If you missed part 1, (click here) to read it. Enjoy! ******************************************************************************* Commander Olvin watched the shuttle approach. The soldiers were cheering at the arrival of reinforcements, but the commander couldn't shake a feeling of apprehension. There was something ominous about the great, anvil-shaped bulk of the starship Crux as it floated in orbit, still visible even in the daylight. The shuttle was a simple design, little more than a big, flying box. As it set down and the back doors opened, Commander Olvin approached to greet their would-be rescuers. The avian emerged first, followed closely by the mercenary. The avian had intense, orange eyes and crimson plumage which faded to blue towards the chest, although it was mostly concealed by a grey, lightweight combat suit. A small pistol was holstered at his side. The mercenary was clad from head to toe in black armour, streaked with a pattern of violet lines. The visor of his helmet was opaque, totally concealing his face and he carried a hefty-looking rifle of a design more advanced than Solum had ever seen. A squad of soldiers in blue and white armour followed them out of the shuttle and stood to attention. The avian looked quizzically at Commander Olvin. He had never met a glunaught face-to-face before. Olvin did not look as cheerful as the pictures he had seen. He had to crane his neck a little to look into his eyes, as he was at least a head taller than he was. The commander resembled a kind of humanoid turtle, with long limbs and a long neck. His eyes were white, with no visible pupils, as with all glunaughts. His scales were green, fading to red at the back, with matching colours on what little of his shell was visible around his armour. The armour was dark grey and studded with green crystals, and a rifle was strapped across his back. This was highly unusual for glunaughts, who had always favoured swords. The avian shook Olvin's hand. "Good day. I'm Doctor Atrius, and this is Novum," said the avian, gesturing towards the black-clad mercenary, who nodded in greeting. "I understand you have something of a situation here." "Understatement of the decade," answered Olvin gravely. "We're practically overrun with Scoria. We've managed to stop them reaching the surface, but it's all we can do to hold the line now. It's only a matter of time before they bring in the big guns." Olvin noticed that Novum wasn't paying attention. He was staring intently at a hillside in the near distance. Following his gaze, he noticed a poptop peering over the rise. Realising it had been spotted, the poptop reacted instinctively and began to frolick, trying its best to look cute. Novum levelled his rifle at it and fired. An incandescent ball of purple energy screamed through the air and struck the creature squarely in the face. When the smoke had cleared, all that remained was a tiny pile of dust. A shocked silence fell as the glunaughts stared at the smouldering heap. "We should head inside," said the mercenary. As they headed towards the military headquarters, Olvin's troops kept glancing nervously at Novum. The commander couldn't blame them. There was something unnerving about him, and with such power in his hands, he could kill any of them in an instant if he wanted to. Still, he was on their side for now. He would just have to keep an eye on him. The headquarters were set into the base of a cliff. A huge, reinforced titanium door set into the concrete outer wall was the only visible way in or out. Crystalline symbols on the wall marked the building as property of the glunaught military. Commander Olvin approached the door and pressed his palm onto the scanner set into the wall beside it. The door slowly rose into the ceiling and everyone headed inside, arriving at a large chamber protected by a second door. They waited patiently for the doors to cycle, then entered as the inner door opened. Doctor Atrius looked around as the soldiers marched inside. The military HQ had been carved directly into the rock, which had been smoothed down and polished. A few crystal deposits were still stuck in the walls. Glunaughts loved crystals, so they had presumably been left there to make the place feel more comfortable. "So what exactly happened here?" asked Atrius. "Well, we encountered scoria on this world not long after colonisation, when we first dug down to the deep caves," the commander answered. "This wouldn't normally be a big problem, as we've dealt with their kind before. However, about three weeks ago, we started receiving reports of giant scoria in the deep caves. We equipped a team with heavy armour and weapons and sent them to investigate. They did not report back." Atrius thought back to the video Professor Axiom had showed him of scoria in combat. The scoria resembled the glunaughts to some extent, except that they were mostly coloured in fiery shades and had black shells with glowing lines, like cracks in cooling lava. They were less sophisticated than the glunaughts and appeared primitive and feral. However, they were still incredibly dangerous. Adapted to extremely hot environments, they fed on rock and produced magma instead of saliva, which they used to melt down their food. They could spit this magma at their foes and set them on fire. They would set upon their foes in numbers, spitting magma and clawing and biting like wild animals. Atrius could scarcely imagine what fighting a giant scoria would be like. "About a week later, the real trouble started," Olvin continued. "The Scoria started becoming more aggressive, attacking our underground outposts on a regular basis. At first we were able to hold them back, but their numbers kept growing and growing. Then, about four days ago, the giants joined the fight. We just didn't have the firepower to stop them, especially with the other scoria swarming us. We've managed to improve our shields and weapons some in the last couple of days, but it's barely enough to stop them, and their numbers are still growing." "I see," said Atrius, stroking his chin. "There must be some kind of root cause for this. Possibly some kind of mutagen in the deep caverns." Olvin nodded. "Yes, that's what our scientists believe. Whatever's causing the problem, there have been some other effects, besides growth." The commander lead doctor Atrius to a door, secured with a code lock. As he typed in the code, Olvin looked up. "Now don't be alarmed. You are in no danger." The door opened and a scoria stepped out, causing Atrius to instictively draw back. To Atrius' surprise, it extended a hand. "Doctor Atrius," said commander Olvin. "Allow me to introduce Shaav." Staring at the creature with a puzzled expression, Atrius carefully took Shaav's hand and shook it. It was uncomfortably hot to the touch. Shaav wore a stern expression, but he had a much more intelligent look about him than other scoria. "Well?" said Shaav in a rasping voice. "Are we just going to stand here, or are we going to get to business?" "Shaav here came to us with an offer of help," said commander Olvin. "He's just as curious about what's changing his people as we are." "Why would you help us?" said Atrius suspiciously. "Something is changing us, and not always for the better," said the scoria. "Some have become smarter, others bigger and more violent. Each new mutation that appears is more unstable than the last. If we do not find the source of the mutations and stop it, our kind will soon turn on each other. Me and a few others have already had to flee the giants, since they seem to get a kick out of tormenting us." "Hmm," said the doctor. "Interesting..." The three of them returned to the entrance hall, where Novum joined them. They proceeded to a map room, where commander Olvin brought up a holographic map of the caves. The strategic discussions that followed made little sense to doctor Atrius, since he had never been interested in military strategy. Commander Olvin outlined the basic plan, while Shaav offered suggestions and titbits of useful information. Novum would occasionally speak up and offer his own ideas. Olvin was surprised by Novum's suggestions, and realised that the mercenary was a brilliant tactician. He privately wondered what might have led such a powerful military mind to the life of a mercenary. After settling on a plan, they left together to brief the soldiers. Some time later, they descended through a rear door into the caverns. These caves had been heavily mined for ores and crystals and the walls were mostly bare rock. Several automated turrets had been positioned outside the armoured rear door, but there was no sign of the scoria. Atrius took this moment of quiet to take a good look at the troops. Most of the glunaughts wore armour similar to Olvin's, but in different colours to signify rank. Most of them carried glowing swords formed from crystal, and only a few had guns. A small unit of them wore full armour, with a neck covering like a vacuum tube. The glunaughts could retract their heads into their shells, so the neck coverings were designed to retract into the armour as the glunaughts drew their heads in. Almost all of them wore a large gauntlet on their left hand with a large crystal set into the back. Having been paid his first day's wages early, Atrius had purchased one of these himself from an arms dealer. It was a projector which formed light into a surprisingly effective shield. The soldiers that professor Axiom had sent with Atrius and Novum wore a kind of configurable powered armour and carried a variety of lasers, ranging from laser pistols to heavy-duty laser gatlings. Their armour was currently configured for heat resistance, giving it a shifting, reddish sheen. A small heavy weapons unit carried bazookas and a selection of different warheads, and three mechs had been brought along equipped with weapons that Axiom had referred to as "sonic disruptors", which looked something like giant pistons. Atrius had a nasty suspicion that they were going to need all of it. Commander Olvin waved his soldiers forward, heading down the left branch of the caves. After the glunaughts had descended the sloping path out of sight, Novum gave the signal for the human troops to advance. Atrius merely followed, having decided to leave command of the soldiers to Novum. They descended a winding, twisting labyrinth of caves, but Novum seemed to know exactly where he was going. The further they went, the warmer it got. As they got deeper, more and more crystals became visible in the surrounding rock. It was easy to see why the glunaughts had been mining so deep. Glunaughts loved crystals of all kinds, and used them extensively in their technology, as well as jewelry and ornamentation. Soon, an orange glow became visible up ahead. Novum signalled for the troops to slow down as they advanced, approaching the glow with considerable caution. Eventually, they turned the corner and found themselves looking out over a lake of lava, and Novum called a halt. Doctor Atrius secured his helmet and switched on his suit's air conditioning, but it didn't help much. The heat was intense. He felt a little annoyed that Novum didn't seem the least bit bothered by it. Looking more carefully now, Atrius thought he could see movement in the lava. Pulling a scanner from his toolbelt, he scanned the lake and detected life signs. He looked over at Novum and nodded. Novum raised his arm, then let it drop. The mechs responded by aiming their cannons upward and firing. With a deep booming noise, great ripples shot from the sonic disruptors and slammed into the cave ceiling, sending cracks careering through the stone. The second volley widened the cracks, the third sent great masses of rock tumbling into the lava. The scoria came pouring out by the hundreds, and the soldiers immediately opened fire. Laser fire peppered the advancing waves and dropped them in scores, but they kept coming. The scoria retaliated by spitting magma, but it did little harm to the heat-shielded armour of Axiom's soldiers. Atrius raised his light shield and it projected a glowing, translucent red disk. A glob of magma that had been aimed at his face splashed harmlessly on the shield. The heavy weapons unit loaded their bazookas and fired. The shells landed in the midst of the swarm, exploding in great clouds of blue vapour that left the scoria frozen solid. Novum added his own weapon fire to the barrage, and whenever he fired, a scoria somewhere in the swarm crumbled to dust. The lava surged. Three giant bubbles rose and burst to reveal giant scoria, each standing ten times the height of a human. The first of them leered at the army arrayed before it, opened its mouth and let loose a torrent of liquid fire. It washed over the soldiers, incinerating a large group of them. Some survived by leaping aside, one dropping his rifle as he did. The flames struck the rifle in midair, and when it hit the ground, it splashed into rivulets of molten metal. The giant let out an evil laugh that boomed around the cavern. It was abruptly cut off by a volley of sonic blasts, which hit its chest in one mighty blow, sending the giant flying backwards, where it cracked its skull on the opposite wall and dropped back into the lava, slowly sinking out of sight. Another giant scoria gave a snarl, took a deep breath, and spat a huge fireball at the mechs. It scored a direct hit on the leader, immolating it in a column of flame. The remaining mechs returned fire, the first blast fracturing the giant's shell, the second striking its skull. Dazed and unable to focus, it could do little to defend itself as the soldiers blasted it with laser fire. It soon succumbed and dropped back into the lava. The third giant opened its mouth to spit fire, but a blast from Novum's rifle struck it in the neck, and neck and head disintegrated. Shocked and demoralised by the loss of the giants, the scoria turned and fled, heading for the caves opposite the human advance. Another giant scoria emerged from the lava, ducking under a wave of sonic blasts as it joined the retreat. But as they reached the caves, the colourful flashes of crystal swords could be seen as commander Olvin's forces sprang from the shadows. In desperation, the scoria rushed at the glunaughts and tried to overwhelm them with sheer numbers, but for every one their claws pulled down, ten more sprang forward to take their revenge. A few glunaughts in heavy armour directed their laser fire at the giant. As the enraged beast ran forward, commander Olvin gave the signal and a soldier sprang from the shadows behind the giant and swung a great, two-handed crystal blade at the back of its legs. The strike caught it across the back of the knees, causing it to drop abruptly into a kneel. Another soldier rushed at it from the front with a loud battle cry, ducking under its swinging claws and then leaping up to plunge his blade through its shell and into its heart. The soldier kicked off from the shell and somersaulted through the air, landing on his feet just as the beast crashed to the ground behind him. The scoria began to look around in panic. They could see only one empty cave mouth now, and headed straight for it. As the last of them passed the entrance, the mechs fired their sonic cannons at the ceiling, collapsing the entrance behind them. Commander Olvin gave a sigh of relief and shouldered his rifle. He walked around the lava lake and met Novum and Atrius half way around. Shaav scuttled down from the wall where he had been watching the battle and joined them. "Good work," said Olvin, nodding respectfully to Novum. "There were more of them than I'd expected." "Thank you," said Novum. "It seems they may have been guarding something." Shaav nodded. "Yes. I have never known my people to gather in such numbers." Doctor Atrius looked up from his scanner. "As a matter of fact, it may have been the lake they were guarding," he said. "I'm getting some unusual readings from the lava here. It may contain whatever substance is causing these mutations. It will be difficult to perform detailed scans under these conditions, though." "Do you need me to retrieve a sample?" asked Shaav. "I wouldn't recommend it," answered the doctor, shaking his head. "Your mutation is stable, but I can't guarantee that it will remain so if you touch the magma here." Novum signalled to a couple of soldiers, who picked up a crate and carried it over to the lakeside. Novum entered a code into the digital lock and the lid gave a click. The soldiers opened the crate, revealing a heavy cannon connected to a frost-rimed fluid tank. Novum nodded to one of the soldiers, who flipped open a keypad on his arm plating and pushed a button, changing the red shielding on his armour blue. He then strapped the fluid tank to his back and picked up the cannon. Novum pointed to the lava lake. "Freeze it," he said. The soldier aimed and fired, sending out a great jet of white gas. Where the gas touched the lava, it solidified into a black crust. When the entire lake had been crusted over, Novum signalled the soldier to stop, and he returned the tank and cannon to the crate, shutting it with a click. Atrius consulted his scanner for a few minutes. He pulled a flashlight from his toolbelt and then fished an ultraviolet lense out of his pocket and fixed it over the end. He shone the light over the lake, and where the light passed over the crust, blue streaks glowed brightly. Signalling a glunaught soldier to follow him, Atrius stepped tentatively onto the black crust. Commander Olvin watched curiously. Atrius and the soldier moved carefully, the doctor using his flashlight to highlight the mysterious streaks and avoid them. The soldier was understandably nervous, expecting the crust beneath his feet to crack at any moment. The closer they got to the centre of the lake, the more dense the streaks, until they coalesced into a solid mass of blue where the light shone. Olvin couldn't hear the doctor's instructions, but he could see him pointing at the ground. The soldier nervously knelt down and planted the tip of his sword in the crust. At a signal from Atrius he stabbed, then stabbed again until a tiny fragment of rock came loose. Using a set of tongs, Atrius picked up the fragment and put it into a test tube, which he quickly stoppered. He and the soldier then carefully worked their way back to the lake edge. They were clearly relieved when they were standing on solid rock again. "Okay," said doctor Atrius, a little breathlessly. "We have a sample of the substance. Maybe we can finally work out what's happening and how to stop it." "What is it, exactly?" queried the commander. Atrius pushed a few buttons on his scanner. "Some kind of mutagen, although it will take a some analysis to learn more than that. I'm going to need some more time." "Strange that it would make some of us smart, and some more powerful," said Shaav thoughtfully. "Do you think it might have been made intentionally?" Atrius shrugged. "Hard to be sure at this point." "Alright," said Olvin. "Head back to base and begin your analysis. Our lab facilities are at your disposal." He handed the doctor an access card. "I'm going to set up a perimeter here and make sure the scoria don't come back." Atrius watch Shaav and Olvin until they were out of earshot, then showed his scanner display to Novum. The mercenary nodded and pushed a button on the side of his helmet, activating his communicator. "Professor Axiom, come in please," said Novum. "Professor Axiom here," came the answer. "Report." "The source of the mutations is confirmed as mutagen batch six-alpha. Varied mutations are evident." "Understood. Proceed as instructed." "Yes professor." ******************************************************************************** HELP! Due to the recent distractions of Christmas, coupled with severe writer's block, I am having serious trouble finishing this story. If you have any ideas as to what you would like the main characters to encounter deeper underground, please post them. I will give credit to those whose contributions are included.
I really enjoyed this, I worried that this may end up a clean up mission, and it seems it is going to become one I get the strange feeling Shaav will die at the end of this arc, and Atrius may be enraged
Unfortunately, it seems as though very few people have enjoyed this story, so I'm cancelling the project. It's a shame, as I was actually quite enjoying writing it. Anyway, I guess that's a wrap. Sorry, folks.
4 "yes"'s isn't very much. This story has been out for a while, and almost no-one seems to care. It seems as if most people who view it consider it unworthy of comment.
If the number of "Yes"'s, likes or posts grows large enough, I might resurrect the project. If not, It will remain dead. I've been lacking motivation to make any more creative attempts for a while. Even if this area of the forums is mostly ignored, the number of views on this project implies that a lot of people are reading this story, getting bored and leaving, forgetting about the poll.
Since interest in this story is steadily growing, I've decided to continue. However, it may take me some time to finish the final part. Thanks for the support, folks.
AAARGH!!! I have been trying for months without success to write a final part for this story, and I'm getting nowhere. The recent distractions of Christmas have not helped. I now seem to be suffering from severe writer's block, and I am in need of inspiration. If anyone has any ideas for what they would like Atrius, Novum and Olvin to encounter deeper underground, please let me know. I will give credit where appropriate once the final part of this story is complete.
""The third giant opened its mouth to spit fire, but a blast from Novum's rifle struck it in the neck, and neck and head disintegrated. "" about half way down the page, I think you meant: Struck it in the neck, disintegrating the head." or something like that. Great story though keep it up!.
