They burst in loud, unleashing all they had. The nearest Risen stood no chance as their gunfire ripped them apart, while several groups of gun-toting advanced Risen were quickly hit with ranged magical attacks from Alora and Chiyo, completely caught unaware.
Jack, however, spotted the black-robed figure through the smoke where the others couldn't see and let loose several rounds with his Dominator, missing a few shots but definitely getting some hits in.
But he didn't go down! Jack fired several more times as the figure raised his arms high, casting some kind of spell before a dull, purple bubble encased the figures, extending several metres around him and engulfing many of the Risen close to him.
"Stop firing!" Alora called out over sub-vocal comms. "He's got a barrier up!"
"I hit the robed guy but he wouldn't go down," Jack immediately called out on comms.
He's necrolinked. Chiyo warned, which Sephy translated for Jack. Damage to the controller gets taken by a nearby Risen. Clever.
As the smoke cleared and the adrenaline of the very brief fight subsided, the group could finally take in what was happening.
Their surprise attack had wiped out about half of the Risen, but many more were still standing on the raised dais in the back centre of the room. Two advanced Risen with equipment were trying to cut through another large ornate metal door, much tougher looking than the ones that came before, that looked like it had been protected by turrets judging by the smoking remains. The room itself looked to be some sort of chapel with rows upon rows of benches surrounding the raised platform occupied by the Risen where, to his dismay, Jack could see many living beings held at gunpoint by several advanced Risen. The figure in robes walked forward to the edge of the barrier and lightly tapped it with his staff as if to say, 'Nothing's getting through.'
The figure pulled back his hood to reveal a very emaciated and old toad-looking being with hateful black eyes, and a look of wicked rage.
"Dubakuu," Alora whispered. "So it was you."
The figure paced up and down, and Jack could see some kind of cauldron behind him billowing black smoke. It was clear that whatever it was doing wasn't good.
"Where is the Outsider?" Dubakuu slowly croaked, addressing them. "I would speak with him, and see him with my own eyes. Bring him here to talk, or I shall kill the hostages and raise them against you!”
“Better do it, I can’t knock the barrier down quick enough,” Alora said over sub-vocal comms to Jack. “Keep him distracted for us as long as you can. We’ll do what we can for the hostages.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Jack replied over comms. “Good luck!”
“You too,” Alora whispered back.
“Alright, Dubakuu!” Jack spoke up, moving up to the edge of the barrier, tensing up as several of the armed Risen levelled their guns at him, which looked to be mostly laser weaponry. “I’m here to talk.”
Dubakuu growled as Jack approached, the human ready to throw himself into cover if the barrier was disabled despite the weaker guns.
“I must say I am surprised to see you here,” the mad priest growled calmly, in contrast to the look of sheer hate. “My visions informed me of the Great Watcher slumbering beneath waiting for me to awaken, and the Whispering Lord guaranteed your death by its power. How is it that you live?”
“You mean the Spawn of Nekdon waiting for us in the tunnels?” Jack asked. “Dead. As you will be if you harm the hostages…”
“Sephy? How are you doing on disabling their guns?” He heard Alora ask over sub-vocal comms.
“Working on it,” the Skritta quickly replied in between her work in local cyberspace. “Different configurations make it slow work but I’m working on the ones holding the hostages first. Keep him distracted!”
“Impossible!” Dubakuu snarled. “I did everything the whispers commanded! There was no other path!”
“Now answer my question,” Jack interrupted, wanting to keep the mad priest calm and talking. “Why are you after me? You’re clearly not like the other chumps coming after me, since money doesn’t seem to appeal to you. So where's your hacker friend? The one that locked us in the tunnels.”
“I’ve moved to the other side,” Nika whispered over comms. “Any Risen not working on the gate or the hostages are focusing their attention on Jack. Get ready to dive into cover, I’m near the far group of hostages and ready to engage.”
Dubakuu looked briefly…confused at Jack’s question about the hacker, before he quickly returned to his cold, seething anger.
“You do not trick me Outsider. Only the Whispering Lord accompanies me, and guides me. There are no others worthy to join me, save for those that rise again.” The old priest dismissively waved his arm at several of the Risen next to him.
“But why come after me?” Jack asked, confused. “And why come here!”
“Because the whispers commanded it!” Dubakuu roared, suddenly exploding in rage. “And I follow their will!”
“What whispers?” Jack asked. “Everyone I’ve spoken to says Nekdon is dead!”
In position on the left. Chiyo advised. The barrier will weaken to sufficiently breach soon, it’s being maintained by the cauldron. Once it’s weak enough I’ll crack it open and we can engage.
“I have a purge ready,” Alora replied sub-vocally. “Everyone get ready to get the hostages out of immediate danger, then hit Dubakuu with everything you have.”
“We all heard his screams as the Whispering Lord was killed!” Dubakuu raved madly at Jack. “And those of lesser faith thought him lost! But I still listened to the void, waiting for his whispers. He is there! I still hear him! He told me about the Great Watcher, he led me to the Gloom Cauldron, he gave me POWER again! And right now? He wants you DEAD OUTSIDER! KILL THEM ALL!”
The moment Dubakuu started to properly lose it was the moment Chiyo knew to act. Focusing her power on the weakening points of the necroshield she crushed it as hard as it could, shattering it like an egg before she lashed out at her nearby targets, and the next few moments were vital.
Seeing the barrier drop, Nika was quick to leap in and line up a blast with her shotgun, ripping through the two Risen she had prepared to take out first, before pushing herself forward with her tail as quickly as she could and bowling over the third before it could take a shot at the hostages.
Sephy already knew which ones had still-working guns, so she immediately lit them up before the rest registered their ineffectiveness, while the ‘dog’ immediately leapt at the ones closest to the hostages and kept them distracted until Sephy could turn her attention to the ones that hadn’t been obliterated by Alora’s spell. Alora’s purge had been noticeably less effective than before, but it was still powerful to her closest enemies and freed the nearest group of hostages, while Chiyo took care of any stragglers.
Jack was the quickest of them all. Knowing that an overcharge would risk harming the hostages, he didn’t hesitate to unleash controlled rapid-fire photon bursts on Dubakuu, as the hateful toad backed away, quickly casting black bolts of energy with his staff that Jack barely felt as he chased after the priest, looking to get close and finish him quickly. As the remaining Risen fell, Dubakuu began to look distracted and confused for a brief moment, flying up into the air as he seemed to frantically speak to himself, Jack barely being able to make out the words over the sounds of gunfire.
“My lord….the other whisperer….it wants me to….yes….”
Dubakuu gave an evil grimace as the last of the Risen fell, suddenly charging at Jack with a warcry, dark energies dangerously swelling around him.
“BY HIS COMMAND I’LL TAKE YOU WITH M-”
A sudden jet of fire shot out and enveloped the screaming dark priest as Alora jumped up to Jack’s side, chanting in a strange tongue as the flames seemed to eat away at the darkness Dubakuu had summoned around him, before the screaming priest fell silent and sank to his knees, dropping to the ground in a burning heap.
“Is that all of the Risen?” Alora asked, breathing heavily as her immediate panic on seeing Dubakuu’s sorcery started to die down.
“That’s all of them!” Nika yelled, quickly helping up several of the hostages on the ground. “Good job guys!”
“Is anyone hurt?” Alora called out to the hostages, but she didn’t get many immediate replies. It was clear many of them were still in shock, and Chiyo and Sephy quickly went to look over a few of the worst-looking cases.
“Jack, I saw you get hit as well.” Alora turned to him. “Let’s see”
“Nah, it’s nothing, let’s check over the others…” he began to say, before he heard a deep growl from next to him. The ‘dog’ was looking behind him, snarling at Dubakuu’s body slumped next to the cauldron before giving several loud, aggressive barks, causing everyone to turn around and look at the ‘dog’ in confusion.
“Everybody get away!” Jack yelled, unsure on what the danger was but trusting the dark feeling in the pit of his stomach as several of the hostages were spurred into action.
What’s wrong? Chiyo asked, confused. He’s dead! I can’t read anything in his au-
“CONSCIOUSNESS OVERRIDE COMPLETE, ASSUMING MANUAL AVATAR CONTROL!”
An inhuman screech sounded from their closed-comms as Dubakuu’s burned body suddenly jerked upright.
“INTERFERENCE DETECTED WITH AVATAR! PHYSICAL OUTSIDER PRESENCE CONFIRMED!”
Dubakuu’s body shrugged off the impacts as Sephy immediately started shooting, quickly followed by the others, disintegrating chunks of flesh as the body tried to stand while the hostages quickly ran away from the danger.
“UNAUTHORISED SECONDARY PRESENCE DETECTED……UNKNOWN FACTION…..THREAT LEVEL……EXTREME…..”
The gunshots riddled the body of Dubakuu, leaving it barely able to move as the voice slowed and warped.
“DATA…..ANALYSIS PENDING…..UPDATING……SECONDARY ASSETS……”
“Overcharge!” Jack growled in sheer panic, the heavy shot obliterating what was left of Dubakuu’s body, followed by a metallic clang as a gore-covered metallic object pinged against a nearby wall.
“W...what the fuck was that?” Nika asked, wide-eyed in a panic, looking to the others. Even Chiyo looked stunned.
“Don’t touch the metal thing!” Sephy warned, slowly reaching into her bag and pulling out some kind of container, which she quickly and carefully wrapped around the metal without directly touching it. “These are cybernetic cranium implants!”
“What? Cyber?” Alora asked in shock.
“That…that might explain the hacker?” Jack spoke up, utterly disturbed by what had just happened “Could they have been working remotely using Dubakuu somehow?”
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“Maybe, but you’d need a lot of tech for it. If that’s the case they’re extremely good at slicing,” Sephy added. “We’ve gotta be careful.”
I feel like we’ve stumbled into something more. Chiyo added with wide eyes. And we’ve barely scratched the surface of it.
“We can speculate later, right now we need to-” Nika started to warn before the great doors ahead opened, and several gunners quickly piled out.
“Nobody move! Is the threat eliminated?” the leader asked, looking to the crowd of people.
“Woof! Woof!”
The ‘dog’ quickly brought their attention to another newcomer limping over to them from the way the group had come. It was the moth-like being they had rescued earlier, using a broom as a crutch.
“Stand down! They’re friendly!” she ordered weakly. “Is the Oracle safe?”
“It is!” the leader of the new group answered. “It just lifted the lockdown, ma’am! We couldn’t get out!”
The moth-woman simply nodded and hobbled her way over, before Jack shook off enough of what had just happened to go over to assist her.
“It appears we have your group to thank for keeping us alive,” the moth-woman said solemnly to Jack, who just nodded towards Alora, indicating that she was the person to speak to.
“No need to thank us. We just did what any good, able people would have done in the same circumstances,” Alora politely replied.
“Very few people like that around these days, especially in the middle of nowhere.” The moth-woman shrugged, wincing a little as she sat down on the dais, and quaffed the contents of a glass bottle one of her comrades threw her. “So I guess I’m in charge now. Lucky. Fucking. Me.” She nodded to the group as she introduced herself. “I’m Sentinel Zhill, we’re the Greenwarden detachment meant to protect this place, and we’ve done a shit job of it. We had no idea we’d get attacked by a schizophrenic necromancer out of fucking nowhere. Usually we’re made aware of threats that enter the forest before they get close so we can intercept them.”
“That might be why you were caught off-guard,” Nika interrupted. “These guys came from the old metro, we followed them here.”
“Scarred stars,” the sentinel cursed. “Sentinel Captain Joole said that it was locked tight last time he checked.”
“It was opened from the inside only a few hours ago, that’s how they got the element of surprise,” Alora hurriedly added. “But the tunnels are clear now and we plan to head back that way after we’re done here.”
“After you’re done huh?” Sentinel Zhill asked. “You don’t come across to me as pilgrims of the Great Cycle.”
“While the Great Cycle always has a place in my heart as a child of my people’s Mother Tree,” Alora began, paying appropriate respect to the Sentinel’s nature-venerating faith, “that isn’t why we came here. We were told of an Oracle at these coordinates by one of our teachers that can help give answers and comfort to one of our group.”
“Huh, we tend to keep that stuff quiet, but we do get some folks from time to time attempting the trip. Usually they join a larger group of pilgrims for protection.” Sentinel Zhill paused for a moment thinking. “Alright, I’ll have to make sure everything’ll be alright, but we can bump you to the front of the queue while we clear up with a few conditions.”
“What conditions?” Alora asked, warily.
“Take the necromancer’s gear with you when you go, especially that cauldron he used. Either use or dispose of it as you see fit, but get it away from here. We can’t keep stuff like that around, especially with a lack of protection, so the sooner you leave the less chance we get of some other dark force seeking it. If you also help purify the Risen bodies, we can bury them so that they may rejoin the Great Cycle, and any healing you can provide to the still-living would be useful. We have our own supplies, but I’d rather not dig too deep into them.”
“That is acceptable,” Alora agreed, seeing that none of the group wanted to argue.
“Excellent, I’ll make inquiries and talk to my people.” Zhill sighed, and walked off to give orders to the other Sentinels to guard the front entrance to the complex before turning back and sighing again. “Look I’m sorry if I appear ungrateful, I’m not. I’m very thankful you came along and saved us. I’ve just got to try and navigate the people here through the storm. Take a rest and help if you can, and I’ll get you your meeting with the Oracle when I can.” She walked off before they could reply.
“We should have asked for a reward,” Sephy muttered after they were out of earshot. “At least some credits and maybe some seeds for your garden, Alora…”
“These people have lost enough,” Nika argued. “And don’t forget why we’re here!”
I believe Jack and Alora said there was a bounty for news on Nekdon, courtesy of the Church of Siros. Chiyo reassured. It’ll take a little legwork on our end, but we’ll get some kind of kickback. Besides, we still have to go through the loot you and Jack got from the Prefect’s Lockup.
“Yeah,” Sephy reluctantly agreed. “It’s just after that I think we need to be ready for anything, and that means better gear and knowing what we’re now up against. Money talks, after all.”
“You’re not wrong,” Nika conceded. “Better gear is always good and we need to pay the bills.”
“But not to the detriment of those that clearly need it more,” Alora finished with a smile. “But on the other hand, if we’re offered anything I’m not going to say no, and by rules of conquest we can do what we want with Dubakuu’s stuff…well, what survived getting obliterated anyway.” She gave Jack a cheeky nod.
“So a cauldron, a staff, and the remains of cyber I have no intention of taking out of my nullification field without proper research.” Sephy shrugged. “Could be worse. Most of the loot Jack and I got from the Prefect’s Lockup wasn’t too special, but there’s a lot of it we still need to go through.”
“If we need more funds, we can just cross that bridge when we get there,” Jack reasoned. “You said you pulled a lot of information from the lockup, so maybe we can just find another spot?”
Sephy grinned. “That’s the spirit Jack! You’re definitely one of us now!”
“Well, that hot tub isn’t going to pay for itself!” Alora quipped.
“Yes!” Sephy cheered before they were interrupted by a returning Sentinel Zhill.
“The Oracle is very eager to meet you all,” the moth-woman revealed with a sigh. “And has authorised the release of a package of non-essential supplies and paydata for helping us, which we will gather for you…”
Chiyo quickly had to stop Sephy from celebrating too conspicuously.
“...on the condition that you hear it out. The oracle has a proposition to make to your group independent from my request to take the necromancer's stuff with you.”
“Of course.” Alora nodded. “We would be honoured to hear the Oracle out, provided it is able to give us the insight we need.”
“Then you can head straight down.” Zhill indicated the large doors Dubakuu had tried to breach. “The Oracle is waiting. Don’t try anything funny.”
Jack got up and led the way, shaking with anticipation. Finally, after many trials and tribulations, he was here! He hoped he would get the answers he wanted.
The corridor was gloomy, having no artificial lights of any kind, instead being lit up by blue bioluminescent ivy that crawled around everywhere it could, with an occasional burst of bright blue pollen to light their way, until they emerged into a large chamber that filled Jack’s mind with awe.
In the middle of the vast underground chamber was a huge, bountiful tree with bright blue leaves that lit up the entire room. The ground was covered in faded purple grass and moss, along which Jack could see several small animals skitter about without a worry. Curiously, the tree did not appear constrained by the confines of the room, with the branches just fitting with no sign of having been pruned back. Looking around, there were also several monitors around the perimeter of the room, with several computers with flashing lights, clearly at work on something.
“Hello?” Jack called out, seeing nobody to greet them. “Is anyone there? I’m looking for the Oracle!”
The group felt a slight breeze as the branches quivered. There were no visible vents that Jack could see, so where was it coming from?”
“GREETING,S ENIGMATIC OUTSIDER, AND WELCOME ALL THOSE THAT COME IN PEACE. I AM THE ORACLE.”
The voice boomed around them, startling the group. They looked around, but they couldn’t see where the voice was coming from.
“REST IN MY SHADE AND BE AT PEACE.”
It’s the tree! Chiyo told the others in amazement. I’ve heard rumours of something like this but never imagined I’d ever see one in the flesh! They are ancient and can adapt to anywhere they are planted!
“THE INQUISITIVE ILITHII IS CORRECT.” The tree quivered in amusement. “LONG AGO MY SEED WAS LEFT HERE TO GROW ALONE OVER MILLENNIA. I HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED AND I HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN, BUT ALWAYS I HAVE BEEN HERE.”
“If you can adapt to anywhere you’ve been planted and have been around for millennia, how come I’ve never heard of a tree like you?” Sephy asked, unable to control her curiosity.
“Sephy!” Alora covered her mouth with her hands in shock.
But the tree once again quivered in amusement. “THE CURIOUS SKRITTA IS WISE TO ASK SUCH QUESTIONS. ALAS, WE ARE A DYING BREED, AND AS SUCH I ASK A BOON OF THE NOBLE ELADRIEL.”
“Eladrie,” Alora quietly corrected on instinct before raising her voice. “It would be our honour, Great One.”
A root snaked towards the group, with everyone but Alora backing away slightly. It stopped at Alora’s feet before a stem quickly grew, and looped around at head height. The group just watched in amazement as it flowered, and a blue shard started to grow out of the tip.
“WE DO NOT GROW OUR SEEDS IRRESPONSIBLY, LEST THEY FALL TO CORRUPTION. WE ONLY ENTRUST THEM TO THE WORTHY, TO BE PLANTED FAR AWAY, TO ADAPT TO NEW WORLDS AND EXPERIENCES, TO INTEGRATE WITH NEW CULTURES AND PEOPLES. THIS IS OUR PURPOSE IN THE GREAT CYCLE. WE ENTRUST OUR SEED TO YOUR WORTHY HANDS, NOBLE ELADRIEL, TO BE CULTIVATED AND KEPT, UNTIL THE TIME TO SOW HAS COME.”
The bright blue shard grew even more, as pulsing light along the root, stem and flower ended within the growing seed, before gently detaching and dropping into Alora’s hands.
“You honour us!” Alora replied in shock, unable to say anything else as she just stared at the shard.
“We are happy to help…” Nika started. “But we had our own purpose for coming here.”
“WE UNDERSTAND, FIERCE KIZUN. WHAT WISDOM DO YOU SEEK?”
Nika didn’t say anything, except to nod to Jack, who stood forward.
“Um….hello!” Jack nervously asked. It was strange addressing the powerful being, and although he had many questions, it was like he had no idea where to start. “I’m….not from here. I was brought to this plane of existence somehow, and I’m looking for answers.”
“THE ENIGMATIC OUTSIDER WISHES FOR INSIGHT? A WAY FOR IT TO RETURN HOME?”
“Well…yes!” Jack hesitated. “Is it possible?”
“PERHAPS,” The Oracle answered, almost in thought. “THERE ARE MANY OUTSIDERS I HAVE MET OVER MY MILLENNIA OF EXISTENCE. HOWEVER, THE ENIGMATIC OUTSIDER IS UNKNOWN TO EVEN ME. DOES THE ENIGMATIC OUTSIDER HAVE A PATRON GOD?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Jack replied. “I’ve been told about heroes summoned by the gods, but I was also told that if I had been summoned by a god I would know.”
“AFFIRMATIVE. PLANAR ANOMALY MOST LIKELY CAUSE FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE ENIGMATIC OUTSIDER,” the Oracle replied, as the computers around the room began to audibly beep and flash with activity. “CAUSE OF ARRIVAL UNDETERMINED. INITIATING COMPUTER ANALYSIS. QUERY - POSSIBILITY OF RETURN TO HOME PLANE OF EXISTENCE BASED ON CURRENT INFORMATION.”
The group stayed silent as the Oracle spent a few minutes making calculations.
“CONCLUSION COMPLETE….” the Oracle spoke up. Jack held his breath…
“....POSSIBILITY OF RETURN TO HOME PLANE OF EXISTENCE BASED ON CURRENT INFORMATION - IMPOSSIBLE.”
“No!” Jack yelled. Throwing his arms up in despair. “Fuck! Fuck! FUUUUUUCK!”
He had known deep down it was a fool’s hope to think he could return the way he came, but this confirmed it.
He was stuck here.
“Hey, hey! Jack, stay with us!” Alora wrapped her arms around him, as he shut down completely, collapsing to the ground. He didn’t care, barely noticing anything as he was struck with grief…
This doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do! Chiyo told the group desperately. Maybe we can find a spell or a ritual that can work! It works with other types of outsiders like Demons and Solars. There must be a way we can send him back, even if we can’t do it the same way he got here!
“The Oracle also said ‘based on current information,’” Sephy also added, trying in vain to raise Jack’s spirits. “Maybe we just need to do some more investigating. We know where he arrived, after all!”
You’re right, Sephy! Oracle! Chiyo addressed the tree, desperate to get something useful. What do you know about humans, deathworlders or Earth? What about the other outsiders you’ve claimed to meet?
“Yeah!” Nika commended Chiyo. “If there’s others, we can at least trace their steps.”
“HUMANS…DEATHWORLDERS…EARTH…PREVIOUS OUTSIDER ENCOUNTERS…” The Oracle rumbled. “SEARCHING……WHAT?”
“What? What do you mean ‘What?’” Sephy asked, confused as she perked up.
“SOMETHING IS…SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG!” the Oracle replied, sounding almost confused and uncertain. Now even Jack had raised his head at that.
“What’s wrong?” Nika asked.
“MY KNOWLEDGE AND MEMORIES HAVE BEEN….HOW COULD THIS BE? MY ESSENCE HAS BEEN CORRUPTED…SOMEONE HAS…WHAT COULD POSSIBLY…” The Oracle replied, now sounding terrified.
“What?” Alora asked in shock.
“Was it Dubakuu?” Sephy asked.
“THAT OUTCOME IS IMPOSSIBLE. THE RECENT HOSTILES WERE UNABLE TO PIERCE SECURITY.”
“So…you got…hacked?” Jack asked hoarsely.
“MY…TIME OF CORRUPTION IS UNKNOWN. RE-ANALYSING DATABANK PARAMETERS. CORRUPTION DETECTED IN….OVER 40% OF FIELDS, INCLUDING OUTSIDER DATA BANKS! POSSIBILITY OF ENIGMATIC OUTSIDER RETURN TO HOME PLANE OF EXISTENCE BASED ON CURRENT INFORMATION - UNDETERMINABLE BASED ON CORRUPTED VALUES.”
“So there still may be a chance you can go back!” Alora exclaimed, ecstatic as she shook Jack.
But Jack did not feel relieved by that. Instead, he was terrified.
Something, or somebody, had been here before.
And they were not friendly.