Captain Trismit was feeling uneasy. While his work had been somewhat tame, with only one unusual incident that caused any major problems, there was a strange, tingling sensation in the back of Trismit’s mind that something weird was going on. Or that something weird was going to happen. Or maybe that something weird had already happened. Whatever it was, Trismit had triple-checked each door as he’d gone past.
Really, these feelings of uneasiness were to be expected. Trismit was a captain of the 11th Legion, a Legion known for specifically dealing with… broken Rethavok. Not normal Rethans, but ones without powers they couldn’t control. Supernatural powers. Gifts given to them by the gods, that they were unable to use. Most Rethavok here remained in cells, often sedated, while the 11th Legion’s finest minds did anything they could to lessen their fellow Rethan’s pain. Unfortunately, few would go home to live normal lives, and some of the more… aggressive Rethavok didn’t like that. Still, the 11th Legion did their best to help and to contain these lost souls.
Most of the time.
Unfortunately for Trismit, he knew there were always some unsolvable scenarios. Some Rethans could not be saved. Hence why he was doing the rounds here in the Lost Causes section. The poor beings here had endured years of pain and had all but given up. Most of them tried to live somewhat normal lives, spending their days reading books and only doing very basic work. Some of the vok here though were aggressive and in constant pain, despite the 11th Legion’s work.
The locks for these doors were heavy. Most of them needed a strong Rethan to open them, on top of the proper pass codes and card keys to open each door. But even then, mistakes could happen, and in the… rougher sections of the facility (like where Trismit was right now), not everything was completely sound.
What made matters worse was that there was a full moon. Full moons were rare on Retha, mostly because the moon was so small and far away, so it spent most of its time in the shadow of the planet itself. Full moons though… always seemed to have a strange effect on Rethans around here.
A loud bang echoed across the chamber behind Trismit. He had just finished locking up the Lost Causes section and was now entering the Comatic Chamber. This area mainly contained Rethans who were being assessed and given initial control tests. All the subjects here though were placed in special sleeps, to stop them from hurting others while tests were being run.
Another bang. Trismit was getting anxious. He had double-checked everything. He had triple-checked everything. He turned around, but there was nothing there.
With a sigh, Trismit continued with his checks. It was probably just someone bashing on the walls of their cell anyway. That was a weirdly common thing whenever there was a full moon. Trismit never understood why b-
Something heavy crashed directly behind Trismit, forcing him to grab his stun staff. Another heavy crash though sent Trismit flying backwards into the Comatic Chamber.
“PAIN!”
“We can remove the pain!” Trismit picked himself up slowly, holding his hand out straight. He didn’t want to scare or intimidate the hulking Rethan in front of him. This one, Trismit recognised. The result of illegal steroid experimentation, Praftok was nothing more than an angry mass of muscle. One who was always in agony.
“NO. ALWAYS PAIN. NEVER GOES AWAY.”
Praftok’s arms smashed down into the linoleum floors, leaving a massive dent just above Trismit’s head. Trismit reached for his belt, tapping a button to sound an alarm. Help would arrive, but Trismit had no idea when. He just had to keep Praftok busy until that help came.
Praftok though had different ideas. He started smashing the doors to the various Comatic cells. Trismit was thankful that they were almost all empty but the debris flying around was causing issues and this mess would almost certainly be blamed on him rather than the pissed off beast.
Suddenly, debris began flying in Trismit’s direction. Something clipped Trismit across the head, sending him spiralling across the floor. Praftok noticed the fallen Rethan and quickly changed his tone, stomping towards Trismit.
“YOU HURT ME!”
“Praftok, you know that was not true.” Again, Trismit raised his arms, but this time Praftok slapped him down.
“YOU HURT ME!”
Praftok loomed over Trismit. But suddenly, he fell backwards, a horrible burning between them.
“STAND DOWN!” a new voice roared.
Praftok hesitated, sneered, then charged forward, over Trismit, only to be knocked backwards again, faint scorch marks glinting across his face.
“I SAID STAND DOWN!”
With a grunt, Praftok backed down, then laid down on the ground, a flash of fear in his eyes.
“You know better than to harm another Rethan. Return to your cell.”
Praftok sighed, then did as he was told. After a few moments, the sound of a heavy steel door slamming shut echoed across the hall.
Trismit remained where he was, not sure what had happened. Standing above him was the lone patient of the Comatic Chamber, someone who should have been asleep.
“I am sorry for not responding sooner, Captain…” a strong, red and gold Rethan tutted as flames trickled off his arms. “But I was in a coma, after all. Are you okay?”
Trismit blinked, then nodded.
“Good!” Retvik smiled as he picked Trismit up. “Because I need your help to control these fire powers of mine…”