Fiction:Murder on the Wental Express

While the War for Wental rages on, the TIAF has decided to covertly send supplies to the Wental Alliance, to keep relations positive. However, not all of the WA nations are willing for peace with the TIAF...

Day One, Februn 28, 1054 SY
After recent conversations with Wental Alliance leaders, the TIAF had decided, in the interest of peaceful interaction, to passively help the Wental against the Iteok, sending food, ammunition, and other supplies. The supplies would be sent along the Wental Expressway, a safe passage to the Wental Galaxy from the Bunsen and Portea Galaxies.

The supplies would be carried on the appropriately named Wental Express. Even though the Wental Express was fast for a TIAF cruiser, it would still take a while to reach the Wental Galaxy.

On board the shuttle train was beloved Ambassador Katelyn Devidies. She was to be the Head TIAF Ambassador to the Wental Alliance, now that the TIAF had officially made contact with the WA. As the Express began to depart from its Ocshella terminal, she was wished luck by her friends who she would unknowingly never see again.

The Express had made good headway towards the Portea Galaxy, the first stop on the trip. Meanwhile, Katelyn waited in her cabin.

"Awful nice train they got here," she said to herself. "Almost like you could live in this place for a while..."

Suddenly, a Tybusen in ragged clothing popped up from under the covers of her bed.

"Yippee! Freedom!" the Tybusen said.

"Holy- Where'd you come from?" the shocked Ambassador asked.

"I've escaped from the VFP; horrible regime they've got going on over there," the Tybusen explained. "Damn communism. Poverty everywhere, it's a wrestling match to get a loaf of bread even in the wealthiest cities."

"Well, it's good for you that you've escaped, but you're not supposed to be on this train," Katelyn said. However, as she approached the cabin door, the escapee suddenly reached under the sheets, pulling out a Paralyzer Gun.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"What-? How'd you get that, that's TIAF technology!"

"Heh. There's a lot left to explain, girl, but I won't bother to explain."

"Well, I'm at your mercy now. What do you want?"

"Say...you're that Ambassador, aren't you?"

"Uh...yeah...?"

"Tell you what. You keep me hidden, and I won't hurt you. Deal?"

"Deal."

The runaway once again dived under the bedsheets as a knock was heard on the cabin door.

"Snack cart, whaddaya want?!" a clearly annoyed voice said.

The fugitive popped up again and made a hand signal. Katelyn recognized it and answered the snack cart guy.

"Uh...I'll have a fruit pastry..." Katelyn watched for the next signal, which was a two. "...and I'll have two!"

As she opened the door, the clearly exhausted snack cart man violently threw the fruit pastries into the cabin while Katelyn gave the man some money. He continued on his route, muttering, "Why did I have to be the damn snack cart guy..."

The Tybusen silently ate his pastries, seemingly happy to finally have something worthwhile to eat other than that offered by the socialist VFP government. Meanwhile, Katelyn paid no attention, looking out the window, watching the stars zoom by. Well, this has been a good start, she sarcastically thought to herself.

As the train pulled up at the Feldeep Station in the Portea Galaxy, the runaway thanked Katelyn for her kindness and sneaked out the door. She saw the young Tybusen shortly afterward running across the platform, station security tailing him closely. Poor kid, she thought as she watched the runaway disappear out the exit.

Katelyn climbed into bed, wanting to get some rest before the train departed again. She found pastry crumbs all over the sheets. Wiping them off, she pulled the covers over her head and fell asleep.

Day Two, Marta 1, 1054 SY
As Katelyn woke up the train was already moving fast towards the Cyrannus Galaxy, the next stop on the trip. She heard a loud thumping on the wall next to her. Annoyed, she headed out into the central hallway and headed to the cabin where the noise was coming from. She opened the door to find a family of Lustergan playing some odd dancing game on a Y-Box 720.

"Oh...sorry," she said as she gently closed the door. She went back into her own cabin and sat around, thinking of something to do. She'd brought along some books and her laptop, but she wasn't in the mood.

Suddenly, someone was knocking on her cabin door. When Katelyn opened up, it was one of the Lustergan children from next door.

"I'm sorry for making so much noise, miss," the child said innocently.

"That's fine. I could have used a wake-up call," Katelyn replied.

"Um...would you like to play with us?" the child offered.

"Uh...sure..." Katelyn said hesitantly. She closed the door to her cabin and followed the kid to the neighboring cabin, where the rest of the family was still dancing, unaware that someone was watching.

Finally, someone noticed her. "Oh! You must be our neighbor!" one of the Lustergan said, presumably the father. "We are really sorry for the noise. It's going to be a long train ride, and well, we needed something to pass the time."

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," Katelyn said. "Say, this looks fun! Mind if I join?"

"Of course not! Hop right in!"

The game was much more fun than she expected. It was Dance Dance Electrocution, a fast-paced, popular video game back in the TIAF. All of this time had been work for the Ambassador. But now, it was time for some fun! Eventually, everyone was tired out, and Katelyn retired to her cabin.

Using her laptop, she went on SpaceBook, a social network, and began chatting with her friends. Today was a fun day; but tomorrow would have to be serious.

Day Three, Marta 2, 1054 SY
Katelyn woke up on the third day as the train was in motion once again. She had had a nightmare; that the ship was going to be attacked; but she realized it had only been a dream. The Lustergan family next door was still asleep, and there was no noise from the rest of the train, other than that of the engine. It was an eerie silence, giving the sense that she was alone.

The train had already left the Cyrannus Galaxy while they were asleep, and now was directly headed for the Wental Galaxy, her final destination. She made herself some coffee; latte, just the way she liked it; and looked around. She opened up her suitcase and flipped through some files on the Wental Alliance. There were a lot of files. Senate of Stars...War for Wental...

By now, the residents were already up and moving. She could hear the dance music from the Lustergan cabin next door, while she recognized a Fernikki and a Wub having a debate about Spoffits. She had flipped through almost every file, when she came across an interesting document: the Yama.

Based on TIAF intelligence, the Yama were a warfaring member of the Wental Alliance. They had been the primary representative for the WA during the recent WA-TIAF talks. The TIAF had unintentionally provoked them, saying over the communications screen that they "would love to have more targets for their ships to aim at", which was quite blatantly a threat towards the TIAF. Intercepted Kraw-WA transmissions had a Yama rep loudly badmouthing the TIAF. If any of the WA members were to war against the TIAF, it would be the Yama.

Katelyn began to think. Though the TIAF was sending supplies along this route, if the reports were right, the Yama might attack the supply ship and attempt to brew war between the WA and TIAF.

That's when the announcement came:

"We are entering the Wental Galaxy, but it appears as though..." The captain was cut short by the sounds of angry yelling and gunshots. Suddenly, a new voice was heard: "TIAF fools, prepare to meet your masters!"

The sounds of panic were heard across the surrounding cabins. Katelyn tried to gather her things, but somebody barged into her cabin. The unknown person hit Katelyn in the back of her head with the butt of a gun, knocking her out.

Day Four, Marta 3, 1054 SY
The Ambassador woke up again, but she was tied to a chair. An alien species was wandering about the room, combined with a species she recognized, the Xarik-Radux. Quickly glancing over to the Yama file, the aliens' appearance and the picture matched. It was an attack by the Yama.

"Look, she is waking up," a Xarik-Radux said.

Whom Katelyn assumed was the squadron's leader marched straight up to her and pointed his blaster in her face.

"Foolish Tybusen," the leader yelled. "Don't make a move or I will kill you."

"What are you doing here?" Katelyn replied. "This ship was meant for the Wental Alliance!"

"I SAID DON'T MAKE A MOVE!" the leader cried, putting his finger on the trigger.

"No- Please don't kill me..." Katelyn said, staring down the barrel of the gun.

"SILENCE!" the Yama said again, pushing the gun closer to Katelyn's face.

"Please...I didn't do anything..." she said, tears coming from her eyes.

The Yama leader was about to shoot, but a sympathetic Yama soldier stopped him. "Wait, commander. Perhaps she knows something."

"And what would that be, soldier?" the commander said, turning to face the Yama soldier.

"She could tell us where those TIAF Wental Colonies are. We've searched forever and never found them."

After taking a second to think, the commander lowered his gun. "Alright, girl, you are coming with us."

He untied her and began to lead her out of the room. "Don't try anything funny," he said, shoving the gun against her back this time. "Or your head will be hanging over my fireplace by next month."

They led her into the cockpit, where two dead pilots were on the floor. It appears that they had turned it into an interrogation room. Outside, the train was still moving, but was being escorted by a fleet of combined Xarik-Radux and Yama ships.

Slamming her head against the table, the commander asked her loudly, "Tell us where the Wental Colonies are!"

"I don't know! I don't know! All I knew was that the train was supposed to take me there, that's it!" Katelyn said, still crying.

Disappointed, the commander signaled to his men, who tied the Ambassador up again, and led her down to the engine room. She was thrown inside, where various other passengers were being held. Exhausted, Katelyn collapsed on the floor and fainted.

Day Five, Marta 4, 1054 SY
Somebody was shaking her back and forth, saying something indecipherable. She slowly opened her eyes to see the young Lustergan kid again, saying, "Wake up, lady" and "Come on, wake up!". Getting up, she realized that she was still tied up. Desperately trying to squirm out, she noticed the child was untied. He had clawed his way out.

"Do you think you could untie me, little boy?" she asked. The Lustergan nodded and proceeded to untie her. However, at that moment, a Yama opened the door to the engine room. The kid quickly ran out of sight, while the Yama looked around. Seeming satisfied with what he saw, he closed the door and said, "All clear in here, sir."

The child returned and continued untying Katelyn. She got up and inspected the area. She noticed the engine wasn't running. This meant they had landed somewhere. "Now's our chance," she whispered to the remaining hostages. The Wub from day three volunteered to go out and scout the area, at which point the others would sneak out and hijack any spacecraft they could find on the planet.

When the scout gave the "all-clear" signal, the group moved out. Avoiding the transparent cabin doors, they slowly crawled down the hallway, hiding when a soldier came by. Slowly but surely, they had made it to the cockpit door. To either side was the exits. One group would go out the left side, the other would leave the right side.

Katelyn was in the left group. As they were climbing out, she heard someone approaching. Damn, she thought as a very angry Yama soldier ran up.

"I found 'em, Commander!" the Yama exclaimed. Katelyn waved for the others to make a run for it, which they did, heading for a nearby Yama base. Meanwhile, Katelyn was about to have an unfriendly confrontation with the Yama commander...

"Trying to escape, are you?!" the Yama said. "I must say I'm impressed you got this far. But you are in big trouble."

"I have done what was right," Katelyn said. "They were innocent passengers, looking for a new life in Wental!"

"TIAF citizens, filthy TIAF scum, that's what they were!" the Yama said. "Now, how shall I execute you..."

"EXECUTE?!"

"You didn't think you'd escape us alive, did you?" A voice was heard over the commander's radio. "And now your friends will die too."

The soldiers rounded up the passengers and surrounded them, pointing their guns. "Now, your poor little innocent citizens will die before your own eyes."

The soldiers fired into the crowd. Most were shot dead immediately, though those who survived tried to fight back. It was of no use. Katelyn wept silently as innocent TIAF citizens were murdered mercilessly before her eyes. That angry snack bar guy. The family of Lustergan. And the child. The child.

With a sudden burst of energy, the Ambassador tackled the Yama commander. "You're all just cowards, that's what you are!" she said, screaming at the top of her lungs into the commander's face. "Afraid to let innocent bystanders get away and turn you in! You...complete...MURDERERS!"

The commander regained his focus and pinned Katelyn to a wall. "Murderers?! COWARDS?! We are not murderers, nor cowards!" He pulled out his sword and put it to Katelyn's neck.

"WE...ARE...YAMA!!!"

And with one fatal swipe, he crushed the Ambassador's neck with a blow with his sword. Ambassador Katelyn Devidies was dead.

After a short moment of heavy breathing, the Yama commander calmed himself and began barking orders to his subordinates.

"Soldiers, prepare the fleets for battle. We will make sure not a living TIAF soul will ever be known to us again!"

"YES, SIR!!!"

Epilogue
Meanwhile, a TIAF spy ship watched from above. Two unknown figures watched the carnage.

"We were too late," one spy remarked. "All 100 passengers dead."

"You don't suppose we could have done something," asked the other spy.

"Well, we couldn't just barge in there, they had us outnumbered 50 to 1," the first spy said. "And if we were compromised, the Wentals would know that we were suspicious of them, and that would have been a relations disaster."

"Not like we were having a relations disaster already..." the other spy remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How's the download doing?" the first spy said, changing the subject.

"...And the video feed has been uploaded," the other spy announced. "We must hurry. They could be coming this way right now."

"The Assembly's not going to like this..."

The spies quickly headed for the hidden Wental Colonies, where the information could be safely delivered.

The next day...

Captain Lorrelas stormed into the command room of the Tropicana Base, where the rest of the Captains were waiting. The information had arrived yesterday night and it did not please Lorrelas at all.

"Yama bastards," Lorrelas muttered as he walked to the Imperial Palace, only 1/2 a mile away.

Inside the Assembly Atrium, both the Council and Board were gathered. Lorrelas and the Captains took their place on the stage, while the Honorable Chairman and Chief Councilman stood by.

"Representatives and Councilmen," Lorrelas began. "Yesterday, a Wental Express ship was raided and commandeered by hostile Yama and Xarik-Radux forces. There appears to be no provocation other than the discussions five days ago."

"All 100 passengers were killed, either shot or beat to death," Lieutenant Samenor continued. "The status of the cargo is unknown, but it is believed that it has reached its destination - albeit by undesirable means."

"Of the 100 killed was Ambassador Katelyn Devidies," Admiral Mermus announced. There were gasps of shock and horror amongst the crowd. "Beheaded by the Yama commander himself!" The Councilmen and Representatives went into an uproar, screaming terrible things about the Wental Alliance.

Just as things began to get out of control, Honorable Chairman Albert Kostova lightly tapped on the microphone to get the attention of the Assembly.

"Now, I am aware that this is a shocking loss, and the means it was carried out were barbaric, at best. But we are civilized politicians, friends, let us not devolve into chaos!"

Chief Councilman Joseph Rithrink joined the Honorable Chairman in the following announcement. "Now, the subject of possible war with the Wental Alliance is at hand. Shall we take our vote?"

"All in favor," the CC began. "Of war with the Wental Alliance, say 'aye'." After a brief moment to allow the legislators to type their votes into their handheld voting devices, the HC led the next vote.

"All in favor," the HC began. "Of maintaining peace with the Wental, say 'nay'." Another moment was taken to allow the opposition to vote.

The votes were tallied. Of the 120 Councilmen, 119 favored war, with the only one not voting for war having been absent on account of sickness. The results for the Board were similar. 95% voted for war.

"So it is war then," Samenor muttered quietly under his breath.

"The Assembly has spoken, let us make the march to war!" Lorrelas said, raising his Trident to the ceiling. The Assembly cheered, and the Captains left the Assembly Atrium.

"So, what next, Lorrelas?" Khoffman said.

"Prepare the military for war. Call in all of the fleets in the territories safe from House Xarikuz," Lorrelas said.

"Calling in just the Cyrannus and Sana-Forma fleets, eh?" Khoffman said.

"We have the Wental Territory to fall back on," he said. "And besides..." Lorrelas pulled out his Projector Device to show a picture of the Iteok. "They've got other things to worry about."

This will segue into the TIAF's involvement in the War for Wental.