{"sf1_id":903948,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Abyss","author":"Drake_The_Traveller","words":3428,"posted_at":"2015-08-28T08:33:00.000Z","tags":["Action","Anthro","Character Development","Drama","Fanfiction","Human","Multiple Species","Romance","Sci-Fi","Starfox","Story Progression","Story Series","Vixen","dead space","suspense"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/903948-abyss","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/903948","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=903948\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Starfox: Liberation\nChapter 8: Abyss\nIf you stare too\nlong into the abyss...it stares back...\n-Anonymous\nAlaric twisted the\ncoupling of wires and sparks flew as the door light flashed from green to red.\nSatisfied, he pulled back from the console and watched as it slid open\neffortlessly to reveal a long corridor shrouded in darkness. Alaric was\ndisquieted by the continuous stream of dark corridors and absence of any signs\nof life. They should have stumbled upon somebody by now. There was no feasible\nway that after more than an hour of wandering, that they had not discovered\nanyone. Back in the war, he had developed a kind of sixth sense for imminent\ndanger. It manifested as a tingling in the back of his head. And at that moment\nit felt more like a dagger jammed into the back of his skull. \nKrystal stuck as close\nto him as she could, pressed tightly up to his glowing RIG's spine as he\nwalked. She refused to distance herself any more than what was absolutely\nnecessary, and Alaric could understand why. \nIt was a damn ghost\nship, and an unsettling one at that. \nAlaric was starting to\nbelieve that the entire ship was deserted. But that wouldn't make any sense.\nThe starliner was not the broken ship, there was no visible damage and most of\nthe power still surged through its systems. He thought that maybe the humans\nmight have tried to overpower the vessel, but that was far down the list of\nplausibility. It was statistically impossible for a group of less than fifty\nhumans to take over a ship of this magnitude. \nKrystal suddenly yipped\nand threw herself against him, clinging desperately to his back and whining\nsoftly. Alaric brought his left hand backwards to hold her protectively to him\nand raised his rifle in the other to scan the darkened corridor. \n\"What is it?\" He\nwhispered. The blue holographic sight from his rifle skimmed around them in a\nsearch for targets.\n\"I-I t-thought I heard\ns-something.\" She replied with a frightened whimper as her muzzle sat on his\nshoulder and gazed out from behind him. Her triangular ears swiveled around\natop her furred head and her emerald green eyes held genuine terror in them. \nAlaric didn't see\nanything out of place and sighed, lowering his head. \"There's nothing here,\nlet's keep moving. We have to make it to the bridge and find out what's wrong\nhere.\"\n\"I-I know I heard\nsomething!\" She yipped defensively and pointed towards a closed door. \"It came\nfrom over there.\" \nAlaric rolled his eyes\nand pushed her away. Krystal's imagination was probably making her hear things.\nHe had seen it in soldiers before. Whenever there was a situation like this,\nthere was always someone who began to hear and see things that weren't there. Still,\nhe would amuse her. \"Fine, I'll go check.\"\n\"No!\" She barked and\nclutched him to her chest fiercely. \"Stay here!\"\n\"You said you heard\nsomething. Therefore I have to debunk your theory.\" Alaric retorted as he pulled\nher off and walked towards the closed door. \nKrystal whimpered and\nwatched him go, clutching herself to her chest and glancing around the corridor\nfretfully. \"D-don't.\" \nAlaric shook his head\nand stepped in front of the door and activated the holographic interface. The\nlight flashed green and the door slid open. Alaric stepped inside and used the\nlight on his gun to look around. \"Damn dark in here.\" He muttered to himself as\nhe strode farther inside.\nKrystal meaped when the\ndoor slid shut behind him and she was left in the dark hallway. Alone, the\ncorridor took on a far more menacing aura and it seemed to become dimmer. Her\neyes strained to see in the darkness and she was certain she saw shapes\nflickering in the shadows. It's just in\nyour head. She told herself mentally as she began to fitfully stand in\nplace. Her sandaled paws dragged across the deck and she picked up a faint\nnoise in the distance. It sounded like many pairs of claws scuttling across the\nfloor at a rapid pace.  The sound was\ngetting louder and she whimpered, scrunching her eyes closed and squeezing\nherself tighter. In my head, in my head,\nit's all in my head. She intoned repeatedly and shook her muzzle.\nThe scurrying noise\nincreased in volume before suddenly going silent. The vixen sat in silence and\ncouldn't force herself to open her eyes, fearing what she might see when she\ndid. He heart was hammering inside her chest and threating to burst as her body\nshook in terror.\nKrystal felt something\ncold latch onto her shoulder and she yipped piercingly, trying to tear herself\naway from whatever monster managed to get a hold of her. \"Get away!\" She\nscreamed, clawing at her attacker with all her might, eyes still tightly shut.\nShe felt her claws tug against flesh and a warm trickle of liquid ran down her\narm.\nA second appendage\nroughly grabbed hold of her she felt herself get pressed against something cold\nand hard as the two limbs wrapped around her chest as she thrashed and\ndesperately tried to escape her confinement. \n\"Goddamnit Krystal,\ncalm the hell down!\" A familiar voice barked in frustration. \nImmediately her\nthrashing ceased and she slowly lifted her eyelids open, taking in the unamused\nmarred and bleeding face of Alaric scant inches from her own. The human had deep\nragged lacerations on his cheek where crimson blood leaked from four almost\nidentical grooves in his flesh. Alaric was staring at her in disbelief, still\nholding her arms to her side in case she freaked out again. \"What the hell was\nthat about?\" \n\"I-I....\" She began to\ntear up and buried her muzzle roughly into his uninjured cheek, tears streaming\nfrom her eyes. 'I-I there was....it...I...\" She hiccupped unintelligibly and sobbed\nloudly.\n\"Jesus Christ!\" Alaric\nmuttered in shock as he held the bawling vixen in his arms and looked down upon\nher. \"I was gone for less than five minutes. What happened?\"\nShe reluctantly pulled\naway from her distressed and tearful nuzzling and looked up to his face.\nKrystal had calmed down by then and noticed the gashes on his cheek.\nImmediately, guilt seeped into her as she realized that she had been striking\nhim and not the monster she had perceived him to be in her fright. \"I thought\nthere was something with me.\" She explained meekly.\n\"Well, I can\nconfidently tell you that it is just the two of us. That room was empty.\" His\nfurious expression was slowly replaced with concern. \"There's nothing here\nKrystal, not that I can see. The hall is empty.\" \nShe nodded weakly and\nwhimpered as she looked upon his bleeding visage. \"Your face...\" \n\"I'll be fine.\" He\nshrugged off. \"I've taken worse wounds in my time. I just hope that next time you\nlook before you start clawing at someone.\" He chuckled dryly.\n\"At least let me clean\nyou up.\" She pleaded repentantly. \n\"How are you going to\ndo that?\" Alaric questioned.\nIn response, she\nshifted her muzzle up to his cheek and began to gently bathe the wounds with\nher tongue, lapping the blood away and staunching its gentle flow. She knew\nthat her saliva had healing effects, transferring over from her feral ancestors\nlong ago. It should staunch his bleeding and promote healing. There wouldn't\neven be a scar. The vixen tried to ignore the unsettling coppery tang of his\nblood and focused on her task, finishing in under a minute.\nAlaric looked down at\nher in confusion, startled at her method of helping him. It was certainly\nnothing he had ever experienced before. The damp tickling of her tongue and\nwhiskers sent a shiver down his spine, and he was unsure as to whether it was\nof revulsion or something else altogether. \nThe vixen pulled her\nmuzzle away, smiling as she looked up at him. \"There, all better.\"\nAlaric lifted a\ngauntlet and pressed it against the wounds, noticing that they no longer bled\nand even most of the pain had faded. \n\"So it is.\" He\nmarveled. That was a pretty handy ability to have, if a little unorthodox.\n\"What's the plan now?\" \n\"Now...\" Alaric stated as\nhe turned back to the corridor. \"We resume our journey to the bridge. We need\nto find a terminal of some kind. Then I should be able to get the schematics\nfor the ship.\"\nShe nodded at that and\nmoved past him, heading to the branching corridor ahead of them. She wanted to\ngive a little distance for now until she felt that she could look at him\nwithout feeling guilty at her embarrassing actions earlier.\nAlaric moved to\nfollower her and stepped on something brittle that crumbled under his boot.\nCurious, he moved his boot and crouched down. A strange little object sat\nsemi-flattened on the deck. He picked it up in his gauntlet and lifted it up to\nhis face to study it. The thing looked like a shard of bone, but it was off. It\nlooked like some sort of claw or perhaps a hooked talon. One thing Alaric knew\nfor certain was that it had not been sitting there when he left her unaccompanied.\nThe man dropped the\nstrange bone-like object and grasped his weapon resolutely, increasing his pace\nto stand beside Krystal. It would not be wise to leave her alone again. \n\"Stay close.\" He\nordered firmly as he took the left turn. \nShe nodded and placed a\npaw on his shoulder.\nAlaric didn't want\nKrystal to worry so he left out the new discovery. \n**********\nFox paced the bridge\nrestlessly as he studied the deep blue glow of shockspace just outside the\nviewport. The human's certainly had useful technology. Before they came along\nhis people had been forced to use hyperdrives. And they were not as fast as\nthese shockspace rings, it made travel through the system and abroad more efficient\nand convenient for everyone. \nBut that was not what\nwas on his mind. He was worried about Krystal. She was always so reckless and\nheadstrong. Fox would have liked if she gave him more warning next time before she\ndecided to jump the gun. He was still her boss after all. At least she could\ntake care of herself if need be. She was a little soft, always trying to find a\nsolution without fighting. That was admirable sure, but there were situations\nwhere words would not suffice. At least she had her staff with her. Fox could\nattest to its power, having used it for a brief time some time ago. \nThe vulpine was also\nconcerned about the human she ran off with. This, Alaric, had been somewhat\npolite in his brief conversation with him. Fox just hoped he would remain that\nway. He was a rough individual and Fox could tell that he was not a man without\nhis demons. That human had been hiding something from them, something of\nimportance no doubt. He just wondered how important.\nThat should be answered\nsoon enough. \nThey were following\nafter Krystal's comms beacon and were a day from the source of the signal. It\nseemed the human was heading towards Katina, where the lost human vessel was.\nSo at least that part of his story had been true. The question however, was if the\nrest of his tale is as authentic. \nFox decided that safe\nwas better than sorry. He would talk with Slip and make sure that their gear\nwas in top form before they arrived. Whatever it was that was happening, they\nwould be ready for it.\n**********\n\nAlaric and Krystal entered\na small room. They had been walking the ship for hours with no one in sight.\nTheir trek had been plagued with strange noises and both felt as if they were\nbeing hunted by someone or something. Krystal was having a hard time remaining\ncalm. The empty ship with its dim lights and foreboding atmosphere was starting\nto wear her thin. \nEven Alaric had to\nadmit that he was starting to get a little paranoid. \n\"Let's stop here.\" He\nsuggested as they walked into the room. It had been someone's quarters but the\nfate of its original occupants was unknown. Most likely they were where all the\nothers were, wherever that was.\nKrystal meandered away\nfrom his side and delved further in. Alaric decided she could use some time\nalone and occupied himself with exploring the main room. The human was looking\nfor any clues that may hint as to what happened to the ship and the place's\nprevious tenants. \nThe stateroom itself\nlooked to be in pristine condition, there was no sign of a struggle or rush to\nvacate it. Whoever was using had left their clothes and personal effects\nbehind, which could either, mean they were not in the cabin when whatever\nhappened went down, or they were in such a hurry that they did not take\nanything with them and just bolted. The latter scenario did not bode well. \nAlaric spotted a small\ndevice at the side of the bed in the room further back and walked over.\nIt was a silvery chip\nabout seven centimeters in circumference. Curious, he picked it up and examined\nit in greater detail. \nThe metal was smooth\nand he could see a visible depression in the alloy where he guessed one placed\ntheir finger into. Testing his theory, he placed his thumb into the groove and\na holographic projection buzzed forth. \nThe picture was of a\nfamily of four, two parents and two children. They were all huskies, and the\npups looked to be around seven or eight years in age, maybe ten. It was hard\nfor him to tell. \nThey all had wide grins\nin the picture and Alaric felt a pang of reluctant envy. He never had that...family\nlife. Neither would he ever get the chance to experience it. The Sovereign Colonies had taken that much away from him, as they had his innocence. \nHaving a family of his\nown was impossible. No one would ever fall in love with a monster. There was no\nfairy tale ending for a man like him. He would be lucky if he managed to live a\npeaceful life of exile on a backwater world at the edge of the known galaxy. He\nwould always be hunted by his past. There were plenty of people that would love\nto put a bullet between his eyes. The only place he would truly be safe was in\nthe Lylat system, where he was already considered an outside purely for the reason that he\nwas of a different species.\nYeah....\nThere was nothing for\nhim.\nAlaric sighed and shut off the small device, placing it gently back down where he found it. He should check on\nKrystal. That vixen was his responsibility, as was her safety. He was a little\nunimpressed with how she was handling all of this so far. Alaric felt the injured\nside of his face with a gloved hand. She was supposed to be a mercenary. He\nthought that would have instilled some backbone into her. \nHe shrugged.\nMaybe lylatian\nmercenaries were not as tough as the ones he had known back in the day. Yet she\nseemed to have been alright before all of this. She certainly had guts, running\noff with some stranger she didn't know. Perhaps the blame lied with their\nlocation. Alaric had to admit the ghost ship was testing his mettle. \nWhere the hell was\neverybody? \nThe starliner was large\nenough to accommodate thousands of tourists and crewmembers. There was no way\nthat they could have all disappeared, at least none that he could fathom. There\nwere faint signs of a panic though. Every once in a while they had stumbled\nacross the random piece of abandoned luggage or clothing. Something had obviously\nhappened, but what?\nAlaric stifled his\nthoughts. \nHe had left Krystal\nalone for quite a while. It was time to go find her. \nAlaric crossed the\ncabin and towards where he had last seen her past a door by his left. He opened\nit with a wave of his gauntlet and passed through.\n\"Krystal? It's time to\nget moving.\" He called out as he searched the area with his eyes.\n\"...Krystal?\" A hint of\nworry infected his tone when he did not immediately see her cerulean furred\nbody. The room was deserted, not a single sign that anyone had been there. It\nwas a duplicate cabin just like the other, although he saw a second door\nleading to the corridor.\nHe stomach churned\nuneasily as he rushed towards the door and opened it. He sprinted out into the\nhallway and scanned it with growing panic.\n\"KRYSTAL!\" \nThe corridor, like the\nstateroom, was empty.\n\"Son of a bitch!\" He\ngrowled, slamming a fist into the adjacent wall.\nThe last thing he\nneeded was to lose her in this huge ship. At that moment he was cursing himself\nfor not making sure to have the number for her comms device. He hadn't even\nthought to put a tracker on her!\n\"Alright calm down,\nAlaric...think.\" He whispered aloud.\nWhere would she go?\nIf she got lost it was\nmost likely she would try and backtrack to where his ship was. That was the\nbest guess he had so he slung his rifle onto his back and legged it back to his\nfreighter. He didn't want to leave her alone a second more than necessary.\n\"Damn vixen's going to\nbe the death of me.\" Alaric muttered to himself as he started to jog.\n**********\nKrystal saw Alaric\nsearching the cabin and decided to check the rest of it. Maybe there was\nsomeone here? \nShe desperately hoped\nso. If there was they might have an answer as to why the ship was like this.\nLeaving Alaric to his own devices, she saw a door leading off to the next room\nand opened it, stepping inside.\nThe cabin looked\nvirtually identical to the other, and just like the other one it was barren of\nlife. The vixen sighed and started to look around. 'What happened to all of these people?' Indeed, where had they all\ngone? Was there some sort of accident? Maybe a hull breach or some sort of gas\nleak?\nShe didn't know! \nWhat she did know was\nthat something had made the ship the way it was. It might be possible that the\nhuman ship was responsible for this but she doubted it. If for some crazy\nreason they wanted to do something bad, they wouldn't have had enough manpower\nto get it done. \nNo. There was something\nshe and Alaric were missing. She recalled what happened earlier and what she\nfelt when she stepped aboard the ship. Her senses had never lied to her before.\nThere was something strange happening here, something she had not encountered\nin her lifetime. \nThe very air of the\nstarliner reeked of rancid fear and heart wrenching terror. But why did it?\nWhat could have such an\neffect?\nKrystal did not know\nnor did she want to.  \nShe had reached out\nwith her powers before and did not sense any other souls aboard, but she did\nsense...evil. \nThat was the best way\nshe could describe it. There was a malevolent presence, and it only wished ill\non everyone.\n Krystal chuffed.\n'Or maybe I'm just going crazy.'\nShe had to confess that\nit could all be in her head and indeed she hoped that was true. But deep down,\nshe had a feeling she was right.\nThe vixen froze, ears swiveling\ntowards the far door. She heard a faint scuffling just on the outside like\nshoes scuffing against deck plating. Someone was moving around out there.. \nShe was suddenly torn\nwith indecision.\nShould she open the\ndoor and find out who it was? Or should she grab Alaric first? She had to act\nfast, whoever was there would not stick around for long and they might be the\nanswer she was looking for. Krystal took a deep breath. \n'I'm a mercenary for spirits' sake! I need to act\nlike one!'\nThe vixen marched determinedly\ntowards the door and grabbed the handle in her padded palm. She pulled the handgrip\nand tugged the door open, poking her muzzle out. \nThe corridor was empty.\n\nConfused, she stepped\nout and looked around. As she rotated her muzzle, she spied a moving shadow\njust to her left. Instantly she barked in surprise and stumbled backwards and\nthe shadow leapt towards her."}