Terranus: Renaissance: Book two of the 'Terranus: Origins' series.

by Joe Crouch

  “Some sort of security or gate control room, I bet,” replied Taris who slumped down into a seat and cleaned her massive weapon. The controls were intuitive enough, Sean flicked up and down with a single finger, changed pages with a quick swipe left or right, but it didn’t help him understand the strange letters and pictures he looked at.

  As he scrolled, though, a toggleable switch flashed past. Quickly scrolling back, he saw that it was different to the others. Without thinking, he flicked it over to the right. The switch snapped to a bright green and displayed a picture of a hand. He instinctively placed his hand on the terminal, remembering how the Veterum generation ship and the inconsistent shield device on his arm reacted to him. Beep, beep! Came a tune from the console.

  “Well, what the hell did that do?” he grumbled. Above him, though, the ceiling split open and retracted. Out from the newly formed hole dropped an automated turret. The team scattered in all directions, taking cover behind the assortment of furniture. “Oh no, no, no!” cried Sean as the weapon came to life and spooled up. With a quick movement, it snapped towards him, its barrel glowed red as it spun at an immense speed. “I just want to say…” he begun, but the door to the room blew open in an explosion that threw them to the floor. Through the cracked and demolished frame came three Xuron. The turret snapped back around and with a deafening noise unleashed its multiple barrels upon the fleshy targets. They didn’t stand a chance. Their bodies were torn to shreds by the fast-repeating energy rounds that spewed out from the overhead weapon. Sean covered his head and cowered under a table.

  Silence descended on the room as the turret deactivated and drooped downwards. It’s barrel still glowed a bright red from the immense amount of heat it expelled but it was safe. Fez got up and looked towards Sean, “Don’t touch anything ever again,” the captain snarled.

  With a cough and a splutter from the dense, burning fumes that came from the mutilated bodies he said, “Yeah… that’s probably a good idea.” Tiptoeing around the terminal, he made sure he didn’t accidently brush or touch a thing. Looking outside he saw smoke rising from the fortifications above. All around the facility turrets hung from their holdings and dangled aimlessly, swaying in the light breeze that gusted throughout. He waited for a moment to ensure he wasn’t getting shot at and looked over his shoulder, “I think the coast is clear.”

  “We are not near any known coasts,” Fez replied.

  “I think it’s a Human saying,” Remulus stepped up beside him and clicked her weapon back onto her armour, “I’ve heard it before.”

  “What, how?”

  “Me, Sean, and Taris meet up to watch movies from Earth, they’re actually rather good.” Grumbling, Fez kicked away debris that laid at his feet and strolled out into the hot sun.

  Gunfire echoed throughout the desolate, empty facility as the battle raged on over the walls. Buildings were either crumbling or laid scattered as rubble. The Xuron corruption had spread to every surface around them. The ground was churned up to reveal a network of veins and arteries that ran under the compacted mud.

  “So,” Sean began while grabbing hold of the net of veins which covered the building, he pulled hard with little effect as they held on tight, “What now?” Remulus pulled out a small, handheld device and swung it from side to side. It let out a blue pulse that rebounded off every surface.

  “There,” the Veterum said, pointing the device towards the largest of the remaining structures, “What we are looking for is under there.” She referred to the large, multi-storey central building. Its wide, square bottom angled upwards into a thin, smooth tower that climbed above the compounds walls. Yellow metallic rings slowly rotated around its once bright white exterior. Blue lights pulsed from under the network of corruption that clawed onto it.

  Stepping over the uneven and loose rubble, they avoided the Xuron bodies that were sprawled out everywhere they looked. Sean dug through the destroyed buildings, throwing debris to his side in search for anything useful that may have been buried. But all the Veterum technology they found was either corrupted or destroyed.

  Two large, black polymer doors blocked their way into the tall building. Sean stepped up and ran his hand down its slippery smooth surface searching for any hidden panels. With a click, a small terminal extended out from the pillar beside them and lit up a bright blue. He placed his hand on its surface and within an instant a loud hissing came from the doors as they split apart. A thin fog rushed out through the ever-expanding gap that quickly rose up and dissipated away.

  Sean stepped through into the unknown. Nothing reacted to his presence, he stumbled about in the dark before Taris clicked on a torch.

  “See, nothing to be afraid of,” she said. The smell of an ever-present damp hung in the air of the large circular room. Weeds and small plants which glowed a bright, luminescent pink when the torchlight touched them pierced out between gaps in the dark polymer construction.

  “Everything looks so… intact,” Sean said as he blew the dust off an inoperative computer.

  “It looks like they left in a hurry,” mused Taris as she rifled through piled high paperwork.

  “… Or they’re still here,” Zarid replied, bringing everyone to a sudden attention, “Zombiefied and ready for brains.” Shaking his head as the Fre laughed away to himself, Sean paid no attention. But down the hallway beside him came a faint, echoing scurrying.

  “Guys…” Sean gulped, “Did anyone else hear that?” Taris and Remulus cautiously stepped up beside him, almost tiptoeing as they moved. The trio hugged the corner and listened out for anything else, there was nothing. Taris pulled back, ready to laugh at Sean’s expense but it came again, but louder this time.

  “Alright, I heard it that time,” she quaked, “What the fuck was that?” Sean grabbed his weapon and pointed it around the corner, waiting for something, anything to move so he could blast it. But there was only silence. He flicked the weapon’s flashlight on, the light penetrated through the darkness to reveal a long hallway. Rooms came off from it and a massive, heavy metal door sat alone at the end. Advancing slowly, Taris and Remulus followed closely behind while the other two stayed behind to inspect for clues as to what happened.

  The rooms were uninteresting, offices with little of note other than the large stacks of what seemed to be old equipment. Flora coverage got lighter as they moved deeper into the building. Behind them, Fez and Zarid strolled along talking amongst themselves.

  A large room sat at the end of the hallway, crates and other containers were stacked and lined up neatly all over. The enormous metallic door was the only thing of interest. Sean inspected it closer but once more nothing happened, but as Remulus drew closer a small terminal snapped into existence. “What is it?” Sean asked.

  “It’s a cargo elevator,” replied Remulus. She punched in a command on the console and a loud, whirring noise came from behind the door. “It’ll be with us in just a…” she was cut off by a plasma blast that impacted besides her head. The team snapped around to see a squad of Xuron soldiers rushing down the hallway towards them.

  “Cover,” Fez yelled in a panic. The team ducked behind the cargo containers as plasma zipped past. Sean held tightly onto his weapon and took a brief glance over. Five… maybe six Xuron swarmed about outside, they had taken up their own cover within the rooms and fired around the corner of the doors. He took aim and unleashed a bolt of energy, it slammed into the door frame doing nothing more than providing a light show.

  “Tar, use your damn super weapon,” Sean shouted.

  She looked at Sean questioningly, “In these close quarters? I’ll kill us all.”

  “Just do it!” Unconvinced, she unclicked it from her back and flicked it on. It whirred loudly as its capacitors built with energy. Remulus, in her heavy armour, stood straight up and distracted the Xuron while the XR-61 charged. She let off rounds sporadically not really aiming at anything. A plasma bolt slammed into her thick chest armour and sent her crashing to the floor.

&
nbsp; “Remi!” Sean shouted, crawling over to her, “You alright?”

  After shaking it off, she climbed back onto her knees, “I’m ok,” she replied. Taris’ weapon screamed at a high pitch, Sean ducked back behind cover as she poked out and aimed it towards the Xuron. With a loud clap of energy, a red bolt detonated one of the rooms leaving nothing behind. Three Xuron bodies were sprawled out as the remaining two kept up their assault. The team had the superior numbers, though, so pinned them down with ease.

  Behind, the whirring of the elevator came to a halt. The large metal door broke apart with a mechanical clank and opened, but as they did two creatures bolted out at high velocity. They ran on all four of their short, stumpy legs, their bodies were a dark brown, their flesh was creased and cracked all over to reveal a green ooze under the surface.

  Without time to react, the two dog-like animals pounced and knocked both Taris and Fez to the ground. They snarled and snapped at the pair’s throats, drool gushed out between their set of yellow, decayed razor blade teeth. Sean looked quickly between the pair, who do I go for he panicked, watching as they fought with the beasts. His heart raced, his palms grew sweaty, and his whole body trembled. With a snap choice, he rushed over towards Taris and kicked the animal firmly in the face. It yelped as it rolled away off to the side, Sean unleashed his blaster into its torso to finish it off.

  “ARGH!” came a deafening scream from Fez. The animal had clawed deep into his armour and scratched at his flesh. As Sean turned, it clawed into the captain as if it was digging up dirt.

  “Captain!” shouted Sean. He raised his blaster up and fired on the animal, risking his captain’s life at the same time. But he didn’t miss. The creature keeled over as its innards were exposed and as its bodily fluids soaked into Fez’s clothes. “Are you alright?”

  “Just get in the elevator,” huffed Fez. The team gathered up, firing blindly at the Xuron down the hallway. They hid behind a small stack of boxes within the elevator, Fez sat on the ground holding his wounds panting heavily. They watched as the heavy doors closed behind them, locking them away from the threat…

  Chapter 26

  “Hold on, apply pressure,” Sean barked. The rickety elevator descended into the bowels of the building with some frightening mechanical clattering. It rocked about as Sean pressed both his hands down onto his captain’s chest to stop the bleeding. Taris pulled around a satchel and grabbed a small bottle of purple liquid.

  “Move,” she said, pushing Sean aside. For a moment Fez’s wounds were exposed to the air. Claw marks dug deep into his flesh, the Ioution’s blue blood poured out into his suit. But something caught Sean’s attention. The skin around the injury had turned black, he watched as it slowly spread away and up the captain’s body. Taris, though, ripped the cap off the bottle and poured it out onto the wound. Within an instant, it fizzed with a white smoke. Waving it away, he saw that the injury had been sewn up and blood no longer gushed out. “It’s not a permanent solution,” Taris admitted, “But it’ll have to do for now.”

  “Thank you,” Fez grimaced as he pushed himself up and sat against a cargo crate. The team remained silent, listening to the old, squealing mechanical workings of the elevator.

  After a few seconds, Sean spoke up. “What were those things?” he asked, walking around racking his mind, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “’Nor me,” replied Zarid, polishing the barrel of his weapon with his brown shirt, “They sure were ferocious beasts, though, I’ll tell you that.”

  “I haven’t seen them before, either,” Taris said, kneeling beside the captain and inspecting his gashes, “They do some serious damage.” Remulus stood off in the corner silent, she watched over the crew with a curious eye, pretending to not hear what they were talking about.

  Sniffing, Sean wandered about trying to pinpoint a pungent smell that hung in the air. “What is that?” he asked, “It smells… dead.” He bent down to one of the crates and sniffed harder, “Here, it’s coming from these crates.” Taris pulled out a knife and pried open one of the lids. It dropped to the floor with a thud to reveal its contents. Sat on a bed of hay-like material were various fruits, or what were once fruits, as now they were as black as tar and rotted away.

  “Ew,” Taris shouted, wafting the smell away from her nose, “How disgusting.” Sean was about to bend down and grab one, but a loud thump echoed as the elevator came to a sudden stop. A bright, white light above the door flashed up before the large metal doors reeled up and receded into the ceiling. Outside was a pristine, untouched open area, it’s still brilliant white floors shimmered as the overhead lights flickered into existence. Thick, stone pillars were dotted about the room in neat rows, tables circled around their base with terminals sat on top.

  Sean turned and pulled the weary captain to his feet. With an arm over his shoulder, they waddled out into the main entrance way. Small dust particles drifted about in the old, stale air that smelt as if it had been trapped for centuries. That same dust had settled onto every surface, and as the pair moved they disturbed its rest and kicked it up into the air.

  “Can’t say I imagine anyone’s been here for quite some time,” Zarid observed, running his fingers through the thick build-up atop one of the terminals, “Looks like they left work for the day and just never came back.” Sean rummaged through stacks of notes on one of the desks to see if there was any mention to what they searched for, although he wasn’t certain what he was looking for. As he turned he saw a large map of the underground complex on the wall. The area was split up into four areas of research, chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering. Each area was coloured coded, it matched with the coloured lines which ran along the walls.

  “There’s a lot here,” Sean said, turning to Remulus.

  “It used to be a research world before the Xuron captured it,” she replied while fiddling with a small instrument which made a continuous beep when she angled it in a certain direction. “The device is somewhere down there.” Waving for her to lead the way, Sean carried Fez and they advanced down the tight hallway which branched off. Their collective footsteps echoed through the empty corridor. They checked their corners with a jitteriness that he had rarely felt. Passing many small, uninteresting rooms they followed the coloured lines to a cross section that split in five directions, including where they just came from. Each of the coloured lines snaked off down a different path that led to one of the different branches of research.

  “The engineering path makes the most sense,” Fez coughed as he held onto Sean.

  “Agreed,” replied Remulus. In front of them stood a door with a grey, reflective coating. As they approached it broke into four equal-sized pieces and receded into the walls with a heavy clunk. A message played over a small, door side terminal that said in a calm, female Veterum voice.

  “Entrance past this point is strictly forbidden to civilians. All personnel must be accompanied by a member of the engineering staff. Objects beyond this point should be treated with caution.” With a quick glance and shrug towards one another, they stepped over the line separating the two halls. A bright blue light snapped on overhead. A thin beam spread out and moved up and down their bodies. After a few moments, the same female voice said, “Scan complete, you may proceed.”

  Rooms within the zone were densely packed with complex equipment. Suits of armour hung off walls and on mannequins surrounded by scorch marks from blaster fire. Heavy machinery rumbled online as they passed filling the air with the smell of a sweet lubricant. “What is this stuff?” Sean asked as he glared through a window at an over-engineered machine that pumped out a thin green haze.

  “Experiments for future technology,” Remulus stopped and stood beside him, “What you’re looking at is a basic prototype for an advanced terraformer, we have these now, but at the time this facility was constructed they were far from a certain technology.” With a nod, he pulled away from the window and followed the Veterum. The rhythmic rumbling of the machines gave the e
ntire building a hollow, disused feeling that Sean couldn’t put his finger on. Apart from the build-up of dust on every surface, everything had an unused look to it. Out in front, Remulus came to an abrupt stop. She rushed over towards a window and squashed her face against its surface. Her eyes grew larger and larger as if she were a kid at Christmas.

  “Something take your fancy?” asked Zarid as he casually strolled up behind her, “It can’t be…” he paused, transfixed on whatever she was looking at, “Alright, that’s pretty nifty.” Sean and Fez shuffled towards them as fast as they could. Through the window were neatly aligned, tall metallic racks. They stood from the floor to the ceiling and hanging on their display arms was a wide assortment of close-quarters weaponry. Remulus’ breath fogged up the glass as she panted and shook, visibly excited at the prospect of acquiring one.

  “These,” she pulled back, pointing towards one of the racks, “These are weapons reserved for modern Praetorians, for someone like me to acquire one would be…”

  “Stupid, idiotic, reckless, shall I go on?” Sean replied. She ignored the Human’s obvious words of wisdom and waved her hand over the door’s terminal. With a clank, it receded left into the wall. Stepping through she weaved between the racks as if she were at a supermarket and stopped in front of a towering collection of bladed weapons. The one she picked out had a ribbed grip with a jewel encrusted pommel. Its blade was short, the metals it was constructed from were dull and reflected no light. It vibrated in her hands as she trembled even being in the presence of such an important weapon. She threw the away the sword that was firmly held in her scabbard and gently sheathed her newly acquired blade in its place.

  “So… Happy?” Taris asked with one arm leaning against the wall.

  Remulus turned on her heel, “Immensely, thank you.” With nothing more than a smile and a nod, they continued. Fez groaned with every step he took; the captain wasn’t happy and he became more irritable the further they travelled.