Chapter 27: Fear of the Dark

It had been a near week of constant scanning. We finally had a hit.

"This is an emergency access hatch. It looks like the last people to use it failed to secure it properly. Which is why we even found it. The rotation speed and orientation of the pyramid make it a difficult prospect… for most people. Think you can do it cap?"

I looked at the pictures and videos.

"Shouldn't be an issue, but what am I going to do on the inside?"

The armorer, who was shockingly in on this discussion, though, why I found it shocking I wasn't sure.

"I managed to outfit all of the new equipment with your scouter tech you gave us. Which means when you get in it should be able to stay in contact with us despite the ship's disruptors."

"And if it can't?"

"Meh… blow it up?"

I looked at the helmsman who had his palm to his face.

"We plan to stay here for about ten days if we lose contact. Your helmet should have a built-in timer. If we don't hear from you in ten days, we'll assume the worst. Which means if you can't find an opening for us to come in within that period just blast your way out."

I nodded to that. "What if the ships too dangerous for you guys?"

"We'll deal with that if it does happen, but either way you need to make an opening for us. If you can't we might be better off just calling this off."

I didn't like the sound of that, but… it wasn't like I was going to fail.

"Fine. Where's my suit?" Armorer led me to his workspace and had me outfitted in a black carapace armor like thing. It was shiny and black. A helmet with a full-face visor to finish the ensemble. I didn't ask for more, but it was already so much better than the fishbowls. Dressed and ready to kill I jumped onto a shuttle and flew closer to the pyramid. Nobody tried to stop me, rather they were already preparing for when I succeeded.

I rode the shuttle closer, ignoring the driver talking like an over eager taxi driver. The shuttle slowed. "We're here." He called out, the bay opening after he confirmed I had snapped on the helmet. The visor HUD showing me the way to the access point.

Space walking would be difficult here. The pyramid moving at a nice clip, its surface mirror like and smooth. Not a single hand hold for someone to grab. With my ki flight it was almost too easy to match its speed of rotation and work my way towards the target. From a distance I couldn't see what made this part special. It looked the same as every other square inch of this massive pyramid.

It was only as I flew closer that I noticed the minor imperfection. Whoever had last used it hadn't properly slid the panel closed. Which left open a small crack, just wide enough for my fingers to get a grip. With a little bit of a shove, it worked its way into a recess under the panels and opened to a small hatch like you'd find on a ship or submarine.

Some good old elbow grease opens the way. The opening only just enough for me to squeeze through. I go some distance down the circular tube, making sure to shut the hatch behind me. Further down was another hatch that opens with ease. Past the hatch I feel something pass over me, like a barrier. Gravity immediately makes itself known threatening to make me fall to the ground.

Naturally, I can fly. Which meant I thwarted gravities attempt to make a fool of me. I could see handholds I was meant to hold onto when coming out and reorient myself. With my feet on solid ground once more I took in my surroundings. A massive network of metal beams and grids forming a mesh underlay for the pyramid's exterior. I could hear the hum of electricity and components working as a forest of wires threaded along the walls.

A metal walkway is my only path forward Lit by the occasional flickering light from above. Behind me was an endless black abyss crisscrossed in bars and scaffolding. I could crawl around on the beams like a monkey would, but… that felt strange, and… strangely insulting. My path chosen for me I walked along the walkway. The sound of my boots on the metal echoed and echoed. Like yelling in a valley, my footsteps carried on only to die in the abyssal darkness that yawned around me, threatening to consume me whole. It was a little eerie. The atmosphere fitting for a derelict. A Tomb.

I made my way, what felt like forever when I came to a flashing door. It was locked… It had a small viewport that opened up to a larger hallway. Also, a map on the other side I could barely see. I looked around for a keyhole or something but surmised the door had been barricaded. Which meant it was time for the practical application of force.

With a bit of effort, I managed to pry the door off the hinges it sat on. Giving me access to the inner part of the ship. I pulled apart the barricade, twisting metal in my hands. Once cleared I made a beeline for the map. I took in as best as I could the schematics. I tapped at my neck to activate the comm.

"I'm in the maintenance shafts…"

And… Nothing… I stepped out into the outer maintenance shaft, I got a little bit of a signal, but… All that came out was static. Well, looked like I was alone. Gosh, hell of a way to start a horror film… I made my way back to the map, tracing my position and trying to plot out my course. The shafts gave me access to nearly every part of the ship. Although, I had a feeling I needed to head to the hangar. It did seem like the best place to start.

My course set I walk along the wide empty hallways. Wires and odds and ends hung from the ceilings. Occasionally I passed monitors that didn't work. Occasionally I saw little spider bots' crawling along the walls and ceilings. Altogether it was creepy. The lighting flickered and I had this constant sensation of being watched.

I stopped. My ears twitched. My tail swished. I looked behind me, the lights in the hallway clicking off one by one. Each light turned off with a crackling shutter before shunting the world around it into perfect darkness. It approached slowly, like an encroaching inevitable doom. I looked and focused on an icon on my visors HUD lights flickered on from the top of my helm into the yawning darkness. And as the final light died… nothing. An emptiness that filled the heart and mind. A feeling of being entombed covered my being. The darkness pressing in as if I was underwater. A sudden awareness of how truly alone I was hit me. Momentarily making my calm shudder under the weight.

The whirring and hum of machinery and lights gone. Only leaving an emptiness yearning to be filled. It was in this silence that I heard it. A clunk, like something falling. Faint and impossible to judge from how far away. I kept my eyes open, my stance loose as I looked both ways before continuing my walk forward. I flexed my fingers. My heart rate increasing ever so slightly.

The sound of my footfalls were dull and muffled. Everything sounded as if I was underwater. The occasional spider bot I saw crawled nigh silently. The slight sounds of their appendages crawling on the walls enhancing and making me hear things. Only, was I hearing things? I expanded my senses, but the more I tried to hear something or even feel it the more my mind tricked me. I heard whispers, the sounds of feet not my own. The more I listened, the less I thought it was my own mind.

I stopped. A curious sound filled my head as I walked to the wall. With my breath low and quiet I carefully took off my helmet. The sound of it unlatching almost too loud as I leaned my head against the wall. I listened. I shut my eyes to better hear it. The sound of feet, muttering. A garbled nonsensical thing. Curious I did the only thing I could, I stepped back and… knocked. For a second nothing came of it, but on the second knock it knocked back.

Then it knocked again and again. It continued into an almost frenzied bashing against the wall as a horrid long scream screeched out from the thing on the other side. It set my hair on edge, even as I found myself almost eager to blast into the room over yonder and greet the thing with my fist. Instead, I took another step back…

I paused. The air had shifted when I stepped back. I kept my breath even. My ki roiling as I prepared. I twisted and ducked under something flashing by where my neck had just been. A massive metal scorpion with scythe-like pincers was hanging above me. The something that missed me by a breath were the scythe-like appendages on its front.

It didn't speak, no mechanical roar. Not even the sound of hydraulics moving as it attacked. Its blades were dangerous, but not lethally so. I let it catch my arm as I assessed it. The fine edged blade cut into my skin and caught on the muscle only to stick fast as I flexed. The entire machine bucked to and fro to break out of my muscle as I kept it contracted. I pulled it in, gripping its limb as leverage only for it to cut off the limb.

I ripped the limb out of my arm and chased the machine as it turned to flee. I slammed into it. Smashing it and causing it to skid along the smooth walkway beneath us. From there it was a simple matter to simply deactivate it through blunt force trauma. With the thing dead, black fluids leaking from its frame as oil and hydraulics bled, I get myself up and stretch out a bit. A simple fight, hardly worth my time.

I continued my walk, meeting a few more scorpions. Which I promptly dismantle with my fists. Not seeing a need to waste my ki on them, just yet. Other than that, it was boring. The atmosphere was good though, could use more blood and creepy messages. Maybe a few bodies in ominous positions. What little dread that had built was dispelled by the obvious fragility of the monsters hiding within the dark.

The darkness did little to slow me. Even when I kept my helmet off. I did put it on if only, so I didn't get lost. It took me some time, but I managed to find an elevator of sorts. Naturally it didn't work. Which meant I had to force open the doors and jump down to the ground floor. A few hours more of walking and I opened up into the hangar proper.

The hatch opened into the ceiling of the hangar, hardly an issue for someone with flight. I suppose there was probably a walkway or something I could get to descend or show itself. But… I could cut corners, so why not? The hangar itself was full of ships, Various models and makes by the looks.

What caught my eye was a singular ship about the size of The Spite chilling in a corner. A frigate then? And what looked like a smorgasbord of cruisers and smaller craft. Better yet, the hangar still had plenty of space for more. I looked it over more, trying to find a way to open the hangar door. One that didn't rely on me blasting it open. I had a feeling I could or would have an easier time from the inside. But it would still be a pain.

Floating to the ground I walked around taking in the sights. Inwardly shocked at just how clean it appeared. I idly noted that the strange sensation of being watched had subsided. A quick look around showed small parts of the hangar where the cameras must have been at one point. Was somebody still alive on here? If not, what was it?

The question… it didn't really bother me honestly. I just hoped whatever it was would provide some entertainment. I could probably kill ghosts if they existed. My soul howl or even just liberally hitting it with ki might do it. Such confidence kept me cool in spite of the atmosphere.

The doors to the rest of the ship were locked. I found what looked to be a hangar control room, except it was sealed off. And it appeared accessible from another part of the ship only. I could try blasting open the doors or ripping them open. Except they were thicker than any door I had dealt with before.

They were blast doors, secured and I think they had some kind of energy field further empowering them. Even touching them tingled and I felt like trying to manual tear them apart might not end well for me. I could probably do it, but… I'd probably get hurt. So that was a no-no.

Which meant getting to the hangar control section. It was high up and it was encased in a clear glass giving them full sight of the hangar. Should be easy. I throw an energy ball its way. It curves, hits the glass. It impacts, distorts before bouncing off the glass with a loud *PONG! *. Following that it explodes as it hits the hangar floor. Miraculously missing the parked ships.

I stared for a good minute, my monkey brain trying to understand what the hell had just happened. When it finally clicks, I put both hands into it, putting a bit more oomph into the energy ball and flinging it. The ball sticks for a few moments longer before bouncing off and once more hitting the hangar floor. This time nearly hitting a parked ship.

I consider firing a series of barrages, even arrow barrages, but… I'd likely do serious damage to the parked ships. Which meant… I should put some serious work into this. I could have possibly punched it, but I think the energy field might actually hurt me. A fun prospect, but… I didn't want to get injured so early on.

I put my hands forward and charged up. Aiming at the right point so as not to explode the monitors. My ki charging and condensing as I gathered it and loosed it right onto the glass with a final cry of a signature move.

"Galick GUN!"

The beam lances out and hits the glass and much like back on the squid planet it seems to stall as it hits the forcefield. But as the rest of the beam pushes onto its point a final screeching sound echoes as it punctures through and rips into the glass. The explosion echoes through the hangar. An alarm begins to ring out.

"Warning! Warning! Containment breach detected!"

I ignored that, flew up to the now opened station and walked to the thankfully untouched monitor. Its… Well, I couldn't read the read outs. Hell… now that I think about it, that guy I mind raped wasn't exactly an avid reader… Am, I somehow not completely literate? I don't really read much nowadays, but I was a prolific reader before…

Huh… I just stared at the foreign prompts. Then shrugged. I didn't want to re-learn to read.

Which really just resulted in me randomly fiddling with the controls until I managed to somehow do something and open the hangar doors. I was somewhat tech savvy, so it wasn't entirely random button pressing and thankfully I didn't need a keycard or an employee ID…

The moment I finally selected the hangar door opening option. The ship lurched. I felt the massive doors clunk and clack as locks were undone. Giant machines grinding and grumbling as the doors opened. A containment shield flickered into place. And just as soon as It opened my comm flickered back to life.

"That you cap?"

"Got the door open and all!"

"Good work cap, we'll get to unloading the boarding party now."

And true to his word The Spite lined up near to the hangar and started belching out shuttles and crates. All of them were slowly moved and unloaded into the hangar. Teams of soldiers were dropped off in the same carapace armor. All equipped with rifles and weapons. Defensive emplacements were placed and setup, Mecha found their way in too. We had six mecha in the hangar. A pair of hammer and shield wielding mecha, a pair of rifle mecha and another pair that looked to be primarily for moving stuff around.

I wasn't the one to plan the mission, which meant I had little to argue about, but seeing the pair of mecha acting as glorified forklifts felt odd to me. But hey… What did I know?

I floated down from my perch and greeted the growing base as equipment was dropped off. A mobile armory was unloaded as the armorer took up his post. Instructor was working to get the recruits in line and ready as he worked on sweeping the hangar. Leaving me standing in the center of the growing headquarters of our tomb raiding attempt. Just looking at our preparations made me gleeful. Primarily because, when the hangar doors opened, I had the feeling that this wasn't going to be an easy mission. My heart thrummed at the prospect.