“Well that was a haul.” Gizzy said, sitting in the meeting area as the team gathered around the items they got. “We got a blood chalice, an armored skin jacket with magic protection, 12 soul bullets that we recovered from a vault…” Gizzy said while staring at Nicole, who looked grossed out. She was staring intensely at the black leather flesh coat covered in pale symbols. “and a muzzle loading pistol made of scrimshaw ivory that we don’t know anything about except the glasses make it glow so it’s something pretty special.” She concluded. Vicki took a sudden deep breath, arching her back and itching her new half tattoo, as she heard a gust of wind and the splash of the ocean, looking very concerned.
“You okay?” Jack asked.
“I just… back is still healing.”
“With your healing speed it should be healed by now.”
“Don’t bet on it,” Demitri sighed. "I said she would recover, I did not say quickly.”
“Can we just, like, laser it off and I can grow back new skin?” Vicki asked.
“As a vampire of significantly more strength than yourself, do you think I would have carried this mark for a century if it were that easy? The wound will heal soon, the side effects will fade in weeks, the mark will remain much longer. If it had been completed, it would not be so quick.” Demitri noted. A notification blip appeared on Gizzy’s phone as the ship’s engines powered up.
“Looks like we have a destination.” She noted. “The scans of Vicki’s tattoo found a partial match to something, and you’re not gonna like this.” She said, bringing it up on the display. The symbol is the mark of one of the ancient chaos gods, but not the imposter.” She said as the hologram screen displayed an old drawing of a giant ramm-horned bipedal creature measuring 300 feet tall.
“It’s just gonna be Me, Vinn, Vicki, and Dee.” Gizzy said.
“Wait… it says here mining tunnels, and you’re not taking me?” Nicole objected. “I’m like the spelunking, cave lake diving, nocturnal champion of the crew.”
“I don’t wanna go.” Dee said.
“If Vicki’s going, I’m going too.” Jack objected.
“See, I told you nobody will like this. The problem is that the tunnels and the entire volcanic planet is highly radioactive and the air is toxic. Nicole and Jack would die of radiation sickness and, frankly, even Vicki shouldn’t be going but she has the tattoo, which means suit and mask up. Her bug DNA helps her with radiation but you’ll need periodic regen shots, and so will Vinn, in high doses. Me and Dee don’t even need to breathe and we’re essentially immune to radiation. Vinn can breathe that air, Vicki can see in the dark, and Vinn can carry her. Jack, Nicole, you are as good as dead in there if you take a hit off that air. Demitri, we need you on Intel and navigation, you assist Nicole. Now, we will be loading up with mostly small caliber, high capacity mags and extra clips due to the cave spiders.”
“The fuck, what, hold up.” Dee said suddenly. “I hate spiders. Like I hate them.”
“That’s fine, they’re not residents, they’re aggressive wildlife, feel free to hatefully shoot any you see.”
“Okay look, I know I act like a bad bitch, but bugs are mot my thing. I spent years alone trapped without a body, with bugs crawling on my sensors and shorting out my circuits, and that's before I merged with the base personality of a chick who’s horrified of spiders. So this is not thrilling for me. Just so we’re clear, we’re shooting the spiders. We’re encountering spiders big enough to use GUNS on… which is why I’ll be not doing this.”
“Dee, you’ll be with me. We’re splitting into teams to cover more area, within the short time we have, and nobody goes alone.”
“You don’t understand how much I don’t like bugs, It weirds me out that Vicki is a little bit bug. I looked that up on file and saw the thing that bit her and if I had a colon I would have jumpshit my ass, on spot.”
“Dee. My home world was killed by 90 pound Tardigrades. I got exiled for war crimes, and thousands of years later, my species had colonized 16 star systems, and one of the species they allied with were giant bugs. They turned on them and wiped out millions, basically wiped out 3 world. Bugs almost wiped out my species, TWICE. I was on a cargo crew that got wiped out by Weavers, and the first time I got comfortable on Delmar, a cargo ship brought in rapidly reproducing spiderpedes and almost took over my moon. I assure you, nobody on this crew despises bugs more than I do, and I am not letting them near you. I’ll CHEW through a pile of them if we run out of ammo and you end up in danger.”
“That’s really sweet but… We really need me?”
“You can see in the dark and don’t need air. That leaves 4 people. I’m not sending anyone alone, and we have a 36 hour window to find this thing because the tidal gravity of this world has lava upsurges that can flood the tunnels and superheat them.”
“No offense.” Vicki said. “But I just got branded by something I don’t wanna encounter anyway, I’m not fireproof and if you remember, I wasn’t born bug, I got attacked by one in a tunnel and it ruined my life. There’s some serious trauma there for me too. Not only did I almost just get enslaved by someone who worships the god we’re going to meet, but I have nightmares about bugs. Why does it have to be bugs?”
“Because you fear them.” Demitri said, “That is the chaos god of the broke, and the collector must have known your deepest fear and planned to use that fear to strengthen himself, most likely sacrificing you to him specifically as an offering for the price. Had the symbol been completed, you would be his property.”
“Well I’m obviously not going to that planet, so you guys do the mission and I’ll just stay on the ship.” She nervously stated.
“If only that were an option.” Demitri sighed.
“I’m fairly sure that’s an option, and I’m choosing that option right now.”
“Fate gave us the weapons to kill a chaos god, and the map to the planet it resides, we have no ink to summon, say for the ink in your flesh that cannot be extracted or duplicated. So without you, we will encounter a wall we cannot pass through or a door we cannot open.”
“Then clone me, kill the me with the tattoo and cut the damn thing off so you can bring it with you, I’m not going.”
“I have carved the flesh from my arm, and the wound healed with the mark still intact. The flesh that was severed faded to blank skin. This is not magic you can clone around, it is beyond your escape, and the alternative is that we have done this all for nothing and now have the bullets to kill what we let live, and nothing to do but keep them locked away in hopes they never get used for evil. Shall we simply tell fate that we have decided not to follow its path and that thousands of lives will continue to suffer or die merely because you fear something? Have we not all faced things we fear and wish to forget? Are you simply better than we are and immune to this responsibility?”
“FUCK!” she yelled, pounding the table.
“I second!” Dee whined.
“I’m okay with bugs.” Vinn shrugged.
“I actually like bugs.” Nicole sighed.
“Oh…” Vicki sighed. “Good for you, who’s not going. Bugs and tunnels that flood from tidal forces, wouldn’t you just love it down there?” she barked.
“…LAVA FLOODING! I’m aquatic and cold loving, I’m not fireproof, but I’d go for you if I could. But I can’t. Vinn will keep you safe. He always does. If he has to carry you out, he will, he has before. Surely you trust him by now.”
“Maybe too much.” She sighed. “I mean too much because I feel safe and then get into danger anyway.”
“Well guess what, people… no damn choice. Get your guns, we’re loading with shotshells and an asston of 5mm high capacity clips, and we’re going on the mission."
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
...
The four of them stood silently at the entrance of a subway tunnel. The groan of metal and rust came to a stop as several small aliens in full hazmat gear exited and one remained. His stature was petite, his clothing powdered black and rusty, and his every feature was obscured from the tarnished tin mask, the goggles, the hood and the gloves. Only a single tuft of metallic grey colored hair was visible as he silently stared at them. Vicki’s heart raced when a small black bird landed on his hand. It was alien, pigeon-like with bright orange reflective eyes, but she saw in it the shape of a raven, death itself, a flash of memory of blank tar wings spreading from a faceless slender body without eyes or a mouth and then it was gone, just a bird on a glove.
“We’re going as far down as it goes.” Gizzy said, the translator struggling slightly with the words. The form nodded and laughed under his mask, waving them along and waving goodbye at the same time. They boarded the train, a very modern and advanced looking bullet-type train, levitating over iron rails with safety claws to keep it stable. The white paint was streaked and scratched so much that Gizzy didn’t realize until she closed the door that it wasn’t supposed to be white. The ominous red glow of warning lights flickered on and the doors shut and locked, the train hovering forward, gently drifting and scraping the guide claws a with sparks and shutters as it got to speed.
“Are we the only people on this train?” Vinn asked Gizzy.
“We’re the only organic people in these tunnels. It’s a fully robot-run mining operation. Even the bird is a robot.”
“Then why are WE here?” he asked.
“I told you, we only have 2 cyborgs on the crew and Vicki has the rune tattoo, and you can safely breathe brimstone.” She said as the little watch beeper went off. “That’s your medicine alarm. Both of you take a radiation shot.” She said as the flicker of lighting changed. The red train lights met with the tunnel lighting in icy blue as they entered the powered section of the tunnel, fully lit with arc lights and glowing from the combination of steam, metallic ore dust and white calcium. The train began ripping to a hasty stop, making loud thumps as it went and sounding like it was running over tree limbs and roots while trying to brake and not break. The robotic conductor waved them silently as they exited into a round tunnel 12 feet across with a flat, concrete floor. The train backed up and left them as Gizzy got into her bag of goodies.
“Okay, we split up from here. Left or right, doesn’t matter. These tunnels are a maze, so follow the holographic display on your watch. When the alarm goes off, take a shot. If the louder alarm goes off and stays on, turn around and go back. That’s the half time alarm. Means you have time to get back out, but not if you keep going. The tunnels will start to get hot and problematic after that. We’re looking for a big door with that same symbol on it. If you find it before the time runs out, plant the locator and get out. All we gotta do is geo-locate the door and we can drill in from the surface, but it’s hard to find for a reason. Vicki, here’s a coat for protection in case you get delayed going back."
“Is that what I think it is?” she said while looking at the black leather that was covered in tiny white symbols.
“Yep, that’s collector skin. Only part of him left.”
“Thanks.” She said, putting it in her backpack before they parted ways.
Gizzy and Dee took the darker side, leaving the illuminated side for Vicki and Vinn. The slowly snaking and irregular tunnel was lined with delvilishly orange lights that reflected off the riveted iron top and the wet concrete floor. They were afraid to even ask what it was slick with, what liquid gave the sheen to it and what fog of grey they were walking through.
“Really hate this lighting.” Vinn sighed, “Nice orange to remind us we’re going right to hell.”
“I don’t think they’re lights.” Vicki said while passing by one of them closer. “I think they’re just bars of clear stone or glass. Look in.” she said as he peered in and noticed movement.
“Oh, so just straight up magma peep-holes for lighting. Great. That explains the wet floors. These steel pipes are probably water cooled to keep from melting and they all leak coolant.”
“Why not just have lights?” she asked.
“Well, it’s cheaper to have hell skylights, and also if the tunnels flood and overheat, the electrical wires and lights would melt. So this kinda makes it foolproof without electricity. Give me that look… I worked demo in a mining moon before we did this. I know some shit. I can make inferences based on things.”
“Ever work in a tunnel surrounded by molten rock?”
“Nope. Safety violation. They’d never let that fly on Delmar.”
...
Dee nervously followed Gizzy along the path where the white lighting got brighter. That section’s power was working better, apparently.
“I’m sorry I’m so useless.” She said.
“You’re not useless. Don’t be like that. You’re not suited for combat and exploration, we just have limited options, and you can’t be the best at everything. You’re the best hacker we have, the most versatile at mastering new technical skills, and you’re important to me. Truthfully, I needed you more than I like to admit.”
“Couldn’t you just buy a sexbot?”
“Not for that. The sex is a bonus. I’ve tried talking to therapy robots, they’re useless shells of bullshit, and I can go without sex. I just haven’t felt alone like this in centuries, disconnecting from my hive mind was… more then I realized it would be. Losing the wife, even knowing she was out there, felt pretty isolating. The only one of my kind among a fully organic crew, having another ancient isolated biomech to talk to really pulled me through. So you wanna talk about how useless you are, this team can’t run without me and I was running on empty and falling apart. You may not a combat model, but you’re a life-saver.”
“Aww. You really do a heart in there somewhere.” She smirked.
“Stop.” She said coldly.
“Sorry, I thought we were ju-”
“STOP.” She ordered, shouldering her rifle and using her left arm to block her from moving past her.
“The hell is that? Is that a tree growing in this nasty soil?” she pondered.
“My rifle goes up, your rifle goes up. Stay focused, That’s not a tree.”
“Root ball, stump, what then?” she asked, readying her rifle.
“Look at the roots closer, where they meet the soil.” Gizzy said softly. Dee noticed the roughly 16ish 2-3 inch roots coming from the stump-sphere that dug into the dry rocky soil. Her heart raced as she began seeing the details, the boney branches going into the ground, that were only about half in and half laying on top of the dirt, with little finger-marks in the dirt like a hand had been moved back slightly. She noticed the sharp bend from the stump to the ground on every single root that looked more like a knuckle than a natural bend in a root. The odd texture like dark grayish green paper Mache, wetted down and stuck around tightly stretched tendons and kneecaps. Then one of the legs moved back just slightly.
“Oh it’s fucking alive, shoot it.”
“Hold yourself together. Listen carefully. Set your gun to auto 5mm, slowly step back ten yards and laser the center mass. When I say shoot, fire a quick burst and stop. If it runs away, just stay still. If it dies, we’re good. If it rushes us, fire another heavy burst and then run, I’ll draw it’s attention with buckshot and put it down. We need to know its durability before running into multiple.”
“What if the bucks shot doesn’t work?”
“Then you keep moving and I keep shooting, the last few rounds in my shotgun tube are… aggressive. Hopefully we don’t need them.”
“Oh shit, okay, I’m backing up, I’m on target, oh fuck, when do I fire?”
“Now.” Gizzy said, Dee fired a burst, hitting center mass as the 16 legged tree stump from hell with knees and fingers rapidly scurried out of the way, evading the second longer burst and wrapping it’s way up the wall and ceiling. Gizzy followed it around, lighting it up with shotgun rounds and planting it upside down back in the dirt, curled up like a spider.
“What the fuck!? Is it dead?”
“Well, the good news is that it’s pretty dead looking. The bad news is that it took buckshot to accomplish that. They’re hard to hit with rifle rounds. Switch to shotshells.” She said while unscrewing her rifle barrel and tossing it aside, then changing magazines and handing Dee a bunch of extras. “3 round burst to be sure.” Gizzy said, motioning forward towards the narrow square doorway leading into the darkness.
“I wanna go home.” Dee whispered.
...
“Kinda reminds me of home.” Vinn said as they walked through a thin and tall corridor, gridded with pipes and glowing ports.
“On Delmar?” Vicki asked.
“No, on M22. Volcanically active moon, not as developed as the one you moved to. Military camp. Sent there when I was a kid. Before we were old enough to train to fight, they just had us sweep floors and carry nutrient canisters to the workers. Just pipes and people welding, cutting torches, uniformed soldiers walking around all day. You didn’t really do anything but work, eat, sleep, and clean.”
“Sounds like slave labor.”
“Well they called it pre-training. Got you used to physical work and built muscle up. We’re born normal sized, even military class. Few years of steroids and manual labor get you building mass, otherwise the training itself would kill you. The drugs let you adapt to the harsh conditions, the discipline turns you into an automatic response drone, and the free labor cuts cost and hollows out more space for training camps, while harvesting more ores for weapons grade metals.”
“Holy shit. So you guys basically grew up slaves and labrats?”
“No… lab rats are for testing. They have this down to an artform. We were more like slaves and cult members in training for religious warfare. See, the politicians and the civilized Delmarian classes don’t get much into religion, but they kept it for the military class because apparently you work harder and get more motivated if you think you’re chosen by the gods to defend your species and earn a warriors afterlife under a higher ruling class. It’s bullshit indoctrination, but it makes damn good soldiers. I’d be either dead on some shitty alien world or leading young followers right now if Gizzy hadn’t stopped the war. We got very mixed feelings on that move.”
“I don’t understand, I keep hearing how she ended the war illegally and pissed off everyone. How do you illegally end a war?”
“Uh, by melting the enemy world. We wanted Morrigan 38, well, we were told that the Morrigan world was full of enemies that ate Delmarians for fun and threatened our home, but we wanted the mining rights. The Morrigan were absolutely brutal, don’t get me wrong, evil fuckers, but in reality, they never had the balls to hit Delmar. They knew we had soldiers and numbers so they preyed on smaller worlds. And then they fucked up.”
“They started a war with Delmar?”
“No… they started a war with Gizzy.” He sighed.