Chapter 7: Out the siege

"Alright. Be careful." Ricky massaged his temples as he let out a deep sigh. He gently found his way to a chair and sank in it, eyes closed.

"What's up?" Drummond spoke.

"Just talked with the captain, he said they got the signal." Ricky lazily said.

"You mean the vibranium?"

"Yes."

"That's great news!" Drummond exclaimed and started laughing.

"Or a bad one. You're happy huh? It seems you have forgotten so quickly what happened the last time. They got the signal too right? And what happened next?" Ricky glares at Drummond viciously, his eyes flaming like a hot coal.

Drummond couldn't say a word when Ricky confronted him. He has never cared about the team he recruits, he doesn't care how many have sacrificed their lives and died for his gaddam project. Ricky wanted to remind him.

"That's right, you've got nothing to say. Well, let me remind you. In 2001, Team Pluto, all five of them died even before crossing the orbits, because there was not enough oxygen to keep them alive. 2003, Team Air-fly. All ten of them died in a space wreck. 2007, Team Hawk view. Six died in space while battling with some kind of aliens and two others are on life support till today. Yeah, their family members are considering removing the life support because it's starting to feel like there is no hope for them waking up. 2008, Team…"

"Enough!" Drummond cried out.

Ricky wasn't done, he wanted to voice out everything he had been meaning to tell Drummond all along. He was fed up and wouldn't care about the consequences of his actions.

"No, it's not enough till you see how selfish and gullible you are!" Ricky shakes his head slightly, tears start running down his cheek when he recollects all the lives that had been lost in the past, and now his daughter is draining down the same line. "Over 600 agents and counting since we started this project. Drummond, 600, and yet your conscience doesn't even bother you." Ricky continued.

"Okay, now it's all my fault? I picked you from nothing and this is how you repay me!" Drummond protests.

"Exactly, it's always about you. Don't even start with that 'life saver' shit, because you gave me no choice. You used the fact that I was under pressure from the Red Cross to blackmail me." Ricky responded.

"Oh forgive me, but it wasn't my fingerprints that were found all over the victim's body." Drummond countered.

"You are a piece of shit you know that? Just so you know, if anything happens to my daughter, I'm going to bring you down to nothing." Ricky threatened and walked out on Drummond.

"How much more are we going to walk? My legs are killing me right now." Sasha complained, she even had to stop and catch her breath.

"We have to keep moving, the V-tech shows we can find the vibranium somewhere around." Brendan replied.

"You have to be strong. The sooner we find the vibranium, the sooner we go back home." Ryan squats and thinks of something that may help. "Trust me, you don't want one of those giant octopus-looking creatures coming to find us here. It's not gonna be funny." He whispered to her.

Immediately Sasha heard the word 'octopus' she stood up and started walking fast.

"Damn it. Thank you so much Ryan for bringing that up." Sasha scrunched up her face.

"You're welcome." He smiled.

"Just unbelievable." she blushed.

They were both walking side by side in silence like two shy, awkward birds.

"You okay?" Ryan breaks the silence and it feels good.

"Yeah, I'm great." Sasha replied, smiling back.

"Look I'm sorry about…"

"You don't have to apologize, Ryan. I-I was too hard on you, so I'm sorry. I never should have said those words." Sasha said, looking down at her feet.

"Well, I deserved it. A team always sticks together, no matter what." Ryan concedes.

"W-what is that?…O-over there!" Davis shrinks, his eyeballs popping out like a corn that is about to pop.

"Oh shit, you gotta be kidding me!" Kaleb exclaimed.

"Ahhhh"

"ahhhhhhhhh"

Davis and Kaleb were frightened and started screaming. Though something was approaching but it wasn't what they were thinking.

"Relax guys, it's just a Tech drone sent by Sir Ricky." Brendan informs them.

The Tech drone landed close to Brendan and initiated a transmitted message.

"preparing notifications…" After uploading a message, it started to talk again like a robot. "Hope you guys are alright? I want to apologize for the inconvenience and also thank you for your commitment. It takes a lot of courage to be up here risking your lives for something you don't know. You will find some useful items in the pack for the team. Good luck with the mission. Ricky." After the message had been transmitted successfully, the drone screen went blank and the pack opened up. Inside the pack contained some snacks, food, and drinks, Including some futuristic weapons.

They proceeded with following the V-tech signal as the beeping sound got louder. All of a sudden, the climate started altering. Just like taking a step forward and 'tada!' you've been teleported into another world.

"That's strange." Brendan muttered.

"What just happened?" Sonia asked.

"I don't know, but I'm not surprised. This place is full of wonders."

Approaching what looked like a facility, the tech drone went ahead of them and scanned the area. A few minutes later the drone came back and displayed a map of how the place was designed, in detail.

"Good boy. I never knew you could do that." Brendan marveled.

"Can it also show us where the vibranium is exactly?" Ryan asked.

*click click* "Vibranium; 14 miles from the location. Layers; 10 out of 10. Range; Length: 850x, Width: 900x. Highly secured with non-native developed technology." The drone analyzed everything brilliantly.

"O...kay. Whatever that means, the vibranium is close. Right?" Sasha asked.

Brendan looked closely at the map and saw lots of layers in the facility, so he knew he would have to work his teammates through.

"Okay guys, getting into this facility is going to be something difficult. It is secured and we don't know what we are up against. Just like playing video games, imagine walking into a trap. Keep your eyes open." He explained to his teammates and they marched on.

Inside the facility was built with heavy metallic layouts, although everything looked old and rusty, they still maintained their quality.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think this place has been abandoned for generations." Ryan spoke out and his voice echoed throughout the facility.

"Yes you are right, but you can't be so sure. You heard the drone, it is highly secured and that means we all should be careful." Brendan responded.

Galaxy Q Stationary…

The aliens stationary 1 received a signal from their base that intruders just entered the Sector.

The leader was quickly informed and when he came to see for himself, he did seem delighted.

"(Alien language translated) Humans. Long time no see." He smirked and walked out of the station with two other aliens.

The transmission was made from Stationary 1 to all the Aliens stationary in Galaxy Q, which is 7 in number and each Stationary has about 5 ships and 50 soldiers, well trained and heavily armed. Not to forget, each station is also assigned with one Amagrok for battle.

As soon as transmission was made, the soldiers started boarding the ships with their weapons, and in no time, they set out for the Sector.

"So beautiful." Davis admired a sculpture made of stone and wanted to touch it.

"Don't touch anything!" Sonia yelled at him.

Not knowing that Ryan had already touched a small portrait made of gold that he found in a black box. He silently placed it inside his pack so no one would notice. But It wasn't for a minute when an alarm started buzzing inside the facility.

"I told you not to touch anything." Sonia lashed out at Davis, thinking he went back to steal the sculpture.

"I didn't touch it, I swear." Davis said.

Now all eyes fell on Ryan because he kept avoiding their gaze and acting weird.

These Alien technologies are so advanced that even if someone touches anything, their fingerprint is scanned and every information about that person would be leaked. So when Ryan picked up the portrait, his fingerprints were registered by the alien technology and his data was processed to every stationary and ship.

"Ryan, what did you do?" Sasha confronted him, she knew he was the only one who could have done something foolish.

"I'm sorry guys, it's just a harmless portrait." Ryan replied.

"Why must you get us into trouble all the time? You know what, I take my apologies back. You are a coward." Sasha angrily said.

Ryan didn't know what to say or what to vent his anger on. He left them and came outside the facility to clear his mind.

"This is just the outer layer, there are too many of them so we need to stay together. As a team." Brendan cautioned his teammates, then he asked Sonia to go check up on Ryan so they could proceed into the inner layers.

Just as Sonia reached the exit point, she saw something strange from a distance, it had red eyes but she couldn't tell what it was. Until it came even closer, she realized it was approaching with full force and Ryan was not looking.

"Oh my God. Ryan! Ryan, run!" Sonia screamed till her throat hurt but somehow Ryan couldn't hear her.

Sonia was pointing in the direction, trying to let him know that something was coming but still.

When Ryan finally noticed dust forming, he started running towards the facility but the Amagrok snatched him from behind with its tentacles and swallowed his body.

Sonia screamed and ran back to the team to inform them what just happened.

Afterward, they saw ships landing and a load of alien armies marching into the facility with five Amagroks following behind.

"We are so f*cked." Brendan whispered under his breath. He had never been this scared in his life, and now he wished if he closed his eyes and opened them, the game would be over.

Too bad, it's not a game.