As the sun began to set, the Ghosts prepared to release the now-healed Zorax back into the wild. Laihud carefully carried the creature in its cage while Vimur and the others watched from a distance, ready to intervene if anything went wrong.
The Zorax had only known Laihud for a few hours, but their bond was stronger than most of the crew. If he could, Laihud would have taken the creature in as a pet, but it wouldn't be the right thing to do.
As they approached the edge of the forest, the Zorax seemed to sense that it was being released. It began to squirm and whine as if protesting the end of its time with the crew. Laihud gently placed the creature on the ground and stepped back.
For a moment, the Zorax hesitated, looking back at the crew as if saying goodbye. Then, it turned and bounded into the forest, disappearing from sight. Vimur let out a sigh of relief.
"Glad to see it go," he said, "but I'm also glad we could help it."
Laihud nodded. "It was the right thing to do," he said. "And who knows, maybe we'll see it again someday."
Jay smirked. "Yeah, maybe it'll bring a whole pack of Zoraxes with it to thank us."
The crew chuckled at Jay's joke, feeling a sense of satisfaction knowing they had done a good deed. But little did they know, their adventure was far from over. They still needed to find the one infecting the creatures with the parasite, and they needed to do it before it was too late.
***
The Ghosts had been searching for clues for days, combing through the rocky terrain of the alien planet in search of any signs of life or civilisation. Anything that could help them figure out the identity of the one responsible for the weird behaviour of the creatures.
They had rescued numerous creatures along the way, nursing them back to health before releasing them into the wild. The cargo ship Mazton had promised was yet to arrive, so there wasn't any place the Ghosts could have kept the creatures, and releasing them was the only option they had.
Laihud, Vimur, Anna, and Jay were currently exploring a particularly dense area of the rocky forest when they stumbled upon the abandoned structure.
At first, they thought it was just another rock formation, but as they drew closer, they realised it was something else entirely.
The structure was made of a material they had never seen before, a sleek metallic substance that glinted in the light. The entrance was a vast, gaping hole that led into the darkness of the facility.
Laihud, ever the curious one, stepped forward to investigate. "Let's take a look inside," he said, motioning for the others to follow.
Anna hesitated, her eyes darting around nervously. "I don't know, Laihud. This place gives me the creeps."
"We can't just ignore it. Who knows what we might find in there?" Vimur stepped forward, his hand on his weapon.
Jay nodded in agreement. "We should at least look, see if there's anything of value or interest."
Laihud then remembered what the Xylopians had mentioned. They had never tried to develop the other half of the planet as it belonged to nature, and that's why a structure like the one in front of them was out of place.
He explained the situation to the others, and they all realised they had found what they had been looking for, for days!
With the decision made, they cautiously made their way into the dark, eerie depths of the facility. The air was musty and stale, and the silence was punctuated only by the sound of their footsteps echoing off the walls.
As they walked deeper into the facility, they began to realise what the place was. It was a research facility, and the crew doubted the Xylopians were aware of it.
Equipment lay strewn about, wires and cables trailing from the walls. A console flickered dimly in the corner, and a large chamber loomed ahead.
"The place seems to be powered," Vimur mumbled, pointing at the console.
Laihud approached the console, tapping a few buttons experimentally. The screen flickered to life, displaying a stream of data in an alien language.
"What is this?" he muttered, furrowing his brow in concentration. With a thump, several cyro chambers appeared before them.
Anna and Jay moved to one such chamber, peering through the glass to see what lay inside. Vimur lingered by the entrance, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
Laihud joined Anna and Jay in front of the only pod that seemed to contain something within.
Suddenly, the door to the chamber opened with a hiss, and a figure stepped out. It was humanoid but with sharp, angular features and glowing eyes that seemed to pierce the darkness.
Laihud spun around, his hand going to his weapon.
"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice low and steady.
The figure didn't answer, instead lunging forward with lightning speed. Laihud barely had time to react before it was on him, grappling him to the ground.
"Fire! Fire!"
Anna and Jay rushed forward, their weapons drawn, but the figure was too fast. It ducked and weaved, dodging their attacks with ease.
The creature grabbed Laihud by his waist and began climbing the walls, dodging the incoming barrage of bullets in its direction. It appeared Laihud was knocked unconscious by the creature's swift movements.
"Stop firing!" Vimur yelled. "You might hurt Laihud instead."
Much to their surprise, the creature calmed down as soon as they stopped shooting at it. Taking advantage of the situation, Vimur knocked the beast down, his muscles bulging as he grappled with the figure.
Finally, they managed to subdue it and awaken Laihud. Vimur was still holding down the creature as Laihud examined it more closely. He found a small device attached to the back of its neck, the same kind of artificial parasite they had discovered in the Zorax.
"What the hell is going on here?" Anna breathed, staring at the device in horror.
Laihud's eyes narrowed as he studied it.
"I think we've stumbled onto something big," he said slowly. "Something very dangerous."
As they gazed around the abandoned research facility, they knew that they had to find out more about what was happening there. And they were determined to do whatever it took to uncover the truth.
However, as they were leaving the facility, they saw something that wasn't there before. A phrase written over the walls with what seemed to be blood...
"The Deacon is watching."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l