In the depths of unexplored space, above the ring system of an unnamed planet, floats a Dominix. Among the cold and empty decks of this dorment battleship, there is a room that houses many rows of cryogenic stasis incubators. Most of these incubators are empty, many are broken; their glass remains shattered on the floor as a result of damage this old warship sustained in battles long forgotten. One, and only one incubator is online. Its dim light casts soft shadows over the frosty metal surfaces of the room. Inside this coffin-looking contraption lies a capsuleer pilot. He has a head of short, matted black hair and his narrow face compliments the slender features of his body. Under closed lids his piercing green eyes are moving rapidly back and forth. He has been dreaming for a very long time..........
Walking through the tropical forests of Intaki, a strange feeling of dejavu comes over Mazer. It was as if he had been here in this exact setting, in the same circumstances; not just once, but many times before, and it was not until now did he remember all the times he had relived this moment. He looked ahead on the beaten path through a small clearing in the trees.....
"Antelope..."
As if on cue, his thought played out before him. A cheerful smirk quickly appeared on his face, then a darker memory crept its way into his mind and the look of satisfaction quickly turned to that of fear. His heart began to race as he gasped
"NO!"
The forest around him darkened and the trees seemed to be closing in. The antelope collapsed onto the ground and began to convulse. Its abdomen rose and fell as blood began to flow out of its eyes, ears, and mouth. The fur around its stomach gave way as a creature the size of a small dog burst forth, sprawling onto the dirt. It quickly jumped up on all ten of its spider-like legs and faced Mazer. It had large pincers in the front of its body and a deadly sting-tipped tail in the back; it resembled a giant scorpion in most ways except its face. It had the face of a human. More than one face, the appearances kept changing to that of different people......people that Mazer recognized.
Immense fear struck Mazer as the monster with the faces that belonged to people he had lied to, cheated, stolen from, and killed, bore upon him. He screamed and turned around to start running but the path he had come on was now blocked by a white wall of marble. Where the trail once was now stood a door, panting and hysteric, he ran to it and tried to pull it open. It was locked.
The nightmare creature let out a hideous laugh of victory with the combined haunting voices of Mazer's victims. It closed ground quickly between them. Mazer shook the door with all his strength, but to no avail. Letting out a cry of agony he pounded on the door with his fists, it was then that he spotted the key hole on the door, and the symbol engraved just above it, the holy symbol of the Amarrian Church.
Mazer's confusion about the meaning of this had not yet taken full effect when the creature leapt upon his back. He could feel the beginnings of what would be a horrible death, and then darkness overtook him.....
He awoke to a pulsing blue light and a rather loud single tone beep that were in sync together. He struggled to open his eyes as if someone had glued them shut. His body was cold and stiff, his head felt like it was going split open, and he was unbelievably thirsty. He was fighting to remember where he was, and what had happened to him. As these memories slowly crept back, his heart sank.
"Taryn", he commanded with a groggy voice, "Status report."
The soft-spoken female voice of his ship's computer system responded,
"The ship's outgoing distress beacon has been answered. Initiating ship startup sequence and sub-routines. It will take approximately 14.8 minutes before your pod is ready and we are back online.”
“How long have I been in stasis?”
“Seven months, twelve days, three hours, and 32 minutes.”
“Fuck.”
“Consider yourself extremely lucky, with the ship’s scanning systems offline we may have been floating in this uncharted system indefinitely. Do you wish to know the statistics of our luck?”
“Save me, I can be kept in cryogen for up to a few hundred years before my body starts to deteriorate, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve died.”
“Yes, but with no established uplink to the cloning facilities, the event of your death would go unnoticed and your latest memories would be lost”
Images of the nightmare popped back into Mazer’s mind and he thought to himself,
“I wouldn’t mind losing those.”
Taryn’s voice brought him out of his trance.
“The owner of the ship that responded to our beacon has hailed us, do you wish to go to the bridge and establish communications?”
“Yes, get me out of here”
The pressurized seal of the cryogenic incubator was released as the glass cover popped open. Freezing air rushed in and took away whatever grogginess was left in Mazer. He stepped out onto the cold floor and a path of lights illuminated his way to the bridge. After changing into some clothes he went to the main display in the front of the bridge.
“I’m ready, put me through.”
The holographic display flared up and an image of an all too familiar face appeared. Mazer grinned.
“It’s about fucking time.”
The face responded in turn,
“You look better than ever Mazer! You know, cryo usually has negative effects on people, but I can see that it’s really working out for you. I love the bags below your eyes, the pasty skin, and the hunch in your back! Your mood has dramatically improved as well!
“Bite me, I feel like this body is ready to seize.”
“What are YOU complaining about?! I’ve been searching every goddamned wormhole system I can get my hands on for the last seven months, while you’ve been asleep!”
Still smiling, Mazer responded,
“Well I wasn’t the one who sent me out on a scouting mission in W-H space with a faulty scanner!”
“Maze, I didn’t send you out on anything, you volunteered, remember?”
“My memory is a little hazy, cryo will do that to you, but I’ll let you off just this once Von, just this once.”
“I’m so relieved.”
They both laughed
“Well, other than searching for me what have you been up to? Has CLADI become the most well-known mercenary corporation in the entire galaxy yet?”
Vonlin’s face went from cheerful to apprehensive
“About that……..things have changed a lot since you’ve been gone.”
“What do you mean? What happened to CLADI? What’s going on?”
It was at that moment that Mazer noticed a gold chain around Vonlin’s neck, attached to this gold chain was a pendant; the very same symbol that had been engraved above the locked door in his nightmares.
“Mazer…we need to talk.”
