Legend of Souls (Part 3 of 4)

Posted on 18 Sep 2014 @ 12:17am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Scarlet Blake & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Commander Norvi Stace & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D. & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Amon Mormont & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm

2,349 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: Lyshan III - Subterranean Cave Network
Timeline: MD 07 - 1455 hrs

Previously, on Legend of Souls (Part 2)...

A collection of jumbled images surged through Mialin's brain almost too quickly to comprehend. Snapshots of the large pillar at the center of the cave were extremely prevalent, and a prolonged memory of several unidentified aliens surrounding the vertical shaft and physically touching it as a means to interact with its consciousness seemed to be the most important and pervasive of all the memories. And then, it was over. The energy tendril quickly recessed from Dea's brain and returned to its host, hopefully not having damaged the humanoid too badly.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

There was not reason for either side to trust each other after what had transpired so far, yet these things wanted to communicate. Dea didn't know how to put any of it into words. Stumbling backwards a bit only after the entity had retreated. It took her a moment to try to form a coherent thought. "They want one of us to approach the giant obleisk," Dea spoke over the comm but didn't move from her current location. "To learn more about them and to communicate." As soon as those words left Dea's mouth she felt her legs go weak. The whole experience had been overwhelming and chaotic. "It was...." There had not been time for her brain to process the whole experience. Honestly there was no way to know if it every would. Not too long after that Dea collapsed.

Luke rushed forward from where he had been examines by allyndra his head still spinning. Looking up towards the entity wanting to curse at it. Instead he bite his tongue and checked her vitals the old fashioned way "She's alive but faint" he said putting her into the three quarter prone position carefully trying to geey any response from her.

It almost felt like time had slowed and Elijah had watched in horror as the entity had plunged through the EVA helmet and into the lieutenant commander's temple. It was shocking and frightening and he had wondered if they were all going to face the same fate. Then it was over and the commander said something about an obelisk and lost consciousness.

Allyndra wanted nothing more than to try to fly back to where they had come from but the spectacle that unfolded was a draw. She moved again folding her wings that she had absently already unfolded.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Allyndra shouted at the entity. "Too much, all the synapses have overloaded." There was little she could do without better medical equipment.

Communication was not the first thing on Asahi's mind when it came to the giant tentacle zombie monsters that made a Japanese pervert's mind explode. But, after the events that had just transpired, pain or not, he was a little more willing to listen. Especially since they didn't rip the team limb from limb just for sneezing in the wrong area. "... If someone gives me a leg up, I volunteer." His gaze flickered toward both Holliday and Blake, though he didn't wait long for an order before he struggled to lift himself upward.

Luke looked to the group from where he knelt next to Dea and shook his head but didn't say anything, realistically Luke couldn't do much at the moment anyway and if this many red tentacle lifeforms attacked he may as well have died on the way down but what he really wanted to do was join Asahi no matter how crazy the request was.

Blake glanced to Holliday, letting out a soft breath as she caught up with it all. Their first job was always to pursue first contact in a peaceful way wherever possible. For all of the instinct in her wanting to lash out at these things for all they'd put them through, this was an unmistakeable attempt of communication. Her head was throbbing from being hit, she was feeling sick and dizzy with it, the blood soaking her hair at the base of her skull and trails of blood came from her mouth and nose without her noticing. She wasn't sure if she'd physically be up to whatever was in store. She got her arm under Asahi to assist the young volunteer, frowning as she helped him forward. "Are you sure about this?" she whispered. "I can do it," she offered with a frown.

Asahi nodded, giving a weak smile to Blake as he adjusted his posture, trying his best to ignore the pain. "... No, not really, but the sooner we do this, the sooner we are to answers... and Ma'am." He paused, chuckling. "No offense, but I feel like I'm in better shape than you are."

"I'm sure I can find a rule against you telling a First Officer how rubbish she looks," she tried to joke it away, glancing to Holliday for approval.

"Permission granted Mr Asahi. But...be damn careful - that's an order." John replied, both respectful of the engineer's bravery, and also perhaps a tiny bit jealous that he would be the one taking the risk.

With the help, Asahi made his way over toward the obelisk, eyes on the strange creatures in case they decided to attack. Swallowing down the protests from his knee, the engineer finally found himself in front of the large structure, reaching his hand out to touch the stone surface. "... For science, right?"

Scarlet nodded with encouragement, keeping a firm hold on him for morale support as much as physical, knowing from her last first contact experience just how frightening a leap of faith like this could be.

Coming up behind Blake after making sure Dea would be ok after her 'mind meld' he put his hands to help support Asahi, he wasn't sure if Blake could see the trail's of blood that had formed on her head down to her cheek but he imagined he looked just as bad "And for our survival" Luke said all to enthusiastically as he pushed his arms up to full stretch to aid Scarlet and Asahi.

When the young engineer touched the obelisk with his hand, the massive structure began to softly illuminate and methodically pulse with glowing red energy. Previously unseen to the naked eye, a series of intricate alien glyphs and markings became visible on external surface of the obelisk, highlighted by a rather unique circular symbol at the center of the tall mast. The large cave structure the away team currently occupied began to rumble as the earth below their feet started to vibrate, and an inherent groan seemed to emanate from the entire cave network.

Without warning, a massive spark of solid non-corporeal force created a shockwave which exploded from the center of the obelisk at supersonic speed and pulsed quickly through every organism currently present in the cavern. Its raw force knocked each of the away team members back onto their hides and also deafened them with its unnatural power. Those closest to the obelisk were the most affected, and their EVA suits shredded and shattered with the impact of the wave.

'Well shit.' was probably the first thought that would have gone through Asahi's mind had the shockwave not throbbed through his head. It was only a split second later that he found himself knocked on his back, wind knocked out of him and pain searing through his body. If he made a noise, he couldn't hear it, ears still ringing, though he was writhing on the ground well before said hearing returned.

Luke instantly crumbled and fell into the wall he was previously helping the chief engineer ascend he wasn't sure what he was shouting all around he could see others react to the deafening sound. A sudden pain pierced his head, a headache of sorts but this one feeling like a star going supernova in his skull

John reached up in a vain attempt to catch his XO as she too was thrown backwards by the force of the pulse whilst supporting Kita on his journey to the obelisk, however it was utterly in vain as the Captain was tossed effortlessly aside like leaves in an updraft, his EV suit being torn from his body in several places as he felt the coldness of the external atmosphere pummelling against his skin,.

Scarlet fell all too easily with the wave of energy that took hold of them, her already wounded head thudding hard against the helmet as she fell for a second time, not quite able to comprehend what was going on in time. The pain was almost bordering on numbing and her hands tingled with lack of feeling as she half rolled on to her side, groaning with the effort of it, the wave of nausea that washed over her with moving her head hot and choking.

Stace was already secured by the jagged wall that supported her back as she sat still in pain and shock. As the red shockwave raced towards her, she closed her eyes and felt her head in the cracked helmet smash back as she slumped, exhausted, forward into her own lap. Suddenly, everything went dark and black as she then inhaled to catch her own life.

The wave when it came was powerful and even in this thinner air was enough to lift Allyndra off her feet. Wings unfolded and with a skill borne of riding many a storm she managed to keep from the walls and protrusions. She landed again though many feet away from the others.

As with the others around him, Grayson was hit with the same wave of pain and suffering, clutching his still injured arm he dropped to his knees pulling his injured limb up towards the approximation of where his ears would be in futile attempt to block out the resounding pain that penetrated his ears. Small micro fractures began to become visible on his helmet, the fall and pending attack must have taken their toll in the limited protection he had. Grayson felt his life was in the balance, he had to hold on.

The shockwave threw Jacob like a rag doll. His EVA suit was immediately destroyed and he landed square on his chest. His head hit the floor with a loud thud and everything went blank as he was knocked completely unconscious.

Aria cried out as she was threw herself down, curling up against the noise. It hurt. It made it feel like her ears were bleeding. She gasped for breath before opening her mouth, crying out again with it.

The pain was unbearable, nothing he had ever experienced and he had experienced some horrible pain in his lifetime. Elijah's first reaction was to put his hands to his ears, only to realize that that wasn't going to be a possibility due to his helmet. Which meant he had to endure... whatever this was. The pain in his back intensified by 10 and his mouth opened to scream, but nothing seemed to leave it. He quickly clamped his mouth shut, his breathing great heavy and his heartbeat began to beat rapidly. Then he couldn't hold it in and a scream let loose, a horrible, gut wrenching scream.

Amynta gritted her teeth as she collapsed with it, her jaw tight through the pain. Her head throbbed with it and she could feel her nose starting to bleed again. This...was as close to torture as she had felt.

With hearing as sensitive as his, Oren could feel the pain go through his entire body, as if hit by a flash of lightning. He was sure that he'd blacked out at one point from the intensity and the next moment, when he opened his eyes, he saw that he had collapsed onto the ground again, cradling his injured arm and thankful that he hadn't fallen on it.

What happened next to the team was similar to a lucid dream only more vivid and real. All around them, what appeared to be a holographic projection encompassed their vision. Images of the space-time continuum in its most basic linear form of parallel and curved lines began to appear, showing a rough timeline of past, present, and future events yet to be. The focus of the projection, however, quickly regressed to the past and began to show images of Lyshan III several million years ago. Now a desert Class K planet similar to Mars, Lyshan III had once had a thick atmosphere similar to Earth's and supported a vast and balanced ecosystem. Thousands of different species inhabited the world, the most sentient of which was an ancient humanoid alien race of subterranean nature. Sensitive to light and not well-adapted to survive on the surface, the race had evolved to live underground and had created a complex and thriving society many eons before life even began to form on Earth.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Elijah Williams, IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

LTCMDR Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Lyras Ueda
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Kita]

ENS Aria Rice
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

Oren Idris
Anthropologist/Archaeologist
USS Galileo

LT Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

MWO Amon Mormont
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Markos]

ENS Grayson Jones
Asst. Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

LT Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Luke Wyatt
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

SWO Alexion Wylde
Medical Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

PO2 Siren Hex
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

LT Jared Nicholas
Linguist
USS Galileo

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