I will always remember Als Quay II, not for its beauty, but for the wanton destruction I witnessed there. And because of the three things I brought home.
It was during final stages of my search for the entity I had recently identified as the Klone. The same entity that had come to my rescue when I was stranded lightyears from civilization. According to reports from pilots I have spoken with, the Klone have a presence in the system Als Quay II, where conflict between clans is vicious. I wanted to meet the Klone face-to-face, and I figured that system would be my best chance to find them.
All was quiet as my jump cycle finished, I scanned for nearby celestial bodies or installations. My sublight communication device beeped, indicating I was receiving a transmission. I keyed to receive it.
|_=-_-|=--_-__|.._-==|-_--_==_._.._=.=.-_|
The message was a jumble of encrypted noises, buy my scientist Dr. Mauv began to run it through decryption programs. By the time we had it decoded, the transmission has stopped. But what it had been saying was:
“#KLONE station ALs QUAY 2. INTERNAL Threat DETECTED! BOMB . . . ALL KLONE swarm swarm Capo! Inferior HUMAN bomb does NOT . . .�
From the cockpit I could see a flare of light billow out further in the system. I punched the thrusters for maximum power and rerouted energy to my weapons. When I reached the site of the explosion, there was nothing left but drifting shrapnel. My sensors picked up a ship nearby which was clearly leaving at a nonchalant speed, callsign . . . Capo. I hailed him, but his only response before jumping was “Just business�.
Before I could make anything of the incident, Dr. Mauv said he was picking up biologicals from the debris. I scanned closer and tractored them aboard.
In my cargo hold sat the three strangest things I had ever seen. They appeared to be robots, but they were small and rounded, more toy-like than functional. But beneath the glass domes of their head, there were unmistakable human brains!
I was shocked and completely at a loss of how to react. Instead, the things spoke first. One approached me in a waddling gait and asked :
“#HUMAN-alien, why DO you use INFERIOR FLESH CHASSIS?!?�
“Are you the Klone?� I asked the little things.
“#WE are the KLONE, chassis: pre-KLONE! What are YOU!�
I paused, beginning to understand, “I guess I’m your new daddy.�
I can’t account for the motives of pilot Capo, nor can I explain the animosity Evochron has towards this Klone, but I can be sure that no one . . . NO ONE should leave a child behind.
Pathetic human Kapo . . .
[Edited on 7-14-2012 by Agent Zirdik]
[Edited on 7-14-2012 by Agent Zirdik]