Transmission...

01010100 01110010 01100001 01101110 01110011 01101101 01101001 01110011 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01000011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00100000 00110101 00110101 00110101 00110111 00110100 00110101 00110110

Opening transmission...

WARNING

This coded message has been labeled as 'dangerous'.

The next time a message such as this is to be read, a password level of Crimson or more will be needed to access it.

———

The low hum of the engine was a great lullaby, they had found. Attacking ships while the crew was asleep was undoubtedly the best tactic. Being able to control them while their minds were shut off? Easy. Less hassle, and less casualties.

Undrione was a new member aboard the crew. She wasn't used to battle, but her species believed that seeing battle and killing a whole crew to take their supplies was something to be rewarded with. Undrione wasn't against it at all, she enjoyed the thought of taking a ship that was part of USL. Undrione was a member of the Tantibus species. They used psychic abilities to infiltrate the minds of their victims, turning enemies into foes. Then, the newly reformed creature would attack their allies, allowing them to get in nice and quick, taking everything, they needed and wanted.
This ship was special. It was a battleship, and according to Undrione's captain, it was called the Freedom Fighter. It was famous for being the first to sport an almost all-human crew, with only ten aliens and eight humans.
Undrione didn't understand all the hype around the humans. They had only recently joined the USL, about a year or two ago. Yet, every single report they had gotten back from spies within it held some sort of new information on the humans. They were infamous.

They wouldn't be for much longer, though. The Tantibus were going to show them and the rest of the USL how even the humans have weaknesses.

Undrione looked out the small window and saw the ship they were hijacking. It was called the 'Rebel Rider'. A strange name. Though, somewhat familiar. Undrione swore she had heard of it before, but couldn't quite place her finger on it...

Shaking her head, Undrione took a hold of her gun. She wouldn't necessarily need it, but just in case...

Undrione tied her tentacle-like dreads up on top of her head. She didn't need them getting in the way. Her species sported tentacles growing out of their head, and depending on the length of them, their gender changed. Shorter meant male, while longer ones meant female. Medium, however, typically meant non-binary. Tantibuses with medium length tentacles didn't necessarily have genitals. It was strange in the USL and was one reason why they didn't want to be a part of it.
There were weirder species a part of it though.
Undrione sighed as they lined up. She looked at her comrades, seeing them all. She barely knew them, but they had all been nice. Nice for her species, anyhow. Undrione looked forward as the doors of the ship began to open.

It was time.

The lights were all off in the ship except for the soft blue floor lights that illuminated the hallway every seven or so feet. They were almost to the sleeping quarters.
Undrione stopped in front of a door, sensing someone inside. She looked towards one of her comrades and gestured to the door. He walked towards it and pulled a device out of his pocket. He held it up to the hand pad and waited. A few moments passed before it beeped, and the door silently slid open.
Her comrade ushered a few more inside and Undrione followed suit. The doors slid shut and then they looked towards the bed.

A human.

Undrione smirked. This was it. Time to do this.
Undrione pressed her fingers to her temple, and then looked at the sleeping human. She felt her mind seemingly get sucked out of her head, and then zoom towards the human. A few moments later and she and the rest of her comrades were standing in the dimly lit hallway of the ship.

The male comrade who had opened the door nodded. "Okay, time to find the human."

The rest of them nodded and began to carefully look around. Undrione walked over to one of the walls and pressed her hand to it. Instead of feeling the smooth metal, she felt some sort of wet substance. It was dark, and she was unable to see exactly what it was, but upon pulling her hand out into the light, she saw some thick, crimson liquid coating her hand. She grimaced. It smelled metallic. She was about to wipe it off when a noise threw everyone off.

A growl.

Undrione looked towards the noise only to see the human suddenly run by. His curly red hair was almost blown backward as he ran. He stopped suddenly next to her. He looked at her, his eyes a light brown color. "Who are you?" He asked, strange brown spots flecked across his face.

"What?" Undrione asked, staring at him.
The human shook his head. "You need to get out of here! The monsters coming!" Suddenly, the human grabbed her hand and pulled her.

Undrione was suddenly running, the human seeming to have a vice grip on her arm. She attempted to pry herself free. As she did so, she looked back, only to see a huge monster running at them. It had dark fur, darker than black. Its eyes glowed a terrifying red, and it had long fangs growing out of its mouth. Each fang was stained crimson, and it even had some of that strange liquid on its feet. Undrione didn't stop running.

As she ran, she saw the rest of her crew, also running. Undrione watched as they began to lag. She looked at the human, only to see him now running even faster than before. Her feet began to lift off the ground, unable to keep up with him. He was running faster than anything she had ever seen before.

With her now flying behind him, Undrione had ample opportunity to look behind her. She watched helplessly as her crewmates began to get overtaken by the beast. She watched as they were torn in half and bitten in two. She closed her eyes. She couldn't watch.

What are you doing? Kill it!

Undrione pulled her gun out with her free hand and began to fire at the beast. The beast roared, the bullets imbedding into its flesh. Undrione didn't have a chance to cheer as she watched it shake the bullets off itself.
"We're almost there!" The human suddenly shouted.

Undrione looked forward and saw a white light at the end of the hallway. She felt joy fill her heart as they got closer. As soon as they passed through the threshold, she was about ready to cheer.

She blinked and looked around. They weren't outside, they were back where they had started. Except now the corpses of her crewmates lay around them. The human looked around. "Jeepers! This is one mess!" He cried.

Undrione looked around. "What happened? We were outside, and then-"

The human looked at her. "Who are you?"
Undrione stared blankly at him. Did he not remember her?

Suddenly, the same low growl was heard. Undrione took that as a cue to leave. She pulled her conscious out. There was no way she was going to stay in there.

Undrione's eyes snapped open. She was in the human's room, back in her body. She looked around, seeing the dead bodies of her crewmates around her. Only three. There were still more. A lot more.

She looked at the human. Strange water-like liquid covered his face, and he looked pained. Undrione shook her head before pulling out a device. This would transport her crewmates bodies to the ship. No leaving behind evidence of them being here.

After cleaning up the mess, Undrione scampered out, the door shutting behind her.
Undrione stood in front of the next human, also a male, judging by the length of his hair. She looked around. Five crewmembers. The others were working on locating cargo, while the others were waiting outside in case anyone woke up.

Undrione pressed her fingers to her temple again and went in.

After successfully landing, Undrione looked around. She was on some sort of strange world. She noticed plants dotting every corner, with strange stones for the ground. She saw some strange, almost triangle shaped tower off in the distance. Everything had a pinkish tint to it, even herself.

Undrione looked around before seeing the rest of her crewmates. The head of the group nodded before gesturing for them to follow her. Undrione walked along, keeping her hand rested on her gun. She wouldn't let another monster leap out of nowhere.

As they walked around, the sound of voices was suddenly heard. The group quickly pressed themselves against walls or behind bushes. Undrione glanced around the corner and saw the sleeping human standing around more humans and a strange blue alien with tentacles and long clothing. The alien looked familiar. Undrione swore she had seen him before.

Undrione went to move back behind the wall when she accidentally kicked a stone. The group suddenly looked towards her. The human that had been asleep looked at her.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Undrione gulped. She was about to run when the human gestured for her to come over.

"Go." One of her crewmates behind her whispered. "Be the distraction. We'll be ready to attack if he hurts you."

She readied herself before walking out. She cautiously moved towards him. The human sighed, running his hand through his hair. "So, what am I gonna have to deal with this time? Are you like, some resident here? No, this is Paris. Only humans live here, so..."

"Who are you?" Undrione asked, looking at him.

"Name's Astor. What about you?"

"Undrione."

"Nice, but strange name. Never heard it before. Anyways, what part do you play?"

"What do you mean?"

"In this dream. What part do you play?"

Undrione blinked. He knew it was a dream? How was that even possible? "How do you-"

Before Undrione could finish her statement, one of the other humans suddenly walked over. He gave her a toothy grin. "Hello there, pretty lady."

"Come on, Malloy. Even in my dreams you're stealing all of the ladies." Astor said, crossing his arms.

The other human, or Malloy, looked at him. "What do you mean, 'dream'?"

Astor shook his head, his yellow hair falling in front of his eyes. "Never mind."

So he does know it's a dream. But how?
The alien walked forward, confusion on his face. "What species are you?" He asked.

"Tantibus." Undrione sneered.

The alien nodded. Astor frowned. "What's a Tantibus."

"I am not sure." The alien said.

Astor sighed. "That's right. You only know what I know. You are just a figment of my imagination."

"What?" The alien asked.

Undrione watched as the red headed human walked forward. The human looked a her. "You're pretty cute."

She blinked. Part of her felt flattered, but the majority of her was disgusted. "Thanks." She said, putting on a mock smile.

Suddenly, the alien was thrown to the ground, along with most of the humans except for Astor. Astor looked at the rest of Undrione's crewmembers as they tied the others up. "Now there's no one to help him. Let's get ready to work, people!" The leader shouted.

Astor looked around, and then suddenly disappeared. He appeared about twenty feet away. He looked around. "At least being in a dream is good for something." He muttered.

Undrione watched as he held out his hands. Suddenly, two guns appeared. He spun them in his hands and then pointed them at the rest of her crew. Undrione watched as he began to fire upon them. She backed up, her eyes wide. They were dying. So easily. He wasn't missing a single shot. Undrione looked at him. Suddenly, he pointed the gun at her.

Undrione watched as he pressed the trigger. As soon as he did that, she quickly left.

She didn't want to die today.

———

Undrione looked at the sleeping human in the bed. This one was female, presumably. She had super long black hair that was sprawled out all around her. Undrione sighed as she rubbed her arms.

She had just finished cleaning up the corpses of her crew that died in the last human's dream. Now, the rest of her crewmates were inside of this human's dream.

Undrione had refused to go in. She was too shaken up to deal with any of it. She sat down against the wall, trying to calm her nerves. It was then she realized her whole body was shaking. She was absolutely terrified.

Taking in a shaking breath, Undrione buried her face in her arms. She felt a few tears beginning to form. What was happening? Her species was supposed to be strong, able to stand up against anything! How come they had fallen so easily?

Nine. Nine of her crewmembers were dead. There were currently six in the other human. If none of them came back, then fifteen would be dead. There were only two back on the ship, waiting for them to come back. Undrione was about to let out anoter sob when she heard movement.

Undrione quickly wiped her face and grabbed her gun, in case it was one of the humans. She looked up, only to see one crewmember standing up. His eyes were wide, and he was shaking violently. Undrione stood up.

"What's wrong?" She hissed, looking at him.

"There was nothing. Nothing! It was dark. Empty. Devoid of anything! No sound, no light, nothing to feel...I can't...it..." his voice trailed off as he looked down.

"Where's everyone else?" She whispered, gently putting a hand on his arm.

"They're still in there. Stuck. They were pulled in. I barely managed to get out." His head suddenly snapped to look at her. She almost jumped back in fear. "It was like a vacuum, a black hole. There was no escape. I- I think I'm still in there. I'm not all here. I-" he laughed, almost insanely.

Undrione backed away from him. She looked at the rest of her crewmembers, quickly using her device t send them away. She did the same with the one who made it back.

She quickly pulled out her communication device and hurried out of the bedroom. She called up the ship. "Red alert! Fourteen of us are down, the other one is insane, I think. The humans, they- they took them down in their sleep! I'm on my way out, there's no point in staying here! Nothing worth to steal if it takes this many lives! We have to run, we have to-"

Something cold was suddenly pressed against Undrione's back. "Going somewhere?"

———

Undrione sat in the cold cell, her arms wrapped around her as tightly as they could. She was definitely not comfortable. This was a horrible situation. She had been captured on her first mission.

As she sat there, Undrione couldn't stop thinking of all the terrible things she had witnessed. She was going to break down. Maybe she wasn't fit to be a Tantibus. She certainly wasn't if she couldn't handle a few deaths.

If she had just succeeded, maybe then her crewmates wouldn't be dead, and she wouldn't have been captured.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps was heard. Undrione looked up to see the blue alien from Astor's dream standing there. Next to him was a woman with dark brown stuff growing out of her head. There was also another human, presumably non-binary judging by the length of the stuff on their head. Undrione glared at all of them.

The non-binary human nodded. "She was running around our ship, sir. I think she was the only one aboard, no other ones were found. Her ship, however, blasted off without her."

The alien nodded. "Thank you, Human Ulysses."

Ulysses nodded, stepping back. The female looked at the alien. "Captain, what do you propose we do with it?"

The alien walked towards the bars. "You are a Tantibus, aren't you?"

Undrione scowled. "Of course, I am. What else would I be?"

"What did you want with our ship?"

"To pillage it, of course. We need stuff to create our army. We will destroy the USL, it's been predicted throughout all of our history." Undrione hissed, pressing herself against the wall.

The alien snickered. "You're hilarious. Do you even know the absolute might of the USL? Do you even know which ship you decided to pillage? We are the Rebel Rider, and I'm captain Tylerion Knonanes, the youngest captain to ever be given command of a ship in the USL. We are the one of the strongest single fight ship in the USL. Your crew made a bad mistakle sending only you in here to overtake us."

Undrione quickly looked away, trying to ignore the burning of tears as they began to fill her eyes. Suddenly, more footsteps were heard. "I had another lucid dream. I swear, I'm getting absolutely sick of them."

"Why?" I think their pretty awesome."

"Of course, you'd think that, Naomi."

"At least you're lucky you dream."

"And don't have nightmares."

"All of you just be quiet. We have to check on this prisoner."

"Aren't you supposed to be piloting?" The female human asked as Malloy suddenly walked in.

"Autopilot, a great invention, Hoffman." Malloy said, dark circles present under his eyes.

Undrione watched as the red headed human, Astor, and the last female human suddenly walked into view. Astor looked at her. "Hey! It's you!"

The captain looked at him. Ulysses frowned. "You know her?"

"She was in my dream, I swear to you! Malloy was flirting with her!"

Malloy looked at her. "Why would I ever flirt with her?"

"Jack did too, actually."

The red headed human suddenly became red in the face. Undrione shook her head. She was getting tired of this.

"I'm not surprised you recognize her." Tylerion said, looking back at her. "She's a Tantibus."
"What is that?" Naomi asked, cocking her head to the side.

"A Tantibus is a species of alien with extreme psychic powers. However, in this cage, she's unable to do anything. Anyways, they typically attack ships and use their psychic abilities to turn the crewmates against each other so it's easier to do what they need to do. I assume they infiltrated your dreams, attempting to change you then. Though, they usually attack in packs. It's strange to see a lone one."
Astor shook his head. "She wasn't alone. I think there were about five more in my dream."

"I watched the monster kill four of them in my dream." Jack whispered, adjusting the strange device in front of his eyes.

Undrione shivered, looking down. Tylerion looked at her. "What? Are you scared?"

She looked up. "I'm terrified!" She cried, tears falling out of her eyes. "You- you- you killed them all!" She shrieked, covering her face.
The tears ran out of her eyes. She couldn't stop crying. She had reached her breaking point.
"There- there was sixteen of us. Fourteen are dead and one has been driven into madness! I'm the only one left!"

She continued to sob. There was no way she'd be accepted back into the Tantibus after failing, so there was no point to live anymore.
She might as well have been dead.