Chapter Twelve

Hangar of the Iron Maiden, 2130pm

Wren crouched low in the shadows of the Aaru, having pretended to practice running the craft in simulations and ring runs when Akifa had come to get him from the craft. Both wore black suits, fitted with extrasensory abilities to alert their helmets when someone came close, Akifa had his twin pistols charged and secured while Wren simply had his size and claws.

Crawling over to the wall that had slid open earlier, Wren crawled in first, punching his claws in to find purchase on the metal wall before starting his crawl downwards, his tail cutting some slits in the metal for Akifa to use as a ladder when he jumped in, sealing the door behind them.

"Fuck it's dark... hang on!"

(Akifa, don't. I have night vision, just turn on your own. We can't afford the extra light in case of getting caught...) Wren took a second, closing his eyes before opening them back up, everything illuminated in a thermal filter as he crawled down. Akifa grumbled softly, trying not to slice his hands on the metal cuts as they made their way down, nearly gagging at the smell when the hall emptied out above a massive trash pile.

"Makes sense... thank god I got a strong filter. How're you?" Akifa turned as Wren doubled over, gagging and coughing up a protein bar's worth before shivering and pulling on his helmet.

"Might've been a smarter idea to do it before getting down here?" he mentioned, smiling softly as he rubbed Wren's back, the Icer chuckling softly.

(Well...it's not the engine room, but we found where all the trash goes. Only... why wasn't this on the map? Why hide it?) Wren crawled down the pile, carefully avoiding anything that oozed or squished under his claws as he rolled to the ground, staring up at the massive room. Piles of trash filtered in from sections above that opened and closed, forming tall, decaying towers of trash as old, forgotten robots kept cycling through the junk, trashing most out of the airlock. Wren carefully walked around the pile they were in as he noticed most of it was abandoned fuel cells, ship parts, ammunition, and a large amount of alcohol containers.

"Definitely hangar detritus... I probably helped with some of this, sorry." Akifa shrugged as Wren shook his head, waving it off.

"It's fine... but why hasn't anything taken care of the trash? The filtration system must be huge if we can't even smell this pile-up through the ship. Someone must work down here..." Wren muttered, glancing around for a door as Akifa took out one pistol, holding it ready before following the Icer. Carefully weaving through the towers of trash, Wren found the back wall to the room, tracing it around before almost coming into contact with the robots.

"They're old... like Earth old, they're way out-dated and out-moded. They should be... well, dead. Why are they still doing this?" Akifa asked, frowning as he watched the fragile robots clinking and hissing steam, picking up tiny chunks one by one to dump it.

(Bit odd... they're only going to certain piles and picking out the same material. It's white, ranges anywhere from long and thin to short, nearly invisible. So strange...) Wren curled up, watching them as Akifa gasped, recognizing the "ball" one pulled from a trash heap, shining it into the light.

"That's a skull..." Akifa pointed it to Wren who narrowed his eyes, looking it over.

(It's long since bleached out... old. Missing several teeth and looks like a long time of decay when it was alive. Do you have any reports on deaths in this ship?)

"No. The Captain promised we'd be notified if anyone died, in case we knew them. I... I've never heard of anyone dying..." Akifa answered, kneeling next to Wren who flicked the end of his tail in thought.

(Interesting...) Wren narrowed his eyes, watching the robots clean out the remains of the body as another robot struggled to pull one free, causing half a tower to collapse on the other side before finally pulling it all free. Unfortunately this one was juicy... and partially identifiable. The robot held a head that was falling to pieces with a spine still connected to what was left of a lower body, most stripped away to the bone. Wren turned as Akifa collapsed, panting and hyperventilating inside his helm as the pilot bolted around the tower.

(Akifa?) Wren furrowed his brow, watching the robots for a little longer before following, finding Akifa curled up tight with his helmet off and retching onto the tower. Wren lifted his head, sniffing salty tears as he stood up, gently holding Akifa's shoulder.

(What's wrong...?)

"It was Arik... that was my ex. Gods, I knew that damned scar on his face, I gave it to him when he humiliated me! He died?!! I heard nothing, not a word...! I was told he was transferred and excommunicated from the ship, not fucking killed!" Akifa whispered loudly, kicking the trash away as he sniffled, crouching low to hide from the robots as Wren stepped around, sitting next to him.

(I'm sorry... and I hate to ask, but maybe you shouldn't come with me. It might be too much if there's more people you'd recognize.)

"Little late... I have a recorder on my helmet I turned on once we started the trip. I turned it off once I got a whole image of Arik... or what was left of him," Akifa replied, tossing the helmet to Wren who smelled the bile inside.

(What do you want to do...?)

"Find out what's killing our pilots, and fuck them up. Once we apprehend whoever is doing this, we release the images of everyone that's died on this ship, maybe it'll convince everyone to leave..." he muttered, taking out some wipes as he cleaned his helmet before putting it back on, Wren taking his hand with a gentle squeeze.

(Stay close, I'll try to keep you safe) Wren gently butted his helmet against Akifa's as he listened to his pilot sniffle lightly before nodding, following Wren as he went through the towers of trash. Sniffing out old remains, he pulled out skulls and old uniforms, having Akifa record and take pictures for recording. Wren dug into the last tower untouched by the robots as he growled, pulling out baby clothes and cribs.

"That's weird... baby items, but no... baby?" he asked, tilting his head as Wren dug out slightly older clothes belonging to a young girl, pale pinks and white fabrics with traces of blood. Taking off his helmet, Wren leaned close, sniffing at the blood as he growled low.

(Little girl... no older than maybe two. It's virgin blood on the skirts, but on the outside... it's male. Maybe 30's...? I have a bad feeling about what happened to this girl.) Wren whimpered, collecting the evidence as he tossed it into a bag that Akifa held open for him, pulled from the utility belt.

(Your captain has a story... and not a good one. We haven't even found the engine room yet, and there's this much bad and terrible things in this one trash room?) Wren asked, holding the bag as Akifa sighed, holding his arms up in a surrender.

"I don't know... she's not one to have people just walk in and demand. Hell I've never seen her in the flesh, only heard her voice and seen images. Nothing else... Let's try to find the engine room to get that final nail so we can hammer this coffin shut," Akifa replied, pulling up a map as Wren stored the bag onto his back, keeping it secured like a backpack.

"Let's go, I found a door!" Akifa led the way as Wren followed, weaving through the trash heaps before finding a single door in the wall, opening it to reveal a small hallway filled with steam.

(That looks like engine exhaust... but it's not steam. It's almost like hot air...? Like someone's breathing.) Wren crawled in, leading the way as Akifa followed, stowing away the pistol before they fell out into another cavernous room, but this one was filled with machinery. Pumping vents billowing clouds of steam, pipes flowing around like veins from the center of the room as Wren pulled off his helmet, his eyes filled with frosted tears.

"It's her..." he whimpered, walking towards the center of the room as he looked up at the creature in the center of the room. Akifa nearly threw up, keeping the recording on as he slowly panned it from the waist of the creature where it had been sawed in half, wired in with ugly pipes and wires siphoning off her energy into the rest of the ship. The skin Wren described as "dark to camouflage in space" was pallid and yellow-white, as if drained of her melanin. Where there used to be a full endowed chest were ugly cross shaped scars, her belly hooked and opened to reveal a barren hole where a womb once sat. The heart pulsing inside wasn't beating right, erratically pulsing and thrumming with the beat of the machinery. Her arms had become skin and bone, hanging limply by hooks from the ceiling that held her suspended over the pit of wires and pipes.

"Wren, there's nothing left..." Akifa mentioned, gently touching the Icer's back as he noticed it shaking, but the severe drop in temperature wasn't grief. Akifa pulled his hand back as he noticed the suit was stark white and frozen, the ground under Wren's feet forming a wider circle of frost and ice as a deep growl erupted from his chest, startling the pilot.

"I will find this captain... and I will make her pay for the treachery of this. This act is against all of nature, thinking she could contain the might of one of the most powerful beings in our universe, that is the very reason for her insipid existence!" He barked loudly, a flush of cold, piercing wind flying from him onto the machines as the creature started in her weak state, opening two empty sockets now where the eyes had once sat.

"Oh my god... she's still alive?!" Akifa nearly fell back as Wren went over, reaching up to touch the side of the Night Mother.

(What's happening?! Who's there?! It's not supposed to be cold! Too cold, I can't... w...who is touching me...?) The voice inside Akifa's mind sounded like a young mother's, not much older than his own, full of panic and hysteria. As if too many years had dulled her down to where she thought this was a dream...

(Night Mother... my name is Eiwren'Teiran, I am an Iscerian, wrongfully taken and put away for humans to observe for centuries to come. I heard your voice, I wanted to see you... I wanted to rescue you, but...)

(There's no way to. I'm too far gone, no tail, no womb... no reason to exist with my current state. You shouldn't be here, little Ice, you're in grave danger here from the captain. She knows you're on her ship, she'll want you all to herself, that's how it is with all new creatures. She keeps them, tortures them... then kills them once she takes what she wants.) The Night Mother's mouth gaped and opened in silent wails, Akifa shivering hard as he gulped.

"What about me...? I remember her trying to take me too, but she let me go."

(You were not what she wanted. She wanted an Avatar of your gods in your home-system, to control that power and bend it to her will. You were not fully manifested and she grew impatient, tossing you out. But you are the Avatar for Setat's world, you hold the power, Akifa Dbakarem, you just have to find it within yourself when the time is right. You have to destroy this disgusting ship of death, wrapped in sanctimonious lies...) The Night Mother pleaded, large bubbling pools of ooze bleeding from her eye sockets as Wren whimpered softly.

(How...?) Wren already knew the answer deep down, but he knew he couldn't, he possibly couldn't destroy a goddess in his eyes. His heart simply didn't have the courage and willpower to destroy her.

"She's got to be killed, Wren... It'll stop a good majority of the power, and people will realize right away when we have no existing back-up systems. I'll do it," he said, taking the pistol as it whined with full charge, aiming it up towards the Night Mother before firing the shot. That's when all Hell broke loose...