Argus woke with a pounding headache. He couldn't remember, well… almost anything. He could barely remember his own name. Everything was a hazy blur. Where am I?
Slowly, he pushed himself forward, ignoring the wriggling sensation behind his eye. He fell forward, falling out of the pod and onto the chitin covered floor, catching himself with white scaled hands. He coughed and sputtered as he stood up on shaky, pain wracked legs.
The white dragonborn lifted his hands to his snout, gripping it, getting familiar with his own body, a thing that for some reason, he felt was utterly alien to him.
He looked around the now shattered room. The place was in flames and the whole floor seemed to have dropped an entire level of the ship. Pods were scattered among the wreckage, all in various states, ranging from mostly intact like Argus's own, all the way to laying completely in pieces. He looked at the pod next to his. It was empty as well.
Looks like someone made it out.
He took a step forward, looking at the cracked and leaking brine pool. He disregarded that as he stepped around a fire and inspected one of his dead captors.
The mind flayer lay dead on the floor, a piece of chitin sticking from the back of its head. Argus bent down, gripped the creature by its shoulder and rolled the corpse over. Its skin was rubbery, and its head lacked a proper mouth, instead only having a face full of tentacles; four of them to be exact.
"Dead, good." He spat on the corpse and rose. He didn't know how he had gotten here, but he knew for a fact that the mind flayers were responsible.
He began looking around for something, anything that he could use as a weapon, but at the moment, he found nothing.
"I need to get out of here."
With that in mind, he moved toward the gaping hole at the far end of the room, trusting in the innate magic he could feel coursing through his body as defense enough against whatever he'd encounter.
Argus walked to the edge of a round, sphincter looking membrane. It looked thin, and out of curiosity he rested a finger on it. Almost immediately, it shivered and retracted back into the walls, revealing a way forward.
The dragonborn stepped into the second room, which was much the same size as the one he had just walked out of, with two notable exceptions. The first was the gaping hole that opened up to the outside of the ship, the second was the tables and the goblin corpse lying on one of them. This place must have been some kind of study, he thought.
As he ventured further into the room though, something tugged at the edge of his mind.
We are here. We're here.
The voice echoed in his skull, its sound grating against the walls of his mind. Argus looked around for the source, but it was hard to tell. In the center of the annihilated room however, was a pedestal. At the top of the grey and purple looking device was a bulbous looking half-orb sticking out of the top.
He looked around. The presence seemed almost like it wanted him to get to the ledge behind him. Strangely enough, it was also urging him to touch the pedestal.
This voice. What are you? There was no answer.
Tentatively, he placed his hand on the orb. All at once, the floor below him shifted. It appeared the controls activated some kind of biomechanical elevator.
It lurched to a halt at the top of the ledge only for him to find a bizarre sight. In the middle sat an elf, his eyes wide open and the top half of the skull missing, the brain still somehow intact. Behind the elf was an even stranger sight. In vats, there were similar looking brains, each submerged in a bath of cerebrospinal fluid.
What in the hells?
The escapee approached the elf first, taking a better look at the top half of his skull. The brain was quite literally poking out from the top of his head. Strangely enough, there was no blood.
Yes. You've come to save us from this place. From this place you'll free us.
"What?"
Free us.
Argus did a double take, realizing the source of the voice. It was coming from the elf, or whatever it was.
"What am I even talking to? A man or a brain?" This whole place just kept getting weirder and weirder, and that was saying something given the circumstances.
A newborn, The voice answered. Born new from this husk.
Argus didn't know exactly what this thing was, but he did know one thing for certain; this was not the elf.
If it isn't talking in a normal voice, it needs to die.
He nodded to himself as he raised his hands around the elf's cranium, then, without any further waiting, plunged his hands into the creature. Grey matter oozed from the top of the elf's head as a screech echoed throughout Argus's head. Brain matter flowed out of its cracked container and poured onto the floor below.
He pulled his hands out in disgust. "What are these things?"
Strangely enough, he felt like he had recognized both the dead mind flayer and he felt like that somewhere in the back of his mind, he had seen that strange creature before.
Another violent explosion rocked the ship. He heard a dragon's roar. I need to get out of here.
He quickly walked back to the living elevator and placed his hand on the bulbous orb of the pedestal just like he had last time. Just like last time, the floor lurched, and in just a few seconds, he was back to where he had started. The next step was to head towards the massive gash in the ship's side.
As the nautiloid lurched again, Argus picked up the pace, breaking into a jog. He made his way to the outside only to find out where he truly was.
All around him flying creatures swarmed the nautiloid and he saw a red dragon fly over the vessel. He moved to the edge and looked down, only to find a battlefield, the tiny forms of devils fighting each other on the ground.
"I'm in the hells," he started. "What in the hells?"
Just then, he caught something sailing over him in his peripheral vision. A woman landed in front of him, longsword pointed towards him in an aggressive stance. She was clad in a strange but elegant armor that seemed to be silvered. Rubies were inlaid into several spots and it looked altogether otherworldly.
Her face had skin that looked like that of a frog, speckled with black. Her ears were long like an elf's, but they were jagged like saws. Two slitted pupils glared at him with murderous intent.
"Abomination! This is your end!"'
Just then, the woman dropped a hand from her sword and clutched her head. Argus did the same as visions rushed through his mind. He saw flashes… pictures. He saw the flash of a dragon's wing, a silver sword, then strangest of all, he saw his own face. He saw it, then recognized that he was seeing it right from where the strange woman was standing.
What in all the hells is going on! His mind raged as it tried to think of something to explain this whole situation. Still, lacking almost any memory from before his abduction was proving frustrating.
"My head. What is this?" Recognition seemed to light in her eyes though as the visions passed for her too. "Tskva. You're no thrall. Vlaakith may have blessed me this day afterall. Together, we might survive."
As the warrior resheathed her blade, Argus finally managed to respond. "Wait, what made you think I was a thrall? I don't even know who you are."
The strange warrior looked around with some urgency before turning back. "We carry illithid parasites. Within days we'll be Ghaik, mind flayers."
Argus only settled back and looked around the blasted hellscape that they were flying through. "Shit." After a moment he asked another question. "How do you know this?"
"The githyanki have been fighting these creatures for millenia. Now if you're finished, we need to go."
"Where? We're in the hells."
The githyanki only looked at him irritated. "We need to take the helm, we can worry about getting rid of this infection after we escape."
Argus only had one more question. "Name?"
"Lae'zel."
"Argus, I think. Lead the way."
The two started moving forward, and no sooner than they had, three small shapes descended from the sky. They were red skinned, winged fiends. One was holding an axe, another a crossbow, and the third seemed content to use nothing but its claws.
"First, we exterminate the imps. Then we will find the helm and take control of the ship," Lae'zel amended.
"Agreed, I'll take the one on the left."
"Then I'll go right."
The two of them stepped off into combat. Lae'zel moved before any of the other combatants could even react, dashing towards the imp as it readied a crossbow in her direction. The shot didn't even get off as she neatly cleaved the creature in half.
Argus wasted little time himself as he began to pool the magic that coursed through him. He couldn't remember a great many things about his magic, but one spell managed to work its way back into his consciousness.
A roiling, glass-looking ball of fire manifested itself around his hand as with but a single word and push of his palm, he sent the flaming projectile hurtling into the unarmed devil.
Despite being a creature of hell, it ignited all the same and fell to the ground, charred to a burned out husk.
The axe swinging one flew to him in that time though. Lae'zel was too far away to reach him in time, and the imp swung its weapon down in an arc, aiming to split his skull.
Acting on pure instinct, Argus ducked under the blow and sidestepped, futilely trying to trip up the flying, child-sized creature out of some unknown habit.
He shoved the creature away just as Lae'zel pierced its heart. It tumbled to the ground and she withdrew her blade in disgust. "You prove surprisingly adequate in battle." She seemed completely unfazed by the fight, and said the comment like she was simply taking note, despite the fact that she had just been fighting mere seconds earlier.
"Right." he responded, looking around at the battle still going on outside of the ship. "To the helm?"
"To the helm."
The dragonborn looked down at the axe the imp had dropped and hefted it up. It wasn't an effective weapon, but it was good enough for when his magic was depleted or things got too close for it to be used effectively.
He strapped it to his side and followed Lae'zel up a chitinous ledge, walking past the bodies, trying to ignore the saliva building in his mouth. The corpses looked almost… appetizing.
He brushed the feeling off. He'd worry about whatever that was later. This was confounded further when a dragon roared overhead, spewing fire all over the top of the squid looking vessel.
"This ship can't take an attack like this for much longer. We need to get out before it's too late. Where is this helm?"
"It should be on the top deck of the nautiloid. The sinews on that ledge should be able to get us up to the same level at least. Once we're back inside, we'll head towards the bow."
"Right." The two of them looked up at the twenty or so foot tall ledge and gripped onto the soft, fleshy nerves that ran up the side. The damage being done to the nautiloid was extensive.
The climb was treacherous, but the handholds were good, the sinews and nerves honeycombed with different holes in their structures. Argus wasn't the most athletic of individuals, but he was far from being in bad shape and all it took was a short few seconds to catch his breath before he looked back to his companion. "Lead on."
Now that they were back inside, the sounds of battle began fading into a quiet backdrop, replaced by mere silence. Another one of the fleshy doors parted to reveal yet another identical room. The only difference was the room's contents and inhabitants.
Three people lay comatose on what appeared to be the mind flayer equivalent of surgical tables. Right in front of himself was a console. It had the same controls the pedestal had, though there were three buttons, and some kind of test above each.
"Lae'zel, do you know what these say?" he asked.
She looked for a moment before shaking her head. "Ghaik machinery. I can make no sense of it."
Before the conversation went any further, they heard a voice from the left "Get me out!"
It was a woman's voice, tinged with hope and desperation. "Get me out of this damn thing!"
Argus ran over and looked at the woman's predicament. She was still trapped in one of those pods, struggling in futility against its restraints.
"Hold on, let me see what I can do," he said as he looked over the pod.
Lae'zel came up behind him, scowling in irritation, "Come on, we don't have time for this."
The dragonborn ignored her and looked it over, seeing several strange runes inscribed at the bottom of the pod. A clue maybe.
"Let me look around, I'll see what I can do."
"Hurry! Please!"
The githyanki behind him only growled in irritation as she followed behind him. "There's no time. Do you intend to risk our lives for a stranger?"
Argus didn't turn his head as he looked over a console adjacent to the pod. "We might need some help if we're going to take the helm. It's worth the risk."
It better be worth the risk.
"Fine then. Anything?"
He nodded, looking at the console. "There's a socket for some kind of rune plate. I think I can inscribe it and bypass it though. Give me a minute."
He didn't recognize the runes he had seen on the pod, but with luck, that wouldn't matter. He inscribed the runes he'd seen on the pod and all at once, he felt a psychic presence reach out to him. He placed his hand on the console and that same feeling only grew. It felt almost… expectant. It was like the presence was waiting for his input.
Open the pod.
He commanded the console, and its biomechanical brain seemed to process its command, then miraculously, yield to it.
A tremor ran across his mind. He felt… sated.
The feeling passed before he could think much on it and he had bigger matters to attend to. That matter was the woman now picking herself up from the floor.
"Thank you," she said as she picked herself up off the floor. "I thought that place was going to be my coffin."
Argus looked her over. She was half elf, her hair was black and her skin was fair. A small circlet sat on her head and her hair was pulled back into a single braid that stretched up and down her back. She looked down to her side, evidently making sure that her mace was still secured to her side, then brushed off her armor. It was chainmail with a thin breastplate with a symbol he didn't recognize.
"No problem. We need to get to the helm, figured you might want to lend a hand. I'm Argus."
"Shadowheart. Hold on a moment." With that she walked over and grabbed something from a table in the center of the room.
"Come on, we're leaving."
Lae'zel, who had up until now remained silent, growled with barely contained annoyance. "Finally."
Shadowheart turned back. "She's right. Lead the way."
The githyanki warrior stepped forward leading them past a door on the left and into a hallway. Another gateway retracted into the walls and they entered a much smaller chamber.
"We're nearing the helm. Once we're inside, do what I say."
Shadowheart interjected almost immediately. "Who put you in charge? I'll trust my own judgement thank you."
"Kainyank." Lae'zel muttered.
Argus didn't know what the word meant, but he doubted it was endearing and instead simply waited for them to finish before speaking. "Come on, let's hurry."
The three usurping captives walked through the final door to come upon a scene of battle. Devils fought the mind flayers all throughout the deck. One of the tentacled monsters grabbed one of the larger winged devils from behind before quickly burying its face into the back of his skull, extracting the brain.
A swarm of imps quickly tore the victor of the fight apart though, spraying alien viscera all over the deck. Even as that illithid fell, another quickly blasted back one of the devilish cambions before seeming to acknowledge the group's presence.
Argus felt a voice echo in his mind, infinitely more powerful than that of the strange creature he had found in the cargo hold. Thrall, connect the nerves of the transponder, we must escape. Now.
Lae'zel looked to him and Shadowheart, evidently having the same voice play throughout her head too. "Do it. We will deal with the ghaik after we escape."
The two imps from the previous swarm peeled off and flew in their direction just as the mind flayer was assaulted by what appeared to be the leader of the devil's invasion force.
"Split these intruders open! Avernus is ours!" the commander bellowed as he swung a flaming blade at the mind flayer.
Argus noted the statement he made though even as he prepared to cast a small spell. We're in the first layer of the hells then.
"If this ship reaches the ground, we're dead." Shadowheart mentioned this even as she charged a dark-skinned, hound looking creature.
The hound charged her back, but it was knocked off course as Argus launched a bolt of fire, impacting the creature's flank. It staggered the monster enough so that when the half elf arrived, all she had to do was swing down and cave in the devil dog's skull.
Lae'zel attacked one of the imps from Argus's left, neatly cleaving a wing off before driving her blade into its heart.
"Take this ship, or Zariel will have your head!" The commander bellowed his orders even as he fought the last mind flayer. Shadowheart launched a gleaming bolt of light just as he finished his sentence, sending it hurtling towards the cambion commander. The devil quickly sidestepped though, letting it sail harmlessly past.
"Ignore the devil, we must reach the transponder!" The githyanki rushed past Shadowheart and towards the final imp, neatly bisecting the monster in two.
Argus rushed past both of them, intent on reaching the dangling nerves at the front of the helm. More imps poured down from the hole at the top of the nautiloid, intent on ripping him apart.
"Kill them, or your spine is mine!" The cambion roared in rage as he cut the mind flayer from sternum to stomach.
The imps seemed to spur themselves on quicker as another dog looking devil rushed from the transponder's direction. He conjured another orb, though this time he altered the flow of magic around it, turning the chromatic orb into a crackling ball of lighting. He launched the orb at the hellsboar, the lightning roiling over the devil hound, dropping it dead.
An imp reached him at that, the creature flying at him with its claws intent on tearing out his throat. Argus ducked under before locking his jaw open and letting a wave of frost pour from his mouth. The imp was flash frozen in an instant, its form plummeting back to the ground.
He bolted for the transponder after that, ignoring the flash of light on his right. He looked at the alien device, trying to discern the bundle of nerves from one another. Eventually he just gave up and grabbed two, only caring to go anywhere but where he currently was. When he connected the two nerve endings, the entire ship began to rumble.
It wasn't over however, as a red dragon landed on top of the membranous viewport at the front of the helm. It effortlessly broke through the material before sticking its head into the room. Argus ducked down just in time to save his head from being scorched off as a blast of fire shot over him. Luckily, the nautiloid finally reacted, sending itself hurtling into a different plane.
The shift rocked him back, sending him hurtling towards the back of the helm. He slid back and hit a far wall hard on his back, right before he got sent flying forward, where he just barely managed to grip the base of the transponder. Then the nautiloid shifted again and he lost his grip. He hit something, and all went dark.
Argus's head swam, but he held on to consciousness enough to shift himself up on a wall. His left hand felt wind and when he looked over left, he saw nothing but a gaping hole in the nautiloids hull. His stomach lurched. The ship was falling. Shit.
He looked back up as his vision cleared, though what he saw made his stomach drop. The wounded mind flayer stared back at him, its orange eyes staring back at him in abject malice. The moment broke when a piece of flying debris struck Argus's head, launching him out of the ship.