Breaking the Spirit

[Heresy]

The doors slid open. Everyone waited to see if they were going to be confronted by gunfire, those willing to give themselves up most of all.

There was no one on the other side. Confusion gripped the men and women of the station. Some stood, exposing themselves from cover, with curious expressions on their faces. Others merely stared blankly to where the opposing soldiers should have been.

As the men and women guarding the entrances chattered about this frankly weird turn of events, heavy buckles were heard unclasping. The more intelligent realised what was happening, while the denser stood still trying to identify the sound. However, they were all caught. The Rheinland battleship slid away, decompressing the deck. Emergency doors slammed shut. People tried desperately to hang on as the vacuum sucked them out into the empty void, to no avail. Those that couldn’t were pulled into oblivion. Those that did froze instantly as the temperature plummeted.

The battleship manoeuvred and force docked in different positions, wasting no time in offloading its complement of commandos onto the station. Furious fighting ensued, the soldiers easily outclassing the civilians as they moved inwards on the station. Brief exchanges of plasma and laser were heard all over the station, as the civilians fought for every breath of life against the invasion.

These were the perfect conditions for heroes to be born. Sacrificing their life so others could have a few more moments became common in the few minutes that the slaughter lasted.

Francesca and her team were among the last to fall. When they did, each fell with a gun in their hand, and a hole in their chest.

“This wasn’t written in the fine print…” Francesca said as she lost consciousness, blood pouring from her torso.

“The area is secure, commodore. What are you orders sir?”

“Hmm... First, can this one be saved?”

“They can all be saved if it was needed, but why would you want to save this trash... sir?”

“Just do it. I need a test subject, and this one will do nicely.”

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