Ghost Ship
Posted on Sun Oct 11th, 2020 @ 11:05pm by Bomoor Thort & Thane & Amare
Edited on on Sat Nov 7th, 2020 @ 3:08pm
2,322 words; about a 12 minute read
Chapter:
Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Red Raptor
Timeline: Day One, Week Four
In the din of the cold silent darkness lit only by the faintest of coloured light emitted by the diodes from the door access panels, there came a loud metal impact noise from the Red Raptor's docking hatch. A few seconds later, there was a short-lived whine of straining metal as the bulkhead sealing the hatch was forced open with little resistance. A continuous low humming sound was then heard which echoed softly through the passage near the hatch, micro-thrusters hissing as a spherical black probe droid, virtually invisible in the darkness, flicked on a high-lumen light beacon as it floated easily several feet above the deck plating, moving into the passage, random bits of warbling unintelligible radio chatter emitting from its signal transceivers.
After a few more seconds of the ominous machine conducting its warbling survey, a few guttural screeches from its communications unit summoned more shadows from the depths of the hatchway. More beams of light shone into the near-absolute darkness of the ageing vessel's port engine room, where the affixed transport vessel had linked with it.
The lights from the newcomers and the droid revealed the engines of the ancient Corellian vessel were still active but on minimal power, with the outward appearance of having suffered some cataclysmic failure, rendering the ship temporarily incapable of faster-than-light travel, and forcing it to limp its way through the void of space at sublight speeds. Debris and other assortments, being a combination of tools, half-finished weaponry and small landspeeder cluttered the area, suggesting a lived-in, if neglected, living and workspace.
The first figure to emerge after the probe confirmed there was a breathable atmosphere was clad in bright-white plastoid armour, a black visor concealing her eyes within the perfectly unblemished, shining helmet that concealed her Human features within. Gripped tightly in her hands, aimed diligently forward as her the beam of her light washed over the unkempt engine room, was an E-101 blaster rifle, the standard firearm of her corps, fashioned in the ancient stylism of the First Empire's galactically-acclaimed weapon of of choice.
"Port engine room is clear," ST-1138 reported to her colleagues, her voice muffled by both her helmet and the comm system built into it. Although, just as quickly as she had said the words, she thought she heard a clattering above her, and she instantly swung the barrel of her gun round and aimed upwards.
The light from the blaster lit the ventilation system's tubes up clearly, as well as shining against the settling dust that she and the others had disturbed by breaching into the adrift vessel. She spied no movement to accompany the noise she believed she had heard, but neither her own senses nor her helmet's heads-up display managed to detect anything further.
"Eyes forward, trooper," said a similarly armored rifleman in a firm and professional tone behind the woman. Unlike the other two soldiers that went the opposite way from the docking port, this one had his white helmet capped in a smooth coating of rust colour along with an band of identical colouring stretching from behind his right shoulder to the end of where the armour covered his right clavicle bone which indicated his status as the squad's non-commissioned officer. "Leftenant's watching. Remember your training and press the sweep."
Typically, the sergeant was the point-man for his strike team, but this time he felt his younger charge needed the experience of being tested when she least expected it. It was risky, however, especially with a young lieutenant at their backs in charge of the boarding party; a young wet-behind-the-ears elitist snot spoiled by his father who was a member of the admiralty.
As if on cue, the comlink built into the sergeant's precisely-manufactured armour gave a slight click before the raspy voice of the lieutenant cut through as crisp and pronounced as if the younger man were standing alongside him, "Sergeant? I'm looking at the readings of the probe; faint life signs detected on the port side of the ship. Don't let your juniors get too excited: we must adhere to protocol and arrest any individuals on board. That will be my responsibility, so, if you have secured the point of entry, I will join you."
By the time the lieutenant had finished his last word, the sergeant and the lady corporal had already breached and cleared the uninhabited galley.
"PoE secure, and galley clear, sir," the sergeant reported just as he and the corporal checked both empty refresher rooms in tandem. "Breaching central corridor. Corporal, clear port, I've got starboard. We'll work towards the cockpit. Privates, secure those lifesigns. Stun fire only."
They then went through the center door out of the galley to work their way down the "spine" of the ship to go door-to-door clearing each of the crew quarters, the lieutenant following close behind to finish off any ambush that took out one of his two soldiers.
Just as the door to Rex's cabin was about to be breached, the female-sounding voice of the probe droid translated to Basic was heard from the comlinks built into the troopers' helmets along with a red danger message flashing along the lower half of their visors.
WARNING
"UNIDENTIFIED BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION DETECTED!
Location: STARBOARD PRIMARY CARGO HOLD."
The visors then included the following in text:
Threat level: UNKNOWN
Method of transmission: UNKNOWN
Recommendation: EXTREME CAUTION
"Pressurize suits!" the sergeant quickly ordered as he tapped a button on his left armor gauntlet. "Your orders, leftenant?"
"Hold on... Hold your positions..." the lieutenant's voice was slightly strained over the com channel, "I'm just entering the Port Engine Room now. Do not approach the contaminant. Have the probe take a sample and perform a Level 4 analysis."
The probe droid sent an acknowledgement and proceeded with its sample in the unseen cargo hold while the others held positions. After a moment, the door from the galley opened and in stepped a thin man in his mid-to-late-thirties, garbed in a thin environmental suit that sealed at his neckline so that his face was mostly visible aside from the small portable respirator covering his mouth. His thin brown hair was swept back, revealing a receding hairline and exaggerating his small greyish eyes.
"Ah, Sergeant, so good of you to wait for me," he raised a thin eyebrow, "While the droid confirms the nature of the hazard in the cargo bay, we should prioritise the remaining life forms on the port side. Has your other trooper engaged them yet?"
"We're about to clear that section, sir," the sergeant replied.
The corporal that had first entered nodded to her two superiors as she took point once more, leading them around the rooms lining the port side of the old freighter. The first one they reached had a very different appearance from the cabin doors they had initially skirted past; its metal was cleaner, newer and very clearly constructed of a more modern and sturdy material. A series of intricate bolts and barriers were woven into its construction, and even the bulkhead around it appeared reinforced, even to the naked eye.
1138 tapped the panel beside the door, perhaps optimistically, but was met with a negative response. A quick visual examination was about the best assessment she was going to get, as even the sensory equipment installed into her helmet and armour failed to ably penetrate and detail the true construction of the peculiar hatch.
"We would need something more advanced than anything we're carrying to pierce this," she deduced aloud for the benefit of her colleagues, already accepting that she should move on to the next room. She quickly glanced back to the noncom. "Something for the crews on the Indictor, Sergeant." She did not lend voice to the deep curiosity she already felt about that particular room on this apparent ghost ship. Such things did not do for an Imperial stormtrooper.
“That decision,” the slightly strained voice of the lieutenant cut in as he stepped forwards, “Is for me to make, trooper, and I cannot make that call until we know the nature of the unknown contaminant in the cargo hold. I don’t intend to be responsible for the outbreak of some contagion within the Empire.”
He visually inspected the control panel and examined the small sensor next to it, which appeared to be some kind of biometric reader. Betraying only the slightest interest with a raised eyebrow the man straightened up and added, “Let us continue on without further delay. But continue to observe contamination procedures; the lifeforms there may be infected.”
With a nod from the lieutenant, ST-1138 led the way around the port corridor to convene with the other trooper that had already cleared the other rooms in the outer ring (save for the empty cargo hold with the unknown contaminant).
“Report,” the lieutenant ordered, “What is the condition of the life-forms?”
“This room has been re-fitted into a medical bay, sir,” trooper ST-1157 reported, his words slightly rushed as he spoke to the officer, “Three lifeforms inside: three Human, one Ithorian. All are in a comatose state.”
"Ithorian?" 1138 queried, seeming slightly interested, but it was muttered in a muted manner that did not draw much attention away from the situation at hand.
“Right, that makes our job easier,” their superior replied, “What about droids?”
“Two de-activated astromech units in the cockpit and what appears to be a disassembled protocol droid in a workshop room at the fore of the ship.”
“Good, then let us…” the lieutenant was interrupted by another chime from the probe droid.
“BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE ANALYSED.
TRANSMITTING ANALYSIS AND REVISED THREAT ASSESSMENT.”
The new readout displayed:
External composition: 72.6% Xenoboric acid, 27.1% Sodiulium Acetate and 0.3% Trace chemicals
Warning: Substance is a biological corrosive.
Warning: Exothermic reaction ongoing.
Internal composition: 98.8% Water, 0.9% sodium chloride, 0.3% Non-contagious Biological material
Warning: Organic lifeform detected within.
Threat level: Moderate
Method of transmission: Non-infectious
Recommendation: Acid and thermal protection required when handling
The lieutenant looked up from his wrist display, knowing the troopers would have already seen the information on their visors, “Sergeant, this lifeform will require further investigation along with the remaining undocumented contents of this ship. I don’t need to see any more; I am going to return to the shuttle and authorise that this entire vessel be tractored aboard the Indictor for a scanning crew to analyse every millimetre of this ship. You and ST-1138 should confirm the probe's findings.”
A moment later, the sergeant and the corporal's eyes beheld the biological anomaly.
"I've seen my share of strange things before, but this..." the sergeant remarked shaking his head, his rifle cautiously trained on the thing that smelled like a mix of sea salt and hot fuming citrus, "...there's something very wrong about this."
In the far corner of the room was a large mass of a watery substance that glowed in a cyan coloured bioluminescence. From the floor, it started as a narrow stem which then expanded into a wide sac which surrounded what appeared to be an alien creature inside, then extended up to cover nearly half the ceiling in the cargo bay, stalagmite-like sharp extrusions hanging like swords on the verge of dropping on unwelcome heads. The creature's near-human shape strongly resembling that of a female. With head tentacles resting over her shoulders, she could be seen having crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her legs in an effort to preserve her dignity, and seemed almost as if seated comfortably in the clear gelatinous egg. Both of the female's eyes were closed and her tilted back, as if in a deep state of hibernation.
Beneath her visor, the weatherworn features of ST-1138 threatened to crack. She shone her mounted light over the peculiar structure, a degree of horror beginning to creep along her spine, despite her extensive stormtrooper training.
"It looks aquatic," she observed, her mind racing to name the species.
Although the Bastion state did boast a variety of species, it was predominantly populated by Humans and the natives of the worlds therein contained, unless they were the descendants of species that had been housed within the Old Empire before it closed its borders. Even so, stormtroopers and other specialist units and officer ranks received more advanced training on the species of the wider galaxy - especially in light of some of the recent traffic that had been very tightly permitted.
They had also been exposed to the mythos of the ancient galaxy, detailing the horrors and demons brought forth from eldritch realms, tapped into by magical wizards that could call upon grim and mystical powers. One such being had actually heralded the rise of the Old Empire - and ancient empires before it - and subsequent beings had commanded the successor states. Whilst there was still heraldry linked to those beings and times within Bastion, much had been dismissed as hyperbole or even superstition, whilst others still held such beings in high regard - or even worshipped them.
ST-1138 was not a superstitious being, believing instead in the physical and the scientific. Magic was excised from their empire, the rule of Bastion falling to the capable and knowledgeable elite. However, sighting this remarkable monstrosity caused something innately within her to recoil and tense, with much of her instinct warding her away from its unnatural visage. To her, it looked like no scientific experiment.
It was just, as the sergeant had said, wrong.
And, for some reason that she could not truly fathom, they were going to bring it, and this accursed ship, with them into the bowels of their nation.
With a final glance into the closed eyes of the creature dwelling within, her curled finger briefly quivering over the trigger of her gun, ST-1138 was convinced that those blinded eyes were goring her very soul.
TBC
RSS Feed