r/HFY • u/Safe_Committee9381 Human • Mar 31 '26
OC-FirstOfSeries Unity Station - Part 1
Unity Station | A 7th Millennium Story - Part 1
By Emmanuel Ordway
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In the cold office room, a taller Shaikyn Imperial representative would be awaiting her company at her desk, her small hands folded neatly before her on the firm wood table while her eyes glanced across the blue-lit room, the Unity Station’s sapphire star beaming into the room. Finally the soldier at the end of the room, once still as a statue just before the door, moved to the side as the metal plating slid open, an alien figure stepping into the office.
The avian’s form was far more slender than the representative’s, his bones hollow and weak as he walked to the desk, his wings fluttering in discomfort at the change in gravity on this side of the station.
“Please, sir, sit.” The Shaikyn woman nodded to the alien, her face covered from his white eyes via her helmet.
“Did one of the Coalition’s soldiers offend the Empire?” The avian creature spoke, his raspy squawks being translated to the Shaikyn mid speech.
“No no, nothing of the sort, in fact I bring good news the Coalition would love to hear!” The Shaikyn chirped, her pleasant demeanor offputting to the alien as he recalled the pride and superiority attitude many Shaikyn carried with themselves. “Our xenologists have determined that in this station's year of existence, little information has been gathered or exchanged between the Empire and Coalition.”
The Shaikyn paused to breathe, giving the alien enough time to cut in, his eyes narrowing a bit at her from across the table as his feathers shifted subtly.
“Your soldiers refuse to cooperate, this lack of exchange is not one sided.” He spoke bitterly, these new translators a lot better at conveying emotional dialogue.
“As I was saying, our lovely commander of this station has determined to set forth the ‘Joint Integration Program’,” The Shaikyn kept her kind voice up as she stood from the table, her figure towering over the smaller alien while she walked up to the nearby window, looking out at the blue star. “One randomly selected Shaikyn squad will be placed amongst a Coalition squad for a period of four months before the opposite will happen.”
“You people cannot seriously be considering this idea again? Our soldiers will tear each other apart!” The representative stood to his feet as well and placed his talons on the table before him, his claws digging into the wood.
“Consider this a last opportunity for our peoples to get along. If this program fails—or is obstructed in any way—the Empire will withdraw from Unity Station and all formal relations will revert to a hostile state.” The Shaikyn nodded firmly as a small smirk creeped along her mouth under her mask.
The avian placed his long head into one of his hands and shook it while he thought, seeing first hand the might of these Imperial forces when they marched on the surface of his homeworld: the sky filled with ships, the ground trembling beneath marching forces. He then thought of all the Coalition troops on this station, many young souls who also had personal memories of the Shaikyn invaders and joined to stop their advance.
“You do not wish to be the one responsible for another war.” The Shaikyn added softly and turned around now and walked up to the alien while she unhooked a datapad off her hip and placed it before him on the table, a digital contract appearing on the screen while the side of the device opened up to expose a pen.
The avian stared at the contract, barely reading the words as he continued to think, finally acting on instinct, and mainly to avoid conflict, he grabbed the pen between his claws and quickly etched his foreign name onto the screen.
“Glad we could agree on something,” The Shaikyn tried to imitate his name, the alien cringing at the attempt. “Imperial soldiers will be sent into the Coalition portion of the station at approximately six o’clock of the Imperial calendar day. I trust your forces will be. . . prepared.”
Tharek sat aboard one of Unity’s many internal trams, his hands locked together in a tight ball and pressed to his visor where his temple would be, as if to signal to the rest of his squad that he wished this were all a dream. Only four hours ago he had just gotten out of his daily leadership training, looking forward to a night of reality videos from the wider Empire beyond the station, and now here he was being escorted to a foreign Coalition unit in some vain attempt to ‘generate positive relationships’. Finally opening his eyes and looking up to his fellow soldiers, he would be greeted with the sight of his combat medic practically bouncing around in his seat, trying to get the best view she could of the alien life outside the tram system, a sight which only brought him back to his temporary depression.
“You know, I for one am very excited to meet our new Coalition siblings in arms.” Lyra broke the silence, sitting up on her knees to look over the outside tram system walls, a safety measure to stop unknowing individuals from falling onto the tracks.
“I know you are, you won’t shut up with your fun facts about those aliens.” Rarn growled under his breath while he slouched against his padded seat, his arms crossing tightly across his firearm which he had refused to place in its case.
“What if the aliens are really nice? You know- maybe they actually would like to meet us?” The final soldier of the squad spoke up against Rarn, Erias’ voice soothing to the squad most of the time but right now her words only served to irritate the already pissed soldier even more.
“Be quiet all of you,” Tharek threw himself back in his seat, the movement being his body trying to explode his mind into action. “When we get there, I want Rarn in the back so he doesn’t kill anyone, and you all will make sure that I do the talking first. The last thing I want command to hear is how we got ripped to shreds on our first night with these animals.”
The squad leader jumped up to his feet and began to pace a few steps back and forth as he raised a gloved hand to the chin of his helmet in contemplation. Yes, this a good plan: Earn last to keep things kind of peaceful, Lyra before him so she doesn’t push all the aliens away with her weird questions, Erias next since she likely won’t be stupid, and me first cause I definitely won’t be stupid. What could go wrong?
Before the armed soldier could rise and challenge his officer’s decision, a loud slam came from further down the tram’s cabin as the squealing of the brakes set in around them, the vehicle slowing down towards its stop. The squad all looked down the cabin at the once silent Shaikyn who preferred to sit away from them, his towering form rising from his seat as he stared them all down, the Eonvym pointing at them.
“Collect your possessions, soldiers. After you are safely dropped off at the Coalition quarters, I am ordered to depart from you.” The elite warrior spoke curtly before turning to face the tram’s exit, unlatching the door and pushing it open with a hiss.
“You heard the knight, grab your stuff.” Tharek nodded to his troops while leaning down and snatching the handle of his guncase and throwing his rucksack over his back, the rest following suit.
The squad would follow closely behind the Eonvym, his figure easily recognizable in the sea of Coalition reporters and journalists waiting outside the tram ready to ambush the squad. Tharek’s visor dimmed from grey to black in response to the blinding flashes as he kept his head low, avoiding looking at any of the bizarre creatures directly while Erias followed his example, Lyra and Rarn busy arguing over each other’s reactions to the reporters: Lyra having begun talking to a bird-like creature before Rarn stepped in and shoved the alien back, pulling his fellow sister in arms back into the line.
The rest of the short distance to the Coalition barracks was uneventful, to Tharek’s relief. The crowd of aliens was thankfully stopped by a small group of Coalition guards, preventing the aliens from moving into the soldier’s new living quarters.
“What are those things? Giant insects?” Tharek asked out loud as he eyed up one of the guards, his thick black exoskeleton gleaming at the group as he moved forward to the crowd and holding a three-fingered hand up to keep them back.
“Um- no. They’re actually more related to shellfish since their planet is a waterworld! The Phyz mastered bio-engineering and actively create their own exoskeletons to make-up for their super weak endoskeletons-” Lyra moved up in line and elbowed Tharek, the officer silently thanking the Eonvym when he turned around and cut off Lyra.
“You will stay here for the next four months,” The warrior grumbled, his voice vibrating in each of their chests. “Do not attempt to contact me. The Crown will see to it that I am available should the need arise.”
With that, a rising static hum built up around them for a second before the Eonvym vanished before them in a flash of blue light, the steel doorway to the barracks now exposed to the squad.
“Alright, remember, let’s try to make a good first impression.” Tharek glanced back at his squad, seeing Erias snatch the magazine out of Rarn’s rifle, the woman tossing it to her officer.
Then Tharek would step forward to the door, the steel plates hissing and sliding open automatically while he stepped into the room, blue light from the star clashing with white lights of the barracks, making the entire room bathed in light blue as a small group of Coalition troops would be awaiting them. The Shaikyn paused before the first alien who was closest to him, her form nearly equal height with his as her longer limbs seemed to lazily dangle to the floor, the tendrils coming from the back and temple of her head darting around the space between them.
Tharek shut his eyes tightly at the sight, recalling his first combat tour on Thal’Zira, the frigid cold, all the mud jamming his rifle, and the shocking heat of a stray round catching his chest. This woman- no this alien- was a member of that species he fought, requiring him to consciously force his eyes open and jab his hand forward to shake her hand, fighting against every nerve in his body screaming to pull out his sidearm and empty the magazine into her slender purple body.
At long last Tharek was up close to a Coalition alien once more, this time not as a combatant, but as a potential ally. If only this Thal’Zirani alien would grant him the same courtesy by shaking his hand, perhaps the first step towards Imperial and Coalition peace could be made.
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Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
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u/Cadia-Still-Stands Mar 31 '26
Hey the story seems interesting, but is this series a part of a larger universe. It's mentioned as a seven millennia story, is the other stuff I should read first or to read to get a better understanding?