Big guy and rusty the boy robot #35: What lies beneath.

Big guy is the property of dark horse comics and whoever does the TV series.

Dwayne sits down in an old fashioned diner. A waitress comes up.

“How can I help you?" The waitress asks.

“Can you tell me where some place called… Oh what was it called? Quarks?” Dwayne asks.

And now the continuation…

The waitress looks at the window.

“It’s that tall tower over there.” The waitress says pointing to a tall building.

Dwayne looks at it, trying to figure out why he wants to go there but he can’t remember.

“What do you want with that place?” The waitress asks.

“I think it has the answers I need.” Dwayne responds.

Meanwhile out at sea lies an oil drilling operation. They are currently setting off explosives to find oil. A guy is sitting in front of a scanning machine.

“Explosive going off…now.” A guy says.

The building shakes a little and the scanner comes to life. The scanning guy takes the communicator.

“Anything yet?” The guy asks.

Down below a woman is watching the intake hole. She shakes her head.

“Nothing yet.” The woman says.

But something catches her eye and she leans forward.

“Wait I have something. It looks like oil.” The woman says.

She hears cheering over the communicator. The woman looks closer and frowns. A black substance seems to be creeping up the pipe.

“But it isn’t acting like oil. I swear it looks like it’s climbing up the pipe.” The woman says.

“Don’t be silly Sarah. Oil doesn’t climb up by itself.” The scanner guy says.

Suddenly the black substance jumps at Sarah. She screams as it covers her head.

“Sarah!”

“SARAH!”

Meanwhile at the Uss Darkhorse Diana is sleeping in her cot. She is having a dream and it isn’t good.

Diana is flying a plane lining up to fire a missile at a target.

"May god have mercy on your soul Lt.. I'm sorry it had to end like this." Diana says.

"This is Lt. Hunter. I have control of the bgy-11. Abort attack. I repeat abort attack!" Dwayne yells.

But the pilot pushes the button right as the communication comes over the radio.

"Damn too late. Missile away." Diana says.

Diana watches grimly as the missile flies inside the hole and detonates. Suddenly a huge chunk of the bgy-11 blows off and only the right half is left. A few minutes later Diana watches in horror as the bgy-11 lifts off and flies up into the air. After a few seconds it blows up.

“NOO!!” Diana screams.

She wakes up with a start and finds herself in cold sweat.

“That damn nightmare again. It has kept me awake for the last week. But it wasn’t me that brought down the bgy-11. It couldn’t have been me, I was on another ship.” Diana says.

Diana looks at the clock and sees it’s only 3 am.

“I am never going to get a good nights sleep.” Diana gripes.

Diana lies down but can’t get back to sleep. After lying for a half an hour she gets up and decides to place a call to someone she knows is still awake.

“Slate.” Dr. Slate responds on the communication screen.

Dr. Slate looks half asleep.

“Hey.” Diana says.

“What are you doing calling at this hour?” Slate asks.

“I can’t sleep and I figured you never sleep practically.” Diana responds.

Slate smiles.

“I am feeling a bit tired myself.” Slate says.

“How is the work on Rusty’s emotion grid going?” Diana asks.

“I’m almost ready to test the new upgrade. I am excited. Rusty doesn’t know quite what to think about it.” Slate responds smiling.

Diana yawns and so does Slate.

“I better let you go before we both collapse on the spot.” Diana says.

They both sign off and Diana goes to lie back down. Back at the platform the situation is getting worse. Several people including the first woman are covered in black.

“What the hell is this stuff?” One of the guys asks.

Another guy scans the bodies and shakes his head.

“I have no idea. It’s definitely not oil.” The other guy responds.

In the radar room the officer’s jaw is on the floor in shock at what the radar is picking up.

“That’s impossible. Nothing can be that big.” The captain says.

Suddenly the image moves. Something huge slams into the platform and shakes it violently. An alarm goes off.

“Damn. What the hell just hit us?” The captain asks.

“My guess is whatever is down there.” The radar operator responds.

Suddenly the black substance appears from the radar and jumps to cover the operator. Then another impact slams the platform off balance.

“Get a distress signal out now!” The captain yells into the communicator say.

Meanwhile in the communications room back on the USS Darkhorse an officer picks a signal up.

“Mayday! Mayday! This is the oil platform 5 miles off of the main coast. We are under attack by an unknown assailant. Please bring assistance immediately.” A voice says.

The officer calls Thorton while the message repeats. Thorton frowns as he listens.

“Are we the closest ship?” Thorton asks.

The officer nods his head. Thorton gets on the communicator.

“Engine room. Set a course for 2 miles north at fastest speed possible. Boarding teams be ready for anything.” Thorton orders.

Thorton feels the engines come to life, as the Darkhorse starts moving. Shortly they come in sight of the oil platform.

“This is General Thorton to anybody on the oil platform. Do you read me?” Thorton asks.

But there is no response.

“Repeat this is General Thorton to anybody on board the oil platform. Please respond.” Thorton says.

A strange noise comes over the speakers. Only three words are spoken.

“It ends here.”

Suddenly the whole oilrig goes up in a huge ball of fire.

“What the hell just happened?” Thorton asks after the explosion dies down.

“Well obviously the platform exploded. It could have been an accident.” The officer responds.

“Yeah but the last words make it seem to not be the case.” Thorton says.

Thorton’s brow creases with thought.

“Should we get closer to the wreckage? We might be able to salvage something that can tell us what happened.” The navigator asks.

“Let’s wait till the fire dies down a bit. Until then go over the distress call and use the sound analyzer to find any strange background noises. And if you do then try to match it with that sound we heard before the guy spoke.” Thorton orders the communication officer.

Thorton sighs.

“I have a bad feeling about this but we are required to investigate.” Thorton says.

Meanwhile Diana is searching her logs for answers. She goes to the one that is dated the day before the bgy-11 was destroyed.

“Personal log. I am so excited. I have been selected to get off of the sea and be on a land base. They want to use my skills to decode a decrypted message. I might be able to fly a plane in a mission if they need me.” Diana’s voice says.

“I might be able to fly.” The sentence echoes in her head.

“This is a very delicate mission. We may have to take down a very important target. Our orders are to not hesitate if the need arises.” A General talks to a bunch of pilots including Diana.

“I was a pilot. Against an important target?” Diana thinks.

Diana tries to access the next log. The one made on the day that the bgy-11 was destroyed. But a password interface comes up.

“Why would I have pass worded my own log entry?” Diana wonders.

She punches in every word she is familiar with but none work.

“Damn.” Diana says.

Meanwhile back in the communications room the officer has isolated a strange sound during the message.

“Mayday! Mayday!” A voice yells.

A loud sound that is still garbled sounds.

“There that’s the only strange sound other than the man’s voice that we picked up.” The officer says.

Thorton frowns and plays the sound again.

“Can you clear it up any more?” Thorton asks.

The officer punches some buttons then shakes his head.

“Bring up the last communication from the platform and isolate the sound.” Thorton says.

The officer brings it up. A loud strange sound comes over the speakers.

“It ends here.”

“Put the two sound waves together and compare.” Thorton says.

The two waves come together. There is a slight difference but they are almost the same.

“The difference could be cause of the softness of the first sound. But I think they are the same.” The officer says.

“Can you compile the two sounds together and see if you can make them clearer?” Thorton asks.

“I can try.” The officer says.

He brings up another program. After a few seconds another sound plays. This one is clear as a bell and very disturbing. A loud scream is heard but it doesn’t sound human. Thorton has to steady himself after hearing that.

“Is that human?” Thorton asks.

The officer shakes his head.

“No it sounds more feral. Wild.” The officer responds.

“What the hell was on that ship that made that kind of noise?” Thorton asks.

The navigator shows up.

“Sir the fire has died down. I believe we can safely approach the platform.” The navigator says.

“Do it.” Thorton orders.

The ship slowly approaches and stops within a few feet. Thorton looks at the twisted smoldering wreckage and shakes his head. Unseen by him a long tendril of black goes over the top of the deck and starts slithering along.

“Sir!” An officer yells.

Thorton spins around and sees another officer being covered by a black substance.

“What the hell!” Thorton yells.

He draws his weapon.

“Don’t sir. You might hit him.” The communications officer warns.

“Help me!” The officer says in a gurgling voice as the black substance enters his mouth.

Suddenly the black substance jumps into the see. Thorton lowers his weapon.

“Damn it. I should have taken a shot. He looked like he was a goner anyway.” Thorton says.

Suddenly another tendril of black jumps on deck. Thorton fires his weapon and the tendril falls back.

“Sir!” The communications officer yells.

Thorton spins around and sees 3 more tendrils on deck.

“We are being overtaken!” Thorton yells.

“This is what must have happened to the oil platform.” The communications officer says.

Thorton fires on the tendrils but there are two many of them.

“Let’s escape below decks. It might buy us some time!” Thorton yells.

Everybody left on deck race lower decks. Thorton races to the radar room.

“What the hell is down there?” Thorton asks.

The officer’s face is white and Thorton sees why. The radar is detecting a huge object.

“What the hell? Nothing can be that big.” Thorton asks.

“Do you think the bgy-12 can deal with this?” The radar officer asks.

“I can’t think of anything else.” Thorton asks.

He gets on the communicator.

“If that black stuff hasn’t already taken the hanger that is.” Thorton says.

He turns on the communicator.

“This is General Thorton. Will Lt. Masterson report to below decks immediately.” Thorton orders.

He rushes to meet her.

“What’s going on here?” Diana asks.

“There appears to a huge creature somewhere beneath the ship. It has been sending black tendrils of something onto the deck. It took an officer already.” Thorton says.

“And you want me to bring the bgy-12 down to deal with it?” Diana asks.

“I know it’s asking a lot. Your life may be in danger in doing so. I am not ordering you because of that but all our lives depend upon dealing with that monster.” Thorton responds.

Diana sighs and then smiles.

“Hey danger is my middle name.” Diana says.

She and Thorton head up above decks. A deck coated in black greets them.

“Damn it’s blocking the main hanger.” Thorton says.

Diana takes out her weapon and starts blasting a path to the hanger while running faster than she has ever ran in her life. She barely makes it without getting caught. She rushes towards the bgy-12 and enters the code to get inside. She gets inside the cockpit and activates.

“Okay big guy jr. This may be our last mission together so let’s go out with a bang!” Diana yells.

The bgy-12 flies over the deck as the black substance reaches up hungrily. Meanwhile something climbs on board. A face is revealed. A human face. Thorton sees it. The figure screams the same one that was over the communications.

“Oh my god.” Thorton gasps.

“Computer scan for a huge object beneath the ocean.” Diana says.

The scream zeroes in on a huge creature with an even bigger maw.

“A leviathan. I thought they were only a legend.” Diana says.

Suddenly a huge tentacle shoots out of the water and wraps itself around the bgy-12.

“Damn!” Diana yells.

A weapon comes out of the wrist and it points downwards.

“Eat missile!” Diana yells.

Two missles fly and hit the monster in the maw. But this just seems to tick it off and the tentacle starts to crush the bgy-12. It starts to drag it down under the water.

“Computer divert all power to the after burners now!” Diana yells.

She hits a button and the after burner activates but it doesn’t do any good. Soon the entire robot is under water.

“Warning. Structural integrity at 50%. Failure in 1 minute.” The computer warns.

“Computer lock onto the exact center of the mouth and prepare the main weapon.” Diana says.

The computer locks on and the main weapon powers up.

“Fire!” Diana yells.

A huge blast shoots right into the middle of the mouth. But it doesn’t faze him and the percentage continues to fall.

“It’s over. It’s been a good fight big guy Jr.” Diana says.

“Warning life support is failing.” The computer says.

Diana feels lightheaded and starts hallucinating.

“You are about to launch for what may be the most tense mission ever. We have been ordered to take out the bgy-11 if Lt. Hunter cannot gain control.” An commanding officer tells a bunch of pilots including Diana.

“I was sent to destroy it.” Diana says.

Diana is flying a plane lining up to fire a missile at a target.

"May god have mercy on your soul Lt.. I'm sorry it had to end like this." Diana says.

"This is Lt. Hunter. I have control of the bgy-11. Abort attack. I repeat abort attack!" Dwayne yells.

But the pilot pushes the button right as the communication comes over the radio.

"Damn too late. Missile away." Diana says.

Diana watches grimly as the missile flies inside the hole and detonates. Suddenly a huge chunk of the bgy-11 blows off and only the right half is left. A few minutes later Diana watches in horror as the bgy-11 lifts off and flies up into the air. After a few seconds it blows up.

“NOO!!” Diana screams.

Diana cries.

“I destroyed it. I don’t deserve to live.” Diana says.

But something inside of her snaps.

“I was chosen to replace the old pilot and safeguard the city. If I just give up then the city will be at the mercy of madmen like Poindexter.” Diana says.

Diana thinks.

“Computer prepares to eject core. Explode core exactly 30 seconds after ejection.” Diana says.

The computer acknowledges.

“Eject!” Diana yells.

The core is ejected and falls into the maw of the creature. 30 seconds later a huge explosion erupts inside the monster and rips it apart. The shock wave knocks the bgy-12 away. Diana smiles.

“We did it. We sacrificed our self in the process but we did it.” Diana says smiling.

Suddenly a slight thump rocks the cockpit.

“Oh no. Is that monster still alive?” Diana wonders.

But it’s a large winch that has grabbed her and pulls her out of the water and onto the deck. The black infestation is gone. On deck Thorton is holding his weapon with a blank look on his face.

“I killed an officer. I have never killed anyone other than the enemy.” Thorton says.

Diana gets out and walks shakily. One person starts clapping then everybody claps. Later on Diana finally punches the right password in.

“Truth.”

“I…i. Destroyed it. I fired the missile just as he said he was in control. Damn my trigger finger.” Diana’s voice says.

She sighs.

“They aren’t going to put me in trouble. They believed that I didn’t mean to fire that missile. Diana out.” Diana’s voice says.

Diana notices another log has appeared. She activates it.

“If you are listening to this then you have remembered the truth. I am about to use a memory blocking device to block this memory. I don’t want to remember the awful thing I did. But I know this won’t last forever. I am passwording the last entry so you won’t uncover the truth until you remember yourself.” A solemn sounding voice says.

Diana sheds a tear.

“Diana out.”

Epilogue…

Poindexter is in his lab and he is smiling.

“At last it’s done.” Poindexter says.

The lights come on revealing a rebuilt bgy-11.

“All it needs is a pilot.” Poindexter says.

He laughs insanely as the bgy-11’s eyes glow with power.

To be continued…