Isis heard carefully as Jake pointed out Nathan as her pair on the scouting mission. Using the airship wasn't an option, thanks to the weird effects the pillar had, so they would have to do the reconnaissance by ground, which was a very good notice to Isis
]and Bastet, who was eager to go.
Nathan seemed to be a very reliable guy. Aside from the boasting, he really seemed to know what he was doing, so she was rather comfortable having him as her pair. Especially after he mounted on his duvari. Both the duvari and him seemed to have the pack mentality, the way they walked and acted. It would be easier to work that way.
"Oh, there it is again" Isis said, squinting her eyes as the pillar of light appearad once more.
"It is really a sight to behold, isn't it?" she asked, turning to Nathan. Nathan turned to identify what Nasri was talking about. As he stared at the pillar of light he took a moment to take in its beauty. Despite being what could be the harbinger of something more gruesome for mankind, it did complement the surrounding area, illuminating even the shadows. If this had all been a different story, an alternate story where humanity's very survival did not rely on a massive, defensive wall, retrofitted with heavy artilery and personnel, he would have found a serenity to the event. But, he simply found himself with a grim expression on his face.
It was strange, sure. But it was undeniably beautiful. She could only wonder about what that was, and why it was there...
Interrupting her thoughts, Jake said something about being too quiet and empty.
"We and Bastet are ready. Don't worry Jake, its probably empty because of the bit pillar of light." Isis answered testing the radio as she heard Jake's orders and informations.
"I hope you're right." He thought quietly to himself in an attempt to suppress the doubt that was slowly rising. But luckily Nasri spoke up, pulling Nate from his thoughts.
"So, Nathan, before we go, it would be good to know a little about our abilities and preferred fighting style, don't you agree?" He looked at her with slight confusion as he came out of his thoughts. He smiled and nodded as he leaned slightly back on his Duvari which he soon came to name Rogue. Rogue took a step back as he leaned with a light chirp.
"Yeah that would probably be best. With me its simple, sorta. In situations like this I try to rely on my past experience as a scavenger; Stay low, stay quiet. If anything arises well...I tend to think on the fly." He chuckled to himself.
"Really my thing is always keep moving with caution. I can handle myself in hand to hand if need be but I'm best with a rifle, automatic or bolt...What about you? So far I've seen you and Baset act like sisters so I wanna guess you two work tandem?" He cocked a brow.
"Pretty much. We've been hunting together for years. Although I'm more than capable of using my bow from a rather long distance, I prefer to run together with Bastet, using it in mid range. She understands my movements and I understand hers." Isis said, answering him. He sat there with his head down listening, nodding occasionally.
"These clawed gloves I use are both for protecting my hands from the bow strings and for hand to hand combat. Its nails are pretty sharp, so I can use them as a knife easily.""One of our specialties are moving in the forest undetected. Scouting large areas & etc." she said, confidently.
"And hunting, of course. Be it animals, monsters or other things." she said, smiling. His shoulders seem to jerk upwards slightly as he let out a "hm" in amusment.
"Don't worry. As long as you are with me, you will never get lost in the forest. Oh, and one more thing. My combat style can be a bit... unique. Since me and Bastet know each other so well, we do not need to communicate ourselves to fight... So I may forget to talk to you sometimes... I promise you I'll try my best to not forget about it and tell you my tactics and plans before putting them into action..." she said, with an awkward smile. With that he looked at her with a thin smile.
"Out here, especially where we are, communication will be a necessity. I like the idea of you staying somewhat distant and keeping an eye out while in the forest while I move in. But the moment you see some activity, call it out and then meet with me. I don't want to end up in the digestive track of some shredder or something. Though to be quite honest I would rather you be on my six the whole time but I guess having you scope the perimeter while I move through the structures themselves could be used to our advantage, especially if these Wild Men are further out..." He seemed to pause momentarily as he processed what was said so far before eventually nodding. He looked over and cleared his throat before speaking up.
Isis listened him attently as he spoke, nodding her head. True, especially on that environment, communication was essential. She would have to remember herself to communicate with him while in combat.
"So here's the plan. I want you to take Rogue here with you when we get down there. Keep at a fair distance. I want you to be able to have a clear line of sight without giving yourself away, just incase there are Wild Men tribes down there. If you see no activity, let me know and I'll begin to move in. Jake-" He turned back to their captain.
"Are you sure you want me to take your Duvari?" she asked confounded.
"Anyways..." she said, getting closer to Rogue
"I don't think I'll have much trouble It seems to be already used to be in a pack. It may be not used with our fighting style, but nothing that a firm command won't solve, right?" she asked, laughing as she caressed Rogue.
"I'll be consistantly relaying back to you what I see. If I go silent don't panick. If you here a few pops that may or may not be gunshots...Well...tell everyone that knows me back home I died in some sexual sacrificial ritual amongst the Wild women. Specifically tell my girlfriend that. She should have a good laugh...Oh and that I am coming to haunt her and her new boyfriend just for the shits and giggles." He then smirked before turning back to Nasri with a nod and began moving forward.
"Thats a very specific way to die. 'Been thinking about this for a while?" she asked laughing.
"Don't worry, you will not die. At least not yet. As long as you are my pair in this mission." she said, smiling.
Jake was gazing through his scope still scanning the area when Isis and Jake had their conversation, though towards the end of it when they finished and set to go he responded,
"I'll pass it along. You're good to go guys."From there it was a simple ride down the right flank of the cliff that let them break farther right to give the Wild Man city a wide berth. The lip of the crater was still quiet a distance away with the trek being eerily quiet. It was like all life was cowering from the great beam of light that peirced the Heavens and was still aglow with radiant and powerful energy.
Without the threat of monsters the trip was going by at a quick rate, especially with the Duvari the two scouts had running silently through the open expanses using the large jagged rocks and twisted ridges as cover in the event of lurking Wild Men.
It was at this point, roughly 15 minutes into their journey that two things were made clear. First was that all of the great ridges and edges that surrounded the crater appeared to not be natural but instead shaped like the Earth was sundered by a great force and pushed out from the center, but the way it was done... it was like the Earth was melted and then cooled to give it a wicked flowing shape of rock and stone. The second was that the closer to the lip of the crater they got the feeling of power in the air grew. When they were a few hundred meters from the cusp the feeling was almost palpable, like they were walking through an invisible dust storm of energy and power.
Isis was scouting ahead, with Rogue and Bastet. The other duvari was doing better than she thought. It was following each one of her movements carefuly. She could see it wasn't as experienced as Bastet, but it was trying its hardest to follow their movements.
"You're doing good, keep the good work!" Isis whispered, near the domesticated duvari, caressing it. After all, it deserved to be praised. Nanthan rolled his eyes but smirked. She really did seem to do well with nature and the animals as Rogue chirped up in excitement.
Instead of walking near the border of the crater, Isis preferred to run through the forest, as she was more comfortable by moving through it and using it for cover.
The crater itself was even more strange than before as she kept walking. It was like something melted and cooled the earth and stone around it, almost like shaping it, giving it a beautifully unique flowing pattern carved on it. But that wasn't the only strange thing... There was also a strange feeling. She didn't know how to explain, but it was like a feeling of power in the air, almost like an invisible storm. Nathan surveyed the crater and once again, similar to the light, was in awe of its being. It was truly a sight to behold and with its beauty that creeping unease set in.
"Nathan, are you feeling this? This strange feeling?" Isis asked, using the radio. Her response was becoming staticy and slightly broken to which he looked over to her and tapped his headset.
"I'm start- o hav- a it tr-uble hearing -uo." He attempted to respond. He was getting on edge.
"Nathan? Nathan? Do you hear me?!" Isis asked, worried. Something was wrong, very, very wrong. That sensation, the radio failing... She didn't liked that one bit. Nathan shook his head and slowed down.
"Calm down. I-s the area - 'er in. The cr-ter is causi." He sighed before moving closer to her.
"Without communication it will be better if we go together." she said, although she was almost certain the static on the radio wouldn't let him hear her. But she was confident he would think the same way as her. He bit his bottom lip as he brought his Duvari to a stop. Rogue looked back at Nate with a low chirp and growl as it stepped back a few steps before staying still. He withdrew his rifle and peered through the scoop.
"Na- to- ooks to b- ear. warn-eavy static a- near." He attempted to relay back to Jake. Hopefully he got the message. It was pretty bad but still enough he felt comfortable telling Jake it was clear. He looked over to Nasri as he lowered his rifle and put it away before moving his assault rifle to his front. He gestured for her to come closer so he wouldn't have to.
"Look, for now on we'll have to rely on another means of communication. Hand signals, morse code or something. At least until this radio problem goes away. Sounds good?"When Nathan sent his message back to Jake they had a little ways to head to the edge of the crater which meant that a little of the transmission had made it's way back. It wasn't much but he had enough to work with.
"Repeat last. You came in broken and unclear." He stated, trying to get a message back to Nathan, but nothing came through as the scouts moved up to teh crest of the crater.
It was there and then they had a visual down into the massive crater. Down deep in it's belly was the answer to what happened to the Wild Men. They were all there, surrounding the source of the light that was currently out of view. The illumination and radience of it being to great to tell what exactly it was, but one thing was clear. Given the size of the Wild Men it was big, like the size of a large house and five times as tall. All of the Wild Men around it seemed to be in some sort of ritualistic trance, worshipping whatever was in the center and treating it like a God. The sheer number of them being staggering. Most WIld Men gathered in villages and towns of no more than a few thousand, but this looked to be easily over a hundred thousand. Whatever this beacon was it had the ability to bring so many together without causing a civil war.
Jake had to take action. With the last transmission he sent he knew that the interfereance was keeping them from getting a straight answer, but from what he heard last it sounded like the all clear. Though making the call without a decisive answer would cost lives...
"Move out, we follow their path and will rendevous." He said to the rest of the team, lashing at the Duvari to get him moving down the hill and after his scouts.
Thankfully his call proved to be correct and the message Nathan sent was the all clear, leaving them with a quick and safe journey through the alien and twisted landscape. He couldn't help but look at all the strange formations, seeing the warped and unnatural rock and stone. There were few forces that could do something like this, The Other being the most capable...
Without much time lost though they had Isis and Nathan in visual range as they were at the lip of the crater. With a reining of his Duvari he gently trot up after them, dismounting a distance away to minimize his sillouette. Upon reaching the edge he joined the two and saw the same terror and wonder that they had been looking at for the past 15 minutes. Enough Wild Men to take over any known tribe and a strange glowing object in the middle. Though with how long it had been since it first started and how long it's known to go it may be dying soon which means they'd have a visual, hopefully.
