, approximately fifty meters from the bridge. Upon exiting the lift, they saw Haden shouting orders to his men. He was defending the lift and corridor which led to the bridge. It was Preacher's job, not his so there was no reason to bother the man. But it seemed that Shrink might be able to get some answers from him.
         “Preacher,” Haden heard from behind. He rolled his eyes at the name and turned to see what was up. His response to who stood in front of him now was the facial equivalent of “You gotta be shitting me”.
         “Just what I need at a time like this. The whole place has gone to hell and I get the resident daydreamer to babysit. Did you forget you’re supposed to be on the bridge, ya’ know, doing your job?” This wasn’t the best idea Shrink had, but he needed something to work with.
         “Do you have any idea what we’re up against,” he asked Preacher.
         “Hell if I know. A strange green rod was floating out in the debri. I was… GET UP THERE! KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THOSE THINGS PRIVATE! Anyways, I was on the forward observation deck when I noticed this green rod floatin’ in the asteroid field. Next thing I know the ship goes to yellow alert so I head to my post only to get stopped and commed up to do your job for you.”
         A loud static came over their coms. Haden ripped his earpiece off his head and peaked over the makeshift barricade of desks, chairs and other random objects, “Where the ‘ell are those bastards?” He turned and looked back at Shrink, who didn’t respond.
         “Hey, are you deaf? Get to the bridge!” he said with ever growing agitation. Shrink snapped his head up to look at Preacher, then nodded. Shrink and his remaining three men moved quickly towards the bridge only to find that one of the bulkheads had been damaged in the initial EMP attack, causing it to repeatedly open and close in rapid intervals. This meant they would need to take a detour around to medical and get to the bridge from there since it had the only other direct access. Taking another route would require time they did not have.
         As they moved, Shrink signaled for cover. The squad ducked and blended seamlessly into the ships hull, relying on their heat or x-ray modes to see the targets that stood before them. While able to observe the creatures, they didn't see a heat signature. Rather they saw complete black as if nothing occupied the space. Apparently it had some sort of shielding to hide itself from these kinds of sensors, but it didn't quite work the same way when a person and not a machine was looking at the results. The things looked like they were trying to get information from the ship's systems, but were having some visibly aggravating trouble with the heavy encryption methods and firewalls.
         Finally the alien gave up and the three continued down the hallway, unaware of the flies on the wall. Shrink ordered a cautionary move signal and the four men slowly strafed their way towards the last location of the invaders. Just as the last man was about to cross the intersection, that dreadful static came back into the com channel. Shrink looked at all his men, and then back to the one moving across the corridor. He saw an alien standing there, gripping the marine by the throat until a fairly audible pop resounded. The alien discarded the man as if it were a broken toy, and moved on back down the hallway towards its accomplices.
         The situation was clear. There were far more of those things on the ship, and they were definitely seasoned infiltrators. Who, what, and where was something unknown. The only thing that mattered was the disgusting fact that not only did those things want something, but their technology was beyond them. Shrink slowly moved away, his men visibly stunned by the incident and having a similar epiphany.
         "You can stay here and cower in a corner or come with me and, hopefully, find an explanation for what is going on here. Its your choice," Shrink said to both of his men. They looked at each other and then shook off their previous doubt. "Orders, sir?" The reply triggered an unparalleled sense of relief within Shrink; he had hoped for them to say that. Going to the bridge alone would have been hell. He might have given up himself if his men had not reclaimed his motivation for him.
         The infirmary doors were sealed shut when they arrived. After a couple minutes of nocking and trying to reach them over the radio, Shrink decided to improvise with some C4 charges. Two hundred and fifty years old and still the most reliable way to open a door someone didn't want to be opened. A few seconds later and the door was no longer an issue. The squad entered the dust enveloped room to find Gimli and several other infirmary patients along with some of the medical staff armed with scalpels, knives and a few cutting lasers. It appeared that they had lost a few in the fight to seal this part of the ship off.
         “Are you trying to kill us?”, yelled a female physician as she stumbled over the men and women on the floor, now covered in dust. “We knocked, no one answered. So we knocked harder,” one of the marines jested. Irritated, the women went back to treating some of the wounded. Shrink once again eyed Gimli; still sporting his usual hateful expression. He continued to scan the room and focused on a slightly more optimistic record of what happened.
         An alien lay on one of the observation tables. The alien's skull, if it had one, had been crushed.
         “What happened to this one?” one of Shrink’s marines asked as he, too, observed the mangled alien.
         “I did, Sir, ” Gimli replied with little change in his hostile composure. This affirmed they weren't invincible, but still didn't explain why bullets didn't even graze them. Perhaps a form of personal shielding? It really didn't matter, since seeing a dead one of those god-like soldiers was more than enough of a morale boost for both Shrink's squad mates. Gimli hadn't gotten off too easy either. The cuts on Gimli's face and arm showed signs of radiation poisoning.
         "I checked the effects of these… thing’s blades on the private and discovered that, while toxic, the blade's radiation doesn’t reach lethal doses unless you are in contact with them for more than a few seconds. So cuts will only have minor damage to the surrounding tissue," said the physician upon her return, “I’m still working on what might be causing it, so that’s all I can give you.”
         "How are things on the other side of medical," asked the first of Shrink's men.
         "They aren't any better than the rest of the ship. Hallway was full of em’ just before you arrived. Seven, maybe eight. These guys were different though, they carried some kinda gun, not really sure how to describe it," Gimli replied. This was the first time Shrink had heard the man speak since their first encounter was so short-lived. The private sounded relatively kind-hearted for such a menacing character.
         Shrink queried, "Can we get to the bridge through there, or do you feel our hopes are lost?" Gimli looked at the man, now recognizing the voice behind the visor. "I think we can get there, we just need to be careful. These guys move in three man squads, and that gun they have kills no matter what part of you it hits" Gimli said, visibly holding back his irritation with a clenched fist.
         Shrink ordered everyone who was going to move out to grab some medical supplies and anything that could be useful for defense. He ordered Gimli to stay behind, since his arm was still in an alignment bracket, but the Private insisted on tagging along.
         “You’re in no condition to fight. Stay here or I’ll give you a better reason to, ” Shrink stated while raising his rifle slightly.
         “Are you insane, ” the doctor yelled, running up to Shrink as she pushed down the gun. Gimly took the chance, pushed the doctor out of the way and dropped Shrink to the floor in an instant. Shrink pulled back his legs as he fell and proceed to kick Gimli off of him. Shrink rolled to his rifle and pointed it at the private again.
         The doctor stood up and asked with a faked kindness, “Are we done children?”
         “Fine, ” Shrink said, “You can go, but you’re staying in back.” Gimli calmed down when he heard that. He probably didn't want to wait around for one of those things to come for him. No one could blame him, since that was Shrink’s mentality back when the second member of his team had his neck snapped in half. Desperation and hope can be powerful allies in times like these, but a grudge can be just as disadvantageous.
         Gimli prepared to open the door as the rest of Shrink's squad got into position after re-fortifying the door they just blew open. The hatch opened with a loud hiss and Shrink moved into the corridor and quickly surveyed the area; nothing. He signaled his men to move forward, with Gimli in the rear armed with a cutting laser. The pressure doors sealed behind them; the place was to remain a haven for those who did not join them.
         Static. "SIX O'CLOCK," yelled Shrink as his men instantaneously turned and opened fire. The bullets, yet again, withered into glowing dust as the soldiers raised their hands in denial of their strength. Shrink primed a grenade and lobbed it down the hall. The aliens then maneuvered away from the blast but not before one’s shields were overwhelmed as he was embedded with molten fragments. Apparently those shields can't take large blasts and showers of shrapnel. Several seconds of silence were again gutted by the static. A creature appeared behind one of the suited marines, but before the alien could do anything Gimli grabbed it and tossed it to the ground, stomped on its chest and kicked it into the wall. He then grasped the helmet, removed it and used the brace to smash in its face. After that, however, Gimli grabbed his arm in agony, he moved back into cover and sat down in the hall.
         Then they heard it. It sounded like a whip being swung over your head. Two rounds barreling down the hallway; they were rods that had been thrown like knives at a target and they glowed a deep, deep crimson. The rods struck the wall and exploded into dust, taking a good portion of the hull with it. The second volley landed on the marine to Shrink's left, after which the man flashed into a crimson cloud of glowing dust. As if things weren’t bad enough already.
         Shrink called for the retreat towards the bridge. They could use it to hold off for at least some amount of time. As they started back-peddling towards the bulkhead, static came in over the intercoms once again, but far more powerful and irritating than the usual. There, standing in front of Shrink, was a new enemy. This one's armor was snow white, and he wielded not a gun nor spear but what looked to be a crescent blade which was held somewhat like a reverse saber, only glowing a deep, mystifying blue. As the creature manifested before him it swung downward, relieving Shrink of his weapon... and his arm.
         The sergeant fell to the floor, scrambling backwards as far as possible, trying to keep up with Gimli and the other marine. The alien came over the crawling man, but took a moment to stare and admire the pathetic scene laying before him. A soldier could appreciate someone, or something, that can admire the beauty of such a situation. The emotions and sensations he was experiencing were both terrifying and fascinating. It then made a small grunt, as if to acknowledge its own victory, and made ready for the final blow.
         The white-armored alien then vanished into a static retreat as Gimli came at it with a heavy uppercut reinforced by a cutting laser in his hand. The creature barely evaded a deadly blow. Gimli then grabbed Shrink and began to drag him, using the dead marine's rifle for cover fire. The white alien teleported from side to side, evading each burst of fire until it vanished altogether. The other marine was busy on opening the door. He had to override the panel to get it to open due to the security lockout from the initial boarding of the ship. Gimli put Shrink down, he leaned him on the wall next to the bulkhead and handed him his cutting laser.
         "Watch our backs incase they get too close," Gimli said, moving quickly to provide more cover fire despite the uselessness of their munitions.
         "I got it!", shouted the last man of Shrink's squad as the door panel glowed with a green light. The three relaxed a bit with the prospect of answers and rest from the captain. The door opened, and a cool rush sucked the man through before any of them could even understand the reason for it. The doors slowly inched open, revealing their hard kept secret. The bridge had been removed. All that was left was the vacuum of space.
         "Our only choice is the bridge escape pod. If we don't get in there we'll die from decompression," Shrink shouted at Gimli. He nodded and jumped across the hall to grab Shrink. He then gripped the inner handle of the bridge doorway and swung round into the open pod hatch, landing Shrink just within the walls where the suction wouldn't take him. Shrink mustered up a confused expression. He wondered why Gimli didn't take the pod, seeing as Shrink was already in a dire situation. But those questions would go unanswered as a round slammed Gimli in the back and he disintegrated into mist.
         The crimson dust upon the star-scape was one of the most beautiful things ever observed. If there was ever a rival for the waves on the high cliffs of England, this was it. The sight of glowing, deep red streaked across bright blue giants in a swirling dance of eternity, which was complimented only by the irony of being saved by a man who hated him from first sight, could almost make you cry.
         It was interesting to think that despite all this, hope was what Shrink was fighting for. Every action was in the effort of keeping spirits high, giving themselves a reason to fight. Even when the doors to the bridge opened and it decompressed the deck. Even though Shrink and Gimli could never get along under normal circumstances. Even though in the event of a bridge decompression the escape pod is given thirty seconds before automatic departure.
         You remove the log stick from your helmet's exterior slot and toss it back towards the weightless chasm it came from. This was the fourth helmet cam record you had come across after reviewing the main ship archives of the incident. Most of the cameras were down during the incident save for medical, main barracks hall and the bridge. From these records you witnessed the special operations team get massacred after the bridge security team moved past them not but three minutes prior. The weapons disintegrating every one, everything they hit. You look out the door, observing the brilliant blue giants in their struggle, trying to image how the sergeant really felt before he died. Neural implants only hint to subtle emotions, nothing like an exact record of thought. Recalling your true purpose, you push away from and head down the corridor to look for more information and, hopefully, survivors.