Axln and Lyun found themselves safely arrived on the other side within a very lush forest cover, not unlike the coverage they had departed under either. However, in turn, they also found the two of them weren’t actually alone at that point either.

“Finally, you two show up. I was beginning to worry if Vael had forgotten about this step in the process. So, much like the same routine, hello Lyun and Axln, welcome to the second part of your.. I have no idea what that girl might have called everything. By the divine, it is far too late in the day for this sort of thing.. but the void waits for no one.” “Oh, it’s you again, great. Mary, right?” “Axln, you would probably be the last person I would have expected to say my name wrong.. but yes. Mheridz. You would probably know my companion as well, at least Lyun would know this particular warden. Don’t mind him, he’s being shy or something.” Mheridz had been leaning on a tree until Axln stepped forward with discussion. Lyun and Zxyd however were both silently staring at each other, completely uncertain what to say. This was exactly why Lyun had wanted to confront Velvet instead of Mheridz, this was all too cruel.

“Okay, warden, if you’re not going to be sociable, at least do your job. Stop standing there like an idiot and start looking at least professional. Alright, so, business. As you had probably just heard, taking that stupid book had caused problems for pretty much everyone. Void spawn have been taking the open fields as a storm, and things would only get worse from there. Actually, I wonder.. how many takedowns has Vael had so far?” “Velvet had accounted for twelve DMAs.. chaos.” “Nice, so we’ve got a lead of three on the other side. Then again, Vael is supposed to have that incident today, I don’t expect our own sightings until next dawn. Oh, yes, do keep in mind while you’re fighting.. just how rough it is. Then, be certain to show up on this side for our own turn at the same scale of monstrosity of a void spawn. After that, keep in mind.. this is only the beginning. The trickle of a stream before the raging torrent of the flood.” Mheridz actually gave away a few little things to Axln in her words. Mheridz actually knew about the sighting that Velvet had only just gotten a message about. Not only that, she actually already knew when her own turn was scheduled to occur, almost a full day later. However, she didn’t know exactly how many chaos sightings Velvet had experienced so far. The distinction was subtle.. but potentially meaningful.

“Okay, okay, fine, whatever. Things are bad, bad things are being bad, weren’t we supposed to do something about it?” “Sorry Lyun, you’re correct, I expect we really should be on our way. There is much more we could discuss in the process, which might be far more comfortable than just standing here doing nothing. I expect you might want to at least get in some more last minute practice in weapon handling on that side before you actually start fighting.” “Practice… That reminds me, we never actually looked into how Sophie’s stuff works.” “Wait, Vael is sending you into combat.. without training? That idiot.. picking up the worst traits from her mother, I swear.” “I don’t know, Velvet was at least a lot nicer than you, you know. Seriously, and that’s saying something from someone who gassed us, locked us in cages, and pretty much resorted to torture.” “Do you then at least have arbalestae training?” “Ah, it’s an instrument, I’ll figure out how it works later.” “No then. Alright, if you are up to it, I extend my invitation for a bit of combat training to prepare you for the next dawn. Training will occur this dusk, show up or don’t, your choice. Meanwhile, could you please finally call your guide here so we can get going?” Mheridz really was starting to look impatient, Lyun only making that matter worse. Axln however was surprised to realize that their host was actually waiting for them to react.

“Wait, you’re going to follow us through the rift? Are you sure that’s safe.. for you?” “Oh please, I’m too tired for this. I know you would be cautious in causing trouble, considering you’ve already fought void spawn and know how rough the encounter is. Both of us have bigger things to worry about right now. In that consideration, I know that if we are no threat to you, you will be no threat to us. You and the entire citadel. So, if you please…” “Luna, can we get a rift out here? Have some special need for quicker transportation.” Axln wasn’t going to dispute the matter with Mheridz, the girl even technically had a point. Diplomacy was far more effective right now than aggression. Once they passed through the rift, Axln started working with Luna on their next destination, leaving Lyun to the company of their two momentary guests.

Lyun however was still very uncomfortable with these arrangements, and took a move to secure her own defense while waiting. Pulling from her own chaos, Lyun projected an area of inverse law around the three of them.. an area that thus automatically extended around Axln as well.. which interrupted the rift process. Mheridz sighed in growing impatience, pulling back her sleeve as she adjusted an implement sitting there. A projection of light then appeared behind Mheridz as the woman simply sat down in the illusion of a chair that appeared behind her. Lyun meanwhile knew exactly what had happened, the gift was not at play in this situation. Mheridz had just created a holo within an area of scientific principle, not even blinking an eye at the sudden shift. Axln had even taken the opportunity to notice the same demonstration, clearly Mheridz was especially versed in the ways of the other world, enough to be completely prepared for Lyun’s aspect of chaos. It wasn’t even an aggressive demonstration, but Axln wasn’t prepared to doubt that Mheridz could also weaponize her knowledge too. Lyun meanwhile noticed that her efforts were fully being wasted and just causing problems, so she let such an inversion of law fade away. Mheridz didn’t even stumble, getting back up as her holo vanished in the process. Soon after that, the rift was ready for their departure, the four of them stepping back through, leaving Luna to continue looking after things in their absence.

“Ah, a fair choice of destination, though I honestly was prepared for the ashen dunes of void too. Placing us between buildings like this at least provided some cover, and I expect you will both simply take to your exit from here. Such is your own choice, but at least come here to see our outpost for our turn here. You can see it further down the border, the massive signs of the foundry giving the whole thing away. I’ll let them know to potentially expect guests come dusk, though you will certainly be expected come dawn. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some rest to catch up on. Best of luck with your ordeals on Vael’s side.” Mheridz didn’t even wait around for a reply, her eagerness to catch some sleep all too obvious. Lyun however was uncertain at being too predictable, finding yet another spot just barely on the other side of the border to switch worlds at.

As the new bright landscape resolved around them, they found that Velvet’s outpost really was in pretty much the exact same location, although slightly less obvious. Aerospace had no reason to plaster logos of its business everywhere, instead there were plenty of warning signs about the region being highly dangerous. Kori took account of how much time had passed, finding the time to be 18:47. She had forgotten to check the time after they had left Velvet behind, but certainly expected that their detour might not have been quite as fast as Velvet had originally established. Of course though, the point wasn’t how fast the route was, but that they would find Mheridz along the way. The two of them thus made their way into the outpost with their previous holo guise still active. Almost immediately, they found Velvet in a large gathering of makeshift soldiers.

“... and this would be our two guests of the hour. Slightly later than expected, but I guess there might have been a few complications along the way. The plan is going to be to draw the thing in with artillery fire before we start laying into it with more mobile weaponry. Infantry needs to remain in transport at all times, firing from there makes you far more mobile than on foot. There are only a few very obvious exceptions, anyone designated special forces. Basically, myself, and our special guests. Rosa, please stop distracting yourself with Holi speaking in your ear, if she wants to make an appearance as well, she is more than welcome to. Obviously, Holi would count as special forces herself, too, though she might not be capable of much just being a holo. Armored hover platforms are to keep their distance, as this thing cares little for armor. Pound the thing with intensive suppression fire while we get some high density ignited. As usual, our ace is ready, but will need plenty of support in order to get an opportunity to fire. Keep things under control, we’ll have this in the bag.” It appeared that Velvet was holding a strategic meeting to plan exactly what would be going on. At Velvet’s prompting, Holi even made an appearance, having returned to her more casual look that Kori and Rosa had originally prepared for her.

“However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves either. Some of you have been around since the first wave, some of you are much newer to the whole ordeal. However, no matter how much you think you know, this next one isn’t the same, it will surprise you. Yes, it is bigger, but it’s also smarter, faster, and has a few new tricks. This is our first round of this one, so there is no telling exactly what sorts of tricks it's brought either. The most important thing is to still play it safe, to have it expose the extent of what it can do so that we can gauge an opportunity to react. This is why suppression fire will play the biggest role at first, keeping it busy and keeping it angry. If that thing does chase you, flee. If someone else is being chased, amp up the suppression fire. Don’t give the thing an angle to work from. Alright, with that said, let's get this show on the road then. Activate the siren, we need this sector evacuated. Everyone else, get into positions. Artillery opener will fire on my command, and that’s our signal to begin. Kori, Rosa, you two are with me.” Velvet started leading the two girls out of the outpost, beyond the barrier, as the sirens let loose. This presented the girls with a distant view of the white blur among shifting snow, but little more to see than that. Quite honestly, it didn’t even look like anything was actually there.. but it did seem slightly familiar.

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“So, are you two ready for this?” “Oh, right, that reminds me. Mheridz wanted you to know that she wasn’t very impressed that you forgot all about weapon training.” “Oh… Shit.” “Quite honestly, no idea what you’re expecting from us either.” “At the very least, to spectate. This is, again, all your responsibility. After we’re done here, we’ll even be talking all about just how bad stuff really is.” “Wouldn’t watching be safer behind the barrier?” “Okay, beyond that, I expect you both to contribute to adding suppression fire. If you really don’t know how to use a rifle, I couldn’t expect you to actually hit it, but shooting in its general direction will help. Unlike the others, I know you both have some rather special equipment, dancing around won’t be that challenging. Just be aware of friendly fire, don’t body block our shots. Especially artillery fire, that stuff.. hurts. The worst two things to get hit by though.. obviously either the DMA itself.. or taking HITS.” “Hit-what?” “High Impact Thermite Shells, from the Occlusion Ballistics Turret. This thing.” At Velvet’s prompt, Kori stumbled as the very ground shifted, the turret rising from the ground to tower over the outpost. Kori personally knew several business towers that would be dwarfed by this thing, too, although that still said nothing about what it actually did.

“This thing takes about half a minute to charge, and then it will fire. This can’t be delayed either, not by its own design. The heat wave generated will incinerate everything at the point of impact within a few hundred meter radius. Projectile speed is sonic, but silent. A direct hit is warm enough to evaporate stone, which is also why most of the blast occurs upwards. Heat resistant metals would be sent into space with the uplift caused by the impact. Estimates of the propulsion caused by such an impact are around 6800 kilonewtons upwards. The actual area of impact is only about 50 meters, but the vacuum generated covers most of the rest. Ideally, we should be firing this thing with a range no less than 2 kilometers away from the barrier. If you can’t run away in time, I would suggest even escaping to the other side. You quite seriously do not want to take hits from these HITS.” Velvet clearly had a super weapon ready to deal with these threats, and was visibly proud of it. Kori however thought the name was especially annoying, with Rosa’s head spinning at all the strange names.

Velvet however had gone especially quiet after that presentation, her attention directed to a holo. With a resolute press of one last button, a boom shot forth from one of the artillery, a flare bursting wide in the distance. The blur of white was flung a distance from the blast, to only quickly stir and enrage. Laser particles scoured the horizon from both sides as suppression fire took the thing in full force. Meanwhile, Velvet slipped on her helmet and hopped aboard a jetstream bike that had all but appeared from nowhere, handling the thing like a pro in her rapid advance. Kori was quickly certain this whole thing was ridiculous, that there was no way she fit into this scene.. as Rosa suddenly shot forwards like a cannonball. While Kori sat there absolutely confounded, Rosa dashed back just as suddenly, crashing into the ground with quite a bit of impact.

“Are you coming?” “I.. I.. I missed something, obviously. What did you just do?” “I used a holo board as a slingshot to throw me forward, guided my approach with a few extra holos, and then a cushion of impact. Sophie’s stuff really does handle the rest, pretty neat.” “You.. threw.. yourself…” “Yeah, basically. Come on.” Rosa really was making it sound like the whole idea was somehow that easy, Kori having quite a lot of difficulty keeping up. Kori’s first attempt at emulating such a process simply had her trip forward into the snow.. her second attempt having thrown her wide to land on her back a distance forward into the snow. Rosa meanwhile landed beside Kori, perfectly on her feet, checking to make sure Kori was alright. Yup, something about this clearly wasn’t fair. Rosa meanwhile visibly stopped and closed her eyes, sitting down carefully in the snow. From within, Kori found herself wondering if she was okay. Wait, was that then Rosa? She had opened a link then? Well, worrying about Kori, of course she had.

Kori felt herself subtly comforting herself, a growing confidence that she could just do this, no problems. Holos were just a sequence of routines played out, frame by frame.. and she was really good at such precise things.. with nanites at least. Even so, it wasn’t that different, she just needed to plan. Fortunately, for one try, she even knew of a good test plan. A carefully designed footpad, rapidly shifting with very precise movements, and she was again thrown high into the air. Holo padding then, she had to adjust her movement and posture to compensate so that she went where she wanted to go. Reduced wind friction, increased wind lift, adjusting her body posture at the midway point to prepare for a touchdown.. and then set the sequence of frames that decelerate her on impact carefully. Perfect, a perfect landing. Still surprised by her own accomplishments, Kori looked around herself in a daze as Rosa landed not far away and grabbed her in a supportive hug. It then dawned on her, that was not her accomplishment, Rosa had just managed to orchestrate that very personal lesson.

After a few more attempts, Kori managed to get something that at least partly worked a degree similar to what Rosa was achieving. Kori certainly wasn’t leaping as far, or as precise, or even as quickly.. but she was making something happen. Having breached the distance, they could see the chaos fiend.. the DMA crawling around in the distance, laser strikes scouring upon it from all sides. It struck out in all directions in waves of frost, a weave of white that proved futile in its inability to deal with such an orchestration of force. They could even see the blaze of fire blitzing across the snow, tormenting it even further. Then, all of a sudden, it simply stopped lashing out. The mesh of white instead folded in upon itself, weaving a design from it that spiralled outwards. Both girls could feel the chaotic drain that was going on, but weren’t certain why.. not until the frost weave cleared, exposing the DMA once again.. but this time surrounded by six additional pawns. All six of them spread out, seeking different directions and different victims. The main one, leader of the bunch, turned to face the two girls off in the distance, watching carefully. Then, the leader simply charged forward, the ranks of suppression shattered.

Realizing the great thing was charging directly at them, Kori defensively reacted in the one way she knew would give her an edge in speed, by slowing time itself. The snow around her started falling at a considerably reduced speed.. and yet the DMA didn’t slow down at all. Rather than trying to defend herself, Kori tried desperately to flee, with Rosa going in the opposite direction. The DMA looked rather perplexed in its indecision, uncertain which direction would be better. However, noticing that Kori’s retreat was far less dramatic, the fiend turned it’s undivided attention to her. Kori stumbled backwards, suddenly finding herself getting picked up by a passing jetstream bike travelling at reduced speeds.

“Could you please not do this please, thanks? DMA or otherwise, anything with even a trace of chaos is unaffected by such chaotics. I’ve got troops that are finding dodging really hard all of a sudden, as their enemy.. enemies are suddenly blisteringly fast.” “Right, sorry, I didn’t know that wouldn’t work.” “Finally. Handling this bike is especially harder when it doesn’t respond with its usual speed, too. Seriously, maybe you are just getting in the way, even Rosa has this down a lot better. I’ll drop you back off at the outpost, you can keep watch from out there. Have Rosa at least tell you how it felt to fight such a thing, or something.” Velvet dashed Kori right back to the outpost, making a quick drop off, as she turned back to the fray. From the safety of the barrier, with time fully normal again, Kori even saw that Rosa had slipped in to cover the whole retreat, finally actually getting some use out of that rifle she had too. Ionic lasers burst from her weapon, slicing layers from the leader in a distributed sequence that really pissed it off. Her accuracy really was something terrible, but her handling was square on. Kori could see just how natural all of this was for Rosa.. leaving Kori feeling very out of place.

The fiend lashed out in a rapid series at Rosa’s fleeting presence, herself dancing around it in bolts of movement flashing in a dazzling display. The thing was practically spinning around trying to get a precise shot, failing in all futility. Kori however quickly noticed.. single handedly, Rosa had fully suppressed it’s movement.. it wasn’t going anywhere. Kori heard a slight hum in the tower above her, the chamber building upon its own intensity as a horn wailed across the landscape. Ten seconds, another wail. This was the firing timer for the main turret! Kori hoped Rosa would figure it out and get out of the way in time, prepared that they might shift to the other side in an escape. However, Rosa wasn’t the only one drawn to the suspicious reaction of the firing sequence. The fiend leader itself paused, Kori feeling a wash of intent pass over her. Then, not even a second later, the thing made a blisteringly fast charge directly for the outpost, forgoing its entire defense or attacks in the process. The next wailing horn was followed instantly by a crash against the barrier, the fiend lashing out in all intensity towards the tower itself. It knew.. it knew a dangerous amount of energy was gathering there, and it was desperate to stop it. What it might not have known.. was just how much it had already won.

As a desperate last measure, the turret turned instead away from its target and fired towards one of the peons instead. The blast struck sound, a wave of inferno circulating around it as a pillar of fire scoured through the atmosphere. One of the six was down.. but the leader was ravenging the main base itself. Another sound strike, and the barrier itself started to fizzle. Kori fled the outpost in time to witness the main barrier fail completely, a cold dust surging through civilization. The fiend itself crashed through the barrier and started to lash out wildly at everything around, no longer sensing any great source of energy or heat. They had failed in their defense, and millions were about to die for it.

Kori knew the situation was hopeless, but she was completely out of alternatives. If they had completely failed this time, they would simply need to build another chance.