He flexed his arms, the metal limbs followed. He turned his head to the right and the monoeye did the same. Holographs floated in front of his eyes with green,yellow and blew text. Blue was for the ammo count for the suit's infantry railgun and the micro missile dispenser. Green for the vital signs and the electrocardiogram. Yellow floating text was for the system status. All clear.
Considering all his vital signs had put a damper on his optimistic outlook at recovery. His pulse was too low , a slow fifty beats per minute. Oxygen levels in his blood was paltry with only ninty-two percent oxygenation. Anemia had set in , making his body hurt for breath.
Put your back into it, he told himself. There was no time to lick wounds, he tried to convince himself. Just under the surface of conscious thought was an idea that had been seeded when he reached the cargo bay. Why no memories? He couldn't understand how there was absolutely no indication in his body or mind where he had been. It seemed only five minutes had passed from the moment he stepped into the dark corridor. His thoughts were jumbled and vague when trying to remember what happened. It was insatiable, his need to find out what happened. No matter how hard he tried ,the hidden memories still remained a phantom pain coursing through his brain.
What was it , what was it throbbing in his brain. Every attempt to find those missing hours return with a blunt pain. His neck creaks and aches as if the thoughts themselves had placed a heavy weight on his shoulders. He could feel his knees buckle but the frame kept him standing. Had it been otherwise, the others would have put him into permanent bedrest. It must be dehydration he thought. That light headed feeling was a sure sign that his body was exhausted. Water was the cure. The robot arm latched onto a sealed bottle of water, cracking the nozzle open with the index and thumb actuators.
Refreshing water, though cold and almost frosty, flowed through him. A reinvigorating wind swept over him. "Ahhhhhh, just what I needed", he said with a satisfied smile on his face. A notion popped into his head. "I dont't need this frame anymore" he thought to himself. A false bravado simmered through his ears. The frame disengaged, its chest splitting and disgorging the still weak passenger. He took the first step and promptly fell on his face.
No one was around to see his foolishness and to keep it that way he scrambled back into the . His head still pounded still, perhaps the dehydration was not the only problem he had. Stress headaches. What a wonderful time to have one of those , he mused. Someone called his name over the radio just as he restarted the control system. "Captain, if you're not up for this you can stay behind. No need to push yourself" the voice on the radio said. "Im fine , I haven't used a frame in a while ,it takes a bit of time to reacquaint myself with it.
Before leaving the tent he made sure that the master-arm was on. The ship was activated by something, it would be likely that it was still in there. Whether the meeting would be in force or in peace, it was still a good idea to go in armed. The suits registered the arming sequence. The railgun hummed with electricity while the missile launcher cycled into a new magazine. "Alright, Im ready" he said then pushed the suit out into the deep freeze.
A veritable murder of mechs stood in a circle. Wreathed in thermal exhaust, they seemed ghostly, as if their presence was merely hallucinatory. "What a joke it would be if this was all in my head" Ryuki thought. A shiver went up his spine. Not a good sign, he thought.
At the center of the circle was Ross, waiting by the FAV. " All aboard" he said. "I'll take the gun" Ryuki replied, taking his place at the turret, helming the machine grenade launcher. "All ,ready up" Ross called out on the radio. Each one of them called in with their state. All green. They rolled out in full force, bristling with enough weapons to take down a small army. The Thunderhammer was prepped with its crane to tear apart the bay doors. It stood up from the thorax of the massive walker like a scorpion's stinger. Not as deadly though.
The armored column rolled on , kicking up ice and water. Towers of steam exhaust turned instantly into crystals , creating a wall of obscuring snow. These machines weren't really built to work in such a deep icy cold. It would only be a matter of time before the hydraulic fluids froze completely or the actuators turning brittle. It had only been three days so far but already the crew were reporting performance issues. Delayed mechanical reaction, difficulty priming rockets and HVAC systems too slow to supply warm air. Everything was falling apart though just slowly enough to elude cursory inspection. Even the best engineers would have been fooled especially in the situation they got themselves into.
It took only ten minutes to reach the bay. The joints that kept it in place had gave way , the doors hanging by thin cables, ready to be ripped apart. The crane's claw snapped onto the lip of the door. The knife-like fingers of the claw sheared through the plasteel as it gripped firmly to the door. The spider-mech then began to walk , pulling the door with it. Metal groaned under the strain, the cables snapping as the became overloaded. "Stay clear! " Ross yelled as he saw the door close to breaking apart.
One last pull and the giant door came down. A shower of ice fell down on them as they trudged towards the opening. Someone chirped on the radio, "Hey, since this thing is blown open, uh, how exactly are we gonna fly this thing out in one piece?". After all this time ,Ryuki realized he had forgotten the reason for all of this, a way out. "We'll figure it out once we're sure we can get this thing off the ground" he said ,though unsure if it was even possible. If the ship was taken by others , wrestling it from them may be a task they may not be able to handle. He caught himself. What is this ? Why am I pessimistic? His neck itched, the hair standing up. He peered into the darkness residing inside the hulking cargo bay. The unknown, it looked back. Its gaze gave him a throbbing headache. It pierced through the armored skin , through the bone of his skull and dug deep inside the folds of his brain. "Sir, your breathing is getting a bit frantic, are you okay?" Ross asked. The suit's vitality sensors were broadcasting , to insure that the captain wouldn't die without notice."Just a headache, I can still do this" Ryuki replied, waving away Ross's concerns and his own.
The first to go in were the Zephyrs. Up they went, climbing onto the deck of the bay. Their heavy feet slammed into the metal floor , ringing out like bells. The Zephyrs proceeded to inspect the bay, looking for any signs of an enemy presence. On the surface of the walls was a thick layer of mildew, untouched for years. The dusty floor seemed undisturbed with no sign that anyone other than themselves had ever been there. Nothing, no signs of any kind of presence. The eerie lack of any human presence lent to a frightening thought, that the ship never had a crew to begin with. A ghost ship, from the future. A novel idea, fit for a book, but horrifying in reality. Either the crew was never aboard, or something happened to them. And whatever happened, they brought along something else.
Ross's buggy was the next that went in It jumped up onto the fallen door and crawled its incline at a slow rate. The Thunderhammer and the Zhuk went last. They all fit comfortably inside the bay. Ryuki was completely sure now that the bay was for mechs. The hanger they had battled in was filled with mechs. It wouldn't surprise Ryuki if the Tradewind was looted and all its cargo was in that infested hanger.
"Alright, lets see if we can close the bay up" Ross yelled through the comm. If they could seal the bay , heating it by expunging the spider-mech heatsinks would be much easier. The exposed girders were perfect for impromptu pulleys . Tossing steel cables over them would give the spider-mechs enough of a moment arm to pull the door back into place.
The Zephyrs swung the tow cables over their heads like lassos. The first shot was Karin's and it failed, instead hitting the roof and slamming back down to the floor. Barry took the next one, swinging the tow cable as fast as possible. Every so often he would release his grip to allow the cable to stretch. The amount of force injected into the cable increased as the length of the free end lengthened. Once it reached nearly thirty meters, Barry snapped his mechs wrist and shot the tow cable over the girder. The clamp smashed through the ceiling, making a hole into the upper deck before it fell back down. Barry gloated over his success. He was an expert, he said, even though he had never done it before. He was just that good.
Karin tried again ,this time angling her shot so that it would pass between the ceiling and girder instead of slamming into the ceiling. With just the right application of the wrist torsion, the tow cable slipped through the gap, landing with only a slight thud. Barry was unimpressed. "You just copied what I did,thats all". Karin smirked , the satisfaction of bringing Barry down from his undeserved pride was more than enough to warm the cockles of her heart.
Claw hooks were affixed to the ends of the tow cables. Another set of cables were attached to the bottom of the door and fixed to the lower joints, to restrict its movement and keep it inline with the frame. "Alright, we're all clear. Ready for you guys" Karin called out through the radio.
The hulking spiders came to life, their legs stretching out to gain footing. One of the two front legs stretched out while the two rear legs pushed forward. The front leg dug into the ground with the other leg now pushing forward along with the rear legs. The door lifted slightly off the ground as the spiders pulled forth.
Groans of metal fatigue whistled out from the door. An inward bend developed at the center, slowly expanding until the door turned concave. The tension on the tow cables began to relax, a sure sign that the hook points were weakening.
Spools began to rotate to increase tension. Sparks flew out from the gearing as the spools attempted to keep the cable from slipping out. The spiders doubled their pace with the Zephyrs pulling and pushing them along. Karin and Barry activated their boosters , letting out a fiery plume that knocked the spiders forward.
Dizzy, in the Thunderhammer, spun the crane around. The arm sprung forward hard enough to nearly rip it off its foundation. "Hit it!" Wasp yelled. Dizzy depressed the launch button on the crane control. The end manipulator exploded out its socket, propelled by a series of rockets towards the far wall. A long thick cable streamed across the bay along with it. It burst through the wall with explosive force. Claws expanded into the opening and clamped down tight. A cable return spool spun up while the arm itself pulled in a tug of war between it and the heavy door.
Rivets exploded out of their holes, Fluid lubricant spilled out of the arm like blood while the arm plating split and bolts sheared off. One last pull before the arm ripped apart. The spider mech lept forward on its hind legs. The bay door smashed into the frame. The Zhuk made the final pull , wedging the bay door into the frame, sealing the cargo hold in the process.
