INTERSTELLAR NIGHTMARES - THE DESCENT

Chapter 7

   I woke up the next morning. My head hurt a little, I had a sore throat and my back ached a little. I supposed it was from what happened down in the mines yesterday. Besides that, today was another day, and with another day comes another mission.

   I opened my sleeping pod, sat up, stretched, and yawned. "Ugh," I grunted and shifted out of my bed to get up. I followed my daily routine of hygiene and walked out into Rig Square.

   "Which one of ya came out?" I heard Fredrick shout. "Just me!" I shouted back, "Why? Everything alright in there?" Fredrick slid around the corner. It reminded me of a kid excitedly blazing through the house to their parents. "I just beat Morris's high score!" he bellowed, "Of course, everything is perfect!"

   Kurt walked out to see us. "Damn, Freddy," he huffed, "you're really loud." Fredrick shrugged a little and mumbled a sorry. "Nah, don't worry, brother," Kurt responded. "After all, we need to be loud... shout over the roar of our guns," he chuckled grimly, shifting passed Fredrick. "Now, you two, get in here," he beckoned, "We'll drink before our hunt."

   We all met at the center table with Glyphid Slammers. "Alright, boys," Morris sighed out of tiredness, "y'all read your mission instructions?" I nodded, grabbing the handle of the Slammer reluctantly.

   "I heard this is hard to get down," I mumbled. "Yup, that's because it's cheap ale and cheap energy," Kurt chuckled. He lifted his tankard into the air. "To darkness," he cheered ominously. We hit all of our tankards together and downed the drinks. It was very hard to keep down, as it felt like it was clawing my throat on the way down.

   Kurt slammed his empty mug on the table, and let out a belch. "And that is why I like the Slammers," Kurt coughed, "rough, yet potent. Like coffee when it's black and spiked... though arguably, that'd be better."

   Fredrick coughed a bit after having downed it all. "Yeah, but it---" he let out another cough, then cleared his throat, "it tastes like shit." Kurt laughed a little. "It's because it's cheap," Kurt remarked, getting up.

   We all got up after him and placed our mugs into the cup deposit area, where it took them to some place unknown. We went back to our bays, suited up, and came back out. "Alright, so," Kurt started, drawing our attention. "Do we want to to the Egg Hunt or the Mining Expedition again?" Fredrick looked up at him. "Why would we need to go do another Mining Expedition?" Fredrick asked dumbfoundedly. "Maybe to get the gears turning for us again," Kurt responded, slightly annoyed by Fredrick's tone.

   "Let's do the Egg Hunt," I answered, mostly to not have an argument break out or at least have Fredrick say more to get Kirt more annoyed. "As we read, it's similar to a normal Mining Expedition, just eggs instead of morkite," I explained further. "He has a point," Fredrick mumbled. "Right," Kurt affirmed the mission, "Egg Hunt it is. One of you inform MC."

   I walked over to the button and pressed it. "We're ready!" I hollered into the mic area. The doors swung open just after and opened to let us in. "Alright boys," Mission Control returned through the speakers, "mission type selected, board the drop pod."

   I ran towards the drop pod as the others piled in. Fredrick slapped the dice on the way in and sat just as I got through. "Hey!" Fredrick squawked, "We got a five and six this time!"

   We all buckled and braced for the drop. The doors closed, and soon we were dropped straight into the planet. "Oh right," Kurt lit up, "forgot to mention! We're going to a new place this time." I looked up. "Are we?" I asked to confirm. "Yup," Kurt nodded, "a place called the Crystalline Caverns." I immediately got out my Miners' Manual and dug into it.

   I learned that it's filled with crystals, though they cost nothing... it was in the name after all, so I took that it was full of nice crystal structures. There were also hazardous charged crystals, shooting bolts of lightning at other crystals of its kind.

   Just as I finished reading, we hit where we needed to be. I stuffed my Manual back into my bag and unbuckled. I stood just as the others did, and we got our weapons ready for the battles that would take place.

   Kurt walked to the button and slammed his fist into it. The doors blew open, and light snapped to life all over the surrounding area. "Get ready!" Fredrick shouted while yanking the charging handle, then running out.

   We followed out after and waited for the M.U.L.E.. Almost immediately, Fredrick jumped back. I looked over and saw a couple of bugs. I swung around just as Fredrick started pumping rounds into one bug.

   Morris joined in, blasting one grunt, and soon I caught all three of the bugs on fire. They soon disintegrated into dust. "Let's bring them the pain!" Morris cried out, less shaken this time compared to the last mission.

   We heard our earpieces sputter to life, along with Mission Control clearing his throat. "Alright, team: You're going after eggs this time - alien eggs," Mission Control told us, "they're big and they glow. Get the eggs, stow 'em in Molly, and get back alive."

   I nodded and looked at the others. "We all remember where the eggs are?" I asked. "Yep," Fredrick confirmed, the other two nodding along with him.

   "Alright then," I responded, "let's get moving then." I tossed a flare into the darkness. "First, we mine," I commanded, "after all, each pound of gold makes us 14,000 gusils richer!"

   We all went to separate veins of gold, though there wasn't much nitra in this pocket. It took us a few minutes to pick the cave clean. "Oi, fellas!" Morris hollered. "Lookie here! It's a... uhm," he stammered, pulling out his marking device. "It's an ebonut!" He finally shouted. I looked back into the darkness and shouted back, "Alright then! It must be on our mission list!"

   I heard three hits, then a loud crack. I had no clue what had happened, so I was staring into the darkness. "Uhm... you good there?" I called out. "Yep!" Morris returned, "Had to crack the damn thing open though." I sighed in relief for a moment before carrying on with the mission. We all returned next to the hole the pod left upon landing after we were done mining.

   I looked at my terrain scanner. "Alright," I huffed, "let's see." I swiped around, finding four eggs we needed to collect. "Found them," I confirmed, "the next room is just a big ass cavern area. All the eggs are in that area." "Well done," Kurt congratulated, "Everyone, stick together. It's gonna get bloody, and fast... since you guys are working with me."

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