Drancis remarks wryly, "Yeah, we kinda already figured that out!"Still it is good to know exactly where we are at..."
As he moves off to the exit, a thought occurs to him. "Hey, uhhh...BR? Do you know where the closest route to evacuate the station is?"
"Computing... BR-N3R confirms evacuation is feasible through gate on third level of facility... access to third level is only possible via elevator... Test subjects to follow BR-N3R", and with that, the machine scuttles towards the vertical shaft. Stopping short of the ruined doors, the emotionless voice chirps, "Elevator is out of use following catastrophic event... Test subjects will need to climb".
Locke frowns, "Why do you keep calling us test subjects? What kind of tests were we meant to be a part of?"
Rikkan looks at the others, ready to climb up if the rest of them were.
Illonna hesitates, willing to be the first to go but woefully unable to properly climb.
"I am afraid I would have to remove my armor to have any hope to make it up the shaft and even then I wouldn't have a good chance." She looks to her missing arm with a slight frown as she finishes.
Drancis eyes the shaft for a long moment before turning to face the andriod. "If you trust me, Illonna. I could lift you up to the next level. It would be a test for me, as I have not done this before, but considering we don't have a lot of time left..." His voice trails off.
"I do trust you, Drancis. I always will"
"A- a way out? Thanks, um... BR-N... 3... R?" Astraea finds herself oddly fascinated by the tiny, talking machine. "Locke asks a good question, though- and I have one of my own. What's outside this facility? And can you, um... can you come up with us and show us the way?"
BR-N3R replies to Astraea in an emotionless voice, ”Garsilt Research Station is located several miles below ground… there is no outside other than rock. Supplementary note; Garsilt atmosphere is toxic to creatures that respire oxygen… Conclusion, the only method of leaving Garsilt Research Station is via the Gate on third level of facility”.
...and then to Locke, ”Following discovery of your planet, each of you was selected for medical experimentation by Lomrick. Supplementary information; unexpected anomalies were found in tissue specimens taken from subjects #462-8734-a, #462-8734-b, #462-8734-c, #462-8734-d, #462-8734-e and #462-8734-f. Subject #462-8734-g was of no further interest and has been liquidated. Lomrick note for action: further analysis required from test subjects and, subject to Gate operation, further test subjects required”. BR-N3R briefly turns its attention towards Andretta, ”Test subject #462-8698-a is of no bio-genetic interest and has been identified for euthanasia”.
As turn talks to climbing within the vertical shaft once more, there is an indistinct voice from somewhere below their position… echoing up the shaft, it sounds uncannily like it could be Silam Oddle, ”Mother? Is that you mother? Up there in the darkness? Mother, I’m scared… I’m so scared…”
As Drancis prepares to channel his mental powers to lift up both Illonna and the robot BR, the strange voice echoing from the bottom of the shaft causes him to lose his concentration.
"What do you think? Could that actually be Silam? Or is it someone trying to trick us?" Drancis softly asks.
"Drancis, can you lower me down instead? If there's a chance it's him then we need to get him out."
Illonna calls out down the shaft "Silas Oddle, is that you? Can you hear me?"
Locke takes in the information provided by the construct with growing horror and intrigue, "It seems a very lucky thing you got out of your tube alive Andretta."
Upon hearing the voice from below Locke directs his dancing lights downwards, in the hope that they can see what is there before lowering Illonna herself.
"You all remember what happened with Silam, click. It's not him, unless he's a ghost. People Whrr people don't come back from that..."
At the attack of the ooze, Zoreck mutters, "Great. Yet more snot-monsters!" and then seems relieved that Rikkan was able to easily destroy it.
The Numerian warrior then looks at the talking robot with detached curiosity. He seems remarkably unfazed at the talking robot... almost as if he'd seen such things before.
"Uh, Rikkan, I think you're confusing Silam with Sheriff Jerreth. Silam was alive when we last saw him..."
The Kellid turns back to the robot. "Hey, robot... could you describe what test subject... '462-um-whatever-G' looked like? I mean, a physical description? We had two friends with us when we were captured... um, 'collected.'" Zoreck's face looks as if he'd taken a bite of something rotten when pronouncing that last word.
"...and what do you mean by 'liquidated?'"
"Sorry, my head's woozy from all this, click. Still not sure we want to see him again in this place."
BR-N3R, the arachnid machine, is still for a moment as Zoreck asks further information of it, ”Retrieving… Test Subject #462-8734-g physiological notes… playing…”. The impassive voice of BR-N3R is replaced by a staccato voice speaking in a quite alien dialect…
Andretta whispers to the friends, ”That’s Ultari… hang on, let me try and translate… Okay, it’s saying that the test subject is a ‘Male of its species’, ‘Six feet and three inches in height with a muscular build’, ‘Cranial development suggests mental capacity lower than for others of its species’, ‘neural scarring typical for mindslave harness host’, ‘test subject does not display characteristics observed in other individuals from capture batch 462-8734… test subject to be liquidated’… That’s it – there were a few other references to procedures and biology that I didn’t understand”.
…and when Zoreck asks about the ‘liquidation’, the machine simply reports, ”As per Garsilt Research Station procedure GUI-OSL-982 issue 5.0, liquidation of test subjects is either termination through cessation of life-support mechanisms, cranial destruction or by feeding to Tauslek Matriarch in the sub-level Containment Pen”.
Whilst this ‘interrogation’ is continuing, the voice from within the shaft seems to be drawing closer… and when Illonna calls out to Silam Oddle, the voice calls back ”Friends? Is that you, Friends? It has been so long since I had Friends…”
…unlikely as it seems, it certainly appears to be Silam’s voice and so, with the vertical shaft shrouded in darkness, Locke summons light…
…and there, now starkly illuminated, he is confronted with the nightmarish vision of an enormous centipede-like creature – almost large enough to fill the shaft – moving towards him at some speed… physically, it seems to be the same species of creature that Zoreck and Locke encountered in the pit… but much larger and, somehow Locke can tell, behind its eyes there is an intelligence…
Drancis moves to the edge of the shaft and gathers his powers around him. Even as he lets loose a blast down the shaft against the Matriarch, he exclaims "I don't think this is Silas..."
Locke stumbles back half a step in shock as the creature takes shape in the light. "Definitely not." He readies his blade and begins an uprising chant.
Drancis grips a loose piece of metal sheeting with his mind and, standing at the edge of the shaft, tosses it down at the rapidly approaching insect-like creature… the creature though, is well armoured, and the improvised missile merely bounces off of its carapace. Again, the voice – seemingly coming from the creature – calls out, ”I feel so cold… what are they doing to me Mother? Mother!!! It hurts Mother!!!”… and, before he can step back, the creature is upon Drancis…
.
Rikkan throws an actual bomb at the large creature, thinking it might not be resistant to fire.
RTA with PBS
Damage
Miss direction
Rikkan’s bomb, thrown in panic as the huge insectile creature grabs hold of Drancis, wobbles in the air before crashing against the entrance to the vertical shaft… Locke, Drancis, Andretta and Rikkan are all showered with sparks and shrapnel…
Reflex
Appalled by the appearance of yet another beast, Illonna immediately reaches for the longsword at her side. However, one it had taken hold of Drancis she changes her mind and goes to Saintéglaie instead.
"Cease this torment, beast!" she yells while moving past her friends to get into striking range. She calls to every ounce of strength she has, even beginning to glow brightly as power surges, and lands a mighty lunge with her blade, driving it in deep.
Zoreck steps to the shaft, pointing his pistol at the beast.
"You ate my friend?! Eat lead, ugly!"
He pulls the trigger.
Rushing forwards… and pushing her friends aside so that she can stand in front of the beast that has Drancis in its jaws… Illonna brings her sword around in a savage arc against the thing that is not Silam. The hilt of her sword jolts in her grip as it strikes chitin… and then relaxes as it cuts deep into soft meat…
Zoreck, slipping into a rage, is unlikely to miss against such a large target – and, levelling his pistol, blows a twitching antenna clean from the alien being’s head…
Thrashing wildly within the confines of the vertical shaft and with thick black blood pooling at Illonna’s feet, the beast is clearly heavily wounded…
With a sense of desperation, Drancis tries calling upon the powers of his mind to wriggle his way out of the jaws of the Matriarch. The best he can do is grab several dripping pools of ichor with his mind.
I...have to...escape...somehow! Maybe I can loosen its grip on me...
Despite the level of fatigue now flooding into his limbs he tries to wedge a bubble in its jaws and push them apart by sheer willpower alone.
Astraea barely suppresses a scream as Drancis is mangled by the centipede-like monster, then further injured by the bomb. Seeing him go limp, Astraea cries out his name in fear. "Drancis! Don't die!" What a stupid thing to say... get in there and save him!
She moves in as close as she can and tries to get a hand on Drancis.
The next few seconds pass as a blur for Drancis... one moment he is clasped tightly within the mandibles of the beast in the vertical shaft - the next he is released, falling to the floor and into the welcoming arms of unconsciousness...
Sprawled on the floor, he suddenly jolts awake... Astraea's reassuring touch bringing him back to the waking world...
...but he is only awake for seconds before the creature scoops him from the floor, bites hard - spraying blood across his friends - and drags him into the shaft...
Locke attempts to slice the creature apart as it withdraws.
IF he and Illonna fail to fell the creature he will jump down the shaft after the creature, attempting to land on it with a stabbing blow while his magical chant rises with righteous fury. You won't take him!
Rikkan wanted to drop his final bomb down the shaft, but he knows it would kill Drancis. All he could do was to let the beast escape, for now.
"Drancis!!"
Reason clouded by fury, Zoreck rushes toward the elevator shaft, holstering his pistol and drawing his sword. He grips his sword, pointing it downward and jumps into the shaft after the monster grappling Drancis!
AAAAGGHHHH!!!!"
As the creature retreats with Drancis' limp body clasped in its mandibles, Locke and Illonna instinctively slash at it... but it is too quick and, even as the blades slash downwards, the creature is descending...
...and then, making the same snap decision, Locke and Zoreck hurl themselves down the shaft after their taken friend. Swords braced and held out in front of them, gravity carries them faster then the insect can move away... in an explosion of gore, two polished steel blades pierce the carapace of the beast... and, for a moment, everything seems to slow down...
...the hard landing sends shocks up Zoreck's and Locke's legs
...a voice calls out, "Mother? Mother? Why? Why... why?" and the creature abruptly becomes still... hundreds of legs clasp hard against the shaft in a death grip...
...the creature's bite on Drancis starts to slip... below the dying creature, below Drancis and below Zoreck and Locke... is at least fifty feet of sheer drop into the darkness...
Locke grits his teeth and attempts to grab on to Drancis while also grabbing on to the 'vines' on the wall. "Help me out here Zoreck!"
"Are you two alive? Are any of you alive? How's Drancis?"
Despite the pain she is in, Astraea can't help but cheer when Locke and Zoreck heroically divebomb the centipede-monster before it can drag Drancis away to a certain death. "Do you need me to come down there, or can you carry him back up? I can heal him again, but I have to be close enough to touch him!"
The final words the monster utters are chilling, however. She wonders if somehow Silas's essence or spirit was trapped within the beast, or if it was simply imitating his own last words... Neither option was very comforting.
Carefully balancing himself on the dead giant bug that's locked itself to the walls of the mineshaft, Zoreck reaches around to help Locke rescue Drancis.
"We got you, Drancis! We got you!"
Between them, Zoreck and Locke manage to grab a hold of Drancis before he slips out of the grasp of the dead centipede creature... and to a certain death...
Realising that the beast must surely fall down the shaft as its death grip relaxes, the friends quickly secure Drancis with a trailing 'vine'... and, making sure that the unconscious kineticist is safely held, ensure that they themselves are safe... not a moment too soon either, with a rattling sound, the centipedes' limbs retract...
...and, slowly at first, the huge beast slips downwards... its bulk wedging it against the tight confines of the shaft - for a moment it seems that it will come to rest about ten feet below the watching Zoreck and Locke - and then something cracks, a noise not unlike the breaking of a crab's shell, and the monster accelerates away into the darkness... a crashing sound announcing its brutal landing somewhere far below...
With the threat now passed it is clear that Drancis is fading fast, so it is with some urgency that Zoreck and Locke push him up towards Astraea's healing touch.
Illonna, having sheathed her weapon by now, quickly scurries to Drancis as Locke and Zorick return. Immediately she sets to stabilizing him.
She bites her lip and wills power forth from her palms on behalf of her friend.
As the darkness is replaced by a soft gray light where the pleas of his friends emanate from, Drancis feels himself pulled into it. It seems to take forever for him to travel through the seemingly unending landscape but eventually he does arrive...
and feels in immediate sharp stabbing in his brain, a pain such as he had never felt before. Shielding his eyes from the light, despite it being only dimly lit. He looks up at his friends and knows he is lucky to be alive.
"Th--th--thank you. I...I...owe you...all of you, my life." He croaks as he staggers to his feet unsteadily. "Is...is it...d--d--dead?" He asks in an unsteady voice.
"Yes, it's dead." Locke places a hand on Drancis's shoulder, "Almost lost you there kid, glad to have you back."
Zoreck leans against the wall of the elevator shaft catching his breath.
"No prblem, kid. Just...don't get eaten by giant psychic centipedes again."
He then turns to the crab-like robot. "Hey, robot! You said this place was under attack. Who or what was attacking? And what can you tell us about them?"
BR-N3R turns towards Zoreck as he asks his questions, ”Correction Subject #462-8734-a, BR-N3R stated that there has been a catastrophic event… Clarification, Garsilt was struck by an extinction level interplanetary object four solar periods ago – the seismic shock from this event compromised containment cells and all stasis chambers across the facility. Initial Jagladine assessment predicted that power could be restored and the Garsilt research facility could be salvaged however subsequent meteorite strikes have prevented the return of power and… Accessing… Evaluating… incidents of incursion by species 361-3569 have rendered initial assessment as invalid. Evacuation from Garsilt research facility is advised”
For a brief moment, the arachnid robot seems almost thoughtful, ”Further information, species 361-3569 have been encountered on 27 planetary bodies… initial research suggests that they are not evolutionarily connected to other bio-organisms on those planets… current analysis suggests that the species is seeded by interstellar bodies… meteorites, comets, etc… BR-N3R correction to record… species 361-3569 have been encountered on 28 planetary bodies. BR-N3R advises caution, species 361-3569 are rated ‘Extreme Red Hazard’”
"I dunno, but that sounds like an attack to me." Drancis mumbles as he staggers back on his feet. "Whatever that species is, we should give them a wide berth." Gesturing to the shaft he adds, "I think I can still carry you up to the top of the shaft, and time grows short. Are you ready to go?"
"I wonder if that creature in the shaft is part of an extreme red hazard species as well, click. If not, they should revise the ratings, I think..."