Once the Pelican disappeared into the rainstorm, the noise of its thrusters and engines swallowed by the cacophonous downpour, the two dozen Seekers were left -in quite literal sense- to their own devices. They did not set off straightaway, however. For one, not everyone was here just yet. Flying fast at a high altitude without missing a beat, the Avenger would be circling back toward the Dead Zone to drop off a round of hellpods containing the last few team members. Until they arrived, the others would need to wait so that everyone could proceed safely, sheltered by the Stable Field Emitter.
The other big reason for the group’s hesitation was, of course, the landscape arrayed before them. Muddy, mossy, rocky, and uneven, it offered no straight roads or easy footpaths. Last week’s voidout had cleanly carved the terrain into a massive, shallow basin, exposing a handful of underground tunnels and cave systems into which debris from the annihilated city had been thrown. Rivers of fresh rainwater lanced through the crater, their paths jagged and unpredictable, their currents surprisingly strong. As the downpour pounded their hoods and coats, the Seekers surveyed the environment as best they could, trying to plot out safe routes their makeshift convoy could use. Sandalphon calculated and charted better than most, but she knew as well as anyone that even the best-laid plans would go awry the minute a BB caught wind of one of the dreary realm’s spectral sentinels.
After another moment, the hellpods burst down through the clouds and plowed into the earth, suddenly breaking the tension with loud, rapid-fire slams and tremors. For a moment panic broke out, first about the sudden disturbance and then at the possibility of BTs responding to the noise, but no horrors reared their ugly heads. This spot, it seemed, was safe, so the team could take a moment to put together a game plan.
In the wake of the surprise, Juri’s jab elicited a snort from Nadia. “I’m pretty sure, yeah, but who knows? Maybe you’ll annoy me to death.” Right now, her own strategy for avoiding a voidout involved instinct and adaptation. If only she could go off on her own, where nobody else could ruin it for her. Then again, if someone did slip up and get eaten, nowhere she could go would be far enough. The feral sighed.
Sandalphon exhaled steadily, her pupils returning from concentric circles to normal. This was going to be dicey, no matter which way she sliced it. There were two dozen Seekers now, armed to the teeth, but powerless against the ghostly entities that drifted in the rain. Instead they clumped together within the Stable Field Emitter’s radius, clustered together like so many children under one umbrella. It struck Sandalphon as rather absurd, and the prospect of so many people maneuvering stealthily in an environment like this seemed impossible. Theoretically they could all forge onward with utmost caution, astringently detecting and then circumnavigating all potential threats, but time was a luxury that the heroes didn’t have. She was well aware that, being technological in nature, the Stable Field Emitter wouldn’t last forever. If it ran out of power, she and her companions would have nothing but their emergency shields and their synthetic raincoats between them and the Timefall. They would have to strike a balance between speed and caution.
The archangel narrowed her eyes. This, she realized, must be what humans called ‘anxiety’.
Edward moved to the front of the group as he outlined a tactic for BT detection. Though he seemed confident in its efficiency, Sandalphon couldn’t help but poke holes in his plan. Once he finished, she stepped forward to offer her feedback. “I respect your strategic eye, Edward. However, I’m afraid I cannot condone this policy. There is a critical problem…”
At that point, Nadia piped up with one eyebrow raised. “What does the temperature have to do with BTs?” she asked, completely serious.
Goldlewis winced, and Sandalphon’s pupils became minus signs. “...Two critical problems.”
“Oh!” The feral snapped her fingers, wide-eyed. “Ghosts are cold, right? That’s what you…uh, meant by degrees, right…?” She looked around at the others in increasingly dim hopes of confirmation, a dubious grimace on her face.
After clearing her throat, Sandalphon continued. “This strategy depends on vocal communication. BTs hunt primarily by sound. We would have to shout to be heard over this rain, and even if we whispered…” Her pupils became stress marks. “That might be too loud.”
Goldlewis scrunched up his face. “Can hardly see the doggone Qliphoth out there to begin with. Sounds like Juri’s right on the money,” he declared. ”We’ll be relyin’ on these doodads first and foremost.” He jabbed a thumb at the five-fingered odradek on his shoulder. “So keep a sharp eye on ‘em. And let’s be ready to run for it, if we gotta.” Right after Primrose nodded at Zenkichi, she got one from Goldlewis in turn.
While the others talked, Grimm kept his own scarlet eyes on the scenery. Having not accepted a shield pack, he wore his raincoat like a cloak over his unusually-shaped head, still out of sorts thanks to the SFE. Now, though, he spoke up.
”The rain is heavy, and growing heavier. We are not safe here. The path ahead may be perilous, but we must walk it all the same.”Already feeling antsy, Nadia nodded her head in agreement. Whatever was out there couldn’t be as bad as this dreadful anticipation. Sandalphon seemed equally keen to set off, so before too much longer, the Seekers began their trek. For the most part they adopted the positions suggested by Edward, adopting a clock-shaped formation that made the most out of the safe zone’s circular perimeter. With the Stable Field Emitter clutched tight and held high, the Ace Cadet defined the safe zone’s center, and Sectonia hovered directly above him to make use of the vertical space. Roland, Goldlewis, Primrose, and Edward took up the one o’clock, three o’clock, nine o’clock, and eleven o’clock positions respectively, their BBs as alert as they were. Their odradeks beeped, but they had yet to focus on any targets, and if one of them stopped, they couldn’t yet be sure that the eerie shapes in the distance weren’t products of their imagination.
Before the BTs, the Seekers needed to contend with a more material matter endemic to the crater before them: its steep outermost edges. From atop the precipice, where half-melted rubble from the destroyed city lay in heaps, they could see a few ways forward. To the left, rainwater poured from the sheared-off end of a former sewer system, becoming a waterfall that washed down the basin’s slope. Thanks to all the water, the earth directly ahead appeared to be mostly mud, and judging by the mucky ruins where the ground evened out, at least one mudslide had already occurred here. To the right it was all rocks, a handful big but most medium or smaller, so they could definitely shift around underfoot.
Sandalphon quickly considered the options. Jumping into the water, or sliding down it once frozen, would be fast but risky. Nobody could afford to outpace the SFE, or slide straight into a BT, and it could damage the equipment. A slide in the mud would be a little more controlled. A Seeker could slip on the rocks or be sent tumbling if their weight dislodged one. Still, it could be managed. Goldlewis came to more or less the same conclusion, and in military fashion signaled to everyone to favor the right side. Slowly, carefully, began to pick his way down the rocks, testing each one with his foot before putting his weight on them. He used his hands for extra support wherever he could, trusting in his harness to keep the BB safe despite his protective instincts. Sandalphon followed behind him, lighter on her feet. If she lost her footing, Heavensent could still slow her fall enough to give her a reliable safety net. Meanwhile, Grimm proved light enough on his spindly legs that he found firm footing wherever he went. The Troupe Master could hop down at his own leisure, limited only by the advance of the safe zone.
Rather than climb down the rocks, Nadia hung back, allowing the others to advance until she perched on the precipice at the rear of the group. As the edge of the SFE’s safe zone approached from behind, she heaved off and began to slide down the muddy slope, her claws buried in the earth behind her to control her descent. Still, her effective weight meant that the feral built up speed fast, and after just a moment she slid out ahead of the Stable Field Emitter. “Crap!” Immediately the rain began to react to her personal shield. As it spattered against the yellow bubble, it glowed brighter in response, indicating the drain on its power. Seconds later, Nadia slid to a stop against the mudslide debris at the bottom of the slope, where she found an overhang to hide under until the rest of the group caught up. Though covered in mud, she cared about the timefall a lot more.
After a few moments, the Seekers reunited. Though lagging behind on the rocks, Sandalphon closed the distance with a jump that let her glide the rest of the way. The moment one trial ended, however, the next began. Just a few dozen feet beyond the slope, Roland’s odradek chirped. It focused on a point within the muddy ruins and began to clap its sensors together at a rate of about one per second. Everyone paused, including the other carriers.
First contact. Goldlewis peered inside the fallen, half-buried building, but even while connected to BB Luigi, he couldn’t see anything in the shadows. Well, no hiding in there, that much was certain.. The group gingerly veered away from the ruins, with a very muddy Nadia holding her breath as she skirted around the crumbling, mud-covered structure. Edward’s odradek reacted after he started to move again, aimed in the same direction as Roland’s, but the next moment Roland’s adjusted to another point further ahead. Primrose’s clicked on and turned that way, indicating that the group should veer farther to the right, but the next moment the activation of his own odradek surprised Goldlewis. This time his pointed to the open area in the northeast, and after a moment Primrose’s joined his. There were BTs in all directions–the only question was how far away they were.
Almost immediately, Edelgard ran into trouble. Not everyone could see, and nobody wanted to risk jostling to see. Goldlewis stopped and crouched down, peering into the rain. In silence Grimm joined him, his stance low, and Nadia paused on all fours. Luckily the incident came to nothing, but the big man kept an eye out. He thought he could see shapes among the rain, but the atmosphere was too thick out here to tell for sure. At the very least, no BTs seemed dangerously close. He looked over his shoulder at Sandalphon, who nodded. This was never a question of whether or not the team could avoid areas with BTs completely; it was whether or not the Seekers could be quiet enough to brush past them when needed. Goldlewis beckoned to the others, and the team inched forward. Foot by foot. Yard by yard.
Suddenly, the veteran’s odradek picked up speed, clapping constantly. He stopped in an instant, then gasped.
He could
see them. Shadowy, particulate humanoid, like shaped smoke or insect swarms, hung weightlessly a half-dozen feet or more off the ground like drowned men. Their umbilical cords swayed in the grip of otherworldly currents, anchoring them to the ground or to one another. They did not patrol, nor prowl, nor even seem to be searching. The whole row of them just floated there, like naval mines deep beneath the sea. Waiting for someone to stumble into them.
In an instant, Goldlewis composed himself. He held up a closed fist, signaling a stop. Since his odradek indicated only the closest one, he pointed out the rest to the others in quick succession. There were too many spread out to the northeast to get around them, so the team would need to edge north-northwest, around the muddy ruins, and avoid the
quicksand patches. The moment Goldlewis began to move away the BTs faded, and the next second his odradek quieted down. He let out his breath and picked up the pace alongside the rest.
Grimm quietly dashed from the right side of the group to the left, closer to the ruins. The SFE’s safe zone would be roving over them, and while nobody dared duck inside, the direction of Edward and Roland’s odradeks convinced him that he could climb atop the structure and still be safe. The Troupe Master skittered up the nearest tilted wall, his black claws easily finding handholds. When he reached the top, he was pleased to find himself still inside the safe zone, albeit barely. Using the roof as a shortcut he could get across while the rest worked their way around the quicksand. After a few steps, though, Grimm heard one of the odradeks down below pick up the pace, and when he glanced down he spotted its light pointed his way. If it was indicating proximity from that distance, though…
A noise like a windy wail reached Grimm’s ears, and the Troupe Master turned to his left. Nothing met his eerie gaze, but after a moment spent scanning the roof, he thought he spotted something strange. By the time he confirmed the next one, it was too late. Black handprints were appearing one after another, some sort of sticky substance that didn’t wash off in the rain. As the trail neared Grimm, the Troupe Master stood stock-still and silent. He watched as the handprints paced around, coming within inches of his leg, but still he couldn’t see or feel any presence. After several tense seconds the trail veered away. Without a word Grimm turned, hopped off the dilapidated roof, and slid back down toward the others. He landed beside Nadia, who’d just extricated herself from a quicksand pit, and his sudden appearance making the excited feral’s hackles rise. She calmed herself, though, and peered up at the spot he came from. “See anything?” she whispered.
Grimm shook his head.
”Nothing at all.”Cognizant of the light cast by her elaborate halo, and of her less-than-stellar physical ability, Sandalphon hung toward the rear of the group as they pressed on through the storm. The archangel hadn’t had long to acclimatize to her newfound emotionality, and so far this mission was already giving her nascent heart a workout. For someone accustomed to information warfare, whose powers of perception and coordination could decide the outcome of battles from the comfort of home base, being unable to pinpoint the threats around her made her feel helpless and frustrated. Still, even knowing that she couldn’t see the BTs, she continued her habitual monitoring until she stepped on a rock wrong and nearly twisted her ankle. “Ah,” she declared, her voice too flat to make it an exclamation. Only by quickly planting the barrel of her gunstaff did she prevent a fall. Of course, Zenkichi showed up the next moment to lend her a shoulder so that needn’t put pressure on her ankle to keep up. “My gratitude,” she breathed, glancing back at the edge of the safe zone. “For you, and these boots. I can scarcely imagine how much more difficult this would be in heels.”
Up ahead, Goldlewis encountered an issue of his own. When his odradek began clapping again, he ducked down in order to spot the BT responsible. It was close, but alone and off to the side, so no need for concern. Still, out of an abundance of caution he decided to move forward while crouching, and that turned out to be a big mistake. Immediately both his knees popped, eliciting a raspy snarl from the BT, and in that moment the tension got the better of the man. “Dammit!” he growled, covering his mouth with his hand a fraction of a second too late. With a moan the BT seemed to dissolve, and as its dark essence hit the ground a handprint splashed in the dirt. As his odradek went into a wild spin, however, the veteran got a hold of himself. Working his old but well-trained muscles, he quickly-crouch-walked out of the patrol range, and after another moment the alerted BT got left behind. He let out an exasperated breath as he stood, more angry at himself than anything. After that, his heart would be pounding for a while.
Remembering his BB, Goldlewis looked down at his pod and tapped on the glass. “How you holdin’ up, partner?” BB Luigi was wide-eyed, shaken but not so scared that he’d start crying just yet. The veteran gave him a thin smile. “Don’t you fret now,” he whispered. “We’re gonna get through this.”
Nadia made her way up to the front of the group, joining Roxas in between Roland and Primrose. Continuing on all fours for maximum silence and stability, she made her way forward until a new obstacle confronted the Seekers on their path. Up ahead, a huge fissure scarred the crater, its jagged length arcing in the approximate direction of the Qliphoth. As she neared the edge, the feral became aware of orange light emanating from within, and a quick look down confirmed the presence of
lava deep within the ravine. It brought to mind her adventure with that ‘doom’ guy through the demon-infested part of Redgraccoon City, especially the fight against King Minos in courthouse above a lake of lava. Maybe some of the horrors plaguing that city had been buried so deep that not even the voidout annihilated them.
She also saw a number of ledges along the ravine’s sides that someone could conceivably walk along, or beneath, to take shelter from the timefall. Still, she didn’t entertain that thought until Goldlewis identified another pack of BTs along the ravine’s right side, where the Seekers were. The team could go around it to the left, into it, or maybe even over it. Nadia knew she could make that jump with a pressurized launch plus airdash, but the others might not be so fortunate. “We could go through there. Fis-sure looks like a shortcut to me,” she hissed, pointing down at the ravine’s sheltered ledges. The hazard of falling into lava spoke for itself, but she felt compelled to point out the other potential issue. “Gotta watch out for demons though. Could be in for a hell of a time.”
Sandalphon’s attention lay on the landmark to the left of the crevasse. A large
crashed ship of extraterrestrial design lay in a field of tarry black earth and spikes, slowly deteriorating beneath the pounding timefall. Maybe the vessel had strayed too close to the Dead Zone in passing and lost power among the storm clouds, plunging down into these rain-drenched wastes. Its existence here rounded out the last of the team’s three options: BTs and tricky terrain, a shortcut through or across the ravine, or the long way around past the derelict spacecraft. By now the Qliphoth could clearly be seen through the rain, but this trip would get worse before it got better.
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