Recap: Quim and the squad tried their best to help one of the survivors they found in the sewer system beneath Trisk. Bitsy couldn't bare the thought of having her leg amputated and Grunner couldn't bare the thought of not having her around anymore. Without leadership, Quim asked who amongst them was willing to take charge of what remained of their group. The job fell in the lap of Anadi Branede. The man had never been in a leadership position before, but, he would try his best. Together, everyone headed for a service hatch, which led out to a warehouse of some sort.
Quim walked in silence, along with everyone else. Occasionally Anadi Branede would mumble to himself, the quiet conversation needed no response from the others. Triple would sometimes pull a face and throw it in Quims direction, not that he could do anything about it. Crazy. But, then again, how could anyone stay sane going through with their lot had gone through? He thought to himself as they carried on. Lags The Eye had fallen back to walk beside Quim, but, he had made no effort to talk. Which wasn't completely unusual for Lags. His silence, however, did make Quim the slightest bit uncomfortable.
"Have you picked up any signals yet?" Quim asked, in a flat tone. He wanted to make some kind of small talk, to hopefully encourage Lags to start speaking his mind. Lags The Eye just turned and stared at him. His face was mostly obscured by the darkness of the tunnel system, and his shoulder-mounted torch only helped to obscure his face further. "Signals? From Anadi?" Lags shook his head gently. "The guy's crazy. That signal is pretty clear." He went on, speaking softly. "No. Radio signals? From any other survivors?" Quim replied. "Oh, those signals. No, none as of yet. Complete radio silence. I haven't even intercepted any Trisken transmissions. Somethings wrong, unless my gear can't pick up their frequency." Lags shrugged at the end. He spoke in a defeated tone, Quim knew something was wrong with him. As far as Quim was concerned nothing had happened. They continued to walk in silence, waiting to reach this hatch in the distance. After a while though, Quim decided it would be better just to be blunt and have it out with Lags. He nudged him, lightly punching at his shoulder. "Here, tell me something. What's going on with you?" He asked, to which Lags shook his head nonchalantly. "Nothing." "Come on Lags. I've known you long enough to know when something's not right."
Lags took a sigh and stopped walking, then he eyed the others on the team, obviously waiting for them to get a bit further ahead before speaking. "Look, something has been up. I can't shake this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something isn't right. This planet, this invasion, this mission. Something smells like shit concerning the whole situation." Lags looked around as he finished speaking. "I've wanted to say something for a while now, but, just haven't had the chance to." He continued. Quim nodded, everything Lags was saying wasn't new to Quim. He had the same feeling upon boarding Tera. "I understand Lags. I felt the same way." After speaking he looked ahead to the group who all continued to walk. "Come on, we'll keep walking, I don't want to get lost down here." He said and started to walk once more followed by Lags. "Alright Quim, just keep a distance. I don't want to freak the others out. I have a theory." "You do? What is it?" He asked.
"Okay. Aiding Fandel. You bringing up that picture got me thinking, it got me thinking about The Confederation in general which bled into this assignment. We crash-landed down here without the support from the wider Confederation fleet and army, who are orbiting the planet as we speak. Now, we're stranded with no support and no way of contacting them for evac. What if this is the same as the ones who left for Fandel? Stranded, with no way back. I mean, what if this is it for us? The final mission." Lags got faster and sounded frustrated by the end of his speech. Quim could only listen, shaking his head occasionally. "Look, Lags, don't worry so much. Once we kill Herzart, that's it, the job is done, the fleet can land and we'll be given some new assignment." Lags shook his head in response. "Well, what about this occupation?" Lags asked. "What about it?" Lags started to laugh at that response. A sick laugh of desperation. "What about it? What are we doing here man? A colony gets raided by Gnosians and what? We attack Jex. Now we're on Trisk! Is there a fleet laying waste to Gnosia? We're in the same star system as that world, but, we're here. This is bullshit man, I don't like it!" Lags shouted occasionally throughout his sentence.
Quim couldn't help but agree with him, the logic didn't exactly add up. It didn't change anything though, what could they do about it? He knew there was no choice but to push forward, as much as he hated authority there was no choice in this matter, he accepted the assignment, just like any other. "Keep your voice down, don't let the others hear you." Lags threw a hand in the air. "What so I can't speak my mind? I can't question the powers that be? What's wrong, insubordination isn't okay now?" Quim shook his head. "Look, I don't care if you speak out, I'd just rather you didn't let your thoughts get in the heads of the others. Let's focus on keeping the morale up. Let's face it. There is no turning back, we all boarded Tera and knew what we were coming down here to do. When the invasion started we all boarded the cruiser. I don't think it makes sense either, but, the fact of the matter is, it's too late now. Unless you want to find a ship and try to get off-world." Lags nodded and looked away. "Maybe that's what I want to do. I've never felt like this before Quim. Something isn't right and everything is telling me to run."
Quim looked ahead, seeing the shadows of the others dance across the walls in the distance, they were just barely visible and must have been close to the service hatch by now. "Come on. Let's catch up to the others. Your choice is your own Lags. I wouldn't tell you to trust me, because something in my gut is telling me to get the hell out of dodge too. I think it's this place, the dark and dank underworld of Trisk, once we get out of these sewers, everything could get better. Without clear air, we won't have clear heads." Lags nodded. "Maybe you're right Quim."
The two of them caught up with the others, and Quim couldn't help to shake the thoughts Lags put in his mind. The Confederation. The Invasion. Their assignment, he felt uneasy about everything. The idea of this being their final mission was all he could think about.
The group stopped walking. "Here it is, our way out of this nightmare," Anadi said while turning around with a grin. Who's going up first?" Quim walked through the crowd who gathered in front of him. "I wouldn't expect anyone else to take point. Keep the chatter down and keep your wits about you." He said as he walked to the ladder. "Don't worry Quim, I'll be right behind you." Triple said with a jovial smile. "Been looking forward to taking out some more of these reptiles."
With a nod, Quim put a hand on the cold steel ladder. Bits of rust came away as he gripped it, one step at a time, he made it to the top and reached above him for the handle of the hatch. Then he turned the handle and with a squeak it opened. It was heavier than it looked, but, not so heavy that he wasn't able to hold it open to get a look at the ground floor. He was expecting to see a wide open space. But, instead, he was met with a small, dark room. Quim waited for a moment, listening. There was nothing, no talking, no machinery, nothing. He opened the hatch door all the way, and he could feel his grip loosen with the weight of the door and it fell. Slamming onto the ground. The noise rang out around the room and he waited to hear if anyone was around to hear it. There wasn't though, as the noise disappeared, the entire room went back to its previously quiet state.
Quim could feel the ladder shake as someone else stepped onto it. He then stepped out into the room, taking in his first breath of fresh air. He could still smell the sewer system, as the door was open, however, t was less pungent than it had been.