October 04, 4021 06:00 [Chasm Entrance]
“All set?” Stanley asked, leaning against the side of a Crawler with his arms crossed.
Indra finished packing the last of his gear in the front compartment of the machine, turning to the tailor with a grim smile.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he stated. “Thanks for everything, Stanley.”
Two weeks had come and gone. The day of the expedition had arrived.
Stanley raised an eyebrow, clicking his tongue. “You say that like it’s the last time I’m going to see you, kid. I don’t want to hear that kind of talk. However long it takes for this expedition to conclude, I’ll be waiting to hear back from ya, deal?”
Indra managed a weak chuckle. “Deal.”
“You better hold up your end then, because I wouldn’t have upgraded your suit if I thought you would kick the bucket easily. If you aren’t going to put up a fight, you might as well roll over right now, got it?”
“Got it. So, these upgrades, do they reinforce our defenses in any way? I’m asking because the previous suits didn’t do much in the way of shielding us from each other’s Traits,” Indra pointed out.
“Yes, one of the upgrades bolsters your defenses. Believe me, I would’ve made them a lot more durable from the get-go had I known how quickly your batch would outgrow the suits’ capabilities. Those suits were practically made of paper, the way you kids tore into them,” Stanley chuckled.
Indra shook his head. “Still, I’m grateful. The suits, the upgrades, the pills, everything. You’ve done more for me than I can ever thank you for. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“You can live. Do your best to survive, and keep your comrades out of harm’s way. If you can come back in one piece, that’s payment enough,” Stanley replied, his eyes crinkling.
“I’ll do my best,” Indra nodded.
“Oh! One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“In addition to the durability upgrade I installed into the new DIVE Suits, I implemented a little something extra to spruce up their designs. The suits now come with built-in holographic displays, so you can customize your look however you want. I may have also taken the liberty of designing a few presets for you,” the tailor explained.
Indra checked his Nerve Cord, a new icon labeled [Suit Customization] present at the top of his dashboard. He pressed the app button, scrolling through a number of designs, intricately and meticulously crafted from scratch, each with its own unique personality and flair. There may have been a time when Indra would have scoffed and rolled his eyes at the new ‘feature’, finding it impractical and ridiculous. Now, however, with the looming threat of death hanging above his shoulders, he could do with some levity.
One design, in particular, had caught his eye, its make reminiscent of knights’ armor. A cloak of red fur, fastened by golden chains, flowed behind metal pauldrons connected at the neck of a dark green cuirass with a set of greaves to match. Indra selected the preset, grinning as the outfit materialized onto his DIVE Suit instantaneously.
“Now that is a very good choice, my friend—a personal favorite of mine,” Stanley whistled, admiring his handiwork.
Indra inspected his body. The DIVE Suit felt just as light and flexible as before, yet the topographical mapping of the projection software seamlessly rendered the new design in real-time. It was as if he had really donned a set of knights’ armor.
“If I’m going to go out, at least it’ll be in style,” Indra joked.
“That’s the spirit, kid. A little morbid humor goes a long way. Just make sure you don’t give it any real thought,” Stanley advised.
“Will do,” Indra said, starting on his checklist. “Weapons, ammunition, rations, first-aid…” He scrolled down the list, ticking boxes as he went. Additionally, he activated the Crawler’s internal systems check to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.
His soldiers were seated in their respective Crawlers while Indra stayed with the machine carrying months' worth of essential supplies. Relative to their location, the other regiments and their Commanders had been strategically spread out.
The First Division had been situated at the front of the formation, preceded only by the Traitless Division, both of which were directed by Tengri. The Second Division, led by Grisha, and the Third by Jin, flanked the First’s right and left shoulders, respectively.
Behind the senior Divisions, located in the center of the formation was Indra’s Divison—the Fourth. The Fifth, led by Kaluza, and Sixth Division, led by Prasanna, mirrored the Second and Third, flanking slightly behind the shoulders of the Fourth.
There was one more Division present. At the very back of the formation stood the Crow, leading a regiment of strangely dressed soldiers, cloaked in pure-white DIVE Suits. A veil concealed their faces and they moved in such a fashion that seemed coordinated and deliberate. Despite these efforts, however, their movements still felt…inhuman somehow, as if they were mimicking the characteristics and mannerisms of soldiers to an extreme degree. Indra shuddered; their presence felt unwarranted. It was clear that the Vultures had a hand in the development of this particular Division.
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His attention was diverted by a light tap on the shoulder, causing him to turn around and face the Commander of the Sixth Division.
“Wow, look at you, Sir Indra,” Prasanna remarked, as she sized him up. She had designed her own attire, simulating a set of cerulean armor. A flowing cashmere scarf snaked over the back of her neck and wrapped around her elbows.
“You look more like a princess, than a Dame,” he noted.
“How convenient for you,” Prasanna smirked, feigning distress. “I suppose my knight in shining armor will have to come and rescue me at some point then.”
Her presence lifted Indra’s mood greatly. He felt secure when she was around.
“Speaking of knights, I almost forgot.” Stanley let out a sharp, shrill whistle. The clomping of hooves grew louder until mechanical horses appeared in the distance, galloping towards the Commanders and Sub-commanders. They slid to a stop just beside them, shaking their manes and neighing as if they were the genuine article.
“These are the Neuralinked Mustang Model of Crawlers, or NMM for short,” Stanley stated, patting the machine closest to Indra proudly.
“They’re gorgeous,” Prasanna said, running her fingers through the soft synthetic fibers of her NMM.
“I’m interested in seeing how long you manage to stay on before you fall off,” Indra teased.
“Unlikely; I’ll just float, remember?” Prasanna stated smugly.
They mounted their steeds and began the descent into the Chasm. Right before entering, they pressed a small button on their collars, enveloping their heads in an invisible film. It offered the same protections as the DIVE Suit with the added benefit of air filtration and a greater range of visibility than the standard helmet—one of Stanley’s other addendums to the upgraded DIVE Suits. Indra bid Stanley farewell, hoping it would not be the last time they spoke. The tailor mounted a mechanical ostrich that had arrived with the NMMs, saluting Indra as he left.
The Traitless Division entered the Chasm first, marching on foot. They were followed by the NMMs and Crawlers of the succeeding Divisions. At the tail-end came the Crow’s Division, marching alongside their supply Crawlers like the Traitless Division.
Indra felt a sense of finality as he crossed into the cavern.
“This is it—the moment we’ve been training and toiling away for these past few months,” he said. “It feels like a year has already passed, and at the same time, two weeks flew by like they were nothing.”
“Time is relative,” Prasanna shrugged.
She and Indra rode together, keeping their Divisions separate. Kuvira and Garou took charge of the Fourth Division’s routing path while Emil and Xiāoshī took care of the Sixth Division’s.
Indra grunted in response to Prasanna’s assertion. “The source that could establish Yueliang’s dominance in this war and solve this country’s energy crisis is supposedly within this area. But it’s guarded by unknown entities of unknown quantities, possessing unknown strengths and weaknesses. As much training as we’ve had, we’re still fumbling in the dark. We’ll have to be completely reliant on reactionary strategy,” he grimaced. “We know nothing about our enemy.”
“That’s why we’ve prepared our course of action in advance,” Prasanna said.
“All the preparation in the world doesn’t change the fact that we don’t know what we’re facing down there.”
“We have a consistent plan to fall back on and thorough reactionary training to deal with any unexpected developments. We’re covered in this regard,” she reassured him.
Indra nodded, his expression still grim. Their future wasn’t certain. Faced with sobering reality in the depths of the Chasm—an orifice in the Earth that led to the Sunken Forest—he felt small and unimportant, like a speck in the vast reaches of the cosmos. His fate would be decided on a whim, his life at the mercy of whatever lay beyond. Indra appealed to whatever form of omnipotence would accept him, praying that they would see the expedition through safely.
The Chasm was cool, damp, and pitch black. Floodlights on the Crawlers illuminated the area casting a light on the nocturnal creatures that inhabited it, such as owls and bats. They perched themselves on branches or hung from the ceiling, their daytime slumber unaffected by the glow. Although, some were roused by the thrumming and whirring of the machinery.
The trek led the expedition party into a long and winding tunnel filled to the brim with lush greenery. Indra listened for the sounds of hostile threats nearby, but he heard none. His ears only picked up the squelching of hooves in mud as the NMMs trotted over wet soil and plants. Something about the action felt cathartic, calming his nerves as they delved deeper, making their way towards an opening.
The opening grew in diameter as they inched closer. They finally crossed it, moving out of the cavern and emerging into a vast expanse of jungle and rainforest stretching past the distant horizon. Animals of all manners and sizes flitted across the treetops, skimming the canopies as they jumped from branch to branch. Some creatures skittered across the forest floor, foraging for fallen berries and nuts.
The leaves dripped with fresh dew, a recent downpour wetting the area. Indra looked up, peering through gaps between the crowns of swaying trees. He stared at the cloudy blue sky, not a single indication that they were underground.
“I thought we were still in a cave,” he remarked, placing a hand on a nearby trunk to make sure it was real.
“It’s a strange place. We don’t know when it got here or how, so stay vigilant,” Tengri stated over the communication line.
They spread out, scouring the thickets, collecting samples of flora, and documenting the fauna they came across for analysis back at Aegypius Lab. They searched for a way through the forest that would accommodate the bulky frames of the Crawlers. For now, it seemed only the Traitless, Commanders, and Sub-commanders could freely explore the area, leaving the main body of troops to wait at the cave exit. The soldiers in white stood motionless, eerily without breaking rank as the Crow joined the exploration effort.
Móhú zipped about, gathering as much data as he could, while scouting ahead. Chōuyān followed suit, spreading a clear, non-toxic receptor-based gas across the forest to gather insight into their surroundings. Both reported back to Kaluza, who relayed the information to the rest of the group.
“This place is beautiful,” Prasanna whispered in awe, brushing her fingertips along the petals of hibiscus flowers blooming from the tree trunks.
Indra agreed. However, the location continued to make him feel uneasy. A pit in his stomach had started to form as he observed the flowers. Their prevalence across the greater area felt almost like an infection spreading rapidly; there was an overly abundant amount of pink clusters on all the trees.
The vanguard of Traitless braved the wilderness, pressing forward as they scoured the forest. They swept the area with flashlights mounted on their Virya Rifles. Scans of the perimeter corroborated the information Móhú and Chōuyān had provided, indicating that there were no hostile entities present. Even so, Indra couldn’t assuage the creeping feeling that they were being watched…