While mega-corporations vie for control of Andromeda's precious resources, the very anti-corporate Yseult, surreptitiously recruited into the heavily militarised MANTIS soon finds that the drawbacks of corporate life may be a small price next to the...
She is lying down... the air is cool. She hears a rustling sound, a pitter-patter. It's raining. I'm getting wet. The smell of rain on stone, her breath is short, she is tired. There is another sound... crying. The pressure of hands upon her chest. The taste of iron in her mouth. A creature kneels over her, tall, etherial. It leans towards her.
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"You must find Upsilon" it whispers, its lips unmoving. "You must not lie down." Why can I hear you? "You must not lie down." it repeated. I failed. Her reply came as a thought but she could not make the words.
"You have not yet begun." the voice whispered a reply within her mind. I don't understand...
"You must not lie down." The creature reached out, placing it's hands on Yseult's chest. From it's eyes, a blinding light, pierced with red... growing brighter, hotter. A hum behind it, whirring, faster. Suddenly, a blinding light...
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The smell of burnt hair and scorched metal filled the air as the laser skewed away from Yseult's face, narrowly missing her ear. Around the black creature's tail was a black metal hand which raised the creature aloft, it writhing and screeching in panic. Another large black metallic hand encompassed the creature's body and a moment later, they were separate, pulled into two with relative ease by the dark behemoth that was Yseult's saviour. The laser, now discarded, smoked upon the hangar deck and as the dismembered creature writhed, desperate to escape the dark clutches of whatever had it. It would not writhe for long though as the free hand of its captor now reached for its head and with a short jolt, the creature became limp. Discarded to the hangar floor, its lifeless body landing with a deadening clank, Yseult was finally able to take in the thing that had come to her rescue... It was huge, mighty, a plethora of black bone and spikes... It had four legs, two huge arms and from its back, two larger versions of the smaller creature's laser... Its chest was a maze of black metal work that was difficult for the eye to make out and above that, a head... Similar to the creature's but with larger horns, the two were clearly kin. It looked down at Ysuelt with its piercing, merciless single yellow eye. Repositioning itself, it crouched, lowering the torso as much as it could and with a whirr, the cage that formed the chest opened up.
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Ellie was dwarfed by the monstrous exo-suit that surrounded her. She was breathing heavily, adrenaline in her veins, beads of sweat on her brow... relief in her eyes. For a moment, she just breathed. The carefully stepped out of the frame and climbed down, cautiously looking for foot-holes in the dark skeletal bodywork.
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Yesult was already standing by the time she got down and had stepped towards her. The two just stared at each other until finally, Ellie's arms reached out and vigorously embraced Yseult who, after a moment of feeling somewhat out of her comfort zone, more casually did the same. She could feel Ellie's heat pounding. The rush she thought. Ellie wasn't used to it, she was an engineer, not a soldier. The emotions racing through her were obvious - panic, courage, fear, relief... all rolled into one hectic mess of adrenaline. Fuel for the soul. But Ellie was a different person, not used to this... That may have to change. Ellie released the embrace and Yseult followed suit without hesitation and instantly felt a little more at ease. Ellie was breathing deeply, regaining control, bringing herself back down. Her hands on her stomach, like she was stopping herself form being sick.
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"Okay?" Yseult asked. She didn't know what else to say. Ellie nodded, her eyes closed, slowly, she was regaining her composure.
"Don't." she finally said... "Touch... Anything..." There was a short awkward pause before Yseult found she couldn't stop her cheeks tightening and a cheeky smile growing on her face... it was contagious and as soon as she noticed it on Ellie too, it only became harder to suppress... They both burst into short laughter, Ellie putting her hand to her face in embarrassment. They looked at each a moment, unsure what the right thing to say next was. Yseult pointed up at the exo-suit...
"Can I have a go?" she asked, a wry cheeky smile on her face. Ellie couldn't help it and laughed again.
