Breaking out of Flock 37

Sam became quickly acquainted with EVO weaponry.

It was heavy for something so small, yet clearly meant to be held one-handed. Perhaps it was due to the lizard's hand-eye coordination, but it also could be due to safety. This was plasma weaponry, after all, with an infusion chamber on the front to create and expel the ionized gas. It was like shooting a tiny sun at someone. Either way, the grip proved unwieldy for humans, so Sam grasped it with both hands.

Their escape began. As soon as Sam and Snu burst from their holding cell, they were met by another group of lizards leaving another cell. Sam shot them dead in a volley of fully automatic plasma. When more guards heard the commotion from above, Vinisnu did the same with a spare rifle, although much less graceful.

The first step was successful. Now they had to think on the fly. Snu was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of steel and chrome, but Sam felt the vessel oddly familiar, and looking around, she could surmise a few points.

First, they were on one edge of the prison, and the entrance was close to their current location. Second, another entrance was on the other side, just around the ship's bend. Third was that the area was large for the ship's size. A lot of resources were put into the Lone Wolf's captive holds, which led to the fourth that the security detail was strangely light.

Finally, if a purge were happening and it was initiated a moment ago, the captives in the center of the prison would still be safe, so instead of breaking out immediately, Sam and Snu could try to free the other Pandemians, thus strengthening their numbers to escape. A prison break was in order.

Sam turned to Vinisnu to tell him her plan, only to find him gone.

"We have to save them!" He shouted, already halfway down the block. "C'mon, hurry!"

"Wait!" Sam cried. "Wait for me!"

Vinisnu reached the central prison block and became an immediate celebrity. The haggard remains of other Pandemian civilizations cried for the boy, asking for mercy in dozens of dialects and languages. Snu approached the closest cell door.

"I'm here to help! Don't worry- uh, um…" He stared at the lock. It was entirely digital, ingrained into the energy shield itself. A fresh blast of plasma didn't change that fact either. The boy fumed, trying to find an answer, but he was already tripping on the first hurdle.

"Dammit, Snu, use their wrist devices!" Sam reached him, lifting a pair of bracelets with their hinges seared off. "Now go get the others!"

"Sorry!"

It took a minute, but the two worked their way up and down the three-tiered block and opened all the doors. From the corpse-ridden chambers, several dozen Pandemians rushed out with reawakened vigor, their crippled bodies animated with hope. Within another minute, the soldiers among them were armed.

"Stand tall, brothers!" one of the Pandemians roared to thunderous applause. "Gayshronoya is allowing us to die on our own terms! Let's see to it!"

"Not Gayshronoya, Dozae-Rae," Vinisnu joked, tossing a plasma grenade to Sam. "Hey Sam, what does this thing do?"

"Wait, hold on!" Sam said, fumbling with the small green sphere. It started flickering. "Shit! What did you do!? Where do I throw it!?"

The answer came when plasma whizzed over her head. The enemy was right below them, a full squad of reptilians and a Monos, fresh from the east wing of the prison block. Several grenades flung up to meet them. In retaliation, Vinisnu blew up the size of his tail again and promptly batted them back. If it had touched anything other than his skin, it would've stuck to his person and blew him to smithereens, but luckily, he wasn't privy to that. Sam was because the ball stuck to her glove, so she ripped it off with a scream and chucked it, glove included. It was thrown so hard it made a dent in the black and white Monos before vaporizing the second floor.

Sam fell to her knees, exasperated. "This is too exciting!"

"Hey! We can go out this way!" Snu waved to everyone. "Get up, Sam. We gotta lead the way."

"I swear, Snu, you're gonna get us killed!

In the control room, the Master was dealing with a severe situation. Not from damage to the ship, though. It was horrendous, almost crippling, but manageable with emergency repairs and a rerouting of energy, essentially leaving the fin for dead. It also wasn't the Betelgeuse, as they calculated it wouldn't have enough power to escape the atmosphere. And it wasn't the prison break, though it was no fun for him. A couple hundred unarmed humans running around was essentially sport for the local guards, as skeletal as they were.

"That doesn't matter!" he screeched, eyes beaming at the view screen. "It's your fault that you couldn't snatch your prey! Look at the wound it caused to my ship!"

"And look what you did to mine!" The Shipmaster of Flock 38 said, throwing himself into a rage. "I'll make sure the Fleetmasters string you up once they arrive."

"Bold of you to assume you have that power. I have bled my stock on this planet the furthest. The glory is mine! You have shown no ambition, 38!"

"For now." A secondary view screen showed the Lone Wolf preparing to unfold itself, readying to engage the world as a battle station. "Once my troops have a taste of this dune, we'll see who has the most prestige."

"Sir, there is an issue!" said a random scanner. "We're detecting an energy spike."

"We'll see about that!" The Shipmaster shook his fist. "My human count will be of higher worth, you scavenger!"

"My Lord!"

The Shipmasters of Flock 37 and 38 bantered and raved for a solid minute until 38 cut off. The Flock's bridge remained quiet and confused until the ship began to move on its own, a hum building up in the vessel.

"What's happening?" The Shipmaster asked.

"My Lord, Flock 38 was destroyed. The tower is active."

"Destroyed!?"

It was of immense hubris that the imp had not paid attention to his cameras to the outside world. Otherwise, as was now clearly presented, he would've seen that the tower of Ublaneth had reopened its door.

With a grin as wide as a gator, Doctor Devol watched in glee as the enemy vessel fell from the sky like a ton of bricks. The shot was clean and well-aimed. The alien ship had no way to maneuver mid-transformation, and the core at Ublaneth's base proved how much pure energy it could produce quickly. Their bluff from the beginning of the battle paid off with a beam of pure light, majestic and amber, shot clean through the vessel's root.

"I knew it! Ublaneth's power is truly unmatched!" She moved some dials on her control panel. "Let's line up for a second shot."

However, as soon as she pressed the button to re-engage the firing sequence, her heart sank. She could see the first EVO ship rotate from above with a glimmer in its needle. She could try to scramble the mechanical process to try and close the tower doors, but it was too late. The process was too slow, and she knew it.

"Sorry, mother."

The counter fire blew straight through the tip of the spire. While the exterior remained strong, the single hole funneled the energy from the top down, deep into the earth's interior. The blast reached the chasm, breaking all connections to Ublaneth's core, and showered the manufacturing plant in radioactive light. There was no explosion, no flames. The country simply fell silent as the chasm went dark.

The pilot and navigator that had called for the return fire had saved Flock 37 from sure destruction, and for that, both lizardmen received from the Shipmaster two gunshots to the head.

"Do not disobey your master again!" The imp shuffled in his seat, holstering his sidearm.

His emotions were high, and he could feel his bestial nature calling for more violence. It was ungentlemanly of him, and he needed to think rationally. His ship was wounded but still functional. Another Flock was destroyed, but wasn't a consideration. There was still a battle below him. Yes, he had taken down his two main threats, and his combat effectiveness was still 50%. 

His eyes darted toward the stats. "50!?" He almost pulled his pistol again. "Where are these casualties coming from!?"

With reinvigorated terror, the crew went to their screens to find out. All the while, new reports flew in, one of which was a hail from the gunboats. Twelve in total were approaching on the radar.

"Our gunboats are returning home, my lord," the meek monkey said. "They are bringing back wounded for treatment."

"Treatment?" Those words perked his ears. "Order them to dock and head to the brig. They'll have to quell the prisoners first."

"Excellent, my lord."

"Yes, very good," the Master chuckled to himself. His eyes turned to the prison riots, half out of curiosity and half concern. "I underestimated these humans. What tenacious creatures."