With the Range Falcon unable to come any closer due to the debris floating nearby, we had to cover the last 300 meters to the shipwreck using our powered suits' thrusters.
They weren't fancy or particularly powerful, so our pace was roughly the equivalent of a brisk jog. Any faster, we would risk slamming into the ship in front of us without enough time to stop ourselves.
{Arthur...! Don't go too fast!}
Even before we could reach the wreck, Eva was already complaining and sticking uncomfortably close to me. I didn't have time for that, though. I had to scan the surroundings and find anything worth salvaging while we were still there.
Of course, plundering wasn't the only reason we dared to come here. This dimension was huge—so huge that it was nearly impossible to navigate without proper mapping, especially considering our tight 50-hour one-way time limit. Thus, securing the black box of this ship was a priority. It must contain logs of their exploration in this dimension, which could offer critical clues about where Major Terrence's fleet had gone. At least, that is how it works in the game.
'In the game, getting the blackbox should insert some sort of quest marker on the map, but reality's not going to be that kind for sure...'
{Hey! Are you listening?! Say something already...!}
Eva just wouldn't shut up, probably trying to drown out the ominous silence of the void. But I wasn't in the mood for playing games with her. "Nope, can't hear you."
{Bastard! Then how the hell did you reply?!}
"Come on, quiet down." I motioned to quiet her. "Or that little guy behind you might get angry."
{...!}
Her silent scream came through the comms just in time for her to rush forward and awkwardly crash into me, pressing tightly against my suit. Unfortunately, the thick powered suits we wore killed any "softness" from her contact... What a waste.
{T-There's nothing...} she whispered, nervously looking over her shoulder. {You...! Stop scaring me! Do that again, and I'll rip your thrusters off right here!}
"Oh? So you admit you're scared, then?" I grinned, locking my visor's display with hers. "Sticking to me like glue. Looks like our little Eva is a scaredy-cat~!"
{I-I'm not scared! Not at all!} she snapped defensively, her voice cracking over the comm.
"Yeah, yeah. You're not scared. Definitely. No room for doubt."
{You don't believe me!}
I laughed at her indignant response, but our banter ended as we reached the shipwreck.
The Vernal Torrent was in bad shape—it had practically been split in half with just a few stray wires keeping the two pieces tenuously connected. Our entry point was clear at a glance: that big, gaping fissure between the two parts of the ship. I carefully navigated through the debris, clearing a path for Eva, before finally landing on solid metal.
"Whew. That is one massive ship," I mused as I appreciated its size. "It's even bigger than the Range Falcon!"
The Vernal Torrent was wide, with an average width easily twice that of my ship. Though as a military-grade heavy cruiser, it was built for combat, so its massive size made sense. After getting an eyeful of the scenery, I turned to Eva and spoke.
"Alright, let's split up and search for valuables," I suggested as we stopped to assess the interior. "I'll head to the bridge. You check out the hangar bays—"
{Hold up! There's no way I'm wandering off alone in this rotten ship! Nope. Not happening!}
Eva's response was immediate and indignant.
"Splitting up is more efficient, you know? Besides, it's not like you're scared or anything, right?" I teased, hoping to provoke her pride. But instead…
{Fine! I'm scared, okay?! Don't leave me here alone! Happy now?!} she blurted, her face flushed under the powered suit's glowing visor while looking a little teary-eyed.
"You..."
Her sudden honesty caught me off guard. Was she so terrified that she didn't care about the pride she'd been defending all this time? With her admitting her fear outright, there was no way I could trick her into exploring alone now.
"Fine, no choice. Stick close to me and keep your eyes open. Maybe we'll stumble across some treasure along the way."
{I won't pull your leg. I won't even blink and keep watch of the surroundings. You have my word!}
I gazed at her in silence, speechless. Eva was so ridiculously sincere and straightforward that it's unsettling. 'Where's her usual bite?!' I felt like screaming out loud. But at least it was much better than arguing right here in this gloomy place.
I was, as usual, at the lead as we made our way in, looking around curiously.
As I predicted, the Vernal Torrent was mostly intact, aside from the gaping damage in its hull where it had been split in two. The metal floors and walls showed no major holes or cracks, but the biting cold of space had clearly taken its toll—everything looked brittle and worn.
"It's all brittle now…" I muttered, brushing my metallic fingers against a frosted glass window. It shattered instantly at my touch, shattering into shards. "I just hope the bridge is still in one piece."
If, for some reason, the bridge was in ruins, we'd lose our only real lead forward. Silently hoping my worst fears wouldn't come true, we pressed on. The cluttered hallways were filled with debris, but navigating through the ship wasn't too difficult—we simply floated across all obstacles.
After about five minutes of careful maneuvering, we arrived at our destination: the bridge of the Vernal Torrent. I scanned the room quickly, taking note of the consoles and controls, then began searching for the black box.
{Arthur, is this what you're looking for?}
Eva's voice crackled through the comms. I turned to see her holding a small metallic cube, about three inches on each side, retrieved from a damaged control panel.
"That's it!" I exclaimed, rushing to her side. "That's the black box! Good job, Eva!"
{W-Well, it's nothing, really. Just doing my part...} she muttered, trying to downplay her achievement.
"Wow, you being calm and helpful instead of snappy feel weird!" I teased as I took the black box from her hands. "Anyway, let's check this out."
{...You fucker, what did you just say?!}
"Huh? Oh, did I say that out loud?" I feigned innocence, suppressing a grin. "Ahahaha, nothing, nothing at all!" I waved it off, quickly plugging the black box into my powered suit's memory slot to avoid escalating her anger.
Within seconds, my visor displayed the black box's contents. Mission logs, video recordings, audio files, notes—there was even part of a star map.
"Nice! This is exactly what we needed!"
Thankfully, 75% of the data had survived, but a quarter of it had been corrupted—likely due to exposure to the harsh, cold vacuum of space. Most notably, the latest records were missing, leaving us with no information on what had caused the ship's destruction.
{Just you wait… When we're back on the Range Falcon, I'm gonna—} Eva threatened, but I quickly interrupted her.
"Oh, scary~! Since I'm so terrified, I'll just leave you here and head back alone~!"
{W-Wait, no! That's unfair…!}
Grinning at her panicked response, I made it clear I had the upper hand. "And beating me up later is fair? Heh. Don't think so." I turned away, flying back the way we came.
{Bastard! Don't you dare leave me behind!} Eva snapped, firing up her thrusters to chase after me.
I couldn't help but laugh at her desperation, her eyes tearing up in fear of being left alone. Even though our suits were nearly identical, mine was slightly faster, leaving her no chance of catching up.
As if racing each other, we retraced our steps in record time, covering the same path that took us five minutes in under thirty seconds. We then leaped through the void separating the ship's two halves and landed on the other end, heading toward the hangar bay and cargo hold. It didn't take too long to arrive, however, as it was technically a straight, unobstructed path.
Inside, the sheer amount of frozen materials and debris caught my eye. Most of it was damaged by the environment, rendering them unusable, but one massive pile stood out—a mountain of precious metals that was impossible to ignore.
Letting out a low whistle, I admired the haul. "Just this batch alone could bring in over thirty million credits!"
{Bastard…! I finally—}
Eva's voice broke through my comms, but as I turned to look at her, something in the shadows behind her caught my attention. A writhing shape, barely visible in the dim light. Almost by reflex, I turned on the night vision of the visor, but what I saw sent a chill down my spine.
"…Oh, shit!" I cursed under my breath. "Eva! Faster! And don't look back!"
She slowed slightly, probably doubting my sincerity. {Huh? You're not tricking me again—} she started, glancing over her shoulder... That was her mistake.
{Ashkdlfgh!}
A garbled cry burst from her comms as her thrusters roared to full power, propelling her forward at top speed. She shot past me just as I caught a proper look at her pursuer—a grotesque alien creature, a mix of octopus and starfish, with over a dozen glowing green tendrils flailing in every direction, and numerous, grotesque eyes along each of them.
It was unmistakably one of those exploding aliens we'd run into before!
"Shit, shit, shit!" I shouted, turning around and slamming my thrusters to max power.
There was no way we could take on one of those things with just powered suits. Escape was our only option for survival. The bright blue flare of my thrusters lit the wreckage as I shot forward like a missile. Eva stayed right ahead of me, screaming incoherently into the comms.
And as if a cat enticed by anything moving, the alien began chasing after us, "swimming" through the cargo hold space.
Just like that, a deadly game of tag began.