The Man in the Brig

Men and women in blue military outfits scrambled in all directions. They shouted figures and orders at each other as they hastily worked away on large consoles and workstations. They were spread across a massive warship bridge, elevated at three different heights. It was as wide as a warehouse, big enough to require headsets to talk with people across the room. An extensive set of reinforced see-through panels looked out into the emptiness of space outside. At the very edges of the panels, other warships and smaller vessels could be seen floating nearby. Warning signals and safety messages flashed on more than half of the screens that lined the bridge's various seating areas and walls.

At the centre stood a tall throne, lavishly decked out with furs, carpets, and decorative ropes. Posed with her arms folded, merely a few feet away from the throne, was a 7'2" woman. Her hair was a flashy white, tied up perfectly to form a tail-like appendage reaching down to the ground behind her. A prestigious uniform adorned her full body, with gold trimmings outlining its edges. The back of her jacket bore the symbol of the Vanguard: an entirely white depiction of a hand grabbing a planet, cracking it in the process. Despite being wholly covered, it was clear she was well-built. Her expression was infuriated, eyes pinned in particular to the large screen in the middle of the room. It was scrambled but trying to show a 3D map of the immediate area.

A male officer made his way beside her and bowed down as low as possible. "We've confirmed the source of the flash, Empress."

The Empress didn't reply, only tilting her head to the side to show she was paying attention.

"We're in the process of rotating the Homemaker to get visual from the bridge, but we're confident the source was from Yuisco. It was engulfed in light, only for the entire planet to be replaced by a caramel-coloured liquid. None of our comms are getting in at all. All contact with our forces on the planet at the time have been cut."

She tilted her head back, watching as the view on the panels slowly shifted to reveal a planetary scale splatter of caramel substance. It swirled menacingly, with an occasional flash of light stirring within. Many of the screens in the room were quickly filled with scanning software and analytics, gauging the scientific anomaly.

The officer put a hand up to his ear, followed by flicking through some pages on his data tablet. "Early reports suggest a Tier 1 Violation Breaker. Ritual Class."

The Empress clenched her jaw enough to look visibly annoyed. "First objective is to secure the safety of our men within the anomaly. Establish comms and get an extraction team together. Make use of Agrynos, all personnel are to be at battle stations. As the situation develops, lower to all personnel to be reachable at all hours of the day."

"Understood, Empress!" The male turned to leave.

"And prep my Tarksun. I want it to be ready to launch at any moment." Her gaze didn't falter from the caramel target.

The man nodded and hurried off.

At another busy section of the ship, an engineer hung from a strap as he worked to secure a complex-looking engine above a belt feed artillery piece. Many of its components were metal and polymer, yet some looked more fleshlike, red in places. They mimicked organs but served a purpose in a machine rather than a living being. Once attached, he undid a latch by his side to let himself descend to the ground.

He wore dirty blue overalls, contrasting with the much more smartly dressed officers rushing past him. His hair was short, black. After wiping the sweat from his brow, he looked around to notice people were in much more panic than usual. He twisted his lips, unsure of what to do since he was clearly the last to get the memo on what was going on.

"Agrynos has been activated for all levels three and above; please refrain from entering levels two and below. All hands at battle stations. Threat level yet to be identified, remain vigilant and report all findings on planetary anomaly to the bridge without delay." A voice came over the intercom.

The engineer looked up and down the massive open area he was standing in. It was a mixture of a landing pad for spacecraft and a platform for heavy artillery weaponry. And that message sent the entirety of it into chaos as everyone exploded into an even madder rush to ready canons and board fighter aircraft. The latter of which also had exposed sections of fleshy additions, in some cases, being made up of more organic matter than the classic light blue metal that tried to copy the personnel's uniform around them.

"Hey! Hetto! Go get Lanigann! He's on level 5, in meeting room MR013. We need him for the override on the double 'R' Kits!" A voice called out to the engineer, who was snapped out of his stupor.

Hetto was nowhere near as panicked as his surrounding teammates. He simply undid the remainder of the straps that had held him up and took off at a brisk pace. His jog took him through other chaotic scenes. He slowed down when making his way over a high-up walkway. 50ft below were large vats of bubbling grey liquid. Beside each vat were massive fleshy-tech arms reaching into the liquid, pulling out solid artillery bullets, and placing them onto moving conveyor belts nearby. It was a satisfying motion, synced up for each vat in the factory floor he was passing through.

After a few more turns, he arrived at a room, robotically called out for Lanigann, and turned to return to his post. His face was completely drained of the urgency that surrounded him; he was tired. The chaotic noise of the warship he was jogging through drowned out completely. He was moving, but he didn't care if he was going in the right direction as long as he looked busy.

Eventually, he pulled himself together and actually made some deliberate turns, finding himself in a small brig area. Unlike everywhere else, it was empty. Not even a single officer was nearby. The room was split into two elevations, with a walkway allowing for access to the higher section. Lining the walls were prison cells, with thick glass walls for doors. They were empty, just like usual. Hetto made his way to a desk at the end and flipped around the console that floated idly above it via a mechanical clamp. After a few clicks, he twisted it back over.

With a sigh, he walked towards the exit. But just before he could reach out to click the panel beside the door, he hesitated. He took a few steps back. He could've sworn that cell was empty when he walked past it before...

A man in a white, standard-issue prison jumpsuit sat on a minimalist bed at the centre of the biggest cell in the brig. He looked up from twiddling his thumbs. Two friendly forest green eyes peeked out from a messy head of dark red hair.

"Hey!"