Brian was in complete awe of the grand hall. This was not the original Blade Ship - there was no way that a Yeerk would make something so grandiose. Then again, Yeerks were never known for their humility. It was conceivable that one would make a massive room such as this so that all who walked in would be feeling what West was feeling at this particular moment.
The hall was a perfect cube - thirty by thirty by thirty meters. At the middle of each wall was a door, and it looked like it was no more than just a giant cube connecting four other rooms together. The walls themselves were chrome, almost mirror-like. Brian half-expected to see someone walking behind him and McCain in the walls, in accordance with stereotypical B-Rated horror flicks.
As the door behind them closed smoothly shut, Brian could already feel something was amiss. The architecture, or something along those lines wasn't right. This wasn't... Yeerk. On a ship, luxuries were very little, with the exception of the overseeing Visser. Somehow it just didn't feel right to Brian.
The pair slowly stepped to the center of the cube. "Feels odd in here," Brian muttered over his and Chris' private channel. He had ordered everyone to close their channels to just those they were grouped with. If help was needed, the main frequency was still open.
"Mmm. Quite." Apparently Chris had the same feeling. "There's no lighting."
Brian surveyed his surroundings. McCain was right. There was no source of light, yet he and Chris could see just as well as if he were standing in Quantico in the middle of the day. "You're right. Something's up. Keep your eyes open."
You are mine, now.
The non-existant light source shut out.
*****
Katrina shivered. For whatever reason, the entity's speech seemed muffled, as if the statement were made from a distance. It was obvious that it wasn't meant for her, and thus was directed toward another group.
Michele likewise shuddered; despite having undergone training to take on races of many forms (through the help of Andalites whose variety of morphs collected over the years gave them many possible scenarios to work over), this was different. That hybrid of human and... creature - it wasn't something that anyone, no matter how rigidly trained, could handle without any sort of breakdown.
However, for the two remaining women in Seraphim, a gentle quaking was all they allowed themselves. Regardless of how miniscule the reaction was, it allowed them to release a portion of the tension, something that very rarely did they ever have time to do. The world's future was unknown, with the losses of Earth's legends. A familiar thought popped back into Michele's mind, something Brian had drilled into everyone's mind since Day 1 of his command - They didn't have legends when they took on an entire species, to defend an entire planet. We're only preserving the peace.
The hallways were made of a dark marble-esque material - probably taken from some species they conquered long ago. It seemed to stretch for miles, but Katrina realized that it just curved off to the right, giving the illusion of a neverending road. The light fixtures overhead, however, seemed old. They resembled very closely to the flourescent lightbulbs that her small encampment in Iraq had during her time as a Green Beret. The doors on either side were much like that of the ones that were on the Michael, but with added security. Katrina patted the side of her M-25; she had all the keys she would need.
Michaelson shivered again; something was wrong. The air, still. The only motion, or sound, was originating from either Katrina or Michele. As if the entity, this One, had powers that the mythical Ellimist had. It didn't feel quite right.
That's when the door directly to her right exploded.
*****
The HTC --
"--is a goddamn piece of shit!" Frost cried from below. Fox ignored him; he was too busy keeping an eye on the radar.
The civvie Frost had thankfully clocked was conscious. Coherence was still somewhat not there - Frost packed quite a punch for a fighter jock - but no one seemed to pay him any mind. He was a younger man, probably an Ensign, that had delusions of grandeur when the Michael was first attacked. At least, that was Kerell's presumptions of him. Giving humans the benefit of the doubt was never the Andalite's strong suit.
And, down in the cramped Engineering section of the HTC, patience was never Derek's strong suit. "Graaaaah!" Metal landing on metal, followed by the hiss of steam. Something broke.
Fox sighed. He looked back to Tank. "Mr. Breven, would you please assist our agitated comrade?"
Tank nodded, looking likewise haggard. It had been two hours since the destruction of the Michael, and the HTC was literally coming apart, piece by piece. Distress signals were being sent a regular intervals, but even with the advanced technology that came post-Invasion, it would be weeks before anyone heard it, and more weeks before anyone could get back. Regardless of those setbacks, what was worse about their current situation was that their communications system was damaged; they didn't even know if their signal was even being sent to Earth.
Fox had considered taking off, but that would mean leaving the people inside the Blade Ship which was not an option, in anyone's mind.
But... something wasn't right. He had rigged the radar so that it would track the HEVs of the surviving Alpha Dogs, but only minutes ago, all disappeared simultaneously, and never reappeared. Fox knew it had to have been a result of Frost's fooling around, but the calmer of the two Dumb Fucks wondered if it was something more. It didn't make any sense, though.
Kerell appeared back in the small turbolift. The HTC, as small as it seemed, felt somehow larger on the inside. The living quarters were small, but capable of holding up to ten people at one time. As everyone had agreed to sleep in shifts, the quarters were actually comfortable. The Andalite, however, seemed to have other things on his mind. Lieutenant Fox.
Drake served around in his command chair. "Yeah?"
For once, Kerell didn't seem to think much of Fox's lack of formality. I believe I found the ship's arsenal.
"How big?"
Kerell shrugged. Yet another human guesture picked up by the centaur-esque species. I haven't completely checked it over, but there is quite a bit of ammunition in there. Enough to equip everyone twice over. M-25s, flashbangs, various explosives, various ammunition. Some Shredders.
Fox nodded. "You have something in mind?"
The Captain shook his head. Not at this time, but it's nice to know we have more options available to us.
"Shit!"
Both Kerell and Fox rolled their eyes. You'd better check it out. Tank alone can't keep Frost from breaking things.
*****
The recreation center was completely sealed off. Tormak and Carbron, with Cassie trailing, were stuck inside the deck, particularly the Yeek Pool. How that was considered recreation, only the Yeerks know, and there weren't any in the Pool to ask.
So far, the Blade Ship was more empty than Cassie had ever seen it to be.
The Pool was about twenty five meters long, thirty meters wide, with a height of perhaps five meters. The Pool was really a number of spa-sized tanks, twenty-five to be exact, all hooked up to an unseen source of Kadrona rays. Upon lifting the cover of each one, they found not a single Yeerk inside.
And then the lights exploded from above.
Immediately, Tormak and Carbron switched on their HEV's night-vision feature, with the Andalite accessing Cassie's and doing it for her. Brenner seemed only marginally spooked by the incident. Both of the non-humans knew that she had seen things that they could only imagine, and very little of it was pleasant. Tormak quietly pumped an incendiary shell into his Mossberg M990, and slowly moved down between a row of tanks. He motioned for Carbron to check the back entrance, the only other way in or out aside from the door the Hork-Bajir went to check. Cassie noticed both people taking out a small, handheld contraption and placing it against the hinges of their respective doors, which glowed for a moment, and then sizzled back to normalcy.
They returned to the relative protection of the tanks, weapons in hand, Tormak his Mossberg, Carbron his Barrett M84A7 rifle. Cassie held on to her Glock, which felt very awkward in her hands. Her weapon of choice was her body, or whatever body she happened to be using at the time, perferrably wolf, and projectile weapons didn't seem to have the same capacity as a wolf's fangs.
And then she remembered what Commander West did to the first enemy they encountered.
"Now we're completely sealed in," Tormak replied, with only a hint of relaxation. The tension was only building in his voice.
"What did those things do to the door?" Cassie asked.
Carbron held up the small, Shredder-like instrument. It literally melts the hinge of the door. The doors are now like walls.
"How do we get out?"
Tormak brought up a command on his HEV, and the portions of the suit covering his blades retracted. "I have a key."
Brenner couldn't help but smile. Somehow the Hork-Bajir's humor calmed her nerves, along with Carbron's soothing voice.
Then the doors began to glow, signs of unimaginable heat originating from the other side of either entrance.
*****
"When you're face to face with your brother, someone you knew all your life, and now someone who is your mortal enemy, you begin to understand that one day, one of you is going to die. It's not a matter of if; it's a matter of when. You accept it and move on. That's the nature of the beast."
--"Professor" Jake Berenson.