Soldiers covered in body armour with shard rifles—some on singular black sashes, others hovered near them or were attached to their bodies—dashed into the medical area. They and their guns were rigid and in formation. Veil was not aware, for they were asleep to the incoming threat.

Hmmmm. Why are guards surrounding the pod? The question lingered in the stranger's brain.

His focus glued onto one guard, most likely a higher-up communicating with the medical staff. She then ended her discussion and just waited. Are they going to attack us? He was confused.

He felt a little unnerved but nerves were meant to be suppressed. He took count of those he will have to face. Eighty-four was the number of the opposition. The stranger was uptight while keeping aware of his surroundings.

The person he kept an eye on convulsed. His best judgement was that she said something pleasurable and her body reacted in said manner. The being who likely uttered a joke was a quadruped about a metre in width and length. No sound could enter the pod, so bodily reactions were paramount in understanding, which there were a lot, and many were of the ridiculous nature.

There was a rapid decrease of the liquid inside the pod. Such a change in level awoken the trio, and the first thing to grace them once conscious were guards. Bewilderment came as the cover popped open and shard weaponry was immediately on every inch of them. None would stand for fear the shards would fell them. Instead, they were made to lie down with their backs staring into the air.

Their pains and injuries were gone. The blue substance with black beads dissolved on their bodies without the pod containing it.

"Why are you doing this to loyal customers?" Zazavin was recharged and speaking was the first exertion of his body.

"We want the currency drives. Don't give me talk about loyalty when you can't pay the bill." The manager of Pit Stop 1612sh, Garawhal, responded. Her uniform blended in with her midnight skin and her cannon was on a mild hump. Their weapons were operated telekinetically through conscious operant technology. This was generally for limbless beings.

"If you give me a chance to stand, I can ..." Durin wanted to explain but was stifled.

"Stand down. You have used several of our locations before and never had an issue with payment. So why now decide to be inconsistent?"

"Our currency drives were stolen." Teinova's honesty prevailed. She knew that the guards were not so easy to deceive. Also, shards were much more capable than blasters, enhancing the difficulty of any confrontation.

"Oh well, that's bad. You know what happens when you can't pay." She crawled close to them. "All five of you have to work it off. Based on the calculations we've made, it would take three months to work off your debt."

I see. They want to exploit us at our best. "Excuse me, can I make a statement?"
A guard complimented his manners to his displeasure. The stranger had to keep moving. The galaxy was vast enough to move ad infinitum. Like light itself, he could never stop.

The stranger then took a small breath and said to Garawhal, "I'm not with them. I was captured by this crazy blue being, so don't consider me a part of their crew."

"That's fine. All I want to see is a currency drive with the proper amount and I will let you go."

"How much it would've been for my treatment?"

The calculation was quickly made and a total of one thousand, two hundred and seven bits was generated.

He prompted them to check for it in his pocket. As they got close, his battle potential sprouted. The letters that formed over him brought shock and amusement.

"I can feel your power. You'll be a nice addition." Garawhal’s weapon—which was set on a tripod—had a faint glow and peeked through the gun butt canister slot.

"I don't like that smirk. It looks evil." Her fangs were shown and Zazavin didn’t like it.

"Come now, you and your posse-"
The stranger re-affirmed they were not his posse.

"That doesn't matter. I have battle potential as well and not afraid to use it. Judging from your prior injuries, you went through a lot. I wonder if you can defeat me."

"I'm confident in my abilities."

"You can't do it yourself. This place is too secure but that's beside the point. Do you know why those next to you won't fight?"

"Why?"

"Because the lifeform that rules this illicit repair empire is beyond them. Even if you somehow defeat me, my superior will chase you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy to bring death to you all." Her outward-facing seven-toed feet gave pressure to everything beneath her as she concluded. She was truly menacing with what she said.

"Stranger, don't do it. You don't want to anger that being." Zazavin was rather fearful of what he would do.

"Hooded guy, I don't beg but don't do it. We're not ready to handle a threat like that. Power down." Teinova was adamant.

"Just listen to her." That was all Durin had to say.

Their stress and worry made him stressed and worried. It was unusual, like it filtered into the air and bogged him down. But something worse came: fear—an abnormal case at that. It initially didn't affect him much, but seeing their expressions whittled away his confidence. It was tearing him apart: fight or stand down? He weighed his options. If he fought, he would have a difficult time, and a wicked feeling came to him at the thought of doing so. He then went to the idea of standing down. The wickedness of this thought. The stranger went back and forth, but with the weapons and their users becoming antsy, he made his choice.

He stood down and his letters faded into nothing—an obvious surrender.

"Common sense prevails." Garawhal had some glee in her saying. They were walked out with their weapons pointed to neuter any chance of reprisal. "You all will make fine slaves."

Garawhal and her guards carried the unpaying customers turned slaves to a different section of the space station. A guard next to Garawhal pulled out some stickers for them to wear. He slapped it on them, one by one, each of them now marked. They were in the same state clothing-wise; there was no chance of allowing Teinova to cover up, giving the stranger a new hoodie, or even applying some paint on Durin’s bare blue body. Zazavin was good but was intrigued by what they stuck onto them. They couldn’t be regular stickers.

"Tracking devices," the guard said coyly. "For slaves such as yourself." Once the guard finished applying the stickers to their bodies, he went to do the same to Brass.

Garawhal turned to them to dispense her commands. "You two."

"Who, me?" Durin pointed to himself, wondering if he was one of the two.
"Yes, you. And your hooded friend as well. You will be lifting crates in separate areas."

She took a few steps to Teinova. "You," The manager's head went up and down to examine her; the awareness and raw ability to perceive her environment made up for no vision. "You will work below the hanger bays."

"What about me?" Zazavin was morbidly curious.

"Are you eager about your new job?"

"No. Only curious how shitty it's going to be."

"This one is not too bad."

Yeah, right.

"You will be in the item maintenance room to examine, clean, disassemble, reassemble, replace and repair them."
The list of things he had to do made him dizzy.

"Feel better now? This is the best job out of the four I just gave out."

"Nope."

"Whatever, your labour is duly needed. Haven't got slaves in some time."

They each went to their separate work locations with the escort of four guards per being. She then went to Brass to break the bad news.

When she fell into grief after learning of her colleagues’ situation, they tried to place the sticker inside her. However, she was swift to shut them out.

They tried to sneak up on her once they noticed she didn’t seek to reason with them, but the reveal of her full arsenal made them think twice.

The head of the facility approached her with her mounted weapon turned off to tell her something obvious, "You cannot win, give up now and face your new role. We have your friends as slaves."

Taking note of the lifeform that faced her and her situation, it wasn’t worth making a scene. Doing so would prove more harmful than anything, so she pulled back her weapons and opened up to let them inside.

Garawhal and a couple of soldiers went inside and searched for a great place to put the sticker. While going through the various segments of Brass's interior, they met the warp drive, which was usually kept in the back and not far from the boosters.

"Manager, can we put it here?"

"No, you idiot. This is the worst place to put it." She thought about the parts she went through and decided that it made no sense to stick it inside. They left Brass knowing that the only good place remaining was at the wings. They wanted it as well hidden as possible.

It was a bit high for them, so Garawhal called for a vertical hover platform to reach it. A guard who had arms went on it and stuck the sticker on Brass. She ensured that lots of pressure were applied while pressing down and smoothing it out for it to remain.

"Make sure to take the warp drive rod." She reminded them of procedure. They went in and pulled it out from its glass-enclosed platform. The removed rods were stored in the Warp Drive Vault at the bottom-most level.

"Hey, starcraft." She grabbed her attention.

"What do you want me to do?" It asked with a tone of discomfort.

"You will be on standby to escort starcraft among other duties.”

She understood. Brass was moved a good distance from where it landed in the hanger bay. Starcraft and slaves got out of the way to facilitate this. Once in the new location, Brass began its role as an escort security ship.

* * *

This place really is bigger on the inside than the outside. Teinova stopped as her guards pulled up a loose slab of metal on the floor that hid the underbelly of the Pit Stop. Dragging it to the side showcased the lights that decorated the dark nature of pipes and circuits. Two guards jumped down and waited for Teinova to do the same. The other guards were behind her, remaining alert.

Her finger touched the sticker on her abdomen to determine its composition. She became perplexed by its texture and decided to touch it again, making the guards impatient, and this drove her to jump down.

There were numerous pipes with the sounds of liquids and gases passing through them, no matter how thin or thick, served as a nuisance. The organisms working close to her did not seem to be in a state of suffering. Rather, they were focused on the task at hand.

A very skinny being attempted to seal a leak with sealant gel dispensed from a tube. Due to it lacking energy, it collapsed. After checking vital signs, he was declared dead. Unable to continue, a guard grabbed his item and gave it to Teinova to begin her inordinate work in the underbelly of Pit Stop.

* * *

Durin had arrived at his 'work' area. A guard stood in the presence of a bioscanner—a security measure next to every major doorway that halted unwanted entrants. His fingers made it easy to pick up crates. In most instances, only two of them were needed. He expended little effort in moving the crates, but to his luck, there were ten more stacks of grander size to be picked up. He went well into his shift doing the same repetitive motions with the slaves that were near him.

To ease the burden, he used his crude oil to slide them across the surface, and in a matter of minutes, he was done.
He extended his abilities to others that struggled in said task.

They were grateful for him. Durin aided them until the end and they loved it. The storage facilities, which were near the hangar bays, became a place worth working because of him.

For the stranger, he threw the crates in any manner he saw fit. The guards approached him to find out why and he told them he didn't care and that he'll escape soon. This especially angered Sloly, one of the guards.

The slaves spectated them pulling out their weapons for the stranger. They were fearful he would die trying to stand up to them.

He didn't care. He was ready to fight with his words above him. They were going to have to do their worst.

* * *

Zazavin was at his designated spot—bored if anything else. Cleaning and examining tools was something mundane. He honestly didn't know where he was, but it was big and there were lots of spare parts in containers. Many beings were doing the same as Zazavin and all were under close watch. What he did was simple. But freedom, the thing he wanted most, was far away.

THANK YOU FOR READING IF YOU REACHED THIS FAR. IF YOU LIKE THIS AND OTHER CHAPTERS, FOLLOW, LIKE, SHARE, COMMENT, AND ADD THIS BOOK TO YOUR LIBRARY FOR MORE BATTLES BEYOND. MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORIES AS WELL.