Just want to let you fools know I am going to do a Q and A chapter soon.
Yes, you heard me, you worthless mortal specimens will have the chance to interact with the great Bossman himself. Cherish this chance, for it is the highlight of your miserable lives.
******
Darkness fell on that red planet as night cast its inviolable domain across the sands. The clanging sounds, cursing and occasional inhuman shriek from the bowels of the ship indicated that Starshoulder was still hard at work in that 'engine room'. Circleface had tired himself out after being caught in an illusion from one of the beholders and chasing something (most likely food) for several hours until the Captain managed to clean out the infestation.
Trianglechest was still slouched idly on the sofa, scrolling mindlessly on his tablet. Squareface had retired to his quarters and promptly collapsed on his bed, fast asleep. The Captain had also retired to his quarters, sleeping in his chair with his three-pointed hat covering his face (thankfully for all sentient life).
"Gurgle wurgle", the jellyfish said disapprovingly. Unfortunately, I don't speak jellyfish.
The Captain sat in the now dark room, staring at a dim hologram in front of him. A single blinking red dot among a sea of blue was the sole focus of his furious gaze.
"The Abyss of Swallowed Stars", he murmured to himself. "A grandiose name hiding a pathetic nature". He gnashed his teeth in impotent rage. They had dared to steal from him? Captain Resquilatron? Scourge of Spinner's Nebula? Their reckoning shall arrive amidst a sea of pain and anguish as surely as their sun shall one day die.
He was jolted out of his hatred by a sharp noise coming from the thing-detector on his desk. He picked it up and held it to his ear, an expression of concentration on his hideous features.
Abruptly, he stood up to leave, pausing only to grab his three pointed hat and firmly secure it on top of his masked head. The jellyfish bubbled curiously but the Captain dismissed it and it turned back to its book with a wave of its tentacles.
"Trianglechest! Get over here", his roar echoed through the confines of the ship as he stomped out of his room.
Trianglechest jolted, almost dropping the tablet onto his face, before getting up lazily from being slouched on the sofa in the common room.
"What is it, Captain", he drawled. "It's the middle of the night, couldn't this wait until morning? Or preferably afternoon?". His sentence devolved into a gaping yawn.
"Shut up", the Captain growled. "There's something going on outside. You're coming with me - and bring that staff. You'll need it". Trianglechest straightened as a serious expression graced his laidback features.
"You sure, Captain?", he asked tentatively, hoping against all hope that his ears had failed him. Alas, Fate had conspired against him in this matter.
"I'm as sure as Gratch is about her damned Great Gletrious!", the Captain roared, the spittle flying off his face and coating the inside of his visor.
"Alright, alright", Trianglechest held up his hands placatingly. "No need to get your knickers in a twist".
Without daring to wait for the Captain's reply, he dashed off in an almost blinding flash of speed. The Captain stared after him angrily for a few seconds before muttering.
"Damn Trianglechest always has to have the last word", the Captain growled menacingly as he fiddled with the thing-detector, its beeping now consistent.
Trianglechest soon returned, his clear-visor helmet on, holding a metal pole about as tall as him in his left hand. The Captain grunted approvingly before making a move towards the airlock. Giving up on typing the passkey after several failed attempts, he punched it with a gloved hand until it finally opened.
"Squareface, keep an eye out for now while we're gone. And for Gletrious' sake keep Circleface away from the engine room. We don't want a repeat of Kassius V", the Captain spoke into the comms, receiving a loud snore from a clearly asleep Squareface in reply.
He turned to Trianglechest and nodded once, punching the console once again to open the outer airlock door. With a whoosh that quickly faded to silence, the view of the crater greeted them.
It was a lot different than when they had landed. Without any sort of air pollution, the night sky was beautiful. Each star was like a crystal teardrop sown into an obsidian velvet cloak, glistening with light. There was no moon, though that only allowed the radiance of the stars to shine that much brighter.
Trianglechest spared a glance at the wonder, but the Captain was physically incapable of perceiving such things and stared firmly at the thing-detector in his hand.
Shrugging his shoulders, Trianglechest tore his gaze from the sky and followed behind the Captain, languidly twirling his metal staff in a mesmerising display. They had both just barely crested the lip of the crater when they realised something.
"Great Gletrious", the Captain swore while Trianglechest edged very slowly backwards. "Go get Squareface and Circleface. I have a feeling we'll need all the hands we can get", the Captain continued grimly.
Trianglechest barely acknowledged the statement before beelining out of there. Well, for all his faults, at least he's got a - ahem - very strong sense of self preservation.
Before the Captain, where there used to be a flat plain leading up to the cliff that hadn't been there before, instead there was an abomination of a construct. The red sand had crystallised into strange shapes that had too many right-angles, too many sides. Any lesser being would have been forced to look away but the Captain, though unaware of his now-suicided ancestry, still retained enough of its power to keep looking.
The crystalline area had a sharp border where red sand simply turned into that strange material, but it was slowly and surely expanding, mutating normal sand into its non-Euclidean form. At the centre of the anomaly were two holes in the ground. The starlight was not enough to see into its murky depths, but common sense dictated that nothing good could come of it.
Resquilatron grinned madly under his murky visor.
"When has something as stupid as common sense ever held me back"
His proud proclamation was disputed by absolutely no-one. Indeed, 'common sense' was something the Ooglespooglesburgh lineage were not known for. For example, Resquilatron's grandfather was rather famous for choking a wyvern to death. Not by sheer strength, but instead by hiding inside its prey and getting swallowed but being so obese that he got lodged in the poor creature's throat as it asphyxiated.
More to the point, the beeping and dinging of the thing-detector promised Resquilatron that clues to that strange, sealed object still in the drawer of his desk lay somewhere in those two abysses.
Soon enough, three figures jumped from the airlock of the ship, racing to join the Captain. Trianglechest notably lagged a bit behind the other two while Circleface raced ahead with wild abandon. Squareface seemed...well not 'happy' per say but at least vaguely satisfied with his place in the middle of the pack.
"Took you long enough, I swear a calcium-deficient skunklet moves faster than you lot", the Captain snapped. Circleface pointed at Squareface without a second's hesitation, who simply sighed behind his opaque visor.
"Whatever", the Captain said dismissively before turning back to the crystalline anomaly in front of him. "Whatever that thing was we sealed, I reckon our next clues are in there. But be careful", he warned.
"Let's stick together and - hey what are you doing for Gletrious-damn sake!"
His roar echoed powerlessly in the comms of the suits as, unfortunately for Captain Resquilatron, Circleface had long since stopped listening, finally looked away from the enchanting night sky above, immediately noticed that 'shiny crystal thingy', ran towards it and promptly fell face first down the nearer of the two abysses.
The Captain fumed silently, Squareface merely sighed and Trianglechest's face twitched in a visible attempt to hold back raucous laughter.
"What the heck, I don't even know why I tried. Circleface had the right idea - these 'plan' things never work our anyways".
As though waiting for that excuse to let loose, a gleeful expression arose on the Captain's face.
"For riches or death! Onwards to the unknown", the Captain roared, racing after Circleface. Squareface followed soon after though with a much less enthusiastic whoop.
"Preferably riches and not death, though", Trianglechest muttered to himself, though to his own surprise, he had dashed forward at the same time as Squareface.
The Captain's echoing roar and the whistling of wind greeted them as they jumped into the abyss after him. The stars above twinkled amusedly as they observed the shenanigans ongoing.
Back in the ship -
"Uhhh, where did everyone go?", a confused Starshoulder asked as he returned from the engine room, covered in soot and what looked suspiciously like blood and definitely one, maybe two intestinal tracts.
"Gargle, blargle, shargle", the jellyfish replied confidently. "Spargle", it added after a few moments thought.
"Sigh", Starshoulder let loose a breath. "Man I can't wait for Hexagoneye to be back. At least he speaks jellyfish."