Astrollusion

Astrollusion ep.4 -Intruders in the dark

Lucas taking command, instructing everyone to prepare for impact. The ship shuddered but eventually stabilized. In the eerie silence that followed, all lights went out, leaving the crew in darkness. A sharp noise echoed through the spacecraft, signaling an impact.

Lucas wasted no time; he ventured to the source of the disturbance - the engine room, located in the outer part of the ship. Inside, the darkness was oppressive, with occasional flashes of electricity illuminating broken wires. Lucas called out for help, his voice fraught with urgency. Carter, recovering from his encounter in Sasha's room, slowly navigated through the inky blackness.

"Ay yo, Lucas, you alright there, buddy?" Carter's voice cut through the shadows, concerned for his fellow crew member. Lucas, struggling, replied, "I'm okay for now, but I won't be in a second. Hurry your ass up." Carter, grabbing a fire extinguisher, displayed the readiness for a fight.

Upon entering the engine room, Carter was confronted with a surreal sight. Gravity ceased to exist here, and he found himself floating within the dark expanse of the engine room. On the wall, a thick iron spike protruded, its tip engulfed in eerie, greenish blood. Lucas dangled upside down, his limbs ensnared in torn electrical wires, his body marred by bleeding cuts.

"Something attacked me, goddammit," Lucas gasped. "I couldn't see a thing." Carter, undeterred, took action. He delivered a mighty kick to the metal spike, triggering a sudden vacuum. Air rushed to escape into the void of space. Carter acted swiftly, sealing the breach with a piece of metal from a nearby console.

Next, he made precise vertical cuts in the electrical cables, freeing Lucas from his perilous position. Lucas shot Carter a grumpy look, and Carter couldn't resist a playful jab, "What's the magic word? I believe it's: 'Thanks, you saved my ass.'"

Lucas replied, "We've got some unfinished business, but we'll settle it later."

"Wanna talk about it?," said Carter, and Lucas just replied, "No thanks".

Together, they returned to the main room where the rest of the crew awaited. Jonas, the mission commander, demanded a detailed report. Lucas and Carter recounted their strange ordeal in the engine room, mentioning the unknown metal spike and Lucas's inexplicable attack.

Interrupting their report, Lucas added, "It happened so fast, I couldn't even see what it was. If I had to describe that, I'd say it was like a greenish blur, something fast and slippery." Jonas furrowed his brow, deep in thought, as he considered the implications of their words.

"Do you think we've got some unexpected visitors on board?" Jonas pondered aloud. Lucas responded with a wry grin, "Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?"

While Lucas and Carter dealt with this enigma, Sasha and the rest of the crew were busy relocating all the food crates to the meeting hall, creating a makeshift 'safe room' of sorts. Jonas, accompanied by Carter, decided to venture deeper into the ship. Guided only by the sporadic flicker of emergency lights, they sought to investigate whether any unwelcome guests lurked in the shadows.

Carter and Jonas ventured deeper into the ship, proceeding cautiously, their backs to each other. Their flashlights pierced the surrounding darkness. Carter, attempting to lighten the mood, playfully prodded, "So, oldie, do you think I can take you in a fight?"

Jonas, grinning, focused on the path ahead. "You bet your skinny ass I'd knock you out, you little bastard!" His words were punctuated with a playful spinning elbow strike to Carter's ribs. The impact left Carter breathless for a moment, but he couldn't help but grin back. "Ay ay, Captain."

In the meeting room, Sasha was tending to Lucas's infected wounds. They oozed an unsettling greenish hue, prompting Alera's curiosity. She approached to examine them and remarked, "I've seen many green plants, but never green wounds. What the hell attacked you, Lucas?"

Back in the reserve engine room, Jonas and Carther encountered an eerie sight. An enormous, upside-down, green nozzle-like structure clung to the wall, with an unsettling appendage attached to it. Jonas, armed with a wrench, began to investigate. Suddenly, Lucas fell from the strange apparatus, unconscious. Shocked and bewildered, they exchanged worried glances, questioning the identity of the real Lucas.

With urgency in their steps, they carried Lucas back to the meeting room. The ship's mysteries deepened, and the crew faced an enigmatic threat that defied their understanding.