Dark Nebula

Year: 161 CE*

Chapter 1 - After the Storm

"Well, Andrei?"

"Cormac... I really don't know," replied Andrei.

They both paced around in the makeshift home. It was littered with metal parts, dirt, old clothes, broken glass and debris.

"Andrei. You need to realise we don't have any more chances." Cormac answered, "remember. Us two. We are special."

"The only ones to be conceived after the suppression device was activated."

In question, the 'suppression device' was the one thing preventing life on planet Yata.

"That doesnt mean anything," Andrei said, snapping back hopelessly.

"It does. Don't be such a nihilist," Cormac responded, "look at us. We're twenty, twenty-one? You get the idea, right?"

"We're young. We can survive a journey like that.."

"To what Cormac? New South City?!"

"We won't even get out of Palladia."

Cormac was tired of arguing. "Let me go over this again."

"If we avoid any mech-synths or roaming Yomtachs.. we should be able to hotwire a train that can take us all the way to the far east."

"I'm convinced there's working planes stockpiled there, and from there we can fly straight to New South City. Get it right, we can meet up with the expedition teams coming from Theia, and we can get out."

"How come they can't come straight to us?" Andrei replied.

"Well you see Andrei," Cormac responded, "There's so little of us and its so sparse. Finding a Yatan is just as lucky as winning the lottery. And I know that we wont be the only ones who are trying to get to New South, those energy pulses are gonna attract the Theians too."

"That's why I wanted to go to New South," Cormac continued, grabbing a bag full of food and water in one hand, and a Franchi SPAS-15 in the other, "and I'm ready to rock and roll."

Something about that man, Andrei thought, made him feel safe. Additionally, he very well knew that Cormac was slightly inept with a SPAS-15, let alone a gun.‎

Stepping out into the desolate street, Andrei felt a wave of dread. The sky was foggy and grey, and the buildings around him had crumbled.

Narrowly avoiding tripping over a huge block of stone and rebar, he hastily exited the makeshift home, brandishing his firearm, a vintage Yetian Army MP7 machine pistol.

Empty cars littered the street, none of them were working. The petrol had either ignited or evaporated when the nukes went off that day...

"Andrei, here's the plan," Cormac began.

"The train depot is about 2 miles that way," he pointed northwest, "Luckily, most of the track is still intact as they rebuilt them during the first escape attempt."

"Well aren't we lucky... we could actually escape easily!" Andrei said happily.

After about 5 minutes of walking through empty streets, the sky began to get lighter as the sun fully rose.

The sky turned from a dull grey to a faint blue.

"Oh, look at that. First bluish sky in a few weeks huh..." Cormac said.

"It's... kinda pretty- WATCH OUT!"

Cormac unloaded a burst of shotgun fire onto a creature that was about to attack Andrei.

Andrei, shocked, stared at the carcass. It looked like a sphynx cat, yet it was very pale, bloodshot eyes, and visibly undernourished.

It's fangs dripped saliva, evidently it was preparing to bite into Andrei's leg.

"What the hell was that." Andrei whispered, out of breath.

"That was a hellcat." Cormac told him, "An albino feral cat that has a... strange desire for blood."

"As a result, it can't get enough nutrients because of it's haemoglobin desires."

"Well thank god it didn't bite me. That's my good leg it was after.." Andrei replied.

After walking for another mile and a half, they reached the train depot without any interruptions.

"That's strange," Cormac said, "where are all the mech-synths and Yomtachs hmmm?"

"Mark my fucking words Cormac." Andrei shouted, before whispering in his ear. "They are always watching."

"You may not think they are there, but they are. And when they are ready, they will attack."‎

They entered the run-down depot through a back entrance, where their escape vehicle was waiting. A rusted old TritoniaExpress Class 121, in all it's glory.

The depot itself was half destroyed, with gaping holes in the ceiling letting vines grow down through.

The walkways and staircases had collapsed onto the floor below, and broken glass was scattered in patches across the floor. Puddles of diesel filled the half-enclosed chamber with it's pungent scent, and the control chamber looked like it had been a victim of multiple break and entries.

Nonetheless, when Andrei pulled the electrification switch to the third rail, it's as if time rolled back. They were good to go - it was operational.

"Hey, Andrei, take my SPAS-15," Cormac said, stepping into the front locomotive, which had 2 passenger cars trailing behind, "I'll go slow before junctions, I need you to get out and manually pull the switches for me."

"Sure," he replied, "I'll do the best I can."

Fiddling with the controls, Cormac had it click in his mind how he needed to start the train, and he turned the key.

Surely enough, a low whirring sound could be heard throughout the train, and the lights began to flicker on.

Andrei stepped back on board after manually switching the tracks in front of him, and sat down in the guard's chair. It felt damp and cold, but a chair nonetheless.

And so it began.

As Cormac carefully manipulated the throttle, the train began to pull away from the depot.

Chug.. chug.. chug... they both had missed those familiar sounds.

Chug, chug, chug... they both swayed with the motion as a train hit a small kink in the track.

Chug chug chug... they felt the increasing forward acceleration push against them as the train reached a stable, slow and steady pace.

Andrei jumped off the passenger car wielding Cormac's shotgun soon after.

Running fast enough to overtake the slow moving train, he reached the lever and pulled it towards him. Clunk.

The coast seemed clear for them for a while at least.

Around 10 minutes later, Andrei had gone through about 4 switches, and boarded the car again for the final time for a while.

"We're ready Cormac, you can throttle up." Andrei said with confidence.

Cormac listened carefully as he noticed a sign out of the corner of his eye, it read: "Tritonia Express Main Line. Tritonia City, 1,442KM."

Without hesitation, he pushed the throttle to full, and walked through the door to join Andrei in the passenger car.

"Here we go, Andrei. Wasn't so hard." Cormac said arrogantly.

"You're right," Andrei replied as the train began to accelerate to fast speeds, "it wasn't hard. For now." He leaned back in his chair as he watched Palladia race beside him.

The train was steadily racing past the rotting neo-classical buildings of Palladia, like a plane that won't take off.

Its about to happen.

What is, Cormac? Andrei questioned.

Suddenly, the racing train passed through a short tunnel.

We've left Palladia. We're clear. 

After about 6 hours of travel, they began to pass by the drained coasts of the former Black Sea.

Rusting cargo ships littered the barren sea, rotting away in the wind.

Fishing boats and trawlers too.

"My god..." Andrei exclaimed.

"I was told there were long... sandy beaches here..."

"Yeah," said Cormac, disgruntled by the long journey so far, "Out of our time-range.."

A derelict city flew beside them, however the station signs shortly after were faded. Perhaps the train was moving too fast to read them at all..

"Actually...."

There was a loud screeching noise, and the train began to slow down significantly.

"Let's go get supplies."

After the train came to a complete stop, Andrei and Cormac, weapons in hand, slowly exited the train.

The sky had gone from a murky blue to a dusty yellow, and the air was chokingly hot.

"Eugh.. where are we Cormac?"

"Andrei. Look at the landmarks. This is Zaporizhia!"

Huh.. Looks worse than Palladia. 

But it should have a lot more supplies so...

Carefully stepping over the newly electrified railway, they climbed over a fence onto a cracked street, lined with old markets and shops.

Entering the nearest building to them, they found what used to be a bakery.

The bread, now all green, mouldy and stale, glared at their ravenous stomachs.

Venturing further into the dilapidated bakery and heading up a broken winding staircase, they reached a small studio apartment.

The cupboards, luckily enough, had a few cans of lentils to spare.

Bingo! Andrei exclaimed,  something other than those stupid bean stuff, pulses, whatever they're called..

Andrei... Lentils are pulses.

Oh..

The duo, having collected enough supplies, headed back to the train.

RRRRRRRRRAAAAA-RRA!

They froze.

Andrei mouthed the words 'run' to Cormac as they both scrambled back on the train.

Shit.. Andrei muttered,  Yomtachs?

Yeah. I'm trynna... Ah..

The chants got louder as the train began to pull away.

Andrei came to the door with his shotgun, preparing to shoot anything who came in.

All seemed clear..

..

RAA-RAA-RAA

Oh-

Andrei blasted a wave of bullets at the chest of the white humanoid.

It let out a last moaning grunt, before its muscles died and the creature fell onto the tracks below.

"Oh my god... that was......."

"Woah.."

"You ok?" Cormac asked, "bit of a shock back there?"

"Yeah... but it's all good... all good..."

A faint thudding could be heard on the ceiling.

"What's that..." Andrei inquired .

"Dunno Andrei. I wouldn't go check it though. It's a bit dangerous now.."

"Alright," answered Andrei, before sitting back down in the guard chair, watching the next city fly by.

That evening, the train entered a region of grassier, (dead grass,) plains, littered with abandoned homesteads. Almost all the fog had cleared.

Andrei had prepared two beds on two damp, reclined chairs for the night.

"Alright Andrei." Cormac said, patting him on the back as he entered the front of the train, "It's time for your shift."

Andrei nervously sat down in the driver's chair, carefully grasping the throttle.

"I'll be fine, Cormac."

"I didn't say you wouldn't. Stay safe."

Cormac ruffled his coarse brown hair. He shivered a little.

Andrei stared out the front windshield as the train traversed the vast emptiness, and the sky grew darker, and darker.

He kept staring until the sky was pitch black.

Thud, thud.

There was a faint screech. The train hadn't even hit a turn.

"Huh?" Andrei said, confused.

Thud, screech..

"Hm... perhaps it is a turn."

.....

SSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"OH MY G-"

He blacked out, and without feeling a thing, was tossed around the train like a rag doll in a tumble dryer.

.....

He raised his head and opened his eyes to fire and sparks just for a moment, before subsequently passing out again, hitting his head on the metal floor.

The surroundings were racing around him. Clusters of huge metal walls and rubble that stretched well over half a mile high, seemingly strung together by metal bridges, vaguely visible through the haziness of the raging fires in front of him..

"CORMAC!"

"CORMAC, TELL ME... Tell me you're okay..."

"Andrei, I-"

SSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"..."

Andrei was flung through the fires straight out of the front window onto the tracks below. The rails then cradled him as his last moments of consciousness saw the train carriages folded like a pack of cards. Explosions all around echoed in the back of his mind as he slipped away from reality. Metal parts from the crunched train rained down all around him as his limbs were dented with hot shrapnel.

And as the final carriage flew over him he fell unconscious once again.

Chapter 2 - Heart of Darkness

...

To be honest it didn't look much worse than before... the only difference was the fire.

Cormac, miraculously, wasn't too injured, with only the odd pieces of glass wedged in his arm. As he gathered the strength to stand up, he scanned his surroundings.

He had come to the conclusion the train had crashed. It wasn't that hard to guess, really.

The mouldy seats had either folded in on themselves or detached entirely. He even spotted around 2 that had left the carriage altogether.

The faint smell of diesel filled the wreckage like that of a petrol station, but the smell of smoke was the strongest in the area.

After yet again gaining enough strength he began his arduous trek - to the other end of the carriage.

The aisle was split open in some places, with gaping holes that led straight to being trapped in the mechanisms below, so Cormac had to tread carefully.

But after about a minute of careful tiptoeing he reached where the carriage was at it's lowest point, and he jumped out of the carriage onto the gravels below.

And out of the corner of his eye he spotted Andrei.

"Oh my god. nonono.... Andrei.."

Chicaning around the fires, he reached Andrei's limp body. He was lying in a ditch in the railbed, and in his own blood.

'Andrei....wake up.... Please..

Cormac noticed that the bleeding had mostly stopped, but his arm was littered with shrapnel.

His pulse was slower than usual but still fairly reasonable, and he was breathing, so Cormac decided to bandage Andrei where possible, before scooping him up in his arms to carry him.

He looked around - He seemed to be inside some gargantuan structure. Metal walls, which looked a lot newer than he had seen before surrounded him on both sides of the railway, stretching high above and for miles in each direction.

As the murky night sky shone down upon him and a cool breeze blew over his face, he mustered his mentality, and began stumbling away from the train wreck with Andrei in his arms.

Reaching a stairwell, he descended into a dark corridor, where he turned on his torch.

Cormac had about 3 of 5 bars left of battery, and he was hoping he would be able to find some more in the area.

Illuminating the path, the hallway seemed to have very small signs of wear and tear, almost as if it was brand new. Nonetheless, moss and vines descended the walls all over.

Since his sleep was abruptly cut short, he decided to take a few turns which put the two in another metal stairwell.

He carefully lay Andrei on the floor, and then proceeded to lay down next to him.

Cormac saw the moonlight shine down upon him through the stairwell, as well as a faint glimpse of a few stars.

And gently, he wrapped his arm around Andrei and pulled him a little closer. It made him feel a little safer, perhaps it made him feel a little safer too.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Cormac was awoken by a  faint dripping sound.

He opened his eyes, and looked up through the stairwell - and oh my god, he thought.

It was raining.

Normally people would dread the arrival of rain, but this time was special.

Cormac hadn't seen rain for 3 years.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

The sounds had woken Andrei up too.

Hey... Hey Andrei..

Are you okay?

Andrei grumbled and moaned in pain, but garnered the strength to nod a little.

He went limp, laying back down on the floor, staring into the faintly visible morning sky above.

Its..raining.... he said softly.

Yeah, ain't that cool..haven't seen rain in a long time.. Cormac replied,  also I think I know where we are. 

Where?

Well Andrei, we drove the train right into the heart of the spaceship works. This is where they built the Triton-class ships..

Andrei groaned.  And now we are stuck here.

Yeah. But hopefully there's some kind of parking lot in this whole place. Could be our ticket out.

It's our best bet, Cormac. Andrei said, legs shaking as he hauled himself upright,  lets go. *

One after another they both ascended the winding metal staircase back up to the surface.

They appeared in the pouring rain in what appeared to be a central courtyard. The ground was uneven, cracked and raised with plants growing through, while huge chunks of metal wall from the factory's exoskeleton were scattered across the area.

The courtyard seemed to be about a mile across, twice as long as the height of the wall.

There was a loud thunderclap as the sky flashed with light.

Andrei was startled by the sudden noise.

Th...that's thunder?

Yeah, Andrei. It's real.

As they walked diagonally across the huge open space between the factory walls, the sky began to grow brighter.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble.

The walls began to further shed their exoskeleton as huge pink coloured lasers shot across the sky, cutting the clouds.

Holy- get inside! Cormac shouted, running to the other corner. After about 10 minutes of running, the lasers still hadn't gone away, and the ground was still shaking.

Entering back into the factory, they entered into a gargantuan chamber. The ceiling was littered with holes with light breaking through, and there was a huge open gap, large enough for a capital ship to fit through, at the other end.

This is the shipbuilding area huh.. Andrei said, pain still in his voice.

THUD. THUD.

There was a loud thudding echoing from the other side of the chamber.

Uhh.. What's that? Andrei inquired.

The thudding grew faster, and the breaks of light began to reveal a silhouette.

Mechanical whirrs could also be heard reverberating around the rotting factory.

And then it's silhouette crossed the sky in the distance.

It seemed to be a giant robot, towering tens of metres high, but that was all that could be said.

But then, a large red eye upon it opened.

And out of nowhere, a laser shot from it, wrapping around Cormac.

What-

And it threw him against the wall, at high velocity, before picking him up again and repeating.

Andrei had the look of anguish on his face.

Cormac couldn't have survived that.. Bad choice of thought, for he was dead.

This robot was miles away.

Andrei fell to his knees and sobbed, they hadn't even gotten 10% of the way there...

As Andreis face was in his hands, wet with his salty tears, the snaking laser gently wrapped around him.

Andrei wasn't even shocked, he gently prepared for his death.

The laser lifted him up, and as he closed his eyes, he was hurtled against the wall.

Until he opened his eyes.

He was mere inches away from the steel supports, but he was stuck.

Looking down he saw another laser type appendage, and following it with his eyes, it led to a little girl.

Wearing a little purple dress, this girl characterised by her grey complexion, bloodstained skin and yellow eyes, had just... Saved him?

The robots laser slowly unravelled knowing it couldn't fight back, and the girl gently lowered him down.

The girl produced a dagger, wooden hilt, gold blade,  Use this against the appendages, and it will let go, she said,  but i do not know how to truly defeat it. We have tried everything. 

Wh- Andrei began.

I will care for your friend. His condition is grave, but he is most certainly alive. Now please... Good luck traveller. She let go of the hilt of the blade.

Andrei clutched the blade, and stared at Cormac lifeless body, where the girl had began some kind of ritualistic healing.

Turning to face the robot, he clutched it even harder, brandishing the blade with his finger. It bled. That means it works, he thought.

And then, the robot turned to face him dead on, now being no more than a mile away.

Bring it on. Andrei shouted.

Chapter 3: Deus Ex Machina

Andrei walked in a brave manner, approaching the robot, while the robot ran full speed at him.

But soon it drew closer, and he caressed the hilt of the blade with his thumb, ready to strike.

It stood no more than 50 feet away, and it began making a high pitched whirring noise.

Suddenly, it began shooting out the lasers from before again, but this time Andrei was prepared.

He rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the appendage while managing to slice a small part off. The robotic beast growled in pain, and only increased its attack.

Andrei kept dodging at a rapid pace, and soon began to gain the upper hand, slowly slicing pieces of the laser appendage off.

H... how am i doing this?! I... I was injured!  Andrei said in excitement, fuelled with adrenaline from the ensuing battle.

Andrei! Hurry!! the girl suddenly said.

Andrei took no time to start running in the direction of the voice.

As he located them, he noticed that Cormac's body was lying with her in what looked like an elevator. He clutched his knife tightly as he ran full speed towards the two, with the mech in pursuit.

Suddenly, he fell to the ground, and the robot too.

A violent shake shook the earth, as the sky glowed a bright purple, lasers still shining bright in the sky.

He clambered onto his 2 feet, stumbling inside the elevator, almost stepping on Cormac's limp body. Soon after, the girl slammed the button to send them down.

They were out of harms way for now.

The mech relentlessly hit the crumbling shaft walls as the elevator descended at a moderate pace, with some debris clanging onto the flimsy ceiling.

Andrei didn't even have time to regain his breath to ask the girl about what the hell was going on before the doors opened again, letting them off.

The elevator led to a catwalk, overlooking a pitch black room. But after failing to resist his urge to scream  ECHO he soon learnt the sheer size of the room.

He took Cormac's torch out of his toolbelt, and checked the battery. 3 bars, still.

He turned it on and shone it in front of them, lighting up their path, although most of it shone through the wire grating that formed the catwalk, only faintly illuminating the deep chasm below.

Andrei finally managed to ask however,

Wh.. what.. How did I... suddenly gain so much... energy..

Wh... who are you.. 

Wh-

He turned around to face her.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

Cormac was now standing upright, although still visibly hurt.

Andrei says wh-

Cormac embraced Andrei, which shocked him, but soon he embraced his comforting affection. Cormac was alive and well, and that mattered more to him than anything.

Been waiting a while to do that. Cormac whispered in Andrei's ear.

Andrei was lost for words.

He didn't know whether to mention Cormac or the girl.

Hey, I lived thanks to that g-

Andrei dragged Cormac downwards, crouching down behind a nearby concrete support pillar.

Cormac opened his mouth to exclaim but Andrei covered his mouth, gently shushing him.

Mechanical whirrs could be faintly heard near them, and out of the corner of their eyes, red lights could be faintly seen on an adjacent catwalk.

The mech still hadn't given up on finding them.

Carefully, and still crouching, they made their way slowly back to the elevator to the shipyard.

Andrei reached up to press the button.

Creak. Creak.

Snap.

The elevator cable snapped suddenly, creating a loud cracking noise which reverberated across the void of the huge room.

The robot had no trouble with turning to face them almost instantly.

It began making the same high pitched whirr.

Andrei grabbed his hand.  Run. he said, plainly and simply.

Continuation

The story of 'Dark Nebula' is continued in "Return to Timeline-002".