The canyon was dead silent outside of the rumble of the convoy. Nothing moved. It was like life itself had fled the zone in preparation for whatever caused this much damage. Even Haman didn’t start his music back up, and instead we just sat in silence.
Getting across the titanic furrow in the ground was easier said than done. The entire thing was filled with water, turning it into a hot marsh. Several times, the convoy had to slow to a stop to pull a hummer out of the muck. Every time it happened, my vigilance would skyrocket in case of an ambush. None ever came.
About halfway across, nothing happened. Two thirds—still nothing. And then we were pulling over the lip of the groove. The seemingly impossibly vast stretch of the destroyed ground lay behind us, with our tracks still evident through the muddy earth.
The fog of the Mire billowed back around us, and we were once more held within its grasp. There was almost an odd comfort in it compared to the openness of the canyon. I never thought I’d find the Mire comforting, of all things.
”Go that way.” I pointed diagonally from the way forward. Seek shifted for the first time since we slipped down into the monolithic trench, and redirected us.
The ground returned to its cratered and pockmarked state. Boulders and debris lay where they were displaced by the spatial anomaly. Through it all, we moved slowly alongside the guidance of Seek.
After a time, my psionic ability stopped moving entirely, and pointed straight east once more. My instincts stopped screaming death, and my fur slowly started to settle back down. “I think we’re out.”
”It does appear so.” Paige leaned forward between our two seats and stared out the window. Fog billowed steadily ahead of us once more.
Haman glanced in the rearview mirror back toward the spatial anomaly. “We’ll route way to the north on the way back. Should be able to avoid this entire place.”
”Roger.” Avoidance… yeah, that was good. In the face of unstoppable power, avoiding it was the only path. We got through this time, but there was no telling if we would the next.
The vehicle turned silent once more. My vigilance slowly started to drop, and the minutes turned to hours. The convoy stretched back out into a line, and a hummer from the back moved to the front as another sacrificial pawn. Although Haman didn’t directly call them that, the implication was unmistakable.
We soon got back on a major highway, and followed it forward. A ghost town opened up around us. The buildings, what was left of them, were mere ruins of what the world would’ve looked like before the anomalous fog shrouded everything.
Every thirty or so minutes, I’d check the directions with Seek. The Mire was already dark, but the tiny bit of light diffusing from the shining sun slowly started to fade away. Soon, it was just the light of radiance and the high beams guiding us forward.
Trees started to appear from beyond the fog. First, it was just one or two of them scattered around. The shadows of darkness looked like silhouettes watching us from the depths of the Mire. More and more palepines appeared until we fully entered a forest of some kind.
Light flashed from behind, and one of the hummers lit up something lurking in the fog. Another joined it, and heavy thunks echoed across the convoy. The heavy percussive noise cut over Haman’s pop music. A moment later, the glowing radio crackled. “Clear.”
”Overseer, it’s getting to be about that time.” A woman chattered into the radio. Sounded like the flame-haired woman. “Should we find a spot?”
Haman nodded his head a few times, and tapped on the steering wheel. Instead of answering back, he turned to me. “How far do you think? We should be getting close, no?”
”Um… drive forward more?” We were moving slightly diagonally to Seek so we could stay on what once used to be a highway. There were still trees and foliage growing up from the battered road, but it was much easier to get around then the full blown forest. “I’ll try to triangulate.”
“Mhmm.” The convoy steadily continued forward along the remnants of what used to be. Abandoned cars long left to rust were scattered around, though the majority were pushed out of the way by the hummer at the front. The lieutenant seemed to be able to control the earth, and easily pushed everything out of our way.
My ears twitched, and I focused on Seek’s connection. Based on how fast the direction shifted, I could get a pretty good idea of distance even without fully triangulating a path. “Maybe… thirty minutes northish? We’re close.”
”Finally,” Paige softly sighed from the back. It was the most emotion I’d seen from the giant of a woman. I was getting cramped, so I couldn’t even imagine how terrible it must’ve felt for someone her size.
Overseer Haman picked up the radio, and spoke to the entire convoy. “All units, we’re proceeding forward. The target is within proximity.”
Even as night settled around us, we moved forward. The convoy split northeast following my directions, and left the highway behind for the wooded wilderness. We stopped briefly to readjust the line up of lieutenants, and more Beyonders of various kinds joined the front to cut a route through the forest.
The trees pressed in tighter and tighter, and I carefully watched the shadows dance in the fog. My fur bristled at the total lack of maneuverability. If something came out while we were like this… though the lack of space likely meant something large wouldn’t be able to get by either.
Sporadic gunfire erupted from hummers along the flank. Several more creatures were destroyed or scared off by stray shots from the convoy. Each time, my eyes would flick to the source of the disturbance. The fog obscured everything in a dense layer, and totally obscured the calamities.
With one last surge of earth displacing trees, the sightlines abruptly cut open. Snapped limbs of palepines, as if hit was a gargantuan concussive wave, leaned against their brethren. The destruction intensified until there were barely trees standing.
A crater, this time much smaller than the spatial anomaly, opened up. In the middle of it, half buried under dust and debris, was our crashed freighter. It didn’t match an AV I’d seen before. Freighters were naturally massive since they carried shipments between cities. This one made even those pale in comparison.
Then there was the actual design of the ship. It looked alien, almost. Definitely made by human hands, but usually freighters looked more industrial and… punky? Even the best of them usually looked like a moving scrapyard. This one, though, was smooth except for its sundered body.
My heart thrummed intensely in my chest as we closed in. Every fiber of my being pulled me toward the ship. Seek shut off a moment later, which reduced some of the draw. Still, the entire reason I crossed the Mire lay somewhere in that ship. This place almost perfectly lined up with the coordinates from Checkpoint.
I had to force myself to sit still and hide my anticipation. It took a serious amount of effort to keep my traitorous tail from giving me away. The Overseer picking up on me having alternative reasons for joining the expedition could only end in disaster.
It was harder than it usually was, even with the armor helping hide my emotions. The thing I longed for lay here—freedom. No, not even freedom. Just the hope of being free from psionic corruption.
The convoy circled up just like every time we came to a stop, and Overseer Haman popped open the door. I stepped out a moment later with my vi-rifle held tightly in my hands.
“Set up defenses! I want this place ready for hell if it comes!” Overseer Haman shouted orders toward the syndicate’s people, and moved over to the APC. “Barghest.”
”Roger.” Instead of joining the group to set up, I followed him.
Lord Bartmoss stepped out of the heavily armored APC, and stretched out. The other goliath, Heron if I remembered right, moved out just behind him. Paige joined the two almost instantly.
”Well done.” The large man looked off toward the crashed freighter. His stone-like expression wasn’t quite enough to hide the satisfaction burning in his eyes. “Well done indeed.”
++ Templar Pharmaceuticals Biomonitor - Restrictions Partially Lifted ++
| Subject: Alive
Subject Species: Unknown
Subject Profile: Restricted
NLC - 180/181
=Child-locked Templar Biomonitor - (50)
=KA Myo-series 1.12 - STR 0.5 - (30)
=#&*!)(?>#(!()??
Access: Restricted
7 Warnings! |
I blinked, and my focus was entirely stolen away by the words swimming in my vision once more. Did he—Bartmoss must’ve lifted the restrictions a bit. Why? As a reward for doing well?
My hand tightened at the thought, and the metal of my vi-rifle creaked in protest. A shiver went down my spine, and I hesitantly lifted the weapon. That wasn’t right. I stared down at the distressed metal. Usually I wasn’t strong enough to do that…
My eyes snapped back to the readout, and settled on the KA Myo-series. Did he enhance my strength? Just like that? I twisted my arm around and tried to feel the compression of my muscles. I couldn’t quite tell, but my body didn’t feel right. A sick feeling welled up in my stomach. Had the UCS really advanced to the point that they could remotely manipulate my biology?
| Warnings Detected:
Erratic Cellular Activity
Amygdala Hyperactivity |
The severe physical trauma warning faded at some point. In its place, there were two new ones. Erratic Cellular Activity—maybe that was referring to my regeneration? I’d heard the scientists comment on that a long time ago. No idea what the Amygdala was, though.
”Secure the perimeter.” Bartmoss waved a hand back toward Haman. It seemed more perfunctory than actually worried about others infringing on the downed ship.
”Of course, milord.” Overseer Haman bowed his head slightly. “We upheld our end of the deal—“
”And I’ll uphold mine.” The man’s jaw twitched like he was offended by the very notion that he wouldn't hold up his side of the deal. “Paige, go find us a way in. Heron, stay on perimeter security.”
”Yes, Commander.” The two saluted, and left to take care of their jobs.
”Overseer, pick a small group to come in.” Lord Bartmoss turned away before Haman could reply, and moved to a better spot to watch the crashed freighter. He just stood there with his hands calmly tucked behind his back.
Haman stared off after the man for a moment, and then nodded to me. He pulled the radio off his ballistic vest. “Lieutenants. Meet me in the center.”
Soon, a group of nine people gathered around us. Hades’ Lieutenants were almost exclusively Beyonders. They were spread out through the convoy, each in a different hummer, so I hadn’t had much of a chance to interact with them. Of the nine, I only recognized a few.
While the lieutenants circled up, the rest of the mundane syndicate Enforcers spread out and started to prepare defenses. A group dragged tree limbs over, and another started to dig trenches. Pointless work, to be honest. The lieutenants could do what took the Enforcers hours in mere moments.
“…” An Awoken I recognized waved politely at me. She looked far better than the last time I saw her. ‘Course Hades wouldn’t treat an Awoken poorly.
“...” I silently nodded to the mute with my ears lowered, and turned my attention back to the Overseer.
“Lena, Steelheart, and Pyra will come with me.” Overseer Haman looked out toward the forest for a moment. “The rest of you, be on your guard. Stay here and ensure our escape is secure should we need it.”
Right, of course he wouldn’t want me in there. Picking her over me… again. I shouldn’t have expected anything different. Despite knowing that, bitterness still welled up in my chest. Just like in the lab. I’d been tossed into the kennel to be broken. She was given the chance to Awaken. The verdict still stood the same, even years later.
Worse, some pathetic part of me hoped I’d be picked. Or maybe hoped for it… right, it was just because what I wanted lay somewhere in the ship. Not being invited in would make finding it so much harder. I’d have to wait for guards to drop before trying to slip in at this rate.
“Aye, sir.” The other was a man with steel-like skin. The evident physical mutation indicated he was a Reaver of some kind.
“Sir?” A woman with fire-like hair called—no, not fire-like. It was actually made of fire. It cast a soft glow around her, though otherwise it didn't burn anything. Pyra? “You expectin’ a fight?”
”Potentially.” Overseer Haman glanced back toward the three giants. “Just keep your eyes open.”
My ears twitched in my helmet toward the distant forest. Branches snapped, and sounded particularly loud against the ambient wind and rain. Light flashed, and shouts came from behind us as a small group of Hades’ Enforcers fired away at something in the trees. Their gunfire cut out shortly after.
”What is that thing, sir?” A man with a red halo softly pulsing behind his head pointed toward the crashed freighter. “Doesn’t match any AV I’ve seen.”
”Classified, Lieutenant.” The man in charge shut him down sharply. His expression offered no hints as to what we were here for. “Any other questions?”
A weathered hand raised. Leaves grew out of the back of brown, bark-like skin. ”How long are we going to hold out here?”
“Until Lord Bartmoss finds what he needs.” He glanced around at the group. “Set up barricades and full defensive formations. We may be out here for a while.”
The group splintered, and the four of us moved toward Lord Bartmoss just as Paige came back. The giant waited a moment for us to get into earshot before giving back her report. “A hatch was left open.”
“Excellent.” The man didn’t even bother to look behind him, and moved for the crashed ship.
My ears flattened to the side of my head as a thought occurred to me. I watched them leave me behind with my heart pounding, and could only pray that they weren’t here for the same thing I was. For the first time, hope scared me more than the Mire ever had.