Maintenance robot AZ-27 carried its secret payload on its back as it scurried through the air ducts to the nictid section of the station. AZ was a very good little robot about the size of a breadbox, manufactured in a 3d printer only an hour beforehand. On these flat straightaways it switched to its stubby tires and zipped through the tight passages that graxlians couldn't block. If they did, they wouldn't get air.
As it passed into the nictid section of the station its sensors picked up the aroma of potpourri and cologne. Its directions carried it to the residence of a Mr. Stefan, who by luck, just happened to be sitting in his home office in contact with the other elders responsible for the local governance of the nictid population.
Stefan folded his hands under his chin and spoke to the monitor. "Fellow elders, until we can gather up enough weapons we need to continue to search for welding equipment and barricade the nictid section from the rest of the station."
An elderly nictid in gold lame responded in the chat. "We won't last long without blood donors from the other sections of the station. Our reserves will last us only a week or so."
"In the current situation I doubt we have much to barter with them for our food." Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did we get any word about how the fleet is doing against the graxlians?"
"Only what is coming over wide band news channels. We're holding our own and making them pay for each light year they press into our space. Apparently the green boys are being quite reckless and taking heavy casualties. It's they don't care about their own lives."
AZ became impatient, wanting to deploy his payload and return to his control center for new orders. It extended a small grinding tool and cut through the vent. The whirring and sparks caused Stefan to yelp and cower under his desk. The android pulled the payload off its back and slipped it through the gap it had created in the vent opening. Feeling the reward subsystems hitting his neural nets made him spin a few times before scampering back down the vent it had come from.
Down on the floor Stefan heard the clank of a portable hologram emitter and poked his head out from under his desk. He got out and picked up the puck-like object and placed it on his desk.
"Gentelmen, I think we've gotten a message from some friends." He switched on the device and the emitter displayed Rowan, The High Gray Wolf of the lycans, a mantisoid with a golden carapace, a rather large slime, a floating brain, and a mass of tentacles he tried to steer his eyes away from.
Rowan's image stood up and pointed at him. "Stefan! We got you! I'm so glad to see you alive!"
"Right back at you brother! What is this?"
"I've deployed encrypted hologram emitters to all the species except the graxlians. I'm coming to you with a proposal to combat our common enemy."
The tentacle monster waved its appendages and spoke, "What can we do? The bastards are the only ones with weapons."
The slime retorted. "That's not the case! Mr. Rowan, we thank you for avenging the death of my people and warning us about the dangers of surrender. The humans have guns."
The brain spoke through a box hung from its prefrontal cortex. "What can one ape man do?"
"Your right Cerepan. One man can't do much. That's why I contacted all of you. Each one of you has unique traits that, if we work together, can oust those assholes from the station. The mantisoids are brave warriors, the slimes can go places none of us can, and the floating brains can help us with interrogating captured fighters. I have access to the station's manufacturing sections as well as its security systems. The only way the graxlians can win is if we stand alone. I ask you all. Can we work together?"
Stefan nodded and answered first, "I'm sure the nictids will do whatever we can. It's a life or death situation for us."
The green slime rippled. "We shall repay to the graxlians what they did to us tenfold."
The insect clicked its mandibles before the speakerbox droned "NEVER HAVE WE BACKED DOWN FROM A JUST FIGHT."
In turn, the rest of the holograms agreed.
Stefan clapped and said, "Wonderful, so Rowan, what's the plan?"
"So each of you received a hologram emitter through the ventilation systems. I'm planning to deliver plasma rifles to the larger ventilation nodes just behind your security doors. The amount will be meager at first, but will ramp up. Our first mission will be a diversionary attack on the salient the graxlians have made into the slime's section of the station."
…
Rowan was finished with his planning meeting with the other leaders of the coalition when he heard a familiar voice call through the wide band radio he had left on in the public area of his bunker.
"To all remaining civilians and fighters in the Pax Orbis station. This is commander Z'Taz of the graxlian warship S-979. Please tune your hologram emitters to this frequency."
Rowan fished out an emitter and twisted the control and a low resolution hologram of the green woman he had serviced recently appeared.
"Z'Taz, you are the leader of this insanity?"
The commander continued in a superior tone, "We the forces of Graxlia have taken control of the airspace around the station. We wish for a peaceful resolution of the current crisis. We ask the humans in control to depower the station's external defence systems as well as its internal autocannons and security androids. In exchange we will permit you and our captive to leave the station."
"Paige!" Rowan got up and looked down at the projector's image. Carmen and Indigo and the rest of the cyborgs approached the hologram. Paige was tied to a chair and seemed to be sporting a black eye. Her jump suit was slightly ripped and she was unconscious.
Z'taz continued. "You will depower your weapons and open the hangar to allow my ship to enter and deploy our marines to peacefully assume control of the station in twenty four hours. Disobeying this command will result in unpleasantness for your dear friend. This message will be broadcast every five minutes for the remainder of this hour. Please make all necessary preparations for the arrival of graxlian forces."
The projector dimmed.
Indigo approached, "What are you going to do Teddybear? You can't let those marines onto the station. It will be a blood bath."
"If I don't surrender, I don't know what they'll do to Paige."
Indigo grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. "She might not even be alive. If those lizard monsters get on the station, thousands of innocents will die. You saw with your own eyes what they did to the slimes. I doubt a single person will survive their wrath."
Rowan hung his head and took a deep breath while slumping his shoulders. "I know, deep down I know. But I'm going to fight them to find her. I made a promise I would never give up on her."
Indigo nodded and hugged him.
He turned to the cyborgs with Carmen at the front and asked, "Ladies, I know this might come as a shock, but I'm asking you to volunteer to help me. Will you fight to protect innocent lives?"
Lora responded, "Rowan, we're sex workers, not fighters."
"Why would you think we could help you win this?" Siren said, shrugging.
"Despite the lack of military equipment, the old station masters left some exosuits with some pretty hefty firepower. There are about fifty suits. I also have the combat training modules I gave to Carmen. You all can become highly trained soldiers in the next hour. We can walk to the navy's depot in this section and I can get you suited up. Our first mission is to help the slimes kick out the graxlians from their section. While you do that, Indigo and I need to accomplish the real objective. You saw what they did to those poor creatures at the airlock. Will you help me?"
The girls huddled for a few agonizing minutes. Carmen popped her head up and walked to him and stared down at him.
"We've come to a decision. We're willing to fight but we have some demands. First, you and I forgive each other and go back to the way it was, no holding grudges. Secondly the girls want time with you. You have to make time with all of them."
"All of them?"
"Yes, and they get to share their memories with each other. I'm not a fan of those demands but if you want thirty girls, you're going to have to start going on a lot more dates."
His stomach did flips, looking at the girls smiling seductively at him. I can't handle all of them! A message popped up in his mind's eye from Dicia, "Rowan! Say no! You and I can do this together alone! We don't need them. The other aliens are more than enough help."
"The combat suits are useless without someone with human DNA controlling it, the security lockout prevents any other species from operating it. I'll do anything if it means getting Paige back. Girls, you have a deal."
Carmen squealed and tackled Rowan. She pinned him to the floor and showered him with kisses.
The prompt from Dicia in his mind's eye showed an angry face and a boom emoji.