Ancient Legacies part 2
Chapter 2 - Darkness and the Light The elevator shaft, a vertical void of crushed cables and rusted guide rails, was a dead end. Vance guided the team toward the emergency stairwell, identifiable only by the archaic, blocky lettering stenciled onto a heavy blast door. The mechanism was fused with age and cold, demanding a collective, agonizing effort. Sergeant Miller and Specialist Kovic applied hydraulic spreaders, the whine of the tool the only sound in their insulated helmets until the seal broke with a shriek that resonated through their suits' gloves. They floated up the shaft in tight formation, their helmet lights slicing through a darkness so profound it felt visceral. The structure around them was not silent. Though they were separated from the vacuum by their armoured environmental suits—which they dared not crack, the air in here having been processed through a centuries-old, contaminated system before bleeding away—they could feel the ship groaning. It was a low-freque...
