Fantasy Vs Reality | The Withering

16: Sweeping Memory

Control yourself now. Watch your step.

~~

Coal nervously flicked the engines on in the small spacecraft, watching the temperature gauge slowly rise to a stable level. The small team was entirely suited up and ready, with their recycling oxygen tanks strapped firmly to their belts. He nodded to the team and they buckled silently. The last time he felt this tense was... was when...

He pushed the disturbing thoughts away and pushed a lever forward to get the craft up in the air. He turned it and radioed Simon, "Clear for take-off?"

"Affirmative." was Simon's swift reply, and Coal shot the craft out into space. He swallowed nervously as he gazed into the treacherous path in front of him. 

He gazed around for a moment, looking for any easy paths and decided to scout the outskirts for a moment. He went up and down to look for places where there weren't too terribly much debris. "I see a clear-ish path over that way." Storm said, unbuckling and leaning over Coal's shoulder to point towards his right and down a little. 

Nodding silently, Coal swerved the ship gently towards where Storm had pointed. She sat down in the seat next to him and re-buckled herself. She placed a hand on his leg and he realized just how much he was shaking.

He was probably in no condition to be on this mission, but he would do his duty as a Mission Specialist. Taking a deep breath, he turned the craft so it was facing the field of dangerous debris. 

"What's our next move Captain?" Coal asked in a breathy voice, "Should I just-"

"Just go in Coal, Storm move please." Marcus said. They briefly exchanged seats and Marcus leaned in to look at the scene before him, "Do as I say, do not question me."

Coal nodded, gripping the controls so hard his fur stood up on his hands. 

"Move forward slowly." Marcus said in a low voice, Coal did as he was told, focusing entirely on just Marcus' voice and the instructions he was being told. Some old part of himself slipped back and his scars tingled. 

Images of his old mentor telling him the exact thing appeared in his mind... "Do as I say, do not question me." they had said.

Coal refused to think anymore about the memory and pushed it away. He gritted his teeth as Marcus gently spoke another command, "Ten degrees left for two seconds, then four degrees down. After that move directly for the port again."

Coal did as he was told once again, the memory forcing itself back into his mind. He successfully made it through the first section of debris and the commands continued.

A quarter of the way there...

The memory kept coming back but still, Coal pushed it away and refused to let it continue.

Halfway there...

With each command, Coal's mind began to scatter. Desperately trying to think clearly, the memory began to envelope him.

Three quarters of the way there.

"Five degrees to the right." was Marcus' final command. 

Coal's eyes suddenly glazed over and his body grew unbearably heavy. He breathed out and his breath rattled alarmingly. The memory overtook him and he felt his body thrown out of the way as Marcus took the wheel.

The memory played in full mode now, his mentor repeated the same sentence, "Do as I say, do not question me."

Young Coal nodded to his mentor, sitting atop a building, looking down at his target. He pulled his razor sharp daggers out, ready to fall upon his prey. His mentor spoke again, but young Coal's mind was so pre-occupied he misheard. 

He was kicked off the building, thrown to the ground in a heap of braking bones. Crying out, he saw his mentor swiftly take out young Coal's prey and walked over to Coal's pitiful state. His mentor looked down upon him with disappointment, "You should have not questioned me."

His mentor readied their weapon and slashed the back of young Coal's neck, searing the young cat's flesh and pouring blood everywhere. Coal felt himself coming back to his reality and he was shaking uncontrollably. His neck stung, his body refused to listen to him, and he just curled up into a little ball as the craft came to a stop and he let out a weak cry.

Still shaking, he felt someone slap his helmet so hard his teeth cut into his cheek. It jogged him a little and the shaking began to subside. He was forced to a standing position, and put harshly into one of the seats. He looked up to see Marcus looking down upon him with disappointment. Coal's ears went flat, expecting to hear those words shortly before the searing pain in his neck...

But it did not come. Coal looked back up to Marcus, realizing his eyes were not full of disappointment, but concern. He knelt down and looked deep into Coal's eyes, just now realizing the true state Coal was in. The captain sighed, looking away, "It was wrong for me to bring you here. I didn't realize-"

Coal coughed, clearing his throat. His lungs rattled, but he forced himself to stand, "No. You were not wrong... I-" He steadied himself, "I came on this mission with a duty to fulfill. And that duty I will fulfill."

Marcus, Ember, and Storm stood in front of him watching for a long moment, before the captain finally nodded, "Very well."

The captain moved over to the communication panel and pressed a few buttons, "We have docked and are ready to enter the port, Orion. Over." Marcus said, speaking into the radio. 

There was nothing but static.

Frowning, Marcus clicked in again, "Orion? Elva? Do you read me. Over."

No response.

"Maybe we can contact them within the port's radio room? The signal may be too weak with all this debris." Ember asked, cracking her knuckles.

"If there even is a radio room left to explore." Storm mumbled.

Marcus sighed, "Everyone turn on your tele-communicators so we can hear each other." The craft doors opened and Coal could hear Marcus speaking through his ears, "Let's check to see if their first airlock even works, then after that we move further in and look for survivors. Then we find the radio room to contact the Omineon. Then send a transmission to Sector U's Neonian Outpost."

Everyone nodded and followed Marcus out of the craft. Coal gazed around in awe at the magnificence the port must've held. Even in shatters it held some semblance of beauty. Coal held onto the rails of the now broken walkway, preventing himself from being succumbed to space. He turned to look out into the mine field they had been in. 

Way in the distance, the Omineon illuminated itself with bright blue lights and the large front window of the Bridge. The two large wings strutting to the sides held the ship still as it loomed ominously in the distance. The four massive jet engine underneath glowed a soft blue and yellow, occasionally smaller jets would turn on and off to keep the ship in place. 

Coal turned himself around and grabbed along the edges of the rails to catch up to the others. Ember had just finished securing the craft to the docks and beckoned for Coal to follow her. He nodded silently and trailed along behind her as she followed Storm and Marcus inside.

They reached the first airlock and Coal wasn't surprised to find it in pieces. However, strangely, there was just a hint of gravity. No doubt the port's core was still running, which was the probable cause of the debris orbiting outside. 

As the team bounded further into the port, lights flickered and the power struggled to stay on. The core was probably struggling... Coal wondered if there was a way to fix it?

Strangely... there was not a single person in sight. Alive or dead.

Something was terribly wrong but Coal could not place why.