The submarine slowly moved throughout the large cavern, leaving behind a trail of bubbles in it's path. It's lights shined brightly through the darkness, often turning slightly to the left and right to avoid bumping into rocks.
Roka's head hung low, only having one claw on the steering wheel, completely silent. He glanced behind him as Tri'zik entered, taking his foot off the pedal as the submarine slowly stopped. "How are they..?" He asked.
"They are resting. Vereesa's stomach was nearly torn open and Tirek suffered a lot of bites from his legs. They're unfit for service, sadly. We must handle the rest of the journey on our own." Tri'zik said, carefully taking a seat.
"We can make the rest of the journey without them." Roka sighed, picking up one of the repair devices as he lightly tapped the tip of the device on the glass, pressing the trigger as it slowly started to repair the cracks.
Tri'zik eyed him, holding his staff tightly, he felt pain and anger inside Roka. He knew why he felt this way, and yet Tri'zik feared that he would never be able to let go of it. He lightly shook his head, deciding to offer some form of help at a later date, knowing fully well that Roka's mind was already set on finding a cure for the infection.
Eventually, they would stumble across the small facility, It lied partially suspended by several loose-hanging cables, with several sections of destroyed cables found scattered around the perimeter, along with various chunks of panels and fragments scattered across the seabed.
"This may have the cure that we need. I'll park just near the entrance, I'm going in alone." Roka said, taking his foot off the pedal and quickly turning to head towards the hatch, but he was stopped by Tri'zik. "Tri'zik knows you are still filled with anger and grief over what occurred with your brother, Roka. You must let that pain go if we can truly succeed here."
Roka merely brushed off Tri'zik's shoulder, grunting. "My problems aren't stopping us from finding a cure, Tri'zik. Don't worry about me." He went to continue onward.
"Tri'zik worries for his brother. He is not himself." He said softly, placing an arm on Roka's shoulder. "You're family to him."
Roka didn't respond, he merely stood still for a moment before continuing onwards, climbing down the ladder and grabbing his diving helmet. He leaned down, opening the hatch and dived into the water, closing the hatch on his way out. Loud creaking came from the suspending facility, almost little signs of life appeared inside, minus the small schools of fish.
[Entering the facility now. Cyclo, got anything?] He asked as his PDA bleeped a moment later.
{Performing a scan now.. Bzzzt...Interior walls in this section are substantially reinforced, indicating the designers were seeking either to keep something out, or contain it within. Whatever their intention, it clearly failed. There is evidence that this facility once housed live specimens. Biological analysis suggests they expired approximately 1,000 years ago. Residual biological evidence suggests indigenous lifeforms were brought to this location and subjected to intensive study.}
Roka slowly came across another one of those strange green forcefields, housing some sort of blue artifact inside. He dared not to try and swim through it, fearing he might be vaporized into dust. He merely continued further into the facility, coming across various glass-cases with creatures pinned to the wall and a large tube containing some kind of egg. [Study? For what?]
{Unknown. Already crafted theories: This facility may have been used by the aliens for studying purposes or enslavement. That or they wanted some kind of facility with dead-fish decorations.}
[You're not being very helpful, Cyclo. If this is some kind of research facility, then they must have a cure inside here for this infection.] Roka swam through a small corridor, eventually coming across a small chamber. He suddenly stopped and nearly gasped upon seeing what was displayed. It was one of the strange pink-skinned creatures that attacked Tirek and Vereesa, only it was being suspended by two strange hooks and missing it's tentacles. He quickly pulled out his scanning device and held down the trigger, hoping to gather information from it. [What have you got, Cyclo?] He said, pulling out his PDA as the info came up.
[Name: Warper.
This lifeform shows signs of heavy genetic modification, and extensive mechanical grafting. Its digestive and pulmonary systems have been replaced by an onboard battery receiving energy directly from this facility and distributing it around the body. Miniaturised phase technology has been implanted beneath the skin and is triggered by the central nervous system, allowing the construct to teleport at will.
Programmable Hunter/Killer - AVOID AT ALL COST!]
[Warper, hm? Now we know what they're called.] Roka put his PDA away, quickly continuing onwards throughout the facility, taking note of all the damaged equipment and glass. He stumbled across a terminal, with a bunch of green text that floated above it. [Another terminal. Let's see what this one can tell us..] He started to scan the terminal with his scanner, letting Cyclo tell him what was on it.
{Scan complete: This terminal has valuable information on the infection that is currently floating inside you and the others. It's name is unknown. But It was seemingly created by the alien race and was meant to be contained here, but something let it out into the water. More information just came up.}
Roka quickly swam outside of the facility, returning to the submarine to get his oxygen back, gasping for air for a moment before returning back to the facility, still listening to Cyclo's words.
{Bacterial Mechanisms: Attaches to healthy living cells and mutates the basic genetic structure. Symptoms: Stage 1: None. Stage 2: Gradual immune system failure. Stage 3: Unpredictable alterations to biological structure. Stage 4: Complete shutdown of executive function. Treatment procedure-BZZZT- Unknown. I'm sorry, Captain..}
Roka closed his eyes, grinding his teeth together. [There has to be more information here. Something, anything that can help us!] He swam further through the facility, his eyes scanning for more terminals. Fortunately, there was another one and it was quickly scanned. He took out his PDA, turning it on.
{This one seems promising, Captain.}
[This device catalogues information on the organisms contained at this facility prior to the bacterium's release into the ecosystem. A number of entries have been translated.
Peeper:
Shows no immunity to infection. Shows advanced learning behaviours. Shows some capacity to transmit enzymes to other specimens.
Ancient:
Bone samples from deceased Ancient specimens indicate some potential for infection immunity. Single specimen captured for study at purpose-built leviathan containment facility, constructed in volcanic region at depth 1200m. The bone samples also seem similar to the deceased Ancient found on our homeworld. Investigation is advised.]
Roka's eyes widened. [That's where we were going-] He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, his mind flashed with a faint image of four glowing blues eyes, speaking in a very quiet tone. "What.. are...you?" It went quiet, but the image still floated in his mind, creating quite the headache for Roka. "I am what you seek. Want to...help you. Here, to me.."
The telepathy slowly ceased as Roka slowly tilted upside down as the headache pounded in his head, groaning loudly. He quickly regained concentration and started to make his way back outside, but not before stopping in front of the green force field, containing the strange blue artifact. He grumbled to himself, deciding to maybe come back for the artifact at a later date, swimming back to the submarine.
Meanwhile, Tri'zik was tending to Vereesa and Tirek, thankfully their wounds seemed to be healing quite quickly. His several claws started to glow with green energy as he lightly pressed them on Tirek's feet, allowing his healing to take effect. He slowly turned around to Vereesa, checking her chest, it was still heavily damaged, but the wounds appeared to be fading rather quickly. "Good, you'll be back on your feet soon. Just rest more." He glanced behind him to see Roka walking in.
"Well, what did you find?" Tri'zik asked curiously.
"A lot of information. Turns out there's some kind of leviathan at the facility we were supposedly heading towards. It may be the key we are looking for." Roka nodded, giving his snout a small scratch as he peered down at Tirek and Vereesa. "Holding up?"
"Better.. Actually.." Vereesa coughed out a bit of blood, forming a wide grin. "I won't die on you just yet, Captain."
Tirek slowly turned his head to her, chuckling lightly. "Not yet, hm? Yet who's the one with a nearly torn up stomach?"
"And who's the one with a bunch of bite marks all over his feet?" Vereesa responded, chuckling back.
"Hmm.. I'll start steering us towards the facility. Rest well." Roka turned around, heading over to the steering wheel. "Come on, Roka. Surely, you can have a laugh with us." Tirek said. Roka merely glanced back and grunted before continuing.
"Still being a killjoy, hm?" Tirek glanced at Tri'zik, shrugging lightly. "Is he always like this, Tri'zik?"
"No. But Tri'zik is sure he will find his way back to happiness. Only time will tell." Tri'zik nodded slowly. "To think, we could've had a bunch of colonies up and running by now. It's a shame this planet had to postpone that."
"Mhmm.. But once we get this infection out, we'll get away from this planet and hopefully find ourselves a better planet to colonize." Vereesa smiled. "Maybe less water?"
Tirek started cackling loudly, nearly smashing his hand onto a small desk beside him. "I'll steer us to the nearest lava planet for you, Vereesa. Do a bit of sightseeing under boiling lava."
"That's if we don't burn to ash." Vereesa rolled her eyes at him.
Tri'zik emitted a light chuckle, slowly pecking away at his arm, having an itch. "Tri'zik shall go and meditate, you rest up now." He smiled widely, slowly walking away to find a nice spot to meditate, while the journey to the large facility continued.
The submarine slowly turned around and made it's way up a small hole in the cavern, the navigation system was acting rather off, most likely due to the depth. The lights shined brightly, small pockets of life crawled across the ground. The dense fog was starting to disperse as they went deeper through the cavern, eventually it became more fuzzy as they came to an exit. The vast area appeared volcanic, giant rock formations that sprouted out boiling steam, the ground was littered with large cracks with inactive lava streams. Little signs of life could be seen within this zone.
{Little signs of life detected in this region. Temperature levels are high. We are not far from the large facility. Current submarine status: Medium. Power levels: 30%. Are you sure whatever it is that you're doing is worth it?} Cyclo said.
"We're almost there. It's worth the risk." Roka said deeply. Pulling more gears on the side, making the sub go even faster. As they were making their way to the facility, something large came out from it's large hole and headed straight for the submarine. Tri'zik peered out the window, noticing the carnivore from before, it's skin was all gone and nothing remained but bones.
"Tri'zik does not like this. Something clearly lurks around here.." He looked out the window again, only for his eyes to widen. "BRACE!"
The submarine was rammed into by the large green leviathan, causing the sub to spin around and around, smashing right into the nearest wall and destroying the electric defense device. An alarm went off loudly, causing Tirek and Vereesa to awaken from their nap.
The green leviathan was huge, slightly bigger than the albino creature that they fought off from before. The head of the creature is stout and reptilian, possessing two pairs of glowing orange eyes with white pupils, a crack-like pattern spreads from the pupils to the rest of the eye, along with two long forearms ending with webbed, four digited hands; each digit ends with a claw. It's claw smacked against the submarine, continuing to having it slam against the volcanic walls as the sub's interior started to burst open with water. Roka gripped the wheel tightly as he put his foot on the pedal harder, fortunately breaking free, but the leviathan was right behind them.
"WE DID NOT COME THIS FAR TO GET EATEN!" Tirek growled out as he quickly put his repair tool to use as he attempted to repair the holes in the submarine, limping his way to the holes as his feet were still injured.
Suddenly the leviathan bit down upon the submarine's left thruster, causing it to suddenly tilt, Roka grunted and pulled back, making the submarine stop as the leviathan swam up front. He ran to the others, putting on his helmet.
[We got no other option! We need to ditch the submarine and swim to the facility!] He said through his helmet.
"Are you mad?! We'll likely get devoured by that thing or worse fried by the amount of heat in this zone!" Tirek protested.
["We've got no other options, that thing is on our trail-"] Roka was interrupted by Tri'zik when he slammed the hilt of his staff down.
"Tri'zik will buy you time. You must go ahead!" He gripped his staff tightly, walking over to grab ahold of his helmet, placing it on tightly.
[No, I won't let you be fish food, Tri'zik. I won't lose another brother!] He said angrily, glaring at him. Tri'zik merely placed a hand on his shoulder, grinning. [Tri'zik will survive. Trust him.]
The leviathan grabbed the front of the submarine with its arms, roaring loudly as the glass shattered and water starting to flow inside, its jaws were wide open and its tongue reached through as it tried to get a little taste of the group. The submarine was tilting forward, causing Vereesa to fall out of the bed and start to fall towards the leviathan's mouth but she was quickly grabbed by Tirek who was squished against the wall. Roka slowly slid towards the leviathan's mouth, but followed Tirek's idea and hugged the wall, hitting the doorway. Tri'zik also started to slide downwards, but he was quickly grabbed by Roka's hand.
[He'll buy you all time to flee to the facility!] Tri'zik uttered. [Trust him on this! You have to!]
Roka struggled to pull him up as water continued to flood the submarine. [I'm not.. Letting you.. Go down like this.. Tri'zik!]
[TRUST HIM!] He yelled out, causing Roka to fall silent, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he lets go of his surrogate brother.
Tri'zik merely grinned as he was released from Roka's grip, quickly twirling his staff around as it suddenly sparked with green energy, he came crashing down upon the leviathan's tongue and with a mighty jab of his staff, he surged his nature energy throughout the leviathan's mouth, causing it to let go of the submarine with a loud painful moan as it started to move away, it spat out Tri'zik, slowly circling him, it's eyes narrowed with rage.
Meanwhile, Roka quickly picked up a nearby helmet, placing it on Vereesa and then proceeded to pick her up and making a dash for the water as Tirek swiftly followed. The leviathan was occupied, the two made a bee-line for the facility's entrance.
Tri'zik smiled, knowing his friends were safe. He now focused his attention on the leviathan as it suddenly swam towards him, roaring furiously. The Ki'zik grinned as he held his spot, twirling his staff again as the skull started to glow, with a mighty thrust of his staff, he unleashed a bolt of nature energy upon the leviathan's left eyes, causing it to roar in pain and swim over Tri'zik. Knowing that his oxygen would run out eventually, he would use every bit of his strength to either defeat the leviathan or scare it off.
The leviathan came back around, puffing out steam as it unleashed several balls of flame towards Tri'zik, he quickly brought his claws together as he twirled his staff very fast, causing the balls to fly off into various directions and implode. The leviathan opened its jaws wide, started to suck in Tri'zik, he gripped his staff tightly as he brought all his arms together on his staff, clenching as tightly as he could. His eyes glowed brightly as he slowly swung around and with a mighty swing of his staff, he slammed the very skull against the leviathan's head, blasting it towards the various rocky formations, the leviathan roared in pain as it recovered from his attack. It was willing to give it one more try to end Tri'zik.
It swam upwards towards him, unleashing its balls of flame up towards him and opened its jaws wide. Tri'zik quickly used his four feet to twirl the staff around as fast as he could, deflecting the flames. The leviathan glared angrily, right as the leviathan had Tri'zik in it's mouth, he let loose a mighty nature shock inside the beast's maw, electrifying it's tongue and inside completely, it angrily spat him out towards the nearby rocks and finally gave up. The leviathan slowly swam back it's large cave, disappearing into the darkness.
Tri'zik slammed into the rocks with a light thud, letting out a brief sigh of relief through his helmet. {Warning: 30 seconds of oxygen remaining.} He started to breathe more slowly, staring at the endless abyss and volcanic activity around the area, his eyes scanning the small lifeforms that now floated about. He felt his life slipping away as bubbles floated from his helmet, his claws slowly gripped the rocks as he started to lift himself up, filled with hope that he'd be able to make it to the facility in time. His eyes often blacked out, struggling to maintain oxygen. He heard various clicking noises to his right, catching the appearance of a Warper floating around, that was watching him from afar.
Meanwhile, the three made their way to the facility, all of them feeling the burning pressure of the lava pools beneath them. Almost creating burn marks across their bodies, they eventually reached the facility entrance, deciding to take the risk and head through the forcefield, only to find out that it stopped water from entering and wasn't even a forcefield to begin one. They hit the metal ground with a loud thud, all of them groaning in pain.
Tirek wiped a bit of blood from his snout, coughing a bit as he took off his helmet and rushed over to Vereesa, who thankfully wasn't hurt as much. Roka slowly grunted as he stood up, snarling a bit as he threw his helmet off, kneeling down on the ground as he started to mourn the loss of his surrogate brother. Vereesa and Tirek walked over, gently placing their claws on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Roka. He gave his life for us.." She said softly.
"He was tough, that's for sure. I never seen someone sacrifice themselves so.. Bravely.' Tirek said, giving Roka's arm a light pat.
"He..he was like my brother. We've known eachother for so long, I-" A sudden tap on the ground caused the three to suddenly turn around. There stood Tri'zik, taking off his helmet and smiling. "Tri'zik told you. He wasn't going to die on you."
Tirek and Vereesa headed over to Tri'zik, giving him a few playful punches and pats. "Aha! I knew not even a leviathan can take you down, Tri'zik!" Tirek said proudly, jumping in almost pure joy.
"Welcome back, Tri'zik." Vereesa smiled, slowly leaning against a pillar.
Roka moved over, placing a claw on Tri'zik's arm, shedding a light tear. "I'm proud of you.. Brother.." He sniffled a bit before suddenly hugging him.
Tri'zik smiled, gently patting Roka's back. "We all must make the ultimate sacrifice to protect our family. Now, let us finish this and get off this planet." He twirled his staff around, planting it on his backside as he decided to lead the way up the small ramp. Tirek picked up everyone's helmets, seeing as they threw them off.
Their PDA's beeped as Cyclo spoke up. {Translating local alien broadcast: WARNING - Vaccine development program terminated. Planet quarantined. Evacuate this facility immediately.}
As the group made their way up the ramp, they came across a large antechamber. It was huge and roughly octagonal in shape. A large pillar lies in the center of the chamber, often sparking with green energy. Various doorways must've led to different rooms, but the one that stuck out the most was the door at the far end of the chamber.
"Which way?" Tirek asked, letting out a light cough.
"I vote for the one at the end of the chamber." Vereesa chuckled lightly. "It's got this sense of mystery to it." She lightly leaned against Tirek, he grunted a bit. "Uggh.. How?" He asked, to which Vereesa merely shrugged in response.
The large pillar at the center slowly activated, shooting down a barrage of green lightning as it slowly materialised some kind of crystal. Tri'zik approached it cautiously, placing only two claws on it, much to his surprise, it didn't melt his fingers off.
"Hmm.. It's quite light, someone carry this." He tossed it over to Roka before proceeding onward towards the large doorway. There was this eerily silence throughout the facility, almost little noise at all, minus the footsteps from the group.
"How do you think the colonists are holding up?" Tirek said.
"Worried about us, no doubt and probably panicking over what happened with Uvenk." Roka sighed deeply, shaking his head.
A small ramp led down to a massive pool, lights lit up around the chamber. "So.. This is it?" Tri'zik knelt down, peering into the large pool.
{Detecting massive signs of life beneath. Oddly enough, no threats detected.}
Tirek tossed everyone their diving helmets, putting one on himself. [If our people ask what we've been doing all this time. Might as well be honest and say we took a small detour to swim around in a giant water planet.] Tirek laughed.
[Well, let's hope things are still running smoothly back there. Last I checked, the Ambassadors kept everything together.] Roka said.
[Enough. We must proceed.] Tri'zik said, he quickly leapt into the pool with a large splash, the others quickly following along.
Below them was a large metal platform, being held up by four massive cables. They all slowly stood upon it, looking around. Suddenly a large claw touched the platform, causing it to tilt slightly to the left, another claw reached up as well, eventually along with a large dragon-like head staring directly at them. Tri'zik quickly reached for his staff, but was stopped when the leviathan slowly spoke in their minds.
"Ah.. the young.. Lifeforms. Unfit for the deep waters.. You've come so far to find a way to cure yourselves. I.. am the answer.. You seek.." The leviathan spoke in a female voice, gently letting go of the platform and slowly beginning to dive downwards.
[That was.. Almost like an ancient..] Roka's eyes widened, quickly following the great sea dragon, the others followed as well.
The dragon appeared wingless, housing several tentacles on her backside, which she uses to swim and propel herself through the water. Her scales were blue, mixed with a yellowish texture on her underbelly. Unlike the previous Ancient, this one held six eyes on both sides of her face, each glowing with various different colors.
The land below the group was teeming with life, various coral and schools of fish, swimming happily through the area. Even the albino carnivore was within this place, strangely showing no signs of aggression towards the group nor the fish as it swam around peacefully.
[This.. is.. Simply breathtaking..] Vereesa stared in awe, absolutely amazed by the scenery before her.
[I.. I must.. Not.. cry.. In this helmet..] Tirek started sniffling, trying his best to withstand the beauty of the place.
The sea dragon carefully swam around the four large pillars that were scattered around the place, gently taking a seat in the middle of the aquarium. Peering down at the group who came to stand below her.
"For to long.. I have been here. Imprisoned. The previous inhabitants were testing for a cure for their own deadly device. I knew the answers, but they refused to hear. Now, they're gone and I have been waiting for thousands of years for someone to set us free.." She used one of her tentacles to point to the various lifeforms. "You have questions. I shall answer.."
[What are you, exactly? You almost look like an Ancient. But more.. Seaworthy.] Roka asked.
"I was one like the others. But my curiosity for the ocean worlds changed me greatly. I molded the landscapes. I shaped the creatures of this world.. But then they came and nearly destroyed all of my.. Beloved children.." The sea dragon spoke softly, her voice was calming to their ears. "Now that I am trapped here. I cannot go free and destroy the infection throughout the world." The dragon slowly floated up, before taking a seat near a large mountain of sand, with a deep breath she blew the sand away, revealing a massive gateway, she gazed back at the group. "My kind are extinct. Even underwater, I heard the sounds of battles from this world alone. They did not survive. The Sea Ancients died with our winged-kin. I am the last."
[You refer to an ancient enemy. We know only so little of them.] Tri'zik said. Tirek and Vereesa were busy taking in the sights, while carefully inspecting the life forms around the area.
"The Grox. They are the true enemies of all. You cannot reason with them. They are our greatest failure, they bring us only great shame. Due their corruption, they cannot settle on planets, such as this. They sent their.. Creations. But they ended up destroying themselves by their own weapon. Set me free, children. I will cure you of this infection."
Tri'zik swam over to the large gateway as a small metal box lifted up from the ground and opened up, he beckoned Roka over with the crystal as he quickly swam over, but the crystal was sucked out of his grip and floated right into the metal box, it slammed shut and sunk back into the platform. The portal sparked for a moment, before activating as a large green portal appeared.
"Freedom.. At long last. Thank you, young ones.. Now, I must take my place among the skies.." The sea dragon slowly swam through the portal, while the group followed behind her.
Upon exiting the portal, they found themselves right in front of the massive weapon and not to far from the ship. They made their way back, but not before being halted by the sea dragon.
"This world shall be habitable from now on. With my powers, the infection will be cleansed from this planet. Make a home here and look after my children. For I shall be watching. Perhaps next we meet I will be an ocean current, I will carry seeds to new lands... or a creature so small... it sees the gaps between the grains of sand." The sea dragon smiled widely at them, bowing her head. "Farewell.. Friends.."
[Wait! Wait!] Roka held out a claw, swimming closer. [You must have more to tell us!]
"He knows more than I, young one. Time is running short. You must prepare for what is to come. For they will be more powerful than the last time.." Roka was confused at first, but then realised who she was referring to. Kraskus!
The sea dragon slowly rose to the surface, causing the colonists to back away from the beach. She slowly looked to the sun, emitting a quiet humming noise, it was like a song to her. The large orange planet slowly stopped in front of the sun, causing an eclipse. Her scales began to glow brightly as her energies poured from her body and flowed throughout the ocean currents. Her body slowly turned transparent, she lifted herself into the skies as she continued to unleash her energies throughout the world. The young races all looked up in absolute amazement. Tears flowing down their faces as their eyes changed different colors upon the Ancient's ascendance. It was the most beautiful thing they had ever laid their eyes upon. As the Ancient reached the skies, she slowly faded away into a colorful aurora, it lit the sky up with a burst of blue and yellowish color.
The orange planet slowly moved, revealing the brightness of the sun as the group shielded their eyes. Life beneath the sea started to flourish once more, small pockets of green and colorful plants sprouted from the sand. Various species of fish came out from hiding as they happily swam about in the ocean.
[Allow Tri'zik to turn off the device. You three return to the colonists.] Tri'zik nodded, slowly swimming up to the shore, where the entrance to the gun lied. The other three would make their way back to the others, relieved that it was now over, feeling the cysts in their body no more.
Tri'zik made his way through the weapon facility, using his staff to help him walk as he was started to limp. {You seem slightly damaged. What were you doing?} Cyclo asked.
"Took on some.. Leviathan and some strange pink carnivore of some sort. That last one took a bit of a hit, but Tri'zik managed to strike it down."
{I recommended you seek a bit of medical attention when we are off this planet.}
"He will, don't you worry.." He approached the small terminal, gently reaching out with an arm. Similar to what happened to Roka, a small needle popped out and scanned him for a moment before jabbing his arm and sinking back inside the terminal as the icon turned green and the terminal closed up.
{A message is being broadcasted: Planetary quarantine lifted. Quarantine enforcement platform disabled. We can finally leave.}
Tri'zik smiled widely, slowly making his way back to the ship. Upon arriving, various colonists would be moving crates from the ship and other various equipment on the shore.
"Make sure you use the colonization device. It'll make things a lot easier for you." Tirek nodded at one of the technicians, as they wandered off to get to work. "Anyone else wishing to stay behind, stand by the pile of crates. Anyone wishing to continue onward, hop aboard." Roka spoke up as he went inside the ship, taking in the lovely scenery of it's design. Oh, how he missed it so!
Tirek and Vereesa got back into their pilot seats, leaning back at the same time. "I missed this seat." Tirek said happily, stretching his arms out.
"I missed it to, Tirek. It'll be nice to get back to steering across space once again. Hey, Cyclo? You missed us?" Vereesa chuckled.
{I was always with you. But if you want this moment to be some form of happy reunion. Then yes, I did.} Cyclo said through the intercom.
"Heh.. Hey, Vereesa?" Tirek glanced over at her.
"Hm? What is it?" She looked at him, tilting her head.
"I wanted to thank you again for saving my life. You didn't have to do that back in the foggy river.." He hung his head lightly.
"Hey, we look for our companions. Especially the co-pilot." She cracked a playful grin at him before punching his arm.
"Are we ready to go?" Roka walked in, leaning against the wall.
"Yes, Captain. All systems are back online and everything is repaired. Thanks to Cyclo, of course. Are the colonists ready?" Vereesa looked up at him.
"Ready as they can be. Let's get off this planet." He nodded slowly, taking a seat in the computer room.
"Igniting engines, powering up thrusters." Tirek flipped a few switches.
The ship started to rumble and shake a little, the back thrusters starting to heat up as the door slowly closed shut tight. {Navigation systems online. Fuel: High. Engines: Hot.}
The ship's thrusters activated, blasting them off into the sky as the ship slowly circled around the island before heading upwards into space, while the colonists merely cheered and waved as they departed. "Breaking atmosphere in.. five..four.. Three..two..one." Vereesa pulled down on a gear, causing the ship's thrusters to go at full speed, breaking through the atmosphere of the planet with a loud sonic boom. They shot out into space, finally flying through the cosmos once again! The two pilots took a moment to shake hands, while a few colonists merely clapped. Their time on the planet was over and now the rest of their journey awaited them. Where would they go next?