IMPALA (Farside Saga: Book One)

The outer doors opened to a scene of complete chaos. As soon as the doors split open, three dark purple fleshy web-like tentacles shot inside and attached themselves to Theran, Nori, and another soldier, snatching them through the still opening doors. The captain and the other soldier dodged and rolled to the side as a fourth tentacle shot through, sticking to the back wall. The soldier pulled out a small black device and pushed the single button. A green ion blade protruded from the handle as the soldier hacked off the still attached tentacle. The whole event happened so fast that the outer doors had just finished opening all the way. It was then that Vira and the captain looked and saw the horror in front of them. What was supposed to be a T'd off corridor was now expanded to a large area of complete destruction. The walls and ceiling were blasted away, revealing the rooms on the other side, the floor in the center, was cratered with a small spike in the middle, as if the floor had been pulled up instead of pushed down. In fact, the edges of what was left of the walls and ceiling all look like they were pulled towards the center. The captain saw Nori being lifted up to a giant purple fleshy looking orb floating in mid-air above the spiked crater. The veiny pulsating orb bobbed up and down as it lifted it's prize up to it's bulging body and began absorbing them. Nori's body was being riddled with laser blasts from the kregor army as well as his own army soldiers as they tried to shoot at the floating orb. The orb seemed unaffected as it rotated around and seemed to face the captain and the remaining 5 soldiers. The kregor soldiers payed little attention to the captain and his men as they ran from the elevator and spread out around the orb.

"Go...get the codec!!" The captain said over his helmets' com, looking over his shoulder. Pelik took off running down what remained of the corridor towards the blinking icon on his visor. Rounding the corner, Pelik turned back just in time to see a tentacle pierce through the captain's chestplate and 2 of the kregor soldiers all in one motion.

"Jamek....noooo!!" Pelik screamed as he saw the captain being lifted into the air towards the orb. The tentacle pulled them in and began absorbing them into itself as it shot out for more victims. Pelik watched the whole thing in horror as he shed a single silver tear. He disconnected a high explosive grenade and threw it just under the orb as he turned and continued running around the bend. There was a loud explosion that shook the whole area, almost knocking Pelik off his feet as he came to a stop in front of a single black heart valved doorway. The hydraulic mechanisms groaned and creaked as it strained to slowly pull the thick heavy door open. As soon as he was able, Pelik squeezed through the opening and opened fire on the 2 soldiers guarding the second door, killing them before they even knew what happened. The blinking icon became a solid blip indicating the codec was just on the other side of the door. There was a seperate metal plate with three indentations engraved into it. Pelik looked down at the dead soldier closest to the door. He removed its armored glove and lifted it's 3 fingered lifeless hand up to the plate and pressed it against the grooves. There was a strip of light above the plate that went from white to blue as the door slowly hissed open revealing a small frigid room on the other side. In the center of the room was a cracked frosted glass cylinder that ran from the ceiling down to a raised platform that held a small rotating black cube inside. Pelik walked up to it and examined the long verticle crack in the cylinder. He mentally adjusted the armor plates around his knuckles as he began punching at the crack until the reinforced glass shattered, releasing the cube. Grabing the cube, he turned around, only to face 5 kregor soldiers facing him with their weapons aimed.

Vira jumped behind a pile of rubble out the way just as a tentacle swerved around, shooting through the captain and 2 other kregor soldiers. Hearing Pelik scream through her helmet's comm link, she lifted her head, peering through a crossfire of laser beams, just in time to see Pelik toss a grenade under the orb then take off around the corner. She ducked her head again as the explosion shook the whole area. The shockwave from the blast slid the rubble, pushing Vira up against the wall. The protruding rods bending against her shifted armor plating across her abdomen, pinning her. The shockwave's backdraft took affect and pulled the rubble away just enough for Vira to wiggle her way out. Once free, she got on her feet and crept along the wall as 6 kregor soldiers awkwardly ran down the corridor after Pelik, the last being snatched back by another of the orb's tentacles. She looked around for any other survivors of her team but saw none. She took off through the crater, ducking into a roll just as a tentacle shot over her head attaching itself to the centered spike, breaking off the upper tip as it pulled back. She pulled out her ion blade and hacked off another tentacle trying to attack her and stood her ground preparing for another attack. Seeming unaffected by the missing limb, but yet turning it's attention to the other soldiers as Vira turned and continued her pursuit down the corridor. She engaged her cloak as she rounded the corner and saw the 5 remaining kregor soldiers enter the outer room. Creeping up to the entrance, she watched the soldiers walk through the door on the other end of the room and form a small semi-circle around Pelik, raising their weapons as he turned around holding a small cube-like object in his hand. 'The codec' she thought. She snuck up behind the soldiers and tossed a small disc between the closest soldier's legs then stood back. Visible only to her visor's special optical lenses, the disc lit up green before bursting into a ball of electricity, shocking the 5 soldiers into smoking piles of cooked armor.

Pelik nearly fainted as Vira decloaked on the other side of the smoking piles. His armor plating shifted to form a cargo pocket on his hip as he placed the codec inside, then ran up to Vira hugging her.

"Man am i glad to see you!!...." Pelik said as his faceplate shifted, revealing his armors translucent inner coating.

"The captain...." Vira said, on the verge of silvery tears as her faceplate did the same.

"I know...." They both stood there embracing each other until suddenly their faceplates quickly reformed and the suit engaged it's internal pressure. Before they had a chance to wonder what was going on, they were sucked through the small room's door, but caught the edge of the outer door as the suit's warning sounds triggered from the sudden external pressure drop. Vira's hands began slipping as she tried to pull herself back into the room. She lost her grip and was already tumbling halfway down the corridor before a grappling claw snagged her ankle and started reeling her in. She was halfway back when everything airborne suddenly dropped. She fell hard on her side, then rolled on to her back as Pelik ran up and lowered to his knees, disconnecting the claw from her ankle.

"You ok?" Pelik asked as he replaced his grappling hook and helped her to her feet.

"Yeah im fine...what in the creator's eminence was that?" She responded as she turned towards the corner. They both took off towards the source of the anomoly only to find nothing but total devastation. Sparks ingnited from loose wiring all around the area, the floors and walls were practically non existent, as if the building had been gutted from the basement up, even knocking out the roof. Pelik stared in amazement at the carnage as he slowly started taking in the whole scene. He felt a slight tap on his shoulder and turned to see Vira pointing to a shadowed corner up ahead of them. He adjusted his visor and picked up a bio-signature buried under a pile of rubble. He followed Vira as she had already started creeping to the pile with her weapon ready. The top of the pile began to move again as they aimed their weapons....waiting.

Kurie never left the elevator. His thought process ran a little differently than the rest of the team. His thinking in strategy is more analytical than methodical. He would rather sit back and watch a whole scene take place before making his move. This thinking has saved him in numerous situations as like now. He tried to warn the captain, as everyone but him ran from the elevator, that the orb was attracted to movement. He took note as he noticed it only attacked the soldiers running. He heard the captain's orders and was about to act when he saw Pelik already running down the corridor. He saw Vira jump out the way just as the tentacle peirced the captain's chest plate. Hearing Pelik's scream caused him to go weak in the knees at the anguish and hurt behind it knowing how close the 2 brothers were. He took off from the elevator firing at the three kregor soldiers that had started running towards Vira when she lifted her head and saw another six peel off after Pelik. He saw the grenade explode out the corner of his visor just as Vira ducked her head again. The shockwave knocked him in the air back towards the elevator but before he could land, the backdraft sucked him back towards the unaffected floating orb close enough to embed a small singularity mine in it's fleshy surface before engaging his crash shield, landing in a rolling collusion with the opposite wall burying himself in a pile of rubble. Inside the cacoon, he activated the mine and it's 30 trillet timer started counting down before he lost conscience.

Vira and Pelik simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief, lowering their weapons when they saw the familiar luminated green and tan armored glove of a fellow teammate punch through the top. They rushed to remove the rest of the debris and helped Kurie to his feet. Relieved to see that he's still alive, they both embraced him in a tight hug, causing him to stumble back on his injured ankle.

"Easy...easy...!!" He said groggy, wincing from the pain. They let go of him but still supported his weight on their shoulders and walked him over to the remaining wall and sat him down.

"Remind me never to detonate another one of those again at full power while im in the same building." He said as their faceplates shifted back.

"Gravity bomb!!" both Vira and Pelik said simultaneously at each other as it dawned on them the cause of all the extra damage. A large shadow formed overhead as they looked up and saw a boxy looking craft descend through the roof.

"Anybody alive down there?" The comm link crackled in their ears.

"By the Creater's blessings...." Vira said in response. The craft hovered slightly above the crater and extended the boarding ramp towards the ground crew. Vira and Pelik helped Kurie board the craft and placed him in the cargo seat strapping him down before doing the same themselves. A flight officer emerged from the cockpit as the craft ascended out the roof and up through the storm clouds that had started dissipating. He handed them each a silver flask filled with a yellowish liquid. Their helmets began shifting back to their shoulders and the translucent inner coating began to disappear revealing three almost human-like darkskinned faces with the exception of their half football shaped heads and round silvery eyes that reflected a rainbow of colors from the florescent overhead lights in the cargo hold. A small slit opened where the vocal light strip was as they dranked the contents of the flasks and felt an immediate sensation of relief as their bodies began to heal from their injuries. Pelik requested a comm link to the nearest destroyer and the officer escorted him to the cockpit.