Unknown Dusk Moon

Gideon

He just saw his best friend die.

He stared in shock, trying to collect the tiny quantum particulates of what was once Shindow.

“Shindow…” Gideon stated blankly, his mind in shock at what he had just witnessed.

The particles vanished, leaving him empty handed.

His QSD rang with an alert, but he put to the side. He had just lost Shindow, the Decima was losing power, The Dusk satellites were active and investigating, and he was marooned inside the Empire’s system.

“Shindow?” Gideon asked, his voice trembling in terror.

Tears began to flow as he rubbed at his face to prevent a breakdown. He couldn’t let Baxter see him like this. Everything had gone to hell. The Dusk lied. A pointless lie that entrapped him in their system. They were all powerful and yet asked him to deliver a bullshit item, only to end up in the orbit of a dead isolated moon under their control. And yet the alert still blared, one he couldn’t ignore.

“Goddammit will you shut-” Gideon’s throat caught as he read the alert, ”Shindow,” he stated, his heart fluttering in relief.

AI Shindow has crashed - ETA four hours to repair

He sank to his knees, his face crumpling at seeing the news. That she wasn’t deleted by the Dusk, but was only wounded. He felt a slight jostle of the vessel, shaking him from his thoughts. He was relieved it wasn’t a complete corruption. He wiped the tears and gathered himself. He knew he wouldn’t survive long without her. The situation he was in was critical. It was just slightly better than being completely marooned in the middle of empty space.

Father must have installed better repair algorithms since the upgrade, Gideon thought with relief.

He got to his feet, mentally linking up with the outer hull cameras. The Decima was surrounded by the investigating Dusk satellites. They floated sentinel on all sides, awaiting something. Gideon stood still, summoning up a space suit from his QSD. Going by the Dusk’s response, the Decima might be ventilated soon. He rushed to the bridge, stumbling to his knees as a shudder ran through the vessel.

“Dammit all! This is a work of art and science, you cretins!” Gideon bellowed as he recovered.

The bridge opened up, revealing one inconsolable Baxter. He bayed and howled at the nacelles failing, the chaos of the shaking ship, and the overall bad trip.

“Buckle in, Baxter!” Gideon shouted as he grabbed the poor dog, getting him to his seat. He adjusted the dog’s suit, getting him sealed into his own spacesuit. Gideon linked with the outer cameras to the see a blue beam of light shooting from a satellite, latching itself around the outer hull. The ship shuddered as the coiling pulled tight.

“What the hell is that!?” Gideon rasped.

Gideon lurched as the group of satellite pulled together, moving as one towards the grey moon. His head throbbed as power loss went terminal, a final ear-piercing shriek echoed from the engine room, forming into a roar of a thunderclap as the Tachodine nacelles and their backups finally expired.

“Oh, Gid… I do not want to go fast anymore,” Baxter announced as he slumped over in his seat.

The ship’s interior lights went out, bathing them in black. He switched on his suit LEDs, brightening up the bridge as the sound of his breath pressured his ears. He interfaced with the Decima, using his own quantum charge to bring a nose camera online. He had a last-ditch plan. The Decima had a secondary vessel attached. He summoned all three of his Gnats. He gave them a single order,

“Gnats, gather everything you can!”

The three hovering assistants lined up with a salute, “Hai! Itadakimasu!” They all cried as they raced off into the vessel.

Gideon's inventory was updated as the loose items were stored. He made a mental note to grab all items in the ships QSD, too. Which was substantial. He attempted to store it all in Baxter’s inventory to share the burden but received a bizarre error.

Error: QSD storage for user ‘Baxter is the best doggy’ is full.

Gideon just stared on stupidly as one of the arguments against giving a sentient dog quantum storage authority was made manifest.

“What the hell are you keeping in there!?” Gideon bellowed as another shudder rocked the ship, jostling him. Baxter was still slumped in his chair, tongue lolling in his helmet.

The Decima was no slouch in size which made the tiny satellite's ability to grab the Decima and move it all the more terrifying. He had a single option left, if he timed it well. It would all depend on how thick the atmosphere was. Sensor’s couldn’t penetrate the moon’s albedo, which he theorized that perhaps the Dusk had the same issue. On first glance, the planet appeared to be populated, going off of a Dusk satellite hunch. They were trying to capture his derelict craft, as opposed to destroying it. While the main tachodine nacelles were shutdown, Gideon had more than enough to spare from his suit for the escape craft dubbed the Ferrum. It all hinged on the idea that scanners were useless inside the upper atmosphere.

He had a theory.

The Decima sped along, as a whale of a prisoner to the anchovy wardens. Gideon heard the final feedback from his Gnats upon completing their tasks.

“Owatta!” The Gnats declared as they dispersed.

He checked the final item, seeing it was dubbed ‘crate of armaments’.

Whoa. Whoa! Wait! Weapons? Where the hell did that come from? It was unexpected to find such a thing during a test flight. Perhaps a wrong delivery. Some unknown had dropped off a full crate of armaments inside the ship and didn't update the ship manuscript; a secret gift.

Open later, focus now.

More satellites swarmed the Decima, but not in the spot he needed to keep clear. They towed alongside the Decima, carrying the vessel like a coffin; a poignantly symbolic gesture. Gideon was feeding the ship consoles minute amount of power from his nacelles, getting the blast charges ready. The Decima descended into the albedo, becoming obscured in the dense grey cloud cover.

Time to test the theory.

Two seconds.

One.

Fire.

The mental interface command was enacted. With a series of rapid-fire blast charges echoing his ears like thunderclaps, the bridge was ejected from the main body. The Ferrum shot up and away from the main body, with Gideon activating antigrav thrusters. The horseshoe crab shaped vessel stayed aloft as the Decima flowed away. It was made entirely of the phthalo metal, including the curved blade landing gear extending beneath the vessel, fitting to the Decima like a sword to a hilt. He waited for a time before his slow descent.

“No tall mountains, no tall mountains,” Gideon begged to no one.

He felt a constant shuddering from the turbulent upper atmosphere. He couldn’t move forward until he could confirm there were no tall structures to run into. And so, the long descent began. Baxter awoke with a sneeze. And then sneezed again.

“Gid, what is going on? Where is space? Why is it grey?” Baxter asked with much whining, “where did the ship go? It is not loud or heavy,” Baxter added with a soft bark, turning to Gideon.

“Hold tight, Baxter. We got caught by the damn Dusk! And we lost the ship,” he added, lowering his voice, “we’re in the Ferrum now in the upper atmosphere of the moon.”

Baxter sniffed at that.

“That is truly terrible. Can we go home now? Where is Shin?” Baxter asked with a soft whine.

“Shindow… The satellites attacked her. She’s hurt. But she’ll be better in-” Gideon explained as he shared the timer application with Baxter, which he accepted.

AI Shindow Repair ETA: 3 hours and 30 minutes

“Shin…” Baxter added as he let out another whine.

“We’re descending now. This may take a while.” Gideon announced with a sigh.

Time passed, with Gideon taking a hit from a stim to keep him awake. The Ferrum descended slowly, the sleek sword landing gear finally peeking through the bottom of the ocean-like-cloud. The Ferrum fully descended out of the cloud and Gideon was met with alert updates on sensors.

He saw the moon’s surface.

It was a crestfallen and bleak place. There were mountains, bluffs, canyons outcroppings and flatlands.

All of it grey.

All of it dead.

There were enormous orange speckled iron crystal clusters jutting from the ground. The horizon to the east was filled with a massive mountain with legs, like a smooth sloped centipede, its hull meeting to a sharp ridge that went for miles. In the north was the same. The south was also the same. To the west, a mountain was closer, which Gideon noticed one thing,

It wasn’t natural. It was made.

Gideon zoomed in on the western mountain range. It was made of what appeared to be steel, flat, smooth, seamless. Further down, there were massive structures jutting from the base of the mountain, each the same size as skyscrapers. The jutting structures were curved and shaped like claws, the point gouging into the grey earth. None of what he saw appeared to be common Dusk structures. This was new.

“Who built these structures?” Gideon asked no one in particular.

He spotted a flat plain near an outcropping of iron crystals; a good landing zone. He touched down, the ship stabbing into the ground as it landed. He ran the vessels burrow protocol, finding it worked wonderfully in the strange moon dust. He felt the trembling in the vehicle, every fiber in his body vibrated as the vessel slowly descended into the ground. The emergency vehicle finished it’s burrowing, leaving behind a nondescript sinkhole near a crystal structure.

Gideon slouched, letting out all of the tension he held in his gut as he undid the seat clasps. He stood, finding his legs shaky.

“Baxter, are you alright?” Gideon asked as his helmet slid open.

“Yes!” Baxter replied as his seat clasps shot back into his chair. He hopped off, trotting over to him. Gideon crossed his legs as he sat, letting the dog hop into his lap. He felt his hand trembled as he clicked the dog’s helmet open, massaging his ears.

“We need to get out of here...” Gideon began as he swept back his hair, mental fatigue was setting in despite the stim, “Well, we finished going fast and we’re off course.”

Baxter let out a whine as he understood what that meant.

Gideon continued, “my guess is those disappearances of tech and people have led to them expanding their knowledge base, creating new vessels and structures. I’m not sure what happened, but I think that device the Dusk gave us redirect our vessel to them, deep into their territory,” he explained with a tired sigh, “Were there any questions?” Gideon asked.

“Yes,” Baxter chuffed.

There was an awkward pause as Gideon waited for the question, “and…?” Gideon asked with a knit brow, holding out his hands in a pleading motion.

“Where is Shindow?” Baxter asked. Again. Gideon clasped the bridge of his nose in frustration. There were no words, just a forced updated timer to show Baxter.

AI Shindow Repair ETA: 2 hours and 13 minutes

Baxter went quiet, waiting for Gideon to continue.

“Anyways, those satellites appear to be autonomous, so there is a good chance of grabbing working nacelles. Maybe the metal structures would have something akin to that as well? But first, wait out the clock for Shindow. Create a base of operations and get a tally of supplies,” Gideon got up and paced as he spoke, trying to stay awake, “finding the Decima will be easy with the Ferrum, so we can leave that for last after base setup. So right now, let's get a supply tally,” Gideon finished explaining, remembering his core training.

Gideon felt a sense of dread. This was one of the worst case scenarios, if not the top of the list. Being stuck in Dusk territory without a ship. He had been trained for this case scenario, but that did little to assuage his fears.

“Also… Baxter, why is your inventory full?” Gideon asked, remembering that large detail.

Baxter looked sheepishly off to the side, his ears twitching like radar dishes, telling Gideon some of the story.

“Ah I… Well I went to find… You see it was the Prosine…”

Gideon’s face went deadpan, “what did you do?” He asked with a sigh, palming his temple.

Baxter explained a massive sentence.

“I went to the provisions and the quarter lady, she was really friendly, I went inside past the big metal door and she gave me back scritches and she might have left me alone for a minute.”

“And?”

“I stored everything,” Baxter admitted.

“What,” Gideon exclaimed quietly as he raised his eyebrows.

“In my pack pack,” Baxter added with a chuff.

“That was you?” Gideon remembered some minor reports of missing items during the Dusk’s visit. Gideon inspected the cube again to see if anything changed, finding it still locked up tight.

As much as I expected. Guess delivery to Lo IX will have to wait, Gideon mused somberly.

You know what? They can go to hell. Deliver your own damn cube.

Gideon let out a sigh, as he clasped the bridge of his nose.

“Alright, let’s see what you have, Baxter.”

What he showed Gideon floored him. He stammered, trying to process what Baxter did. Sputtered as he spoke in a paused fashion, trying to understand what Baxter did.

“Baxter… That was a military- you know? A military armament storage facility,”

“Huh,” Baxter replied with a sniff.

“That’s corporate theft- I mean… I mean not like it matters anymore,” Gideon explained, keeping his voice calm, even though his nerves were straining to hysterical.

“What you stole was a Primetech Battalion Provision Pack. That arms four hundred men. Minimum,” he spoke, his voice going low, his tone serious.

Baxter’s ears drooped.

“I uh… Yes,” Baxter replied nervously, averting his eyes.

Gideon inspected the full list, finding everything he needed to arm his own personal PMC force. And the big kicker at the end of the list were two particular anforms.

“And… Yep. What the hell- you stole two Excertius as well- don’t even know how you did it- you just did- stole two Excertius. That’s the death penalty by Mars, but- you know- we’re beyond that now,” he stated, breaking into a nervous laugh as he palmed the side of his head. There was nothing but laughter from Gideon as the revelation dawned on him.

“We have Excertius. Two of them,” he stated in between laughs.

“What is Exygstus?” Baxter asked, following along and making his own chuffing laugh.

Gideon felt his mind unable to comprehend what he was witnessing inside the silly dog’s inventory, not to mention the infinite questions on how he could obtain any of it. He felt a sudden rush of hope at the idea of being able to fight back. Baxter’s ears drooped as he went quiet, averting his eyes.

“So... Did I do a bad?” Baxter asked, his voice trembling to a whisper at the word.

Gideon shook his head, unable to not smile at the sudden turn.

“No! I- sorry Baxter, I think what you just did makes you quite possibly,” Gideon began as he rubbed at his eyes.

Baxter perked up, standing at attention.

“-Quite possibly the best dog in the entire universe!’ Gideon exclaimed.

Baxter lept in the air with a bark, making just shy of three feet. He misjudged his added weight and front flipped, plopping to his back.

Gideon barked a laugh at Baxter’s over-excitement. The dog remained unmoving.

“Baxter?” Gideon asked as he tentatively stepped to the dog. He got a health readout, stating that he was fine. He may have overloaded Baxter’s praise capacity. Gideon folded his arms, materializing a Primetech ration pack. He gripped the edges of the pack, the unmistakable tearing sound of food rang out. Gideon caught Baxter licking his lips, eyes still shut. He smirked to himself at the dog’s playing. He grabbed a bit of steak, kneeling down to place it just within reach of his snout. Baxter’s nose twitched as smelled the delicious treat. Baxter snapped his eyes open with a snort as he gingerly chomped down the steak bits.

“Welcome back, you goof,” Gideon chided with a laugh.

“But I am Baxter,” the dog retorted as he got to his paws.

Gideon tore the meal open completely, depositing it to the floor. Baxter shoved his snout inside, eating the tasty teriyaki steak. He sat down, materializing his own ration pack and utensils. A bottle of wine he kept in storage also followed.

“Not like that matters anymore,” he mentioned bitterly.

Dad… Amelia… Anna… Abigail… Everyone.

Why was he so intent on speaking of covenants? I… I wish I had just a little more time…

And then the dreams came to him.

Why did I forget them? Why am I remembering them now?

The boy being sacrificed by demons, only to be subverted and redirected by the phantasmagoria. That face knew him somehow. He was tasked with rescuing the boy, implying it had not happened yet.

The nun named Ruth, who witnessed the death of her mother and the commander that noticed him. He was to care for her.

The dream of Earth and the Archangel Chamuel battling the pirates. And then the demons. He was tasked with preventing the invasion. And then that massive face in the darkness spoke to him again. All signs pointed to that thing knowing him.

And then the dream with Lucifer. He felt the chills run down his spine at remembering that. Her murderous nature, her strength, and the voice that shattered him from the dream. She was as bad as that monster of darkness.

The high of the moment was leveled off with the remembrance of the disturbing dreams and the grim idea he was still marooned. He materialized a doggy bowl, pouring some of the crisp wine within. Baxter got up, smacking his teriyaki stained muzzle as he began gently lapping up the harder liquid.

“You know, we might have a chance,” Gideon mused as he chowed down on a surf’n’turf ration.

Baxter perked up, glancing to him, his muzzle dripping with crisp red.

“But what is Exit-us?” Baxter asked.

“Excertius,” Gideon corrected with a laugh, “they are the Mars Technocracy military. A single being acting as the entire warmachine. The first creation between the Machine Father and Mother. Terrifying. And we have two,” he further explained.

“Oh,” Baxter replied as he went back to his drink.

In a brief moment, the room began to fill with discard rations, unpacked crates, and emergency supplies. Doing a quick inventory, he found enough rations for six months.

Why give me so much for a simple flight? I mean yeah, prepare for everything...

He didn’t complain; better than regretting that they didn’t pack for emergencies. The room filled with a scattering of pixelated light, orange and blue as Baxter and Gideon set up the impromptu feast. They ate and drank to their heart’s content, with both Gideon and Baxter feeling the buzz of the wine. Baxter finished the wine in his doggy-bowl, glancing to Gideon with a drifting head. The corgi materialized a tiny bed, falling asleep the moment he touched down. He felt a slight tremble in the ship, which he attributed to the shifting dust.

Gideon felt exhausted, summoning his three Gnats.

“Yeah, hey just set up the room, generic,” Gideon ordered curtly; he was too tired to care.

“Hai! Ganbette!” The Gnats all announced as they scrambled to work.

They all shouted together as they went to work. The light for rematerializing an item was a dark orange for Gideon The bed, lights, and other essentials were deployed in an orderly fashion, to keep everything near each other, but not enough to block anyone in.

He laid down in his cot, thinking about the situation. He just needed to wait down the clock as Shindow rebuilt herself.

Another tremble ran through the vessel, rattling the utensils. He knew it wasn’t his imagination as Baxter’s ears perked up as well. It sounded like a drum beat. A shiver ran through the ship, the bottle of wine shifted along the floor.

Gideon snapped open his eyes, darting them along the ceiling.

“What the hell-?”

Another rumble ran through the vessel. The volume and intensity had increased. A fork clattered to the deck. Baxter’s ears rose to full alert, a slight growl escaped his lips, but not enough to awake fully.

Another series of trembles ran through the vessel in a pattern. The wine bottle danced along the floor before tumbling over, spilling the contents. Rations and utensils clattered to the floor, a chaotic ringing announcement. He felt the cot vibrate across the floor.

“Son of a bitch!” Gideon rasped as he got up. Baxter plopped out of bed with a grunt.

“Gid, it feels like something is digging!” Baxter whined.

“Strap in- strap in!” Gideon shouted as he clicked his helmet closed. Baxter followed suit as he hopped back into his flight chair.

Gideon landed in the captain’s chair, strapping in and bracing himself. Another shuddering of rumbles ran through the vessel, sending all of the loose items tumbling around. The ship slowly cocked to one side in the grey dust. Gideon felt the trembling to his bones, the rumbling bass of the vibrations roaring in his helm. Baxter was inconsolable, barking angrily at the noise.

Gideon materialized a Gnat, sending it topside. It slowly passed through the terrain, the Gnat’s visions flooded his mind, revealing the catastrophe.

One of the metal mountains was walking in their direction, lumbering across the ashen wasteland like a sideways centipede. The glowing red eyes dotted the hull above the dust cloud it had just kicked up. The closet leg was dropping down like a slow meteor impact sent another shudder through the vessel. The shock dampeners could no longer keep up with the living earthquake. Gideon could feel his teeth vibrating by the tremors. His bones threatened to shake apart. He caught his shallow breathing, preventing a panic attack. The leg had just traveled miles with but a step crashing with the impact of an asteroid. Several more shudders ran through the vessel. He could attempt to fly and be halted or stay still and risk being crushed under an incalculable weight of alien metal.

We’re dead. We’re dead. Shit! Godammit!

Baxter continued his baying shrieking howls at the noise. A quake ran through the ship, sending all of the loose items flying. A bit of steak splattered Baxter’s helmet, silencing the dog as it peered at the disturbance. Baxter opened his helmet, madly licking at the steak as it tumbled to the floor, missing it completely. He glanced to Gideon with a whine as he slowly sealed up his helmet. Another quake rocked the vessel, turning all of the loose objects into projectiles. Gideon lurched in his seat, his body threatening to snap. Gideon covered himself as a crate arced towards him, slamming into the captain’s chair.

The Ferrum shook like the moon itself was cracking. Food and dishes went flying, cashing around the ship. His body went loose, his wrist cracked against the hand console. He felt the slamming crushing pain, and then his hand instantly went numb.

Warning: fracture detected. Capsaiphine administered.

He couldn’t think. He couldn’t even swear as he felt his body being impacted to pieces.

Another quake dropped the vessel’s port, Gideon felt airborne for a brief second as the moon crashed down around him.