Shattered Skies Book 1: Embers (WIP)

Ch 12: Refuge

Date: 3/27/2159

Location: Unknown Star System

Current Perspective: Rojiss

The massive ship looms over them, groaning and creaking under the harsh winds. The rounded cone shape rests half buried in ash. The paint has mostly stripped away by the wind and ash over the presumably years it's been here. But he could still make out the blue and gold icon of the Terivon Horizons Corporation. His instincts were spot on.

He runs through the standard cargo of a loaded colony ship in his head. Food, greenhouse domes, water purifiers, prefab shelters, tools, and communications equipment come to mind. Practically everything a colony needs to get a foothold on a new world with a little extra as a safety net. Though that's only true if the planet is a habitable one.

As they reach the ship Rojiss searches for a doorway or other entrance, having little luck in doing so. Whatever ways exist are likely buried under the ash. After what must have been a half hour of searching he spots something. The top of a large entryway poking up out of the ash. Designed for the work vehicles, judging on the size. The gap should be big enough for the two of them to slip through.

"Ract'chi! Over here!" Rojiss cries out over the howling winds. With a renewed energy she rushes towards him and dashes into the entryway. Must be eager to get out of the wind. Rojiss follows suit. The torch barely illuminates the wide interior of a vehicle bay half full of ash. The terrain slopes downwards towards the metal floor. He slides down the slope, following behind Ract'chi who is doing the same thing. The both tumble slightly when they reach the bottom, but they quickly recover. Now actually inside the room, Rojiss' torch gives him a better idea of his surroundings.

The bay is spartan and utilitarian in design, reminding him of Rinar architecture in some ways. A handful of heavy vehicles sit in alcoves marked off my faded yellow and black stripe patterns; some of them appear to have been undergoing maintenance. He spots a crane, a transport truck, and what he assumes is a farming machine of some sort among several others. All things useful to a vergining colony, now sitting here abandoned.

How long has this ship been here? It doesn't seem like there's any colonists left judging from the lack of power. Speaking of, they'll need to start the reactor back up. That or trigger the emergency reserves if there's even anything left there.

"Come on, this way." he says, waving the light towards a doorway on the other side of the room. He waits for her to get moving before heading on himself. The reactor is likely towards the aft of the ship in a shielded place. Once he gets an idea of the ship's orientation he should be able to narrow down where they need to go.

The hallway extends off in both directions for quite a ways. The halls are just as bare as the vehicle bay, with the exception of occasional signs promoting workplace safety and emergency information. Going off of a hunch he decides to head left. The further down he goes, the more he starts to notice a subtle change. It feels warmer. Even his suit thermometer is noticing a change in temperature, considering that the low temperature alarm has silenced. Something going their way, finally.

One of the wall signs grabs his eye. A map. A layout of the deck he was on. As it turns out his intuition was spot on. He was indeed headed towards the reactor at the aft. Shouldn't take long to reach, at least compared to the marathon they just went through. He turns back down the hall, setting forward once more.

Elapsed Time: 4 minutes

The heat continues to grow as they press onward. A quick glance at the thermometer tells him it's reached 32 degrees. What's causing this heat? There's no power and anything that'd radiate heat this intense would've bleed it all out a long time ago.

It doesn't take long for those questions to be answered. Ahead Rojiss spots a dim orange glow. Using his goggle's magnification function he zooms in to get a good look. Lava. Partially hardened lava, but lava nonetheless. On the right wall stands a massive hole, metal framework and plating bent inward as if it was pierced by an object of some sort. On the left is another hole, plating and frame bent outward this time.

Thankfully the stream of molten rock doesn't block off their route. Instead it travels along the right wall before dripping down a ventilation grate in the floor. Details become more clear as they draw closer. The lava streams slowly out of the hole to the right. It doesn't appear to have burned through the wall. Glancing left reveals the culprit for the hull breach. A volcanic bomb easily triple the size of an average Terran rests several rooms down, a trail of warped metal and debris strewn about trace it's path. Each wall it passed through torn open like paper, the civilian grade plating next to useless in slowing it down. Likely the result of an eruption. Hardly a rare occurance on this planet.

Rojiss moves on. Ract'chi takes a second to see the destruction before joining him. Rojiss glances at the thermometer occasionally. For a while it stays steady at 32 degrees. But eventually the temperature starts to rise once more up to 34 as they reach the engineering section. Inside they are greeted to a room in chaos. The massive three story reactor dome had ruptured like an overinflated balloon, and bathed the entire room with stellar matter. The fact that the ship is still in one piece suggests that they managed to dump most of the reactor before it blew. Not enough to save themselves it would seem, however.

Most of the room is warped and sagging from the brief moment of intense heat that must've come from the reactor breach. It looks as if the entire room was melting. And when the breach happened, it probably was. A new warning appears on his suit display. Radiation. Enough that the two of them will need a radiation scrub when they get back, but not enough to endanger them in the moment. At least his suit's designed to handle moderate exposure. He'll get off easy. The same probably couldn't be said for Ract'chi.

"The reactor's beyond recovery. Maybe the battery reserves are still working." He says aloud. Glancing towards one of the walls the opening to a maintenance crawlspace stands out. Most of the electronic and engineering components in terran ships will be connected to the network of crawlspaces running through the ship. It won't be easy to find what he's looking for. And it'll probably take several hours. But, all things considered, they have all the time in the world.

Rojiss gets down and crawls into the narrow space. A measure of comfort envelops him as he passes into the webwork of narrow, skeletal passages. It reminds him of the tunnel networks in Surrai Nah that he and his clanmates used to go exploring when they were pups. Whereas Terrans would be hesitant to put themselves into tight spaces, some even dreading it, rinar feel far more at home in these caverns. The idea of claustrophobia isn't something that really resonates with him, but at the base level he at least understands why it exists in Terrans.

Ract'chi follows him in, surprisingly slender and nimble in these tight spaces. The two press on, systematically searching through the maze of crawlspaces for their goal wherever it may lie.