The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Lunar Colony Renoran)

(Northern Region- Unknown Location)

One of humanity's most primal fears was the fear of the unknown and the unexplained.

Phenomenon that could not be explained by science…

The horror of the unknown where one was helpless and powerless against entities whose existence themselves were unable to be comprehended by mortal minds.

Qiana could feel beads of sweat running down her brow as she could not resist taking a glance at the now empty desert where the base camp had been just moments before.

No… this didn't make any sense!

How could the base camp suddenly appear and then disappear? What were those terribly eyes that gazed at her?

She had clearly seen those eyes follow the direction of her hovercraft as it passed around the camp site.

Were they able to track her location from the eyes?

The young woman turned her attention back to the control panel on the hovercraft and increased the speed of the vehicle tenfold.

This would burn the fuel much faster but at this point Qiana just wanted to reach the spaceport as soon as possible.

She did not want to stay for a moment longer on this strange moon where things did not make sense and some of the workers had attempted to kill her.

The empty desert seemed to swallow her up in its vastness and Qiana felt a terrible sense of loneliness as the vehicle traveled through an endless sea of sand dunes.

This moon… was a hot and lonely place.

She focused her attention on the nearby surroundings but just as before… there was not a single hint of any lifeforms of buildings of note.

Two hours passed uneventfully but Qiana's nerves refused to relax. She kept anxiously looking from side to side as if searching for something.

"Take a deep breath… take a deep breath…" Qiana muttered quietly to herself as the dark marks crawling up her arms trembled slightly.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment and thought about happy thoughts.

It sounded a bit naïve, but it genuinely helped her out whenever she was in a dangerous situation.

Qiana pictured her first visit to the beach with Astrid and her family.

She remembered the warm ocean waves that crashed against her feet, spending time with her girlfriend's little siblings and the happy smile on Astrid's face.

The corners of Qiana's lips slowly curved upwards and she felt a lot better. She was going to be fine… this was nothing… she just needed to remain calm.

The young heiress opened her eyes and focused on the scenery in front of her.

There was a large sand dune in the distance, and one could spot four humanoid figures waving cheerfully at her from the base of the natural structure.

Other survivors?

Qiana gripped the steering wheel and cautiously moved the vehicle closer to the humanoid figures to get a better look.

The spaceport was in the direction of the massive sand dune so she would not have to alter her path.

Still… there was something a bit off about the situation…

Although Qiana got closer, she kept her hand on the steering wheel and was prepared to react at a moment's notice.

Gradually the facial features and the physiques of the four individuals could clearly be seen and Qiana's hand on the wheel slightly trembled.

She saw Carter and the three security officers who she had killed.

They were all wearing clean version of their uniforms and waved at her with eerie smiles on their faces.

Qiana did not notice this detail until she got closer but there were small bloodstains on each of their uniforms directly on the places where she had injured or killed them.

But other than those bloodstains… the men appeared to be perfectly healthy.

Qiana's eyes widened in shock and goosebumps appeared on her arms as the four men's heads simultaneous broke.

Their heads snapped to the side of their necks in a twisted position that sent chills down her spine.

And they did not stop waving…

Even as their heads eventually fell off their necks… their arms kept waving at her to approach as if nothing was wrong with their appearances.

The heads lying down on the hot desert sand were frozen in place with lifeless eyes that seemed to stare at her with great hatred in their gazes.

Qiana pressed the accelerator button on the control panel and made the vehicle take a wide berth around the massive sand dune.

She kept her eyes on the bodies and flinched in terror as the headless corpses began to run at her location with a speed that should not have been possible.

Their arms flailed widely around in the air, and they moved with jerky unsteady movements as if they were puppets dancing to the tune of an unknown master.

Despite the unnerving sight, years of training meant that Qiana quickly reacted to the peculiar situation.

She reached into her storage bag and pulled out a blaster rifle.

The windows of the hovercraft were lowered slightly, and Qiana stuck the tip of the rifle outside of the vehicle.

Concentrate…

Qiana aimed at the legs of the nearest headless corpse and fired a single round of plasma fire directly at its kneecap.

The corpse stumbled and fell to the ground as its right leg was completely blown off by the force of the round.

It crawled forward towards Qiana, but its movements were obviously much slower than before since it could no longer run on two legs.

The young noble woman looked through the scope of her blaster rifle and fired off three more rounds of plasma fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each round accurately pierced the leg of the incoming headless corpses and the bodies crashed to the ground and crawled forward.

Qiana let out a heavy sigh of relief but kept the windows down as she fired off a few more rounds into their bodies.

The corpses twisted and writhed in the ground as if they were experiencing a great deal of pain, but Qiana wasn't sure if it was an act to let her drop her guard.

She set the hovercraft to autopilot and kept her finger on the trigger of her weapon as she aimed it at the convulsing corpses.

Suddenly another mysterious sandstorm appeared from out of nowhere and the corpses along with their heads were swallowed up by the twisted tides of sand.

When the storm receded… it was as though what Qiana had just experienced had been nothing more than an unpleasant nightmare.

She stared at the place where the headless corpses had been just moments ago, and a confused expression flashed across her face.

No this was not an illusion…

Someone or something was intentionally making her go through these terrible experiences…