The Leviathan
The hovercraft Indutiae of Zion Command rarely ever went this deep underground anymore. The farther down one went, the more difficult it became to establish a stable pirate transmission to allow for Construct penetration. Most often, the Indutiae, along with its fellow vessels of the Fallen Horizon fleet, remained stable at broadcast depth to allow its various operatives to do just that. Tonight, though, the Indutiae found itself very, very deep underground, its flight stabilizers spitting blue lightning along the ancient sewer walls, dripping with musty moisture and old liquid waste.
Aquatium didn't like being this far down. Leaning back lightly in his cockpit chair, the Zionist brushed his short, messy hair out of his eyes, trying not to think about the many kilometers of cold garbage, steel, and concrete that now separated the Indutiae from her berth in Zion, now far above them. The rest of the crew had long since turned in, but Aquatium couldn't shake the creeping feeling in the back of his mind that something wasn't right. Zion com-ops had picked up a powerful energy signature from this area. No one ever went this deep anymore, ever. The Indutiae had been docked in Zion at the time for routine maintenance checks. In a classic case of ‘wrong place; wrong time', Captain Aquatium had received orders to take the Indutiae down into these ancient, twisted sewage pipes and access tunnels to search for the source of said transmission.
Aquatium didn't like flying into the fog. For now, him and his crew saw but through a glass darkly.
The cockpit was eerily silent aside from the distant creaking of metal hull and the quiet bleeping of the chamber's technical readouts and pilot controls. Aquatium checked the autopilot and navigational gauges for what seemed like the thousandth time that night before running his cold fingers over his lips, feeling that slithering coil of worry wind its way about his spine. This didn't happen. Energy signatures didn't just pop out of nowhere and broadcast powerfully enough for Zion to pick them up. Especially this deep below the surface. It was just...weird.
But the worst...the worst was the not knowing. The knowing what was down and out there; why it was down and out there.
...such silence.
Sleep had begun to creep around the edges of Aquatium's eyes when he heard it. A low rumbling outside the Indutiae that shook the corroded cavern walls. Leaning up suddenly, Aquatium started and hit the manual control lever, easing the ship to full stop. Looking down, the Zionist Captain could see that the Indutiae was positioned over a misty sewage chasm that looked like it hadn't seen ships in years. The rumbling grew louder as Aquatium leaned up to the observation window, looking down as bits of ancient rubble rained from the rusted ceiling outside the Indutiae.
And then the collision alarm sounded. Aquatium's brow furrowed inquisitively. What the hell...?
...oh God.
Collision alarms screaming, the Indutiae protested loudly as Aquatium jammed on the control stick, thoughts of Orexis and the rest of his crew streaming through his thoughts as the Zion hovercraft's thrusters blew it backwards. Crashes and clangs of metal sounded throughout the corridors and chambers of the Indutiae as Aquatium wrenched the vessel away from the chasm, just as a metallic scream began to echo down the misty drop off.
The cockpit door banged open. "What's going on?" Orexis asked, her voice raised over the din as she slid into the seat opposite Aquatium. As if in answer, the mist parted, and something massive slowly rose from the depths of the chasm and came to rest where the Indutiae had stood.
It was another hovercraft. By the looks of it, it hadn't flown in years, its metal hull covered with rust and corrosion. Sparks cascaded from open wounds in the old plating, massive jolts of blue lightning leaking from its blasted drive stabilizers, as if its pilot had had to tear it from a collection of greater rubble up from the cavernous depths. Aquatium squinted through the glass, now curious. The ship was smaller than the Indutiae. It might have been an older Zion configuration, but it was too badly wounded and corroded to be certain. As its pilot stabilized its flight, Aquatium and Orexis could make out a scalded old identification plate on the side of the vessel. Aquatium pursed his lips. That name looked vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it in passing in a file at some point. He couldn't shake the feeling, then, that this ship should have stayed dead in that chasm.
"Com is down. We're too deep," said Orexis softly, swiveling in her seat. That meant that Zion wouldn't hear about this unless they brought the Indutiae higher and closer to the city. The energy signature must have been the ghost ship's reactor being ignited. No wonder Zion had picked it up, Aquatium thought. It took a massive exterior power influx to fire up a dead hovercraft reactor.
The rotting steel leviathan pulled away from the Indutiae. Aquatium started again and turned his ship around, hitting the thrusters as Orexis strapped herself in. Whatever the raising of this ship meant, someone had to know, and know soon.
---
Commander Lock leaned back at his desk. Having excused Captain Aquatium, Lock had glanced over the report. He had seen the name of the ship.
Turning in his chair, the Commander tossed the document into the office fireplace, letting it smolder to ash.
~V
The hovercraft Indutiae of Zion Command rarely ever went this deep underground anymore. The farther down one went, the more difficult it became to establish a stable pirate transmission to allow for Construct penetration. Most often, the Indutiae, along with its fellow vessels of the Fallen Horizon fleet, remained stable at broadcast depth to allow its various operatives to do just that. Tonight, though, the Indutiae found itself very, very deep underground, its flight stabilizers spitting blue lightning along the ancient sewer walls, dripping with musty moisture and old liquid waste.
Aquatium didn't like being this far down. Leaning back lightly in his cockpit chair, the Zionist brushed his short, messy hair out of his eyes, trying not to think about the many kilometers of cold garbage, steel, and concrete that now separated the Indutiae from her berth in Zion, now far above them. The rest of the crew had long since turned in, but Aquatium couldn't shake the creeping feeling in the back of his mind that something wasn't right. Zion com-ops had picked up a powerful energy signature from this area. No one ever went this deep anymore, ever. The Indutiae had been docked in Zion at the time for routine maintenance checks. In a classic case of ‘wrong place; wrong time', Captain Aquatium had received orders to take the Indutiae down into these ancient, twisted sewage pipes and access tunnels to search for the source of said transmission.
Aquatium didn't like flying into the fog. For now, him and his crew saw but through a glass darkly.
The cockpit was eerily silent aside from the distant creaking of metal hull and the quiet bleeping of the chamber's technical readouts and pilot controls. Aquatium checked the autopilot and navigational gauges for what seemed like the thousandth time that night before running his cold fingers over his lips, feeling that slithering coil of worry wind its way about his spine. This didn't happen. Energy signatures didn't just pop out of nowhere and broadcast powerfully enough for Zion to pick them up. Especially this deep below the surface. It was just...weird.
But the worst...the worst was the not knowing. The knowing what was down and out there; why it was down and out there.
...such silence.
Sleep had begun to creep around the edges of Aquatium's eyes when he heard it. A low rumbling outside the Indutiae that shook the corroded cavern walls. Leaning up suddenly, Aquatium started and hit the manual control lever, easing the ship to full stop. Looking down, the Zionist Captain could see that the Indutiae was positioned over a misty sewage chasm that looked like it hadn't seen ships in years. The rumbling grew louder as Aquatium leaned up to the observation window, looking down as bits of ancient rubble rained from the rusted ceiling outside the Indutiae.
And then the collision alarm sounded. Aquatium's brow furrowed inquisitively. What the hell...?
...oh God.
Collision alarms screaming, the Indutiae protested loudly as Aquatium jammed on the control stick, thoughts of Orexis and the rest of his crew streaming through his thoughts as the Zion hovercraft's thrusters blew it backwards. Crashes and clangs of metal sounded throughout the corridors and chambers of the Indutiae as Aquatium wrenched the vessel away from the chasm, just as a metallic scream began to echo down the misty drop off.
The cockpit door banged open. "What's going on?" Orexis asked, her voice raised over the din as she slid into the seat opposite Aquatium. As if in answer, the mist parted, and something massive slowly rose from the depths of the chasm and came to rest where the Indutiae had stood.
It was another hovercraft. By the looks of it, it hadn't flown in years, its metal hull covered with rust and corrosion. Sparks cascaded from open wounds in the old plating, massive jolts of blue lightning leaking from its blasted drive stabilizers, as if its pilot had had to tear it from a collection of greater rubble up from the cavernous depths. Aquatium squinted through the glass, now curious. The ship was smaller than the Indutiae. It might have been an older Zion configuration, but it was too badly wounded and corroded to be certain. As its pilot stabilized its flight, Aquatium and Orexis could make out a scalded old identification plate on the side of the vessel. Aquatium pursed his lips. That name looked vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it in passing in a file at some point. He couldn't shake the feeling, then, that this ship should have stayed dead in that chasm.
"Com is down. We're too deep," said Orexis softly, swiveling in her seat. That meant that Zion wouldn't hear about this unless they brought the Indutiae higher and closer to the city. The energy signature must have been the ghost ship's reactor being ignited. No wonder Zion had picked it up, Aquatium thought. It took a massive exterior power influx to fire up a dead hovercraft reactor.
The rotting steel leviathan pulled away from the Indutiae. Aquatium started again and turned his ship around, hitting the thrusters as Orexis strapped herself in. Whatever the raising of this ship meant, someone had to know, and know soon.
---
Commander Lock leaned back at his desk. Having excused Captain Aquatium, Lock had glanced over the report. He had seen the name of the ship.
Turning in his chair, the Commander tossed the document into the office fireplace, letting it smolder to ash.
~V
