After Tyr had just finished winning the last round of Go, Dylan looked pensive. Tyr took notice of Dylan's far off stare. "Something on your mind?" he asked. Casually moving pieces around the game board.
Dylan focused in and looked Tyr in the face. "I'm just trying to gauge whether or not you were cheating," he responded, not in an accusatory tone, but as a matter of observation.
Tyr looked unfazed. "What would give you reason to think I was cheating?" he countermanded without changing expression.
"Call it experience?" Dylan offered. "Call it friendly curiosity?"
"It's only cheating..." Tyr started.
"...If you get caught," Dylan finished. "Yeah, I know. I've heard that one before."
"It is true a Nietzschean must prove himself superior in order to further his existence. Cheating is not beneath some. But if it makes you feel any better, Dylan, no, I did not cheat this round. Sometimes it is not necessary to cheat in order to win. Nietzscheans may want to prove their superiority, but we still believe in some code of ethics. It is far better for a Nietzschean to win without cheating than to win by cheating."
"Touche," Dylan responded. "So you won this round fair and square."
"And maybe next time," Tyr replied, "you will stop letting me win."
Dylan half-smiled, but said nothing. At that moment, a hologram Rommie glimmered before them.
"Captain," she started, "I am picking up a very faint distress signal coming from a nearby planet. The origin seems to be from a High guard ship but it's too weak to verify."
Dylan looked at Tyr. "To be continued," he ended as he walked out of the room.
-------
The group met on the Command Deck. Tyr took his usual place at battle station. Beka, Harper, and Trance were already there, all going over various readouts on separate screens.
"Status, Rommie," Dylan ordered as he walked onto the bridge.
"We are now circling at a geo-syncronous orbit above the planet. Atmosphere is questionable though apparently breathable. The planet does not appear on any of my astro-charts. As far as I can tell, it's an unclassified, unstable terrain."
"Any readings on lifeforms?" Dylan asked Trance.
"Nothing as of yet," the perky blonde answered. "If there is anything living down there, they must be underground."
"And what about the signal? Any information on the origin?"
Beka spoke. "It definitely appears to be emanating from a vessel of the High Guard. The signal is scrambled, possibly due to atmospheric conditions. It may take some time to decode it."
"Well if it is a High Guard ship down there," Dylan said, "then we definitely need to check it out. Rommie, prepare a shuttle craft for surface landing. If there are lifeforms down there, they may be hostile, so Tyr and Beka, you come with me. Trance, we may need you for medical so grab any supplies you'll need. Harper, I want you to stay here and watch for any possible signs of trouble. Think you can handle that?"
"No problem, Big Boss Man!" Harper chirped.
"Oh, and Harper, try not to get us blown out of the sky, okay?" Dylan smirked.
"Oh ha, ha," Harper made a leering face.
-------
Ten minutes later, the crew was on their way down to the surface of the planet. As the planet loomed ever larger, Dylan spoke, "It looks like we're coming in on the nightside of the planet. Trance might have been right about underground dwellers."
"Dylan," Tyr interrupted. "Do you notice anything strange about this planet?"
"What's that?"
"Have you noticed a sun?" Tyr queried.
Dylan thought for a moment. "No, I didn't," he finally answered. Dylan pressed some buttons on the control panel. "Rommie, do you read?"
"Yes, Captain," the voice came through.
"Rommie, Tyr just brought up an interesting point. Scan the immediate area for any nearby stars that could qualify for a sun."
"Nothing of that caliber, but several smaller stars that orbit within four lightyears. The orbit seems so spread out that the planet would have to spend nearly a full earth year before it's daylight again."
Dylan looked at Tyr. "There you have it," he stated. "It sounds like a good planet for Nightsiders."
"Wonderful," said Tyr sarcastically.
-------
After what seemed a solar night later, the crew had finally landed and checked their exo-suits for status. All checked out well, and the crew set out on foot wearing rebreathers just in case the atmosphere was toxic.
"Ooo, it's pretty!" quipped Trance as she gazed upward.
Tyr, Dylan, and Beka all looked up. The sky was a brilliant red which cast an eerie glow on the objects about them. They surveyed the surrounding area. There seemed to be foliage, but what little there was of it apparently had an all black motif.
"Black roots, black leaves, no discernible water marks," Tyr observed.
"No sun, no nutrients, except what it pulls from the earth," Dylan remarked. "The soil is black too. Not sure what kind of species could survive here."
"I'm not sure I'd want to find out," Beka put in.
"Shh," Tyr abruptly hushed the group. He stood completely frozen, his eyes darting left and right.
"What's wrong?" Dylan asked.
Just then Tyr sprang into action, simultaneously extracting his force lance and jumping toward a nearby bush. He gave out a loud gutteral grunt, and in the blink of an eye had pulled a humanoid lifeform from behind the bush. Immediately, the area exploded into action. Other humanoid lifeforms appeared around them, all holding weapons of different shapes and sizes. One jumped at Dylan with what looked to be a make shift axe. Dylan quickly reacted with his own force lance and blocked the blow, bringing his lance around to sweep the attacker off his feet.
Another attacker was lunging at Beka who swiftly knocked him flat with a kick to the ribs, immediately rebounding off him into another attacker which she punched in the stomach, then brought her knee up to hit him in the forehead.
Tyr had already taken out another three attackers when he noticed Trance in trouble with one of her own. The attacker had grabbed her tail and was trying to wrestle her into any kind of hold he could get on her. Trance was doing her best to fend the attacker off without much success. Quickly, Tyr jumped to her and whacked the attacker across the back of the head with his forearm. Trance jumped free - directly into the barrel of a gun pointed at her head.
"Drop the lance," the owner of the gun ordered.
Tyr started to move, but the man behind the gun menaced at Trance's head. "I said drop the weapon," he ordered again.
The action stopped. Dylan looked up from the attacker he had in a headlock. He let his opponent loose, and the attacker hobbled away. "Go ahead and drop it Tyr. This isn't what we came for."
Tyr hesitated, but then reluctantly dropped the force lance.
"I am Captain Dylan Hunt of the High Guard ship the Andromeda Ascendant," Dylan started. "We're not here to fight."
"Not here to fight, huh?" the one with the gun replied, "then you must be here to die."
"That's also something we would like to avoid if at all possible," Dylan retorted. "I'm sure we can come to an understanding. Why don't you introduce yourselves and tell us why you attacked us?"
The one with the gun, which Dylan had assumed was the leader, paused for a moment then lowered his gun. Trance let out a big sigh, and cautiously stepped away.
"In due time," he started. "First, let us adjourn to a much safer area. The night is a terrible place to be."
He motioned to three men standing behind him. "Take the two women to the holding chamber, The Captain and the Nietzschean will come with me."
Beka looked at Dylan. "Holding chamber?" she questioned.
"Humor them, Beka. At least until we can get this cleared up. I promise, nothing will happen to you." Beka looked pensive, but agreed. She left with Trance and the three guards.
Dylan and Tyr followed behind their captor. He was a short man, probably not even one and a half meters tall. From what both Dylan and Tyr could see his body was covered with a thick hair. He moved very quietly through the terrain. They both strained to hear any sound the man made as he moved swiftly through the black brush. It was almost disorienting trying to keep up with him.
Although Tyr would not admit it, even he was having a hard time following the gnomish creature. Eventually, they came to a rock wall that mysteriously appeared to open at the gnome's slightest gesture. The three of them stepped inside. Dylan and Tyr had not been aware but there had been two others of the short hairy men following behind them.
"Visors," the leader said.
The three gnome-creatures donned very dark visors that covered their eyes. Both Tyr and Dylan glanced at each other. "Lights," said the leader again.
Instantly, the room filled with brilliant white light. Dylan and Tyr flinched at the drastic change. They looked around. The room was quite large, and mostly of drab grayish colors. There were several tables and chairs and no wall decorations.
"Please, take a seat," the leader gestured. Dylan and Tyr sat on opposite sides of a table.
"I must apologize for how the room must look to you," began the leader, "We don't normally use lights. We have no need. We have adapted to the darkness here."
"So," Dylan interrupted, "you want to tell us what we're doing here?"
"It wasn't always like this," the leader continued. "I see that you have a Nietzschean in your crew. Times must have changed if humans and Nietzscheans are working together now."
Tyr said nothing. "I'd like to think we're making progress," Dylan replied.
"What do you have against Nietzscheans?" Tyr finally spoke. "What have we ever done to you?"
The leader laughed. In the light, Dylan could make out more features about him. He was very short, but also very muscular, and his body was covered with a very dense fur. His face, however, was in contrast. It was clean shaven and very pale. The visors were a very dark tint that made it impossible for Dylan to see his eyes. The man's hair was short trimmed and combed back.
"What have you ever done to us?" the man blurted, "My dear Nietzschean friend, it is because of your kind that we are on this planet!" The man leaned over the table in front of Tyr and Dylan. He placed his hands down and Dylan noticed they were gnarled and also covered with the thick fur. "My name is Lucan Saraya of the Lupus Pride."
This time Tyr laughed. "That's impossible!" he bellowed, "The Lupus Pride is a myth! They do not exist!"
"That is what you were taught to believe," the man known as Lucan continued. "What do you know about the Lupus myth?"
"We were taught as children that the Lupus pride was defeated by a race called the Vermilons, and their entire pride was wiped out. It's a classical study of what not to do in combat! These days, if there were such a group of beings called the Vermilons, they would not stand a chance against a Nietzschean fleet!"
"I see they only tell you the half-story, the part they want you to hear," Lucan replied. "But the real story is far more interesting than that."
Lucan motioned to the two men who stepped near the table producing two flimsies then stepping away. Dylan and Tyr gazed at the flimsies. Their expressions changed. "Yes, my friends, it is true. The Lupus pride does exist. And the remnants of their group inhabit this light-forsaken planet."
Lucan stood back up and pulled himself as tall as he could. He took a deep breath in. Then he began his story. "Although now, of course, it is hard to tell when the original battle happened, the story has been handed down from generations. The original Lupus pride lived on a planet that was filled with lightand very beautiful. Then came the Vermilons, an evil group of viscious predators that breathed toxic poisons and naturally produced a sort of slime excrement. I suppose after having depleted their own planet's natural resources, they were looking to take over another planet, and ours was on their list. They attacked our pride and our planet, secreting their poisonous slime and noxious gases. Weapon-wise and strategy-wise we were superior in combat, but we were not immune to their toxins. Our warriors fell ill."
"We had no choice but to vacate the planet in order to survive. One of the surviving heroes of that war was one called Lucan the Great. I am his direct descendant. Lucan the Great was able to gather up several of the women and a few of the men who were still not too sick to walk and escape from the planet. But Lucan was falling ill to the poisons also. He had a plan to go to the nearest Nietzschean planet and ask for help, but the toxins had disfigured him so badly that when they took one look at his grotesque form, and that of his crew, they immediately shunned him, for what good is a deformed Nietzschean?"
"Lucan left that Nietzschean pride determined that the toxins would not get the better of him, that he would find a cure. He was determined that his Lupus pride would live on. They drifted in space for many months with no direction until they finally crash landed on this planet. The poisons were starting to take their toll on the rest of the group but Lucan was determined. Unfortunately, they had landed when the planet was coming into its day season. They discovered too late that the sun passes so close to the planet's atmosphere that the heat outside is enough to melt a man's flesh. Some of them died. The rest moved underground."
"Lucan began taking core samples to determine the elements of the soil and whether or not any of them could help to combat the effects of the toxins. He tried many experiments to no avail. During that time, some of the women fell pregnant. When the children were born, Lucan noticed that they had a natural disposition to see in the dark, and as they grew older their bodies started developing hair to ward off the cold of the night and the underground tunnels. Their pride was evolving to adapt to their new environment. Lucan also noticed that with each passing day, the sick ones seemed to be getting better. The effects of the poison were wearing off. Apparently, the toxins are only good through prolonged exposure, or else the pride was evolving it out of their systems."
"So you ask what have the Nietzscheans ever done to us? And there is your answer, Nietzschean. You are responsible for making us what we are today."
The room was silent. Tyr wanted to say something but thought better of it.
Dylan quickly changed the subject. "We were lured here by a distress signal that seemed to be emanating from a High Guard ship. What of that?"
"Ahh, yes," Lucan breathed deeply. "Your High Guard ship. Come with me." He quickly began to saunter off to another part of the large room. Dylan and Tyr followed. Lucan made a motion and a door that wasn't there silently slid open. The trio stepped into an even larger room.
There, in the middle of the nearly vacant room, was the unmistakable form of a High Guard shuttle pod. And next to it, on the ground, was also the unmistakable form of...
"A nova bomb," Dylan almost shouted in surprise. "But how...?"
"The same way we lured you here, Captain Hunt," Lucan answered. "The Nietzschean shuttle pod that Lucan the Great escaped from had a distress beacon. The signal attracted a High Guard ship, which brought down a search team. Back then, we were not so hospitable as we are now. We needed supplies and food and were willing to do anything to get them. Your High Guard ship had plenty to spare. We took it by force. Your men were not prepared to do battle on our unfamiliar terrain and we used the dark to defeat them easily. We held prisoners to gain access to the High Guard ship. Our men immediately killed the Captain and took whatever supplies we needed. You must understand, Captain, we were warriors, we were sick, and we were desperate. Understanding and compassion was not something that we would have understood or asked for."
"But you killed a High Guard Captain, Lucan. That is not something I can take lightly. What makes you think I would offer you help now? What assurance do I have that you're not setting us up like you did with the previous High Guard team?"
"I suppose you don't, Captain." Lucan replied.
"The Teramus Zenith," Dylan said. "I remember hearing stories about them as a cadet. Under Captain Ethan Malcolm. His ship and crew disappeared without any trace. Even the broadcast transmissions were sketchy."
"That is correct, Captain. And now you know what happened. The atmosphere here has a tendency to disrupt transmissions. It is a surprise the distress signal gets through at all."
"And the ship? The Teramus Zenith?"
"Self-destructed; the last command of a dying captain. Not before we managed to escape with a nova bomb intact."
"And this shuttle pod? If you are so eager to leave this planet, why could you not use it?"
"Our Lupus pride has grown considerably, Captain. We could not all fit into this one small pod. And even if we could, it would do us no good. The pod is damaged and powerless. She will not fly."
"Then may I ask, what plans do you have for the nova bomb?"
Lucan laughed again. "My dear Captain, what plans could we possibly have for a nova bomb? But only one thing! Revenge!"
"Revenge?" Dylan asked. "Against who?"
"Captain, did you not listen to my story? Against the race that brought us to this place to begin with! The Nietzscheans!"
Tyr immediately drew himself up. Dylan stayed him with a hand. "Dylan, I may have been exiled from my own kind, and I can empathize with this man's plight, but I cannot even begin to let him destroy my race due to something that happened before most of us were even born!"
"It's okay, Tyr," Dylan reassured him. "I won't let that happen."
"I'm afraid, Captain, you may not have a choice,"" Lucan intervened.
"What do you mean?" asked Dylan.
"As of now, your starship is being trained on by a very powerful plasma cannon hidden in the planet's surface. If you do not comply with our requests, we can and will destroy your ship."
Dylan studied the short and hairy figure, looking for signs of bluffing. There were none. Dylan did not know whether to take his threat seriously. He decided he had no choice.