Episode-12: The Osiris

Date: November 25, 3008
Time: 02:00
Location: Somewhere over the Ocean of Ossyria

~Felix~

The quiet yet discomforting pitter patter of the raindrops deflecting off of the dropship’s silver hull dulled out all sounds. Not even the ridiculous roar of the plasma engines could overpower Mother Nature’s tears. Inside the cabin, six figures sulked in the shadows, each very preoccupied with their own thoughts. Felix cradled his S-16 Scarab Assault Rifle, polishing the sleek black chassis with a worn handkerchief.

“Wanna put that down? You’re making me nervous,” Michael’s voice stuttered from the front of the craft. Though the cabin was only illuminated by a dull purple neon light, Felix could see Michael’s cold eyes stare at him like two balls of fire. Felix took his time as he shifted his weight in the seat. Then, he gave a firm negative response and went back to polishing.

Suddenly, the ship trembled as it careened into a jet stream. However, as the ship leveled out, Felix found it hard to grab onto his rifle, as if it were literally still jumping around. And then, right before his eyes, his beloved assault rifle sailed out of his hands towards the front end of the cabin.

“Dammit!” Felix roared as he stormed up, trying to see what had happened. But instantly, his heart was chilled and his temper was stole away as Felix’s eyes met Lily’s. He knew well enough not to screw around with her, Shadow Templar or not.

“The man asked you once,” Lily’s lips snarled, “And I don’t have to ask you again.” With that, she hurled the weapon back. It smashed into Felix’s chest and made him slam into the back of his seat. Cursing under his breath, he had half the heart to lunge out and just plug Lily’s head full of metal.

“Hey,” Naz suddenly blurted out, “Calm yourselves!” He looked around at the cabin. Felix could literally feel Lily’s hatred steaming out of her ears. “We’re supposed to be a team. Why the hell are you guys fighting? We have more important objectives than a trivial little quarrel!” Naz stared at Lily, as if telling her to stand down. She gave a snort of disgust and turned away into the shadows. Naz retook his seat next to her, both of their faces hidden in darkness.

Felix tilted his head back onto the head brace and looked out the porthole of the dropship. The beads of rain slid horizontally towards the aft of the ship as it cruised through the storm. A flash of lightning roared across the sky, dipping down into the black sea below like an upside down bonsai tree. There was no thunder to be heard, for the rain coupled with the roaring engine drowned it well out.

Without warning, the intercom crackled and Mikhail’s voice boomed into the little cabin, “I see it. Targeted destination at 12 o’ clock. ETA, two minutes.” As the intercom clicked off, Naz and Lily were already on their feet. They strolled towards Felix and unlatched a locker that accompanied him at the aft of the craft. As the metal hinges swung open, Felix’s eyes dilated as they came face to face with a mini-arsenal that could start a small war.

“It’s time for a little upgrade,” Naz chuckled to himself as he grabbed two new S-2000X Slain pistols from within the racks. The black barrels were elongated, providing for more accurate fire. As Naz stuffed them into his holsters, Felix could see a hand grip that fitted Naz’s hand shape perfectly.

As Lily retreated from the weapon cabinet with two of the same handguns (though both of hers were pure white), Michael made his way in. He dropped his S-16 onto the empty seat next to Felix and studied the armory carefully. Pondering for what seemed like an eternity, Felix finally watched him back out, carrying a formidable looking, pitch black weapon. It had a small scope mounted atop of the hand hold, and the barrel had a mounted grenade launcher underneath. Though the muzzle of the weapon was short, the barrel made up for this deficiency, granting the user a steady rate of fire with little to no kick back.

Maldran pushed forwards as Michael joined Naz and Lily with his charcoal G-36A2 Ghoul Assault Rifle. Felix saw Maldran’s eyes widen just as his did when he saw the rack of weapons. He reached in and grabbed a shotgun, bringing it out by the curved shoulder mount. As he took a few steps back to load the Spas-12XPL, Nova appeared in the forefront.

Felix felt his hands tighten around his S-16. Unwilling to part with the assault rifle, he studied Nova’s eyes, who seemed to be pondering the same thing. After all, why should they leave the weapons that they had come to known as a loyal friend?

“Nova,” Naz brushed past and reached into the arsenal, “Lay your past aside. A year is more than enough to outdate even the finest weapons. However, I think you will find this to your liking.” Naz handed Nova a sleek, completely silver rifle with a detachable scope mounted on top of the hand hold. As Nova studied it in her hands, Felix noticed it looked exactly like her old S-36 Seraph Long Ranged Assault Rifle, but had some extra buttons and switches along the side.

“The clip of the old S-36 model has been enlarged, allowing for fifty bullets to a magazinem” Naz explained with a hint of excitement in his voice, “Also, the old red laser pointed has been replaced by an infrared dart. Plant the dart on your target, and no matter where you shoot, the bullets will automatically trace the infrared line towards your opponent. I think you will find the S-36X2 to be a valuable companion.” Felix watched Nova’s eyebrows furl in doubt, but she locked and loaded with a cold fury in her eyes.

“Let’s do this sh**…”

“As you wish, November,” Mikhail’s voice suddenly boomed out of the intercom once more. “Make your way to the launch deck, and I’ll open the doors.”

The six of them scrambled down a ladder into a plain looking room. Looking around, Felix could make out very little from the little light that was coming from the portholes. Outside, the rain continued to beat down upon the craft. “Switching to autopilot,” Mikhail said and the intercom went dead for the final time. Before long, he joined the group, making up the 7th member of the squad. He locked and loaded his FF-20 Fair Frozen Heavy Duty Machine Gun. The six revolving barrels blinked fiercely as he shouldered the massive weapon onto his formidable back and strode towards the control panel by the ramp.

As he punched a sequence of buttons, a pneumonic hiss filled the room. The instant the doors opened, Felix was hit with a blast of icy cold air as well as the full roar of the jet thrusters holding position over their target. The rain lashed out at the entrance of the ramp, daring them to jump.

Then, as the ramp finally drew back to its full extent, Felix could see the faint outline of a ship floating wantonly in the demonic black waves. It looked like an old fashioned oil tanker like those back on Earth that became outdated in the early 21st century as all of the planet’s fossil fuels were depleted. There was a bridge in the back that looked over the entire ship like a morbid deity. Two masts stuck out awkwardly into the storm, acting as gigantic lightning rods. Surprisingly, the steel crates that rested atop of the freighter were still intact and buckled down. So Damiver is in this abysmal place…

Mikhail buckled down a zip line onto the latch on the ceiling. Then, without a word, he jumped out of the dropship, hurling down safely onto the mysterious ship below. Naz and Lily jumped next, making it seem so easy.

Michael helped Maldran attach himself to the zip and the two of them jumped out, hollering in ecstasy as they sailed through the storm. Nova pushed forwards, without a word, leaving Felix alone in the dark ship. He looked back at the interior of the craft. What had once seemed like a quiet solace now felt moribund and threatening. Sighing dejectedly, he gritted his teeth and sprang out of the vessel.

As soon has his feet left the steel deck, the pounding rain slashed at his face, threatening to slice his skin right off. As he seared blindly through the air, he could feel the wintry air push at his body, chilling him to the marrow. However, somewhere in the lonely depths of his heart, a part of him was actually enjoying the random flight.

And then, as soon as it started, it ended with a dull thump as his boots landed upon the deck of the rickety ship. Opening his eyes, he watched Naz unsheathe a katana and slice the cable cleanly in two, releasing the dropship. Mikhail revealed a small controller from within his robes and clicked a small blue button. The lights that watched over them like an angel suddenly clamped off. Then, the dropship’s thrusters were drowned out by the deafening wind as it made its leave into the storm, leaving the seven of them quite alone on this desolate vessel.

“What the hell do we do now?” Maldran screamed as the storm continued to unleash its fury upon the squad.

Mikhail looked around, his face grimly lit by the squad’s barrel mounted flashlights. His eyes fixated upon the bridge in the distance, “There. We make our way there to the control room.”

They made their way forwards, cautiously trying not to disturb anything onboard. The ship seemed mystical and delicate, delicate in the way that if they touched anything, fire would burst out of the blue and engulf them or razor blades would pop out and decapitate them. As Felix advanced in the middle of the formation, his mind twisted the entire scene into an epically twisted level of “FEAR”, a well known first person shooter of his time featuring deadly viruses and a horrific strain of zombies out for your brains.

A clap of thunder made Felix jump, scaring him sh**less. As the storm continued to rage on, throwing occasional bolts of lightning into the world and accompanied by the usual cacophony of aerial explosions, Felix’s attention was caught by a strange insignia that seemed to be painted everywhere.

All of the large metal crates around him had the name, “MSS Osiris” painted on them. Felix had a brief flashback to gradeschool when his teacher taught of Earth’s Ancient Egypt’s Gods. Too bad he never paid enough attention in class to care. With a pang of regret, he pushed forwards, dipping his head low and wiping the relentless rain out of his eyes.

Shuddering both at the beating rain and his mystifying thoughts, Felix suddenly noticed they were at the aft, climbing the ladder up to the bridge. So far so good. Another roar tore through the sky; the Gods of Maple laughed disdainfully at the squad in their futile search for answers.

Mikhail, at the lead, suddenly whipped his hand into the air to signal a halt. Digging into his pack, he pulled out a unique-looking tool in which he stuck around the door handle. Felix could hear a faint sizzling as Mikhail silently opened the door, its knob melted right off.

The squad was now immersed in complete darkness, their general vicinity only lit by their flashlights. As the door swung shut, banging softly on the frame, the rain outside was immediately muffled, replaced by a ringing silence that made Felix want to go stark raving mad.

“So where is he?” Michael whispered to Mikhail, as if trying not to break the silence of the seemingly deserted place. The ships controls were all offline, and they looked as if they had been abandoned for years. As Felix sniffed the air, he noticed a putrid odor curling up from an unknown source somewhere blow the decks. A shiver ran down his spine as his mind thought of an old horror movie.

“I cannot be sure,” Mikhail whispered as well, his feet shuffling to and fro as he paced the bridge, “Ganzyckus’s information only led us here. It is up to us to find out what is actually hidden here.”

“Where do we start?” Felix muttered to himself as his eyes scanned the dark room, searching for a way in.

Suddenly, the bridge was engulfed in a yellow light as a door swung open effortlessly. It swayed to an unusual stop, silhouetting Nova’s slim body as she stood at the entrance. The threshold led to a curling small staircase that led down into the bowels of the ship. No doubt they would have to venture into the deep unknowns.

“Well looks like Nova answered that question for you,” Mikhail chuckled softly, still trying to keep his voice down to a minimal whisper. As Felix made his way down the strangely lit staircase, he could not help but feel an aura of uneasiness creep over him. It didn’t feel quite right for them to be intruding, and it felt like someone or something was watching him. Something about the place seemed forbidden, ancient even.

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-In the Storm