Project - Prometheus Ch. 16

"Well, here's hoping to an uneventful day."

******************************

The crew of the Perseus and their guests were making good progress as they trekked deeper into the cave network. They kept to the main path, seeking to reach the Dead Snows. They made good time, stopping only long enough to setup relay beacons and heat lamps, to serve as waypoints for anyone on foot.

The drones that were attached to the Sentries were doing a good job of keeping everyone informed of what lie ahead. So far, it was nothing but ice and long stretches of open cave. Though they had encountered nothing, they kept their weapons handy, using the built-in lights to look around for any signs of life.

"Oh man, do you smell that??" Taal'ani asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Smell what?" Kasumi queried.

"It smells like..."

"Offal," Luminia supplied, smelling the same thing that the cat girl was. Kas sniffed the air and she did smell something on the air. It was a pungent and rank odor, which made her grimace in disgust.

"Now I smell it. Commodore, do you smell that?" she asked, speaking into her comms.

"Yup. I smell it all right. Let's halt the convoy and have a look around. Don't want to wander into some sort of nest of... whatever the hell is down here," he stated.

"Aye, sir," she replied and slowed her cart to a stop.

"Everyone get to your feet and stay alert. Keep your weapons up and pointing away from any friendlies," Alex commanded. Everyone dismounted their vehicles and the Sentries were activated, coming out of their little cubbies. The crew and Sentries, along with a few warriors, created a perimeter with the carts at the center.

This area was much more sizable, as it looked to be a junction of sorts. Their lights played upon the walls and stalagmites, looking for any clues to the source of the stench. Nothing could be seen, until a brief cry echoed through the chamber.

'Sir, I've found something!" Nats called into her comms a little too loudly.

"What did you find, Lt. Commander?"

"It looks like, furrows, but they're too even spaced to be random striations, these look like..." she didn't finish that sentence, as she was interrupted by a growling sound, followed by an impact tremor. Everyone was a bit rattled, but kept their weapons handy, believing they'd need them soon. Another impact soon followed, and the crew looked around, hoping to spot the source.

"I think I found the source of the smell sir!" Korsa told him over the comms.

"What did you find, Doctor?"

"A massive pile of shit! When I say massive, I mean that it's bigger than me! It's still steaming, and I can see... bones... humanoid bones in it," she said, her voice carrying the weight of her disgust and fear.

"All crew, weapons free, I repeat, weapons free! We need to keep our eyes open and report anything else you find!" he ordered. Alex heard the reassuring clacking of weapon safeties being switched and brought Stormbreaker up, keeping the muzzle in front of him.

"Sir! Drones have spotted it! We have contact! Twelve O'clock!" Kasumi screamed into the comms.

Looking down the tunnel, sure enough, they saw the source of the tremors. It was a Tashkuun beast, but much bigger than the Alpha they had faced weeks ago. It was massive, nearly seventy feet in height, with more spikes and fangs, making it much scarier that its surface counterpart. Looking right at them, it roared the bloodcurdling cry echoing through the chamber and beyond, before it charged them.

"Light it up!" he shouted. As one, the crew and the Sentries opened fire on the beast as it came at them.

"Sir, our weapons aren't effective against this thing!" Nats cried out. He looked at it and could almost see the bullets bouncing off its hide! He took aim with Stormbreaker and emptied the magazine into it. Even such a weapon just peppered it with annoying shots that only served to irritate the beast.

It growled at them as it closed the distance and bowled right into the Sentries, picking one up in each hand. It tightened its fists, crushing the robots, before putting them in its mouth. It chewed for maybe half a second, before it spit the metallic components out in a spray of saliva.

It grumbled as it looked around for new prey to devour and spotted the Artucian warriors, led by Sohlkris. Alex was confused as it seemed to... grin?... before taking off after the natives of Talemkha. It shouted as it reached them, its massive hands reaching for the blue skinned aliens. Before it could do anything, a quartet of Sentries got in its way, swinging their built-in swords and axes at the beast, trying to drive it back.

The gambit worked as the monster backed away, unsure what to make of these machines. It quickly realized that they couldn't hurt it and stomped the flat with its feet. Though they hadn't stopped the beast, they bought the Artucian time to get clear and find better vantage points, in the hope of hurting it.

It glared at the smaller beings, looking for ones closest to it. It looked at where Alex was standing, next to Natalya and Kasumi and grunted, thinking they'd make a better meal than the Sentries. It charged at them, smashing several ice columns that were in its way. Despite the intensive firepower trying to bring it down, nothing anyone did anything.

"Empty your clips! Empty your clips!" Alex shouted frantically. Though he had promised Nats not to do anything reckless, the beast was coming right at them full steam and nothing was hurting it! With Stormbreaker empty, Alex dropped his weapon and drew Yggdrasil, igniting its flames.

"Alex, no!" Kas screamed.

"There's little choice Kas!" Alex called out as he charged the beast, unleashing a harrowing war cry at it. The beast looked down at Alex and swung mightily at him, but Alex dodged at the last second, avoiding the strike. The beast swung again, and Alex wasn't fast enough as it smashed him but good, sending the man flying into a nearby stalagmite.

With a satisfied grunt, it turned back to Kas and Nats, who were peppering it with gunfire as best they could, to no effect. It reached out, trying to grab Kasumi, who dodged out of the way, and its hand found Natalya. She screamed as it clamped down on her and she reached for Kasumi, who tried grabbing her hand, but missed. The beast looked down at Natalya and with a what seemed a dark chuckle, brought her to its mouth.

Korsa screamed in horror as she saw what was happening. In a desperate attempt, she launched her assembled Thuun'tara blade at the monster. What Korsa noticed for a split second was that her weapon was wreathed in in an energy field much like Alex's. The main difference was that it was gold in color and left a tracer trail of energy, as it flew at the monster.

The blade miraculously dug right into the monster's arm, leaving a neat and deep gash in it, cutting through flesh and bone in a spray of gore. Howling at this new wound and the pain it caused, the beast dropped Natalya, who feel to the ground in a heap. Kasumi rushed over as it stomped around in a frenzy, getting a terrified Nats out of the way.

The monster's limb hung there, useless and driving it to a new level of rage. It focused its gaze on Korsa, instinctively knowing that she was the one who wounded it. It stomped towards her, seeking vengeance of its wound, but was stopped by a vengeful Natalya. Like Korsa, an inner rage seized her, and she too was swathed in energy, but emerald green in color.

"LEAVE MAMA ALONE!" she screamed in rage, smashing the butt of her rifle down on the beast's leg, staggering it. It roared in anger once again, turning its hate filled gaze back to Natalya. It would have turned to devour her, but Kasumi also had something to say.

Snarling wordlessly, she charged at the beast and like the other two women, was ensconced in energy. The energy was ruby red, like her hair and hit the monster square in the nose, the force of the blow sending its gaze forward. It was there that Shazza came down from a stalagmite she had climbed up, swinging her spear hard. She too, was covered in energy of a differing color, silver specifically.

The blow that she landed could be heard throughout the cave, as a sickening crack echoed everywhere. The beast kept howling in pain, as its jaw was broken, with purple blood pouring from its mouth. The ground trembled as it fell onto its front, further wrecking its face. It tried to pick itself up but was in too much pain to even bother trying to move.

Alex, who had been stunned from the blow that sent him flying, was glad that he was wearing the Phalanx. If he'd worn anything less, he wouldn't have been able to walk from it like he had. He might have even been killed from the force of it. He'd managed to get himself free of the armor and righted his senses, when he witnessed Shazza hitting the monster.

Alex looked over to Nats and Kas and he blinked, to be sure that he wasn't dreaming. Looking again, he that he wasn't and that they too, could use energy like his. He took a breath, collected his axe and stood, walking over to where the rest of them stood. Nats ran over, checking that he was all right, followed a heartbeat later by Kasumi.

"Alex, you OK?" Kas asked.

"I'll be all right. It's my Phalanx that could use some love right now," he joked, gesturing behind him.

"Good. Just what the hell do you think you were doing?!?" Nats asked and she grabbed his ear and twisted it. Alex winced, then snatched her hand, pulling it away.

"That thing was coming for us. What was I supposed to do? Scream like a candy ass and run? No way was I going to let it get near you two without a fight," he told both women gently. They narrowed their eyes at him, then smiled, each woman giving him a hard kiss.

"You three are responsible for killing this thing?" Alex asked as he surveyed the damage they had wrought on the monster.

"Four. Korsa was the one who nearly cut its arm off," Shazza informed him as he came around to where its head was. The beast looked at them with a sense of loathing and hate, incensed that such small creatures could harm it.

"This thing is still alive?!?" he questioned.

"We brought it down using our energies, but now that its been pacified, we can't seem to reach into them," Korsa told him, wiping her Thuun'tara blade down.

"I can," Alex growled as a purple aura sprang up around him, setting both him and his axe aglow. He turned to face the monster, whose eyes went from hate and loathing to pure fear. With a single roar, Alex brought Yggdrasil down on its head, neatly splitting it in two and burying the axe in the ice beneath it.

"Nothing and no one, threatens my crew," he growled as he pulled the axe out of the ice.

"This... this is the Omega! The Devourer of Souls!" Sohlkris said with awe in his voice.

"Devourer of Souls?" Alex asked.

"Yes! A legend among the clans spoke of a beast that lived beneath the ice, that would reach out to claim the lost and to feast on what remained of them! It is said that the Omega was why so few ever returned from the Long Walk!" he said breathlessly.

"Judging from what I found in in that pile of shit I found, I believe it," Korsa said.

"This beast, this... monster, is dead because of you! All hail the Omega slayers!!!" Sohlkris called out and a cheer went for the five of them.

"Are you sure that there weren't more... Omegas like that?" Kas asked afterwards. "Because if there are, we might have just sounded the dinner bell."

"There was only ever one," Luminia assured her friend. "None but one could grow that big down here and judging by those, it doesn't look like it appreciated any company."

Kasumi turned her head to see what Lumi was pointing at and she was startled for a second at what she saw. Lying upright in a small alcove, was the skeleton of Tashkuun beast, that had been stripped down to its bones. Many claw and bite marks on it looked like it matched the teeth on the Omega. Kas shivered at the sight then went back to the crew.

"What's the damage assessment Doctor?" Alex called out.

"Half our Sentries are scrap and will need to be rebuilt sir. Some of the Artucian sustained hits due to the falling and flying ice, but nothing serious," Korsa reported in.

Alex looked up and saw that some ice had fallen from the roof, but it was nothing stalactites that the Omega hit when moving. He supposed that there would be a fair amount of damage due to thing moving like it had. But Alex was thankful that no one had been seriously injured or killed. Losing people was always hard, but if he had lost any of his crew... the thought was too horrible to contemplate.

"Sir, are you there? Commodore Tomisic, come in please," Inari's voice came in over the comms.

"Commodore Tomisic here. It's good to hear your voice Commander!" Alex replied.

"Same here sir! Ground crew missed their check in and Pree and I were getting worried," she told him.

"We had a run in with another predator. Much more dangerous than the Alpha we faced," he informed her and filled her in on what had happened.

"Yikes! Wish I was there to help somehow!" Inari yipped over the channel.

"Aside from a few bruises and broken bones, along with some busted Sentries, we're OK. We're maybe a few clicks from the Dead Snows and if we push it, we should be able to reach it tonight," he stated.

"Sir, I advise against this. It's starting to wear into twilight just now and your weapons are mostly empty, from what you've told me. I recommend that you call it a day and come back tomorrow with bigger guns, in case the legends about this Omega, don't talk about its buddies, if it has any," Inari stated over the line.

Alex grumbled at this, but he could see that she was right. With everyone hurt like they were, and with their magazine depleted, they couldn't risk pressing on today.

"Very well Commander, I must concede that point. We'll make for the settlement with all due speed. We should be there within an hour or so," he told her, coming to a decision.

"Very good sir. I'll be waiting in the Hermes at the landing site," Inari responded.

"Thank you, Commander. Tomisic, out," Alex stated before cutting the line. "All right everyone, that's enough exploration for one day. Let's pack up everything and head back. We'll investigate more tomorrow."

There was some Artucian grumbling about this, most notable Tahral, but they saw the sense in it. Though they lamented at leaving the carcass of the Omega behind, Nats assured them that such a beast was too damn heavy for them to carry, even with the carts. She promised to see about crafting up a transport cart to haul it back to the dome, so they could make use of it.

As Alex and everyone was getting aboard to head back, he noted how some of the Artucian were treating them. Particularly, Korsa, Shazza and Nats, along with him, were being given something that could almost be thought of as... reverence. Once they were on the way, he spoke to Luminia, who had taken a seat on the cart he was driving.

"Lumi, what's up with the way that your people are treating us?" he asked as he navigated the tunnel.

"What do you mean?" Luminia asked, slightly worried.

"They seem to be...awed by us," Alex clarified.

"Oh! That is because you have drawn on the magics of the Star Striders, to fell that beast! To be honest, even I am a little... surprised by this! Especially from your crew!" Lumi said excitedly.

"Ah!"

"But it also is seen as a good omen by many, as the magics are viewed as symbol of hope and all that is good. It is something that heralds a change for our people, one which we have been waiting for, since we arrived here," Luminia told him.

"Hmm," Alex thought pensively. "A good change I would assume?"

"A return to the days where we roamed the stars and lived in peace. Days which all Artucian wish to see return," Lumi stated.

The big man nodded and returned to focusing on driving, just so they didn't wind up in an ice wall. The convoy made good time, following the beacons and lamps back. Since they had explored each zone on the way, there was no need for a slow pace. That and the sensors that each beacon was equipped picked up nothing on their sonar pulses, which meant that save for the Omega, the caves were empty.

They arrived at the dome in good time, stopping to let off the Artucian who came with them. Luminia stepped away for a few minutes to go and speak with her mother about what had happened, while Talon spoke with Tahral. Alex couldn't help but smile, as he saw that the Fel'caan woman was smitten with the boy. He chuckled as they both made gestures to each other that reminded him of him, Nats and Kas.

"Commodore sir, are you there?" Priya's voice crackled over the comms line.

"Yup, we're here. Just arrived at the dome and replacing the Sentries we took with us. We'll bring up the scrapped ones for refit and repairs once we're done here," he told her.

"Might want to come on up now, sir. Inari had me bring down the leftovers we had sitting in the fridge and they're all been warmed up," she told him.

"In that case, we'll be along in a minute!" Alex laughed.

He called over Taal'ani, who moved after giving Tahral a quick peck on the cheek. The crew climbed aboard one cart and they headed topside, every one of them starving. They arrived at the Hermes maybe a few minutes later and found Pree setting up the table inside of it.

Though most of what was there was reheated leftovers, the crew were glad to finally get some food in them after a long day. Between the lot of them, there wasn't much left behind after they were done, except for a large plate that had been set aside for Luminia when she came up. The Artucian woman did eventually arrive, maybe an hour later, looking haggard and flustered.

"Hey Lumi, you OK?" Natalya wondered.

"I'll be all right, when we are finally away from here. Is that dinner?" she asked, pointing at the container with her food in it.

"Yeah. So come on, spill. What's got your panties in a twist?" Pree wondered.

"When I told my mother, what had happened with the Omega, she was of course, proud that another predator had been killed. Talemkha has no shortage of those and one less living beast to threaten us, the better. Of course, she wanted to know how it was done and I told her the truth, backed up by Sohlkris. Only problem was that there were other chiefs present and they wanted to know more."

"They kept prodding and poking me about the five of you. About your abilities, your magic and how you could use it. They would not relent with them and continued to pester me, until my mother intervened," Luminia told them, as Nats hopped into the pilot seat and got them airborne.

"Sounds like they would have gone all night if Valessa hadn't been there," Korsa remarked.

"They would have, which is what's so distressing. Many of the questions were ones I don't have the answers to, but they demanded them anyway. Telling them I didn't know did nothing to stop them from asking them again," Lumi groused.

"Well, after I perform some more tests on everyone involved, it shouldn't be an issue. I should have some sort of answer concerning this energy, now that there are more people who can use it," Korsa started. "Hang on, did you say five of us could use it?"

"Yes. You, Shazza, Alex, Kasumi and Natalya. You didn't see what everyone did?" Luminia asked.

"I saw what I did, along with what Alex and Shazza did, but Nats and Kas??" Korsa asked incredulously.

"Well... yeah," Natalya admitted sheepishly, having let Pree take over flying once they cleared the atmosphere. "Both Kas and I were super pissed that it was attacking you Mama, so we just went nuts and it...sort of... happened."

"So, I wasn't seeing things," Alex said out loud.

"Wait, you saw this? Where? When? How?" Kasumi demanded.

"Last night, after our little... romp," the big man admitted, to which both his lovers blushed fiercely.