Salvation

by voroshilov

Joyous-Seeker

Ablazed Glory pulled away from a terminal and shook her head. “No one’s replying,” she said, tapping one of her claws subconsciously on the grey metal floor. Each tap echoed slightly down the corridor.

“We may be too late,” Astrid said, “our enemies may have gotten here first.”

“There should at least be bodies,” Ablazed Glory said, casting her eyes about, “signs of a fight.”

Only some of the base’s lights were on, casting golden cones every few dozen metres, illuminating nothing but a small expanse of featureless floor.

Penumbra returned to the group from one of the side rooms. “Nothing,” she said, “are we sure this place isn’t empty?”

“It shouldn’t be,” Ablazed Glory snapped, “there should be guards everywhere! We shouldn’t even have been able to land.”

“All the better for it,” Astrid said, “I would rather not have been shot out of the sky.”

“I would if it meant this base was still active,” Ablazed Glory said, checking the terminal once more for any signs of life, “if they can take this place out – we’re done for.”

When the terminal crackled to life, Ablazed Glory snapped to it fast enough to give anyone but herself whiplash. With practically invisible speed, she entered a hundred different commands to pin down the signal she was receiving.

“I have a signal!” She shouted, a great smile on her face, “it’s faint, but definitely there.”

“Where’s it coming from?” Penumbra asked.

“Thirtieth level beneath us, from what I think is a bunker.”

“What does it say?”

“Nothing,” Ablazed Glory replied, “it’s a life signal. If there’s still life, then we can find out what happened here.”

“How do we know it isn’t a trap?” Penumbra asked, casting a long look over her left shoulder down the corridor. “If they could take out this whole base, they could surely set up a phoney signal.”

“Our enemy have unique patterns to their souls,” Astrid replied, “there is life below us – certainly – and it does not appear as they do.”

Astrid’s assurance was enough to set Penumbra at ease for the time. And, the long walks through empty corridors and down completely uninteresting elevators and staircases didn’t give an opportunity for that to change. There was only so much featureless Dominion military architecture one could absorb before the nerves of waiting for an ambush subsided.

“This place is enormous,” Penumbra mumbled, halfway down the twentieth-or-so functionally identical corridor, “why would they build it like this?”

“It’s the main command centre for this entire region,” Ablazed Glory replied, “it needs to be well defended.”

“And so close to the Great Void, it needs protection from the threats within.” Astrid paused, a wave of purple light washing over her skin. “Our enemy has certainly been here. I feel the imprint of their presence on the air. And yet, they did not appear to be fighting.”

“That explains why there’s no scorch marks. And why there’s no bodies.”

“It would further explain why this place tastes of death and yet I feel no remnants of souls released from their bodies. Regardless, we must be careful.”

That statement didn’t do much to ease Penumbra’s concerns. Though, again, the long and featureless walks were more than enough to calm her. It was like walking a marathon.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ablazed Glory held out a taloned foreleg to halt the group. She sniffed quietly at the air. “I smell something. Kind of smokey.”

Ablazed Glory lowered her head slowly, scanning the floor back and forth. Every so often she would quietly inhale through her nose, humming or sighing momentarily afterwards.

“There’s ash on the floor here. It’s been scattered up the hall. There’s no prints in it, either.”

“Bone,” Astrid clarified, “bone ash. I do not know how these ashes came to be here, however.”

“There’s no scorch marks or shell casings.”

“There is also no magical residue,” Astrid said, another wave of light crossing the skin on her face. “No one appears to have died here, nor has there been a battle.”

“Then how is there ash?” Penumbra asked, casting glances over her shoulder.

Both Astrid and Ablazed Glory could only shrug.

Fortunately, it was only a staircase and half a corridor more before they reached a large bulkhead door, no doubt a fallout bunker of some kind. There was no doubt in the minds of the three companions, this had to be the signal’s origin.

“This is it,” Ablazed Glory said, after accessing the panel, “our signal is definitely inside.”

“There is one soul inside,” Astrid said, placing her left palm on the pommel of her sword. “Be careful.”

“Let’s try not to resort to violence,” Penumbra said, all too concerned as to why they would have to do so, “if they’re Dominion then they may be able to help us.”

A moment passed by, Ablazed Glory pressing the array of buttons on the panel slowly and individually.

“Speaking of help, Penumbra, I need your skills.” Ablazed Glory gave way for Penumbra to access the panel.

Penumbra gives the terminal a once over, then nods to herself. “Hmm, this doesn’t seem too complicated. I’ll only be a moment.”

The door unlocked moments later with a thud of metal - there was surprisingly, and one might say suspiciously, little security given its apparent purpose. Then, a sudden hiss heralded its opening. Slowly, the titanic weight shifted sideways, the room within partially shrouded by a white smoke cloud.

“Halt, identify!”

“Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra.” She lifted her talons in front of her, unsure as to exactly where the voice was coming from within the room. “We’re friendly.”

The culprit was quickly revealed: a Dominion Warrior. Who seemed to slacken upon seeing her and lowered his weapon. “So you seem. I’m Starlight-makes-Joyous-Seeker. An unknown party raided the base, took everyone else away.”

“We know the group,” Penumbra said, “they’re a cult from the Great Void.”

“Why didn’t the base fight back?” Ablazed Glory questioned, “you’ve got enough guns to wipe out a fleet from three billion klicks.”

His answer was quick and breathless, filled with stutters and confusion. “The other crew. They seemed like they were mind-controlled, or something similar. They just walked outside, then the raiders landed and took them off-planet. I hid down here.” He bowed his head slightly, sighing quietly.

“Why didn’t it affect you?” Ablazed Glory asked, though it was Astrid who seemed to know the answer.

“He is immune,” she said, “though I do not know how it is only him.”

The Warrior shrugged and sighed after a moment of silence. “Neither do I. Chronove sent me a few days ago to deliver a message to the commander of this base, maybe that has something to do with it?”

Ablazed Glory looks him over. “Your armour is clearly new,” she said, nodding to herself, “and your rifle too. If you’re lying, you’ve put a lot of effort into it.”

“He does not seem to be lying,” Astrid said, her skin running purple and pink like a nebula, “I suggest we trust him.”

“And I suggest we get him to a ship and back to Chronove.” Penumbra said, easily flowing into that natural commanding nature of hers. She pointed to the Warrior. “Tell Dominion high command that a cult originating from the Great Void is attacking Dominion planets and that they appear to be able to use some form of mind control. Tell them you were immune to being controlled. Hopefully that’s enough for them to go on.” Penumbra beckoned the Warrior to follow.

“There should be a ship in the hangar bay near where we landed,” Ablazed Glory said, “he can use them to get back to Chronove.”

Joyous-Seeker nodded. “My flying abilities are limited but acceptable. Thank you for the help.”

Penumbra attempted to be diplomatic, but she was quickly interrupted. “Pah.” Ablazed Glory waved him off. “We didn’t do anything, there’s no one here but you and us.”

“That is a relief to hear,” he murmured. “Still, I would not have known that without you.”

Sure enough, on their return to the surface, a momentary detour from the Retaliator brings them to a collection of sleek, onyx-black vessels. All either brand new or recently cleaned and put under maintenance.

“Pick the one you like,” Ablazed Glory said, like a fairground attendant with a rack of prizes. “Besides,” she mumbled under her breath afterwards, “not like anyone else is gonna need them.”

“I will deliver your message,” Joyous-Seeker called as he boarded his chosen craft, “Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra. Ensure your safety in the meantime.”

Penumbra saw him off with a taloned salute. Safety, she thought, was easier said than done.