by Chris Hechtl
He looked over to Sydney's hover craft and snorted, shying away from the flare of dust and sand. Trust the fat ass to travel in style. The air car was not really suited for the recreation cover, but Sydney apparently didn't care.
So be it. If they got in, they wouldn't need the cover for much longer.
"We're getting there," Eden said from the tent nearby. He turned to orient on it and walked over. Equipment was piled around the edges. Vehicles were near another area. Other tents were arranged in rows, most likely for the people on site.
"You better be getting there. This is costing a mint, and people are going to start asking questions," Evin stated. "And what's this about losing people?"
"We've lost four teams so far," Eden admitted as he got into the shade. He paused to stare at her. She shrugged. "You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs, Evin," she said.
He frowned at her as he noted some of the sidelong looks from some of the people manning the equipment. She smirked and then indicated the hologram. A black canvas was around three sides to allow it to be seen in the ambient light. It was of the pyramid of course with an internal map.
"The interior is gothic. I'm talking dark gothic, industrial. High ceilings and peaks. Arches, all that," Eden said.
"I see," he said, crossing his arms as the others joined them.
He'd read the limited information from the archives he'd gained access to. Apparently, it had been some sort of mad scientist project, one created by a genius with cybernetics and prosthetics. Some called him a necromancer; he'd gathered followers around him and formed a cult of Necrons. They had recruited people to serve as test subjects, reportedly even raising the dead or transferring people into A.I. consciousness. Supposedly, this place like the others was supposed to be a mausoleum where the greatest fighters, pilots, and leaders were sleeping the sleep of ages in stasis.
"We've got cameras on the people we send in. But we can't maintain a signal for long. The walls are too thick, and there is too much metal in them, also a lot of interference," a tech reported.
"So, how did you get this?"
"Trial and error. We've sent robots in, but they don't return. We've tried setting up signal boosters, but they don't work. Your email about putting a land line in was good except for the airlocks," Eden said with a frustrated shake of her head.
"And the lost teams?" Sydney asked once he had seated himself on a stool. Each team of six mercs were expensive, not just for their gear but also to pay off their handlers to keep them silent about the losses.
"We've resorted to going in and probing forward, then pulling our people back for a download. It's tedious and time consuming," Sayed explained.
"Sensors show massive ceilings," Eden said, indicating a sweep on the hologram. As they watched they saw what had to be the main hall as the sweep was performed. A 3D reconstruction was left behind. "They've got to have that to move big pieces of equipment," Eden said with growing excitement. "Think of what's down there!"
"Down?" Sydney asked.
"There are tunnels; we know that much. But not much light past the first lock. We know it has power; the locks work as do fans. We've picked up sounds of fans. Sand that our people track in disappears in-between visits."
"So something is making the rounds with cleaning?" Sydney asked in amusement.
"This," Sayed said, showing them an image of a spider like robot. Sydney reared back in surprise, nearly throwing himself off the stool.
"These things scuttle around and clean the floors—black marble from the look of it," Sayed said. "We got a few sightings of these."
"Ah."
They showed a few areas and images of gear. "Each time we lost a team they'd fall back screaming. We got some data from their cameras but usually only one survivor if we're lucky," Eden said. "We've had a few false leads," she said with a shake of her head.
Evin noted a massive corridor with an elevated floor. There was a trench on either side of the floor that went into the depths. "This place is one hell of a safety hazard," he murmured.
"Yeah, I'd thought the same thing. We haven't found a light switch," Sayed said, "or much of anything except tunnels going deeper."
"I've got the files," Evin said, lifting up the Velcro strip covering a breast pocket to pull out a couple chips wrapped in plastic for safekeeping. "One supposedly has the access codes."
"Maybe we can get somewhere finally," Eden said, putting her hand out.
He held the one back shaped like a blue beetle. "This is the key. It stays with me," he said, handing the others over. "If anyone tries to access it, the files say it will erase."
"So, we have no way of checking it or seeing if it is any good? What if someone else tried to access it before?" Sayed demanded.
Evin shrugged. "I don't know. I guess some things we've got to take on faith," he replied.
Sydney sniffed but didn't say anything further.
-~~~///^\~~~-
In order for them to get further, Evin decided to go in behind the next team the following morning. Evin stayed behind, only going to the main chamber and setting it up as a new base camp. And, of course since he went, the others insisted on going as well. They had quite the entourage with them, two dozen soldiers, twelve techs, and eighteen porters. The porters moved a lot of the gear from outside in to allow Sayed and Eden to work inside the structure more securely.
Evin knew why the others weren't letting him out of their sight; they didn't want to be left out. It amused him.
They paused and made a temporary camp as Sayed and Eden dispatched probes to go further. "You two haven't been in here before?"
"Oh no, do we look stupid? No, we're not going anywhere near the center until we know it's safe," Sayed said. He seemed nervous, constantly looking around the giant chamber. There was an echo to every loud sound. Small sounds seemed to be absorbed however.
"But you are here now?" Evin asked. Sayed gave him a dirty look but didn't reply.
Screams from down the hall echoed up to them. They all looked up in alarm. Lights moved towards them, bobbing. They could hear motors and grinding but then the light stopped and there was the sound of something moving back. After a few minutes, the lights went out.
"Frack," Eden murmured.
"Move forward," Evin ordered, motioning the security team ahead of him with one hand. They looked at him dubiously. "We need to know what happened. I don't like surprises," he growled.
The sergeant nodded and motioned for two mercenaries to take point. They looked grim but followed the order and took off at a slow trot.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Ten minutes into their journey and the lights of basecamp were a warm but distant glow behind them. They passed through an area that had stasis tubes built into the walls. Their flashlights played over the cylinders. Some were smashed, others held decaying remnants of people within them. Apparently, the stasis tubed had failed. The bodies were mummified; some were horror shows. There was even a dark section of brains in jars. Evin thought he saw one eyeball move.
Sayed was excited by the tech as well as what he thought were racks of weapon systems. They were tantalizingly out of reach though, across the two-meter trench built into the walls.
"Everything is out of damn reach," Sayed muttered in exasperation.
At the next door, they paused for Eden to nervously check the map. "This is as far as we got," she said. "The team ahead of us was probing ahead. I guess they jammed the lock open," she said, indicating the door.
"Right," Evin drawled. "Forward," he said when the sergeant looked at him. The two point mercs looked nervous but then nodded and moved forward once more.
Another five minutes of walking had Sydney panting. When Eden and a soldier inquired, he impatiently waved them away. "I need to lose some weight," he said in a grumble. "Shoulda brought a scooter," he said over and over again until Evin tuned him out.
The lights began to pick up the distant reflection of another wall. When they got closer, th
ey saw statues, one giant four-meter tall being of steel on either side of the entryway to another chamber. Each giant statue was of a hooded skeleton-faced soldier holding a sword. The point mercs were kneeling near, warily looking at the bodies of their fellow soldiers piled between the statues.
That brought everyone up short.
"Come to think of it, we didn't see who ran to us or where the light went," Eden muttered, looking behind them. When she turned back, she gasped at the sight of small spider-like robots scavenging the bodies and gear. The sergeant and mercs went to shoot them, but Evin pushed his gun barrel down.
"Lower your weapons. Keep the safety on. They might have IFF. Fire on them and we're not going to like how they classify us," he said.
"Makes sense," the sergeant muttered. "I still don't like it."
"No one's paying you to like it," Sydney growled.
Evin studied the entryway. His light played over the area, but the sight of blood dried on one blade made him stop and examine it. He frowned and then slowly played the light up to the wrist. It was in a gauntlet. The entire body was armored, but he could just see robotic gears and joints here and there.
"Those are robots," he said carefully.
"Look there," Sayed said, moving a merc's light onto a spot in the center of the door. It was shaped like the beetle.
"Yeah, you would find that," Evin said with a sigh. He pulled the beetle out and then walked forward. "I don't know what's going to happen," he said as he paused just within a step of the last remaining merc body. Something tugged it off and then into the trench. Sydney gulped loudly.
"Get ready to run," he said.
"Maybe I should get a head start?" Sydney asked. Someone snorted in amusement.
When Evin stepped closer, he felt eyes on him. He paused and looked up to see the guardians had turned their heads slightly to look down at him balefully. Eden gasped.
Evin reached out with the beetle and pressed it into the hole. Nothing happened for a moment. He looked up to the robots, both had turned back to face front and seemed cold.
A grinding sound announced something was going on. The door opened. The beetle popped out and fell to the floor. Evin bent and picked it up and then put it back in his pocket.
"Well, we know that works," Eden murmured.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Ivan Drakov woke when the stasis field cycled down. Data fed into his implants. Intruders had been detected. He finally had a purpose; one he was ready to fulfill. He studied the intruders as they made their way through the inner chamber to the next one. They had some time to get to the sanctum, so he sent the signal to wake the others.
-~~~///^\~~~-
They went through another series of locks all in a straight line. Eden pointed out they were going lower and lower; the slope was so gentle they barely noticed it though. When they got to a vast chamber where the long narrow hallway turned into a skull symbol on a giant circle, they paused. Evin looked at the skull; there were beetles engraved and embedded on it.
"Who dares disturb our slumber?" a voice boomed, making them clutch at their ears in pain at the sheer sound. It hit them in their bones, making their teeth vibrate. Their guts churned.
Evin stepped up defiantly, looking around to the chamber. Red and white glowing eyes were around them, a pair appearing every few seconds. A few were green and cat like. Others were blue. Some had additional lights around them. The light was slowly turning into a bluish ambient glow.
"Horath is in danger! They are outside our star system and coming soon! Please! We need your help!"
"Is it the Xenos?" a voice crackled through the mausoleum.
"The Xenos? No." Sydney shook his head. "No, they have long vanished. It is the Federation! They have been reborn and come to destroy Horath and all we hold dear!"
"The Federation!" a voice laughed. The cackling sound grated on their nerves. "What fool led them to our door?"
"The emperor!" Sayed said, piping in defiantly. "He …"
"Emperor?" another voice demanded.
"Horath has been declared an empire as was planned from ages past. We finally moved to take the galaxy as was our right! But we are stymied by the reborn Federation," Sydney said. Evin realized each of them were trying to wrestle for the spokesman place. "The emperor and his cronies fumbled the beginning and allowed the Federation to flourish once more. They lost battle after battle and now the Federation is here!"
"And let me guess, you want us to fix the problem?" another voice asked with amusement resonating in its tone.
"Yes! Before it is too late!"
"And how do you propose we do that?" another voice laughed. "Oh, this is rich!"
"Better the Federation than the Xenos," another voice said tartly.
"How do you know of the Xenos?" Edin asked, clearly confused. "I thought you were all lost before the war?" She looked around them in confusion.
"Nay, for we were tied into the network. We were kept supplied and up-to-date for ages until something severed the computer network."
Evin Frost nodded. "A changeling," he said. The other pirate lords turned to him in surprise. "My family knows of it. Our history says a changeling struck, and our technology was compromised. They had to burn a lot of it down to keep it from turning on our ancestors. We've been rebuilding it."
"Ah, that explains that. We had wondered," one of the voices said in amusement.
"Please, no games. Will you help us? They say you are our greatest warriors, pilots, and soldiers. That you are here to defend Horath in its hour of need. Can you fight?"
"Ah, our greatest, eh? They must not know about you, Jake," a voice taunted.
"Frack you, Bob," another voice retorted.
A noise made Evin turn to see someone moving out of the shadows. He reared back at the sight of a half-naked man, old but with mostly cybernetic parts. He was more robot than man with three of his limbs replaced with artificial ones. Cybernetic parts were on his right side. The right side of his neck and head were covered in metal. His right eye was a camera lens. "We need a download of information so we know the enemy," he said.
"Ivan's right. We can't exactly get Wi-Fi here, and someone took our satellite out or it fell out of orbit," another voice grumbled. "We need information."
"Ivan?" Evin whispered. "As in Ivan the Terrible?" He was in awe over that reference. The man before him didn't look anything like the legendary mercenary and pirate though.
The bald man smiled almost whimsically. "So, you've heard of me?"
"You are a legend. I thought you were dead," Evin admitted.
"Most thought that. I survived. My ship and I were a bit worse for wear. I managed to get back here obviously. The doc found my stasis tube and well …." Ivan motioned with his artificial right arm. They could hear the soft whir and whines of servos and other motors.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Ivan was amused when each of the four lordlings vied for the center of attention. They made their introductions and then told them of how the emperor had drastically fumbled the war, allowing the Federation to be reborn nearby and then fumbled fighting the Federation to the point where the Federation was only a jump away from them.
"What do you propose we do?" He was genuinely curious about the answer. He noted that some of the other Necromongers had redirected the tech from the lordlings to salvage. He ordered that the communications gear be used to access any radio or other feeds outside the pyramid. They needed data and needed to know the truth.
It was only that last thought that made him realize he didn't quite trust the lordlings. Something was off and not just their willingness to betray their emperor. His emperor? Was this foolish mortal his emperor too? He wasn't sure.
"We need new leadership," the one called Evin stated. He had the beetle key. He seemed to know the most about the Necrons. "The emperor and his family have led us through one disaster after another and has proven he is unfit to rule. He has become unstable and lashes out, blaming others for his failures
. We need clear and concise leadership," Evin stated.
Ivan cocked his head as he processed that. As he did so, his implant to the temple network told him that the antenna had been deployed. The satellite was not in the sky, but they were getting other signals. It would take some time to fully decrypt them.
Though the pirate lords might be able to shorten that process. He ignored the waking and linkage while he focused on the lords.
They had soldiers. Each was armed. The weapons were pathetic though.
"We'll need resources," he said.
"We can work on that," Evin stated. "And intelligence of course," he said, licking his lips.
"If you require refreshments, we can supply them. The well is still functional," Ivan stated.
"No thanks, I've brought my own," Evin replied, showing his canteen. He took a sip from it.
Ivan smiled slightly. The lad reminded him of the stories of mortals who had entered the hall of faeries and had been told not to eat or drink or they'd be trapped.
He turned when he noted a new report. The bodies had been processed. What bodies? He frowned puzzled as he downloaded the information from the Necron guardians.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Sydney was not happy about how things were going. Oh, he was happy that they were finding allies, but it was troubling the amount of death in that chamber. It was not at all like he'd been told. Nothing was like what he'd imagined.
Most of the cybernetics were crude compared to what he'd read about in the history books. Take for instance Ivan the Terrible. He was heavily scarred, and the implants were crude. The prosthetics that made up his legs from the knee down were skeletal.
He was still wondering about what other surprises they were going to see when one came to them.
He had a brief thought of wishing they'd controlled access to the data when things turned quickly.
-~~~///^\~~~-
"What the hell?" Eden said, rearing back in horror at the sight coming out of the shadows near her. "What is it? It's an abomination!" she whispered, eyes wide in horror. She clutched at Evin's arm in terror.
