◆Whill + Lieu (Continued)◆
The Deterrent activated his Curse and began blasting the area around him, pushing back any plants in the nearby vicinity. “We don’t get many monsters around here anymore,” Whill mentioned when he noticed The Investigator behind him. “But the foliage is still a bit of a problem. They want to overtake everything. Not the fastest growers, so I only need to do this every few months. But if we let them grow unchecked then they’ll swallow the barrier someday, and maybe even destroy it.”
“On occasion, we’ll do pruning trips—try to find these plants at their roots and kill them for good. But it’s a bit of a pain in the ass, and not on the top of our priority list. With our current systems in place, they’re one of the least dangerous things we have to worry about.”
“The monsters are definitely worse. But like I said, you won’t find many in R1. We’ve wiped almost all of them out, and Lieu’s set up a full perimeter of defenses on the border of R2 to keep them contained until we can completely cull that region as well. We used to have a bunch of turrets around each patch, but have reallocated most of them. Just a few automated ones that pick off strays. There, you can see Lieu reloading the ammo of one now.”
Tusmon’s eyes wandered, finding The Guerilla doing just as Whill had said. So the detective decided to change course and began following his other target. Lieu’s work wasn’t as interesting, just going around to the various weapons and other machines, inspecting them and occasionally performing various maintenance.
The group didn’t stick around for much longer, and soon they were ascending back up to the deck of the mechanical beast on one of the drop-pads. From there, they took a break for lunch—Whill sad about his small portion while Lieu enjoyed his feast. And after that, the three men were back in the cockpit scouting the rest of their course for their expedition.
Tusmon found it honestly impressive watching the two of them work on the problem. They checked countless screens of their current maps and machinations, checking the status of every other Patch and their other various equipment. Then they analyzed the radiation levels of the entirety of Pimitrad before making their decision.
Whill then made the next announcement through the compound’s communication system. “Alright everyone, we’ll be heading to Zone 115 of Level R2 for purification. All Lessers please head inside immediately or put on your safety gear if you want to stay on deck. No humans allowed outside for any reason. ETA: 61 minutes.”
The automated system repeated a similar safety message a few times, and Tusmon watched a few people on the deck below scramble back inside. “R2 is mild radiation,” Lieu elaborated. “At that point humans will start feeling sick and woozy immediately, and it can be dangerous for them to be exposed for even just a few minutes.”
“Lessers would be fine for a few days, much longer than we’ll be here for. But they still may have some mild discomfort and trouble breathing, so they need protective gear. We won’t be heading there today, but R3 is where it gets really serious. Lessers can’t handle it at that level anymore, and their skin will start to burn and they’ll die if exposed for too long. You’ll remember, detective, since that’s where our Above bunker was.”
“Most of our missions there are monster culling. They’re still heavily infested. It’s not worth our time most days until we have the nearby sections of R2 completely contained. And even then, we only hunt the excess that might be out seeking more territory. Since Zone 115 is right near the R3 border, there’s no need to make a special trip. We’ll see monsters today.”
“And what about R4?” Tusmon glanced at the radiation map of Pimitrad.
“That’s the epicenter,” The Guerilla confirmed. “Lessers would die in minutes, in agony the entire time. Humans wouldn’t even live long enough to feel any pain. Fiends, though, are still fine, but will experience some unpleasantness. Mostly their skin will tingle the entire time.”
“The biggest issue is the radiation is so cosdamned thick that you can’t see anything. Visibility is a few inches in front of you at most. Until we’ve purified the radiation to a much greater extent, actual expeditions there just aren’t viable. For now, though, we do cross through it on occasion, routing our pathing through it when we can.”
“What’s the reason?” Tusmon was interested again. “At that point, wouldn’t it make sense to avoid it entirely?”
“The point is destruction,” Whill interjected. “We have West stomp over everything in its path, destroying the buildings and everything else that’s there. It may sound cruel, heartless even, to completely wipe out the ruins of Pimitrad, but it’s what needs to be done. There’s nothing salvageable there, and this country needs a clean slate.”
“We do, however, have a few probe drones fly down and extract any unique artifacts or valuables with historical significance they can find. Pimitrad’s history will live on, just not its architecture.”
When the vessel crossed over the border into radiation level R2, there was a noticeable increase in haze, with a slight yellow tinge encompassing the world around them. But it was a lot less than Tusmon remembered. He recounted passing through Pimitrad for the raid on Above, and even at this distance into the country, the radiation had been a lot worse.
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“Our mission today is what it always is for R2 at present,” Lieu mentioned when they got closer. “And that is reducing the radiation levels. We do this by deploying purification beacons. Don’t know how they work. Don’t care really. But they get the job done.”
“So far, we’ve deployed some in about 70% of the zones in R2, targeting the worst pockets first. We eventually plan to have them deployed everywhere, and even double up on them to speed up purification, but it’s a slow process. Maintenance on the ones we’ve already deployed comes first. We don’t want to lose any gains we’ve made.”
“Today, we’ll drop 4 new beacons. You’re in luck, detective. This is the easier part. We, or at least you, won’t need to leave the ship. They drop right out of our keel and root themselves into the ground. For maintenance we actually need to go down and check them, but not today. And all that’s left to do once they’re dropped is to turn them on.”
“But that’s where the problem comes in. The beacons, for whatever reason, attract monsters. The nerd Nathym’s best guess is that they emit a frequency that they don’t like, especially when they’re turned on for the first time. Around here, though, the theory is that the monsters don’t like us taking away their radiation, since they know it’s what empowers them.”
“Regardless, we have to keep the beacons safe while they’re still booting up. They have their own protective barriers that are powered by the radiation they absorb and convert, but it can take up to an hour until they’re at full strength. Though that’s why I’m here. A few of the other Fiends may join in the fighting, but killing anything that comes close is my job.”
“Once the initial threat has passed, I’ll put down some more defenses around the beacons, at least until our next inspection of them. Usually after a few days, monsters abandon the area or get used to whatever upsets them so much. After that, the barrier on the beacons is enough to keep them safe. But let’s see what fun today has to offer us.”
It took a while, but the four beacons were dropped into Zone 115 systematically. Since West wasn’t the most maneuverable machine, what took the most time was getting into the optimal precise position for each deployment. But once every beacon was ready, Whill pressed the button to start their systems.
And just as Lieu had said, it wasn’t long before monsters came running. “Ahaha, Grizzly Bearracudas. It’s your lucky day, co-leader,” the large man slapped the much scrawnier Whill on the shoulder while he laughed. “You actually get to show off for once.”
“Right, I’ll get ready,” Whill shifted away from the wheel and unlocked a special panel, placing his hand against an orb. Meanwhile, Lieu took over the navigation controls, and to Tusmon’s surprise, the man actually made the West compound lower down towards the ground, bringing them closer to the threat of the massive horde of Grizzly Bearracudas.
“We want them to jump at us,” The Guerilla assured the detective. “You’re probably more used to their watery counterparts. They’re a lot more common. But the Grizzly variant is essentially the same, just on land. They basically trudge through the dirt, then lunge out at their prey while flailing their claws, trying to swipe them to death.”
“I’ve activated a frequency of our own. Essentially the same one that the beacons put out, but on a much larger scale, to make sure we have their attention. Watch, they’ll definitely attack us instead. Normally, we’d avoid that at all costs. But while Whill is normally pretty useless in my book, he does have one neat trick.”
“That orb he’s touching, it enhances his power and feeds it through the entire compound. It’ll, well, you’ll see. Come out to the deck with me.” The two men stepped outside of the cockpit, out onto its personal balcony, but they left the door open so that Whill could still hear them.
The raving horde of monsters zoomed towards them. It looked like they were practically swimming through the ground with how fast they were rampaging. And just like Lieu had said, they all targeted the compound. In one massive swarm, the hundreds of Grizzly Bearaccudas leapt up, lunging at the machine, like a tidal wave of deadly claws.
“Now!” Lieu shouted, and Whill activated his Curse. Existence itself shook around them, and massive clang resonated throughout the entire mechanical beast. A blast of repulsion shot out from the compound’s barrier, surging its outermost layer in a full sphere around them. The wall hit the incoming tidal wave, decimating the attacking horde.
The first few rows of monsters disintegrated instantly, and more behind them had their bodies rupture and explode. But the remaining half that survived the blast were sent soaring away, scattered around the land. Almost all of them were injured, but a good chunk managed to stand back up, even angrier than before, ready to avenge their fallen pack.
“And now it’s my turn to mop up this mess,” Lieu hopped up onto the railing, and a gun suddenly fired from behind them. Tusmon turned to see Whill holding the pistol, but it looked more like a toy. And Lieu didn’t even flinch from the shot, a small cork bouncing off of him and rolling around on the deck beneath his feet.
But it was all that was needed to activate Lieu’s Curse, counting as an attack, even if it was a pathetic one. The Guerilla leapt off the railing, over the edge of the mobile compound. Given his current trajectory, he’d certainly hit the side on his way down, but he turned into fog before he could make impact.
The cloudy ball flew through the air towards the surviving Grizzly Bearracudas. And contrary to what Tusmon had seen the man do in the past, Lieu never returned back to his full-form again. Instead, just the man’s arms peaked out of the fog, machetes in his hands. They tore through every monster in sight before flying away to the next. And all that could be heard was metal tearing through flesh and Lieu’s maniacal laughter.
It was a chaotic scene, but the only thing Tusmon could do was smirk. Despite their constant bickering, he felt that Whill and Lieu made a cohesive team—their competitiveness driving them to be their best. It was no wonder why the Drazahs didn’t officially make one of them leader, since it could possibly damper the dynamic. Hopefully, at some point, they’d realize that and learn to work together properly.