The darkness was all-consuming, swallowing everything, and seemed to grow and deepen as time passed. Had it been weeks, months, years? Had eons passed in the inky black? Or had it merely been seconds, hours… there was no way of telling in the unending blackness. It was maddening, worse than maddening. The aether gathered in the darkness and waited, feeding on the still cold that permeated everything.
There was a clang, then a shudder and movement in the dark. Suddenly, blinding white light burned through the perfect blackness that seemed to recoil like a wounded beast as massive bay doors creaked open. Hulking shapes appeared through the opening. Beyond them, an odd craft floated with huge spotlights providing the ghastly, brilliant light. There was no fighting it; the darkness retreated deeper as the figures began working large jacks to force the massive doors to open farther. With each passing moment, even more blinding luminescence poured in from the multitude of spotlights on the small ship. Finally, the jacks were fully extended, allowing one of the beings to slip in.
The figure was covered in armored plates that bristled with pipes, machinery, and gears, all of them looped in a confusing mass. Steam and ice chips drifted off its many brass-colored parts. Each movement brought the sound of creaking leather and grating steel, a terrible mechanical monster. It was a thing more horrid and twisted than that which laid in wait inside. The figure pulled from its waist a contraption and thrust it forward. There was a shower of sparks and then another stinging light.
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After slipping through the giant steel doors into the cold, oppressive abyss, Victor searched around. His magnesium lamp flashed a cone of light that cut into the darkness around him. He couldn’t stop the feeling that he had been swallowed by a gigantic beast. Great steel trusses, like the ribs of some behemoth, stretched out before him as far as he could see, which wasn’t very far. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Then he reached out with a gloved hand and grabbed the edge of the thick bay door. Slowly he pulled himself forward, deeper into the darkness.
A foreboding chill washed over him like an arctic wind. The bulky suit he wore began to whirr and click as mechanical apparatuses jumped into action, and the bone-deep cold was replaced by a wash of subtle warmth. Out of habit, Victor checked the gauges mounted on his chest and noted the steam pressure and fuel levels of each needle. Worry began to scratch at the back of his mind. Again, Victor took a deep breath and held it. Then he turned back to the group of three behind him and waved them forward.
The group hesitated before following. After a moment, each of them flicked a switch on their lamps, sending sparks into the surrounding aether, followed by cones of white light as they lit magnesium torches. One at a time, they pulled themselves in, each flicking their lights around them and scouring the vast expanse they had just entered. The four floated for some time, alternating between passing hand signs, shining lights, and pointing their weapons at shadows that shifted around them. Finally, Victor waved the “move out” hand signal, and the group began a slow float forward. The suits blasting jets of steam to provide propulsion.
The darkness around them seemed to fight the cones of white light that shone from each of the lamps. The illuminated area shifted and twisted oddly as it fought against some lurking power. At the leading edge of each beam of light, black tendrils retracted as if in pain. The aether here was thick, what those who travel the void referred to as deep. It was said that at any depth, it could subtly steal a mind and soul without a man knowing. At this strength, Victor had been told the aether could even take your entire body by force.
As the group of mechanical, suited monstrosities made their way deeper into crushing darkness, the peculiar craft pulled away from the opening. The light the ship provided went with it, removing what little sense of safety they had and plunging them deeper into isolation. It was a shame their entry point was far too small to allow the vessel to enter. There were limits to the extent a hatch could be forced open with jacks.
Slowly, the group moved forward down the vast void and deeper into the belly of the gargantuan iron-ribbed beast. Victor cast his light around him as he traveled. His eyes straining to make out much of anything. The light from his lamp was a tiny sliver against the void around him.