RQ Network Feed Drop – Hollow Disciple - S1: E1 - Extraction

Hi everyone, it's Billy Hindel here.

Today we are sharing an exciting episode from one of the podcasts recently launched on the RQ network, Hollow Disciple.

Hollow Disciple is a thrilling dark science fiction podcast from the brilliant creator of Wake of Corrosion.

In the vast abyss of dying stars lurks a forsaken vessel, silent and still.

Stumbling upon it, the scavenger crew of the L L-Piece begin an ill-fated rescue mission, convinced they have hit the jackpot.

But when the scouting party stops responding, their luck takes a dark turn, and the sinister nature of their prize and its unnerving history becomes all too apparent.

To listen to more exciting, brilliant episodes, search Holo Disciple wherever you listen to podcasts.

Click the link in the show notes or find more information at rustyquill.com.

Have fun and enjoy the episode.

Comms intercepted.

Confirmed.

Confirmed.

That's dual clear to proceed.

Copy that.

Monitoring.

Let's see what plans you've got up there.

Oh, shut that off.

Otherwise, they'll get nothing but static.

You're telling me that the alarm turns the radio to static?

That can't be right.

Yes, it does.

So,

shut it.

Ha!

How is this thing even void sealed?

Luck?

I'm pretty certain between that and Captain's sheer force of will, it's all that's keeping us from breathing in a whole lot of nothing.

Extraction team, this is Exo Rosa Oliveda.

Come in over.

The warning is definitely off, isn't it?

Yes, yes.

Captain Tanvir, please respond.

Damn.

Okay.

You're gonna have to go down and get visuals.

Um, I I am?

Well, it's not gonna be anyone else on here, is it?

Um, there is no one else exactly.

You know the drill.

Go get suited up.

I'll calm you if they reply in the meantime, but it's not looking likely, and those O2 tanks aren't getting any fuller.

I

alright.

This isn't exactly what I had in mind for the rest of my shift, though.

Lars, just to make sure, you are getting suited, right?

Yes, I.

Oh, how old are these damn things?

Rosa?

Look, this isn't the AGC.

They might not be state-of-the-art, but they work, and that's all that matters.

Don't go questioning LP's suits now.

She's sensitive about those.

Rosa.

The Lpis doesn't have feelings.

It's a ship.

In time, you'll understand.

Come on, get the the damn thing on.

Yeah, yeah.

I got it.

Look, I'm not used to suits like this.

Do you think you've got it on right?

Hmm, this is so embarrassing.

Do you think you've got it on correctly?

Yes.

Unclip the monitor from your chest.

Got it.

Press the top buttons on both sides at the same time.

Should light up green.

Um.

Yeah, okay.

Sails are all good.

Who the hell ran through your induction?

Actually, don't answer that.

I already know.

You're good to proceed.

Alright, um, how far do I need to go?

We'll see what the sitch is when you get through.

Might just be a malfunction, and they're happily waiting on the other side.

You never know with derelicts.

Always something you don't expect.

And it's not like we've got the best equipment out here.

Sorry, LP.

You said the vessel you were on before was worse than this?

Um, well, it wasn't great, but I was only there for a few days before they were forced to scuttle the ship, so.

Can't put a suit on, and you're a bad luck charm.

Um, no.

Sorry, too harsh.

No, it's all good.

The LP is as full of junkers looking for junk, who knows?

This just might be our lucky day.

Hey, you could even be a good luck charm.

Cycles complete.

Opening, exterior hatch.

I'll keep it that way just in case there's any issues.

Holy

shit.

You got him?

No, no, no, sorry, it's just this ship.

I've never seen anything like it before.

I guess you weren't eyeing up the feeds as we docked then.

No.

This is mad.

I didn't think they made ships like this.

Uh, yeah, the extraction crew said the same thing when they first went through.

You know how to turn on your external visuals?

Um,

you got him?

Oh, clear as mud.

Even so, wow, they weren't kidding.

I thought it'd be more of the same gray as the outside, but it's it's dark purple, right?

That's not just the the feed.

Um, on these parts, yeah, but there's patches of grey, like these struts running alongside the walls and floors.

None of it is uniform, though.

It kind of changes a little, depending on where you look.

Shit, they were really holding out on me before.

Wish they fired up their visuals.

Anyway, there'll be time to marvel and wow later.

Head on in and see if you can find out where they're at.

My readings indicate they should have about two hours of oxygen left, which honestly is cutting it a bit too fine for my liking.

Um, Rosara, I thought you weren't worried.

Oh, no, I'm not.

Cap does this all the time.

It drives me fucking mad.

And like the rest of our equipment, the radios are absolute trash, so the silence is nothing new.

But

the ship is.

I know.

I'm not a complete Atmo.

Might have been born on Katera, but I grew up on the station.

Could have fooled me.

Look, this isn't my usual game, alright?

Anyway, I've been on plenty of shits before, and this is...

Well,

well, yeah, even from the outside, this ship's wild.

Still, with some of the other shit the Human Expansion Collective are making these days, I wouldn't be surprised if this is another one of their prototypes.

Then what's it doing, floating all the way out here?

It's not even near a habitable planet or station.

Those guys keep everything guarded.

I'd at least expect a base on that rock nearby, but there's nothing.

Well, no shit, Lars.

Why would you put something you didn't want other people, even your own people, to know about right in the middle of inhabited space?

But why would they leave it completely unguarded?

In fact, completely without crew from the looks of it.

Most of the Expansion Collective's fleet is off fighting a war.

They probably had to scrap this project.

I heard they're getting their assets handed to them.

But it's not really our job to speculate, is it?

We get in, get the goods, and clear out.

Speaking of which, any sign of them yet?

No, not yet.

Wait, what was that you just passed there?

Oh, it's just some of their equipment.

I remember Murphy showed me this, actually.

It measures the air quality, pressure, toxins, you know, that sort of stuff.

Check the readings for me, will you?

Yeah, sure.

Huh.

All in the green.

Uh, safe to breathe.

That's weird.

Captain mentioned that when we last calmed.

Maybe they only recently set it up.

It might also explain why they've not come back for refills yet.

I don't buy it.

I'm sorry.

Listen, I need you to do a sweep of the area, check for any signs that they headed in a particular direction.

I'm sorry, why don't you trust me?

Do it, please.

Look, there's only one way down this corridor, but it looks like it forks up ahead.

Let me go take a look.

Wow.

This

place, all this trunking and cable support.

It looks out of place.

Yeah.

Reminds me of when they converted the terraform platforms into housing.

On Katera?

Man, I wish I'd seen that place before they fucked it all up.

There's still a few jungles left, apparently.

All in the southern hemisphere.

Although, I think it's all scientific interest ground now, so no expeditions out there, I'm afraid.

You believe that shit?

Wow.

That place is long gone, my Kateran friend.

But what?

No.

No.

Wait.

Really?

Hold up.

Uh, there's...

There, at the base of the wall on the left, an ISO marker.

Looks like they went that way.

What the fuck was that?

Shit.

Which side?

Right.

Scrap the marker.

Head right.

Oh, okay, okay, but Roger weak.

Move it, Lars.

You're not being paid to deliberate.

Someone's injured and they might need your help.

Go.

Fine, fine, okay.

Quicker.

Okay.

That sounds like Murphy.

I'll go prep the medbay.

Keep heading towards him.

Don't let up.

Damn it.

Murphy.

Murphy.

It's Lars.

Can you hear me?

Fuck.

There you are.

Murphy.

Murphy, come in.

Fucking comms.

Why the fuck have you got your solar shield down, Murphy?

Come in, Lars.

Your camera's come loose.

What's going on?

What's his condition?

I.

I.

I.

What?

The.

Are you seeing this?

Yeah, you found Murphy.

Wait.

He's not in the Rosa.

It's empty.

Open the visor.

Do it.

Shit.

Fuck.

The hell was that?

It came from his suit.

What?

Are you sure?

Yes, I'm sure of it.

What in the name?

Calm down.

It'll be his headset.

That didn't sound like his headset, Rosa.

There was no residual static.

It was clear.

Well, it wasn't a ghost, was it?

Come on, Lars, get your shit together and move on.

Rosa, his suit is empty, it's still fully fastened up.

Who does that?

Who removes their suit, then fastens it back up again while still out on ops?

On ops?

You know what I mean?

Junkers do weird shit, Lars.

Old habits die hard.

Who knows?

It might be a luck thing.

Murphy's weird like that.

Regardless, if that scream came through the radio, that means there's still someone who needs assistance.

And right now, you're the only assistance we've got.

So get moving.

Wait, hold up.

What now?

Captain Tanvir, do you read?

Over.

Captain Tanvir, this is Lars Amazon.

Come in.

I'm starting to believe less and less that that came through the radio.

We can't hail anyone else on these things, just each other.

All we've heard is distant screams, no words, nothing.

I'm not even sure that was the sound of Murphy screaming anymore.

Look, we don't have much else to work off right now.

If Murphy's de-kitted and is wandering around in his undergarments, then that's his choice.

Who knows?

I mean, seriously, this could just be a shitty prank they're playing on you for all I know.

Distant screams, empty spacesuit, it reeks of a setup.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Either way, you should should keep on heading in.

What do you mean?

It wouldn't be the first time.

Nothing, really.

It's just that Murphy and Tanvir can be a bad influence on each other.

They act all serious separately.

Well, Murphy less so, but together?

That's a whole different ballgame.

Wait, do you...

Do you think this is a prank?

Honestly, I don't know.

If it is, they haven't told me.

Losers?

Well, let's work off the idea that it isn't.

That way I don't get in shit if something is up, and if they are having me on, well, they get to feel like it was all worthwhile.

I'd hate to spoil that fun for them, even if I am the victim.

Chop, chop, then.

Yeah, okay, I'm heading back to that icon marker.

Hopefully, it'll point us in the right direction, and then we can get a sip rep.

Lars.

Before you berate me for not going any faster, the terrain here is not the best.

I'm surprised I didn't fall over when I was running early.

I wasn't going to, I just.

Good job on checking his internal comms.

Oh.

And if this is just a bad joke, I'm sorry.

Um, thanks.

It still doesn't make sense to me, though.

Why did we hear something through his suit when we've heard nothing but each other on this channel the whole time?

I'm not sure how they set that up.

The Alpis runs all the chatter through our system, right?

So any comms through the suits goes through your terminal too.

Yeah?

I don't know.

Internal comm loop, maybe?

Look, I think there's a lot going on here that we can speculate on, and if it is real, who knows what sort of tech the Human Expansion Collective are working on out here.

Whatever it is, I wouldn't be surprised if they had some weird radio jamming tech.

Something to mess up intruders if they got aboard.

Who knows?

Maybe an automated system fired up when we docked, or maybe those two triggered it when they were looking around.

Listen,

all I know is that we've heard a few screams, and if this isn't someone in danger, then it's a real cruel way to make you a part of the crew, especially on our second run.

Either way, we have to keep looking, and we have to work on the assumption that it's real.

The crew stands together.

Always.

Got it?

I know.

It's the first thing the captain told me when I joined up.

Kept saying over and over.

Yeah, she's like that.

It's been years since I've heard that little speech of hers.

She still says, You're not the crew, you're my crew.

And that means I got your back, and you better damn have mine.

Um, yeah, sure.

Something like that.

It was like a week ago, you don't remember?

Well, no, I do.

I just.

I.

Well, she's quite intimidating, isn't she?

What's What's so funny?

Oh no, it's mean.

Sorry.

Okay, now you have to tell me.

You just reminded me of something I've not thought about for a while.

Which is...

Well,

Lars Amerson?

Lamerson?

For fuck's sake.

Oh, I shouldn't have asked.

Well, you did, little lamb.

Well, you flipped so much, it's impossible to keep up.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Gotta keep you on your toes, right, Lammy?

Could you just pick one?

Like, serious or childish?

Pick one, please, and stick to it.

Oh, yeah, let me think about that.

Newbie asking the XO to do something.

Yeah, I'll pass.

Nice try, though.

Guess you'll just have to put up with it.

I'm just going to go and find them.

Alright?

Okay.

Okay, that sounded much closer.

Hold on.

Alright, keep it steady.

Let's extract the extractors.

This corridor is a dead end.

What's that on your right, flashing?

Weird.

I

everything okay?

Yeah, no, no, it's it's nothing, it's just this is definitely an expansion collective vessel.

No doubt about it.

Or at least it was.

Was

I'm on it.

To listen to the next exciting episode, you can click on the link in the description or search for Hollow Disciple wherever you get your podcasts.

Or you can find more information at rustyquill.com.

Thanks for listening.