Damantha Makarova
Blade. Scrapper. Part 6.
Chapter 3. Kargalan
MSS Lyssandra and SS Growler – both cloaked from sight and scanning devices – descended to Kargalan, flying slow and constantly scanning the lands for any signs of life.
Serena sat in her Captain’s seat, frowning, and stayed silent, while Lindon and Kayla were busy with the scanners, ignoring any signs of local wildlife that appeared on their screens. The Veluthian showed the girl how to discern animals from people and humanoid races and noted how she could change the spectrum of scanning to see if there are any other signs – such as energy and radiation.
Kayla was so concentrated at the task that didn’t notice anything else – including Hunter discussing something with the two bodyguards by the window.
Serena looked at the information tablet she managed to learn by heart in the past 24 hours, and sighed once again. Something was bothering her greatly, and she didn’t know if it was just her being nervous to be sent on a particular mission by the Empress, or because the assumptions Alathea and her counsellors had might be correct.
The woman closed her eyes with her palm and took a moment to gather her bearings.
«Serena? Is something wrong?» she suddenly heard Hunter.
«Not sure.» Serena replied hesitantly. «I feel uneasy and I have no idea why.»
She lowered her hand and met his gaze.
«Worried that the grouping we did is imbalanced?» Hunter asked, frowning at her expression.
«No… I’m sure we’ll do fine… I just…» she gritted her teeth. «I don’t know. Stop asking questions I can’t answer.»
She stood up and headed out, frustrated at herself for growling at her men.
Walking through the ship she tried her best to calm herself, but every step reminded her about the task at hand, as if it wasn’t enough to know how close they were to disembarking Lyssa.
«Captain.» she heard in her earpiece and suddenly stopped, noticing Dean standing a few steps away from the dining area.
«Hi, Dean.» Serena said, forcing a smile to her face. «I see, Laneth did a great job with the device.»
Dean tapped on his wristband and a simulated male voice sounded again through her communicator:
«Yes.»
«Are you ready? No objections concerning your pair?»
«Yes. No.» though, the list of his responses was limited, he still seemed happy to be able to talk to other people this way – even though he had to use his device for that.
«Good.»
Serena felt grateful for Laneth having the skills to gift Dean such an opportunity. And even though for the time being he couldn’t really speak through the device – Hunter and the mechanic were certain they would be able to program the thing later, widening the list of words and phrases he could use.
Perhaps, the Captain thought, one day they could have normal conversations through this device without Hunter translating his lengthy phrases.
Dean reached to the device again, then smiled wider, shaking his head and gestured to her in Gorzan:
«Thank you.»
«I’m not the one to thank, Dean. It was all Laneth and her wonderful mind coming up with this device.» Serena shrugged.
Still, the Ilarian bowed to her. Serena stepped up and pat his shoulder:
«Get ready, we’re leaving soon.»
She saw him nod and walk off, and the woman walked into the dining area, grabbing herself a glass of Fireball. Taking a few big sips, she set the glass aside and took a moment, feeling unnerved still.
«Something isn’t right here…» she sighed to herself.
«Captain!» Hunter’s voice sounded in her communication device.
«What is it? We’re approaching the mark?» Serena replied, tensing up.
«Scanning shows no life forms of human, or human-like origin anywhere near or within the outpost.» Lindon’s voice came through.
Serena thought for a moment, then took a deep breath:
«So… not a single one?»
«None at all. Not even animals.» Kayla responded.
«Ghost crews get ready to jump. Secondary groups await further orders…» Serena headed to the cargo bay, flicking her armour on.
She already knew this could be possible, and spoke with Lindon about having jetpacks to be able to get a better vantage point while at the outpost. The Veluthian agreed to the plan, but reminded her that of all the crew members only he and Serena herself were somewhat proficient in using those, as they took the course back in the Academy.
Serena didn’t remind him that to her a lot less time had passed.
Wolfin, though hesitant, agreed that in case they find nothing – jetpacks could help the two get around to try and find any other signs, while the others reconvene at the ships.
When others arrived at the cargo bay, Serena was already checking the jetpack systems, noting that ever since her Academy days the device became much easier to operate and not as lanky in terms of reaction delay, which was definitely a good thing.
Hunter saw her concentrated in that and wondered if her nervousness would come between her and their objective.
«Good luck, everyone!» they heard Laneth through the communicators – the woman was already on board SS Growler, together with Wolfin.
«Let us know if you guys find anything.» Wolfin added.
Serena glanced at Taliesin, who was transferred to be paired up with Dean – a strange decision on Wolfin’s end, but she couldn’t help but note that if Dean would do something crazy – Taliesin was reasonable and loyal enough to send them word immediately.
She thought about the private conversation she had with Taliesin the evening before, and the way he reacted at being, essentially, a watcher over the newcomer Ilarian.
«Unarmoured have their shields activated?» Lindon reminded, clasping the jetpack to his back.
Dean watched Taliesin switching on the device that covered him in a barely noticeable force field.
Serena looked at the Ilarian and tilted her head:
«If, for any reason, you will feel your body not adjusting to these conditions, call for Lyssa to pick you up, got it?» she saw Dean nod and looked at Taliesin. «You… keep an eye on that.»
«Yes, Captain.» Taliesin smirked, accepting the order.
The cargo bay door opened and the MSS Lyssandra Ghost crew activated their cloaking devices and jumped out, leaving the others waiting for when the ship will fully land to the rocky surface of the planet.
«Ghost, be safe…» Wolfin’s voice sounded in Serena’s earpiece.
«I will, Wraith. Thank you for trusting me to let me go on my own…» the woman replied, glancing aside to Hunter and Lindon running beside her towards the outpost gate.
«I trust my Captain. And I trust my crew to keep my Captain safe when I’m not there…»
Serena heard Hunter and Lindon smirk, and didn’t answer.
Considering the circumstances they paired up the people as best they worked together. Including Taliesin and Dean, who would work well, if the Ilarian would be worth trusting. This was his test in working in a team after being long on his own.
As for Lindon, Hunter and Serena – they set off as a separate crew, later splitting up and checking the first of the buildings and halls they came across.
«This is… odd…» Hunter came through a few minutes later, as they were inside. «The place is barren…»
«No signs of a struggle?» Serena asked.
«I mean, I saw a couple of blood stains here and there, but other than that – nothing…»
«Blood means battle.» Wolfin growled. «But where are the bodies?»
Serena slipped into a room and saw it being a research hall, filled with broken glass pieces on the floor, some screens burnt through with shots and blood smears on the wall. She walked in, noticing the strange lack of anything that would be usual for a place like this. There were no information tablets, no samples in the refrigeration unit in the corner, nothing at all.
Continuing her path, she growled:
«Group two, you may enter. Take a thorough look around. So far we have no luck finding anything.»
«Copy.» John replied.
Serena knew that whatever happened in this outpost must have been brutal. And though there were guard towers and guards, for some reason there weren’t any signs of heavy battle. Nor were there any corpses left behind.
«I’m in the barracks.» Lindon reported. «They seem to be unused for at least a few weeks.»
Serena tensed up – were the students gone so long? Or were they still somewhere out in the wild of Kargalan, going through training and without a single worry about what happened at the outpost?
As the time passed, Serena began feeling more and more worried that there weren’t any signs around, except for the blood left.
When they finally reconvened in the middle of the outpost, Wolfin noticed Serena deep in thought.
«Nothing?» she asked her mentor.
«Negative, Captain.» Wolfin replied. «The place has been stripped…»
She glanced at her other men and saw them shaking their heads and frowning.
«Phantom! Skies!» Serena ordered, activating her jetpack. «Take the northern direction, I’ll take a look south.»
«Yes, Captain!» Lindon nodded.
They jumped up, ascending into the skies, and Hunter couldn’t help and admire how swiftly they both flew with the newly obtained «wings’.
Serena flew, searching the ground with her eyes and noticing a pattern appearing among the rocks. Something came through there – something big and bulky.
She descended closer to the ground and saw what could be easily be overlooked from afar – tire marks of a vehicle that was definitely equipped with special tires that allowed to mask their passing on such a surface.
«Phantom, on me. Tracks here.» she reported. «Everyone else – return to the ships, now!»
«Yes, Captain.» Wolfin’s voice came through.
«We’ll update you once we find something.» Lindon added, catching up with Serena.
The faint trail led them away from the outpost, and the Captain started wondering how it could be that a vehicle so massive in size could have been overlooked by those, who were within the outpost walls. By the looks of it, the vehicle stayed by the outpost for some time.
What really happened there?
«Shadow, did you manage to get into the outpost frame?» Serena asked, slowing down to get a closer look at the trail that seemed to have stopped for a bit, as if the infiltrators took a short rest at the spot.
«I have good news and bad news, Ghost.» Laneth replied. «Which would you prefer first?»
«Start with good…»
«I did manage to get into the frame. However…» Laneth fell silent for a few moments. «The bad news is… the files are heavily corrupted.»
«How heavy?» Lindon growled under his breath.
«Extremely.» this time it was Wolfin who answered.
«Copy.» Serena gritted her teeth.
For a while they were flying silently – the trail led far away from the outpost. Lindon started to think they might have stumbled on some old trail, but Serena wasn’t as sure of it.
Finally, the trail turned towards a rocky mountain ridge, and the woman frowned, glancing about and not finding any signs of a camp or anything of the sort at all.
«Spread out.» she ordered to Lindon.
Though, concentrated on finding the tracks and any hints to what the vehicle was and who it belonged to, the woman fell deep into thought, wondering if there was something else at play.
Suddenly, Serena felt a heavy impact hitting her back, and this threw her aside, sending her tumbling in the air. When she hit the ground, a short and pained scream flew out of her, but immediately she continued her tumble, sliding down a steep and rocky hillside.
In the dizzying whirl of rocks and air she noticed how it suddenly turned from light to dark and then in a flash someone caught her, and they almost immediately slammed into a hard surface, throwing them both into darkness.
Chapter 4. Search
Hunter tried hard not to panic – both Serena and Lindon went radio silent over an hour ago. And though Lyssandra followed their trajectory, they weren’t able to find any traces of the two.
«Ghost!!!» Wolfin grew angrier by the minute. «Ghost, respond! Phantom!!! Where the fuck are you guys?»
Kayla gritted her teeth, glued to her working place with the scanners:
«I’m sorry…» she whispered. «I can’t find them…»
Wolfin took a deep breath and stepped to the girl, kneeling in front of her and tried to smile to her softly:
«It’s not your fault, little bug. I’m sure they’re alright.» he sighed.
«Please tell me you found them!» Cipher connected to MSS Lyssandra, and Hunter met his friend’s gaze with a deep frown.
«Negative.» Wolfin grimaced, standing up and facing the screen. «I take it, you found nothing too?»
«Not a sign of either of them anywhere.»
«And the tracks they were following?» Hunter gritted his teeth in frustration.
«They disappear by the mountains.»
«Scanning?»
«No results.»
«Shit.»
«Uh… Uncle Wolfin?» Kayla’s voice sounded aside. «I think I found… something?»
Wolfin leaned to the screen and noted the tiny blip of some sort of an energy source on the ground near the mountain. Frowning, the Veluthian enlarged the picture and saw what looked like a dimly glowing shard that lay among the rocks next to what reminded of a piece of some sort of equipment.
«Hunter. Cloak up… we’re going down.» he said.
«What is it?» Cipher perked up.
«We need to check something.» Wolfin straightened, calling Laneth. «Shadow, take command of the ship.»
The mechanic didn’t reply.
«Cipher, patrol around, and keep us updated if you find anything or anyone.» Wolfin nodded to the SS Growler’s Captain.
Cipher nodded in reply and the communication cut off.
Hunter headed out of the bridge after Wolfin, feeling unnerved.
«What, exactly, did Kayla find?» he asked.
«A shard. It looks like the energy crystal from our jetpacks.» Wolfin grimaced again.
They met Laneth almost running from the cargo bay, where she was leaving the INVI-drones to send them off for reconnaissance.
«I’ve activated the drones, they will circle the surroundings to seek out any traces of Serena and Lindon.» she reported.
Wolfin nodded to her, passing the woman.
«Stay on comms.» Hunter said to her. «We’ll call if we find anything.»
«Take some meds with you!» Laneth shouted. «You know how Serena can be…»
Wolfin growled under his breath, stepping into the medical bay for a few moments to pick up some additional capsules and syringes. He too thought that if something happened, medical supplies would be a good thing to have at hand. Grabbing a portable medical scanner, he shoved it to Hunter.
«We need to be prepared…» Wolfin said to the cyborg, picking up a small backpack from the cabinet under the sink. «Get the bandaging spray…»
Within moments they stuffed the backpack with all the needed supplies they might need and left. Hunter kept silent, but knew that he would feel more confident if he were to carry the supplies. Wolfin didn’t mind, too worried for his named daughter.
As soon as Lyssa descended closer to the ground, the two jumped out – cloaked and unseen – and ran off towards where the shard was located by their scanners.
It took them some time to make sure there was no one around, before they headed to what looked like a cave entrance. Wolfin found the shard and kneeled next to it, seeing bits and pieces of the outer layer of the jetpack they were given.
«Shit.» he breathed out, glancing into the cave and seeing what looked like a trail of a harsh tumble.
In the meantime, Hunter took interest in the tracks that Serena and Lindon were following in the first place. Walking up to where they disappeared in the mountainside, he frowned deeper.
«How…» he took a step closer and kneeled, reaching for the end of the track, but his fingers suddenly fell through the rock that he was seeing in front of him. «Wraith!»
Wolfin whipped around and saw the cyborg looking at him some ways away, with his hand disappearing in the solid ground. Frustrated and confused, the Veluthian walked over and studied the side, before taking a cautious step inside.
The illusion parted and he saw a cavern with a big vehicle parked in it, hidden from anyone’s eyes.
«Fuck.» Wolfin growled, stepping up to the vehicle.
He took a few minutes to circle around – with Hunter trailing him behind and looking out for anyone to be there.
«Wisp… come in.» Wolfin contacted the ship.
«This is Wisp, copy.» Kayla responded almost immediately.
«Mark our location, ready some charges to be sent here.»
«What?» Laneth’s voice came in very tense.
«We found the vehicle that was by the outpost. There’s no one here, but… It’s cloaked.»
«Cloaked?» Kayla asked, surprised.
«It’s Terran-made, Wisp. And yes, it’s cloaked.» Hunter said, his voice low and tense.
«The fuck?» Laneth exhaled in shock.
«Falana must have sold the Company our cloaking technology.» Wolfin growled.
«Any signs of Ghost and Phantom?»
«Yeah…» Wolfin nodded to Hunter towards the exit. «We’re on it.»
«Just keep turrets on this location…» Hunter stopped by the car and stuck a tiny grenade to its side, where it won’t be noticed. «I set down a grenade on the vehicle. Have the ship’s AI mark it and when it moves, activate the grenade remotely and blow this thing to hell.»
«Copy.» Kayla fell silent for a few moments while the two men were walking out of the cavern. «Done.»
«Be careful down there…» Laneth pleaded. «If that thing is there, we can’t know who else is…»
«We know who’s here, Shadow.» Wolfin sighed. «The Company people…»
As soon as they exited the cavern, the Veluthian stopped for a split second, thinking something over, but then shook his head and followed Hunter back to where they found the shard.
They walked inside the cave, stepping silently among the steep decline of the tunnel, Wolfin’s frown grew deeper and deeper, understanding that whoever was tumbling there, must have taken quite the damage.
For some time they followed the slope, trying not to slip on the loose rocks and patches of sand, until they reached what could be only described as a hole, leading into the deep dark caverns of the cave system, with a narrow passage way leading away from it.
Wolfin stepped to the edge by this giant hole and saw traces of someone falling into the thick darkness that reigned down in there. Without jetpacks or any special gear it would be hard to get to the bottom of this void.
«If either of them fell, the other would have followed…» Wolfin growled. «We can’t go this way. Too steep… and too high of a fall to get to the slope…»
«We do have climbing claws… we could climb down…»
Wolfin took a bit to consider, then looked at Hunter:
«It would be the shortest way down, yes.»
«So what are you worried about?»
«I’m thinking if your heavy body will be fine climbing down. I’m sure Falana upgraded your claws, but we don’t know if the rocks will hold your weight.» Wolfin shook his head. «So I’m hesitant to let you do this, because I don’t want to get stuck down there, if you fall…»
Hunter pressed his lips together, then grunted:
«You know what? I don’t care! I’m going down, whether you like it or not!» he activated his climbing claws, immediately lowering to the edge.
Wolfin watched the cyborg slowly descending the rocky wall, until he reached the slope. Feeling unnerved, the Veluthian sighed and descended himself, understanding that he was too worried for Serena and Lindon being off comms for so long.
It took them a bit of time to half-walk and half-slide down the rocky ground slope under the hole, until they reached the bottom.
The trail of the tumble took them straight to the cavern wall, where they found a few drops of blood and tracks, belonging to their friends.
«Small… heavier than they should be…» Wolfin examined the tracks cautiously. «She had to carry him out…»
«What did they get into?..» Hunter sighed, watching Wolfin walk off, following the tracks that led deeper into the tunnels.
It was evident that the jetpacks the two had could have been damaged and there was no way for them to get out through the way they got in – especially if one of them was hurt bad enough.
Chapter 5. Cave
Serena slowly came back to her senses – first, feeling the pain all over her body. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw herself lying in the embrace of a man. It took her a moment to realize it was Lindon, who seemed to be unconscious.
Feeling weak and disoriented, Serena forced herself up, trying to ascertain where they were.
It was dark, but, thankfully, her helmet was equipped with night vision and she could see that they ended up in some sort of a cave. Glancing up, she saw how tall of a tumble they took before they ended up where they were now.
«Shit!» she cursed, swaying from a nauseating wave of dizziness, and hoped to get someone on the communicator. «Reaper? Wraith? Do you copy?»
The signal returned with a heavy interference, and Serena looked up, trying to understand why the signal wasn’t reaching her ship or other devices.
«The fuck did we get ourselves into?» she whispered.
Wincing at the headache pounding on her temples, she flicked Lindon’s helmet off and noticed his head bleeding. But, at least, he was breathing, which was a good sign. She looked down at his belt and suddenly realised that not only his – her own stims were missing. There was only one syringe left on her belt and the woman sighed heavily, understanding that Lindon needed it more. She injected him with the stimulant, feeling a nauseating wave coming over her.
Fortunately, they didn’t lose their blades, so, at least, Serena had some way of defending herself and the unconscious man.
Taking her helmet off, she realised how dark it was, but the fresh and chilly cave air helped her push down the nausea and get some idea of where the exit could be by the way the air moved slowly through the cave system. She hoped that she wouldn’t get lost in the labyrinth.
It took her a couple of minutes to collect herself and flick the helmet on again to see where she was going. Then she picked up Lindon, essentially carrying him on her back to try and find a way out.
«Just hand on, there…» she whispered, knowing that Lindon didn’t even hear her.
She first checked the way they fell through, but soon realised that she wouldn’t be able to keep Lindon on her back and ascend the extremely steep slope ahead. So the only way to get them both out of there was to carry him with her – wherever the fresh air would lead them. Serena wished her communicator would work – this way she could at least tell her crew where they were. But without comms, it was only up to her to get Lindon out to safety.
Walking through the cavern, and then entering one of the tunnels – the one, where she felt the fresh air flowing – Serena couldn’t help, but think that if Lindon wasn’t hurt, they would have been able to move faster, and, perhaps, get out the same way they got in.
Still, she moved forward, carrying Lindon on her back, even though she felt dizzy and nauseated. But, knowing that the man could be badly hurt, she couldn’t wait for him to wake up at all.
Step by step, stumbling through the darkness that reigned in the cave system, she walked from one tunnel to another, each time taking off her helmet to ascertain where the airflow went, so that she could find somewhat of a way out.
Time passed so slow, and so painful that Serena had to make stops every now and again – to rest a little and collect her bearings again before carrying on the road that seemed to lead nowhere. Each time she took her helmet off, she wished she could see in the dark – just like Wolfin – because it was distracting to check the airflow all the time, and not really seeing where to go.
Finally, she came across a cavern with two tunnels leading out of it on the opposite side.
Feeling her head spinning, she carefully lowered Lindon down by the wall and took a breather, regaining her strength and collecting her bearings once more. The nauseating dizziness that was coming in waves made her irritated, but she knew that even if she had any injuries of her own – Lindon was by far in a much worse condition. And with the time that passed by, she was beginning to worry if his wounds were even more dangerous than she thought at first.
Taking her helmet off, she breathed in the thick, cold and moist cave air. This helped her a bit, and the throbbing pain in her head subsided just a little.
«Fuck…» she exhaled, frustrated at the whole situation.
Suddenly she heard a distant skittering, which seemed to come closer in a matter of seconds. Jumping to her feet, she reached to her throat to activate her helmet again, but an immense impact threw her back. Hitting the wall behind her, she grimaced from the blunt blow to her skull, but managed to activate her helmet again and unclasped her blades, seeing a number of creatures around her and Lindon.
The smallest insect-like creature with jagged appendages and two rows of short spikes running up its spine jumped to the man, aiming to drag him away from Serena, but she stepped aside, barely avoiding a slashing hit one of the creatures tried reaching her with.
Serena felt her blades meet with the agile legs of these creatures, cutting through the hard chitin armour they had. The loud screech the wounded monster gave out made Serena wince – it was piercing and hit her hard, making her headache flare up. She missed another hit that scratched against her armour, and gritted her teeth, jolting forward.
Slamming into one of the creatures and piercing it through its mouth, the woman twisted around and sliced apart another. While busy with those two, the third one managed to grasp Lindon’s leg, but Serena jumped back and finished the creature’s existence, hitting it with her blade across the body.
Looking around, she noticed another similar beast crawling deep into the tunnel.
«Fuck…» Serena clasped her weapons back to the belt and stepped to Lindon.
Another – stronger – nauseating wave sent her stumbling to her knees. Grasping at her helmet, the woman took a few breaths before hoisting Lindon onto her back again to get out of whatever lair they got into.
Fortunately, when she chose the tunnel the creature did not crawl into, no one followed.
Pushing through the dizziness and weakness, slowly washing over her, Serena walked for some time, making distance between them and whatever the cave dwellers were. For a bit it seemed like there was no end to the tunnel she took, but then, suddenly, it parted and Serena stepped into a much bigger cavern than before. Something caught her eye, and she slowly stepped forward, tensing up.
As soon as she approached the edge of a small cliff, she saw piles upon piles of bodies.
Among them were some of the smaller cave creatures, but when Serena descended the slope to this giant underground cemetery, the animals scattered, spooked by someone alive appearing among their feeding grounds.
The sight was horrid, filling Serena with a sense of dread. She tried not to think of the putrid air that couldn’t reach her nostrils through the helmet.
Serena looked at the piles and felt her breath becoming pained and shallow. She was shocked, without a doubt, but knew she would need to pass through this cavern.
Forcing herself to walk on, she couldn’t help but look at the bodies of children that weren’t even yet assigned their armour pins. Haphazardly thrown, the piles consisted, without a doubt, of children – not older than 14. Boys, girls, most of them clothed in typical Academy attire, they lay there – rotting, bloated and pale blue.
They were barely starting to learn the ways of war – too young to carry anything, except the shorter, kids’ versions of Veluthian blades. If at least one such weapon could be found among these corpses, then Serena would have means of identifying the group that perished.
Serena felt a shudder running down her spine and suddenly remembered that she was carrying Lindon. Swallowing a heavy lump in her throat, she saw a narrow path between the piles and headed through it, trying hard not to look at the faces of children that will never return home. But, however she tried, it was impossible not to.
Stepping over a mutilated boy, she noticed a few bodies stripped of their attire. Stopping for a moment, Serena studied the cuts that ran on their bodies. Someone deliberately dissected them, taking out organs and samples – only to drop the corpses in this cavern.
Passing a few more piles, she saw a wide space cleared of bodies, but when she approached the corner of this cavern, she saw neat rows of respectfully placed corpses. All of those were covered in body bags, and Serena walked over to take a look.
She counted almost three dozen body bags, and each of those had a label on the chest of the body inside. Name, rank, platoon.
The woman took a moment, looking at the Company Logo above those and understood exactly what was happening here.
Serena glanced aside and saw a passage leading out. Carrying Lindon there, she lay him down and returned to the corpses of Veluthian children. She needed to remember at least some faces.
She looked at those, who still had some semblance of their features being recognisable, and hoped this would be enough to identify these students to bring some solace to their families. She knew how little this meant, but they did, in fact, fight for their lives – some bodies exhibited signs of a struggle and others were shot several times at different angles, as if the children were moving when the shots were made. Serena even checked those who were shot down and noted that none of those hit the backs.
But that didn’t make her feel any better.
These children fought soldiers, though they were young, barely armed, unarmoured, overpowered…
