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The Seeping: Tales of 2 Pilots Part 1
Posted By: Gruntar<OtakuMage@aol.com>
Date: 13 August 2003, 6:49 PM


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      The Blue Rosewas cruising at a steady pace throughout the Sector 32 Outer Colonies. Jim Lanervel awoke late as usual. He strolled throughout the cabin of his vessel sluggishly, for he had been sleeping restlessly for the past 7 nights. The smell of coffee was permeating the room, and his comrade looked at him with a slight sense of scorn.
      "You shouldn't be so careless, Jim. Especially when the ship is under need of maintenance." Jim's comrade turned back toward the counter and stirred his now cream colored beverage. He was a man by the name of Richard Mernova, who met Jim at an unexpected location back home. Richard was always searching for thrills. His passion and goal was to leave his home planet and travel the universe. In order to achieve this, he went mercenary-hunting at local taverns near his hometown. Most pilots who stalled there were vile, cynical men. Rich could see right through their thin visage, and viewed the scoundrel within. At first glance, Jim seemed to be your generic pilot-stereotype, but something caught Rich's eye. The man had honor, and a sense of compatibility.
      Rich never expected to actually start a conversation with Jim that day, but things work in mysterious ways. On his way out of the bar, two gruff looking mercenaries proceeded to attack Mernova. They were very brisk, fierce, and obviously, extremely intoxicated. They claimed he was staring at them while sitting at his bar stool, and that his problem was in need of being brought into the open. The two thugs cornered Rich, and menacingly positioned their arms on the wall behind him. "Alright you little curious punk, let's settle this! Gorge, get me my club! I'm gonna beat this loser into a pulp!"
      It seemed as if there wasn't any hope left for the aspiring star-expolorer at this point. As soon as the rotund maniac got back from his transport vehicle with the "club", it would all come to an end. Suddenly, a man burst out of the entrance. It was the pilot who Rich was analyzing just before. He carried a large glass bottle in hand, tinted brown. There were remains of the liquid settled at the bottom. The man lunged forward with his glass bottle. It shattered on the neck of one of the bullies, and his eyes began to roll back in his head. "Like hitting people with clubs, eh?" The second villain then came speeding toward Jim on his motorbike. "Eat this you wannabe pilot pansy!" He was holding on to the "club" his counterpart had mentioned before. "Heheheh." The now brave vigilante laughed as he pulled out a small pistol from his pants pocket. "Hey, BUDDY, you got a flat! Better fix it." A miniscule dart ejected from the tip of the weapon and slid into the skin of the lower tire. It burst and in a flash of excitement, the degenerate was entangled in the remains of his vehicle.
      "You saved my life, and I can't repay you. My family is poor, and we need whatever money is left to live without hassle." The pilot felt the anguish and pain in the young man's heart. "Well, maybe you can you ride with me. I'd like to have another aboard. It gets lonely traveling space all alone. Yep. I should know." The dream seemed to be fulfilled, and the rest of the memory was a blur to Rich.
      "What the hell are you doing staring in to space, Rich?" "Sorry, I was just thinking about times past. It's still no excuse for you to be so irresponsible!" "I'm sorry Rich, things have been bothering me. A lot is on my mind" "Like what?" CRASH! An earth-shattering jolt rocked the vessel. "What the hell was that!" Jim was now screaming at the top of his lungs. Mernova ran to the monitor and began searching the radar. The ensuing sight was one to behold. "The Covenant have been monitoring this Sector for some time now due to military activity. It seems there is an outpost not too far away. Jim, we are being attacked..."
       Jim began to hold his head. He was infuriated and at the same time nervous of what might happen next. "DAMN IT! THEY RIPPED A HOLE IN THE HULL!" Rich was in a state of awe. It was incomprehensible! How could the Covenant not be seen on military surveillance? And how is it possible for them to have an outpost in this territory? It just didn't make sense. "Alright Rich, let's try the COM channel. Maybe we can get a view of the ship's structure through the monitor." "Wait a minute! Their ship seems to be damaged also..." Jim and Rich started into each others faces in astonishment. How could they be attacking us if they have significant damage to their own vessel?
       The COM channel was a futile effort, and they were approaching a small planet, almost the size of a moon. This was in turn, another shock for the two on board the BlueRose, for that wasn't on the radar at all. Jim kept fiddling with the communications equipment while Rich kept monitoring the radar. "RICH! DISTRESS SIGNAL! BVRING HER UP ON THE MONITOR! IT'S GOMING FROM THAT MOON!" Rich pressed a few buttons on the ship's control panel. The monitor began to show a Covenant soldier all ravaged and in need os serious medical attention. He was bloodied by some monstrous force, and neither men wanted to find out what. The soldier, which appeared to be an Elite, spoke into the monitor. "HELP!!! HELP!! PLEASE!1 THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!!! THEY WERE ON THE SHIP WHEN WHE LEFT THE LAST RENDEVUE POINT!" Jim began to speak. "What do you mean? Who are "they" and why would you be asking your so called 'enemies' for help?" "PLEASE LISTEN, HUMANS NEED TO HELP...SUPPLIES....FLOOD....INFESTATION.........." "Hello? Come in, are you there? Hello?!" ".........." The monitor became filled with static, and the picture faded out slowly. There were obviously bizarre occurrences happening in that outpost, and to make matters worse, their vessel was about to explode due to damages. But, if the Covenant were in need of aid, how could they attack us? Jim made up his mind.
      "Let's go, we don't have much time, Rich." Rich sluggishly walked to the stern of their vessel and awaited the blast door to lower. They were going in. They were out of options. , They knew the situation became more than they bargained for.....

To be continued...





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