Unlikely Heroes
Chapter 31: More Mysteries and Action
Napoleon was fast and managed to jump in front of the bullet, taking the hit. However, after a few seconds, the male vampire stood up, and the wound healed over. "You okay?" Pachira asked and her boyfriend nodded. It was now 9:00 pm on the bridge. The light shown more on the attacker revealing a face that was thin with quiet the red color of hair.
"Laymond?" Parker asked, a bit surprised. "That's you isn't it?"
The new male smirked. "The DSAA," he said. "A little too late."
"What is the DBC doing here?" the first male human asked. Laymond let out a chuckle. "Answer me Laymond!"
"I don't have to answer anything. You have no authority over this."
"There's no time to fight," Jill stated. "We've gotta- "
"Give it a rest," the second male human said, cutting her off. "You don't even know why you're here or who you're fighting."
He began to walk away. "Laymond!" Parker stated. "Stop right there!"
"Nothing will change, unless you get your hands dirty." The guy then walked out of the room.
"Mind explaining how you know him?" Logan asked Parker.
The male human told the story of during the panic how he, Laymond, and Jessica all fought during it when Parker was still part of the DBC, and the second male human had been but a cadet. "So the DBC's on this ship to," Jill said.
"What's going on here?" Napoleon asked with a frown.
"We're operating without any intel," Parker stated. "We need to search this ship for answers. Not that I relish the idea."
It was then down some steps that took the group to a different hallway. The elevator here didn't work so that wasn't any good. But then after going down the hall and through a doorway to some kind of meeting room, Jill found a golden key with a steering wheel design at one end. There had been a few doors passed by that had the exact same symbol that could now be accessed. There was also another custom parts kit in here. The new key was then used on a door that had the symbol that led to another meeting room. On a table the female human found a discarded message. It had been written by someone who was scared of dying by the enemies that had been killed already when the ship was taken over. Then on a bookshelf, a crest was picked up that looked like it could use to get the shotgun that had been passed by before. Then Logan found another thing that was interesting.
"Take a look at this," he said.
"What is it?" Uma asked after everyone had come over.
"Looks like a history about this ship. I'll hold onto it after we're done reading it."
The first page had general information about the ship, from length, height, and things like that. The next page then went on to say the ship was constructed in 1978, and the interior was designed to look like ships from the 1930s. Then it went on to say how the name was chosen. Then in the 80s when air travel became more popular it appeared this ship along with another that was called her sister ship were to be scrapped. Luckily the ship was purchased by the Daraguas Line Company and modernized. After this, the ship went to cruises around the world before coming to the Meditation. "I would have loved to have been on this before this happened," Pachira said. "It sounded like a romantic location…"
"I'll find another for you," Napoleon told her with a smile.
Jill then went into the room next door and found a chair with a man sitting in it. The female turned him around as it was that kind of chair to find him dead. There was a smell coming from him and some kind of slime with maggots fell from the open mouth. Logan came in and saw it to. "How horrible," he said softly. "It must have been a painful death."
The only other thing in here was a map of the upper interior which was taken. "We should find an emergency communication room if we go through the hall," Jill said, looking at the map.
"Maybe we can contact HQ that way," Logan said.
"Lead us on then," Uma told the female human.
"And while we're at it, find Laymond," Parker commented.
The group rode the elevator back up. The new key was then used to get into a room that had some illegal custom parts that were taken. The group also visited the room where the shot gun was and Jill grabbed that. As soon as she did, an enemy came out of the closet nearby and was quickly killed. But then in a little bit, a new type of monster was encountered. While most of it looked like the first one, the right arm formed a sort of organic crossbow that it could fire projectiles at the group. But this wasn't a problem to kill. This was at the dining room like area and there were more that were disposed of. Before they tried the key on a barred section, Jill took the time to upgrade her guns. Then the key was used which allowed the bars to be moved out of the way to reveal a double door with a helm steering while on it. It even turned like one and both opened to reveal a tiny hallway with an identical door. The group opened it and went forward.
"My god…" Uma whispered and was floored by what she saw as were the other females.
"No kidding," Logan agreed as Napoleon let out an impressed whistle.
The group saw the richly colored carpet and stairs that matched. All of it was like found in a mansion or palace. There were pillars and the group could see the bottom floor that had a fancy design in the middle. "Now this is what I call a cruise ship," the male wizard commented. "It's like an opera house."
"So, where is the emergency communication room?" Parker asked.
Jill continued the lead the way. She found another door, but couldn't get it open. The male human then noticed something next to it. "Looks like someone posted a note," he said.
Everyone took a look and saw it was from the comms officer, stating the door next to this was to the emergency communication room, but nobody got in without his key or permission. If someone wanted these they could find him at the promenade deck. Underneath this was a note that appeared to be from the same officer stating he was heading there since there was food and the ship was crawling with monsters. Any survivors could find him there. "That's next to the hall," Logan said. "Let's go."
"We should be able to find the key we need," Uma commented.
Jill led the way down to the first floor and through the doors to a hallway where the floor was marble, more stairs that went down and well-lit by lights. Suddenly everyone heard a voice. "Mayday… Mayday…" It was slightly distorted. They also heard the voice say the name of this ship.
"That voice would make most people run," Pachira said, going to Napoleon's side with a worried look.
"I don't know," Logan commented. "Sounds like an invitation to me."
Jill led the way and the voice got louder and clearer. Then after going through a couple of doors, the group made it. "Looks like we found the promenade deck," Parker stated.
This place was like a two story mall with shops and dining areas. Napoleon then spotted a couple of enemies and shot them quickly. "There's monsters hiding around every corner," he growled.
"And we have yet to find one striver," Jill said.
"I'm beginning to think they're aren't any," Uma commented.
The female human then found a sliding metal door that was lifted up. The voice was closer know and everyone followed it towards a small room. They heard it loud and clear along with pounding on a door which was also here. The thing was locked. "Be careful," Napoleon said. "Whatever's behind there was probably locked in for a reason."
"I'll get the lock with my knife," Jill said and crept up to the door, taking the weapon out. "On three, get ready to shot."
Everyone got into position and she counted, striking at the chains, causing the lock to fall. The door was thrown off its hinges, knocking her to the ground as something burst out. "What the-?!" she asked as Uma used her magic to bring Jill away and back on her feet. Everyone else took a step back.
They saw a slightly taller than Parker body that was bulkier, fleshy, and with pillar like legs. The skin was grey save for the flesh colored patch where something that looked like a human head and remains was poking out of the left side. Where the main head should have been there was only massively fanged maw that was opening vertically. The left arm had spines on it and was like a flipper. The right was muscular and ended with folds of flesh that when swung, acted like a buzz saw. "Careful!" Parker stated as he and some of the others fired. "He looks stronger than the others!"
They heard the new monster stated words that made it sound like it knew what was going on but still attacked. "Oh shit, I think this creature might be the Comms Officer," Napoleon groaned.
"I think you're right!" the male human agreed. "He's not in any condition to communicate with anyone!"
"Guys; look!" Uma suddenly stated and the rest saw more common enemies beginning to appear including canisters that had material inside that could be blown up with a shot. They knew these would help.
Others that had been seen before began to come out. Jill took the way out through one of the windows that surrounded the room. The new boss like enemy came after her and the female human fired at one of the tanks. It exploded in a fiery ball of fire and metal, causing the thing to go to the knees. She kicked at it with all her strength which seemed to do some damage. Jill then had to move as this monster was quick to recover. It then became a game of move and dodge to avoid the enemies. But there wasn't enough room up on this level. "Down to the first floor!" Napoleon barked as he punched one of the common enemies and it was hard enough to splatter the head, killing it.
Everyone jumped down and the enemies were quick to follow. Another container was found and used to cause an explosion. Even the detonators and grenades picked up so far were used. But the main lumbering monster still took the beating each time as the group continued to attack and move. "Persistent son of a bitch!" Parker stated after the fifth time the main enemy got up. "All these mutated freaks are a real pain in the ass!"
But then finally after what seemed to take forever, the monster fell after one more shot from Jill. The thing fell to the ground and then exploded. The only thing left behind was an item. But first the rest of the enemies had to be killed. Once that was finished, Pachira noticed the thing left behind. "Is that the key to the emergency communication room?" she asked.
Jill picked it up to show it was. "Looks like it," Napoleon said after looking.
"Now let's leave this monster infested hell hole," Parker commented.
The group used the key on a door in this area that took them to a hallway. At the end was another elevator that wasn't working. Jill had to use the screwdriver on a nearby panel and rewire the circuit for it to work. They rode it up to the deck. It was in this new room that ammunition was found including some regular grenades. After grabbing these, it was back to the elevator and a ride to same area from before. Here the key was used on a different door. In the room beyond more custom parts were picked up. Jill used these right away. The group walked a bit farther until they got to a different hallway. Looking at the map showed where they were going. "I hope the equipment in that room will work," Jill said.
"Don't jinx us now Jill," Parker replied.
"Yeah, your bad predictions tend to come true," Logan commented.
The group returned to where the note was and used the new key. They went into the new room and found it somewhat darkened along with a familiar face. "Laymond!" Parker stated.
The second male human slowly turned to face the group. "Looks like we were both too late," he said.
"What are you talking about?"
Laymond just shrugged and the others saw the control panel behind him was fried and had wires sticking out. "Shit!" Napoleon stated.
Suddenly a voice that came from a recording began to sound out. "Ignorant creatures who do not yet know of us…" it went.
"Guys, look," Jill stated, and looked up.
They all did and saw a person wearing a gas mask and looking very similar to the one from before was on the recording. They also had no hair as the mask didn't fully cover the head and they could see this. "Our little masked friend," Parker said.
"But if my words be seed that may bear fruit of infamy to the traitor whom I gnaw," the figure in the recording continued. "Speaking and weeping shalt thou see together." Meanwhile the recording was being watched at the DSAA headquarters and by Chris's group as they flew by helicopter. The HQ had a number of monitors, some displaying different times around the world, others with other important information, and a main monitor where those there saw the recording. O'Ryan was also in the room and watching.
"I know not who thou art, nor but what Thou hast come down here. The world is in our hands." At one of the stations, Cosmo and Aiko were looking with the female android having a worried look. Next to them were two humans. One was losing his hair and it was cut very short. He was drinking coffee from a mug and had glasses on. By the shaking of his legs that were propped up a bit, he wasn't able to sit still. Next to him was another male human with darker skin and the tattoos on his arms could be seen due to his short sleeved shirt. There was also a dark green beanie on his head.
The person in the gas mask then grabbed a tube of red liquid like had been found before and placed it into a syringe. "This is the D-Abyss virus, and we are equipped to infect one-fifth of the earth's waters." He went over to a tank that had three and pressed on the trigger, spilling the liquid virus into the water. The man in the chair sat up with interest. The fish in the tank then became agitated as the virus began to mutate them. In the cloudily red liquid, everyone could see them turn into something with spines and a different body as the fish swam in agitation. Then one threw itself against the glass of the tank, showing very sharp teeth and a changed body. The man drinking coffee chocked since this had startled him.
"He's turning guppies into Jaws!" he gasped to the one in the beanie, Cosmo, and Aiko.
"Shh!" the second male human said to him. "Quiet!"
"And even a child could guess what will happen next," the figure in the recording said. He then took off his gas mask to reveal a male with glasses, a completely bald head, and a mustache that was white and came down on the sides of the mouth. The guy had to be in the 50's and was standing next to the Deltro Crest on the wall behind him. "We are Deltro, vengeful messengers from the inferno."
On the helicopter, Chris's group looked at the other as they watched the recording by a laptop. "So this is our man," Jessica said. "I knew it was Deltro!"
"Abandon hope all ye who enter here," the man in the recording then said.
"Abandon all hope?" the guy with glasses at DSAA HQ asked.
"What the hell; he's quoting Dante!" Cosmo stated.
"Send a team to Valkoinen Mokki Airport," Chris told O-Ryan through a communicator. "Look for something linked to the ship O'Ryan!"
"Yes, I read you," the said human replied into his phone. "I'll send in Cosmo, Aiko, Quint, and Keith." Those two were the guy with glasses and green beanie.
All four heard them. "What?!" the male with glasses and female android asked at the same time.
"You four, get ready to move."
"Awww, I hate snow," Quint whined.
"Snow hates you," Keith said with a smirk.
"Just find out anything you can on Deltro," O'Ryan told them.
Those four left to get ready. In the helicopter Chris's group was on, Jessica was looking out on the water through some binoculars. She had changed into a diving suit that wrapped around her head but left the right leg fully exposed while also being tight and flexible. "I don't see anything," she said to the others. "I thought the Meditation was just like a big lake?"
"Be patient," Nicholas told the female human. "Finding a ship at any sea is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"No kidding!" Liru agreed as she was looking to.
"But that still doesn't solve our problem," Jessica said. Chris was silent and she turned to him. "Hey, are you even listening?"
"We'll find you Jill…" he said softly. "I promise…"
Meanwhile with her it was now 9.28 pm. The recording had just finished and Parker slammed his fist on the broken control panel. "Damn terrorists!" he stated in anger.
"We killed these bastards already," Laymond commented from a corner of the room.
"It looks like you missed a few," Jill said. "And they're on this ship."
"And now they want to use the virus to stage another attack?" Parker asked in anger.
"If that's so, then it's up to us to stop them," Napoleon said. "That's what Nicholas would say if he were here."
"They seek the truth about Derragrigia… and vengeance," Laymond stated. He then walked off and out of the room.
"Guys, look at this," Logan commented. "The whole ship's out of power."
Parker took a look. "The ship's running on emergency power," he said. "The comms system needs the main power. We need to bring the main power online, but that won't be easy."
Jill then found a Safety Procedures manual which was made of five pages. It stated that this vessel had been involved prior in an accident. It then went on to say this ship had two unique power generators. If the main one should fail, the back-up generator in the bilge would compensate for its lost and supply the ship with operating power. The ship also had vertical and horizontal bulkheads that automatically diverted water in case of flooding. In the event of an emergency, the bulkheads could be operated by the control system in the bilge. The manual ended by saying this would continue to operate even if there was minimal damage. The group then went back through the doors and found Laymond waiting for them.
"Laymond!" Jill stated.
"Take it," he replied holding out a key. "You might need it. Like you said, turning on the power won't be easy." The female human took it and the group saw it was a silver in color with an anchor at one end. They knew they could use it to get into the rooms that had the anchor symbol seen before. "That key will get you through the casino on the first floor. Then you'll find a lift to take you to the bilge. But tell me something first. You didn't see any DBC members here, did you? I can't reach my partner Rachel. Damn it. I haven't heard from her since she went to the bilge."
The group then walked away, but Logan had a troubled look on his face. "What is it?" Uma asked her boyfriend, noticing this.
"I don't want to jump to any ideas just yet," he replied. "But…" The male wizard then shook his head. "Just be prepared, that's all I'm saying for now."
"Should we look for this Rachel woman?" Jill asked once they made it to the ground floor.
"We can, but after we bring back the ship's power," Parker replied. The female human then spotted some more custom parts and picked those up.
The group then did a backtrack upstairs to a room that had seats found at a beach or swimming pool. But there was growth taking over in the body of water and in other areas. "What is this place?" Pachira asked.
There was another panel that Jill took care of by rewiring it. This unlocked the door next to it. Inside here another custom parts kit was found and taken. There was also a new gun that the female human grabbed as well. Finally there was a device that could be used to clear out the pool. It was turned on and they could hear it working. "Filtration's going to take a while," Parker said. "Should've known."
"Let's come back later," Uma suggested.
The group then moved and in a bit found themselves at the casino. There were many slot machines and a fountain of some kind with fish in them. But it was dark as the power was out. The breaker and switch was nearby a cutout of a woman wearing sea shells over her top and holding a tray by a door that was locked. Jill pulled it and the casino came to life with power. "Now that's more like it," Logan stated. "This just shows how much of a luxury ship this is."
The group went back to the fountain and Jill noticed there was a report sitting on the ledge of it. The person who had wrote it stated that he had finally figured out how to bypass the security to get into the VIP room. He had always been curious as to what went on in there. All someone had to do was feed coins to the girl holding the tray by the door at the precise weight of 107 grams. "Guess we'll have to win and get some," Uma said after looking at this.
"I bet I can use my magic to influence one of the slot machines so we can win," Logan commented. "I normally never do this but this time it's the only way. And you're more likely to lose then win on them."
"I think I see a coin by the fish," Pachira stated and went over to the front where there was a button on a control panel. The female vampire reached but couldn't get it.
"Come on!" she groaned and reached as far as she could. It was just beyond her reach. The female vampire then felt herself losing her balance and with the left hand held onto the control panel, pressing the button. It worked as she got the coin.
"There!" she stated. The group then saw a familiar red liquid beginning to pour into the fountain.
"Whoops…" Pachira gulped.
"Shit!" Parker stated. "It's been infected! Watch out!"
The group saw three of the same mutated black like fish seen before leap out of the fountain. "We saw these in the video…" Jill said.
"A gift from our friend in the gas mask?" Parker commented. "I should thank him."
These things weren't hard to kill. Once that was finished, the female vampire looked around for a machine to try to get some coins so the group could enter the VIP room. One by the escalator that led in here was chosen. "So we can get more coins with this?" Parker stated, checking it out. "Wish I had one of these at home."
"Let's see how your luck is Pachira," Uma said.
"Actually we don't have time for that," Logan commented and brought out his wand. "I normally would never do this, but given our circumstances, I don't mind." The wand glowed as did the machine. "There, now she'll hit the jackpot on the first try. But don't ask me to do this again."
Pachira sat down and made three trident like symbols match up to get the jackpot. She handed the winnings over to Jill. The group went up to the VIP room entrance and the female human placed the coins on the tray so that it was 107 grams. The door became unlocked and Jill led the way in. The group saw there were monitors in here so you could see the other sections of the casino. There was a gambling table, and a couple of very comfy looking couches. There was a place here for Jill to use the custom weapon parts she had picked up earlier. There was also another in here that was used as well. When that was finished, it was down the ladder in here to a lower level. Looking showed the huge fans here and another ladder which was used to descend further down. Then came another ladder which was used to head up. This took them to the lift that would go to the bilge.
"Here's the lift," Parker said. "Hope it still works."
They all went to it and saw a problem. "The key's missing," Logan groaned.
"Oh Christ," Parker stated.
"I'll look around for it," Jill said. Uma and Logan decided they would got with her.
"Okay, the rest of us will check around here," the male human stated. "We'll see if it turns up."
"Radio us if you find it," the male wizard told him as Jill led her group out through a different door. The female human also found some more custom parts and grabbed that to.
The only way up was by elevator in the new section and Jill got it working again by fixing the power from the panel to the left of this. Her group rode it up and emerged in the darkened area that had first been looked into when coming aboard. "Didn't Laymond say his partner was in the bilge?" Napoleon suddenly radio them as though struck with that thought. "That means Rachel or whoever has the key. We just have to find her."
"I think I might have an idea where she is…" Jill replied, but then trailed off. Logan got the same feeling she did.
"The corpse you guys ran into earlier?" Parker asked in the communicator this time.
"Yeah, let's just pray it wasn't her," Logan stated.
Jill led the long way back and she along with those from the nether in her group defeated any enemy that came out. They took a quick detour into the room where the dummy of Chris had been first after the female human spotted some more custom parts in here. How they were able to get in was by now the wall that had come up was gone. "This is where we found the dummy of Chris," Jill stated. "Where is the real Chris?"
Logan then spotted a document on a table nearby that was some kind of instructions. This stated that it was essential that whoever this was meant for was to carry out their mission on this ship and as soon as possible. It went on to say the targets would soon be here but they weren't allowed to compromise the mission. Then came actions to take and not overreact. Whoever this was for was to find the most accessible room in the crew's quarter and secure it. There was then a warning that there could be B.O.W.s and to take extreme caution. The next step was to use the spy props the people were given were to be use to sow confusion in the targets. The people this message was for were supposed to distribute them around the room. After that they were to get out of there and leave no traces of the presence. The instructions then said the main point of the mission was to mislead the targets, so it had to be carried out smooth and quickly. The instructions ended by saying for the targets to not see whoever this was for. They were not fire or engage the targets. That would be left to whoever had writing this.
"I don't like the sound of this," Logan stated after he took this. "It sounds like someone knew we were coming."
The group then continued until they finally reached a door that the key given to them by Laymond could be used. It had been seen before. Going inside led to a new weapon for Jill; a machine gun which she took. It was also here the new custom parts were used again. They then left the room and began towards where the corpse was. But then the small group heard a voice that was female, but sounded off like it was coming from a mutated person. "Found youuuu…." It went.
Uma went right by Logan's side and shivered. He wrapped a comforting arm around her. "I've got a bad feeling now…" the male wizard stated.
It wasn't too much longer until the area was reached. "Okay, it was around here…" Jill said.
They went into the room and didn't see the body. "Not good…" Logan stated seeing only a huge pool of blood and what looked like a note where the body had been. Even the blood from what had happened was still here.
"It's… not here…" Uma whispered.
Jill went over and picked up the note. "I don't know who left this," she commented.
They began to look through it. The note began by stating whoever had written this was forced onto the mission. They had no desire for a job that could get them killed. Then it went on to say that stage one had been completed. They had gotten the key to the freight lift and now they could access the bilge. The note went on to say this ship was used as the base of operations for the terrorist attack on Derragrigia. The person who had written the note had then wrote they had the UAV in the ship's foredeck that had been used to disperse the virus. They had found it but the note then said they had been attacked out of nowhere by one of the monsters on here. It then went on to say things that made it sound like they were becoming infected. The rest of the writing was obscured by blood.
Logan brought out his wand to pick up the note and rip off the parts that weren't covered by blood. Nobody noticed the figure that had appeared on the other side of the glass that had allowed them to see the killing from before. "Found you…" the figure said in the same voice as before.
Everyone jumped and took a step back. "Oh shit!" Jill exclaimed. "You- "
They saw this person wasn't mutated like the others. The skin was a mix of blood red and pink. The left arm was mostly normal except the few spikes that were on the elbow. The right arm had been horribly mutated into something that looked like branch coral with spikes. There was a chest to show it was a female. Even some of the cloths from before could still be seen on her. What looked to be what had once been hair was wrapped around the body like some kind of huge worm. The right leg had some kind of rounded armor on it but the left leg was normal. They saw her run off and even that had jerky movements to it. "I think it's her," Logan stated. "I think that's Rachel and who we found earlier."
"Not good," Uma said.
Jill contacted Parker and the others on the radio she had. "Guys, what's wrong?!" he asked.
"We found the target, but she's a zombie," the female human told them.
"Isn't that always the case…" went Napoleon's voice.
"Just follow them if you can!" Pachira then said.
Jill's group went out of the room and began their way back with caution. "Tasty morsels…" the voice of the enemy then stated as a regular monster came out and was quickly killed. Then the main enemy came out and the female human let loose with the new machine gun she had. The main mutated monster took quite the bit of damage before running away it again.
"It… hurts!" she moaned. "It hurts!"
"She got away!" Jill told Parker and the others by radio. "She's in the ducts!" The female human, wizard, and Witch had seen the enemy retreat that way.
"Go after her!" came Parker's reply. "She could have the key."
"The ducts are all connected," Napoleon then stated on their end.
"Okay, we're on it," Jill replied.
"We'll make our way to your position soon!" Parker said,
"Don't die until we get there!" Pachira commented.
Jill's group was on edge as one would expect. They made their way back upstairs and found one enemy they easily disposed of. But then upon entering the next room, they heard the giggling sound of the enemy. "She's close…" Logan whispered. "Stay behind me Uma…"
"Yes…" she replied. She got in the middle of the male wizard and female human.
"Watch our backs," he told Jill.
They went into the bathroom that had been passed through before. "Found you!" the main enemy went as she suddenly appeared.
The other three backed up and Jill tossed a grenade right at the feet of the mutated monster. In the few seconds it took to go off, they all fired at her. There was an explosion and the enemy was blasted off her feet. She was able to rise up and paused as though stunned which allowed more damage to be done before the enemy ran off. "Damn, she got away again," Logan stated. "I was hoping it wouldn't be a game of cat and mouse."
"Well I can hear her in the air ducts," Jill commented and they listened and heard the monster's mutated giggling.
"That sound is really creepy," Uma whispered.
The group went out of that area and back into the hallway they had gone through before. But they didn't get far when they heard her coming. "I can't believe she turned so quickly!" Jill stated. "This virus is more powerful than I had thought!"
The enemy then appeared and was met with a bunch of fire. The mutated monster than ran again. "Kill…" she breathed loudly. "Kill… you…" The small group followed where she had ran to some stairs. It was then through a door and the enemy dropped down in front of them. "I want… your blood…"
She was attacked and the mutated enemy tried to get the other three, but they were too quick. "Found you… Laymond…" she stated.
"Shit, it is his partner Rachel!" Logan said.
The group went to the next room which was where they had found the gun and hand beneath the grate. In the room beyond that the enemy appeared again as did Parker and those from the nether with him. "Guys; are you okay?!" the male human asked.
There wasn't any time to talk as the task on hand was more important. But it wasn't longer until he mutated Rachel fell to the ground and was still. Jill found the lift key on her body. "So it really was Rachel…" Jill whispered.
"Not the end I'd wish for," Parker commented.
The female human led the way to an elevator and this was taken down. "Does this mean that Deltro fooled the DBC to?" she asked.
"Don't know," Napoleon replied. "Maybe they're just using whoever they can."
The group were soon back at the area that needed the key and this was used. In just a bit they were ridding down deeper into the ship. Jill suddenly turned her head. "I hear something," she stated.
"Straight into the depths of hell," Parker said.
Meanwhile at the airport, Cosmo, Aiko, Quint, and Keith had arrived. The androids were in winter clothes while the humans were wearing more military like garb. It was now 10:20 p.m. and a few DSAA members were already there to greet them. "It's freezing," Keith stated.
Meanwhile Quint contacted O'Ryan on his communicator. "Jackass here," the second male human said. "We've all arrived at the airport."
"This is Forkball," came the reply of the leader of the DSAA. "Good job. Get the lay of the surroundings and continue with your mission."
"So uh, how do you want us to proceed, O'Ryan?" Keith asked into his communicator.
"Up to you," came the reply. "Do what you think is best."
The group of four then walked up to the other members already there. "What took you so long?" one of them asked.
Keith shrugged in response. "At least we're here," he said. "What's up with Deltro?"
"Not sure. We haven't found a thing. No clues, nothing."
"So now what?" Aiko asked.
"There's an underground chamber. We're preparing to storm it now."
"Well, that sounds like a job for us, don't it guys?" Quint asked.
The guy took off down the stairs to it. "Wait, we haven't received authorization yet-" the solider began.
"It's alright," Cosmo said. "We're on it, okay?"
"Besides, if you need someone to sniff something out, ain't no one better than my boy here," Keith said, referring to Quint.
"Hey! I'm right here Grinder!" the said human stated. Keith, Cosmo, and Aiko joined him at the entrance to the bunker.
"So, you follow Jessica home?" the second human asked. "You know where she lives now?"
Quint just turned back with a smirk. "Almost," he replied boastfully. "I had her until the very end. But I lost her near the-" The male human then realized something. "Hey! You think I'm a stalker, don't you?!"
Keith and Cosmo chuckled. "You said it," the second human stated.
"Come on, let's get going," the male android said. He and Aiko opened the doors and all four took a step inside.
The inside of this place showed with one look that it had been abandoned for a while. "Feels like something's gonna jump out," Keith said.
"Join the club," Cosmo replied. "Luckily I've had some experience with dealing with things like that."
"Watch your footsteps," Quint commented. "We need to stay quiet."
"… Yeah we know," Aiko said.
Both the humans and androids had the same scanning device and were already starting to use it. With it some ammo was found. Then it was further in where it got dimmer but everyone could see just fine. Then a door came up with the rest of the hallway blocked by fallen lockers and other junk. Quint suddenly let out a yell after almost falling. "Shhh!" Cosmo stated. "Weren't you the one who said to stay freaking quiet?!"
"Well, even Homer sometimes nods off, you know?" Quint replied.
"… That doesn't even make sense," Keith said with a smile. "Come on."
The group kept going and had to go through a room which took them around the stuff in the way. Soon they reached a locked door with a panel next to it. There was also another locked door behind them but there wasn't a way to open it. Keith walked up to the panel. "It's screwed tight," the male human said. "Quint, pass me the screwdriver."
"Sure," the second human replied then realized something. "Huh? Uh-oh."
"Please don't tell me you dropped it. Okay. Where is it?"
"I know I had it up until this point."
"Hold up," Cosmo said. "I bet you dropped it when you tripped back there."
"Will stay here why you go get it," Aiko commented.
The two humans went back and were able to find. The two androids were able to hear them. "There we are," went Quint.
"You are such a klutz, you know that?" Keith commented.
"Sorry Grinder."
The humans made it back to the other two. The panel was unscrewed. "Okay, let me at those wires," Cosmo stated with a grin. The male android had the door unlocked and the small group went inside. There was a small bookshelf which didn't have anything important. But it was the huge computer terminal at the end that was. A lot of the screens and other equipment appeared to be on the old tech side.
"Hmm…" went Keith. "We might be able to open up that area that's been sealed off."
He got to work on a keyboard and after a few moments they all heard the sound of a beeper that meant the other door was unlocked. Then the female android noticed something. "Hey, the security camera's got footage," Aiko commented.
They all gathered around one of the screens. They saw a time and a freighter beginning to take off. "This is what we found," the female android said.
"That's a freighter, ain't it?" Keith asked.
The footage then cut to the back of the plane with the cargo door still open. A male human was running towards it. "Is this Deltro or what?" Cosmo asked.
Suddenly some kind of creature came out on two legs and with the claws on one hand attacked the human. "Whoa, did you see that?!" Keith stated.
Another appeared and now it was clear these were reptile or amphibian like enemies similar to what had been encountered before by those from the nether. "An out of control B.O.W.?" Aiko asked.
The footage then cut to the plane taking off with these enemies on the wings and attacking it. "Talk about a wrench in the works," Quint said.
"Keep it together, and…" Keith commented. They then saw the engines explode. "Oh… They never had a chance."
The screen turned to static. "The time stamp places the crash at the same time as the one Chris and his group reported," Quint stated.
The footage then cut to a hallway. "Isn't that in here?" Keith asked.
"It certainly looks like th-" began Cosmo but then they all saw something invisible crash into the lockers and take out the wires in here. "Whoa!"
"What the hell is it?" Keith stated.
"It's a poltergeist!" Quint exclaimed. The footage became static again. "I'll switch the feed, see where it goes."
He did so and more footage came up to show a different room. There was a yellow banner of some kind, a couple of tables, chairs, and an elevator. The doors to it opened and a different human stumbled out of it with a heavy combat gun. "Ohh, we got a live one here," Keith said.
"Shh, quiet!" Quint told him just as the table in the room was jarred by some unseen force.
"Hey, what the hell is that?"
"I told you to be quiet…" Cosmo and Aiko did have two ruins that might have helped the human in the footage, a visible and unseen one. These could've helped reveal whatever it was. But this could only happen in real life and not on footage.
Suddenly a growl was heard and the invisible thing picked the human up by one leg. It threw the body around. "There's something there," Quint said. "I dunno what, but we can't see it…"
Then the group watched before wincing as there was a sickening crack and the human in the footage went limp, dead. "Nasty," Keith groaned.
"Hey, did he just drop something?!" Cosmo asked. The body in the footage was thrown at the camera and everyone jumped while letting out exclamations.
"This is definitely for mature viewing audiences," Quint stated.
There was nothing more to see from the footage which meant it was time to head to the other room. "That's some shocking footage there," Aiko whispered as they were walking towards that place.
"One of the vics left it behind," Quint commented. "What is it?"
They made it inside. "Hey!" Keith stated. "This is the same place from that security footage!"
It then came to looking around to find it. There was a lot of ammo here and taken as well. It was up to the first male human with the scanner device who found it. He handed it over to Quint and it appeared to be some kind of hi tech drive device shaped like a memory stick. "It's a security token," the second human said, holding it up. "I can breach the master network on the plane's onboard computer if I can just extract the WEP key from this dongle."
"Whatever that means," Keith replied as it was above his head. "Just do your thing."
"It means we can scavenge the data on that freighter."
"Now you're talking!"
"I've seen enough," Cosmo said. "Let's head to the crash site." They all then left the room to begin the journey to it.
They were almost there before contacting O'Ryan to let him know how things were going on their end. Right now it was 10:48 pm. "Okay, I understand the situation," O'Ryan said in his phone to the small group. "The security token you found most likely belongs to the freighter that crashed."
"Boss, have you heard from Jill, Parker, Uma, Pachira, Napoleon, and Logan?" Cosmo asked on the other end of the line.
"No, not yet. They're investigation led them out to sea, but we've lost track of the ship."
"That doesn't sound good," Keith said.
"I hope they're okay," Aiko commented with a worried look.
"Yeah, me to," O'Ryan replied. "They've out of contact for too long and I'm starting to get worried. Find a terminal at the crash site, and see what you can learn of Deltro's plans."
The call was then ended and everyone but Cosmo looked worried. "Don't worry," the male android said. "I don't think anything too bad has happened to them."
"Then how can you be so calm?" Aiko asked.
"It makes the situation worst if I'm not."
"The crash site's just up ahead," Keith stated with a sigh. "C'mon."
"Wouldn't it be great if we find the key to ending this whole mission!" Quint said.
"I hear you," Cosmo agreed.
"Pretty bright out for this time of night," Aiko commented.
"I guess that's why they call it the Midnight Sun," Keith said.
Suddenly Cosmo and Quint spotted enemies coming in. "B.O.W.s!" the male android stated.
"I knew something like this would happen!" the male human commented.
It turned out to be some of the canine enemies encountered before by Chris, Liru, Nicholas, and Jessica. "No, because they're wolves and their heads don't split open," Keith shot back to Quint.
These were quickly killed. Then a bit further ahead, more came out. "Guys, I'm going to check on the terminals," Quint told the rest. "You have fun with these."
"Quint!" Keith called after the second human as that guy ran off. "Don't just leave us here… Damn computer nerds…"
"Just let him go!" Cosmo stated. "As much as I hate for him for doing that, we can't let him or us get killed!"
The other three had the canine like enemies killed in a few moments. They then followed Quint and had to jump off a small ledge to reach him. The second human then went forward towards the crash site but then was thrown back with a startled shout. "Yo, calm down!" Keith stated. "What's wrong with you?"
"Something-! I don't know! It's like something hit me!"
"What?"
"Wait a minute…" Cosmo said and he and Aiko with a nod brought out the ruins for Visible and Unseen.
"What?" Keith asked again, not following.
"Look! I just got hit! It was the invisible man or something! I'm sure of it!"
"For real?"
Suddenly from on top of the wreckage, reptilian like enemies that had been encountered before by Cosmo and Aiko leapt out. "It's Hunters!" Quint stated.
"That's what they're called?!" the male android stated. "All this time we've never had a name for them!"
"They disappeared!" Keith pointed out when seeing the enemies do just that.
Thanks to the ruins the androids had, they were able to spot these invisible creatures and shoot them down. More kept showing up. "Now I get what happened on the security feeds!" Cosmo stated. "It was these things!"
"It's a new type of Hunter!" Quint said.
"Thanks for the explanation!" Keith replied sarcastically. "Did I mention this blows?"
"Look for indentations on the snow!" Cosmo stated. "They can't hide their weight!"
With this and also noticing how the invisible creatures distorted the air around them, the humans were able to fire at them. "One down!" Keith commented after killing a Hunter.
"They're still more!" Aiko said.
With the android's help, the humans were able to fight back and it wasn't long before all the enemies were dead. "I think that's the last of them," Cosmo stated.
"Then let's get to the terminal on the plane before any more monsters show up," Quint said.
They went over and it didn't take long to find it. Aiko turned it on and used the Security Token. "Okay, everything seems to be in working order…" the female told the others.
"Yo, Quint," Keith said. "Time to do your job."
The said male human came over and Cosmo joined him. They both got to work with typing on the terminal's computer. "I can't find the call log…" the male android said.
"We'll have to try something else," Quint commented.
"No sweat," Keith said. "You're good with machines. The ladies on the other hand…"
"GRINDER!" Quint yelled, causing the other three to jump.
"What's going on?!"
"We need to contact HQ A-sap!"
At that place O'Ryan answered the call from the small group. "O'Ryan speaking," he said. "What-"
"This is Jackass," Quint replied on the other end of the line. "We got the coordinates on the ship. We're sending them now."
"Good work. That's music to my ears."
"Nice one getting the corrodents like that," Keith told Quint and Cosmo.
"Well, we could have calculated travel time, last known route, but that would've taken too long," the second human said.
"That's why I said, 'Nice one.'"
"You don't understand," Cosmo said. "We didn't calculate anything." He pointed at the screen. "We're not the only ones looking for that ship."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Aiko asked as she and Keith came up to take a look.
"You're saying that Deltro ran from their own hideout," Keith commented. "And now they're looking for their own ship?"
"That's what I'm saying," the male android answered. "But I have no idea if the info we gleaned is for real or not."
"Great. So we have no idea who we're really up against."
"Exactly," Quint stated. "And that's a piece of the puzzle we really need."
Meanwhile with Chris's group, they were still flying over the sea. "Chris here," the male human said in his communicator. "We received the coordinates."
"That's not far," Jessica commented looking along with Nicholas and Liru. Kratos and Venus were being good and strapped down so they wouldn't fall out of the helicopter.
"O'Ryan, we're on our way!" Nicholas said into his communicator. What they and Jill's group didn't know was the trouble they were about to come across.