Aden didn't go back to the Judicator after Jessica left with La'ara. Instead, he discreetly followed the pair through the Station, all the way to an apartment in the middle levels. He watched from a nearby rooftop as La'ara opened the door and let herself and Jessica inside. He assumed it was La'aras own apartment. He stood in the shadows on the roof accros the street for about an hour, until all the lights went out and he was sure that they were asleep. With a few blinks at his HUD, he lowered his rangefinder and activated the scanner feature. At this range it wasn't entirely accurate but it was powerful enough that he was able to make out the faint signatures of two people. Next, he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small camera dart which he fitted to his gauntlet mounted dart launcher. Lifting his arm he fired the tiny device at the wall directly above the door to the apartment. He left another camera on the rooftop he was on before leaving the area, satisfied that if anybody went in or out of the building, he'd know about it. Jessica would be safe for now.
Leaving the mid level of the Station, Aden entered the maintenance corridors that ran throughout the entire station. They were dark, twisted, dank alleys, with no cameras or bystanders to keep tabs on you. It was a perfect place to go if you needed to get somewhere on the station inconspicuously. Bringing up a scan that he'd done a couple years ago of the tunnels, Aden began walking with the map overlaid on his HUD. He wanted to talk with the Blackstars about that noise he'd heard, if for no other reason than he wanted some details about what the hell that noise had been earlier. If there was any profit to be made through the hunting of whatever or whoever was behind the noises, then he wanted in on it. Through these tunnels Aden could gain access to almost anywhere on the station, including the Blackstars headquarters, which was where he was headed now.
Aden crouched and squeezed through a particularly cramped passage, the tip of his jet-pack mounted missle scraping the ceiling. He'd been in the tunnels for about an hour now, all of it spent looking though the ghostly green, garish filter of his night vision. In some areas, sensors in his suit alerted him to noxious fumes in the air. Every now and then he could hear scrapes off in the distance or the scurrying of a rat in the pipes above his head. Aden certainly wasn't afraid of the dark or of the things that dwelled in it for that matter, but he had to admit that these tunnels had taken on an eerie presence since the last time he had been on Shadow station.
Rounding a corner as per his HUDs directions, Aden came face to face with a heavy steel door that wasn't on his scans. Frowning, he looked over his maps again to see if he'd made a wrong turn. He hadn't. Stepping up to the door he looked for a way through it. After a quick inspection he found a small lever embedded in the steel at the top. With some effort he was able to pry the handle free, producing a loud screech that echoed up and down the corridor. Grimacing, Aden stepped past the door and closed it behind himself before pulling his pistol from its holster and holding vertically near his shoulder. He didn't know what the door had been in place for but by the look of it, it was nothing good. His suit was hardened against all forms of gas and radiation so he was safe from that. He didn't quite know why he had his pistol drawn but something told him it was a wise precaution.
Before he had gone even ten steps past the door, Aden saw that the space he was in now was quite a bit larger than the other tunnels and that it was filled with a dense, steam like fog that prevented his night vision from reaching farther than a few meters. Sighing, he slowly walked forward. Suddenly he heard a loud screech very similar to the one from earlier only slightly less piercing. This one wasn't loud enough for his helmet to block it out but it was just as nerve racking... and it was coming from this room.
Aden Immediately had his pistol lowered and his targeting antenna lowered. He froze, watching the 360 degree camera feed, ready for anything. Or so he thought.
A second scream sounded directly in front of him causing him to aim his pistol just as a massive, hunchbacked figure rushed out of the fog at him. He fired once, twice, three times, each producing a spike in the piercing scream coming from the figure. Before he could get off a fourth shot, the creature lashed out with a huge clawed hand and struck his left side. The hit spun him around and sent him stumbling away from the monster. Ending his spin by rolling sideways Aden ended up on one knee and began firing shot after shot into the fog where the thing had disappeared. He also activated the built in camera in his helmet. Standing, Aden again began moving forward to where he hoped the exit was.
Again, he heard the howl and he saw the shape coming again. He opened up on it, backing away as he did. Looking in the reverse camera he could now see a door behind him. He kept firing, eventually eliciting another scream from the freak. Finally the monster stumbled and fell to the floor. Before he could finnish it off, it looked up at him, three eerie blue eyes staring up at him, screamed once before rolling away and scampering back into the fog. Aden held his aim for another five seconds before finally turning and ripping open the door behind him. Before closing it however, he quickly pulled a small thermal grenade from his belt and tossed it inside. Once the door was closed he backed away and counted to four. The explosion echoed faintly from behind the heavy steel. Turning, Aden began jogging down the corridor while wondering what in the nine hells he'd just seen.
