The Next Day

— SGT 10255.198 —

(Mondia, Colyath 11, 8054)

“So this is the so-called ‘Capital of the Galaxy’, huh?”

“That’s certainly what everyone calls it,” Rebehka remarked, passing Conrad a quick glance before turning to look out the window in front of them. “But yes… this is Oriciid’kas, the Capital World of the Core Space Alliance.”

“The Capital World…” Austin echoed quietly while looking through the window himself. He, as well as all of the other Keys, Mark, Luke, Kaoné, and Rebehka, were currently standing in front of a massive window stretching over three stories tall and a hundred meters wide. All around them were bustling crowds and busy shops, not unlike a massive mall courtyard — but what stood out about this courtyard was the fact that it was located on a large space station, anchored in geosynchronous orbit over the planet of Oriciid’kas below. In many ways, Oriciid’kas resembled Earth; it bore the same expansive greens and blues, with wispy white clouds to mix the two, and bright lights shining from the sprawling metropolises on the planet’s dark side. From those lights, it was evident that urban districts almost completely blanketed the planet’s surface; when combined with the plethora of terraformed planets in the same solar system, as well as the myriad of space stations, the solar system of Oriciid’kas once boasted well over a hundred billion citizens all on its own.

The “once” in that moniker was evident, however, in the scars that marked the surface of Oriciid’kas. Craters covered certain sections of the continent directly below the space station, and other areas of the continent were even visibly burning.

“Craters and burning land…” Pierce looked down upon the planet’s scars in disbelief. “This is supposed to be the CSA’s Capital World? Seriously?”

“Those deformations are the results of the ongoing clean-up operations after the Nanocreature War,” Kaoné explained. “The fire, too — I assume it’s controlled.”

“It still looks like this, even after 20 years…?” Mark questioned warily.

“I’d think the CSA would want to clean up faster than that on their Capital World,” Phoenix remarked.

“On the contrary — I think operations are going far too quickly.”

“…Major,” Rebehka stiffly commented as she turned to address Major Nil’kin Dralis, who had just approached the group. While the Earthians and Nimalians were dressed in their casuals, Nil’kin was wearing her purple and crimson armor — the official uniform of her employer, the Chaos Knights.

“Is everything alright with security?” Kaoné questioned.

“Don’t worry, I’ve straightened everything out,” Nil’kin replied, pointedly ignoring Rebehka’s sour expression to give Kaoné a bright smile. “I had business to attend to here on Oriciid’kas, myself, so it’s my pleasure to help you all through travel and customs.”

“How generous of you,” Rebehka deadpanned.

“Generosity aside,” Luke quickly interjected, hoping to get ahead of any arguments, “Major, you said you think the operations here are going too quickly? How do you mean?”

“And what operations are we even looking at?” Twy added.

“Yeah, like what’s even the point of coming up to this space station?!” Sky questioned. “The Gate was on the planet’s surface, so why did we need to come up here?”

“You don’t know the answers to any of these questions?” Nil’kin replied, and then passed Rebehka a haughty glance. “My, it sounds like whoever is meant to be teaching you is slacking in their duties.”

“We were just about to explain when you arrived,” Kaoné stated. “Though given the Chaos Knights’ involvement on Oriciid’kas, your presence might help.”

“Why thank you, Dean.”

“Ahem…” Rebehka cleared her throat, as if to silence Nil’kin before turning to address the Earthians. “As to why we’re here: the scars you see on Oriciid’kas’s surface are the result of ongoing efforts to clean up the remaining Nanocreature nanites. As I’m sure you all know, Oriciid’kas was one of the planets that fell to the Nanocreatures during the war. While the Nanocreatures only held the planet for a month before the CSA could retake it, that month was still more than enough for them to have spread their nanites across the planet’s surface — thereby making the entire planet a hazard.”

“The prudent thing to do at that point would’ve been to glass the entire planet from orbit and start over from scratch,” Nil’kin declared. “When those damn nanites are everywhere, it’s the only sure way to get rid of them all. The CSA even took that stance with many of their lesser worlds that had fallen to the Nanocreatures, but with Orciid’kas, they were too proud — too sentimental. They couldn’t bear to glass their own Capital World, even though it had already been defiled.”

“Dunno if I can blame them,” Spike remarked. “Even if Earth fell to the Nanocreatures, I dunno if I can imagine just blowin’ the whole place to hell…”

“You say that only because you didn’t witness the horrors of the Nanocreature War,” Nil’kin challenged. “When you’ve seen that people, animals, weapons, entire ships — even the ground beneath your feet can be turned against you, all by nanoscopic machines that are incredibly difficult to detect and impervious to most Chaotic attempts at destruction…” She paused for a second to side-eye Rebehka before finishing, “it leaves an impression on you.”

“Regardless, the CSA ultimately chose not to ‘start over from scratch’ with Orciid’kas, or any of their other Transpace Worlds,” Kaoné said. “Instead, they sectioned each planet off by their districts, separating them with energy shields that stretched up into the stratosphere. And then, once the planets were fully sectioned off, the CSA began the long, arduous process of filtering the districts for Nanocreature nanites — removing nanites as they were found, rebuilding buildings as necessary, and eventually reopening districts for living once they were deemed ‘clean’.”

“In the 20 years since that process began, Orciid’kas has had over seventy percent of its districts cleaned,” Rebehka stated. “The efforts to clean the remaining districts are ongoing, but at this pace, Oriciid’kas should be free of Nanocreatures by the end of the decade.”

“Uh… who’s decade?” Conrad questioned.

“SGT,” Nil’kin declared. “’Standardized Galactic Time’, in case you were wondering. The official calendar of the Core Space Alliance, with 300 days in a year. Today’s date is the 198th day of year 10255.”

“And current projections have Oriciid’kas cleared by the end of 10260,” Kaoné added.

“Okay…” Phoenix responded, her attention still lingering on the giant blaze visible from orbit. “…And massive fires help with those reclamation efforts, how…?”

“The CSA may have made the foolish decision of attempting to reclaim the surface of Oriciid’kas, but even they know that there are limits,” Nil’kin replied. “If the Nanocreature situation in a district is ever deemed to be out of control, then the district is evacuated and bombarded from orbit — ah, you can see it now!”

The Dra’kis gestured toward the side of the window, through which a massive cannon on the far side of the space station could be seen. Just as she was finishing talking, the cannon began to slowly adjust its aim, as if acquiring a target on the surface of the planet… followed a second later by firing two shells. The vacuum of space completely silenced the cannon, and the station’s construction prevented the vibrations from its use from reaching the civilian areas; the fact that a massive cannon had just fired upon the surface of Oriciid’kas, however, was lost on no one.

“…The so-called nuclear option, huh?” Luke remarked.

Nil’kin nodded. “That’s right. As powerful as the Nanocreatures are, they’re still vulnerable to raw kinetic force.”

“And given how dangerous they are, hitting them from orbit actually seems like the best option…” Austin muttered.

“That still seems dangerous, though,” Twy said. “Can you guarantee that an orbital bombardment round will destroy every single nanite it impacts? Because otherwise, it just seems like a good way to launch the nanites into the atmosphere…”

“That’s why the energy shields separating the districts extend high into the atmosphere,” Kaoné replied. “It’s a crude solution, but for the CSA’s purposes… it works.”

“The NSD did the same with the Hazard Islands at the beginning of the Nanocreature War,” Rebehka pointed out. “It’s an option of last resort… but it does work.”

“I can only wonder what the people living on the planet’s surface feel, though…” Mark responded warily. “Knowing that they share a planet with the Nanocreatures, or that there are space stations in orbit with their guns turned on the planet’s surface…”

“I’m surprised anyone would actually voluntarily return to this shit-show,” Pierce remarked.

“For better or for worse, Oriciid’kas holds a lot of cultural, economic, and sentimental value to the CSA and its people,” Kaoné said. “To many, many people, Oriciid’kas was — is — home.”

“And if they truly cared, then they would know that the only way to properly save their home is to wipe it out and start anew,” Nil’kin declared.

Luke passed the Dra’kis a confused look. “If you’re so against what the CSA is doing here, then why are you here?”

“That…” A pained expression crossed Rebehka’s face as she replied, “that has to do with how the CSA has chosen to handle the clean-up operations…”

“The Siions, Citans, and Dra’kis alike were all hit hard by the Nanocreatures, as were the Drakkars,” Nil’kin stated. “But that doesn’t stop the Drakkars from being mortal enemies with the CSA. Within a mere five years of the Nanocreature War, those faceless bastards were already teasing the borders of Siion space, again — and the Siions had to pivot to respond. What that also meant is that the CSA had to redirect a lot of resources that they were spending on Nanocreature clean-up to fending off the Drakkars, again. To pick up the slack, they needed us — the PMCs.”

“PMCs again…” Phoenix groaned.

“You Earthians have an odd perspective on this,” Nil’kin remarked. “Among the CSA nations, PMCs are viewed no differently from the national militaries. Our approval amongst CSA citizens is very high.”

“So says a member of the PMC that told the CSA to go fuck itself,” Rebehka retorted.

“We were completely correct in doing so,” Nil’kin huffed. “This reclamation process, aside from being foolish on its own merits, has turned out to be significantly more expensive and time-consuming than restarting from scratch. If the CSA had done as we initially suggested, then they would be in a much better position against the Drakkars than they are currently.”

“So PMCs are running the reclamation efforts, then…?” Twy questioned.

“It’s mostly run by the Black Suns,” Rebehka pointed out. “The Chaos Knights, ever on their high horses, refused to participate in the reclamations, claiming that they wanted nothing to do with half-measures.” She then side-eyed Nil’kin. “Over the past decade, however, the Knights have managed to negotiate a sort of oversight role, under the claim that the Black Suns can’t be trusted to handle the reclamation all on their own. A very convenient about-face, I have to say, especially given that the galaxy had only just learned about how lucrative the reclamation contracts were around that time…”

“Our motivations have little to do with money,” Nil’kin countered. “The Chaos Knights, as always, are dedicated to eliminating the Drakkars and the Nanocreatures by any means necessary! The ‘means’ allowed on the CSA’s Transpace Worlds may be more limited than we like, but our Commander wisely determined that we should not allow our desire for absolute measures to prevent us from acting at all.”

“Ugh…” Conrad groaned in boredom. “So this trip is just a politics thing, huh? More PMC bullshit?”

“Not quite,” Kaoné replied. “The reason Rebehka and I brought all of you with us is to show you, up-close, what can happen if the Nanocreatures get out of hand. In other words…” She turned to look through the window at the planet of Oriciid’kas. “In the following days, we’ll be visiting one of the districts under active clean-up.”

“That’s certainly ‘up-close’, huh,” Luke remarked.

“It’s… is it really safe to go down there?” Twy questioned uneasily.

“I won’t lie, young miss — it can be dangerous. But we endeavor to make it as safe as possible.”

The entire group turned away from the window to face the newcomer who had just spoken. The first notable aspect of his appearance was his height — he stood over six feet tall, mirroring Mark’s height, due in part to the man’s triple-segmented legs. Such legs, combined with his four-finger hands, indicated that the man was a Dra’kis, much like Nil’kin. Their similarities ended there, however, as the man bore a tanned complexion and jet-black hair, organized into long dreadlocks. The sides of his head were clean-shaven, as was his broad face, which bore age lines of someone in their 40s — though as the Dra’kis were a long-lived race, on the order of 500 Earth years, the man’s true age was indeterminable just from looking at him. What could be determined, however, was his employer, as he sported the black, navy blue, and silver uniform of the Black Suns.

“Dean Rebehka Tchiréon, Dean Kaoné Densalin.” The man nodded in acknowledgment of the two women. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Colonel Petro D’Tan, of Sector 1’s Green Suns. I’m in charge of the Metallic Infection Cleanup Operation here on Oriciid’kas.” He then glanced toward Nil’kin. “…Chaos Knight. I take it you’re here for the inspections?”

“I am,” Nil’kin responded haughtily. “Major Nil’kin Dralis. And now that we’ve met, I have other matters to attend to. We can discuss the inspection later.”

“Of course…” Petro muttered, staring blankly after Nil’kin as she turned around and walked off. Once she was out of earshot, he let out a wary exhale. “Those Knights…”

“Sorry to bring her along,” Rebehka apologized. “But when she learned we were coming here, she insisted on tagging along for ‘inspections’.”

“I see. Well, we’re well accustomed to dealing with the Knights’ middle-man ‘inspections’,” Petro replied, and then turned to look at the Earthians. “You all must be the Earthians, then.”

“That’s us,” Luke replied. “I’m Captain Luke Travis, of SERRCom. If you have any trouble with us, feel free to come to me.”

“I can’t imagine there will be many problems,” Petro remarked. “I’ve heard about you from Master Captain Savénos, actually.”

“Savénos?” Luke echoed, “…wait, you mean Gavon?”

Petro nodded. “That’s the one. He seemed to think favorably of you all. To be quite honest, if not for him vouching for you, you wouldn’t be here today. Entry to the MICO is heavily regulated, after all.”

“I see. We’ll need to thank him, then.”

“Wasn’t Gavon part of the Black Suns, though?” Sky questioned, “and you, um… Petro? I thought you said you were part of the Green Suns… what even is that?”

“Ha ha ha!” Petro released a short guffaw as he broke into a smile. “Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve had that question — but it isn’t the first. You see, ‘Black Suns’ is the name of the PMC itself, but within the PMC, there are a number of dedicated sub-organizations named for different colors of ‘Sun’. For example, there’s Sector 1’s White Suns, a special ops group filled with the most skilled and experienced members of the entire PMC — so named since they perform ‘White Ops’, or ops that aren’t classified at all. On the other hand, you have Sector 2’s Red Suns, a black ops espionage group.”

“Are you allowed to just tell us that?” Austin questioned incredulously.

“Given that the Red Suns exist explicitly to be hired for espionage activities? Yes, I’m allowed to tell you that,” Petro replied. “There are a handful of other Suns groups, but the White and Red Suns are the most well-known across the galaxy. The Green Suns, meanwhile, specialize in rescue ops, escort ops, and in-field medical recovery. It isn’t the kind of work that makes us names across the galaxy, but our expertise makes us the best candidate for handling the MICO — that is, the Metallic Infection Cleanup Operation.”

“And you’re here to show us around, then?” Conrad asked.

“Among other things…” Petro glanced toward Rebehka and Kaoné before turning back to the Earthians. “But today is just for introductions. Tomorrow morning will be our first meeting regarding the MICO. Deans, Captain, I’ll forward you the details on when and where to meet before the evening’s over. But before I leave, I’d like to share a few words with you all…” The Dra’kis trailed off, his gaze lingering on the scarred, yet still green and blue surface of Oriciid’kas. A second later, he looked back to the Earthians, a serious expression on his face. “To be upfront, having all of you Earthians here is… unconventional, to say the least. We don’t usually entertain visitors, and few, if any, of the Suns working here on Oriciid’kas have ever met your kind. But I am still glad to see your presence — Earth and SERRCom both have been shielded and isolated from the effects of the Nanocreature War, and I can see the evidence of that in SERRCom’s actions and activities. Your presence here, however, is a valuable opportunity to show you just what the rest of the galaxy has to deal with… to show you just how taxing it can be to deal with even just the remnants of the Nanocreatures.” The Colonel then offered a curt nod toward the group. “I hope your visit here can be enlightening, for all of us. But for now, I bid you farewell.”

“…Well. That’s heavy,” Conrad remarked after Petro had parted ways.

“This sounds pretty dangerous…” Austin muttered.

“I won’t deny that there’s some danger involved, but I think this will be a very important experience, regardless,” Rebehka declared. “Several of you have asked previously for more information about the metallic infection, and… well, this is it. Few places have as much experience with the infection as the worlds of the CSA.”

“I can see that…” Twy responded warily, her gaze falling upon the world of Oriciid’kas.

“Still, the rest of today is for resting,” Kaoné stated as she began to lead the group away from the massive window, joining the crowds moving through the massive space station. “We did spend most of today traveling, after all. But as the Colonel said, tomorrow, we’ll be getting a first-hand look at the results of the Nanocreature War. I’d advise that you all prepare yourselves for that…”