Dispatch #24: Dark Days Pt. 1
A sea of orange flames came into view as Commander Von turned the sharp corner of the course to face the straightaway that led towards a clearing within the coliseum walls. With the largest section of fan seating a few hundred meters away, he could still hear the roars of the crowd despite half a dozen racers advancing on either side of him, trying to do everything they could to nudge past and earn their spot in Arderean history. As the group of racers approached the fan-facing area of the course in the boot race’s final lap, a plume of smoke started to appear from the stone-column base that held up half of the arena. Something was fishy…
With little to no time to react, the Commander found himself unable to adjust his rocket boots while trying to change gears to avoid the communal party heading towards what appeared to be a trap of sorts. Blaring sirens sounded off from all areas of the stadium to notify both teams and fans of the caution that was trying to stop the race. In an effort to gain position, a Brazorian contestant came soaring through Von’s blindspot and completely cutting off the rest of the field, forcing everyone into “every racer for themselves” panic mode.
“VON! RED ALERT! You need to get out of that cluster of racers you’re in STAT!” screamed Riemer from the pit area of the coliseum. The crew members of Destiny’s Fortune could see the disaster unfolding right in front of them. RCar, 1Cent, Joshua, Fintopaz, and Moultonlava looked on in horror as the group of contestants hit the straightaway back towards the starting line. Cringing as he grabbed Risk’s shoulder, JB zipped up his fireproof suit, convinced that he was going to have to rescue his commander in the inevitable crash laid out before them in slow motion.
“Recruits!” yelled JB, “Put on your fireproof gear, things are about to get real messy.”
As the crew members bolted into their suits, Moultonlava couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. Time seemed to slow down for a brief moment as he attempted to pull the zipper of his fire suit up to his neck. Movement within the upcoming crash site caused the recruit to double take, a small break in the smoke revealing two dark-hooded figures hiding within the columns holding up the arena.
“VON! DO YOU READ ME, GET OUT OF THERE NOW! IT’S A TRAP!” yelled Riemer, this time with more force than either Risk or JB had heard since their days on Makanan.
“He can’t hear us, the boot engines and screaming of the crowd is way too much for his internal speakers.” yelled Risk, “Someone has to go after him now!”
Before anyone else could chime in, JB activated the spare pair of rocket boots, making a diagonal beeline straight for the hub of racers headed back towards the coliseum stands. The recruits followed as their fearless Commander and the rest of the contestants headed straight into the smoke, setting off an explosion that shook Riemer to his core.
- — -
Gasps of horror subsided throughout the arena as fans and crews alike stared earnestly at the billowing clouds of smoke rising from the devastating crash. None of the racers had been identified yet, whether they were dead or alive had yet to be seen. As Commander Von’s pit crew sprinted toward the crash site, a rumbling from within the rubble shook the ground nearby. A few columns had started to cave under the weight and explosion trauma beneath, forcing part of the arena to fall into the fire deathtrap.
Frantic shrieks started to cut through the commotion and more and more fans started to realize that part of the coliseum was beginning to collapse. Sirens and Zolturian rescue teams tried to keep everyone calm, but it was pointless — there was nothing that anyone could do to save the racers trapped within the rubble.
As the crew continued to make their way through the chaos towards the crumbling stone, Moultonlava felt a sudden urge to stop and “hold” the coliseum together. Something from deep inside his subconscious kept telling him to “hold it together”, “hold it together”, “hold it together”.
The recruit stopped dead in his tracks, reached his arms out towards the collapsing coliseum, and within a split second, essentially slowed down time while giving the pit crews and search and rescue teams to do their job and recover the racing contestants. Moulton couldn’t believe what he was doing nor was he able to explain it, but the overwhelming power of being able to successfully pull off a heroic act like that coursed through his veins.
“What did you interact with? Secret ooze, a ring, a spider?” said Riemer, “What the heck was that!?”
“I swear I didn’t do anything, I promise!” said Moulton, “All I did was just grab the seal from Risk’s bunk to give it to him like he told me to, then all of a sudden I have voices in my head telling me what to do. I literally did nothing else!”
Risk reached into his handbag to reveal half of the Seal of Ilsendor. He locked eyes with Riemer and the rest of the crew, receiving the verbal cues to put the hallowed artifact away to not cause a scene with the Legion of Wen around.
“Okay…whatever that was, however you were able to do it, let’s uhh…circle back on that later. Right now we need to make sure Von’s okay.” said Riemer as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that a member of Destiny’s Fortune now had superpowers because of alien technology. No amount of training could ever prepare you for something like that.
The team ran into the smoke-filled section of the explosion site that basically had turned into a crater of sorts. It was amazing that the structural integrity of the coliseum still stood in place, many of the columns still upright with little to no damage. Whatever Moulton did, it worked. Inside the cloud bubble came various screams, whether they came from injured racers or pit crews discovering that their teammate perished in the crash, both were equally horrendous to experience. The raceway had turned into a literal battlefield.
“YO! Over here!” choked Commander Von, the smoke clouds clogging his lungs as he struggled to make contact with his team. A few minutes being trapped in the rubble had felt like hours, the inability to breathe making it harder to concentrate and fight to stay alive.
The crew simultaneously came to the Commander’s rescue alongside Zolturian emergency services. JB and RCar initially helped get Von onto a stretcher while the medical rescue teams rallied around them to get everyone out of the still dangerous crash zone. Before he could react to orders coming from the emergency crews, a hooded figure lurking in the shadows caught Riemer’s eye. Time stood still as a cold shiver sent chills up his spine. He could feel the Wen’s presence, of course they were the root of all this death and destruction. Like something out of a childhood nightmare, he felt himself unable to speak. As hard as he tried to yell for his crew or anyone that was in earshot, the words just would not come out. Finally mustering the strength to move his legs that felt like tree trunks, the Flight Engineer was able to rendezvous with his team. Amidst all the chaos, the crew all looked at their terrified leader, stopping their evacuation in the process.
“Come on, sir! We have to get moving, we’re going to be the last team out of this crap! We can’t risk being behind the rest!” said 1Cent, tugging on the higher-up’s fire suit.
Before anyone could say anything else, a darkness encircled the pit crew of Destiny’s Fortune, cutting them off completely from the rest of the coliseum. Total darkness only meant one thing: The Legion of Wen. One by one, members of the crew collapsed as the Wen’s gas anesthetic took effect.
Riemer let out a gasp as he tried to fight the sleeping gas, letting out an audible yelp as a tall, slim figure made his way through the sea of black clokes surrounding them.
Nifty looked down at the Flight Engineer and the rest of the unconscious crew.
“Send them to Vizenfall.” he sneered, “I have some relic business I have to attend to.”
- — -
“How is he doing, doctor?” said Sean, a look of concern covering the Commander’s face.
“His body is responding well to the medications we’ve administered.” said the Zolturian doctor as he checked Commander Von’s vitals. “It’s going to take him quite a bit of time before he’s able to ride again, but he’s going to survive. He’s a lucky one, we had many fatalities from that crash today.”
Both Sean and King Aras looked at their injured comrade, thankful that he was alive but also frustrated because there wasn’t anything they could do to help him. The King put his hand on Sean’s shoulder in an attempt to console Destiny’s Fortune’s leader.
“Why did he volunteer to do the boot race, it shouldn’t have been him.” said Sean, “It should’ve been me, I should be in that bed right now.”
“Now, now Commander.” said Aras as he sat down in a chair next to Von’s bedside. “You can’t put this burden on yourself. You have a crew to lead and delegate. A leader must accept their position regardless of how they got there. Obstacles will always present themselves, it’s how they are tackled that separate the weak from the strong.”
Sean continued to stand, the surmounting guilt essentially paralyzing him and his wandering thoughts. His counterpart’s unconscious body hooked up to several alien machines was almost too much to bear.
Sensing the weight within the room, Aras decided to change topics, becoming much more serious to address the situation at hand. Maybe the Commander needed to be sidetracked, albeit a terrible situation.
“We have confirmation from the Zolturian government that the first place trophy contains the relic of Zolturia, one of the ten moon relics that power the Seal of Ilsendor. Why and how they thought this was okay to advertise is irrelevant now. Ringbolt and the Thealuvians are presently en route to secure the relic from Zolturian government. Once obtained, they’ll make their way back to Destiny’s Fortune and we can head out on our next destination.”
Aras noticed the look of concern on the Commander’s face with the mention of a new destination.
“Don’t worry, I already let the medical staff know that Von will be coming with us. We have plenty of medical personnel on staff with Link and Elekron.” said the King.
“Alright, we have to do what we must, right?” said the Commander.
King Aras nodded. “I’ll contact Ringbolt now.”
The communicator rang twice before the Thealuvian leader picked up. His voice was a bit raspy from the amount of yelling he had given the Zolturian government.
“My King. Commander. We can confirm we have possession of the Zolturian relic.” said Ringbolt.
“Good, my friend. Make your way back to Destiny’s Fortune at once. Upon your arrival, relay to the crew to prepare for takeoff. Commander Sean and I will be transporting Von shortly, but we need to make sure his vitals are in a good place before we do so.” said Aras.
“Understood, my King.” said Ringbolt, “We’ll head back to the ship, prepare for takeoff, and arrange a space for Link and Elekron to monitor the fallen Commander. See you soon.”
“Thank you, Ringbolt. Stay vigilant.” said the King.
“Oh wait, one more thing Commander, we think — -”
Commander Sean took his eyes off of Von as he panned towards King Aras and his connection with Ringbolt. A look of concern started to show from Aras, but he quickly shook it off.
“Ringbolt, can you hear me? Ringbolt?” said Aras, bumping the communicator against his leg to magically reestablish the connection.
A crackling sound followed by a chuckle emerged from the communicator. King Aras stood up, motioning Sean to start moving Von’s bed out of the room. The chuckling voice cleared its throat, preparing to speak.
“Ahhh, the famous King Aras. We meet again.” sneered Nifty, “Surely, you’re smart enough to admit that partnering with the humans was a mistake, right? Hahahahahah.”
“I have no interest in speaking with a spineless criminal. You have nothing to say to me.” said King Aras, verbally pushing the medical staff to clear Von despite him being unresponsive. They needed to get out of this building, and fast.
“Your crew may have foiled our plans to capture the relic of Zolturia, but they have paid the ultimate price.” said Nifty, “They are currently being held hostage in our prison cells of Vizenfall with the rest of your captains. Your body count is piling up, my King. Hahahahah.”
“If the path you choose to resort to is violence and exploitation, so be it.” said Aras, a hint of noticeable fury in his voice, “Then retaliation tenfold you shall receive.”
“Can’t wait.” snickered Nifty, “See you soon, my King.”
Aras threw the communicator at the ground, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.
“Quickly.” said the King to the medical staff, “We must transport this patient at once. The galaxy depends on it.”
- — -
Risk, Riemer, JB, and the rest of the pit crew on Zolturia all woke up to a cold, clammy, basement-type ground after being drugged to sleep upon their kidnapping. Risk immediately felt his handbag, the outline of the seal still within his possession resulting in a sigh of relief from the Payload Specialist. A rustle came from within the cell, resulting in a familiar face to the captured crew.
“Hey there old friends.” said Captain Brian, “Fancy to see you here.”
