No Turning Back

Chapter Thirty One: Strange Happenings

Kiana realised by Primis' tone that whatever was bothering him was going to continue until she finally sought a resolution. His behaviour frustrated Kiana as she knew there was no point in him bottling his emotions up. And it was clear that he was not even going to attempt to discuss what was bothering him. Kiana, however, was determined to bring things to a head. But for now, there were more pressing matters at hand.

Kiana and Primis both jumped to their feet as Primis readied his newly purchased wall-buy - the MP5K. Kiana, of course, still remained powerless to use anything other than Richtofen's pistol. And so, she let Primis lead the way as they anxiously hurried towards the source of the sound.

They both made their way back through the gates that lead to the power switch before they watched Dempsey leap into action as he made his way towards them. Upon hearing the same ominous rumbling in the distance; Dempsey had quickly cut his patrol short to investigate.

"Doc, we've got some action!" Dempsey exclaimed with a grin.

"Ja, und it came from zhe centrifuge room!" Primis explained as all three made their way there.

"Ayyyyy, don't forget about Nikolai!" The man himself belched as he waddled his way towards everyone.

"Good to have you join us, Nik!" Dempsey grinned.

"And do not forget about Takeo!" Takeo proclaimed as he ran up behind the group.

"The team's all here!" Dempsey smiled at Kiana.

"Let's check it out, it may finally be Richtofen!" Kiana explained before looking at Primis - who appeared to cringe at the thought.

Everyone quickly made their way down the stairs into the centrifuge room. They all remained on the second floor of the catwalk as they gingerly peered down to watch the lunar lander pad. The machine had come back to life as the lights on the nearby panel illuminated and the pad began to ready itself. Everyone's ears quickly pricked up as they could hear another distant rumble.

"It's the lander!" Primis said.

"He returns to us", Takeo whispered.

"Aw man, and I was enjoyin' not having to hear that whiny kraut's voice!" Dempsey spat.

"Shhh, look!" Kiana interrupted as everyone averted their eyes back to the lander pad.

The rumbling lander quickly entered the comsodrome before it seemed to stop in the air as it hovered high above the receiving pad. But after a confirmatory bleep from the nearby control panel; the lander began to descend. Everyone watched apprehensively as they braced themselves for Richtofen's return.

But as the lander continued to descend; black smoke from the rockets began to fill the room with a thick cloud of soot. The thick acrid smoke made it impossible to see through the dense mist as the heavy particles stung and polluted everyone's lungs. Everyone was now coughing and spluttering as they tried to rid their eyes of the irritants so they could finally see what was happening.

In the midst of the mayhem; the lander continued to descend further before revealing the white hot flames of the lander's rockets. The lander continued to slowly lower itself down onto the receiving pad before the rumbling engine suddenly stopped.

"I can't see anything!" Nikolai slurred as he began to cough.

"Yeah, what gives? What's up with the lander?" Dempsey asked as he rubbed his irritated eyes.

"I zhink it has been damaged", Primis announced as everyone tried to clear the air around them.

The heavy foul smoke persisted as it clawed at the group's throats and tightened it's grip of their airways. Kiana was the first to fumble her way across the catwalk and retreat back up the stairs outside before the others soon followed.