Page 68 of May the Stars Have Mercy
Xexis kept the horde down until they were deep in their tunnel, alone. The pair stood, back-to-back, scanning the area. The earth was moist and spongey once more, even darker than before. Her scans couldn’t pierce the abyss.
“Check in,” Xexis barked into the comms.
“Tunnel cleared; it’s a dead end.” Grooug answered with a grunt of effort. “I’m returning to the fork to clear the exit.”
“Tunnel almost cleared,” Reevar huffed, clearly blasting something. “There are less bodies and more raw Brexzkit here, Kannatch, be careful.”
“Sticky!” Kiefgr cried into his comms before a fuzzy rattling sound filled their ears. After a long moment and many colorful curse words from Reevar in Vrozian, Kiefgr giggled nervously, “Clear.”
“Give me the cannon.” Reevar and Kiefgr cut off as they clearly were battling back and forth with each other.
Xexis twisted toward the endless tunnel before the mated pair. Aphrodite held up her radar gun, set to movement, and blasted the hall. The lights went about ten feet before they were no longer visible. They both spared a glance at her data pad.
“They’re either waiting for us to move, or they’re further in here than we thought.” Aphrodite nodded at Buddy. He bobbed down the tunnel, scanning as he went.
“And there’s no telling how many there were. They could have multiplied down here, dark as it is,” Xexis sighed, stalking after the drone. They crept, step by step, making sure to only walk where the other stepped. Xexis had multiple lasers point and scan at the walls while Buddy spread his grid across the walls of the tunnel.
It felt like an eternity before they came to an actual turn in the tunnel as well as a ladder upward. Xexis cleared the turn of the hall before motioning for her to climb up. Aphrodite utilized her thrusters, just in case the ladder was a trap, and propelled herself upward. Buddy stopped against the access top.
“There’s a door here, but I’m not sure how to open it!” she bellowed down the tunnel to Xexis.
“Knock.”
She wanted to roll her eyes, but, after knocking, the door swung open, and an Orv face filled the access entrance. “Oh! Hello, Mphronatch! Many greetings.”
“Many greetings, why are you here? The sun is on the other side of the planet,” she laughed sheepishly. Poking her head up meerkat style, she glanced around at one of the many shops that stayed permanent on Orvian. The shop keep explained to her, happily to lay against the floor and talk to her through the trap door floor.They explained, while many of the Orv were nomadic, traveling to keep in the sun, there were a sect of Orv who were subterranean. They were still Orv, as the shop keep explained, but they were built for the shadows.A special evolution.Some stayed in their permanent structures and traveled through the tunnels she was currently traversing. They pointed out that’s why they were pale in color. The Orv staring at her curiously was a glow in the dark, muted yellow in the light of their shop, dressed in thick purple fabric with wiggling spines around their head like a collar.
Aphrodite spoke one last time to them, “Have you seen any corpses or Brexzkit around here?”
“No, not after the Orv stabbed them many times. However, we do avoid tunnels right now. The walls are moving and not safe for Orv. Biting shadows and all.”
“Ah, thanks, have you had any shadows knock at this door?” She jabbed a thumb at the door the Orv held open.
“Of course not, Mphronatch, shadows can’t knock. They don’t have knuckles.” The Orv beamed at her a gummy smile.
“Right,” she laughed, feeling silly for even knocking. “Okay, well, keep it shut just in case, until we’ve cleared the planet of the pest.”
“Many thanks, Mphronatch, for killing the pest. Have a healthy night!”
She waved to the shop keep before drifting down the tunnel back to Xexis. The door shut and a distinct click of a lock echoed around her ears. When she touched down, she glanced at her data pad. Buddy’s text filled the screen.
Orv are naturally immune to Brexzkit, as when they die, their body naturally combusts. Brexzkit can only use organisms that leave behind corpses, bodies with calcium and organic material for them to feed upon. I scanned their room as you spoke; no pests nearby.
Aphrodite showed the screen to Xexis. He nodded, motioning quietly down the hall with his fingers. They continued down the hall.
“Kannatch, check in.” Reevar’s voice crackled to life on the comms.
“We’re still clearing the tunnel,” Xexis breathed into the microphone.
“That may not be necessary…” Kiefgr panted for air.
Xexis halted their movements. “Explain.”
“Kern and Rexna were able to land nearby, they warned the Orv of the cleansing we were doing. All Orv have been ordered out of the tunnels. They will be locking their entrance to the tunnels.” Reevar’s voice filled Aphrodite with a fantastic, ridiculous idea.
“Kiefgr…do you still have the cannon?” Aphrodite grinned, glancing up at Xexis.
“Already on your way, Mphronatch. Rexna said you could likely amplify the blast,” Kiefgr giggled wickedly. The sound of his boots beating against the ground behind them bounced off the walls.
