Deimos could feel his heart pound against his chest and his body shake as he hid, crouched in the furthest corner of the unfamiliar ship's storage area.
It was easier than he thought to sneak in, the two aliens were too distracted with pre-flight preparations and the possibility that they'd get in trouble for leaving their posts to suspect someone uninvited might be hidden on their vessel.
He pressed a hand against the goggles over his eyes to make sure they were still securely wrapped around his head. They blocked the red glow that his eyes emitted and made it even easier to hide, but he didn't dare let himself grow cocky.
Deimos didn't know what would be waiting for him if he managed to make it to wherever they came from, he didn't know if he would be able to help anyone, or if he was heading towards his death.
That was why he needed to focus, he couldn't let his guard down, he needed all the information he could so he could get out of this alive. If I get out of this alive…
Carefully, he leaned sideways to peek between metal crates. He could see the staircase that led to the flight deck of the ship and their shadows pressed against the floor.
"Do you have the coordinates?" The anxious voice of the green alien asked.
The purple one scoffed, she seemed to be constantly annoyed by her companion. "Yes. I told them we left to scout that one yellow planet for more primitive subjects but we didn't find anything. They told me where they're stationed right now. We can get there in two long warps."
"Should we make it three short and two long just in case?"
She sighed. "Sure, whatever."
"You're sure they haven't suspected us?"
She made a growling noise. "Do you really think they give a shit if we sell some primitive species junk? We've been doing it for cycles now! Stars above, shut up and get off this planet if you're so worried!"
Deimos wondered how they had managed to keep sneaking away to sell stuff if they hated each other so much. The money must be good. Did they do the same thing with my stuff? Probably… He thought with a flare of anger.
There was more shuffling, some button pressing, and then the ship suddenly jumped upwards. Deimos stumbled and latched onto the metal crate. The familiar lurch in his stomach let him know that the ship had lifted off, and was rising towards the vast expanse of space.
He swallowed a lump in his throat. No going back now…
They flew in silence for a while, with only shuffling and clicking buttons as their company. Then, he heard the green alien speak again. "Thirty seconds to warp."
Deimos felt his heart race with excitement, he couldn't help it. He'd never been on a ship that could warp before. To be able to fly through space that fast… It was a luxury many couldn't afford, and he was about to feel what it felt like to cut through the galaxy with a wormhole.
"Three, two, one…"
There was a flash of bright blue light, and suddenly the ship flew forward faster than the speed of light. Deimos lost his grip instantly and tumbled across the floor. Several of the metal crates scraped along the ground, many nearly crushed him along the way.
Too shocked to move, Deimos curled himself up into a ball as the ship rumbled through the blue glare. Then, as suddenly as it had started, the ship lurched to a stop. The crates and Deimos were thrown forward, the metal floor serving as a painful landing platform.
The human used his hands to push himself upwards, his red eyes wide, his goggles askew. That was AWESOME! He thought with a wild grin. It felt just like zipping through the sky in his small zipcraft, an adrenaline rush that he always wanted more of! Oh he so needed a warp drive-
"Did you forget to strap down the cargo again?!" The green alien whined.
Deimos froze.
"Oh, just shut up and warp." The purple alien hissed.
Deimos relaxed, for once thankful for their arguing. He fixed his goggles and quickly searched for a new place to hide. Up above him, he saw a mess of thick nets tied to the ceiling and some supplies shoved inside of them. Perfect.
With a careful glance towards the stairs, he climbed on a crate and vaulted upwards. He found an opening and slid inside. It was much easier to hold on for dear life here, and much harder to see him.
I'll wait here until the warps are over. He decided after a moment. He didn't know what would be waiting for him at the edge of the last wormhole, but there was no time to wonder. I'll be ready for whatever these bastards try.
It took about thirty minutes for a warp drive to recharge from what Deimos was able to track on his communicator. But from what he had heard from Hifuld, if you overused it you could risk damaging the entire drive.
"You can do a few warps one after another, but after that you may want to wait a few days before doing that again. Most people do, warp drives are too expensive to waste and it can damage your engine too." They had told him.
These aliens didn't seem to care about that, they jumped several times one right after another. At first Deimos was confused, why endanger your entire ship? Seconds later he quickly figured out why. A more erratic trail was harder to track, and for abductors like them, they needed all the precautions they could get.
Finally, they reached their destination. He wasn't sure how he knew, he had lost count of the anxious green alien's coordinated warps. He didn't have a window or a screen to watch, nothing to tell him his location. Yet somehow, deep within his gut, he knew.
This feeling was confirmed when the two aliens' got up and walked down into the storage area. Deimos quickly froze, hoping the black fabric he was laying on top of would hide him long enough to sneak out.
The green alien glanced at all the messy crates and made a strange, anxious noise. "Oh this is such a mess, I knew I should have double checked everything…"
"You star-scattered nebula head…" The purple alien hissed under her breath, sound completely done with the entire situation and she slammed her fist against a red button on the side of the wall.
There was the sound of screeching metal as the floor of the storage room started to lower into a ramp. (The crates managed to avoid tumbling down thanks to all being pushed up against the stairs and far wall.) A white light emitted from the outside, but looked a lot more like fluorescent light than a sun or moon.
Deimos frowned and angled his head to glance down the ramp. He saw the gray metal floors slowly turn into polished white ones. In the middle of the floor was a square of glass, displaying the vast expanse of space. His heart lurched. This isn't a hidden outpost, their base is a bigger ship!
No wonder Pezel and the others had such a hard time tracking down these abductors. They were always on the move, and he had no doubt they had warp drives for these ships too. It would be nearly impossible to find a constantly moving ship that you didn't even know you're looking for.
Before he could panic further, an cyan alien in a gray coat walked into view. He stopped at the edge, just before the ramp, and his four eyes glanced around the room. They stopped on a specific crate, and his beak-like mouth morphed into a frown. "Scouting, you said?"
Deimos and the two other aliens quickly glanced to where he was looking. One of the upturned crates had cracked open, revealing a pile of things that definitely looked to Deimos like no-contact planet contraband.
Instantly, the green alien scrambled down the ramp. "It was her idea, sir! She said she was selling something on the side and I'd get a cut if I flew her! I didn't know what it was!"
"Oh you lying piece of asteroid dust!" The purple one snarled from the top of the ramp. "You were right on board with me every damn time, don't try to play innocent!"
"I didn't!" He yelled back. "I didn't even want to go this time! But you just had to pay for your azuregrass addiction! How much of that did you smoke while we were there?!"
"Says the one who wanted to use the money to get a fancy new navigation system! Where were you planning to take yourself with that? Hopefully to a black hole where I'd never have to hear from you again!"
The four eyed alien watched them argue with a blank expression. Suddenly, he raises his voice in a loud, commanding tone. "SILENCE, BOTH OF YOU!"
To the human's surprise, the two of them immediately froze and whipped around to face him. The green alien was shaking, and even the purple alien had lost her bravado personality.
There was still no rage on his face, but anyone could tell that he was not happy. He crossed two of his four arms, and motioned to the outside with his other two. "You will follow me. We will sort out what to do about these transgressions before you grow foolish enough to try this stunt again."
"Y-yes sir…" The green alien squeaked, and quickly scampered down the ramp.
The purple alien nodded tensely. "Of course, sir." Then moved to follow as well.
Deimos felt a plan formulate as his sharp red eyes danced around the room. She had left the ramp open, whether on purpose or by mistake he didn't care. He could jump down once they were gone, and sneak further in from there.
All he had to do was wait until they were gone and then-
A sudden chiming noise erupted from his wrist, and his blood ran cold. My communicator! He had forgotten that the shipyard had planned to call when his parts had arrived! How could I be so stupid?! He slammed his hand on top of it to stop the noise, but the damage had already been done.
The three outlaws were on alert, scanning the ship for a sign of him. The purple one found him first. Her eyes went wide, and she opened her mouth to yell.
Quick as a flash, Deimos slashed one of his many knives against the netting and flew down. His feet crashed into her chest and sent her against the metal floor with a loud crash.
He threw his hand out to one of the metal crates and let a familiar red glow cover it. He spun around and flicked his wrist, hurtling it towards the green and cyan men. The green alien didn't have the reflexes to dodge in time, but the cyan one did.
As Deimos grabbed another crate, he saw those four eyes light up in what looked like shock. "You!"
He tried to back up, only to stumble over the unconscious green alien. "INTRUDER-" He began, before one of the metal crates slammed into him as well.
Stealth had been his hope, but any chances of that had disappeared in a puff of smoke. He skidded down the ramp as he yanked his goggles off, letting his eyes glow in the bright lights.
He could see several different types of ships, all with the same white symbol, and many aliens glancing out of them frantically. At the edge of the large room, there was a large glass panel near the ceiling to what looked like a control room, and near the bottom saw what looked like some kind of elevator or door. That's my way in!
The sound of blasters broke out of his stupor. He jumped to the side and scrambled near the edge of the room, nearly hit by several shots on his way.
He jumped up, landed on one of the several ships' wings, and threw a blade towards one of the firing aliens. It embedded itself in the palm of their hand and they screeched in shock, the blaster clattering from their hand.
Deimos grabbed the blaster quickly, and shot at the man standing on the ship's deck. A hit to the arm and chest knocked him down, his gun falling off the side of the ship.
He landed on the deck, exposed. A burning pain against his right arm made him flinch, his clothes sizzling from a blaster shot that grazed him. He threw his arm out in time for a glowing red shield to block a second shot. Then, using his own blaster, he shot the assaulter in the stomach, and jumped off the deck.
In a mad dash, he was halfway across the room. It was hard to focus and keep his shield up when he was also trying to plan his attack. He could feel their shots hit his shield, and knew he would run out of energy if they kept this up. If I can just get through the door!
But just as he made it a third of the way there, the door was suddenly blocked by a heavy metal blaster door. He skidded to a stop, and his surprise caused him to lose his focus. The shield dropped, just in time for another blaster shot to hit the back of his left shoulder.
"Gah!" He threw his hands out again, and focused all his energy on the shield as he stumbled backwards. Think, think, think! His red eyes glanced up. There!
It was hard to focus in the chaos, but he let his eyes guide him. A red glow surrounded the metal crate he had used to hit the cyan alien, and he sent it as fast as he could towards the glass window of the room at the ceiling. It shattered on impact, raining down like a glittering storm.
Deimos took a deep breath and jumped, landing on another ship. Then he pulled his powers around himself, flying upwards towards the opening. Flying was the hardest, and took the most energy, if he missed now he wouldn't have another chance.
He managed to tumble towards his destination, but crashed into left behind glass along the way. It stung, but he forced himself to stand up and look.
There is only one panicked alien in this room. They turned towards the control panel, but before they could press anything he had grabbed them by their lab coat, and tossed them through the broken window.
Deimos scanned the room, and found the door near the edge. It had a keypad, but he didn't have time for that. With a quick shot of his blaster, the door sparked and slid open.
He skidded into a long hallway, and was surprised to find none of the aliens aiming at him. Instead, several of them glanced at him in shock and scrambled back in a panic. In a moment of satisfaction he realized they had not expected him to do that.
He swiftly grabbed more knives and threw them out. The first got hit in the chest, the other in the stomach, and the last in the leg. They must not have been armed, because they scrambled away as fast as they could without trying to counter attack.
The hallway was suddenly empty, which was suspicious. But Deimos hoped their surprise at his quick thinking would last long enough for him to get a look around and hopefully find what he was looking for.
He ran to the first door, and shot the keypad. It slid open and he aimed quickly, ready to strike, only to frown at the sight of storage crates. A dead end, he moved to the next one, the same thing. Then he turned to the door on the other side, another empty room.
He tried a door in the middle of the hall, he shot the door like before, and dashed inside with his gun raised. This time, however, a terrified shriek made him skid to a stop and gasp.
This room wasn't just a room, it was another hallway. On the walls, he saw dozens of cells with energy fields for doors. Inside were dozens of aliens. He searched for any species he recognized, but he found none. They were abducted from no-contact planets, like me…
His wide red eyes landed on four aliens. He saw two children, and two men holding them close. They stared at him in complete terror, their bodies trembled in fear, and the children sobbing against their parents' chests.
When he moved to step forward, the men scrambled backwards with a horrified screech, pushing the children behind them in a weak attempt to protect them.
"No, wait! I- I- I'm here to help you!" He desperately tried, but their expression didn't change. It only took a second for the cold wash of reality to hit him. "But you don't know that… You don't have a translator chip…"
I didn't either, when I first came here. He remembered suddenly as he gripped his throbbing head. Translators can work one way too, but they never used my language around me until I tried to escape. I was trapped, with no way to talk to anyone, and no clue what they planned to do to me…
He looked into those eyes again, and realized he knew exactly how they were feeling. It made the fury within him boil stronger.
Deimos knew he couldn't stay any longer, he needed to move on and find a way to take control of the ship, or a safe way to contact the Galactic System.
"I'll free you, all of you, I promise." He told the captives, even though they couldn't understand his words. It fueled his determination to succeed, and helped to remind him that his life was no longer the only one on the line.
He turned to go through the door he had come from, but something made him stop. A feeling made him turn, and glance at the end of the prison cells. There was another door. That one. I need to go that way. He didn't understand where this had come from, but he followed his instinct anyway.
On the other side of the door, he was in another hallway. It went all the way down, with one side having a few doors, the other a window, and a heavy metal door at the end. Unlike the last door that went through, this one was prepared for his arrival. He saw dozens of guards, these ones well equipped with high powered blasters.
As they fired, Deimos threw his hands out in a wave of red energy. The power sent several of the men flying, but his power dissipated before it could reach the ones near the end of the hall. What? He thought, confused, but didn't get a chance to think about it any more as the butt of a gun flew towards his face.
He yelped and dodged, slid around the alien, and slashed a knife against the back of his knees. With a screech, the alien fell face first to the ground.
Deimos spun around and aimed his blaster, shooting at the nearby guards. It took several shots to down one of them, and when he aimed the gun at the other it only clicked. He glanced at the screen on the side and swore. It needed time to recharge!
He shoved the gun in his bag and pulled up a shield again, charging forward to slam his weight against the next guard. They tumbled and crashed into a second, who didn't have time to react. Using his powers, he lifted the men and threw them forward. They hurtled towards the two guards at the door, who were unable to dodge the collision.
He waited tensely for them to jump up and fight, but all he heard was weak groans. Then, from behind him, he heard the sounds of blasters and a burning pain slammed into his back and right calf. "ARGH!" He stumbled forward, his vision growing a little fuzzy.
Go! Go now! He scrambled to steady his feet and ran towards the next door. His leg burned, but adrenaline pushed him on. The next shots flew past him or grazed him, but he couldn't take his chances. He had to go inside and find cover, before they managed to hit him again.
Using one of his knives, he managed to hit the keypad and open the door. He ran inside, and scanned the room quickly. There were glass tubes that were pumping some kind of green liquid, metal vats that hummed and had red and yellow warning labels on them, and in the middle of it all was a tube filled with a red tinted liquid.
As he stared he felt his heart pick up. There was someone inside! Their eyes were closed, there was an oxygen mask attached to their face, and dozens of tubes attached to the back. Another captive? He frowned, his head starting to hurt. Do I… Have I been here before?
The sound of footsteps made him whip around. There was a crowd coming towards him. He felt himself panic, he was cornered! No, I can get through! He raised his hands with a red glow surrounding them to raise a shield-
Suddenly, there was a violent screeching sound that seemed to echo through the room and his mind. He cried out in pain and slammed his hands against his ears, but the sound was still there. It was like his brain was being torn apart cell by cell, and he couldn't focus on anything else other than the pain.
He stumbled as the blasters shot again. One hit him in the stomach, another in the leg. The pain was too much, he slammed back against the glass tube and slid to the ground. With weak, heavy breaths, he forced his eyes open.
It was him. The alien with the white exoskeleton and snake-like grin from his memories. The one who had stopped his escape attempt last time, his captor.
Deimos felt rage, but no matter how hard he tried the only thing he could focus on was the pain. The bastard seemed to understand this too, because his smile grew wider.
"Oh my, now wasn't this a surprise?" He walked further in the room, his blaster still aimed at the human. "After all this time, I was not expecting to see the dead come back to life."
With a hiss of pain, Deimos let his hands drop to his sides. "W-what?"
The white alien chuckled. "We thought you all died that day, when the lab was destroyed. A sad casualty to lose our favorite lab rat, even if you had not yielded any results just yet." He motioned to the human's red eyes. "But now I see, our experiment worked. A shame I didn't check the wreckage as closely as I should have."
Deimos gritted his teeth, and forced his voice to work. "A shame you didn't die there either."
This made the alien throw his head back and laugh. He laughed. Deimos frowned, an uneasy feeling building up in his chest. Why was he laughing?
"Oh you foolish primitive. You think I want you dead? No, not now that we know our experiment worked. You are exactly what we wanted."
Deimos felt panic grip him. "N-no! I'll kill you before I let you use me like a lab rat again!"
The white alien motioned to him. "You are a fool if you think you can escape now. Our little machine helps to scramble with psychics like you, you won't be able to use your powers anymore. That's for us to play with."
"We can learn why it worked on you, and make more. We will finally have this power for ourselves, and it will all be thanks to you. You walked right into our hands." His grin became sharp, excited, and mocking. "Thank you so much for coming back home!"
"No…" Deimos croaked, his blood running cold.
The white alien motioned to the guards at his side. "Knock him out, then take him to the prepared cell."
"NO!" Deimos yelled. He couldn't fail, not again, he wouldn't let them win! Even if he had to die to stop them, then that's exactly what he would do.
He scanned the room desperately, and his eyes landed on the humming metal vats. The red labels, the yellow labels, that had to mean something. It was his only chance, he had to try!
He threw his hand into his bag and yanked out the blaster again. Please! PLEASE! As the guards panicked and lunged at him, he pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
A suffocating darkness was what Deimos awoke to. He could hear alarms in the distance and the hissing of air being released. He could smell something acidic, and then, suddenly, he felt terrible, burning pain all down his side.
He opened his eyes, taking in the darkened room. The only light came from the few lights that had survived the blast. He coughed and blood splattered on the dark metal in front of his eyes. What… Happened? He turned his head with great effort away from the wall he had been thrown against and towards the rest of the room.
The room was destroyed. The metal vats were both broken and charred black. The green liquid from the glass pipes now soaked the floor, and seemed to be emitting an acidic smell.
There was a pile of unmoving bodies on the floor. The explosion may not have killed them, but they were right under the green pipe when the explosion happened. Now, he realized that the liquid was burning through their skin, eating it away like it was nothing. It had devoured so much of their bodies that he couldn't tell who was who anymore.
Deimos hissed as he felt a burning pain all across his left side, and against his face. He could see the green liquid had covered much of the floor, including underneath him. You need to get up. He told himself with urgency. Or else you'll end up like that too.
Every movement sent sharp spikes of pain through him, but Deimos managed to bring both arms out and push himself up. He nearly lost his balance as his bloodshot eyes saw his left arm and hand. The clothing had been burned away, and the skin was blistered, bloody, and pink as if the skin had been completely eaten away. The morbid sight made him wonder what the rest of his burning side looked like. He felt nauseous at the thought and quickly forced himself to focus on getting to his feet.
He grabbed at one of the pipes on the wall with his right hand and used it as an anchor to pull his body up. He crashed into the wall and the sudden burst of pain nearly made his legs give out. It was only thanks to the wall and pipe's support that he didn't collapse.
Deimos blinked slowly and glanced down at where he had been laying moments ago. There was the green, viscous acid from the pipes, but it seemed to have been mixed with a slimy, red liquid. Was it blood? No, it looked too cloudy to be blood. It had to be what he had seen inside of the...
Instantly, panic broke through the painful fogginess that had wrapped around his brain. It's from the test tube! His eyes flew upwards, but instead of a floor to ceiling test tube in the middle of the room, all that was left was jagged shards of glass and pieces of sharp metal scattered across the room. There- There was a person in there, I know there was! What happened to them?!
Deimos pushed himself off the wall towards the destroyed sight. He stumbled and nearly fell, but managed to grab the jagged glass of the broken container before he tumbled. It dug into his skin painfully, but he didn't care. He leaned forward, and looked down into the remains of the tube.
He could see a small pool of the red liquid resting in the metal base of the tube, and a figure slumped over in it. Her skin was a carmine red color that faded into darker shades on her hands and feet. Her hair was long, down to her feet, but horribly matted, as if nobody had cared for it in decades. She was painfully thin, wore a threadbare lab gown, her head was slumped forward, and he couldn't even tell if she was alive.
The smell of burning flesh made him gag, he glanced back at the bodies on the floor, then towards the one in the tube. I need to get out of this room and call for help, but I can't leave her here.
Carefully, Deimos scooped the lightweight alien into his arms. Every step was painful, but he forced himself to keep moving. He couldn't stop now, not until all those abducted were safely off the ship.
The white hallways were stained a red color as the alarms blared, but otherwise were completely deserted. He guessed that the explosion caused all the others to evacuate, because he was able to walk all the way up to the bridge unhindered.
Once there, he gently set the limp alien down on the captain's chair, and moved to the control panel. As much as he wanted to fly the ship to safety right away, he wasn't sure how much longer he would manage to stay conscious. He needed help. His left hand shook and his mind worked quickly as he tried to think of who he could count on to get to him quickly. One name came to mind instantly.
He typed in the number and waited for a few moments, until Pezel's familiar voice echoed through the console. "Hello? This is Pezel, Director of Intergalactic Relations. May I ask who is calling?"
"Pezel…" Deimos croaked, his voice shaky and hoarse. "I-It's Deimos. I- I need help."
He heard a sharp intake of breath. "Deimos?! What's wrong, what happened, where are you?!"
Too many confusing questions that his pain-addled mind couldn't handle. He pressed a few more buttons. "A lab, abductors. ..Found 'em. Hurt. Other captives here too. I s-sent coordinates…"
"I have them, I have them. I'm coming with some galactic officers as fast as I can!" There was frantic rustling on the other side of the communication line. "You stay alive, you hear me?! I'll be there soon! Stay. Alive!"
The line disconnected, and Deimos released a sigh of relief. His legs gave out and he fell to the floor. His breathing became more labored as he rested his head against the console's side. Help is coming, thank the stars… We'll be okay. He slowly turned his head. Except… I think it might be too late for-
Deimos's thoughts came to a sudden halt as he realized that the alien he had pulled from the remains of the tube had begun to move. Her body grew tense with fright, and she quickly lifted her head. As their gazes met, Deimos felt his heart seize at the sight of her eyes. Her glowing red eyes.
They stared at each other in awe for several long seconds. Then, the red alien's fear disappeared, and she smiled.
"I've been waiting for you, Orihara Izaya."
