Left untouched

It was the sixth attempt, but no success. No matter what I tried, the communication equipment wasn't working. Along with the rest of the instruments. Most of the ships systems were compromised. It was miracle, that nobody was injured, although two of us and myself lost our consciousness, when we crashed. The only thing aside us that survived this incident were a bunch of gadgets for the engineers and weapons, as well as some medical supplies for the medic. After realising that it was useless to contact any of our rebel peers, our squad leader decided to continue with our mission and find another way to send a message.

Forcefully pushing the door open, we stepped foot on the rugged surface we just barely landed on. The first thing we all did was to stare into the sky with confusion. What we saw was a dawn with a clear, dark sky slowly turning orange as the sun rise. A peaceful morning like everyone of us has seen before. But that was the problem. A clear sky, no clouds, no wind or any signs of the massive storm, that caused us to crash-land in the first place. Once we all had seen enough to we started to proceed to our destination on foot.

As the day progressed, so did the rising temperature. Even though we were wearing specialized clothing with some protective gear, the relentless heat showed us no mercy. The light gray colored rocks that covered the ground we were walking on, reflected all the sunlight into our eyes and heated up at the same time, making the entirety of our march a burning hell.

Around five hours of walking, and a few of us almost collapsing, we reached our destination. An abandoned imperial research facility. We all cheered for probably the first time in our lives, to see something made by the empire. Not because we reached our primary objective, but because we finally could take shelter from the unforgiving sun above.

As we got closer my gratitude for some kind of shade slowly diminished. The hangars on the opposite side of the main research labs were empty. The laboratories themselves however were all on full lock-down. All doors and windows were sealed by thick blast doors. Although my comrades also noticed the unusual condition, in which this place was abandoned, they all where more interested in the tall communication tower behind the laboratories. Insisting to inform the rebel alliance of our progress, we decided that the engineers should open the main entry.

After several minutes, the two engineers manged to destroy the lock and open the door.

Our objective was simple. Through a spy we found out that the empire has abandoned a facility in the mid rim in a hurry, with information that was considered top secret. As high as the security clearance for the information was, the priority for the local moff to obliterate everything was just as high for some unknown reason. Three star destroyers with a base delta zero order have been send to the planet known as Choler. However, imperial command lost all contact to them and none of them have returned so far. Knowing that, the rebellion has sent us to investigate and if possible obtain some of the data.

The halls of this massive complex were much messier than I had expected. Lamps were damaged and loosely hanging from the ceiling or weren't working at all. Tools and smaller machines were scattered on the ground and plates were missing from the walls. Oddly enough though, there were no signs of any actual combat. No blaster holes, no dead bodies or blood or anything that could hint, that a fight broke out in here. The whole site just looked like it was abandoned many years ago, even though it couldn't be more than two weeks, according to our spy. Trying not to get distracted by those thoughts, we decided to search the area in hope to find anything of value to our mission.

The first place we headed to was the main control room and found it shortly after in the same condition as the hallways and rooms we saw. Most of the modules and terminals were useless, with two exceptions: The equipment for the communication tower and the data center. The latter however appeared to have suffered more than the former.

As my squad leader told me to, I quickly started to restore the data center, while the engineers tried to activated the tower. After a few minutes they announced, that they would have to reboot the terminal until it was ready for use and that it would take a while. Me on the other hand manged to get access to some of the information saved by the researchers. Unfortunately the records were in a worse state than I anticipated. Only fractions were still accessible to me and those that were, had to be deciphered first. However, some of the entry logs were unscrambled shortly after, though some parts were missing.

...site EVO-012-4 is fully constructed...search has received approval and will commence soon...

My superior informed me that half of our unit, five men in total, will look around the building and that we should contact them immediately, in case of an emergency. Leaving me, the three engineers and one rifleman in the control room.

I moved on to the next entry.

Entry log A-1-2

...expected capabilities have been confirmed by...first tests with...were successful. We believe, that the objects abilities can be expended. Further testing must be performed and await approval of...

Suddenly the room we were in started to shake, first by a little, but getting stronger by every passing second. It became so strong that some of us fell to the ground. As sudden as the earthquake appeared, it stopped. We immediately turned on our comlinks and asked the other half of our group for their status. But no answer. At first we thought that they got buried by debris, but we soon realised that none of our comlinks were working. The engineers and myself discussed what the reason for this could be. One said it could be some kind of jamming device, another claimed that it could be a solar storm. But both turned out to be wrong with their theories. Nevertheless, one thing was certain: We had no way to contact our friends. We decided to stay and wait for the rest of us to come back, they would have contacted us after the sudden earthquake and receiving no answer, they would most likely look for us.

After what felt like an eternity we were still waiting in the same room and still no sign of our fellow rebels. Suspecting that they might have gotten injured or worse, we all agreed that it would be best if we search for them ourselves. So the rifleman, an engineer and myself packed our equipment and left the remaining two members of our group to reboot the communication array.

As we stepped out of the room we stopped in shock and surprise. The devastated hallway we came through earlier, now was in perfect condition. The floor was clean, the walls were intact and the lamps were shining bright. I had no idea what the meaning of this was and judging by the two faces next to me, it was obvious, that they didn't knew it either. The hallways were, along with the rest of this facility, in a horrible state, a clean, orderly room wouldn't have gone unnoticed. The only explanation would have been, that the other group cleaned everything up, but that would have been completely pointless and unnecessary. Not wanting to let our imagination go wild, we brushed it of and kept walking through the now clean corridor.

While we kept going, my device that copied the data from the terminal, just finished decoded another file, or what was left of that.

Entry log A-1-10

...the results of the last tests with living subject, showed more unusual properties. The...insists that we should keep going with our experiments and test the objects full capabilities. Dr. Wied warned us about the potential danger, but the...ordered us to continue as planned for now...

Just like the hallways we exited the control room through, the rest of the facility was in a perfectly clean state and in complete contrast to the mess it was before just a few hours ago. After searching through countless rooms, all clean and in order, we arrived at an entrance with it's thick blast doors open and a sign with the word 'laboratory' above. Seeing that the keypad next to it was busted by force, it was clear that our team has been here, thus we continued with our search there.

Entry log A-1-22

During another experiment we had an nearly catastrophic incident. As we expected, the objects capabilities are becoming stronger with each day, but it is also getting more unstable. Even though we increased the security measures for such an event, the unpredictable nature of the object is slowly becoming major treat to the site's staff. Two guard and one researcher have been...by the object so far, with another four technicians and one guard still missing and with no signs of their current location...has suggested to abandon the project, but her request has been denied...

From a room at the end of a hallway we heard the sound of metal falling on the ground, followed by what sounded like a someone crying. By asking who was in there we got no answer, just the whining and sobs where the only thing we heard. Slowly approaching the room the crying became louder and louder and the closer we got the more hysterical the cries appeared. Once we arrived at the doorway, I was the first seeing the cause of that noise. It was one of the team members we were looking for, sitting in a corner with his knees to his chest and arms around them, hysterically crying like a child or a maniac. At first he didn't seemed to notice us, not even after we asked him what happened. After the rifleman kneeled next to him he turned his head towards him, his eyes open more wide than I believed a human ever could. For a moment, that felt like ages, he just stared at him. Soon he started to breath faster and screamed in fear from the top of his lungs. Before the rifleman could react, the insane rebel took the blaster of his belt, put the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger.

We all stood there in shock, not knowing what to do or what to think of this. We snapped out of it, when we heard a scream down one of the halls, followed by multiple shoots. Recognizing the sound as a rifle carried by another one of our unit. Not wanting to lose yet another member, we left the dead body behind and ran to the origin of the noises.

Entry log A-1-25

….object is increasingly unpredictable and containment becomes more difficult. More of our staff are disappearing and scans of the nearby area showed no signs of organic live, hinting that no one left the site. More of our remaining staff reported to fell frighten for reasons unknown, even those who are not aware of...with some showing early stages of a mental breakdown. The...insists that we continue as planed by any means necessary. I'm not sure how long we can keep up with this and if I think about what could happen it terrifies me...

Like everyone else, I thought where those sounds were coming from, but every time we made it to what we believed to be the origin of those desperate screams it seemed like they were moving further away from us. We turned around a corner and it came from further down the hall, we went through a door and it was suddenly behind us. It was not following any pattern and appeared to be random and not logical. In the end we found ourselves in front of a heavy fault door from where the cries and screams came from. Seeing that the door was unlocked and just needed a single press on the keypad, the engineer opened the fault and the two massive pieces of metal slowly moved into the walls.

On the other side we were greeted with eternal darkness, that consumed all light and life. A shiver crawled down my spine as I could feel this diabolic darkness passing right through me and sending fear into my soul. My hands trembled and not even knowing the fact that I was holding a weapon to defend myself could have eased this dread. At first I didn't noticed my companions moving past me, with legs that just as well could have been made out of jelly, but I soon did the same and turned my a light on my helmet on. The range of the spotlight was far less than it should be. Even on full power I barely could have seen more than a few feet.

But from what I could see and hear underneath my boots, I knew that we where within some kind of tunnel carved into the stone. Every here and there were metal plates on the ground and machines for measurements and monitoring, weakly illuminated by my light only to fade into the dark once I move past them. Again my gadget with the copied data notified me that yet another file has been deciphered. I hesitated to look it up, but my urge for answers was greater than my fear. And I wished it would have been the other way around.

Entry log A-1-29

...situation is completely out of control...object can no longer be contained...most of the personal are dead...communication is lost...that thing is alive...

I stared at the screen with more fear, than I ever had in my whole life. When I looked up to see my colleagues I froze and felt how something warm went down my leg, as the rifleman was looking up to a ball of light in a color, that never could have described, hovering above him and emitting an aura that was unnatural and not from this reality. All of a sudden the orb blinded me with it's indescribable color and all I heard was the painful scream of the man standing underneath. Once the flash was gone the engineer ran up to me and yelled, that we need to get out of this place immediately.

Upon exiting the cave, I saw that that the hallways have changed yet again. This time however instead of being just messy like we saw it the first time we entered, or mysteriously cleaned up, the corridors were now covered in rust, blood and an substance, that was unknown to me. Some doors opened and closed rapidly on their own. The lamps on the ceiling simultaneously change the colors of their light. And smaller object levitated in the air. We ran through the halls, that led into rooms, that weren't meant to be there, or corridors that seemed to have no end, while behind some of the doors, that opened by themselves were the exact same darkness I have encountered. I don't know how long I was running through this nightmarish maze of rooms and hallways. I don't know when I lost the engineer, or what happened with the others. All I know is that I pushed a door open and I was standing outside, between the main building and the empty hangar.

For a moment I was empty of thoughts and emotions. But then a smile appeared on my face and I started to laugh. I laughed when I looked back at the building, just like when I first entered it. I laughed when thought about horrible fates of my unit. I laughed when I saw the imperial dreadnought high above me in the sky. And I laughed the most, when it started firing upon me.

Alright, I hope everyone enjoyed this small story of mine. All kinds of criticism, from style to my gramma, are welcome.