《The Alien's Retaliation》[Chapter 2 – Towards the mines]
Advertisement
Hurrying through the alley, a heavy humidity is permeating the air increasing the already hot and nauseating environment of the slum district.
The crystal clear sky made a strong contrast with all the huts piled one over another that could be considered as the walls of the passageway.
All the of the poor and rejected that habited in the capital were living in simile conditions. One could have a metallic shack for himself or his family, how big and sturdy depended on the type of labour he was entitled with.
These "boxes" built over each other seemingly formed high metallic agglomerates. Between the various aggregates could be present alleys, such as the one I was walking in.
These masses one could dare to call apartments were mostly composed of Pristine panels, pipes dipping with polychromatic fluids and various random windowpanes reflecting the thick green sludge covering the alley's floor.
As you can imagine Pristine is a metal easily mined and fairly common too. It is pretty durable in itself, but if I had to create a blade I wouldn't chose it.
The thing is that there are a lot of other materials with better qualities that can be mined from Mt. Elkos, which mines have also become my everyday destination for quite a bit.
At the end of the alley awaits me a circular square with a diameter of, roughly, 150 meters. This location has been selected as the reunion point of the mining group [P-125], and was gradually getting more crowded as more miners were walking out from alleys like the one I came from.
Humanoids with olive coloured skin, slightly pointed ears and short pitch black hair, were walking towards the centre of the square.
Here was standing yet another celidre, but he was apparently different then all the miners. Being thirty centimetres taller than the average, with a bulky physique and a clean white suite.
The seemingly annoyed expression on his face and the pale blue aura that was exuding from his body were clearly testifying his current occupation, the [Inspector].
Advertisement
"Brother Xeno! Brother Xeno!"
Turning around I notice a figure rushing to my position, and I quickly recognise the celidre who's been my best friend since the first years at the orphanage.
Waving my hand to Inea I greet him "Good morning".
"Ready for another trip in the mines?" asked him in an apparent ironic tone.
"ahhh..." letting out a long sigh I continued, stating the obvious, "Do I look like someone enthusiastic about starting another twelve hours deep underground ?".
Inea, looking at my tired face answered "Don't be so pessimistic brother, haven't you reached adulthood today?"
"And what about that?" I rebuked.
"Then… What about I offer you a drink tonight, on me, I swear" said Inea, with a smile on his face.
"Sounds good to me...-"suddenly a powerful voice interrupted the various speeches of the miners, resounding along all the square and gradually even through the thin walls of the slum's huts.
"Mining group [P-125]! We'll depart towards the north gate of the outer wall of the city in about 5 minutes, form a straight line to embark on the passenger shuttle".
[Narrator's POV]
Having stated his part, the [Inspector] raised his chin looking down on the startled crowd of celidres on the square.
A sense of superiority, dominance and authority at this moment was felt all over his body. Still, Dacid Almar, was suppressing all his emotions, trying to preserve the imagine of an impartial being who's sole role and purpose was that of accomplish its duty.
At least he was trying to, until his gaze stopped over two figures he couldn't forget, even after the span of a year.
Soon after, a small grin appeared on the young celidre's face.
[Back to Xeno's POV]
Whoosh! Whoosh! Crackle! Whizzz!
A big shadow was looming over my head, looking up I could recognize the shuttle approaching the square. That was the vehicle responsible for the transport of the team from the square to the north gate.
The blue flames of nano-energy coming out of the engines of the shuttle were slowly diminishing and the big rectangular object started to descend from the sky.
Advertisement
From the queue of miners me and Inea were part of, we were observing the landing of the shuttle.
Blue sparkles could be seen under the dark grey metallic frame of the machine, which was chiselled with light blue lines all over its surface.
Once the shuttle landed the row of more than two hundred miners started moving forward.
Arrived at the entrance, as the [Inspector] said "Next!" I hurriedly placed my ID card over the glowing device on the palm of the celidre.
A little black box with blue lines and patterns over its surface. Upon making contact with my ID card its lines colour turned green for a moment.
"Clean! Next!" hearing those words I took back the card and hopped inside the vehicle.
Waiting for Inea I proceeded to my usual waiting place. Locking my right hand around one of the vertical poles, I looked at my reflection on the translucent interior of the shuttle.
Light brown eyes, an average height of 1.60 m, a confident but tired expression typical of a young elkitryan miner. Who's spirit and hope has not yet become dull over the hardships of life.
I must say that the [coin]s I invested for buying non-synthetized food, such as monster meat or qnano-cultivated plants, were well placed.
Indeed that smuggler has done his job, still I'm not trusting him completely, I'll test the waters some more. Now that uncle's surname is not protecting me anymore I must beq careful to whom I give my trust to.
Anyway, as a matter of fact my body has kept its vitality.
As much as I wanted not to, I clearly have lost some weight from the start of my new occupation.
Mining itself is tiring for the body, the deeper in the underground we work the less oxygen there is and even the environment is terrible.
Carcasses of larger monsters were usually taken away from the [inspector]s once killed, but smaller creatures that are only of nuisance and won't profit are left there to freely rot.
After a year of work it has become almost the norm, the tunnels, with the exception of the main ones, are permeated with the putrid stench of the dead.
This is mostly due to the riekrats, a specie of rodents that made the Elkitryc mines its new home. They are currently the miners nightmare, with a very high reproductive rate
these little fuckers literally can eat anything. From ores to little rocks, animal (miners included) faeces, carcasses and they even retort to cannibalism.
It's exactly when I'm down there that I miss the years spent at the gymnasium the most.
At that time I was still under the care of uncle Luse.
Lost in my thoughts I didn't notice Inea that had already arrived near me. "Xeno, are you here?" asked him in a mocking tone, moving up and down his hand in front of my face".
"I was thinking about our life from back then, at uncle's mansion" I answered him with a hint of sadness and nostalgia.
"I too dearly miss the delicious food, hot baths and happy times with the others… I'm not sure about you tho" continued Inea with a worried and sympathetic expression.
"you...-" Interrupting me was once again the [Inspector],
"The shuttle will depart in less than 2 minutes!" hearing the announcement everyone made sure to have a good grip on the poles and their legs well planted on the floor.
Being taken by surprise during the ascension of the shuttle was very risky, the initial acceleration of the vehicle was no joke even more with old models like this one.
The nano-stabilizers responsible for creating a static frame of reference inside the shuttle have lost a lot of nano-energy during the years of service. The consequence is the strong shaking at the moment of the departure. I can't even imagine how terrible it would be if the stabilizers were to be turned off.
Advertisement
The Principles of Magic
Eran Magia is an unfortunate boy, he was born into a world of magic, without any to call his own. Shunned and disowned by his own family, teased and bullied by both teachers and students, there was no one in his life that would show him kindness. The abuse had caused Eran to become severely introverted and a classic recluse. But what the cruel world did not know, was that within the boy was a power stronger than any other. After an accident during a duel at Eran's School, the power which was once sealed within Eran was released. The power looked deep into Eran's memories and even his soul. Finding nothing but cruelty in this, strength driven world, the power shifted Eran to a different time, space and reality, in hope of a kinder future. Follow along Eran's journey in another world as he meets new people, learns new things, and tries to get a handle on his new overwhelming power.
8 111Battle for Supremacy: Rise of the Chosen
The world is at war with each species trying to gain absolute power, but to no avail. After fighting for years, peace is finally about to prevail when a secret about a hidden throne unveils itself, one that has the ability to make its occupant the most powerful being in the world. Battles erupt again. Only this time, it is more gruesome and sanguinary. But what no one knows is that the throne is not only capable, it even has a secret, a secret that might bring the rise of the fallen legacy. Now, who will emerge victorious and occupy the throne to become the supreme ruler of the world? And what is the secret that has the power to ruin everyone? Or perhaps, not? Read on to find out more.
8 82Unknown Past
Everyone who could sing in one of the nine tones was born with a special power. Everyone who wasn't Oren Tsurai, that is. Unable to use song magic, with his memories missing, and trapped in a full-body cloak that cannot be removed- Oren knows nothing of who he was. At least his life was peaceful, with a loving family and a few troubles. Nothing lasts forever, however, and the place of the very few memories Oren has is soon taken away from him in the name of an unknown revolution. Yearning for revenge, but also filled with a desire to learn who he is, Oren wants to learn who he really is. Ignorant of how the world works, he finds himself struggling with lies, corruption, and betrayal.
8 227Eden Garter, Dragon Anomaly
2002 - Martial Law has been declared only short while after the sinister assault upon the twin towers on September 11, 2001. Eden Garter is a 23-year old mix-racial young man who has been selected to be part of an 4th-dimensional group battling against the infamous "Illuminati". Now that the shadowy organization has begun to take over his universe, he one of the only people who can stop them. With his allies, Hinata Dyne, Opal Kindred and Densetsu Kusanagi, he is determined to use the Dragon Glyph to annihilate the puppets, drive back the Illuminati and in turn avenge the ones he held so dear. Over the course of his first adventure, relationships will form and shift, and the hearts, minds and souls of all involved in the conflict will all be tested.
8 157Path of the Conqueror
After the ancient war which destroyed everything, the bloodline of ancient beasts grew dormant. A new age began, where new heroes will be born, and many empires will rise and fall. In this chaotic world of countless myriad planes, a new legend will be written. A little boy will begin his journey to conquer the world. His destiny is to start the ancient war again. His journey starts on a plane called Miraz. He will meet many friends, make more enemies and fight on many myriad planes. Follow his path to being a conqueror. .
8 87Beyblade Burst Drawing Collections {Aiko Akatsuki}
These are the collections of my drawings.I'm a big fan of Beyblade.
8.18 463