2.07.3372 GSD
Broken Shelf, Azan’s Crucible, Eugec’s Beacon

0650 Hours Local Time

 

 For any normal, sane species, Azan’s Crucible would have been seen as suicidal to live on- frozen nearly solid, the planet miraculously had not only a breathable atmosphere, but also a very potent magnetic field, protecting it from the twin black holes at the core of the Eugec’s Beacon star system. Aboveground, the only real structures were towering black mausoleums, filled with the honored Lypian dead, when they weren’t being put to work by Ulmir’s Chosen, of course, as well as a modest, average sized starport above the capital. The sky was filled constantly with auroras, sending beautiful colorful lights across the glistening ice.

 

 Deep below the surface however, the only light were the huge, pulsing mana crystals, forming intricate stalagmites and stalactites throughout the cave-filled world. For the most part, they tended towards light blues and greens, shooting streams of sparkling light across the tunnels that filled the frozen planet, and around their bases grew a variety of plantlife unseen in the rest of the galaxy. From rare medicinal mosses to strange tasting roots, all sorts of life could be found down here, having sustained the mothlike locals for… well, their entire existence.

   Milza didn’t much care about most of that, not really. For her, life was rather simple, really. It was for most deep seekers, really. Standing on the metal platform overlooking the seemingly bottomless pit, she looked back to her “handler”, a pale skinned vampire man with short black hair, looking anxiously at the arrayed Lypians. New blood, certainly. Most offworlders rarely found Azan’s Crucible pleasant at the best of times, from the extreme cold, strange food, and extensive use of necromantic magics, but the vampires of their Rimward Hegemony usually tolerated it better than most. A mutual faith certainly helped in that regard, but this one seemed very new to the world in general.

  As the woman lifted up her goggles over her solid-black eyes, zipping up her fur-lined jacket with her second set of arms, she heard her handler clear his throat behind her.
“So… you just… jump in and hope to find your… bounty? I am still unsure-”
“Why we don’t grow gemfruit?”
It was a common enough question, one Milza wondered herself when she first became a seeker, and which answer she gave with a smile.
“Can’t, not really. Their vines don’t much like growing closer to the surface, and any time we try to move the crystals they grow near to facilities, they, ah… react poorly.” And by poorly, she meant violently. Only the most skilled of seekers were sent this deep down, with most spending years studying and gathering more ‘mundane’ plants, mostly Azan moss, which was one of the more prominent exports next to gemfruit. Sure, the glowing moss was extremely useful for medicine production, having unique interaction with nervous tissue, gemfruit could only be found in a select few parts of her homeworld, and could be fermented and distilled in one of the most expensive alcohols in the entire galaxy- Lypian Crystal Brandy. 

“Only the best can get them, after all. And me? I’d say I’m right close to the top, you ask me.”
She snickered as the other furrowed his brow, picking his litepad from his hip and clicking on hardlight display.
“Sure, well, in any case, make sure to turn on your HUD, right? You’re heading to sector Lamda-5.”

Milza finally stopped grinning at that. Lamda as a whole was… unlucky. Scanners had glitches constantly down there, communicators failed, and rumors of worst things, really. She didn’t really believe much of it. After all, she spent her whole life around the undead! What would a few more be, at worst?


  But she knew just what ‘worst’ could entail. Suspected, at least. Stories of forgotten dead growing spiteful, hateful. Spirits, even.

“Hey, you good, Miss? Thirty seconds until you drop.” Blessedly the young seeker was yanked out of her spiraling musings, and her confident grin returned, giving the man a quadruple thumbs up.
“Perfectly fine!” Damn right she was perfect. And you know what? If there were ghosts down there, she had her magic to protect her, too. And if it wasn’t ghosts? Well, she carried a heavy gauss pistol on her hip for damn good reason.

The man just sighed, tapping at the tablet as she turned away, looking about to the other dozen or so seekers making their final gear checks. Her own wings fluttered in eager anticipation as she flicked the switch on the side of her goggles, gaze flicking over the altimeter, map and timer. As deep as she would be going, the air tended to be less… pleasant, and as such she had to fit the squat, unpleasant rebreather over the lower half of her face, making her look much like the fluff-beetles her dad kept as pets when she was a kid.

Flicking on the primary timer for her filters, the lithe woman rolled her shoulders, stepping right up to the edge and looking down into the deep, dark pit, her natural night vision unable to pierce even that deep of a darkness. She knew the tunnels would be even worse for her, and with another flick, she turned on the ring of high-powered lights rimming her goggles, shooting lances of bluish light against the far wall of the cavern they were in.

Ten seconds before the drop, her feathery antennae snapping up at a whistle behind her. Spinning around, she barely was able to react to a small, gray oval tossed her way, snagging it with one of her lower arms, only to grumble in disdain upon realizing just what it was.
“I’m not a recruit, you know! Don’t need-”
“A babysitter. I know, I read your file. New policy, no complaining.” The vampire gruffly cut her off, tapping his empty wrist pointedly.

Fuck, the timer! Already the others were leaping from the platform, and frantic to keep up, she shoved the device into her belt pouch and, after shooting her handler quadruple finger guns, promptly flipped backwards off the landing.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Hurtling through the air, Milza deftly, easily turned through the narrow entrance to her assigned tunnel, pulling her wings in tight against her body as she shot through the hole, flaring them out again to bank to the left, narrowly missing an ice column.

“Hoo! Close as hell, that!” Snickering, she widened her wings even more, slowing herself to a more “reasonable” speed to check her map, furrowing her brow at the tangled mess of tunnels displayed in green lines.

 “Eugh, of course I get stuck with the damn maze…” Sure, most of the ice-tunnels were winding in some regard, but this was just absurd! If she didn’t know better, she might even end up lost.

As if, honestly. Buzzing forwards, the lithe explorer skimmed a hand’s breadth from the rippled, dented walls of ice, tracking her progress out of the corner of her eye every few moments. Wind whipping past her head, her mind slowly began to drift, her training and experience lulling her into a comfortable autopilot.
“Stupid vampire ass, second guessing me? Bah, useless, all of them.” This was her third handler anyway, and every other one was just as bad, if not worse! At least by now she had figured out how to mute her damn headset, keep them from nagging her all the time. Oh, sure, it’s a “safety hazard” and “against regulations” but there hasn’t been a serious accident in her section in YEARS, and her own record was practically flawless!

  Tucking in to shoot through another narrow hole, the cocky Lypian was entirely lost in her own mind, and promptly failed twofold- first, she neglected to slow down, and her half-aware gaze failed to notice the thick, black tendrils trailing in the air. Like a cannonball she slammed into the almost meaty vines, crying out first in shock, and then a second, much louder time as she tumbled through the air, impacting the hard ice sideways with a sickening crunch. Her head lights failed as one, drowning her in a darkness that only deepened further, eyes rolling back as consciousness was washed away.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  

    Milza wasn’t too sure how long she was unconscious, with only an annoying, nagging beeping filling her head, warning her of low respirator integrity. Swallowing dryly, she tried to inhale slowly to calm herself, but for a horrifying moment, no breath made its way past her quivering lips, but with a weak thump of her chest with her upper right arm, the stinging, cold air finally rushed back into her aching lungs. Yet everything was still dark, and so wrong. Only when she tried to push herself up on her feet did she all but scream again in raw agony, bolts of stabbing pain shooting up from her now obviously ruined leg. Even trying to flap her wings only brought about more suffering, the crushed, tattered tissue flopping against the painfully hard and cold floor.

  “Gods, gods… Ulmir, p-please…” She silently begged, rolling over to at least brace herself on her arms.

 “Just… just need to…” Just then the left half of her goggle lights flicked to life, sending spears of light into the darkness. Still, her vision was a blurry mess thanks to the pain and the impact. At first, her heart skipped a beat as she slowly looked about, eyes going wide as she noticed dozens upon dozens, if not hundreds of softly glowing, colorful lights.

 

  “Gemfruit…” In an instant, her mind was clear, the pain far in the back of her mind. This many fruit was all but a miracle, and if she could somehow gather the strength to fly again, she would be a damned hero! Well, famous at least.

  Licking her lips, she looked down to her leg, wincing when she saw just how horribly twisted it was, the limb bend nearly 90 degrees. “Blast.” Still, she had at least a way to deal with this, and extended a single 4-digit hand. Her outer finger and thumb were curled tight, and with her middle and pointer began slowly tracing a simple runic circle in the air, mouthing an incantation silently. This deep in the planet made tapping into the planetary mana easier than normal, making the spellcasting both easier and harder. Easier because a far more simple rune would be amplified more than a normal mending spell would manage, and far harder due to the growing potency needing far greater focus, lest raw magical energy suddenly flood her system and fry her like… well, a bug. 

 

  Thankfully, she was almost as deft a druid as she was a seeker. Kinda an important part of her job, after all. Less thankfully, she continued weaving her magic, humming gently as green light spilled about her, while her leg slowly popped and snapped back into place, each grind of her bone and chitin earning an annoyed hiss. Several more dry crunches echoed through the massive cavern, and with a sigh finally lifted her hand away, satisfied enough. Sure, half her damn body still hurt like hell, but she could limp. Certainly well enough to nab some fruit and get the hell out, even if she did take longer than normal. As she used her lower arms to dust herself off, another dry crack echoed from behind her, prompting the woman to slowly turn, brow furrowed.

 “Didn’t hurt my back that bad… right?”

 

  Sweeping over the floor of the expanse with her lights, she saw not just the plentiful, interwoven, strangely lumpy black vines of the gemfruit plants themselves, but also icy pillars dotting about the cavern, a softly glowing fruit roughly in the center of each. That was new, certainly, but not the weirdest thing in the tunnels, at least. Taking a step forward, the woman stumbled with another cry, impacting bare ice hard. Shooting a gaze over her shoulder, she was horrified to see one of the thick vines winding around a calf, clenching painfully tight at each errant movement. Yet, something was off about this vine. Far more… lumpy than normal, and practically soaked in a thick, almost greasy slime. Milza nearly gagged at the mucusy feeling as it wound over her body, almost as if it was… sick.

 

 “Gah, get off me!” Just as she raised a hand for another spell, hoping to sooth the vine enough to release her, the horrid crunching noise filled the air once more, driving an unnatural chill down her spine, causing her to once more slowly turn forwards, face to face with one of the “ice pillars”.
Staring at her were a pair of sunken, black pits where eyes once were, the Lypian’s wrinkled maw caked in frost. Around their neck dangled a respirator of their own- hell, their entire outfit was just like hers. And right there, strapped to the emaciated corpse’s chest was a softly pulsing beacon.
“A thrall? This deep? But…” She was cut off as the former Lypian lunged forward, its whole body crackling as thin, sharpened, chitinous fingers grabbed at her jacket, failing as she fell back. In a single, smooth motion, the seeker pulled her service sidearm, a Hegemony light particle laser pistol, from its holster and fired off a trio of shots. The chromed, tubed barrel flared bright and the purple and black beams slammed into the center of the undead’s chest. The first shattered and melted the layer of ice encasing him, the second burned deep into his chest, igniting both clothing and flesh, and the last managed to punch all the way through his spine, leaving a clean, smoldering hole roughly three times the size of Milza’s thumb. 

 

   Flopping onto her back, the softly panting woman couldn’t help but grin when the body dropped like a sack of bricks, motionless and steaming. “Serves ya right, stupid…” Still, there was the matter of the very obviously sick vines, which continued to try to bind around her legs, and now her midsection. 

“Eugh, gross…” Her two lower hands began weaving a quick rune of soothing over the shifting forms. Far from the first time she had been caught up by gemfruit vines, but these poor things would need a whole Circle of Druids to heal them, if not more! Gods, she might have to be careful heading back, don’t want to infect any other groves, or-

  Her musing was cut short by several more figures shuffling towards her, and the woman grimly lifted her sidearm again, grunting as she felt sudden resistance. Annoyed, she glanced over, seeing it wrapped up tight in another diseased gemfruit tendril.

“Gods, really? Almost like you lot have a…” Mind of their own. It made sense… kinda. Well, either that, or…

  “Having some trouble there, hmmmm?” A wheezy, old voice called through the cavern, chilling the seeker to the bone as she realized with horror why her magic refused to work. 

“As you can see, the vines listen to someone else now, mmm.” Her head snapped up, glaring at the slowly approaching figure, now illuminated by her goggled lights. He was human, or close enough to one as far as she could tell. Rather old, too, with a long, discolored gray beard and weathered, wrinkly skin. His eyes, too, were sunk into his head, almost as badly as the undead very obviously under his command. His outfit wasn’t too far off from the seekers really, only with a heavy, brown and gray cloak over the suit and rig.

  “What… what did you do to the vines? Why are they so sick?” She pulled at her makeshift restraints now, gritting her teeth as her arm holding her pistol was steadily wrenched away with another tendril, almost breaking her damn wrist. The man, meanwhile, waved a hand dismissively, striding closer to the nearly prone woman.

 “None of your concern, really. I imagine not much will be your concern anyhow, soon enough.” He taps his chin, his other hand waving over the vines, tightening them painfully, earning a pained grunt as her body was squeezed.

 “Still, a modest amount of conversation isn’t the worst, I suppose…”

  Suddenly, she felt the nasty tendrils pull her up on her knees, closer to face to face with the unfortunately fragrant man.

 “I-I can talk, sure! What, eh, do you want to talk about?” She gave a wide, forced, fake grin, heart pounding in her chest as she tried to think, to plan. All she had to do was distract him, give him what he wanted, right? Obviously he was gonna try to make her a thrall as well, especially considering she had already destroyed one of his…

“Ah, a delightfully boring question, isn’t it? Unsurprising for your kind. Given so many wonderful gifts and magical power, and yet you squander it. Seeking only your so called ‘Harmony’” He practically spit the word, Milza wrinkling his nose as he continued ranting in her general direction.

 “Barely even scratching the surface of your bounty! You turn some of the greatest mana clusters I’ve ever seen into an evening drink, let alone the fact your whole world thrums with raw power!” He threw his head back, cackling cartoonishly as the Lypian rolled her eyes. The only thing that would top this all off would be a few bolts of lightning, honestly. Still, he gave her something to worth with. She hoped, at least. She waited for his laughing to abate at least a little, even when it ended up taking several minutes, before she gently cleared her throat.

 “But what, sir, if you plan, really? I’m sure living here, catching the occasional seeker is not quite as grand as someone as obviously powerful as you has in mind?” She suppressed her grin as he stopped, pondering her for a moment.

 “Very astute indeed! No, I am merely gathering power, strengthening myself enough to show the fools ruling this land just what they denied!” He began cackling again, head tossed back as Milza fought every instinct to groan heavily. Really?
“Ok, well, what, uh, what if I help ya out? I’m a pretty good druid myself, and, well… they’d… listen to me?” Not her best argument, but bought time was bought time, after all. Still, her seemed to ponder her words, rubbing his chin as he began to pace. 

“Mmmm, a second in command? Not just some mindless undead? I could… consider such a thing…” Great, wonderful. As his back turned, her eyes snapped to her pistol, several feet away on a bare patch of ice. Normally a breeze to snatch, but the vines… well. That complicated things quite a bit.

  A thought from earlier did cross her mind as the man continued to mutter to and debate himself. This cave was absolutely flooded with magic. Strange magic, somewhat, but still absolutely the magic of her home, her planet! The magic that she was taught to harness from a young age and, with the right… nudges, might just help her after all. All four arms being bound was certainly an annoyance but not impossible. She had to still subdue the tendrils, and more importantly not be noticed. The woman closed her eyes, slowing her breathing as she let her senses smooth out, reaching for that strand of magic in her mind. Smirking, she mentally gave it a tug, letting a steady trickle of mana worm its way into her body, spreading a tingly warmth throughout her. While every druid had an innate bond with stellar bodies and objects, as well as the living beings upon them, every druid felt it differently, depending on their personality and specialization.  Sure, there was quite a lot that made them similar to more “scholarly” mages and the like, but the innate connection they felt was… special. Allowed them to weave their spells with more… grace, fluidity than the rigid, academic styles common among certain elven and draconic groups.

  Milza’s bond was… warm. Very warm. Ironic, considering the nature of her home, but it certainly wasn’t unheard of, linking to an ancient, primordial flame of some sort. Not as a source of magic, of course. More an… inspiration. And today, Milza was feeling very inspired.

  Flexing gently in her bonds, all four of her hands clenched tight, teeth grit  as she opened the taps a bit more. Casting without runes was dangerous enough, but to do so with such a font of raw, natural mana was tantamount to suicide… for most people, at least. Slowly, steam began rising from her bound form, the vines twitching as the slimy goop steadily evaporated away, while the mage continued to rant and ramble.

“Yes, yes! And of course, with my magics farming the gemfruits could work, and the power and profits from that-” Milza toned him out again, feeling her body heat rising further and further. She’d only have one shot at this, and she knew if she fucked up the mage would be understandably upset. She gave the mental thread one last, final tug, finally murmuring an incantation under her breath.

 “Let us begin again… I am sorry, my friends…” She hated hurting the gemfruit like this, sick as it was. But when you live your life tending to life, you must know when to treat an illness, to prevent further suffering and pain.

“Sorry, did you say s-” The human’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he turned, spotting her steaming, smoking form. “You damnedable witch! How dare you!” He swept both hands up, causing ice to begin rapidly spreading over her legs, up her lower torso as her eyes begin to glow a deep, smoldering red. 

“Later, asshole.” There was a flash of white and red, before a deafening BOOM echoed through the chamber. Emanating from her body, a wave of white-hot flame rode a pressure wave, slamming into the man and sending him tumbling back. Two of the nearest thralls were shattered instantly, and the others were forced to their knees by the magical fire. The gemfruit too began to thrash, withering under the searing heat, with many of the vines outright bursting from the sheer heat, spraying their rotted, blackened innards across the slowly melting, icy floor.

  Just as quick as it came, it was gone, and Milza fell face-first onto the ground, barely catching herself in time as she wheezed and gasped, thankful for her filter-mask.

 “Never… never doin’ that again…” Every single bit of her body felt like it had been beaten by hammers, and it took every ounce of strength she had left to push up to her feet one last time. As the smoke cleared, however, she saw several still moving forms, earning an exasperated groan.

 “Are you KIDDING ME!” Stumbling, she dove for her pistol, half buried in burnt, crispy vines, just as the now screaming mage pushed up to his feet.

  “Traitor! FOOL! We could have been GODS!” She grit her teeth at the yelling, her head still swimming from the magical explosion. 

“How the hell are you still alive, jerk?” She remarked back, yanking her weapon free just in time to duck out of the way of a spear of ice.

 “You will SUFFER!” The man screeched, blood foaming at his lips as his voice broke, acting like a literally feral child. Part of her almost could feel bad for him, if he hadn’t done… well, everything just now. Flaring out her wings, she launched herself high into the air, disappearing into the smoke as his undeath thralls lunged at her again.
“Hiding, like a coward? Truly, a marker of all your kind!” Eugh, xenophobic too, eh? She picked up a bit of it early, but this was getting just ridiculous! Still, the flying was helping clear her mind and restore at least a little strength, more than enough to put this idiot in his place.

  Twirling through the air, she was easily able to avoid more errant icy bolts, dodging falling bits of gemfruit tendril as well. Ending things quickly was likely in her best interest, but may as well be at least a little flashy about it, right? She had enough juice in her for that if nothing else. Taking one, then two, then three deep breaths, the moth pushed up against the roof of the cavern, flapping her wings so she could brace all six limbs against the smooth ice.

 

   Tensing her whole aching body, Milza launched herself down like a missile, limbs and wings tucked in tight as she rocketed through the smoke, unphased as drifting embers singed against bare skin and fur. Only at the last second did she twist, rolling forwards as her wings flared out. 

 

“Perfect…” She murmured as she broke through the cloud of ash mere feet from the kidnapping bastard, a shocked look on his face as she continued her vertical rotation, one knee brought up to her chest while her other stuck out straight in a flawless spin kick. Like a hammer, her chitinous heel slammed down just above his brow. A gunshot-like snap resounded through the huge cavern, the mage’s head caving in like a rotten, bloody melon, gore and brain matter spraying out horribly as Milza kicked away. Fluttering several feet in the air, she watched the man slam face first into the ice, lifeless. 

 

   She felt the strands of magic snap the moment his soul was dragged to Planes of Judgement, severing whatever link he had to the sickened plants, as well as the control he had over the unfortunate thralls, sending them tumbling to the ground as well.

 “Hoo boy, well…” She panted harder now as her leg hurt like hell. Looking about the ruined grove she felt a tinge of regret mixed with grim satisfaction. At least now, no one else could get hurt. Probably. Speaking of hurting, by the gods did she ache. Her grim, confident facade melted away into a pout as she buzzed back onto the ground, fumbling at her belt.
“Buut… a taxi home wouldn’t hurt…” As reluctant as she was, flying back to the platform in her current state was… unlikely. And so, she pulled out the small, gray oval from her belt pocket, clicked in the center button, and tossed it to the side.

BEEP

The locator beacon buzzed, glowing bright red against the blackened ice. Eventually, probably she was sure. Slowly, she sat down, legs crossed, her breathing still heavy. Maybe a nap wouldn’t be the worst idea…

 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And with that, you and your… associate need merely sign here, and the, uh…”
“Candlelight!” Milza chimed in, twining two of her hands together on the vampiric salesman’s desk, glancing down to her so-called “assistant”, a black and red-haired goblin woman, who’s long, red tufted tail swished behind her in annoyance. 

 

  After spending nearly a week recovering, and thinking her life over, the Lypian decided that Azan’s Crucible wasn’t exactly the best for her. Not from the danger, she could obviously handle that. No, instead, she wanted something… new. And so, she quit her job, much to the shock and annoyance of her former handler, something that sent delight shooting up her spine as he begged her to stay. Afterwards, she promptly gathered her considerable saving, hired on the cheapest local mechanic that wanted off-world, and dumped almost every last credit into buying-

“... the Candlelight is all yours. Right. Well, as requested, it is fully brought up to functional levels, and even has some very basic weaponry installed. In your case, a centrally mounted light gauss cannon, and a top mounted beam turret.” She nodded along, still grinning ear to ear. The Candlelight wasn’t much to write home about, honestly. A light “freighter”, it was shaped like a long, flat box with a thicker one slapped on under it, roughly a third it’s whole length, as well as two long, thin, downwards sweeping wings. 

 

“Assuming the payment goes through, you can be happily off-world in the morning.” Milza bounced eagerly at that, looking down again at the very relieved looking goblin next to her. She didn’t really ask why Kinla needed off world so bad, but hey, not her business, right? Not really anymore, after all.

  Pushing up from her seat, the tall woman bowed deeply to the absolutely exhausted looking undead, before striding to the front door. Tomorrow, by this time? She would be soaring through the heavens, a bounty of adventure before her! Or just a bounty of loot, she really wasn’t sure, truth be told.

“‘M stayin’ with you, aye?” The goblin called up to Milza, hands on her hips as they walked, catlike yellow eyes gleaming in the wall lights of the hallway. 

“Oh, ah, I suppose so! I certainly don’t mind at all!” Kinla nodded, mouth twitching into a soft smile.

 “It… would be nice to be somewhere new.” Milza absolutely had to agree.