I have not been active in this forum for a long time, but when I logged in a few days ago I noticed this draft of a story I started writing about 2 years ago. I know this forum is barely visited nowadays, but I would rather have it posted here than taking dust in my drafts. Its unfinished and I will most likely never finish it, but whatever, here you go.
Return of the Ancient
- Thread starter Sinned
- Start date
The frozen wastelands of Aurora had remained untouched and undisturbed for a long time. Snow had settled here, never to be moved again. Below its thick layers of ice, this forgotten planet contained ancient structures of a long lost civilization, which was now paid even less attention than the cryonite also found on this planet. Harvesters would disturb the snow every now and then to collect some of this valuable mineral, but even they had not shown up for years. The whole Vega system had become insignificant and forgotten to the extent that the mantis were not interested in it anymore. They still maintained their presence through the use of drones and lowly pilots cursed to patrol these wastelands for their lifetimes. As for the humans and their once thriving Vega colony, they had now abandoned their trading endeavors and were merely fighting for survival. The bulk of their population had gathered in the colony's remains in Axiom, though there were other smaller groups spread throughout the system. Their ships would often be found scouting the planets in search for mantis, not to destroy them but to prepare for any possible attack. One such ship happened to be patrolling the snows of Aurora on this bright day. An old design from the pre-imperial times, this capital class ship was notoriously known for its fast speed and powerful engines, but that advantage was dwarfed by the fact that it was not compatible with most modern weaponry.
The ship belonged to a small group stationed in Aurora. Past conflicts with the colonial authority had led most of its population to be exiled from the colonial city in Axiom and find refuge in the forgotten world of Aurora. Food was scarce and the cold was devastating, but members of this group would rather live under these conditions than under the brutal colonial law. Some even went on to compare the colony's policies with the brutalities of the empire. To ensure safety, the small fleet of ships would conduct patrols and scout the place for mantis or colonials. Lately, none of them had bothered showing, so only the capital ship went out for patrolling, more to give its crew something to do rather than search for actual mantis. The leading heads back at the base didn't care for formalities such as ship names, but the crew called her The Overseer since her only purpose was to oversee the planet. The captain of the Overseer went by the name Delavius and he was one of the few souls who still bothered to patrol the icy lands of Aurora. The Overseer had known many captains but her captain had known only one ship, the same ship he had been commanding for the last 20 years. In fact, this very day was the 20th anniversary of him becoming the captain of the Overseer.
Patrolling, best way to celebrate such an anniversary.
That thought was crossing Delavius' mind when a shout from one of his bridge members brought him out of his thought.
"Radar has detected movement captain, coming from that hill on the northwest"
"Can that radar handle a long range scan...I guess not. Take us closer then."
"Aye captain, we'll be approaching slowly."
The Overseer changed its course and gained some altitude to reach the hill. The blink in the radar became stronger every second that passed. This had happened several times before but it had turned out to be merely a glitch. This time however, it was real and something was lurking behind that hill. The visibility kept getting worse as the strong winds of Aurora started stirring up the snows. Forward cameras had frozen solid, but the object was now barely visible from the bridge's openings. Deluvias got up of his chair in an attempt to get a better view, but all he could see was a dark object hidden by the elevated snow. The rest of the crew members were not any less curious, for if the situation was not so serious Deluvias would be laughing at the shocked faces they had made.
"Captain, that's definitely a ship...and it has too many pointy edges to be of human origin."
"Don't raise shields yet, we are a bit low on energy. Lets see what...
The captain was interrupted by a sudden move of the object. Before they could follow it, it was already behind the ship. Delavius was about to shout raise shields, but he noticed that they were active already, the officer responsible had not waited for an order. Delavius couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing, but that thought was too time consuming so he set it aside. What mattered for now:
Afterburner.
"Interceptor?"
"Sir, its engine trails are green!"
"Custodian?" Delavius would have never thought it to be a custodian, for these banes of men had not been seen in Vega for a good decade. Being among the most advanced pieces of technology in the mantis fleet, these ships were never sent in insignificant systems.
"Shut everything down, FAST!"
"What? Sir, are you sure?"
"Do it do it DO IT! It didn't take more for the officers to understand the seriousness of the captain's order because the man was never seen shouting so nervously. In the next few moments, every piece of equipment on the Overseer was powered down, from blasters to rockets and even the shields.
"The engines too! Turn them off or we're dead"
"Aye captain, but need I remind you...ah nevermind." The crew members were sometimes shocked by the captain's decisions but they had served under him long enough to know that the man knew what he was doing.
"Powering down the engines" The crew of the Overseer had now started to feel gravity as it was bringing down the ship. She had gained enough altitude for the fall to last a few moments, but the collapse was inevitable. Deluvias however did not intend to crash his own ship and doom his crew in the middle of nowhere. He had been expecting a certain response from the custodian and as usual the mantis did not disappoint. A burst of energy came out of the custodian and the Overseer was shook forcefully.
"Alright, time to turn everything back on! Full power to thrusters!" Deluvias felt victorious. As his ship avoided an undesired crash, he realized that he had finally found a way to counter the custodians stunning technology. Long ago he had theorized that the stun charge worked by confusing the energy network of the ship it was being cast on and that the humans could very easily develop their own stun charge. Sadly, the military heads at the colony were no longer interested in scientific progress since they were too busy with survival and therefore he was ignored. With the custodians gone, he did not get a chance to test his hypothesis, until now.
"Capt, we are ready to fire on your order Sir."
"Good, you think our targeting system can handle a few rockets?"
"Definitely Sir, just give the order."
"Alright, let us send a little gift to our visitor."
The bridge crew followed the rockets for as long as they could. The custodian tried desperately to dodge them by going to the back of the Overseer but the BOOM sound was inevitable for it and proved too satisfactory for the crew of the Overseer.
"And we have scored a hit!"
"There is a hull breach captain..."
"Yeah, rockets are very good at doing that."
"...on our ship!"
The ship belonged to a small group stationed in Aurora. Past conflicts with the colonial authority had led most of its population to be exiled from the colonial city in Axiom and find refuge in the forgotten world of Aurora. Food was scarce and the cold was devastating, but members of this group would rather live under these conditions than under the brutal colonial law. Some even went on to compare the colony's policies with the brutalities of the empire. To ensure safety, the small fleet of ships would conduct patrols and scout the place for mantis or colonials. Lately, none of them had bothered showing, so only the capital ship went out for patrolling, more to give its crew something to do rather than search for actual mantis. The leading heads back at the base didn't care for formalities such as ship names, but the crew called her The Overseer since her only purpose was to oversee the planet. The captain of the Overseer went by the name Delavius and he was one of the few souls who still bothered to patrol the icy lands of Aurora. The Overseer had known many captains but her captain had known only one ship, the same ship he had been commanding for the last 20 years. In fact, this very day was the 20th anniversary of him becoming the captain of the Overseer.
Patrolling, best way to celebrate such an anniversary.
That thought was crossing Delavius' mind when a shout from one of his bridge members brought him out of his thought.
"Radar has detected movement captain, coming from that hill on the northwest"
"Can that radar handle a long range scan...I guess not. Take us closer then."
"Aye captain, we'll be approaching slowly."
The Overseer changed its course and gained some altitude to reach the hill. The blink in the radar became stronger every second that passed. This had happened several times before but it had turned out to be merely a glitch. This time however, it was real and something was lurking behind that hill. The visibility kept getting worse as the strong winds of Aurora started stirring up the snows. Forward cameras had frozen solid, but the object was now barely visible from the bridge's openings. Deluvias got up of his chair in an attempt to get a better view, but all he could see was a dark object hidden by the elevated snow. The rest of the crew members were not any less curious, for if the situation was not so serious Deluvias would be laughing at the shocked faces they had made.
"Captain, that's definitely a ship...and it has too many pointy edges to be of human origin."
"Don't raise shields yet, we are a bit low on energy. Lets see what...
The captain was interrupted by a sudden move of the object. Before they could follow it, it was already behind the ship. Delavius was about to shout raise shields, but he noticed that they were active already, the officer responsible had not waited for an order. Delavius couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing, but that thought was too time consuming so he set it aside. What mattered for now:
Afterburner.
"Interceptor?"
"Sir, its engine trails are green!"
"Custodian?" Delavius would have never thought it to be a custodian, for these banes of men had not been seen in Vega for a good decade. Being among the most advanced pieces of technology in the mantis fleet, these ships were never sent in insignificant systems.
"Shut everything down, FAST!"
"What? Sir, are you sure?"
"Do it do it DO IT! It didn't take more for the officers to understand the seriousness of the captain's order because the man was never seen shouting so nervously. In the next few moments, every piece of equipment on the Overseer was powered down, from blasters to rockets and even the shields.
"The engines too! Turn them off or we're dead"
"Aye captain, but need I remind you...ah nevermind." The crew members were sometimes shocked by the captain's decisions but they had served under him long enough to know that the man knew what he was doing.
"Powering down the engines" The crew of the Overseer had now started to feel gravity as it was bringing down the ship. She had gained enough altitude for the fall to last a few moments, but the collapse was inevitable. Deluvias however did not intend to crash his own ship and doom his crew in the middle of nowhere. He had been expecting a certain response from the custodian and as usual the mantis did not disappoint. A burst of energy came out of the custodian and the Overseer was shook forcefully.
"Alright, time to turn everything back on! Full power to thrusters!" Deluvias felt victorious. As his ship avoided an undesired crash, he realized that he had finally found a way to counter the custodians stunning technology. Long ago he had theorized that the stun charge worked by confusing the energy network of the ship it was being cast on and that the humans could very easily develop their own stun charge. Sadly, the military heads at the colony were no longer interested in scientific progress since they were too busy with survival and therefore he was ignored. With the custodians gone, he did not get a chance to test his hypothesis, until now.
"Capt, we are ready to fire on your order Sir."
"Good, you think our targeting system can handle a few rockets?"
"Definitely Sir, just give the order."
"Alright, let us send a little gift to our visitor."
The bridge crew followed the rockets for as long as they could. The custodian tried desperately to dodge them by going to the back of the Overseer but the BOOM sound was inevitable for it and proved too satisfactory for the crew of the Overseer.
"And we have scored a hit!"
"There is a hull breach captain..."
"Yeah, rockets are very good at doing that."
"...on our ship!"
"On our ship?"
"Yes sir, back side of the lower deck. We have isolated the area, but closing it up might be a problem."
"Why, how big is it?"
"Its big, about 7 meters in diameter."
"There is no way a blaster could have caused a breach that big."
"No blaster caused it captain...rockets."
"You surely know that custodians don't have rocket launchers."
"They don't, but we do and we launched a couple at the it."
"Are you saying that we were hit by our own rockets? That's impossible, didn't you say that we scored a hit?"
"Well, I didn't really have a visual of the hit, I merely detected a burst of energy coming out of the custodian and assumed it was due to the explosion."
"It could have been something else."
The satisfying sense of victory that Delavius had previously felt had now disappeared. It had been replaced with a haunting question: where did the custodian go if it was not destroyed. The radar did not register any movement or suspicious object and they could not see a thing from the bridge.
"Any chance the cameras were working?"
"They are working, but there is too much snow gathered down there and its blocking their view. You know, this ship is not designed for this kind of weather, its not even design for planetary warfare."
"Try to get us a line of sight on its last position then, 180 degree rotation."
A new question was now haunting Delavius' mind. How did the Custodian reflect their rockets? Aim scrambler? No, that would merely confuse their targeting systems, there is no chance it would reflect rockets. Besides, Custodians did not have such technology equipped in them. They only had blasters, afterburners, the stun charge and at times a protector and none of these was capable of reflecting anything. The strong winds of Aurora perhaps? They were known to cause problems with rockets but it still seemed hard to believe they messed up the rockets targeting systems. Maybe winds combined with skillful maneuvers from the custodian could have caused it. Delavius was once again shook out of his thoughts by one of his officers.
"Sir we have to retreat, energy levels are running dangerously low."
"The custodian is still out there."
"There is no sign of it sir, probably retreated as well."
"You don't know these guys, they would never leave a fight. Something is not right."
"I'm afraid that if we don't leave now the Overseer will never be able to make it back to base."
"Very well, lets go home...just keep an eye on the radar, I suspect this will not be the last time we encounter our visitor."
The winds had just began to calm down at the location where the encounter with the mantis had taken place. Both the Overseer and the custodian were long gone, but something remained on the ground. A small object that the crew of the Overseer had overlooked as they were occupied with dealing with the custodian. This object was not much to see and as snow began to settle down once again, it started disappearing into the whiteness. Weird markings were still visible on the object and just as the snow was about the cover it all, another figure appeared out of nowhere. It was not the first time this second object had been here today. Earlier it had tried to recover the suspicious object only to be interrupted by a human ship. Being in no mood to fight a capital ship, the pilot of this vessel, a mantis agent known to humans infamously as Vicius the Mutilator had decided to flee and return later. Thankfully his custodian was equipped with prototype missile evaders developed by the imperials, which had saved his life when his stun charge mysteriously failed. Vicius activated the ship's tractor beam, originally developed to mine cryonite but now used by him to get the object out of the snow. The object proved to be much larger than it first seemed and its shape was indeed very weird. An untrained mind would have thought it to be some kind of building or artifact, but the scientific mind of Vicius knew very well what it was. A ship, an ancient vessel. A drone left behind by the civilization that once inhabited this planet. Suddenly the markings on the drone began to glow and it started sending weird transmissions to the custodian. This did not surprise the mantis scientist one bit, for he had anticipated this kind of behavior. Besides he was too deep in thought to be bothered with the drone's reaction.
Meanwhile, the Overseer was a few minutes away from the base and the crew was still uneasy. Nervousness could be felt all over the ship. Everyone, from the helmsman to the common engineers on the lower decks were on alert for a possible and sudden mantis attack. Delavius himself had the feeling that they were being watched. He and his crew members had been staring on the outside all the time since the last encounter, in an attempt to anticipate an attack. Nothing threatening could be seen. The only thing of sentient design on the horizon was an outpost. The crew knew this base very well, though it was not theirs. The story behind it made the situation seem even more depressing. It had once housed a group similar to theirs, who had fled to Aurora after a mantis attack on the colony 30 years ago. At the time Aurora was swarming with mantis ships because the planet's cryonite reserves were not yet sucked dry. Being barricaded by mantis hordes all the time, the group had eventually starved to death. It was widely accepted that this outpost was a graveyard and no one set foot there, not even to recover the frozen solid bodies and lay them to rest. Delavius would happen to pass by this graveyard pretty much every time he was on a patrol and he could not help but think that the same thing could happen to his group. It was not that he had anyone close to him in the group, but the idea alone of families starving to death was too much to bear.
A few moments later the ghost base was on their back and theirs could now be seen. The two bases were actually very close to each other. As they were preparing for landing procedures, Delavius ordered one last radar scan, fearful that he might unintentionally lead the mantis to the unsuspecting base. Nothing showed up but the captain still felt uneasy. The shaking caused by the not so soft landing of a capital ship was the only thing that brought some slight relief to the disturbed captain for he always felt safer with his feet on the ground. This was surely not one of his best days.
"Yes sir, back side of the lower deck. We have isolated the area, but closing it up might be a problem."
"Why, how big is it?"
"Its big, about 7 meters in diameter."
"There is no way a blaster could have caused a breach that big."
"No blaster caused it captain...rockets."
"You surely know that custodians don't have rocket launchers."
"They don't, but we do and we launched a couple at the it."
"Are you saying that we were hit by our own rockets? That's impossible, didn't you say that we scored a hit?"
"Well, I didn't really have a visual of the hit, I merely detected a burst of energy coming out of the custodian and assumed it was due to the explosion."
"It could have been something else."
The satisfying sense of victory that Delavius had previously felt had now disappeared. It had been replaced with a haunting question: where did the custodian go if it was not destroyed. The radar did not register any movement or suspicious object and they could not see a thing from the bridge.
"Any chance the cameras were working?"
"They are working, but there is too much snow gathered down there and its blocking their view. You know, this ship is not designed for this kind of weather, its not even design for planetary warfare."
"Try to get us a line of sight on its last position then, 180 degree rotation."
A new question was now haunting Delavius' mind. How did the Custodian reflect their rockets? Aim scrambler? No, that would merely confuse their targeting systems, there is no chance it would reflect rockets. Besides, Custodians did not have such technology equipped in them. They only had blasters, afterburners, the stun charge and at times a protector and none of these was capable of reflecting anything. The strong winds of Aurora perhaps? They were known to cause problems with rockets but it still seemed hard to believe they messed up the rockets targeting systems. Maybe winds combined with skillful maneuvers from the custodian could have caused it. Delavius was once again shook out of his thoughts by one of his officers.
"Sir we have to retreat, energy levels are running dangerously low."
"The custodian is still out there."
"There is no sign of it sir, probably retreated as well."
"You don't know these guys, they would never leave a fight. Something is not right."
"I'm afraid that if we don't leave now the Overseer will never be able to make it back to base."
"Very well, lets go home...just keep an eye on the radar, I suspect this will not be the last time we encounter our visitor."
The winds had just began to calm down at the location where the encounter with the mantis had taken place. Both the Overseer and the custodian were long gone, but something remained on the ground. A small object that the crew of the Overseer had overlooked as they were occupied with dealing with the custodian. This object was not much to see and as snow began to settle down once again, it started disappearing into the whiteness. Weird markings were still visible on the object and just as the snow was about the cover it all, another figure appeared out of nowhere. It was not the first time this second object had been here today. Earlier it had tried to recover the suspicious object only to be interrupted by a human ship. Being in no mood to fight a capital ship, the pilot of this vessel, a mantis agent known to humans infamously as Vicius the Mutilator had decided to flee and return later. Thankfully his custodian was equipped with prototype missile evaders developed by the imperials, which had saved his life when his stun charge mysteriously failed. Vicius activated the ship's tractor beam, originally developed to mine cryonite but now used by him to get the object out of the snow. The object proved to be much larger than it first seemed and its shape was indeed very weird. An untrained mind would have thought it to be some kind of building or artifact, but the scientific mind of Vicius knew very well what it was. A ship, an ancient vessel. A drone left behind by the civilization that once inhabited this planet. Suddenly the markings on the drone began to glow and it started sending weird transmissions to the custodian. This did not surprise the mantis scientist one bit, for he had anticipated this kind of behavior. Besides he was too deep in thought to be bothered with the drone's reaction.
Meanwhile, the Overseer was a few minutes away from the base and the crew was still uneasy. Nervousness could be felt all over the ship. Everyone, from the helmsman to the common engineers on the lower decks were on alert for a possible and sudden mantis attack. Delavius himself had the feeling that they were being watched. He and his crew members had been staring on the outside all the time since the last encounter, in an attempt to anticipate an attack. Nothing threatening could be seen. The only thing of sentient design on the horizon was an outpost. The crew knew this base very well, though it was not theirs. The story behind it made the situation seem even more depressing. It had once housed a group similar to theirs, who had fled to Aurora after a mantis attack on the colony 30 years ago. At the time Aurora was swarming with mantis ships because the planet's cryonite reserves were not yet sucked dry. Being barricaded by mantis hordes all the time, the group had eventually starved to death. It was widely accepted that this outpost was a graveyard and no one set foot there, not even to recover the frozen solid bodies and lay them to rest. Delavius would happen to pass by this graveyard pretty much every time he was on a patrol and he could not help but think that the same thing could happen to his group. It was not that he had anyone close to him in the group, but the idea alone of families starving to death was too much to bear.
A few moments later the ghost base was on their back and theirs could now be seen. The two bases were actually very close to each other. As they were preparing for landing procedures, Delavius ordered one last radar scan, fearful that he might unintentionally lead the mantis to the unsuspecting base. Nothing showed up but the captain still felt uneasy. The shaking caused by the not so soft landing of a capital ship was the only thing that brought some slight relief to the disturbed captain for he always felt safer with his feet on the ground. This was surely not one of his best days.
Delavius remained seated in his chair observing the view in front of him. His bridge members had already went outside but he felt he needed some time to reflect on the recent events. Besides, some alone time with his ship had always made him feel better. The view in front of him however proved to be too distracting for him to go deeper in thoughts. From the position where the Overseer was parked, he could see all of the base. It was a small outpost constructed a good century ago. There were several structures but most of the were barely used for anything other than storage spaces. The small population of the group, roughly 250, could easily fit in one of the buildings. They were a bit tight in there, but conservation of energy and heat was much easier that way. The conservation of food on the other side had turned out to be much more challenging. The group had hired a few smugglers to bring them supplies every now and then, but Delavius did not like relying on them alone. He would often take one the fighter ships and scavenge other abandoned outposts that could be found throughout Aurora. Most were already several feet under snow and things of use were hardly found inside them, but Delavius would run into jackpots every now and then, things such as conserved food, energy tanks, weapons, clothes. He would often stop and reflect on how these seemingly invaluable things were once easily discarded without a second thought because of their abundance. Then again, his people were known to not appreciate something until they lost it.
"Delavius, you there mate?" The voice came from the comm link. Delavius had not realized it was still open. He pressed something on his right hand console and responded. Knowing the man on the other side, he could almost predict anything that would be said next.
"What the hell have you done you madman? I just fixed your last one not longer than a week ago!"
"I know it seems bad, but..."
"But but but. Please I ain't taking any more excuses. Your helmsman already tried..."
"Relax man, its not that bad."
"Not that bad? Mate, there is an 8 meter breach on your ship! Where will I even find the bulkwark plates for this?"
"I'm sure Jacob can spare a few?"
"Del, just how am I supposed to walk up to him and ask him for 16 meters square of bulkwark plates? He will bury me alive!"
"Don't worry about it, I'll talk with him."
"Alright you better hurry cuz this baby can't fly like this. Take care man, Jonathan out."
"You too Jonathan, you too."
The man he had just spoken to, Jonathan, was one of the few people in their group with solid knowledge of engineering. He had once lived in the colonial city in Axiom, but after doing some dirty works for the smugglers, he had been exiled. Jonathan had not attended a day of school and his education was lacking in every aspect, but the man seemed to be a prodigy when it came to engineering. It came so natural to him and he had mastered tricks that usually took months of training in a few days. A few years ago he had managed to successfully install a couple of fusion rocket launchers on the Overseer without having the reactor blow itself up because of the energy consumption. This feat was thought to be impossible by anyone else considering the old age of the Overseer, but Jonathan didn't even need to do calculations in order to connect the launchers to reactor, not that he was capable of doing them. He was however very short tempered and would get mad for even the smallest of things. Delavius was an old friend of his, but had anyone caused such damage to a ship he had worked hard on, blood would have been spilled on the ground if there was no one to hold him.
Delavius was turning everything off as he was preparing to leave the ship. Back in his first days as captain he would often forget to do so and waste of ton of energy in the process. That was a mistake he could no longer afford to make. Then, just as he was about to go, the door in his back slid open. He turned in surprise, not expecting anyone. An old man stepped through, using a seemingly ancient wooden cane to support him. His best years were clearly behind him and his hair had turned all white.
"Didn't leave yet either?"
"Nah...I guess, being her captain for so long, you should understand why."
"I do...you have a memories from this ship, don't you?"
"Are you saying you don't remember all the stories I told you in your youth? My Gemini days, no?
"How can I forget those, you must have told each a hundred times."
"I remember when I took her on a mantis rampage one bright day. Best day of my life."
"No doubt about it, but surely you didn't come here just to tell more stories. Is there something you need?"
"Straight to the point eh? Well, yes I need to give you something." The man had already sat in one of the chairs because his old feet could no longer hold him for long. He then pulled a small black box out of one of his jacket pockets. It was pretty small, about the size of his hand and had weird symbols which appeared to be inscribed in gold.
"I want you to have this."
"Your black box?"
"I know I have told you all your life not to touch this, and thankfully you are a man of your word, but it is now time for you to have it?"
"Great, after 35 years I finally get to see what is inside."
"Oh not yet son, not yet. Now I want you to promise me that you will not open this box for as long as I am alive. Promise me."
"I guess I wont get to open it for a long time."
"Eh that's nice of you, trying to raise my spirits. But you know as good as I do that my days are numbered...Anyway I didn't hear your promise?"
"I give you my word that this box stays closed. But why give it to me anyway, if you don't want to open it?"
"Well, you know, at my age you never know what to expect anymore."
"You know you shouldn't talk like that."
"I know, anyway I better get going. Good to see you Del. Have a nice day and don't forget; box stays closed!"
The white haired man left the room without giving Delavius a chance to say good bye. His words had left Delavius in a very sad mood for the man had always been a source of comfort to him. Delavius had no blood connection to him, but their relationship was that of a father and son, student and mentor. He had been the closest person to Delavius for a long time, being a father, a teacher and a friend simultaneously. Though Delavius did not like to admit, he knew that the man's days were truly numbered and he silently accepted that fact even though it brought him despair. With these thoughts in mind, Delavius left them ship and started walking towards Jacob's workshop. He couldn't wait to get it over with and have some sleep at his small but comfortable quarters.
"Delavius, you there mate?" The voice came from the comm link. Delavius had not realized it was still open. He pressed something on his right hand console and responded. Knowing the man on the other side, he could almost predict anything that would be said next.
"What the hell have you done you madman? I just fixed your last one not longer than a week ago!"
"I know it seems bad, but..."
"But but but. Please I ain't taking any more excuses. Your helmsman already tried..."
"Relax man, its not that bad."
"Not that bad? Mate, there is an 8 meter breach on your ship! Where will I even find the bulkwark plates for this?"
"I'm sure Jacob can spare a few?"
"Del, just how am I supposed to walk up to him and ask him for 16 meters square of bulkwark plates? He will bury me alive!"
"Don't worry about it, I'll talk with him."
"Alright you better hurry cuz this baby can't fly like this. Take care man, Jonathan out."
"You too Jonathan, you too."
The man he had just spoken to, Jonathan, was one of the few people in their group with solid knowledge of engineering. He had once lived in the colonial city in Axiom, but after doing some dirty works for the smugglers, he had been exiled. Jonathan had not attended a day of school and his education was lacking in every aspect, but the man seemed to be a prodigy when it came to engineering. It came so natural to him and he had mastered tricks that usually took months of training in a few days. A few years ago he had managed to successfully install a couple of fusion rocket launchers on the Overseer without having the reactor blow itself up because of the energy consumption. This feat was thought to be impossible by anyone else considering the old age of the Overseer, but Jonathan didn't even need to do calculations in order to connect the launchers to reactor, not that he was capable of doing them. He was however very short tempered and would get mad for even the smallest of things. Delavius was an old friend of his, but had anyone caused such damage to a ship he had worked hard on, blood would have been spilled on the ground if there was no one to hold him.
Delavius was turning everything off as he was preparing to leave the ship. Back in his first days as captain he would often forget to do so and waste of ton of energy in the process. That was a mistake he could no longer afford to make. Then, just as he was about to go, the door in his back slid open. He turned in surprise, not expecting anyone. An old man stepped through, using a seemingly ancient wooden cane to support him. His best years were clearly behind him and his hair had turned all white.
"Didn't leave yet either?"
"Nah...I guess, being her captain for so long, you should understand why."
"I do...you have a memories from this ship, don't you?"
"Are you saying you don't remember all the stories I told you in your youth? My Gemini days, no?
"How can I forget those, you must have told each a hundred times."
"I remember when I took her on a mantis rampage one bright day. Best day of my life."
"No doubt about it, but surely you didn't come here just to tell more stories. Is there something you need?"
"Straight to the point eh? Well, yes I need to give you something." The man had already sat in one of the chairs because his old feet could no longer hold him for long. He then pulled a small black box out of one of his jacket pockets. It was pretty small, about the size of his hand and had weird symbols which appeared to be inscribed in gold.
"I want you to have this."
"Your black box?"
"I know I have told you all your life not to touch this, and thankfully you are a man of your word, but it is now time for you to have it?"
"Great, after 35 years I finally get to see what is inside."
"Oh not yet son, not yet. Now I want you to promise me that you will not open this box for as long as I am alive. Promise me."
"I guess I wont get to open it for a long time."
"Eh that's nice of you, trying to raise my spirits. But you know as good as I do that my days are numbered...Anyway I didn't hear your promise?"
"I give you my word that this box stays closed. But why give it to me anyway, if you don't want to open it?"
"Well, you know, at my age you never know what to expect anymore."
"You know you shouldn't talk like that."
"I know, anyway I better get going. Good to see you Del. Have a nice day and don't forget; box stays closed!"
The white haired man left the room without giving Delavius a chance to say good bye. His words had left Delavius in a very sad mood for the man had always been a source of comfort to him. Delavius had no blood connection to him, but their relationship was that of a father and son, student and mentor. He had been the closest person to Delavius for a long time, being a father, a teacher and a friend simultaneously. Though Delavius did not like to admit, he knew that the man's days were truly numbered and he silently accepted that fact even though it brought him despair. With these thoughts in mind, Delavius left them ship and started walking towards Jacob's workshop. He couldn't wait to get it over with and have some sleep at his small but comfortable quarters.
Delavius was sitting on a table outside a coffee shop drinking from his cup. For a moment, he started to wonder why he was even drinking coffee because he did not particularly like it, but then moved on a took another sip. His eyes then went on to observe the surroundings. There were other people around him doing their daily businesses. Some were reading from their tablets, some others preferred more old school news sources such as newspapers, some were talking on the phone while others were having conversations with their friends. Delavius looked at the street on his left and realized that traffic was building up, not surprising at this hour of the day. Even with hovering vehicles widely available and relatively cheap, these four wheeled cars were still quite common. He took a moment to enjoy the buildings surrounding him, since he always felt comfortable around technology. They were tall enough to block the suns even though it was the middle of the day. Made mostly of glass or a very shiny metallic material, these buildings were very good a reflecting sunlight and compensating for blocking of the suns. A crashing sound was suddenly heard. Must have been an accident. Delavius got up to investigate with his coffee cup in his hands, but was pushed away violently by a man, who then proceeded to run in panic away from the epicenter of the sound. Delavius followed the man with his eyes for as long as he could and turned around only to see hordes of panicked people running towards him, with screams of horror now being heard. Assuming the worst, he dropped his cup and started running away from them, panic building up inside him. Explosions started to be heard and buildings were seen collapsing...
Delavius was now in a dark room. He had been there paralyzed, breathing heavily for the last 5 minutes. Cold sweats were running all over his body, for he had experienced death. Fortunately it was just a dream, but even with that realization in mind, he was still terrified. Then, the horrifying sound of an explosion reached his ears, but Delavius tried to calm himself down thinking that it was just a remnant of the dream and that he was still not fully awake. A second explosion sound shook him up again and this time he was praying he was still in dream. He pinched himself but it didn't help. He then rushed to the window to see what was going on. It was dark. The hangar was burning in flames and ships were flying overhead. Two bodies were seen lying on the icy ground, with red snow surrounding them. This had to be a dream. Nonetheless, Delavius couldn't just sit there; he quickly got in his uniform, took his plasma pistol and left his quarters. He was going down the hall when he ran into Jonathan.
"Del, where the hell were you?"
"What is going on?"
"Mantis attack, they took us by surprise!" A mantis attack? This did indeed take Delavius by surprise. Could he have been the one to lead them here by letting the custodian go? Nonetheless, now was too late to waste time thinking about it.
"Did you fix the ship?"
"Replaced the plates, don't know if the new ones will hold."
"Good, now knock on every door you can and tell them to go to the Overseer!"
"What?"
"You heard me, we're getting these people out of here or the mantis will kill them all!"
Delavius made his way to the elevator while Jonathan went the opposite direction without questioning the captain's orders twice. Delavius got out on the first floor where he saw a few people trying to hide in panic.
"Everyone, get some clothes and go to the big ship!" He would not mention the ship's name because these people almost certainly didn't know it. Most of them were willfully ignorant about the ships and the weaponry they carried because of their desire to live peacefully and not be involved in such things. The people appeared to have listened to him as they went back to their quarters to grab some of their things. Delavius realized that he forgot his heat conserving clothes, but it was now too late to go back. He went outside, into the painful cold of the night in Aurora. He tried to stay close to the burning building, but even the fire could not compensate for the cold. On the skies above he noticed the mantis vessels. Among them he recognized a custodian. Delavius did not have the sharpest eyes, but he could tell that this was without doubt the custodian he had encountered earlier that day, or the day before...he had no idea what time it was. That instance his focus was shifted to the time, the custodian, which had been hovering over the base, was attacked by a barrage of fusion shells combined with ion powered rockets. Two human fighters appeared and flew through the smoke caused by the explosion, seemingly victorious. Bernstein and Zack, Delavius thought. The two men had been on guard for the week. Suddenly a burst of energy hit Bernstein's ship and gravity brought it down like a piece of rock. As Zack tried to escape, the custodian emerged out of the smoke and fired his blasters on the human ship, disabling its primary engine. Down to his emergency thrusters, a desperate Zack realized that he would never be able to survive the mantis horde that was building in front of him. He moved all the remaining power to the thrusters and charged towards the nearest mantis, ramming it to the ground along with him. The explosion that followed brought down another mantis ship.
Meanwhile Delavius had made it to the Overseer. He was thankful the mantis had not noticed her down there hidden in the snow. The white color of the bulkwark plates had surely helped. Some people had already arrived and were getting accommodated in the ship's quarters. As he was turning on all systems and preparing the ship for flight, Delavius took another moment to look at the custodian, still hovering above. Only now did he recognize a second object next to it, a hovering structure that he had never seen before. He had mistaken the weird glowing symbols of this structure for stars, since that night's sky had been surprisingly clear. Then he looked at the back of the object and recognized a couple of engine exhausts. This thing was a ship? That question was quickly answered when a bolt of energy came out of the strange vessel, hitting the main building of the outpost where the living quarters were stationed. The building had a functional shield, but it proved unable to withstand even a single shot. A large breach was seen on the terrace as the smoke spread up. Delavius had never seen such large breach caused by a single blaster fire. He traced the shot back to the strange ship with the glowing symbols, and as he analyzed it closely, he recognized a couple of blasters. These were even stranger in design than the ship itself, with the same symbols inscribed in them suggesting that they too were of alien design. Delavius turned his attention back to the main building. By this time, he was hoping to see people coming towards his ship but there was no soul in sight. To make the situation more alarming, two marauders appeared above the breach and started dropping troopers inside the building.
Delavius was now in a dark room. He had been there paralyzed, breathing heavily for the last 5 minutes. Cold sweats were running all over his body, for he had experienced death. Fortunately it was just a dream, but even with that realization in mind, he was still terrified. Then, the horrifying sound of an explosion reached his ears, but Delavius tried to calm himself down thinking that it was just a remnant of the dream and that he was still not fully awake. A second explosion sound shook him up again and this time he was praying he was still in dream. He pinched himself but it didn't help. He then rushed to the window to see what was going on. It was dark. The hangar was burning in flames and ships were flying overhead. Two bodies were seen lying on the icy ground, with red snow surrounding them. This had to be a dream. Nonetheless, Delavius couldn't just sit there; he quickly got in his uniform, took his plasma pistol and left his quarters. He was going down the hall when he ran into Jonathan.
"Del, where the hell were you?"
"What is going on?"
"Mantis attack, they took us by surprise!" A mantis attack? This did indeed take Delavius by surprise. Could he have been the one to lead them here by letting the custodian go? Nonetheless, now was too late to waste time thinking about it.
"Did you fix the ship?"
"Replaced the plates, don't know if the new ones will hold."
"Good, now knock on every door you can and tell them to go to the Overseer!"
"What?"
"You heard me, we're getting these people out of here or the mantis will kill them all!"
Delavius made his way to the elevator while Jonathan went the opposite direction without questioning the captain's orders twice. Delavius got out on the first floor where he saw a few people trying to hide in panic.
"Everyone, get some clothes and go to the big ship!" He would not mention the ship's name because these people almost certainly didn't know it. Most of them were willfully ignorant about the ships and the weaponry they carried because of their desire to live peacefully and not be involved in such things. The people appeared to have listened to him as they went back to their quarters to grab some of their things. Delavius realized that he forgot his heat conserving clothes, but it was now too late to go back. He went outside, into the painful cold of the night in Aurora. He tried to stay close to the burning building, but even the fire could not compensate for the cold. On the skies above he noticed the mantis vessels. Among them he recognized a custodian. Delavius did not have the sharpest eyes, but he could tell that this was without doubt the custodian he had encountered earlier that day, or the day before...he had no idea what time it was. That instance his focus was shifted to the time, the custodian, which had been hovering over the base, was attacked by a barrage of fusion shells combined with ion powered rockets. Two human fighters appeared and flew through the smoke caused by the explosion, seemingly victorious. Bernstein and Zack, Delavius thought. The two men had been on guard for the week. Suddenly a burst of energy hit Bernstein's ship and gravity brought it down like a piece of rock. As Zack tried to escape, the custodian emerged out of the smoke and fired his blasters on the human ship, disabling its primary engine. Down to his emergency thrusters, a desperate Zack realized that he would never be able to survive the mantis horde that was building in front of him. He moved all the remaining power to the thrusters and charged towards the nearest mantis, ramming it to the ground along with him. The explosion that followed brought down another mantis ship.
Meanwhile Delavius had made it to the Overseer. He was thankful the mantis had not noticed her down there hidden in the snow. The white color of the bulkwark plates had surely helped. Some people had already arrived and were getting accommodated in the ship's quarters. As he was turning on all systems and preparing the ship for flight, Delavius took another moment to look at the custodian, still hovering above. Only now did he recognize a second object next to it, a hovering structure that he had never seen before. He had mistaken the weird glowing symbols of this structure for stars, since that night's sky had been surprisingly clear. Then he looked at the back of the object and recognized a couple of engine exhausts. This thing was a ship? That question was quickly answered when a bolt of energy came out of the strange vessel, hitting the main building of the outpost where the living quarters were stationed. The building had a functional shield, but it proved unable to withstand even a single shot. A large breach was seen on the terrace as the smoke spread up. Delavius had never seen such large breach caused by a single blaster fire. He traced the shot back to the strange ship with the glowing symbols, and as he analyzed it closely, he recognized a couple of blasters. These were even stranger in design than the ship itself, with the same symbols inscribed in them suggesting that they too were of alien design. Delavius turned his attention back to the main building. By this time, he was hoping to see people coming towards his ship but there was no soul in sight. To make the situation more alarming, two marauders appeared above the breach and started dropping troopers inside the building.
Why aren't they coming?
Delavius had by now prepared the ship for flight, but there was a problem bothering him. Only 11 people had showed up, and none of them had any training on flying a capital ship. His crew had apparently remained back at the living quarters along with everyone else. Then it occurred to Delavius that he did not really give much of a notice and Jonathan had probably gotten distracted with something else, as he did most of the time, and forgot to let the people know of the plan. Delavius tried to open a channel with the command center, but gave up after a few unsuccessful calls. The command center was in the upper floors of the building and it was probably overrun by mantis as of this moment. He realized that there weren't many options left and without wasting time any further grabbed a coat, checked to see if he still had the gun and left the building.
His way back seemed much shorter than before, surely thanks to the cold not being much of a distraction this time. The mantis attack appeared to have calmed down as well, but the custodian was still hovering overhead along with the strange ship. Delavius made sure he remained close to the burning building as he did before, this time not to avoid the cold but the custodian's heat detectors which the fire would confuse. He entered the building, unable to see a single soul in it. The mantis had not made it to the ground floor either. Delavius had figured that the people had barricaded themselves in the underground vaults. The entrance was well hidden and finding it would surely be challenging for the mantis, but Delavius had witnessed such tricks fail before. As he was heading for the cafeteria, a few hand blaster shots were heard on the floor above, which he instantly recognized as mantis weaponry. Steps were now beginning to be felt above, as Delavius had just reached the kitchen. He moved one of the refrigerators aside and pushed the wall in front of him which went back and slid to the left to reveal a short passage with a circular vault gate at its other end. After putting the fridge back behind him and making sure the movable wall had also settled to its place, Delavius proceeded to the vault gate where he typed a password on the console nearby. Even if the mantis were to find the hidden passage, this gate would halt them long enough for the people below to escape.
The underground vaults were 3 large rooms with an area of 250 meters square each. They were positioned on top of each other and the lowest went 40 meters deep. On the upper room, 3 armed men were having an intense discussion. One of them seemed to be more heavily armed than the other 2. The man was known as Deus, though that was not his real name. If one were to describe Deus' role in this group, the best term to use would be leader. Though there was no formal leader chosen by the members of the group, he oversaw most of the group's activity and made the decisions. In his past, he had been a major of the colonial navy, but like many other ex colonials, he too had his breaking point and decided that enough is enough. After being through with the colonial authority, Deus settled in an abandoned base he had encountered in Aurora. Though he preferred to remain alone at first, pleas for help from unlucky travelers who found themselves on the harsh world of Aurora were too strong for him to resist. Before he knew it, his base was housing roughly 200 other people. He was now facing the worst crisis his little group had ever encountered. While he had never had the slightest fear of going against the mantis face the to face, he was aware that this time there were lives on the line and such action would be suicidal. He had therefore led the rest to the underground in the hopes that the mantis would never find the entrance. After taking another look at the people around him, he felt more comfortable with the decision he had made. Most of the group's members were civilians and had little or no training in weaponry and fighting tactics. They would not stand a chance in a direct fight against the mantis and facing them would definitely lead into a massacre. As he was thinking this, a dark figure appeared in the exit that led above. Immediately his gun as well was aimed at the figure, the two other men didn't take much more to do the same.
"Relax everyone, its me!" Spoke the figure.
"Delavius, we thought you were dead."
"I was prepping the ship, we have to flee!"
"Flee? Are you insane? They will drop us in a second, didn't you see the custodian?"
"The custodian won't be a problem, now lets go, there is no time to waste."
"Now hold on a second! Lets discuss this at least. Even if we were to go, how do you propose we move 200 people to your ship without the mantis detecting them?"
"I can take the Overseer to the secondary exit, but I need a crew. Can't fly the ship alone."
"Too risky, if they see you leaving from the exit then we are doomed. I say we remain here. Fat chance they will find the entrance."
"Deus, I think its safe to assume that this is in extermination. They have been doing that a lot lately. Why else would they be here, there is nothing we have that they want. They won't leave without us dead."
"Look, even if they were to find the entrance, it is too tight and you know how huge they are. We could just unload everything we have and they would never make it through the gate."
"Deus, they won't hesitate to level the place to the ground if they have to..."
"We are safe under ground."
"You know that's not much of an obstacle for a gamma ray bomb. You want these people burned alive?"
"Fine I get your point! Get some men and go bring your ship!"
The two other men had remained silent all the time. Delavius signaled them and a few others and started running towards the emergency exit. It led to a very long corridor which was once used to connect bases with each other. At the other end of this one was the ghost base, but the ice had managed to cut through somewhere in the middle and blocked the way. A that point the group had improvised an emergency exit for times like these. Delavius was now thankful to himself for suggesting long time ago that they put hoverbikes at the exit, although back then he would have never thought that the need for them would arise. The bikes would certainly take them to the Overseer in a matter of seconds.
Back at the vaults, Deus had gathered a few guards and barricaded the entrance. They had turned the lights off and aimed their guns at the dark void. The civilians had been moved to the exit corridor. The haunting silence was broken by a sudden explosion heard at the deluvian gate above, followed by the sound of heavy metal hitting the ground. The gate had been breached. The sound of the explosion itself had been that of the relatively unknown zero point grenades. Zero Point grenades? Deus then recalled that mantis in Vega were lucky to even have fusion tech, let alone antimatter, but zero point? Not in their wildest dreams! These guests were clearly high ranked troopers, special forces perhaps. That thought sent shivers to Deus' body. What chance did their small militia force stand against special forces, Delavius had been right to suggest retreat. The sound of heavy steps coming down the stars was now being heard. Then it stopped abruptly.
"Everyone ready!" Deus shouted, the men were now hanging tight to their guns, ready to shoot at any moment. Instead of steps, now they heard the sound of a circular object being rolled in the ground. Everyone turned their eyes down to the glowing sphere and starred for a brief moment. Most realized it in time to take cover, but there were those who didn't have time to prepare for the explosion that followed. Their bodies were completely disintegrated. The remaining men got up and started firing at the entrance, but by that time the mantis were already swarming in.
Delavius had by now prepared the ship for flight, but there was a problem bothering him. Only 11 people had showed up, and none of them had any training on flying a capital ship. His crew had apparently remained back at the living quarters along with everyone else. Then it occurred to Delavius that he did not really give much of a notice and Jonathan had probably gotten distracted with something else, as he did most of the time, and forgot to let the people know of the plan. Delavius tried to open a channel with the command center, but gave up after a few unsuccessful calls. The command center was in the upper floors of the building and it was probably overrun by mantis as of this moment. He realized that there weren't many options left and without wasting time any further grabbed a coat, checked to see if he still had the gun and left the building.
His way back seemed much shorter than before, surely thanks to the cold not being much of a distraction this time. The mantis attack appeared to have calmed down as well, but the custodian was still hovering overhead along with the strange ship. Delavius made sure he remained close to the burning building as he did before, this time not to avoid the cold but the custodian's heat detectors which the fire would confuse. He entered the building, unable to see a single soul in it. The mantis had not made it to the ground floor either. Delavius had figured that the people had barricaded themselves in the underground vaults. The entrance was well hidden and finding it would surely be challenging for the mantis, but Delavius had witnessed such tricks fail before. As he was heading for the cafeteria, a few hand blaster shots were heard on the floor above, which he instantly recognized as mantis weaponry. Steps were now beginning to be felt above, as Delavius had just reached the kitchen. He moved one of the refrigerators aside and pushed the wall in front of him which went back and slid to the left to reveal a short passage with a circular vault gate at its other end. After putting the fridge back behind him and making sure the movable wall had also settled to its place, Delavius proceeded to the vault gate where he typed a password on the console nearby. Even if the mantis were to find the hidden passage, this gate would halt them long enough for the people below to escape.
The underground vaults were 3 large rooms with an area of 250 meters square each. They were positioned on top of each other and the lowest went 40 meters deep. On the upper room, 3 armed men were having an intense discussion. One of them seemed to be more heavily armed than the other 2. The man was known as Deus, though that was not his real name. If one were to describe Deus' role in this group, the best term to use would be leader. Though there was no formal leader chosen by the members of the group, he oversaw most of the group's activity and made the decisions. In his past, he had been a major of the colonial navy, but like many other ex colonials, he too had his breaking point and decided that enough is enough. After being through with the colonial authority, Deus settled in an abandoned base he had encountered in Aurora. Though he preferred to remain alone at first, pleas for help from unlucky travelers who found themselves on the harsh world of Aurora were too strong for him to resist. Before he knew it, his base was housing roughly 200 other people. He was now facing the worst crisis his little group had ever encountered. While he had never had the slightest fear of going against the mantis face the to face, he was aware that this time there were lives on the line and such action would be suicidal. He had therefore led the rest to the underground in the hopes that the mantis would never find the entrance. After taking another look at the people around him, he felt more comfortable with the decision he had made. Most of the group's members were civilians and had little or no training in weaponry and fighting tactics. They would not stand a chance in a direct fight against the mantis and facing them would definitely lead into a massacre. As he was thinking this, a dark figure appeared in the exit that led above. Immediately his gun as well was aimed at the figure, the two other men didn't take much more to do the same.
"Relax everyone, its me!" Spoke the figure.
"Delavius, we thought you were dead."
"I was prepping the ship, we have to flee!"
"Flee? Are you insane? They will drop us in a second, didn't you see the custodian?"
"The custodian won't be a problem, now lets go, there is no time to waste."
"Now hold on a second! Lets discuss this at least. Even if we were to go, how do you propose we move 200 people to your ship without the mantis detecting them?"
"I can take the Overseer to the secondary exit, but I need a crew. Can't fly the ship alone."
"Too risky, if they see you leaving from the exit then we are doomed. I say we remain here. Fat chance they will find the entrance."
"Deus, I think its safe to assume that this is in extermination. They have been doing that a lot lately. Why else would they be here, there is nothing we have that they want. They won't leave without us dead."
"Look, even if they were to find the entrance, it is too tight and you know how huge they are. We could just unload everything we have and they would never make it through the gate."
"Deus, they won't hesitate to level the place to the ground if they have to..."
"We are safe under ground."
"You know that's not much of an obstacle for a gamma ray bomb. You want these people burned alive?"
"Fine I get your point! Get some men and go bring your ship!"
The two other men had remained silent all the time. Delavius signaled them and a few others and started running towards the emergency exit. It led to a very long corridor which was once used to connect bases with each other. At the other end of this one was the ghost base, but the ice had managed to cut through somewhere in the middle and blocked the way. A that point the group had improvised an emergency exit for times like these. Delavius was now thankful to himself for suggesting long time ago that they put hoverbikes at the exit, although back then he would have never thought that the need for them would arise. The bikes would certainly take them to the Overseer in a matter of seconds.
Back at the vaults, Deus had gathered a few guards and barricaded the entrance. They had turned the lights off and aimed their guns at the dark void. The civilians had been moved to the exit corridor. The haunting silence was broken by a sudden explosion heard at the deluvian gate above, followed by the sound of heavy metal hitting the ground. The gate had been breached. The sound of the explosion itself had been that of the relatively unknown zero point grenades. Zero Point grenades? Deus then recalled that mantis in Vega were lucky to even have fusion tech, let alone antimatter, but zero point? Not in their wildest dreams! These guests were clearly high ranked troopers, special forces perhaps. That thought sent shivers to Deus' body. What chance did their small militia force stand against special forces, Delavius had been right to suggest retreat. The sound of heavy steps coming down the stars was now being heard. Then it stopped abruptly.
"Everyone ready!" Deus shouted, the men were now hanging tight to their guns, ready to shoot at any moment. Instead of steps, now they heard the sound of a circular object being rolled in the ground. Everyone turned their eyes down to the glowing sphere and starred for a brief moment. Most realized it in time to take cover, but there were those who didn't have time to prepare for the explosion that followed. Their bodies were completely disintegrated. The remaining men got up and started firing at the entrance, but by that time the mantis were already swarming in.