The Calm Before The Storm. (2)

Unlike on the lower level, there were actually functioning and moving vehicles here, with a vast majority of them being both wheeled and thruster propelled large people carrying vehicles known as Quantums that transported people to and from their places of work – with the vast majority working in the mine and at the Station. Relovan walked past a pick up and drop off type depot where people either boarded or descended from these Quantums known as a Rank which despite the time, was a hub of noise, foot traffic, smells and everything else that a large number of vehicles and people are bound to produce.

Relovan walked past it without giving the Rank so much as a second glance and soon enough, he reached a building which was large and relatively clean. A number of Police Cruisers, painted in a similar colour scheme to the Police uniform were parked both on the street, and within the precinct's parking lot. Relovan walked in through the front door with a grumpy look on his face. He walked in to chaos, as a number of Enforcers were in the process of suiting up as well as arming themselves. He didn't even have time to fully take in what was happening, because no sooner had Relovan walked in was he being accosted by the Captain.

"Enforcer Relovan – you're finally fucking here!" The short, rotund Hhagu man bellowed as his snout twitched. "You made it just in time!"

"Just in time for what? What is going on here?" Relovan asked as he continued to look around.

He received a heavy bag being shoved into his midriff in lieu of an actual answer, and a desperate look on the Captain's face.

"Just follow me – please. I will explain on the way!"

Relovan then suddenly noticed that the Captain was dressed in tactical combat armour that had become quite tight since the last time it was worn. Before Relovan could answer, the Captain started roaring for the Enforcers dressed in their armour to rush to the cruisers. They all did just that, and the tall and confused Human Enforcer was forced to just go with it all for the sake of getting answers from the panicking porcine Police Captain. They ran to his Personal Cruiser, and both Relovan and his superior Enforcer hopped in the back, while the Captain's personal assistant leapt in front and started the vehicle. Sirens blared right from the onset and the car burst out from the precinct onto the road, with the selection of Cruisers following suit. As they bullied their way down the road, the Captain looked at Relovan with an increasingly panicked expression on his face.

"This is threatening to be a very bad day, Relovan."

"What is going on?" Relovan asked in growing annoyance.

"Void Lords, Relovan. Two of them are coming to refuel their Flagships at the Station!"

"How is that a cause for such a level of panic that I was called in on my day off?" Relovan grumpily inquired.

"Because these aren't just average Void Lords, you fool! It's Lady Juxtae and Lord Vox! The entire GALAXY knows that they despise each other, and worse still, they're both arriving at the exact same time!" The Captain roared before squealing and snorting somewhat.

"What?! How is that possible?"

"Do you think I know?! We received a transmission from Station Control, demanding that the best Enforcers come up to the Station as soon as possible to try and maintain law and order during the refueling process."

"…shit." Relovan said to nobody in particular. "What is their ETA?"

We were told two hours at the absolute latest."

"That should give us just enough time to not only arrive, but to also assemble and present something of a competent display."

"Exactly! Time is of the essence."

As if spurred on by his boss' words, the man driving started accelerating even more, with all the Police cars forming an impromptu motorcade. Lights and noise were the order of the day, with every single lane seemingly unavailable for any other vehicle that was intent on going anywhere. The motorcade drove towards a large tower that appeared as though it never ended and stretched directly in space. The Captain continued to panic and filled the silence in the car with unintentional snorts and squeals.

"We're no more than ten minutes out from the Terminal, Captain!"

The assistant got no reply, and after a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, Relovan spoke.

"Tell me Toto, are there any ships waiting to transport us at the Terminal?"

"None at all, hence us being so concerned about time!"

"Does that mean…"

"Yes, we're all driving right through to the Station!"

"…this is going to be tight." Relovan said a somewhat serious expression on his face.

"You can say that again. Listen, you need to take advantage of this time and equip your Combat Armour, Relovan."

"Yeah, that can't quite happen."

The Captain's PA looked in the rearview mirror and realized just how much space was at a premium in the back of the car. Both men were large, but in completely different ways, and the Captain was also looking as though he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Both Relovan and the PA exchanged quiet looks before the driver sighed and spoke again.

"Calm down, Captain. Things will be fine." He said, sounding as though he was just phoning in his encouragement. "We just need to get there and show how we are not panicked or intimidated by these Void Lords."

"That's right." Relovan added dryly before opening the bag to see what was in there.

A number of standard issue grenades including stun, smoke and flashbangs, along with different types of energy pods providing various kinds of ammunition, such incendiary, cryo, stun, and more. There were extra weapons in the bag coupled with the armour, and Relovan just went through everything in silence before looking up from the bag.

"I would need more than a few minutes to equip everything in this bag. Try to get to the Station as quickly as possible, Toto."

"You don't have to ask twice, Relovan." Toto boomed as he drew out even more speed from the car.

"…I didn't ask once." Relovan said to himself as he looked out the window.

The scenery was little more than a blur, however by the time conversation had simmered down, the motorcade was turning into the Highway – a series of multilane roads which connected all of the smaller planets to the main Blargon Planet, as well as the Station. These were usually used to transport things that were better suited to vehicular transport as opposed to Voidcraft transport. The Highways were all domed in clear enclosures, with air and gravity being regulated.

"Captain!" Toto boomed. "Please use the radio to alert the Highway Access to open ALL the gates so we don't waste any time whatsoever."

"It would also be useful if they could lower gravity a bit so we can have higher gains when using the thrusters." Relovan added.

"Good idea." Toto said in agreement.

The Captain, who had been sweating at a profuse rate, looked as though he hadn't heard a word that had been said, so Toto and Relovan had to repeat what they said, only louder this time. Only after repeating themselves a third time, did the Captain hear them and make the requests via the radio after explaining the urgency of the situation. He then alerted the rest of the cruisers of what was happening, and how they were to line up according to the lanes. There was a flurry of activity behind and alongside the Captain's car as everybody began or organize themselves and get into formation. By the time the twenty-car strong motorcade approached the Highway Access points, all the gates had been opened. This prompted Toto, who had instinctively slowed down a touch, to give the cruiser the full beans and accelerate towards the open gate. The other cruisers followed suit and the five rows blasted through the open gates, hooting their thanks as they did.

"Captain Biggum – we shall alert you when the gates are closed and gravity has been adjusted." Somebody stated over the radio.

Confirmation of all that arrived around two minutes after the announcement, which was then relayed by the Captain, authorising and then subsequently ordering the use of thrusters. Acknowledgment of the order was simultaneously given, and soon enough, the cars all began to go through a slight metamorphosis, with thrusters sliding out of the rear side panels as well as the roofs of the cars. After deploying thrusters, nobody even waited for the order to actually use them, as they all did before such an order could be given. Flames pulsed from the thrusters and an immediate boost of speed pushed the cops in all the cars into their seats.