Fiction:Dreams of the Past

It all happened in a flash. Hel’Bre’K Ce’So’Va roused himself as the light faded from his eyes. What felt like mere moments ago he was on an otherwise normal inspection tour until a blinding light overtook his senses and he lost sensation. Now he found himself spreadeagled and securely bound, disoriented and only vaguely aware of his surroundings. Tensing his muscles he felt neither give nor physical restraint, suggesting some form of forcefield was being used to contain him. Arching his back and pushing forward with all his strength, he pushed his arms forward. Between the artificial muscle fibers of his warsuit and his own titanic strength, he felt a satisfying surge of motion as his restraints started to give. Putting all the weight he could into the effort, he saw a flicker of static as the restraints failed completely, and he fell forward onto the floor. He had barely moments to collect himself.

Looking around the room as his sight settled, he saw cool white paneling trimmed in gold, pale blue lights offering illumination. A soft note hung in the air calling to mind a calming mantra, pierced at times by the sparking of ruined machinery and the groan of twisting metal. Shaking his head to clear his vision, Hel’Bre’K looked around and saw a circular enclave studded with enclaves fitted with what he presumed were the same kind of restraints that held him- a blank frame embedded with the imprint of different kinds of creatures, some foreign but others strikingly familiar. In the centre of the enclave was what appeared to be an operating table, a flat circular plane of white metal suspended below an array of surgical tools mounted on mechanical arms. Putting no further thought to the nature of the room, his warrior’s mind clicked into function and he darted for cover. Seeing a doorway he sprinted on four limbs to its eve, pressing himself flat against the wall and out of sight of anyone walking into the room. Looking back over his former prison, he saw the frame that once imprisoned him rent and torn- clearly the frame itself generated the forcefield- and yet slowly pulling itself back into shape. This revelation was interrupted by the sound of the door swiftly hissing open.

Eyes still blurred, Hel’Bre’K saw only the outline of what would soon be his quarry. The unfortunate creature came up to his chest, stooped over as it was by the great mass of its upper body. A bloated and ugly thing, the white sheen of its body was interrupted only by a golden sigil emblazoned across its back. It moved slowly and pathetically, dragging its arm-like appendages behind itself as if lacking any motivation. Two thick legs pulled it forward, lacking discernable feet or joints, as it slowly rocked from side to side presumably to take in the whole room. A flash of blue light swept across the gold, as the creature seemingly fixated on the slowly repairing frame. The creature moved again, this time seemingly with more urgency and surety, its ropelike limbs splayed forward and questing across the torn metal. Whatever its task, it was interrupted by a vicious blow leveled by the Blademaster as he leapt from hiding.

Springing from the wall and over the operating table, the Fordan brought leapt feet first, bringing his hands together and down on the hapless creature the moment he landed. Letting his momentum carry him forward he brought his clasped hands down on the gold sigil, feeling a satisfying crack as a spark of electricity ran across his gauntlets. Undaunted, the creature turned with surprising speed and lashed out, great strength unbefitting of its otherwise thin limbs slamming the old Fordan aside. Recovering quickly with a handspring, the shock finally set the Blademaster’s senses right. Focusing clearly, he took in the dull, slack eyes of his opponent and took stock of his own situation. His weapons had been stripped, but his armour left untouched and with it a set of concealed blades for just such a purpose. Two long knives sprung from their hiding places along his greaves, which he palmed in the same motion as he sprung into a second attack. Blades up and forward, he beat the next attack aside with one hand as the other plunged a knife between the creature’s blank eyes to the sound of shearing metal. Thick, black ichor oozed out, lacking any semblance of a pulse. For its own part the creature paid the injury no heed. Launching from the floor and using the embedded knife as a point of leverage, Hel’Bre’K leapt from the ground, swinging over his foe in an arc, and plunged his second knife through the golden sigil. Again he was met with the sound of shearing metal, but this time accompanied by a metallic screech and a surge of energy that jolted his hand from the knife’s grip. The creature shuddered and froze, immobile as a statue.

Vigilant for attacks, Hel’Bre’K wrenched his blades free and watched with disdain as the corpse toppled and collapsed, seemingly frozen. Scraping a hand along the thing’s white-pale skin he felt metal, but digging in his claws he peeled back what proved to be a thin veneer over pallid flesh. Thin, black fibers ran through the flesh, looking for all the world like burned out wires. Brandishing his blades, the Fordan set his eyes on the doorway, and set off to find his would-be captors.