As the elevator continued moving down the shaft, Rachel decided to start a conversation in order to at least help herself calm down in this situation.
"…So what exactly are we going to be doing once we get down to the basement?" she nervously asked. "Omega probably knows that someone's gonna be coming to get him, and he could have thought of a plan by now…"
"Don't think that I haven't thought about that already." Zadok replied. "Just don't worry about it. He may be more powerful than I am, but he cannot outsmart me." Right as he finished the sentence, the elevator froze in place as the dim lights inside flickered off. The only thing lighting the area now was Zadok's glowing, red-colored bionic eye. Rachel let out a deep sigh of annoyance after this happened.
"Great… First I was trapped in a dark room with Leon, and now I'm trapped in a dark elevator with you…" she sighed. "Let me guess… The elevator is nowhere near the basement…"
"Unfortunately… yes." he sighed, shifting his gaze towards the hole in the flooring that Omega recently created.
"…So how are we going to get out of here? The power was probably off for about an hour the last time it happened…"
"Well, I do see one way out." he replied, still looking down at the hole. "There should be a ladder nearby in the elevator shaft, and I'm pretty sure we would be able to reach it from here."
"Uh…" Rachel nervously said, looking down the hole as well. "That's a long way down… And I really don't want to end up falling…"
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't fall. Anyway, I want you to go down first."
Rachel's eyes widened after hearing what Zadok last said. "I am NOT going first."
"Well if you do fall, I would be able to catch you if you were below me. So, yes, you will be going first."
"And how exactly are you going to catch me that way? That's impossible!"
"You know, you really need to stop underestimating me." he sighed as he kneeled down and began looking for the ladder. After he managed to find it, Rachel watched him as he disappeared downwards through the hole. All she could see as he climbed down was the red glow from his bionic eye.
Without saying another word, Rachel gradually knelt down to the edge of the hole. However, as she looked around the wall, she could see absolutely nothing.
"…Zadok, can you stop for a little while and shine your eye up here so I can see the ladder?" she asked, still feeling uneasy about the situation.
"Sure." he simply replied, shifting his gaze upwards. The lighting from Zadok's cybernetic eye was dim, since he was farther down now, but it still managed to help Rachel to see the ladder.
"Thanks…" she said quietly. After examining the ladder for a few more seconds, she reluctantly stretched one of her hands out down through the hole, grasping onto one of the cold, metal bars of the ladder. Once this was done, she grasped the same bar with her other hand and carefully began moving her feet down.
In only seconds, the red glow disappeared without warning. She could hear soft, metallic clanking noises as she instantly froze in fear, assuming that Zadok began to climb down the ladder once more. He obviously realized that she wasn't moving anymore after she heard what he said next.
"Rachel, start moving down." he said with a growl.
"…But I can't see anything…" she nervously replied, clutching onto the bars tightly. "It would help if you were closer to me… I could probably see the ladder better then…"
The only response from him she heard was a deep sigh, soon hearing him moving back upwards toward her. The red glow was gradually getting brighter, but soon stopped after he had stopped climbing.
"Is that any better?" he asked, sounding annoyed.
"A little…" she replied, beginning to slowly move down the ladder.
After about 30 minutes of climbing down, Rachel couldn't handle it any longer. She stopped moving in order to have time to rest. Only seconds later, she heard Zadok stop moving as well.
"…Why did you stop?" he asked, looking up at Rachel.
"…How much longer do we have until we get to the basement?" she said, completely changing the subject.
"Well, we've been climbing for probably 30 minutes, so I would say it would take 30 more to get all the way down."
"Ugh! Are you serious? I'm tired and I need to rest! I really don't know how you're not tired too!"
Only seconds after saying this, the lights inside the elevator shaft flickered back on, and a loud, mechanized noise could be heard overhead.
"Finally the power is back!" Rachel exclaimed. "I think we just should have waited inside the elevator…"
"Well you're the one who wanted to leave." Zadok growled. "Anyway, we have a problem now…"
"And what's the problem? The lights are back on, so shouldn't we just be able to climb back up to the elevator and ride it down to the basement?"
"The problem IS the elevator. That noise above us is the elevator making its way down the shaft, and we are directly in its path… Luckily for us there is a door right below me that we could try to open before we are crushed to death, but we will have to be extremely quick…"
Rachel's eyes widened after hearing what Zadok said. Her gaze rapidly shifted upwards, seeing the elevator speedily moving towards them. She could feel herself beginning to tremble as she continued to tightly clutch onto the bars of the ladder. "We aren't going to make it in time! It's moving too fast!"
After a few seconds of silence, Rachel could hear Zadok beginning to move up the ladder, seeing him stop once he was beside her. She soon felt his warm, organic hand grasping her arm.
"What are you doing?" she exclaimed, looking at Zadok. "We need to at least try to get out of here!"
"You were right when you said we wouldn't be able to escape in time…" he replied, gazing directly into her eyes. "But now I'm going to do something that I should have done much earlier…"
Rachel quickly looked upwards as the elevator continued speeding down towards them. Right when she did, a bright, white-colored light of energy flashed in front of her, leaving her in complete shock. In only seconds, the energy vanished and she felt her back slam against a metallic surface. What she now saw above her was a normal, gray-colored ceiling, covered mostly by metallic pipes and various colored wires.
"…What just happened?" she asked, staring at the ceiling. She expected Zadok to be somewhere nearby for some reason. She heard movement beside her, soon seeing Zadok standing up beside her.
"I teleported us to the basement." he replied, gazing down at her with a slight grin.
"…Why couldn't you have just done that before?" she shouted, feeling her fear instantly turn into annoyance.
"Well, I didn't exactly think abou-" Before he could finish the sentence, the lights rapidly flickered off once more. "…I might need to fix that generator now."
"Yes, you probably should…" Rachel sighed, beginning to sluggishly stand back up. She was relieved to be standing on solid ground once again.
"It shouldn't take too long." she heard him say as he turned around and began sauntering away. "By the way, watch out for Omega."
"…Omega?" she asked, walking forward to the red glow from Zadok's eye that she saw in the distance. She now began to feel her fear gradually returning as she walked. "…And where would he b-" Rachel felt her foot slam against a large object that was lying on the floor, immediately losing her balance as she collapsed on the other side. "Ugh… why didn't you tell me about that thing in my way?"
"Actually I just did." she heard in the distance. "You just tripped over Omega… Anyway, now that you've found him, check to see if he is still alive."
"What? Do you really want him to kill me? He could wake up any second now! Besides, how am I supposed to check to see if he is alive anyway? He's nothing but a robot!"
"He's still organic under that armor. The metal is just a replacement for most of his skin. Now, all you have to do is take his helmet off and check for signs of breathing."
"Fine… But if he tries to attack me, I'm blaming you." Rachel soon carefully climbed on top of Omega, turning to where she thought his head was and began feeling around for his helmet. Unlike what she expected, his armor was actually warm to the touch. She was immediately confused once her hands finally reached one of the edges of his armor, slowly beginning to remove what she thought was his helmet. "His helmet feels a lot different now… Did he just all of a sudden change it or something?"
"…Rachel, have you ever thought that you might be checking around on the wrong end?" Zadok sighed. "His helmet never did change…"
Rachel's eyes immediately widened after hearing what Zadok said. She paused for a few seconds, carefully snapping the piece of metal back in place. She was slightly embarrassed from what she just did. "I thought you would have warned me if I was on the wrong end…"
"Well I can't exactly see you at the moment. I'm behind a very large generator right now. Anyway, I should be done repairing this soon. It's just low on electricity and will be very simple for me to fix."
"Okay..." she sighed. She soon crawled over to the other side of Omega, sitting on what she thought was his chest. In the distance she could hear a faint sound of electricity, guessing that was Zadok fixing the generator. Focusing back on Omega, she began to feel around for his helmet once more. "Finally I found it…" she said quietly to herself as she grasped his helmet. After carefully removing it, she gently placed the helmet down on the floor beside his head.
"Now, I wonder how I'm supposed to know if he's breathing…" she thought, feeling around on his head. "Heh, I'm actually surprised that his face isn't made of metal…" After thinking over how she was going to figure out if he was breathing, she lowered her head down to his own and hovered one of her ears over his mouth. At first she heard a faint breathing noise, but soon changed into a deep, raspy growl. Rachel froze in fear after hearing this, slowly backing her head away slightly and shifting her gaze towards Omega's face. Now, she saw his two, terrifying, cybernetic eyes glaring angrily back at her.
"Uh… Zadok…!" Rachel nervously shouted, looking in the direction of where she thought Zadok was now at. "…I think he's awake…!" Before Rachel was able to look back at Omega, she was punched directly in the center of her chest, sending her backwards onto the floor. She speedily looked back towards Omega's direction, hearing the mechanical sounds of him standing back up.
"You're mine now!" he furiously snarled, continuing to glare down at Rachel. "You were a fool to have come here, but now you are right where I want you!"
Right when Rachel noticed Omega beginning to slowly approach her, the lights flickered on and the sounds of the various machinery in the room could be heard nearby. After quickly focusing back on Omega, she instantly noticed the appearance of his organic head, since he was still no longer wearing his helmet. Surprisingly to Rachel, his face looked strikingly handsome and quite human-like, except for his long, pointy ears that pointed upwards, his red-orange fur, and his dark-brown colored mane.
"A…human?" she thought as she stared up at Omega. She was frozen in fear at this point, too terrified to even move.
Without warning, a few bolts of electricity shot out from Zadok's direction, directly hitting Omega. He yelled out in pain and fell to his knees as the electricity seemed to intensify. She quickly looked over at the direction she saw the electricity coming from, only to see that Zadok was shooting it out of his organic hand.
"Uh… How are you doing that?" Rachel asked as she slowly stood up. She quickly turned her focus back to Omega as she did so.
"Being part Deity allows me to have a variety of powers that normal Grox wouldn't have." Zadok boasted. "And control over electricity is one of them." After he lowered his hand and stopped the electrical current, Omega immediately collapsed to the floor. Now, Omega seemed to be unconscious once more.
"…I wish you were around when he was attacking Leon…" Rachel sighed, looking down at Omega. "…Anyway, why does Omega's face kinda look… human? It kinda makes me wonder since the humans had been destroyed here… Is he like a Grox-Human hybrid or something?"
"Well, it's actually a bit more complicated than that." Zadok replied while approaching Rachel. "He was originally a Grox to begin with, but he had himself mutated with the DNA from a few different species. And the human DNA is obviously one of them."
"Oh…" Rachel simply replied. Only seconds later, a nearby door slid open, and three aliens stormed in the room, two of which were the wolf-like soldiers while the remaining one was a Grox. The Grox was wearing a dark-grey colored trench coat and jet-black colored slacks. Two, sleek blasters were strapped to the belt on his waist as well. This Grox was also noticeably a cyborg, having the similar bionic eye, hand, and foot as Zadok. As one of the soldiers began putting energy cuffs around Omega's hands, the mysterious Grox soon spoke.
"Zadok, I thought you said this base was highly protected." he said in a seemingly Russian accent. "I would think that since your planet is so close to the Galactic Core, then it would be more difficult for Omegas to get to. I don't exactly appreciate finally visiting this place, expecting the security to be unstoppable, and then finding out that the leader of the Omegas somehow got in here as well."
"My base is protected, but you should know that people like Omega usually find some way to get through my military…" Zadok growled in response.
"…Well, at least that abomination will finally be under control for now." he said with a slight smile. His gaze soon shifted towards Rachel's direction. "So, I see you have a human slave with you now… How did you manage to get it? I thought the humans were supposed to be extinct…"
Rachel immediately glared at the Grox after hearing what he said. "First of all, I am a her, not an it." she replied in an annoyed tone. "Second, I am definitely NOT a slave. My name is Rachel, and I am actually a soldier."
"A soldier?" the Grox chuckled in disbelief. "Zadok, what is it really supposed to be? I seriously want the truth."
"She really is a soldier…" Zadok sighed, sounding somewhat annoyed as well. "You know that I don't allow slavery in my Empire."
"Well I suggest you start allowing it soon. That is probably why my army is far more powerful than yours. All inferior creatures should be forced to work for us Grox."
"You know, you are really starting to sound a lot like Groc now. He thought exactly like that…"
"How many times must I remind you that he's my grandfather? We practically share the same beliefs… Anyway, I believe you should improve your security while I'm staying here. I'm not in the mood to be attacked by any random threat that manages to make its way in here." The Grox soon turned around, beginning to exit the room. "And also, you should probably teach that human some manners. It should know that is no way to act around a Grox Emperor."
After the Grox exited the room, Rachel let out a deep sigh of annoyance. She now noticed that Omega and the two soldiers were no longer there, guessing that they had taken him out of the room already.
"…So who was that prick supposed to be?" Rachel asked in an irritated tone.
"That was Emperor Totus..." Zadok sighed. "He is known as the Emperor of the Southern Grox Empire and is currently an ally of my Alliance…"
"…How could you even ally someone like him?" she asked, looking over at Zadok. "I really wouldn't think that you would ally a person who has the same beliefs as the former Emperor that you killed…"
"He was actually the one who asked for an alliance… I only accepted his request because of his powerful military…" He paused for a few seconds, soon deciding to change the subject. "Anyway, I'm guessing you're probably hungry right now... You haven't eaten anything ever since you got here…"
"Yes, I am getting hungry…" she sighed. "But where am I supposed to eat?"
"Don't worry, I'll lead you to where you need to go." he chuckled as he began to walk towards the exit. "You will now be eating in the mess hall. But don't expect to find any familiar foods in there."
"I wasn't expecting to find any familiar foods around here anyway…" she replied with a slight giggle as she followed alongside Zadok. After they both exited the room, Rachel spoke once more. "…Anyway, if your 'ally' Totus decides to insult me again, I'm going to punch him across the face whether he's an Emperor or not."
"Well, I'm sure you will have that chance sometime soon…" Zadok replied, smirking slightly.
After Zadok and Rachel rode up an elevator to the first floor and managed to navigate their way through the somewhat crowded hallways, they finally reached the mess hall. There wasn't a door for this area, so Rachel was able to easily look inside.
"When you are done eating, immediately go back to my office." Zadok said before Rachel entered the room. "And also, if you happen to meet up with Totus again, try not to cause any trouble…"
"I'll try, but I can't make you any promises…" Rachel smirked. After seeing Zadok begin to walk away from her, she entered inside the mess hall. As she looked around, she instantly noticed many different aliens who were already in here, almost as crowded as the hallways. Most of the aliens were already seated and eating whatever food they decided to pick out, while a few groups were standing in random places, carrying out conversations.
As Rachel walked towards where the food was located, she noticed some of the aliens giving her strange looks as she passed by them, which is actually what she expected them to do since she knew they probably hadn't ever seen a human before. After she finally made it to where the food was, she carefully picked up a tray, a fork, and a knife, soon beginning to examine the many alien foods. A few minutes after she looked at the unfamiliar foods, she eventually managed to pick up a decent-looking piece of meat and a few, somewhat small pieces of fruit as well. As she walked over to where the drinks were and began pouring a cup of water, she managed to catch a glimpse of what seemed to be Totus sitting down at one of the many tables. He hadn't seemed to notice her yet, so she didn't really worry about him at the moment. Soon enough, she managed to find a place to sit that was away from where most of the aliens were, now beginning to finally eat.
After she was finished with her meal, she leisurely stood back up and threw the trash away in one of the many trashcans, exiting the room and beginning to walk through the hallways.
"I should probably go back to Zadok's office now…" Rachel thought as she began looking for an elevator. "Hopefully there won't be any distractions on the way."
