Devoured

Opal walked into the psyker's office, which wasn't far from the main control room. There, he saw the fat woman lounging in her chair with her feet propped on the table, her eyes fixed on the screen displaying a weekly drama.

"Ma'am, Captain Opal reporting." Opal greeted, choosing to be polite since he knew he had messed up. The psyker spared him a glance before closing the screen. Suddenly, an immense force slammed Opal into the ground like a mosquito.

"I feed you. I protect you from the higher-ups! I, Charlotte Milson, do so much for you! Yet! Yet, you can't even find a single man on this ship!" Charlotte roared in anger.

"I-I s-saw him." Opal managed to mumble under the crushing pressure. He could feel the floor around him cracking as the force intensified.

"So what? You couldn't even catch him! Such utter disappointment." Charlotte snarled. "I regret recommending you for the captain's position now."

Opal smirked. "Ha! If I didn't become the captain, how could you enjoy your daily doses?"

Exposed, Charlotte gritted her teeth. She despised anyone mentioning her addiction, a topic that usually ended with the complete erasure of whoever dared bring it up. But she couldn't kill her only supplier, could she? Knowing this, Opal hit the nail on the head, and the crushing psychic force vanished.

"Six hours."

"What?" Opal asked.

"We have six hours until the mothership arrives. Before that, we need to clean the trash fast and quick," Charlotte said. If the mothership arrived and found the delivery or the specimens in disarray, the entire crew would be executed.

Opal sighed deeply, not wanting to die. "W-What do we do?"

Charlotte typed something on her screen, displaying a list of specimens. "Listen, you will find and kill Mark. Take as many men as you want. The rest will sort the cargo and handle the specimens. Lastly, keep your men out of the storeroom. I don't want the specimens' quality compromised due to stress."

Opal nodded and jogged out of the room. The door closed behind him as Charlotte sighed heavily. She opened a drawer, pulled out a small metal case, and inhaled aggressively from it. Before crashing on the chair.

It had been six hours since Nolan's last sighting. Opal and a group of pirates had been searching the ship for Mark, but they had no luck.

"Captain, the landing deck is clear. Where should we move next?" A young pirate asked.

Opal stared at the pirate for a moment before answering. "Search the research hub. After you're done, report back to me."

"Yes, sir!"

Opal silently watched the pirate run off. Inside his mind, however, a storm was brewing.

'Where could Mark have gone? Did he escape through an escape pod? No, all the pods are still intact. Did he just disappear like a ghost? And that stupid bug...'

Countless absurd thoughts filled Opal's mind, followed by a sharp headache.

"Ugh, looks like the aftereffects are hitting." His vision blurred, his senses dulled, and his body felt sluggish. Since they had already scoured the ship, Opal figured taking a break wouldn't hurt. Using the aftereffects as an excuse, he decided to relax in his personal room. Before leaving, he ordered his men not to reveal his location to Charlotte.

Opal scanned his watch and unlocked his room. Inside, a foul smell greeted him. Startled, he grabbed his rifle tightly and stepped inside.

The first thing he noticed was a strange white goo on his bed. Cautiously, he crept toward it. Suddenly, a large drop of the same white liquid fell on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the goo spread across the ceiling.

"What the hell is this?" He touched the substance, finding it sticky and oddly flexible.

CREAK! The cabinet in the corner shifted slightly. Gripping his rifle tightly, Opal moved toward the sound. He discovered a solidified pile of the same white substance. As he observed it, cracks began to form.

CREAK! CREAK! The hardened goo crumbled away, revealing a black, irregular rock inside. Doubtful, Opal took a cautious step back. Suddenly, transparent wings burst out from the rock, and it dashed toward him.

Startled, Opal fired his rifle, but in his weakened state, his aim was poor, and none of the bullets hit the abnormally fast creature. The rock-like mass struck Opal in the chest, hurling him against the wall with a loud noise.

BOOM!

Bleeding, Opal got up. He was lying in the corrioder outside of his room.

"Ugh..."

In front of him, the black creature slowly crept closer. Cracks in the creature's shell widened, and white liquid leaked through. The floor was now coated in the goo-like substance. In the blink of an eye, the creature revealed its true form. Numerous small mouths lined with razor-sharp teeth, all connected to a jagged, insect-like body which had multiple small limbs. The mouths drooled excessively, saturating the floor with the sticky substance. The tough rock was actually the shell of this creature which can be extracted back at will.

Terrified, Opal spotted his rifle just a few meters away. Gathering his remaining strength, he lunged, grabbed the rifle, and pointed it at the advancing creature.

"You're dead, you black turd!" He growled.

One of the creature's mouths shot a stream of white liquid at the rifle's muzzle, jamming it.

"Huh?" Opal tried pulling the trigger, but the gun refused to fire. The grotesque creature slithered closer. Desperate, Opal threw the rifle at it, but the weapon merely bounced off the creature's hardened shell.

"D-Don't come closer!" Opal staggered to his feet and tried to flee, but another shot of white liquid struck his leg, immobilizing him.

"Urgh! Urgh!" He struggled, but the creature pounced, crushing his chest with the force of impact. Bones shattered instantly.

Screaming, Opal flailed as the creature's mouths extended like tubes and viciously bit into his limbs. Hands, thighs and legs everything was pulled together which broke the spine and every bone in the body. It tore through his flesh. The black creature folded Opal's mangled body into a bloody ball and dragged it inside it's shell.

It closed his face and silently devoured Opal.