The air inside the Gulp was still warm and sweet from the night before, but the atmosphere between the members of the Black Storm crew was as tense as a tightened wire. The blue warning light on Ember's visor flashed incessantly: [O2 LEVEL: 17% - CRITICAL].
"We have no other choice; we're out of time to hesitate," Ember spoke, her voice hoarse from lack of oxygen and stress. Before her, a star chart was projected onto a flat section of the ship's hull.
"This time's target is the ancient transport ship wreck, 'The Calypso'. Radar scans show it just crashed into an asteroid in the Eastern belt. It's full of cargo, which might include Essences we can use for our backup air filtration core."
Teron, clinging to the ceiling, emitted a series of anxious beeps. His face screen displayed: warning_the_calypso_manifest: CLASSIFIED. energy_signature_anomaly_detected. risk_assessment: HIGH.
"I know," Ember snapped. "But taking a risk is better than suffocating to death. Teron, you're responsible for checking the entire Essence Collection Tool Set. Celeste, you must check and ensure the Assault & Dissolution Tools are in a state of peak readiness. We cannot allow any mistakes."
Teron nodded, his robotic legs moving as fast as lightning, weaving into the nooks and crannies of the Iron Dragonfly, checking every bolt and every cable. The beeping sounds rang out continuously like a complex mechanical song.
Teron used his mechanical tentacles to carefully remove the intelligent mist net (Nebula Wisp's Resonance Net) from its container. He exposed it to the air in the cabin, and immediately, the net vibrated gently, emitting flickering indigo specks of light.
Then, Teron used his sensors to scan over the axe blade made from a wormhole jaw (Wormhole Leech's Spacetime Cleaver). A confirming beep sounded, indicating the microscopic energy field around the blade was stable and ready to sever molecular bonds.
Ember picked up the metal staff tipped with a shard of living crystal (Cryo-Entity's Essence Rod). She touched it lightly, and the crystal reacted instantly, emitting a strange, cold light. She checked the Essence conduits, ensuring they weren't clogged with metal dust.
Ember was again busy loading a new plasma "egg" into her gun (Plasma Storm's Harvester Gun). The miniature plasma egg growled softly in the barrel, radiating heat that made the surrounding air shimmer.Celeste, with her special sensitivity, was in charge of the glass jar with wormhole-leather (Wormhole Leech's Containment Vial).
She gently swayed it, and the microscopic wormhole inside responded with a gentle, blinking red light, like a greeting. "It's still okay," Celeste whispered to Ember.
Then, the little girl approached the most important item in the team's hunting expeditions. "Hello, friend,"
Celeste whispered. "We're going hunting together today. You must be very good, help us find some nice toys, and don't get hurt again, okay?"
Celeste was engrossed with the Godhook - the Giant Hook. This was the most important weapon. Celeste approached the giant, hand-shaped metal hook. Instead of a mechanical inspection, she placed her hand on one of its fingers. It was fabricated from the core of a Gravity Weaver (to control attraction), the scales of a Steel Leech (for adhesion), and technology from Machine Dreams (for target locking).
Its function was to "hook" weather phenomena (like a tornado), energy explosions, or even an ongoing "accident" (like a spatial collapse), compressing them into Essence Prisms mid-air.
She didn't check it in the conventional way. She stood before the giant metal hand-shaped hook, placing her own hand on one of its fingers. Under her touch, the cold metal shell of the Godhook seemed to warm up slightly. A few LEDs on it flickered softly, like a response. Celeste giggled. She had a strange connection with the machine, as if it had a soul and she could feel it.