Posted by: Þórgrímr
« on: April 15, 2008, 09:23:19 AM »No sooner had he said this than a shape lunged at him, slashing wildly with clawed appendages. Training took over, and Sempronius sent a bolt into the creature?s head without a thought. His spotlight revealed the headless carcass of a spider alien for a moment, then it vanished like a cloud of smoke, dispersing into nothing. Sempronius readied another magazine for his rifle in one hand, while firing again at a second shape scuttling towards him, zig-zagging in and out of the beam of his spotlight. Laser fire sounded on both sides of him as the four of them came under attack from all manner of creatures, all of the things drawn from their worst nightmares.
Sempronius seated the magazine into the well on the rifle then drew his gladius and pushed forward, stabbing with his gladius at the creatures ahead of him, driving them back as his companions fired round after round into the things that clawed at them from the shadows on either side. Reaching the edge of the ramp leading out of the dome, Sempronius sheathed his gladius and pulled his laser pistol from its place beneath his rucksack. Bracing the rifle against his elbow he fired both rifle and pistol, cutting a path through the shapeless things that poured down the ramp towards him. Hazel was on one side of him, slamming a new magazine into her pistol and firing back to cover as Rama and Salonius started up the ramp, the Fumum Vendere clearing the way with his laser rifle while Rama fired down into the creatures scrambling towards their rearguard. Sempronius slapped a hand onto Hazel?s shoulder plate, sending her up the ramp, then followed, rifle firing as he reloaded his pistol one-handed.
By the time he reached the beginning of the tunnel, where its light spread onto the edge of the ramp, his rifle was empty. As he raised his pistol Salonius stepped up beside him and lowered his laser, cutting away the ramp a few yards behind them, causing a section to collapse down into the dark forest below.
?If they?re trying to look like big bugs,? he yelled over the noise of Hazel and Rama clearing the tunnel ahead of them, ?they can?t fly!? Sempronius saw that the creatures behind them had indeed been slowed, some overbalancing and tumbling into the darkness, others trying to leap the gap. A thing shaped like a Han pirate landed a gauntlet on the edge of the ramp, its hand warping to keep its grip, and Salonius stepped forward and slammed the barrel of his rifle into its fingers, sending it backwards into the dark, its shape twisting as it tried to stretch itself out to reach him.
Sempronius and Salonius backed into the tunnel as Rama and Hazel pushed forward. Sempronius replaced Hazel in the front, confident that she and Salonius would be able to hold the things behind them at bay while they moved away from the generation-ship. In the tight confines of the rock tunnel the numbers of the beasts didn?t come into play, and they were cut down more easily by their weapons. It was as they were starting to progress forward at a faster pace that Sempronius felt a pressure in his mind again.
?They?re trying the mind games again,? he called, ?have faith! For the Gods!? He began reciting the Sons of Christ's battle-prayer over and over in his mind. To his side Rama, whose eyes had gone wide for a moment at something his mind had seen, grimaced and continued pouring laser fire into the shapes ahead of them. Sempronius noticed his lips silently moving, and recognized the shapes made by some sort of prayer to a God called Jesus. He glanced back for a moment, seeing Salonius and Hazel still keeping up their rearguard.
?Navarchus,? Rama called, and Sempronius turned back to see a giant shape blocking their path. It seemed composed of everything he had ever felt fear at the sight of, from the shapes of a hundred monsters to the insane glare in the eyes of a fanatic or a dark cultist. He motioned for Rama to stay back, and drew his gladius once again.
?No good,? he said, ?we won?t fall for your mind tricks anymore.? He felt the pressure in his mind, and saw the creature trying to reach out to him, but its mental claws rebounded off the prayer reciting itself endlessly. Then it warped, twisting into a new shape. Sempronius gasped in recognition as it became almost human, its face a macabre caricature of evil, but one he remembered. When he had seen the face before it was a Han pirate, a criminal lord he had not seen since his childhood. It tried again to frighten him, probing through his mind for old nightmares, but again it couldn?t break through the prayer, and this time he had a weapon to answer it as anger welled up and flooded back down the mental link it had opened.
?Bad move,? he growled, raising his gladius. As it thrust towards the creature its eyes for a moment showed fear, then it was gone, its severed head dissolving before it hit the ground.
?Come on,? he said to the others, realizing that the sound of laser fire had stopped, ?they must be getting weaker the further away we get. Remember your prayers.? He strode forward, scanning the tunnel for further signs of movement but finding nothing. Salonius and Hazel kept watch behind them, but apart from the occasional, weak pressure in their thoughts nothing further reached for them.
Hazel was last through the airlock back into the derelict, sealing it behind her. Sempronius silently reached out a hand to Salonius, taking the laser and turning it to its lowest beam setting. He quickly welded the airlock shut, then paused and raised the barrel to point just below the grimy porthole looking through the doorway. He carefully burned a triple-pointed star into the metal, each point ending in a tiny crescent, the Imperial symbol for Quarantine.
?Let?s get out of here,? he said, handing the laser back to Salonius. He had the Fumum Vendere burn the same symbol into the airlock leading into the ship from the vacuum-opened portion of the derelict, then paused for a moment, regarding the desiccated corpse of the technician, floating motionless in his corner of the room. He retrieved a tiny vial from a pouch on his belt, opening it to let a few drops of water out, and watched as they floated in perfect spheres, splashing on the millennia?s-dead man like tiny raindrops on a desert.
?Ieshua watch over you,? he said, touching his forehead, chest and then his shoulders in the age-old gesture invoking his deity. Rama echoed the gesture then, one by one, they filed out of the chamber, heading back to their ship.
Far beneath them, on the airlock sealing the tunnel through the rock, a shadow passed across the metal. When it had gone the surface was clean, with no trace of the symbol burned into it. Beyond it, the lights in the tunnel died one by one, and the asteroid was again lifeless, waiting.
Sempronius seated the magazine into the well on the rifle then drew his gladius and pushed forward, stabbing with his gladius at the creatures ahead of him, driving them back as his companions fired round after round into the things that clawed at them from the shadows on either side. Reaching the edge of the ramp leading out of the dome, Sempronius sheathed his gladius and pulled his laser pistol from its place beneath his rucksack. Bracing the rifle against his elbow he fired both rifle and pistol, cutting a path through the shapeless things that poured down the ramp towards him. Hazel was on one side of him, slamming a new magazine into her pistol and firing back to cover as Rama and Salonius started up the ramp, the Fumum Vendere clearing the way with his laser rifle while Rama fired down into the creatures scrambling towards their rearguard. Sempronius slapped a hand onto Hazel?s shoulder plate, sending her up the ramp, then followed, rifle firing as he reloaded his pistol one-handed.
By the time he reached the beginning of the tunnel, where its light spread onto the edge of the ramp, his rifle was empty. As he raised his pistol Salonius stepped up beside him and lowered his laser, cutting away the ramp a few yards behind them, causing a section to collapse down into the dark forest below.
?If they?re trying to look like big bugs,? he yelled over the noise of Hazel and Rama clearing the tunnel ahead of them, ?they can?t fly!? Sempronius saw that the creatures behind them had indeed been slowed, some overbalancing and tumbling into the darkness, others trying to leap the gap. A thing shaped like a Han pirate landed a gauntlet on the edge of the ramp, its hand warping to keep its grip, and Salonius stepped forward and slammed the barrel of his rifle into its fingers, sending it backwards into the dark, its shape twisting as it tried to stretch itself out to reach him.
Sempronius and Salonius backed into the tunnel as Rama and Hazel pushed forward. Sempronius replaced Hazel in the front, confident that she and Salonius would be able to hold the things behind them at bay while they moved away from the generation-ship. In the tight confines of the rock tunnel the numbers of the beasts didn?t come into play, and they were cut down more easily by their weapons. It was as they were starting to progress forward at a faster pace that Sempronius felt a pressure in his mind again.
?They?re trying the mind games again,? he called, ?have faith! For the Gods!? He began reciting the Sons of Christ's battle-prayer over and over in his mind. To his side Rama, whose eyes had gone wide for a moment at something his mind had seen, grimaced and continued pouring laser fire into the shapes ahead of them. Sempronius noticed his lips silently moving, and recognized the shapes made by some sort of prayer to a God called Jesus. He glanced back for a moment, seeing Salonius and Hazel still keeping up their rearguard.
?Navarchus,? Rama called, and Sempronius turned back to see a giant shape blocking their path. It seemed composed of everything he had ever felt fear at the sight of, from the shapes of a hundred monsters to the insane glare in the eyes of a fanatic or a dark cultist. He motioned for Rama to stay back, and drew his gladius once again.
?No good,? he said, ?we won?t fall for your mind tricks anymore.? He felt the pressure in his mind, and saw the creature trying to reach out to him, but its mental claws rebounded off the prayer reciting itself endlessly. Then it warped, twisting into a new shape. Sempronius gasped in recognition as it became almost human, its face a macabre caricature of evil, but one he remembered. When he had seen the face before it was a Han pirate, a criminal lord he had not seen since his childhood. It tried again to frighten him, probing through his mind for old nightmares, but again it couldn?t break through the prayer, and this time he had a weapon to answer it as anger welled up and flooded back down the mental link it had opened.
?Bad move,? he growled, raising his gladius. As it thrust towards the creature its eyes for a moment showed fear, then it was gone, its severed head dissolving before it hit the ground.
?Come on,? he said to the others, realizing that the sound of laser fire had stopped, ?they must be getting weaker the further away we get. Remember your prayers.? He strode forward, scanning the tunnel for further signs of movement but finding nothing. Salonius and Hazel kept watch behind them, but apart from the occasional, weak pressure in their thoughts nothing further reached for them.
Hazel was last through the airlock back into the derelict, sealing it behind her. Sempronius silently reached out a hand to Salonius, taking the laser and turning it to its lowest beam setting. He quickly welded the airlock shut, then paused and raised the barrel to point just below the grimy porthole looking through the doorway. He carefully burned a triple-pointed star into the metal, each point ending in a tiny crescent, the Imperial symbol for Quarantine.
?Let?s get out of here,? he said, handing the laser back to Salonius. He had the Fumum Vendere burn the same symbol into the airlock leading into the ship from the vacuum-opened portion of the derelict, then paused for a moment, regarding the desiccated corpse of the technician, floating motionless in his corner of the room. He retrieved a tiny vial from a pouch on his belt, opening it to let a few drops of water out, and watched as they floated in perfect spheres, splashing on the millennia?s-dead man like tiny raindrops on a desert.
?Ieshua watch over you,? he said, touching his forehead, chest and then his shoulders in the age-old gesture invoking his deity. Rama echoed the gesture then, one by one, they filed out of the chamber, heading back to their ship.
Far beneath them, on the airlock sealing the tunnel through the rock, a shadow passed across the metal. When it had gone the surface was clean, with no trace of the symbol burned into it. Beyond it, the lights in the tunnel died one by one, and the asteroid was again lifeless, waiting.