#razok

"Are you sure this is worth it?" Rio inquired with a grimace. The tall Galra adjusted his tight-fitting, single-piece suit, checking over his readouts to ensure there would be no issues once in space. "I'm not the biggest fan of space walking without being tethered to something larger than myself."

Razok was checking over his own gear. As a member of the Blade of Marmora, he wore his standard operative gear as it was able to withstand absolute vacuum. Both were aboard Rio's ship, The Onyx Moth, preparing for the expedition ahead of them.

"The Lithome were a scourge to the Galra Empire almost 700 years ago. Most were thought to be wiped out in a massive unified strike across their territory. They were said to have been a pain in Zarkon's royal behind and they had technology that made most Galra tech more than useless. So, yes, we were sure this would be worth it.”

He grinned at Rio.

"Besides; I thought you were super horny for these long-lost pieces of tech."

The taller, younger Galra's white mohawk mane bristled a bit in embarrassment, his ears tips tinting red. A simple 'Shut up' was all he could retort with, which elicited a chuckle out of his companion. Getting back to completing his preparations, Rio moved about the small launch area that had been set up on his ship, and collecting his needed equipment for the mission into a backpack.

Knowing they’d already been over this and asking about it again would likely irritate Razok, Rio decided to risk it anyway.

"Just for clarification, you know, again: the Blades found the body of a Tuuvian, floating through space, in a suit that had evidence of a Lithome cruiser recorded on internal video in his helmet.  A body, mind you, that was at least a dozen decaphoebs old. Based on the internal readings, they traced the body back to this dead zone from which the only things that normally leave are the faint emergency signals of ships long lost.  And we're going to jump in there. Did I miss anything?"

Razok gave the younger Galra a deadpan stare with his one good eye, the other blank with a scar running over it down his face.  Refusing to repeat himself again, he slid his swords into their sheaths behind his back with a loud click.

His preparations finished, the Blade lifted up his portable body sled and secured himself to it with a cord.  It was as long as Razok was tall.  What looked like a flattened pod that was intended to carry a person was actually a powerful rocket with two fins on each side that came out from either side in the middle.  Attached to each fin was a small maneuverable thruster.  On top of the sled were controls for the rider and a screen with telemetry readings - which were currently pre-programmed with the first part of their trip.  An engine at the rear of the sled provided most of the propulsion.

They weren't the most stylish, elegant or subtle, but they would do the job.  Rio had more than been up to the challenge to make them when Razok had contacted him about it on behalf of the Blade of Marmora.  Now that he was going to be one of the passengers, there were at least one-hundred different design choices he’d have made.

"The pictures were matched to the records we have on file, boy," the Blade spy explained, with the little patience he had remaining.  "I couldn't think of anyone else who would be able to handle this type of mission, be able to confirm what we could use, and get us there and back. You're not coming away with nothing for your troubles either. Make sure we get there without issues and we should be fine."

"Everyone else turned you down once you told them where you were going, didn’t they?" Rio couldn’t help but smile at the complement as he clipped himself in against his own sled.

"Pretty much."

Both of them tapped a sensor located behind their jaws. Their suits’ helmets curled up over their heads and sealed them in. They did a quick set of final checks, ensuring their suits were working as intended.

"Now move your literal tail!  We have a few vargas of flight ahead of us."

Razok's test of the suits’ shortwave communications was certainly successful. Grimacing at that bit of sass, Rio began the decompression of the launch area and deactivation of gravity.

Both of them mounted their sleds once they were able to float without gravity pulling them down and they pushed themselves out of the launch bay. When they were clear of the Onyx Moth, they activated their rockets and sped away into the darkness.

*~*~*

Razok's voice buzzed in Rio's ear after a while.

"Things seem to be working. I hope you were right about these rockets."

Apparently, it was Rio's turn to repeat himself, but - since it was talking about mechanics and technology - he was more than willing.

"The dead zone is a dangerous place for almost any ship; several integral parts of most modern ships’ functions just won’t work here on their own. Only smaller or more primitive methods of electronics or technology will work here. Quintessence fields, manufactured wormholes, even most engine designs and computers in the Empire, can’t function here; they are all either destabilized or unable to be powered. People don’t know why, and most expeditions and studies into the area were fruitless, or just ended. Rumours go between failed ancient experiment, natural spatial anomaly, to an ancient God’s dead body.  Any version you choose: it’s a no-fly space marked for most people these days.

“What we’re using today though; simple combustion engines, some basic computers, generators, and a few other things that are a few steps above primitive.  Even still, we may experience some issues, but our main essentials shouldn’t be affected.”

"So why has no one else escaped this place before - like our frozen pal that was picked up?"

"Probably because, like me, most people dread and fear the idea of taking that final deep leap into space. The chances that a random body being found in the deep reaches of space is also very minimal, the Blades were lucky to have stumbled across this one. Also: who uses combustion engines anymore? Unless you brought them in, you wouldn’t be able to leave with most other methods of space flight."

Razok grunted a response. The conversation died and silence filled the rest of the trip, except for the sound of each of them breathing. Rio spent most of the trip trying to remember the information that he had been able to scrounge up on Lithome technology, while Razok had gone into a zen-like calm as he reviewed his plans and own information. Within a varga of leaving the Onyx Moth, they entered the area itself. Other than some annoying static with their coms, there was no noticeable changes.

Eventually, against the blackness of space, their destination came into view: a vast stretch of derelict vessels, most floating near each other, so after millennia and the draw of gravity it started to form an enormous mass that was nothing more than twisted metal and technology. Rio had earlier stated that ships from all ages of spacefaring littered the area, but most weren’t intact or recognizable anymore. The outer edges of the cosmic breaking yard would have more intact wrecks and farther spaced apart debris, which is where their first destination was. The further in an explorer went, the older the ships were.

At least: that was the theory.

As they pulled in closer, the flat digital displays in front of each of them lit up.  With a signal from Razok, they turned themselves towards an outer section of the ship graveyard. They had gotten a hit; a unique low power signal the Tuuvian ship had which was still active.

They wove their way through the local debris with little problem. The distance between most of the major debris allowed for them to maneuver with no issues.

Their destination was fairly easy to spot as they neared; it was a more modern designed cargo ship. Compared to the other ships in the area, it had the least issues with it structurally.  It appeared to have landed roof first into the remnants of an older, unidentifiable hull of a destroyed ship. 

Slowing themselves with a few maneuvers, the two pulled up beside the vessel. Using their magnetized boots, they made landfall. Razok opened the access with a quick code he had obtained from the deceased alien and they made their way inside after securing their rides.

After confirming there was atmosphere, both Galra retracted their helmets. Razok led the way towards the bridge, wielding one of his swords. The swords were able to take any shape their wielder chose, but as he normally did, he had it about as long as his legs from tip to pommel, in a slightly curved, single-edged conformation.  It reflected the light projected from the shoulder mounted flashlight on Razok’s suit, making the light dance across the walls.

Rio followed in behind him, a simple laser pistol held in both his hands, eyes searching wildly around them.  His mind was picturing hidden things lurking in the darkened interior, waiting to leap at the both of them. Their breath misted from their mouths, the ship barely warm enough for a normal living being.  Power settings seemed to have been set low, trying to increase reserves and sustain whatever crew might have been on board.

Luckily, nothing appeared as they arrived at the bridge.

After a quick sweep of the area, Rio got to work. He pulled his bag from his back and removed an older portable computer that Razok could have mistaken for something from a landfill, and a small generator. Crawling under the main control console, he opened up a compartment to reveal the ship’s black box. He connected the computer and generator to the indestructible recording device and turned on both as needed. As he had hoped, with the extra power, he was able to connect to the ship’s records.

“One problem down.” He gave a thumbs up to Razok as he crawled back out and started to go through records.

With the tech nerd at work, the older Galra left him on the bridge to properly clear the rest of the ship. Luckily, with work to distract him - and the entire place being lit now by the power of the cosmos, his computer, and the display windows - Rio’s mind was no longer jumping at shadows.

“The ship is empty,” Razok reported as he came back after some time.

“That’s good. I don’t think anyone could survive this long even if they were transporting military field rations - but if they had, they would definitely be banging their heads off the walls.”

The Blade cast his eye around the bridge in an assessing glance.

“No, I mean it’s completely empty. Most of the personal stuff of the crew is still here, but there are no bodies anywhere on the ship - and there was definitely more than one person running this ship.”

Rio looked up from his work. “That matches the logs: The black box recorded at least four passengers. The ship matches the information from the Tuuvian’s suit. Looks like they were honest merchants that FTL jumped with incorrect coordinates. They were lucky that they didn’t collapse into a flat pancake with their inertial field failure.”

Razok’s face showed how bad of an experience he would expect that to be. “But that would mean there would still be bodies - just plastered across the windows and bulk head instead of floating around. The body we found was still intact and didn’t look like it had traveled through transparent aluminum.”

“No, yeah - you’re right,” Rio agreed, his tail flicking in thought. “Maybe they went out looking for resources? Food and supplies to last them ‘til… Well, I’m assuming what they hoped would be a rescue.”

“The only option at this point. Unless you can get anything more useful, we’re moving on. Hopefully there hasn’t been that much drift and we can find that ship before we pass the turn back point on our fuel.”

“Not much here; it stopped receiving information from most of the systems when they entered. There was some reading that it got before the shut down and there appears to have been a larger mass of ships near-by. If they were able to get those readings, they probably headed there. I could probably get the general direction. But other than that, there isn’t much else to go on. Probably means we will have to stick with that picture and our good old ey-senses, to find it once we’re near.”

Razok gave him half a tick and a glare to gather up the equipment.  The glare shifted to a playful smirk behind Rio’s back before they headed back to their vehicles.

*~*~*

While the dead zone itself was huge, the debris field was speculated to sit in its center and was relatively smaller. People theorized that most ships' existing inertia usually carried a disabled ship a great deal closer to the field, and then the existing gravity pulled it in closer. The larger the field got, the more ships that were pulled in.

With the minimal information they had, thankfully it only took less than a varga for them to discover the partially ruined vessel they were looking for. Originally coloured white from what they could see, the vessel had obviously been marred by time and countless collisions. If there had been more bulk to the ship that had been attached by a connecting section, they had long since broken away. What had once been a ship now resembled the dome of the skull of some giant ancient, left to the elements of space.

Pulling up beside the ship, they put boots down on the surface. Looking around at the expansive ship-side, the ancient hull curved beyond their vision. Most of it was very unremarkable. The appearance was overall smooth unless someone was standing right over top of an area, then, the minute textural details became clear.

"There weren’t many locations that I could see as we flew by that could be an access door."

Rio pulled out a scanner the size of his hand and started to try and get some readings. The device’s power fluctuated even as it turned on and he cradled it as if that would protect it from whatever was disrupting it. He knelt down on the surface of the ship and pressed it up against the metal.

“Find an entrance yet?” Razok asked.

Even their communications were acting up as they both got a brief earful of static. Razok waited for it to fade before he asked again. He scanned the surrounding debris field for any signs of movement or life, but nothing revealed themselves to his eye. It might’ve had something to do with where they were, but the silent oppressiveness of space seemed to be amplified. Death had set up a little shop out here; ready to sell you different kinds of dying. Though the selection was vast and varied, they were all out of 'quick and painless' - the most popular choice for anyone unlucky enough to be there.

“I think I’m getting something. It’s - wait-” Rio's device blinked a few times, before dying all together. “Gah! Stupid place!”

“What? What was it?”

The younger Galra shoved the dead device into a pocket of his bag with force and began to rub his arms simulating warming them up through his suit.

“It said there was power inside, but that can’t be right. A ship this old... I can’t think of a kind of power source that could survive here for this long and still function.”

“You mean except possible lost alien technology that outclasses what we have today?” Razok quipped back

“Yes - except for the exact thing you used to bribe me here. Now to find the way in and get out of this giant abyss of death.” He waved his hand above his head.

After a few doboshes of searching, Razok was ready to just pull out his swords to cut through the hull.  He was saved from resorting to that when Rio called for him. The other Galra had been wandering across the surface and had found a hidden access door, which he had been able to open, leading to an access way inside. Getting ready to enter another ship, they both secured the body sleds at the entrance, armed themselves, and slipped into the interior of the ancient ship.

Upon entering, their eyes quickly adjusted to the interior of the ship. Frost seemed to coat the hallway leading from their point of entrance; it coincided with the frigid temperature inside the ship. Checking their suits’ indicators, there did seem to be actual breathable air, but they kept their helmets on for the moement. It appeared that - like the Tuuvian ship - minimal environmentals were working, but gravity either no longer worked or it wasn’t a system able to function in the zone.

The two Galra moved away from the entrance, weapons drawn and held at the ready, despite no evidence so far of anyone else aboard, dead or alive. As they closed the hatch fully, which shut out the light that had cascaded in from the cosmos, it seemed that Rio’s device had been correct: there was a dim glow coming from somewhere along the walls.  It bathed the entire interior with a soft blue light. In sections where ice coated the hall fully, it took on a blue colour from the light, appearing like a glacier had pushed up against the roof and floor. Where the ice was thin or bare, the white walls of the actual corridor peeked through, helping to reflect the minimal lighting. The ceiling and floor were coloured in a matte grey where it appeared between the ice. Spaced out at regular intervals were curved structural beams, each one painted brown.

Without the ice, the interior would have looked like a leafless winter forest. Now, it took on a more sinister look; like the inside of the corpse of some dead giant animal whose ancient bones break through the ice every so often.

“If there’s power to light the ship,” Razok observed, “then the main computer might still have some power as well.”  

They had both been moving through the forest of ice for a short time, passing mostly shut doors and branching hallways. The doors that were open led to utility, storage, or living quarters, but they were all empty of any sign of life.

Rio nodded numbly, his eyes drifting over the frozen walls. Occasionally he glimpsed his own reflection when it lined up with him, but the lighting made him look pale and sunken.

“That would mean going deeper into the heart of this place,” he said. “Hopefully: the closer we get, the more obvious where something like that might be.”

He gave a shiver, even though his suit kept his temperature regulated. The icy atmosphere was getting to him.

“Then we should be quick,” Razok decided. “This place is starting to give me-”

They were turning a corner when Razok stopped and held out a hand for Rio to stop as well. While there had been other areas of hallway that had seemed damaged, or barricaded by ice growth, this time there was the giant form of an alien. Curled in on itself, the body took up most of the hallway, held in place by the lack of gravity and wedged between several ice protrusions. It gave the appearance of being caught in an icy web.

Approaching slowly, they were able to pick out some details and features: the alien’s skin was stretched over its body, giving way to very little muscle mass underneath. The thing looked like it had died of starvation. Bones were visible over most of its body, even through the layer of white fur that covered the stretched skin. Its arms were wrapped around its legs, held against its chest, both of which appeared long and gangly. Its head was long, face pushing out into almost an animalistic muzzle. If the two Galrans were to hazard a guess: if the creature stood up, it would be head and shoulders taller than Rio. It wore a rough breast plate covering on its upper body and its legs were covered in the remnants of a suit. Its entire body was coated in ice and frost.

“Is this what a Lithome is supposed to look like?” Rio tried to lean in and get a better look of the alien’s face, but was blocked by its positioning.

“From what I read, I would say yes - but it’s bigger than what I was expecting. The records we do have said they were on average with a Galra.” Razok looked along the walls and ground to see if there were any traps, devices, or some other thing that might show how the Lithome had gotten in this predicament.

“Maybe they ate their vegetables. Is there a reason why they’re just in the middle of the hallway?”

Razok gave a weak snort at the weak attempt at a joke. “Probably fell asleep. They were a hibernating species; helped them live on their planet, which could have long-ass winter seasons. Some records stated those winters could last entire decapheobs.”

“You mean it just fell asleep and never woke up?"

"And frosted over like an over frozen hunk of ghork meat left in a freezer." The shorter Galra tapped his sword against it as emphasis. The sound of metal on ice echoed more than either of them expected - or really wanted.

They exchanged a look.

"This place is giving me the creeps. Let's just go get this over with." Rio turned back the way they had come.

"Agreed." Razok turned to follow, but froze and hissed: “Wait!”

A layer of ice on the creature’s back had cracked, following the arc of the alien’s back. Razok took a step back, wary, as the Lithome's head snapped up half an inch. Its eyes were opened; dark red pin pricks, sunken into their sockets, swept about the area to take in what may have woken it. Entire sheets of frost and ice broke away as the body of the alien unfurled and stretched. A yawning maw revealed a great number of serrated canine-like teeth.

If someone later had asked: Rio couldn’t have told them if it was or ice that had frozen his mag boots to the ground or a chill fear down his spine. Having turned back again to see what his companion had seen, his eyes widened in horror as the apparently not dead, just sleeping, ancient enemy of the Galra awoke. Both hands hands shook around his drawn weapon, pointed downward and forgotten for the moment.

The red eyes suddenly focused and locked onto the two invading aliens. It reached out and grabbed hold of the structural brown arch above it and used it to stretch itself, looking even more emaciated than before in doing so; like a creature that had been killed and stretched by an incompetent leather worker. The alien let out a guttural growl that seemed to come from deeper than its body would allow.

The noise snapped Rio out of his frozen stupor. He automatically raised his gun at the alien, but his arms were caught by Razok.

"What're you doing, boy: trying to get us killed?"

"It's going to kill us," Rio hissed between clenched teeth.

"Yeah, it will - after that peashooter of yours either pisses him off with a scorch mark or you hit his chest piece and it bounces back, hitting one of us!"

Rio looked back at the awakened Lithome. He noticed the chest guard it wore was made of a strange sort of white metal, and he realized it was made of lithite; one of the things they were hoping to find and that he had studied a bit. It was rumored that in war Lithome soldiers were deadly - not just for their warrior prowess, but also because most shots fired at them killed the shooter by reflecting most energy projectiles.

Even as these thoughts sped through his mind, their newly awoken acquaintance's eyes gave chilling stares to both of them, its brain analyzing them.

"Gaaalraaa…" it growled out, bearing a mouth full of teeth. "Why you on Lux's ship…?"

The Lithome's speech was slurred and stunted, but it was difficult to tell if that was from them just waking up, the natural way of speaking, or both.

"Lithome," Razok addressed it - no, them - while releasing the younger Galra’s arms. He lowered his weapons non-threateningly. "Lux - I am Razok, of the Blade of Marmora. Do you remember who we are?"

Lux started at the Galra, completely ignoring Rio and his pistol. After a few ticks, their mouth peeled back in a deep, guttural laugh. Their lips peeled back farther than was expected and revealed how deep their maw truly went, displaying teeth all the way back to the throat.

"Blade of Marmora? Weak now! Half blind and cowards. Remember allies of Lithome. You trapped here as Lux?"

Razok's face twitching was the only sign of his temper. That just seemed to make Lux laugh more. Still, the Galra was able to keep his voice even.

"No, we're here to investigate." He stopped for a moment to weigh his options. "If you help us get some information and equipment to help fight the Galra Empire, we can help you get out of this area of space."

Rio shifted behind him, but kept his opinions and comments to himself for the moment - something Razok definitely appreciated, knowing how free the younger Galra could be with his tongue.

"Yes, leave. Been too long,” Lux stated in a gravelly flat tone. “So hungry." The giant Lithome turned in the zero gravity to face away from them. "You follow; Lux will show you to main area."

Bracing an almost skeletal arm on a brown arch, Lux used the structure to continue their movements down the hall; grabbing onto one and pulling themselves up and past it to another one. It looked like they had practice with the ship since having been stranded or had at least trained in zero gravity.

"So we're going to trust the giant alien that just woke up from a frozen nap?” Rio asked as soon as Lux was far enough away. “And looked at us like it wanted to crush us as soon as it saw we were Galra? Not to mention I don't know about having someone of his size use one of the body sleds-"

The warning glare he received from Razok stopped the stream of comments that were flooding from Rio's mouth.

"The Lithome share no love for the Empire,” the other Galra said. “Lux could be an asset and would be better to help interpret anything we find. He - assuming Lux is a male - can at least show us what we can get from this crate."

They both followed after Lux, who had waited for them at another junction to catch up. Lux perched sideways on the beam, red eyes following them akin to some monstrous bird of prey. As they sufficiently caught up, it dashed down the next hallway. Whether perched or moving through the halls, the Lithome's body seemed to take up a large amount of space. It could easily touch both walls at the same time, but was quite agile enough not to hit or touch anything it didn't mean to as it moved through the ship. Lux moved with an odd and unnerving motion. It seemed at once both flexible and also stilted with sharp, unnatural movements.

"That being said,” Razok commented after their guide had moved far enough ahead again, “if this is a trap: he may lose his only way of escape and that would just be stupid. But being stranded does weird things to a mind. Stay on guard, do what I say, and I promise I will get us out of this."

Rio nodded with a grimace, looking down at his pistol. At least, he could be a momentary distraction before being eaten.

*~*~*

Despite their dread, Lux did lead both Galra to a larger area onto a walkway going out to a pillar in the center of the room. It looked like it had been nailed directly through the ship. The giant processor soared up and down into darkness, surrounded by empty space on all sides, except the metal catwalk which led to and from the doors on the walls. The Lithome explained that it was the main computer and Rio's eyes lit up as he took in the design. Technology unseen by Galra eyes for eons suppressed his fear and he enthusiastically got to work. He launched himself through the air and caught himself around the pillar of a computer, floating around to look for an access port or some other way of interfacing with the tech he had on hand.

Razok and Lux both stood and watched him move about, pulling equipment from his bag and setting up. The much larger alien's laboured breathing could be heard through Razok's helmet, which prompted him to retract it to make sure he wasn't hearing a leak. The alien didn’t seem exhausted, despite the workout just after waking from its ancient nap. Razok had very limited knowledge on the Lithome standard. The sound was pervasive, as though he could feel the breathing inside himself, and it started to agitate him.

"Lux, has there been anyone else on board with you or that has shown up, like us? There’s another ship that was trapped in this part of space relatively recently."

It took a few moments for the white alien to reply, their laboured breaths filling the air as they tried to remember. "No. Lux cannot remember last time they see someone."

Razok grunted in response and crossed his arms.

"Hungry," Lux muttered.

"We’ll get you something when we get back to the ship. Rio should have some food on board."

"Hungry..."

After several doboshes, Rio was still working away, having found an access section he could jerryrig a connection to his computer with assistance from the generator again. Having retracted his own helmet, he had his tongue stuck between his teeth, streams of breath blowing out in two directions around it. In the meantime, Razok was standing guard at the door, leaning against the doorway in a way that looked relaxed, but someone trained could tell he was anything but. He was inspecting one of his swords, having returned it now to a smaller dagger style. His breath fogged around him, leaving streaks of frozen mist in his hair. Lux waited, becoming almost a monolith of a creature, and only their breathing and eye movement showed signs of life.

"Rio, are you anywhere near done?" Razok called over to the technician.

"I'm trying to access an ancient database of a ship that has been running on the most minimum power for who knows how-"

"So... no?"

Rio looked up from his computer at being cut off, answering him with a shake of his head.

"Fine. Lux, can you show me if there are any places where you might have some equipment left over? Even if they're dead or broken, anything we take back might help."

The Lithome got up and went through the doorway. "Follow."

"Hey, technophile!"

Rio gave the other Galra a friendly glare and rude gesture in response. Razok tapped his ear to signal keeping their communication channels open before following Lux.

Lux led Razok and on a winding journey. While their route didn’t cross back on them, the Galra was sure he would have gotten lost if he wasn’t taking the precaution of marking their path using his claws. Several more routes that they passed seemed to have so much ice that it was nearly impossible to pass, but Lux didn’t bother with them, so it didn’t matter.

Razok was astonished by how cold it was in the ship, even with all the ice in the ship. Life support systems were operational, so there was some heat at work. He would have expected it to be a little warmer than the deep depths of space. Depending on their lineage, Galra weren’t without fur, but Razok didn’t think a fur-bearing Galra could survive naturally in this environment.

The glacial temperatures may have been intentional as Lux themself seemed more suited with his white fur (a theory that might have had more weight to it with a healthier-looking Lithome). Still, each time the Lithome had gotten close to him, Razok was certain that Lux was emanating cold. He was intensely curious as to what sort of biology made that possible. Lux was taller and more gaunt than anything Razok had been expecting. If a few members of their race had escaped together, though, that condition could be attributed to them breeding under tight and limited circumstances. He could also see it being due to the extreme hibernation Lux had been through, although he didn’t think that either explained the extreme height.  The only other being he personally knew to be that tall was his brother, Sozal, and that was due to his unique genetic heritage.

Nothing in the data packets that he had been able to dig up had mentioned anything about the Lithome being so gaunt, but the information in the packets were spotty at best. They were obviously exceedingly out of date; well past the time they were written.

They continued on through the ship.  Razok took note that they had to be on the opposite side of the ship from where he and Rio had parked their body sleds.  That fact added another layer of apprehension to his already rational worries.

He had no time to dwell on it as Lux brought them to a halt at a door that had seen better days.

"What happened here?"

"Weapon storage. Had issues."

The Galra could see evidence of destruction in the hallway nearby that might have been from when the ship had become part of the junk pile in the wrecking yard. Perhaps some of it had occurred when the ship broke apart over the long decaphoebs.

Razok didn't like it; aside from the parts further down, which looked like it was from a collapse, most of the damage was either on the door or on the wall opposite to it. The damage looked like scorch marks, mostly.

To be precise: they looked like weapons fire scorch marks.

"Open it."

Without hesitation, Lux first tried the panel beside the door despite it giving a few meager flickers of light.

Static filled Razok’s ear, causing him to flinch and hold a hand up to his receiver. "Rio, repeat that - I barely heard you."

"I asked: did you guys do something? I just got an alert!"

"Yeah; Lux just tried to open the door to the ship’s armory."

Lux turned to watched him with the barest amount of curiosity at the mention of their name. The lack of expression sent a shiver of unease along Razok’s spine.

"That won't work," Rio declared. "The system is in some kind of protective mode."

"In response to a breach? I’m pretty sure we’re near the edge of the ship opposite from where you and I entered."

"...no…? No.” Rio seemed more certain the more he spoke. “No - these seem to be a different protocol. I might be able to try and get it open, but that’ll draw power from what little life support there is."

"There doesn't seem to be anyone else here; Lux doesn't remember anyone else being here, anyway. There should be enough air to last us ‘til we leave. We’ll grab Lux a suit while we’re here."

"Alright, give me a few ticks. I’ve been running into quite a few walls on my end. I think I’ve gotten as much as I’m going to get with the tools we have here."

"We’ll get the stuff and then we can head out," he responded as he locked gazes with Lux.

The lights around them started to dim, more so than they were already. Eventually the lights went out and Razok turned on the flashlight attached to his shoulder. The two waited there for a bit, and from across the ship, several bulk heads away, there was the sound of grinding. The ice made the sound seem much closer than it was.

“I thought you said you couldn’t remember anyone else being here?” Razok’s fingers rubbed at the hilt of his dagger.

“No… No remember. No other Lithome.” Lux strained to remember but seemed certain of their answer.

“Rio, what was that? Was that you?”

"Didn’t that work? Thought those were some door controls. Hold o****" The com cut to static briefly before returning. "-thing else, if this doesn't work let me know."

“Did you really have to turn out the lights?” Razok asked half-rhetorically.

“Looks like they were the emergency lights, tied to environmentals; sorry,” Rio answered anyway.

Sighing, the two waited a bit more for something to happen. Before long, there was a grinding echo of parts long forgotten scraping together. The walls shuddered from the internal struggle, sending small shards of ice flying. Clearly, Rio had been able to find a way to try and control the doors - or at least attempting to open them. The one Razok and Lux were waiting at started to crack open, separated in the center. The two door panels barely opened before stopping. The internal mechanisms in the wall groaned in protest before giving up entirely.

Razok cursed and stalked up to the door, sheathing his drawn weapons. The crack was barely wide enough to fit his fist in sideways. Beyond the meager opening, the room was so dark he couldn't see anything. He reached his hands in and he couldn’t help but notice the other side of the door felt rough under his gloved fingers, as if it had been warped. Bracing himself, the Galra’s muscles flexed under his suit as he manually tried to pry the door open.

Razok had barely begun straining to open the door when he suddenly felt a deep chill behind him. Above his head, Lux's giant skeletal fingers worked into the door as well. The Lithome’s body now looming over the Galra, their cold breath washed over Razok as they both their put full effort into opening the door. Razok gave a successful cry as the doors groaned open more; enough for them to walk in.

The light from the flashlight illuminated the room. Whatever Razok was expecting, the scene was nothing like it. Unlike the rest of the ship, every inch of this room was painted rust red; the walls, the ceiling, and floor as well. The coloring was haphazardly done, as if someone had simply opened cans of paint and splashed it everywhere at random. Across every surface, like the rest of the ship, were frozen pieces of ice, but these pieces were lumpy and, from them, jutted pieces of bodies, horribly mangled.  Some of the bodies looked torn apart, as if some of them was ripped away by brute force. With no gravity, groups of iced remains gathered in the corners of the room; floating pieces and parts that hadn’t been frozen to a surface.

“Lux remember now…” Lux rumbled just behind Razok. Their voice and chilling presence felt like physical pressure now, even without either of them in contact with one another.

“What… What is this?!”  

Razok stared in horror. With the door open and air disturbed, the red on the walls flaked away, filling the air with particles, revealing the red rust ‘paint’ to be dried blood. There were bones, old but clean, haphazardly strewn across the room. Looking down near his feet at the entrance for the room, Razok discovered two bodies, frozen; one of them, with only half a face, stared back at him, but he could instantly recognize it from the remnants of the suit worn: Tuuvian.

“The last time saw people…” Lux loomed tall over Razok.  Their sunken eyes stared down at the Galran; their sockets seemed to fall back farther into his face until all there was, was two great points like black holes, seeming to pull everything in. “They barely filled me… I’m so huuuungry…”

Even before the Lithome had finished their sentence, Razok was already spinning around, grabbing both of his sheathed blades from over his shoulders. The blades gave a dim flash of light as they shifted, transforming from their small dagger shape out into identical long, curved, single-edged swords.

His weapons weren’t the only things that had changed.

What towered over him literally froze him on his spot, mid-swing.

Starting down at him, Lux’s head no longer resembled what it had been previously. Their fur and skin was being pulled back, like it had done before when they’d laughed at Razok, but now it kept going back until their skull pushed through. Stark white bone broke through and peeled away the skin. Above their head, two protrusions were pulling back the skin, catching the skin, helping to pull it back as they formed into large, magnificent antlers. In their eye sockets, the red was gone; now there was nothing but darkness: deep, terrifying, and above all, cold.

The creature formerly known as Lux opened its maw, which was now little more than bone lined with large dangerous teeth. The only reason the lower jaw hadn't fallen off was some strands of muscles anchoring it to the skull. A long, hard tongue slithered its way out, glistening in the glow from the flashlight as it snaked out to curled in around Razok’s face, the razor thin tip tracing over his cheek.

“So hungry - you will feed.” Both arms of the beast landed on the door, blocking the Galra from escaping with its massive body.

A deep, sucking wind pulled from inside the gaping skull. Razok could feel it pulling at him, drawing on something from deep within him. His stunned brain could barely think well enough to get an idea, as his extremities started to lose feeling, but what he could were distant thoughts - as if part of his mind was sunk deep under a winter covered ocean.

Unable to keep the energy in his arms, let alone his hands, they slowly lowered towards the deck beneath his feet. His sword tips chinked as they met the frozen metal; the grips barely rested in the slack fingers. His feet felt like they had frozen so much they might be part of the ship beneath his boots and his legs shook from the effort of holding him up. Even the tips on some of his fur started to take on a frosty white quality as if something more than just his heat was being drained.

The creature leaned in closer, eager to devour the meal in front of it. The weight of the beast caused the doors to creak as it neared.

Razok could only stand there. Not even the tip of frozen serpentine tongue slicing his cheek could wake Razok from his frozen stupor. In his mind, the thoughts were falling farther and farther away, turning to nothingness...

“HEY, RAZOK! YOU GETTING THIS!? COME IN!”

Suddenly, the ice in his head broke with Rio’s voice directly in his ear - and Razok leapt into action.

With decaphoebs of training and force of will, Razok’s hands closed around his weapons and he let his body quickly go limp, ducking and rolling awkwardly under the giant beast’s arm. Bringing the tip of one of his swords up, he pierced up under the creature’s arm; the blade sliding in. The effort required felt like he was pushing the sword through compact snow.  He shoved the blade past the breastplate and the tip of it reappeared jutting from the creature’s collar bone, cutting one of the straps holding the breastplate in place. Part of his study of the existing records had been focusing on the anatomy of the Lithome; particularly, where any weak points might be.

Given the size of this creature and the changes that had happened, though…

The creature’s jaw rattled up and down in a mockery of a laugh. It turned its body to face Razok, who quick kicked himself back a good dozen feet, withdrawing his sword. The breastplate that had been covering Lux fell away and under it, where its heart would have been - and definitely where the sword had just been - was a giant empty hole. The remnants of the rib cage lined the gaping space, broken, and where there should have been a heart or something equivalent was nothing other than an empty cavity; ice cold and dark.

“Heart best meal I ever had.” It looked down at the hole briefly. “Need that again. Need to FEEEEED.”

The entire ship seemed to shake and another cry came over the communicator. Still feeling the cold deep in his bones and his overall strength being sapped, Razok made his choice. Turning off his mag boots and sheathing one of his swords, he launched and propelled himself through the winter landscape like Lux had done before.

“RIO!” He yelled to the other Galra over the coms. “PACK, NOW! EVACUATE!”

“Why, what’s going on? I haven’t touched any other sys-”

“CODE THETA, GET TO THE SLEDS! THAT’S AN ORDER!”

Rio didn’t respond after that, so Razok could only pray the other man understood, but he couldn’t put too much thought to that. He swung his blade backwards, but instead of metal slicing through flesh, it merely knocked away one of the creature’s hands. What was once flesh stretched over bone was now revealed to be just bone, all the way back to its wrist. The fingers of the beast had become much bigger and sharper, so each one now look very much like the dagger stored on Razok’s back. Using the force from the impact, Razok shot forward again, and continued his desperate race to escape.

Rio was already packing up and moving. He had gotten to know his partner a bit since Razok first ran into him, but the fact he had used a Galra Empire emergency code spoke volumes. Combined with whatever had shaken the ship just before that, his mind began a horrifying reel of ideas with what could have happened, each one getting worse. Within half a dobosh, he was up, pistol in hand, and moving towards the entrance they had used to get into the ship.

Deeper in the ship, Razok ducked down a side passage. Doing so sent the creature shooting by behind him, buying him a few ticks. The sounds of claws gouging deep into ice and metal walls filled the corridors as it scrambled to turn itself around, a cry of frustration filling the halls. The Galra turned down another corridor, trying to take a winding route in a desperate attempt to lose the monster without getting lost himself. Thanks to his marking trick, he was able to keep to the correct passageways. He didn’t want to risk turning off his light, even though it might gave him away. If he got lost in the dark, he was as good as dead. If not eaten, then eventually frozen to death.

Rounding a corner onto a path he had followed Lux down before, the Blade came to a halt in front of a now slightly open door. It looked nearly identical to the door that had protected the armoury. This one seemed to have been the first one triggered when Rio was trying to open the other one. It had caught itself on some overgrown ice on the ceiling and floor, making for only a small passage in the center. It looked barely big enough for a child to climb through.

A raging shriek that sounded like the shattering of a mirror convinced Razok to try squeeze through despite not being able to de-age himself. It was definitely a tight fit; neither door panel giving a millimeter of space more than they already had. He was sure they were, in fact, pushing back against him. Razok had to take both weapons off his back as well as try and let out every bit of air from his lungs just to barely squeeze through.

About half his body made it past the doors before he could hear the creature’s movements, coming from the same corner he had came from. Spurred on, he was able to get the rest of his body through and then turned around. Through the crack, he could see the skeletal head come around the corner. Even from this distance, the Galra felt as though those eyes would swallow him up.

Grabbing one of his swords, he swung it into the ice at the floor, chipping it a bit. If he could get the door closed, then they would be able to escape.

At the same time, the monster turned its body to try and launch itself off the end wall.

A second swing shook the ice enough to crack, and the door shook. Looking up, Razok could see it was still caught on the ice coming down from the ceiling. One more, and they were free. It could take a while for the creature to bypass this section.

The beast’s jaw hung open, uttering a terrifying scream, as it dove through the air and giant skeletal clawed hands reached out towards Razok.

Razok hacked at the ice with desperation. If he could block this off, he and Rio could get away unscathed.

The beast landed against the door. Iits hand reached through the crack, grasping desperately, but Razok was quick enough to push himself back. He rolled through the air, prepared to defend himself against the beast again, when a gunshot rang out. Ice shattered, startling the monster into pulling its arm back.  The door then slammed shut and a guttural roar shook the entire ship as the creature was denied once again.

Further up the hallway, Rio stood, his hands gripped his freshly fired gun up and his eyes as wide as yellow dinner plates. He continued to stare directly at the door even as Razok flew to meet him. Their limbs tangled a bit as the Blade gripped Rio briefly. The feeling of another warm living being stimulated Razok, more than he had been since he’d begun his escape attempt.

“Razok! What the quiznak was that thing!?” Rio’s eyes were still wide, but forced his gaze from the door to look over the smaller, older Galra. “Are you alright? You feel frozen.”

“I told you to get going! What are you doing here and not at the sleds?”

Rio looked at Razok like he was insane. “I heard whatever that sound was and there you were trying to crack that ice like a madman with a sword. I was just down the hall, and I thought you-”

Their conversation was cut off as the sound of metal squealing filled the hallway. They both realized they hadn’t moved. The door that they had just closed began to bend as a force greater than what it was designed for smashed against it from the other side. Without saying a word, both Galrans took off towards their intended exit.

“Blow the hatch!” Razok flicked his helmet on as they turned a final corner and saw the exit.

Rio scrambled for the manual emergency controls while the other Galra turned and drew his swords, standing so both feet were on the door frame and his body parallel with the floor. The doors began to crack open. With the breaking of the airtight seal, the air started to vent. Both Galrans braced themselves as the internal environment drained; Razok stood above the door, air rushing past him, and Rio held on tight to the controls, his suit flipping on his helmet automatically.

As the decompression became less violent, Razok jumped off the doorframe and exited the ship by  grabbing the door ledge, flipping out onto the surface of the ship, and activating his boots. Rio followed after receiving a verbal cue from Razok. As he was letting go, though, a giant crash was heard as the previously sealed door opened. The technician threw himself out of the hatch, grabbing hold of Razok’s hand to ensure he didn’t fly away. Behind him, the broken door that had been knocked loose crashed against the open access hatch.

The beast quickly landed on top of it, the sound of already bent metal groaning in distress carried by the little air that was now whistling past the blocked opening. Both Galra dove for the body sleds. As Rio was about to tether into his, Razok stopped him and tethered both of them to his. They were jammed together awkwardly on the sled, but Razok ignored that as he took the other rocket and tied it close to the jammed door.

By this point, the blocked door was barely holding, and the creature’s massive, freezing hands reached out into the void, trying desperately to not let its meal escape. It clawed wildly at the edges of the access hatch itself. As it watched the two start to fly off, the void rippled it a cry. Even in the emptiness of space, the Galrans could feel it as the soundwave of the roar rushed over their bodies, as powerful as if they had been almost in front of it.

Razok turned the sled to the side and grabbed the Rio’s gun. Leveling off a shot, a pinprick of power flew forth. The creature’s head finally emerged, the twice-broken door having given away. As the partially skeletal, fully monstrous beast emerged, there was a quick flash of light - and suddenly a massive fireball of heat and flame engulfed the entire side of the skeletal looking ship. The rocket built into the other sled had exploded when the fired shot landed against it.

Riding the resulting shockwave, Rio and Razok flew off into the void.

*~*~*

The journey back to the Onyx Moth felt like it took an eternity. Eventually, the shock and terror of their escape had somewhat worn off, and the weight of what they had just experienced had settled heavily on their minds.

Rio had questions; wanting to know what exactly had happened with Lux and the beast, and what had happened to Razok. With the revelation that Lux was the monster - and the details of what Razok had found in the room - Rio went totally quiet for a bit, settling a bit closer to the other Galra. Despite the awkward fit of two bodies on one sled, they both appreciated the physical contact.

Razok had still not revealed what had happened when he had been caught by the monster. He wasn’t even sure if he would have been able to describe it if he tried.

There was a moment of worry when the rocket started to run out of fuel; they hadn’t planned for more than one passenger per sled. Rio started to panic; after all they had been through, his fear of getting lost floating through space without anything got his heart racing. Razok quickly calmed him down, pointing out the bright speck of the Onyx Moth in the far distance. Even floating freely, once they were closer, they were able to remotely adjust the ship to their location to pick them up.

Once they were back on the ship, Rio excused himself to his quarters, wanting to go take a long hot shower. Later, they would talk more, and find comfort in that they both had survived that harrowing experience.  They had survived, learned a few things, and would fly away to report their findings - and hopefully never, ever come back.

But before all of that, Razok could only think of getting something to eat.