With the first creature dead, the other was now bearing
down. Xera could only look on as the creature battered Mhaast again and again.
With its form now fully flesh and metal, it was harder to hit. Its movements were
unpredictable as it constantly gained strength and stamina. For every second it
was still breathing its mass increased; the valves and tubes pumped more
chemicals into its body, the electronics stimulated more and more muscles.
Mhaast tired to match it force for force but found himself outmatched. Not only
could it hit harder and faster, it was able to somehow split its concentration
between the two effortlessly, striking with one movement, then dodging the
blasts from Shatterstone. Even with
Mhaast's great axe it was a slog of a fight, it wore down his systems and his
endurance. A few lucky strikes against its enhancements debilitated it but it
still kept coming. With one last swing Mhasst tried to hew into the flesh of
the creature, only to miss. In such close quarters however he managed to head
butt the creature and with all its other wounds, it fell to the floor dead.
They were both drained and exhausted. The security measures
down here, wherever here was, were nothing short of devastating and they hoped
that the others were faring better. Xera tried to contact Raneaux but his thoughts
were unanswered. He didn't know if she was dead, alive or perhaps the caverns
were preventing their communication but they had to press forward. He didn't
mention to Mhaast about Raneaux, it was probably best he didn't know. As they
both looked down at the bodies of the two hulks, they came to the conclusion
that they had nothing of note to take. Mhaast had considered trying to remove
their augmentations for himself but not knowing much about anatomy and due to
how foreign these creatures were to him, he did not want to damage the implants
let alone try to enhance himself with broken pieces. Like the table before, the
stone slab in this room also had a port that he could interface with. More
undecipherable information streamed through his mind. He found what possibly
could be a way to change everyone's hexagon to a neutral white but in the
process he was blasted away from the console by a bolt of energy. As he crumpled
to the floor in pain, he found both he and Xera were now upon dark orange. He
rubbed his head with what he thought was his hand but found that was instead his
new tail and the shock brought him to his feet. It was decided then by both of
them that messing with the ancient technology was a stupid idea and was not to
be repeated.
They turned left as they headed out of the room, a little
more cautious of the stonework around them. The passed the bend in the pathway
and it opened up into another forked path. To the immediate left was what seemed to be a workshop. There were
shelves and tables, more metal than stone around the outside of the room. They
were covered in scraps of paper, broken machinery, pieces of metal and most
disturbing of all, rotten body parts. There were four, almost pristine white
machines that lay littered on the surface of the tables. They seemed to be the
source of the rot, splattered with dried blood that had once pooled underneath
them. In the dim light, one started to spark and shudder. Its mechanical limbs whirred,
pincers on one side sliced through the air while the other, fluids and dust
were sprayed against the wall. A rumble came from what seemed to be a hopper at
the back of the machine between the two jets that were built into it. This was
where the blood was most obvious and soon the reason became clear. A warped and
mouldy foot was spat at their feet before the machine faded back to its
original state. Mhaast could sense these machines were still functional on some
level, perhaps sleeping in some powered down state. They backed away with fear
slowly gripping them. This was a mistake. Unbeknownst to them they passed
another set of pillars, setting off another security measure. The corridor they
had entered from was now closing shut, five sets of foot thick metal rose up
from the ground with a heavy echoed thud. They were individually blocking the
way back from a few feet away until one by one entrance was no longer
discernible from the walls of the cave.
On the other side of the labyrinth of caverns; Danton,
Deanna and Raneaux had been following what seemed to be signs of Lina. A scrap
of cloth had been found next to a narrow pathway in the rocks. Raneaux had
ventured in first, being an experienced caver and delver for artefacts. She told
both of them to wait for her to return. It seemed to her that the pathway had
been much larger and a possible cave in had nearly blocked the entire path
although she was unsure how recent it was. She presumed it was safe enough for
her to crawl through but for both of them to follow her. She knew she would have to secure it first. Reneaux soon
disappeared from view, slipping in between the rocks. A minute or so passed and
she could still be heard trying to scramble through. Another minute went past
and they could hear her swearing at the rocks, a side of her Danton hadn't seen
before. She seemed more open and honest, perhaps being in civilization had
closed her off, shut down her true self. There then came a sigh of relief as
she seemed to have made it through to the other side. Danton then waited for
her to call them through or at least offer them guidance on how to proceed.
There was nothing. Another minute passed and the cavern was still silent. He
thought about calling out to her and as he parted his lips to speak, a shrill
scream deafened him and Deanna, followed by the ever present laughter.
No comments:
Post a Comment