You slowly step forward, up to the convoy. It finally allows you to make out more details, like the large turrets they have mounted atop a few of the vehicles. Those must be what actually did some damage to your armor, unlike the guns many of the surroundings humans are carrying.

Most important thing you find though, is the actual problem here. With the heavy rain, the small stream has flooded up the banks. It comes up past your ankle when you step into it. That puts the water level deeper than most of the trucks are tall. So rather than this being the place for them to cross the river like Tendou thought earlier, they just can't cross it at all.

You kneel down in front of the lead vehicle, and Tendou finally opens the hatch, leaning partway out to speak to the driver, shouting to be heard over the rain. “Hey, Tachibana sent me since you were late!” He turns to look back in the direction of the flooded river and says, “I can see why!”

“Yeah, the man yells back. We could use some help getting across.”

“Sure? What do you need me to do?” Tendou volunteers.

After some discussion, they settle on you simply carrying most of the trucks across. There are a few - the ones with the defense turrets - that might be too large or heavy, but they decide to figure that out when you get there.

The tricky part is how to do that. You can't just grab them, the metal sides aren't load bearing, they would crush under your fingers if you tried. Instead, you need to press a hand into the ground, sinking it into the soft dirt enough that the trucks can drive into your palm. Then you carefully shuttle them across, one by one setting each down on the far side, so they can continue on toward the factory.

It takes a while given the number of trucks, and despite the difficulty, you do manage to pick up the heavier ones with the mounted weapons. They're on the upper limit of the weight you can lift, given the awkward way you need to carry them.

Once all of the vehicles are safely across the river, you begin to lead them toward the factory. You stick to somewhat more cleared areas between the surrounding trees, to make it easier for them to travel, but still need to uproot a handful of badly placed tree trunks on the way.

After some time, the rainfall eases slightly. It doesn't improve the visibility much, but your radio communications are just clear enough that Tendou can finally speak properly with the man in the lead truck, positioned just a dozen meters or so behind you.

“Tachibana was worried because of how long it was taking,” Tendou is soon explaining. “The other pilots went back to Shado already, so I was the only one on hand.”

“Thanks for the help,” the man responds. “Sorry for firing on you like we did, you scared us half to death, stomping on out of the dark like that.”

“Y-yeah, that's understandable,” he chuckles back, not even trying to hide the awkwardness. “Don't worry too much, the damage is minor, and I'm planning on replacing most of these parts soon anyway.”

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“I see,” the man says. “What will you be using?”

“A Firebird I took down at the factory. It wasn't too damaged, so it'll be a good upgrade.” The man heartily agrees, and the conversation hits a momentary lull, before Tendou thinks of something else to say. “Oh, actually, you're transporting chi, right?”

“Yeah?” the man confirms uncertainly.

“I'm new to all this,” Tendou admits, “and I've been wondering about something. I basically know what chi does, but I don't know what it is. Do you know?”

He hums briefly. “That's a good question, I don't really know. It comes up out of the ground. There was a deposit on the north end of the island, but we lost access to it years ago. The Hex cut us off from it, so we've had to get by with what we have stored ever since.

“Really?” Tendou asks in surprise. “It's been years? And you still haven't run out?”

The man chuckles. “Well, we buy what we can from Tonosho whenever we have a chance, but mostly we get by off the chi we salvage from the Hex. And recycling the chi over and over again, of course. Can't let even a drop of it go to waste, you know?”

“Recycle? You can do that?”

“Yeah, there's a whole process for it,” he says, but doesn't explain any further.

Tendou hums, “Hmm...” which doesn't seem to be for the man to hear, so you don't transmit it.

Do you know of Tonosho?

You display the question during the lull in the conversation. It sounds like another human settlement, it would be good to know where that is. Unfortunately, Tendou shakes his head. He makes a gesture to transmit, and begins, “Sorry, I never really left my village before, I only got to Shado a couple days ago. Where's Tonosho?”

“Huh?” The man sounds surprised. “Really?” After a short delay, he explains, “Tonosho's at the northwest end of the island, on the far side of the highlands. The paths between the mountains are dangerous so we don't see merchants very often.”

“Huh, I see,” Tendou replies thoughtfully.

Again, the conversation hits a brief lull. Before either of them say anything else, you arrive at the cliffs surrounding the factory. They practically appear out of nowhere, invisible in the rain, until you're right on top of them.

You turn, traveling along the rock face. If there are any trees too close to the cliffside, you push them aside, roots dragging through the muddy soil, making space for the trucks to follow behind.

You keep a hand against the cliff. Since you can barely see, you feel the gap when when you arrive at it. You come to a slow stop, kneeling down to point the way. “This way,” he says, and you crawl on all fours, leading the convoy through.

Once you reach the far side, large sections of your hands and legs are covered in mud. Not that it lasts long against the sheets of rain still coming down. “Almost there,” Tendou says, trudging trudging forward. The ground is so sodden that your feet sink deep with sucking squelches, leaving behind footprints that the trucks have to swerve around the whole way.

The final leg of the journey is as slow as the rest, until you finally see the lights on the structures built around the factory. You remind Tendou to watch out, and slow down, eyes down toward the ground to watch out for humans, or anything they've built. You slip between the tall structures with their bright lights, and enter the factory once more.

The convoy follows in from behind, and you stand out of the way to let them all pass. They cut through the wide space left open, many human workers off to either side.

“Hahh, finally,” Tendou sighs, leaning his head back in his seat. “Getting through that rain was rough...”

After a couple minutes' rest, he sits up straight again. “Alright, let's see Tachibana.” Rolling his shoulders, he takes the controls and you begin to walk once more.