Dark Histories Part One 3D Render, Digital Artwork by RedSpartan

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Dark Histories Part One

3D Render by RedSpartan

Continued on from 'I Can't Hold It'

Mya looked down at the water about her feet, draining away quickly now, and wondered about the corridor beyond the locked door behind them, probably still flooded, the corpse of the Beast floating with half its head blown away. What other monsters and perils awaited them, she wondered. She suddenly yearned for the safety of home, the warm embrace of Tali as she whispered comforts in her ear after a bad dream. Was that what this was? a nightmare that she couldn’t awaken from. As she pondered her thoughts her attention was drawn back to Shaana, who was checking out the way ahead.

‘I’ve only been this way once before,’ she said, breaking the silence, ‘going the other way. It was my first venture back into this place, after my escape.’

‘How long were you a prisoner here?’ Mya asked carefully, hoping not to open too painful a wound.

‘I’m not sure the galactic standard length of time’ the girl answered, seemingly not perturbed by the question, ‘two, maybe three years. We were kept in storage for some time, in induced coma’s I suppose you’d call it, brought back occasionally to be experimented on.’

Mya shuddered at the thought, memories of her own treatment by these animals returning like unwanted guests in her mind. ‘But you escaped.’ She said eventually, using an inspection of her shotgun as an excuse not to look directly and her companion.

‘We should go!’ Shaana replied bluntly, as if the subject was now closed.

Mya shrugged, ‘The sewer it is then.’ She said simply.

They continued on their way, Shaana leading.

‘Consider yourself lucky,’ she said as they walked, ‘This deluge would have washed the tunnels clean. When I came through before it was still in full use.’

Mya shuddered, trying not to envisage the contents of a sewer that would accommodate a facility of this size at its operational peak. She had seen appalling things in her time, but a river of human shit was not one she had ever wanted to witness.

Shaana stopped and turned her head to look at her. ‘You do what you have to do to survive!’ She said simply, a faint smile creeping across her young face.

Mya nodded, ‘Amen.’ she replied.

Shaana looked down at a grate in the floor. ‘We’re here!’ she said, then crouched and began pulling at a hand hold at its edge. It came up easily and she laid it down gently, experience and instinct telling her even now not to make a noise. A ladder led down a few metres and when she looked Mya could see water flowing at its base, dimly illuminated.

‘There are lights?’ She questioned, puzzled and relieved. A trudge through a pitch black sewer had not been appealing, however necessary it had been.

‘Keeps the Clickers out,’ Shaana replied, shouldering her rifle and beginning her descent.

‘Clickers?’ Mya asked, suddenly concerned again at the mention of what she presumed was another unknown creature.

‘Insect type things. The biggest I’ve seen was twenty or so centimeters long, big fucking pincers and an angry disposition.’ Shaana looked up at her from the access pipe, ‘But they really don’t like the light,’ she added, her smile broader now as if she was enjoying her companions discomfort. ‘We should be fine, the tunnels were illuminated all the way the last time. It was just the cave that was a little hairy, but you just have to move quick.’

The last time? Mya thought. That was a while ago and the base was fully powered then. She went to ask another question, realizing she was stalling the inevitable, but Shaana had already disappeared from view into the depths of the sewer.

‘Fuck, shit and damn.’ She cursed, and began to follow.

The sewer was a wide metal pipe, tall enough to stand comfortably. Conduits ran along its side and another, much smaller pipe ran overhead, basic, industrial looking lights suspended at intervals along its length. Mya noted worryingly that not all of them appeared to be lit.

‘How far?’ She asked, gripping her shotgun tightly, peering into the distance as the pipe curved in a bend about two hundred metres further on. The quickly flowing water the sewer carried was up to her knees and she was struggling to maintain her balance.

‘Not sure.’ Shaana responded bluntly, in that sardonic way that Mya was beginning to find irritating. ‘Took me about two hours the last time, but I was moving against the flow then,’ she looked at her companion grimly, ‘and I had to stop every now and again to throw up. Not much fun when you haven't had much to eat in a while.’

‘I can imagine.’ Mya responded, smiling.

Shaana stared at her intently. ‘Can you really!’ She said coldly, then turned and walked away.

For a second Mya watched her go. She was getting tired of stepping on eggshells when communicating with the girl. One second she was seemingly cheerful and smiling, the next suddenly cold and aggressive. How the hell was she supposed to have a conversation with this perplexing and clearly damaged woman. She went to follow, her anger rising.

‘You know, I’ve been through some shit myself in my time.’ She said, a little too heated than she had intended.

‘Really.’ Shaana replied blankly, her head fixed firmly ahead.

‘Damned straight.’ Mya spat, her irritation growing. ‘I was born on a Commonwealth world just like you, a beautiful Utopian lifestyle, just like you. Not wanting, not fearing, carefree and happy.’ She grabbed Shaana’s arm, stopping her and pulling her to face her. ‘JUST.LIKE. YOU.’

Shaana looked down at the hand on her forearm, but there was no anger in her eyes like before.

‘And?…’ she whispered, looking up into Mya’s eyes, ‘…What?’

‘And then the fucking Confederation started their incursions into our space, started their fucking war, and all of that went out the damned window.’ Mya pulled back her hand, studied it as memories flooded her mind. ‘I joined the marines, naïve in the belief that a society that had enjoyed two hundred years of peaceful existence could somehow create a military resistance from scratch. We had the border patrols, probably visited your world on occasion. But they were few in number, badly funded and had little to no combat experience.’

Shaana studied her, her eyes scrutinizing Mya’s face, perhaps realizing for the first time that there was pain behind her eyes. ‘So? What’s your point?’

‘My mother gave birth to me on Elanzia,’ she responded quietly, turning the gun in her hands as if seeking solace from the cold metal and plastic. ‘But, like many of my peers that day, those that survived the carnage, I was born on the battlefield of Akashan Four.’

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Many apologies for the time since my last post. As per usual I got distracted with another project instead of continuing with this one. That may see the light of day somewhere down the line (It's a bit more fruity and risqué, and well, downright naughtier than this one), but I really need to continue with this as I've got a load of images already completed that should be posted, and there's nothing worse than getting invested in a story and not have it be completed (I'm looking at you Amazon and Netflix).

I was planning on telling the two women's back stories later on in the narrative, but it suddenly seemed a natural place to start it now, beginning with Mya's history. So coming up are a number of flashback images. The written texts should be shorter and punchier for these so I shouldn't get too held up in posting them because I don't get around to writing, which sometimes seems to take forever.

Thanks again for looking and liking my stuff. I can't believe how well the last one was received...much appreciated. Hopefully you'll like some of the future episodes just as much.