Jack’s eyes went wide as he brought up his plasma rifle and looked out of the window, but he saw that nobody was outside.
“It’s okay, Jack,” Zayle quickly interjected. “The Laird has a speaker system he tends to use to address the residents.”
The crackling sound started again, and Jack could see the black speaker hooked up to the top of a pole near to the bodega, which looked closed for the afternoon.
“THAT’S RIGHT! YOO ARE IN MAH SWAMP BECAUSE YOO PAY FOR THE RIGHT TO LIVE ON MAH LAND AND GET MAH PROTECTION!” the voice boomed out. ”AND YET DO I GET ANY GRATITUDE FROM YOU PEOPLE? NO! I GET PEOPLE COMPLAINING THAT THE RENT KEEPS GETTING HIGHER AND YOO WANT TO LEAVE!”
Do you have to put up with this often? Chiyo asked Zayle and Mr Kuanfu, and both nodded with tired-looking expressions.
“Fucking hell, I haven’t even seen him and I already want to rob him blind,” Sephy muttered to Jack. “Don’t know if he actively deserves to be geeked or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he does.”
“WELL YOO DON’T GET TO LEAVE! THE LOCKDOWN CONTINUES UNTIL SECURITY IMPROVES!” the voice yelled, before turning into a hateful growl. “AND IF ANYBODY LISTENING THINKS THAT THEY CAN TAKE MAH SWAMP FROM ME, COME AND TRY IT! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOO!”
“Tempting.” Jack grinned as the sound cut out, and the atmosphere was silent once again before he then got serious.
“This Gumbo is lovely, Mr Kuanfu,” Jack told the chef. “And I would love to stay and savour it, but we will need to move quickly. I don’t want to put you in danger by being here when the militia rolls up either, but if anything bad happens, you can find the platforms along the left side of the ruined bridge which should support your weight.”
He then turned to his three friends. “As for us, we need to decide if we should proceed or go back. It’s clear things are potentially more dangerous than we thought”
“I would really like to secure our things,” Zayle told Jack sternly. “If the Laird seizes it, Rayle and I are left with nothing!”
“Alright, that settles it,” Jack acknowledged as he saw Chiyo and Sephy nod in agreement. “We press on. What’s our next step, Zayle?”
“I suggest we go the long way around the town centre and take one of the paths. My home is on one of the outlying islands facing the lake.”
“So taking a boat is possible, assuming the water is deep enough,” Jack reasoned, prompting Zayle to nod and confirm the water level was boat-worthy. “Since I have a way of seeing through the fog, we can use it to stay hidden if we need to and bypass any trouble. How big is the militia?”
“I would estimate it to be around 40 individuals right now,” Mr Kuanfu spoke up. “A few of my regulars were part of the old guard and let slip there were disputes about pay so a bunch of them deserted, with more and more joining them. Most of the ones now are the new guard that the Laird brought in on the cheap, bunch of psychos, the lot of them.”
“Those are tiny numbers for a district this vast,” Sephy perked up, interrupting Jack’s cause for concern. “No, really, they’ll all be split up on patrol, on lookout or taking a break. Plus, we can see them coming. No threat to us. We can either sneak past or get the drop on them.”
“Fair enough.” Jack nodded before turning to Mr Kuanfu and putting his empty bowl down on the counter. “We weren’t here, you didn’t see us, we didn’t see you. Lock this place down tight and stay safe, this whole situation is a bomb ready to go off.”
“Good luck!” the nervous man whispered to them as they exited the front door. They heard a series of bolts and catches being fastened in place, and the neon sign was quickly turned off.
“Nobody around,” Sephy confirmed.
“Alright.” Jack nodded, looking at Zayle. “Lead the way.”
Invigorated by the strange but delicious Gumbo, the group set off with weapons within easy reach, keeping quiet as they carefully snuck down the gloomy crumbled tarmac path away from the cluster of buildings. The poorly maintained asphalt soon gave way to gravel, then dirt, as they moved from the gloomy row of barely inhabited homes to wet grass, bushes and the occasional tree.
“Barely any cover,” Jack noted. “Nika, you’re still on the comm with us, right? See anything on the drones?”
“Yeah, yeah…I’m still with you,” the Kizun confirmed. “Sorry, I’m just trying to keep things together on my end. I don’t see anything nearby but I’d be careful, you’re exposed.”
“Thanks.” Jack sighed in relief. “What’s happening on yo-”
Before he could finish, a quick series of loud rumbling noises boomed in the distance, disturbing the silence of the night like a rude awakening.
“What the hell was that?” Sephy asked, before checking her drones. “Drone sensors noting activity in that direction.”
She pointed in a North East direction ahead of them, sort of where they were heading, but their path twisted and curled so much that it was hard to tell if it was directly on their route.
“You guys alright?” Nika asked over comms.
“We’re okay,” Jack confirmed. “Heard some explosions of some kind up ahead but we’ve got nothing else. We’re going to carefully head up since we can’t hear anything else. Will you be alright staying on the drones?”
“Yeah I’m good.” Nika sighed. “I just moved pretty badly, Vanya helped me prop myself back up and is making us drinks. She’s calmed down a bit, so I might bring her in to help with drone surveillance to get her involved and distracted.”
“Good idea,” Sephy acknowledged. “Let me know if you need to go for anything, otherwise I’ll let you keep primary access to the feed.”
“Alright.” Jack nodded. “Let’s move.”
As they moved, the fog got thicker and thicker as the path took them across several smaller islands, and closer to where the explosions came from. Everyone was silent as they followed closely behind Jack as they crossed a rickety wooden bridge that Zayle reinforced using their earth spirit as they crossed, before setting foot on a larger island with several ramshackle houses that had no signs of being inhabited.
“It’s not too much further,” the Squa’Kaar whispered. “Just a few more islands, then there’s another path that takes us directly there.”
Excellent! Chiyo nodded. The sooner we get to your home the sooner we can get out of-
“Guys, Vanya sees movement ahead of you,” Nika interrupted over the comms. “Group of five heading your way. Armed.”
“Oh no…” Zayle whimpered but Jack quickly placed his hand on their shoulder to calm them down.
“Let’s move into one of the houses before they get here,” Jack whispered to the others.
That one looks open. Chiyo pointed to one of the homes without a front door and part of the roof caved in. Not hesitating, the group quickly and quietly rushed over and entered, waiting in silence for whoever was coming to show up.
“If they’re militia, let them pass without alerting them,” Jack whispered as he began to hear voices approach. “We don’t want to risk anything being called in, but if it gets bad, take them down quickly and quietly so their friends don’t find out anything about us.”
“Understood.” Sephy nodded as she hid in cover on the right side of the doorway with her plasma rifle out, Jack on the left with his. Zayle nodded nervously as they drew on her air and earth spirits, whispering to the rest of the group that they had sent them outside, invisible to those without astral sight until they quickly manifested. Chiyo was next to Jack, sat against the thickest part of the wall with her eyes closed, extending her senses out to listen in on the newcomers.
As the footsteps drew nearer Jack slowed his breathing, alert and ready to quickly lash out if they were detected, but also listening intently to what was being said.
“So how long are we sticking around this shithole for, Zybal?” one of the trudging figures asked their leader, a scarred, muscle-bound insectoid with too many legs and a maw of long, razor-sharp teeth. “And why are we even here taking orders from this madman? This place could be ours for the taking!”
“No. There’s nothing of value we can use remaining and we don’t have the numbers to take it anyway. Even most of the people are either probably dead or fled, so even if we did take some slaves for sale, we wouldn’t get much and our window of opportunity for the vault is wasted.”
“We don’t have a window though! The boss keeps patrolling around the town square ‘inspecting the troops’, and every time we sneak a chance to try and find the entrance to the vault we can’t find it! And I bet he’s waiting for a raid or a takeover so he can escape in the chaos with all the loot via a hidden path!”
“He’s far too proud to give up - I would have called this place a loss already. The window will come soon. We just need to lure him out when the time comes and either kill him or make sure he ends up killed in the fighting. Then we’ll have all the time we need to search for the vault.”
“Well since that time ain’t now, I’m taking a shit,” another called out as Jack heard some footsteps begin to approach them. Out of all the nearby shacks, was this asshole really going to come up to specifically their one?
Ah, alrighty then. Guess he was going to squat in one of the bushes…
“Grob, what kind of fucking animal are you? It’s about fifteen minutes until we get back to the barracks and you can’t even wait that long? You couldn’t at least do it in one of the houses? Some of the nicer ones might have a working toilet, and we don’t want to see that shit!”
“Hey fuck you! I really need to go and these abandoned houses are scary as fuck! I ain’t going in there unless one of you comes with me!”
“Yeah, that ain’t happening. After that earth elemental manifested and tried to assfuck us earlier, I’m staying outside where it’s safe, so hurry your fat arse up!”
Several minutes passed as the group remained hidden in silence, with only the pained gruntings and groans of the nearby militiaman for company, before finally after a long battle they heard the relieved pant of victory that signified that Grob was done.
“About time!” the voice of Zybal growled back. “Let’s go! We’ve got to demolish the bridge up ahead, then we can head back.”
“Finally!” they heard one of the others mutter as the enemy group walked off, completely unaware of their presence. Jack held out a hand to keep everyone quiet as they left, and allowed a period of silence to pass for a few minutes before he finally gave the all clear, with Sephy confirming that the group had gone the way they had arrived, dismantling the rickety bridge behind them as they went.
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That was likely what we heard earlier. Chiyo pointed out. The Laird is destroying bridges as a security measure, reducing the avenues of possible attack.
“But that also means we might be trapped,” Sephy added. “Even if we’ll be encountering fewer patrols now that they’ve seceded this zone, travelling is going to be a pain.”
“Unless we build a raft or acquire a boat like Jack suggested earlier?” Zayle opined, and Jack grinned in agreement.
“I like that idea. If we keep heading along the path we were going along that’s fine, especially if they haven’t messed with the bridges we need. But if they have, we can keep an eye out for any boats we can use, as long as they don’t still belong to anyone.”
That’s a good idea, though if I were a paranoid local warlord, I’d anticipate some kind of attack from the fog and have a countermeasure for something like that. Chiyo warned.
“A raid is much easier to spot than a single small boat,” Sephy reasoned. “That’s what I’d be keeping watch for. With a raid you either have a swarm of small boats or something much bigger - we’d be like a grain of sand in a snowstorm.”
“Some of the canals are big enough that we can use them, provided we’re quiet,” Zayle told them. “Fishing boats use them often and they’re almost impossible to spot.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Jack whispered back as he quietly led the group away from the house, following Zayle’s directions as they continued along the path, which quickly sloped upwards as they climbed up to the top of what seemed to be a raised levee that reached very high in contrast to the level of the water. Perhaps in earlier times this district was significantly more flooded than it was now, or perhaps the weather or seasonal patterns drastically changed the water level and this was just a ‘dry season’.
The contrast of natural phenomena on a completely artificial construct was something that always boggled Jack’s mind. Supposedly, Hive Station Bastilla was a god-construct that had existed beyond recorded history, yet many of the things he had seen defied logic. Why was it created with honeycomb-like districts? How did it come to be lost and rediscovered repeatedly over time? Why was it so…flawed?
He didn’t know. Such things were beyond his comprehension.
What he was able to comprehend in that moment was the view allowed to him by the vista. Pulling his shades up for a moment and looking around, he could see the white fog blanketing the marshland for miles around, with several visible bumps of other islands rising up from the fog in the distance.
“Not a bad view, if a little creepy,” Jack commented.
“You get used to it after a while.” Zayle softly smiled as she nodded her understanding. “Rayle and I did get scared sometimes when we first moved here, but I find myself at peace whenever I just stand and take in the view. Though I know Rayle and I need to leave and there is little good about this place, I will miss the view. The climate is perfect for us too, though that can easily be replicated elsewhere.”
“I get that.” Jack nodded. “Take in the view while you can, we don’t want to hang around.”
“I know, we’ll be along this elevated path for a while,” they simply replied as they led the way.
Several more minutes passed in eerie silence before Sephy decided to speak up. “So we’re not going to talk about what we heard about the vault, huh?”
“So that militia group knows the vault exists but have no idea how to get to it.” Jack shrugged.
“But my earth and watcher spirits did find out!” Zayle grinned excitedly. “Not the entrance to it, but its exact location - that can narrow down the search massively!”
Though it is still a risk, if the Laird and his forces have no idea we are here and they’re so paranoid about an external attack, if we’re stealthy we could possibly get to the vault. Chiyo pointed out. Zayle also told us earlier they have a plan…
“One thing at a time,” Jack patiently told them. “And only if we get the opportunity…”
Eventually the group reached the end of the end of the large island they were currently on, only for Zayle to curse as she saw the ruined bridge.
“Well we’re not going that way,” Sephy pointed out the obvious. “Boat?”
“Boat.” Jack nodded. “We didn’t see one on the way here, though.”
“There’s an old fishing hamlet up ahead, hopefully that bridge is still intact.” Zayle sighed.
And hopefully they have something we can use. Chiyo added. Otherwise we’re doubling back.
Fortunately, the bridge to the hamlet was intact, though perhaps that was because the ‘bridge’ crossing over was little more than a series of planks propped up against dubious supports. Even if the militia had been ordered to take it down, Jack figured that they probably either couldn’t be bothered on seeing the shoddy construction and kept the explosives, or just couldn’t find it in the first place. Either way, they made sure to be careful as they crossed, with Jack in particular not liking the thin, wobbly bits of wood as they almost gave way under his weight.
As they approached the houses up ahead they saw no specks of light that would indicate anybody still living in the area, so after Chiyo confirmed the lack of people, Zayle quickly pointed in the direction of where the jetty was. Coming down the slope, Jack was dismayed to see several tiny boats only suitable for one person, and though he had previously gone kayaking with the Scouts, he wasn’t so confident they could all stick together with the low visibility. There were also several boats with motors on the back, though if they used them, stealth went completely out of the window.
Jack, would you be able to pilot this one? Chiyo asked, gently pulling on his sleeve and pointing to a longer, pointier boat that reminded Jack of a canoe or a gondola. It was a little larger than what he was looking for and would be clunky to move, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
“Alright.” Jack nodded. “We’ll take that one. Where are the oars and how many do we have?
“We’ve got five, one big one at the back presumably for steering and four for rowing,” Sephy counted. “But since the boat is too wide to have one person using two oars, we’ll have to stick to two people rowing and one person steering.”
“That’s fine. I’ll steer, and the three of you rotate when you need a break,” Jack confirmed after thinking about it for a moment. “I think if I row with one of you I’ll end up sending us off course.”
“Hah, I knew I should have come along!” they heard Nika chirp up on the comms. “Better get those skinny arms pumping, Sephy!”
“Hey! I’m not that weak.” Sephy stuck her tongue out at Jack, as Chiyo rolled her eyes and took her spot on one of the central benches, sitting dead centre in order to keep the weight balanced while Sephy and Zayle groaned when they realised that meant they’d be rowing. Making sure all three were seated securely and weren’t going to move about, Jack pushed the boat away from the jetty and quickly got to work aligning themselves in the right direction before they set off.
“Not too far to go, this is the final stretch,” Zayle confirmed about twenty minutes later with a whisper. “We’re about to pass one of the bigger settlements, then it’s a straight line to our island.”
“Good!” Sephy sighed. “It’s taken ages to-”
The Skritta immediately fell quiet and placed a finger to her lips to shush the others as a booming voice could be heard through the fog, coming from the settlement to the side.
“ALL OF YOU! GET OUT AND GET PATROLLING!” the booming voice of the Laird called out, and Jack could see a large form waddling through the fog across a larger bridge up ahead, directing orders to his troops. “YOU’RE HERE TO PROTECT MAH SWAMP AND I’VE GOT WORD OF INCOMING ENEMIES, SO I’M ENFORCING MANDATORY OGRETIME FOR YOU SORRY SONS OF BITCHES!”
As the group stayed low and still as the faint current of the water slowly took them along the canal and under the bridge, Jack got a good look at the green-skinned, hulking giant as he growled out in his mad paranoia, and tried his best to control his breathing, not wanting to make any noise.
The Laird barked out several more orders to the disgruntled militia before he stomped off, grumbling under his breath.
“I’m sending a drone after him to see where he goes,” Sephy whispered as quietly as she could. “Probably a good idea to keep tabs on that nutter.”
Good idea. Chiyo noted. Best to avoid that guy. Megafauna species might be rare outside of the Southern districts, but they’re still very dangerous, even a relatively smaller species like the Ogar. With luck, they’ll pay a visit to wherever the entrance to their vault is.
“Alright, just be careful,” Jack whispered, as they quietly steered the boat, keeping a hand up to indicate to the others that they shouldn’t start rowing just yet until they were well clear of anyone who could hear them and raise the alarm. Only once the silence had settled for several minutes did Jack give the symbol for Chiyo and Zayle to quietly start rowing while Sephy piloted her drones.
“Well he seemed cheerful!” Sephy joked, grinning to the group. “Zayle, seriously. You could have lived with us at any time, why the fuck did you stay here with this crazy asshole? We have an entire district to ourselves!”
“We didn’t want to be a burden and we’re used to being independent.” Zayle sighed. “But I suppose you’re right. We probably could have. We just prefer to handle things ourselves if we think we can.”
“That stubborn attitude reminds me of a certain idiot I know.” Sephy grinned as she playfully poked Jack. “But don’t worry, you and Rayle will fit in fine with us once you’re settled in.”
“It’s funny you should mention that.” Zayle smiled. “We’re here now!”
The island up ahead was small and heavily obscured by fog, but Jack still found a good place on the bank to park the boat and turn it around for departure, though his feet did get muddy again helping the others out onto the dry land.
“No!” Zayle gasped as they quickly ran up the slope, quickly followed by the others, who soon saw the source of Zayle’s despair. The wooden bridge that was the sole path to the island and a smaller building had been demolished, and the sole bungalow on the island had clearly taken a hit. However, the biggest indication that something shady had gone down were the mangled bodies splattered on the wet grass outside. Clearly there had been a fight, and something big had won it.
“Holy shit!” Jack exclaimed as he levelled his gun as a swirling pile of rocks that began to manifest in the middle of the carnage, rising out of the ground and beginning to tower high above him.
“It’s okay! They’re with me!” Zayle spoke up, and Jack couldn’t tell if the gecko was talking to the rest of the group or the earth spirit. “Is the Watcher here?”
Jack had no idea if Zayle got an answer, but soon the Squa’Kaar was staring into space for a few minutes, occasionally nodding or gesturing to something that Jack could not see. Looking at several of the bodies, Jack, Sephy and Chiyo found guns and confirmed that they were adults, likely members of the militia. Jack remembered the group that had come by them had mentioned an earth elemental, so he assumed this was it.
But were they too late?
“So they tried to loot our home, but were forced to run, destroying the bridge behind them,” Zayle confirmed. “Only a matter of time before they get back here.”
In that case we had better hurry up and pack, sorry Zayle. Chiyo gave her a sympathetic smile. Is there a bathroom by any chance?
“Unfortunately, it looks like our outhouse got destroyed in the fighting,” Zayle shook her head as she pointed at the ruined shed.
“Can’t you just go in a bush or float above the water?” Jack asked, immediately regretting the suggestion as Chiyo gave him a look of abject shock at the scandalous suggestion. “What?!”
I am not going to dignify that with a response. Chiyo huffed as she floated over to Zayle.
“I got that on video,” Sephy grinned, whispering to Jack. “I’ll show it to Vanya later, it’ll cheer her up!”
“I should have drinks available,” Zayle called out. “Come in out of the cold and we’ll take a break, then get started!”
Entering the home, Jack was a little taken aback at the spartan furnishings, with two small beds at one corner with a single dresser and the remnants of a small fire between the two. A small sofa was opposite with a television, positioned in a way to close off that area in lieu of any ‘rooms’. In another corner was the kitchen, which was an area with a fridge, wood-fire oven, small table, two stools and little else. A desk and writing implements were in the third corner, presumably a station for homework, while the fourth corner just held several barrels and boxes of unknown contents.
But curiously enough, most of the room in the shack was taken up by a wide circle with a crisscrossing pattern that Jack now knew to recognise as some kind of arcane sigil, dotted with candles around the perimeter.
“Yes, I know it’s not the best.” Zayle shrugged. “But welcome!”
“It’s cozy…” Jack tried to compliment, seeing that there probably wasn’t that much they needed to shift as Zayle went over to a nearby wood stove and added a log, before lighting it via unknown means. The Squa’Kaar then quickly found a kettle and filled it to boil, before turning around.
“You’re wondering where the stuff I need is.” They smiled. “Well…”
They said nothing for a moment as the bare earth of the magic circle began to churn, before a wicker basket rose out of the ground, still half into the dirt.
“Okay…” Sephy began, not understanding, but Chiyo suddenly perked up in realisation, as the basket began to grow and expand, quickly taking up a large portion of the room before finally stopping as it barely scraped the edge of the walls. Looking down, Jack was amazed at how deep it went. There was even a ladder descending from near the top about ten metres down to the ground where there were already several crates and boxes packed tightly against the walls.
An extra-dimensional space! Chiyo exclaimed. More than enough space to fit everything and more!
“Including the contents of the Laird’s vault.” Zayle grinned.