“When they told us to suit up, I did not think they meant we wear small force fields that encapsulate our bodies…”
Litvir was very curious about the equipment he had been given. Five simple-looking bands, one for each wrist, one for each ankle and one around the neck. When activated, small bubbles of energy formed around Litvir, covering his whole body in a weird energy field. Everything felt weirdly warm and, despite the fact that the force field wasn’t touching his skin, Litvir felt like he was inside a plastic bag.
Retvik nodded in agreement. “These suits are weird, but they do what they are meant to do.”
Arkadin on the other hand didn’t seem to care. His protection suit actually was covering most of his body, like a thin layer of silvery film. He was busy playing with his new toy, a large, high-powered rifle with a lot of attachments on it.
Both Litvir and Retvik glanced at Arkadin, both with questions.
“Why is your suit different, Arkadin?” Litvir asked.
“And why do you have a rifle, rather than a traditional gun-staff?” Retvik added.
The tiny Decayling smiled as he looked up at his companions. “Oh, no real reason. It’s just that you two are still under the impression that you need to breathe. So you have pockets of nitrogen in your suits to facilitate that. I don’t need to breathe at all, so my suit can be a lot tighter.”
“What about the weapon though?” Litvir questioned some more. “That does not look like… any weapon I have seen before. It is certainly not Rethan or even Skyan in origin.”
“Oh no, that’s because it’s Threan-type Rethan. Somewhat. It’s… a little too complicated to explain…” Arkadin trailed off. “Anyway, you two read the brief, right? We all know what we’re doing?”
“Uh… yes…” Retvik muttered, somewhat hesitantly, his clawed fingers tapping nervously on the handle of his gun-staff. “It all seems somewhat simple, we go inside, find the consoles and attach these hacking devices on them. But how can we be certain that we have attached them properly? And, despite having read through the brief, I have no idea what beings we might encounter inside.”
Litvir crossed his arms playfully. “You cannot imagine grotesque monstrosities made of flesh?”
“I can, and I have see such monstrosities. But not specifically the ones we may or may not see on this living asteroid.”
Arkadin didn’t seem too concerned. “The brief seems to suggest that they’re just mindless lifeforms. As long as we don’t make any loud noises, we should be fine. Watch our feet, watch our step and stick to telepathy. Not too hard. As for the devices, they have little indicators on them. Green lights should mean all’s good.”
“I guess…” Retvik tutted. “Still, something feels off about this whole mission.”
“I get that…” Arkadin shrugged. “But it is something nice and simple. We’ll be back on board in no t-”
Everything suddenly shuddered. The shudder was brief, but swiftly followed by a voice echoing over the ship’s intercom.
“Sorry about that. Seems like the lump has grown in size. Connection shoot is now attached, you may proceed with your task.”
The three Decaylings all frowned as the cargo bay doors opened up, revealing a long, silvery pipe that led down to an almost living body, breaking through the fleshy skin and into a cavern below.
“Alright, guys. Telepathic communication from here on…” Arkadin grunted as he grabbed his weapons and gear, then headed towards the pipe. “Let’s be quick…”