Otherwise they looked human enough. Think slightly buff shirtless rednecks. With forest green skin and dark, almost black, green hair carrying shot guns. The squad leader rolled his window down to greet the 2 men who were actually passing a rolled up cigarette back and forth as they walked.

"Howdy there friends, Names David. Nice to meet ya."

The other man nodded. "Neil. So-N-what brings you folks..." He leans to the side to peer into the back seat where Maik and Eugene were seated, wearing body armor and helmets. They were keeping their weapons out of sight though, for now. He squints his eyes at them before continuing. "All the way out to these parts ?"

David dose his best to seem like a bundle of charming affable menace. "Ohh you know. Were just passing through on an errand for the boss man. You know how it is. He wants a thing... I go get the thing and he pays me to get it."

The tole man slowly nods and take another drag from his cig and Maik catches a whiff. It was actually weed. "This boss man. He pay well ?"

David doesn't miss a beat. "Well enough that I can afford to share with a nice fellow who wouldn't mind letting us pass."

Neil smiles at David. Its not a kind smile as it never reaches the mans eyes. "Alright." Her jerks his head in a gesture to invite them to move forward. "Come on in." The toll man starts backing away from the truck while gesturing for them to pull forward.

There was obvious tension in David's voice when he called out to the Neil, both hands up in a placating gesture. "We haven't agreed upon the tool fee yet."

The tole mans smile only got uglier and he glances at the rear 2 trucks.

That was the last straw and David presses the gas down hard while taking hold of the wheel. The people at the barricade don't seem to react and the 2 David had been talking too aren't much better. They look confused for a moment but then quickly starts raising their weapons after the brief pause.

That moment of confusion was all Maik needed to roll the window down and poke their head and rifle out the window. So when the 2 tole man raised their guns in the truck direction Maik opened fire on them.

Maik wasn't the best shot and they were shooting from out the window of a moving vehicle but the point was to make the 2 duck for cover rather than shoot at the retreating truck and it worked perfectly. They ducked for cover and not a single shot was sent towards the 3 truck convoy from either of them. Once David managed to pull behind an abandoned truck and turn around, the three of them got the hell out of there.

David looked to his James in the copilot seat. "We need an alternate route. Are there back streets that go around that intersection ?"

"There are. We just need to head south for about half a mile and there will be a turn on the west side of the highway."

The road, turned out to be part of a large farm with one big ass gate. They honked their horn but nobody was coming out to let them in. At least at first. Eventually someone did come out. An old man, alone. "What do you want ?"

David nods to the man and speaks frankly. "Well, what I want to to travel another 18 miles up this road my tax dollars paid for. Unfortunately some rather unfriendly people are up that way and don't seem willing to let us pass, not even for a fee. Now, we have a map book here." He gestures and James holds up the literature in question. "And it shows this as being..." David turns a questioning eye on James.

The jock interprets that as a question and answers."North west 82ed street road."

David turns back to the old man. "North west 82ed street road. The map also shows a path through here that leads around the intersection up the road being blocked. Is that true ?" the old man takes a deep breath and nods. "Well then perhaps you would be so kind as to let us pass through ?"

The old man asks what had been offered to allow passage. David recounts how the encounter went, leaving nothing out. He then goes on to tell the old man what they had given the church down the road in the other direction. Now the old man looked far more amenable. "Alright. Same deal as the church we'll escort you through. No funny business. We've some mighty fine hunter and their scopes are already trained on you."

With a gesture of the 3 more men come over. Well 2 men and a humanoid horse man come over carrying 2 of some kind of large tool. They use them to manually crank the gate openers, slowly rolling both halves of the gate apart so that the trucks can pass though.

While the men work David talks with the old man about how analog radio still works and even offers to drop off one such radio for the man to stay in touch with the wider world. While the man was thankful for this, he was down right amazed when David told him about the what the alliance had learned about Chi skills and alteration points.

Under the surprise was suspicion though and his tone was a bit dark. "Some of the folks around here started using those alteration points right off. Some of them went mad. Others changed... Into things, not human. Most of us decided not to use them but every night some of them just get used without our say so. Its been slowly changing us, whether we want it or not. Prayer has helped a lot though."

David nods and agrees, sighting the multiple churches who have made strides with Chi skills through prayer but also informs the old man about Qigong practitioners and the more varied Chi skill that they had produced. He then informs the old man about the path the Neon Lights had taken, his gaze drifting to the humanoid horse man a couple times.

The old man noticed. Apparently that guy was one of the old mans sons and he had been a cripple before magic was a thing. Paralyzed from the waist down in a horse riding accident when he was 12 and that was 10 years ago. Now he walks tall, has the strength of 3 men and oddly enough didn't go mad, unlike some of the others.

They passed through the far after providing the radio. Maik tried to start up a conversation about theories regarding what does or does not facilitate the mental degradation Maik had observed form the Neon Lights but present company was ill suited to such topics. That and David ordered Maik to stop. "Keep your eyes peeled for threats. This isn't a leisurely trip to grandma's house."

The alternate route was noted on their map and they past several more horse farms. That fact was also noted sense Gas had officially become a limited commodity recently.

The next stretch of road cut through land that was almost pure wilderness and they needed to step multiple times. Once for a gator that was longer than a 4 door car, casually prancing across the road. Another time was for a small pack of deer. The third was for the herd of cattle. The 4th encounter involved a bear but it seemed to recognize the rifles pointed at it and scurried off.

It was almost as though the wildlife was deliberately treading upon the line of asphalt to assure themselves that it was no longer a kill zone for them where they could be hit with a car at a moments notice.

Signs of civilization emerged quickly once the next small town came into view. First a little trailer park, followed by some businesses, logging and shipping mostly. then they were pulling into the town proper. There wasn't any kind of blockade, but it was obvious where they needed to stop and talk with the local authority.

It was another smooth transaction sense this place did have radio. They stopped to stretch their legs and so that David, the squad leader, could give his report about the delays on the highway. Something would need to be done about the unfriendly fellows blocking the freeway 10 miles back down the road.

The people guarding the town perimeter looked every bit as redneck as that group, just with shirts on and less green. "So whats the deal ? Where y'all off too any how ?" The cover story was that they were scouting out the outlining areas to dropping off radios to friendly groups they encountered along the way. The guard seemed convinced enough as he nodded his understanding. "Mighty neighborly of ya. Especially after that thing with them gang fellows. Bad business that."

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Once the report was delivered they were on their way again. James checked the map to update everyone. "Just another 10 miles and were there." More wildlife was spotted along the way, though nothing too ominous. Sure some of the critters were a bit larger they Maik thought they should be, especially the one flock of Turkeys they scared off the road. One of them had been a little over 4 feet tall (1.2 meters).

Half way there the wilderness gave way to a large residential neighborhood. Every kind of dwelling from the run down trailer to the full family sized house with a screened over pool were mixed into the hodgepodge neighborhood. David explained as they approached. "Intelligence says that there is no cohesive group in charge of the area. Though there are more then a few people in the area with working radios The news about who is in charge around here varies depending upon who your taking too and what day it is. Keep on your guard."

There were a few small groups of 3 too 6 people that eyed the convoy on the way by but the road wasn't blocked so they just moved on without stopping.

Finally they turned off the main road onto a piece of asphalt so thin it didn't even have lines on it. The next turn put them on a dirt road. They tried to not kick up too much dust as they advanced but nerves were taunt as the closed in on the objective, finally arriving at the observatory, the last left of the long 2 mile long dirt road situated between a combination of farm land and forest.

They checked the house as the base of the hill first. It had been an elderly couple by the look of it. The can was under the cover of the pole tarp car port and was obviously being worked on by someone when they were attacked. At that's what the dried blood stains on the ground and car would suggest. The spouse much have heard the commotion and come running. There was evidence of half made sandwiches in the kitchen and another set of dried blood stains just outside the front door.

Everyone was on guard as they made their way up the hill to the observatory, as most of the surrounding were that thick half forest, half jungle native to Florida.

The door was unlocked, making entry easy though the stench of death hit them upon entry. The building was actually rather small, the first story only consisting of 2 rooms, a curved hallway and a curved stair case. The second story was the observatory itself and, as luck would have it, the dome was actually open to the sky.

It only took them a few minutes to Check the building over as a result, finding another wide blood stain in the bathroom. Again there was no body. Team bravo was assigned to clean up detail while Maik and the majority of team charlie got to work scanning the hard drives in the only other 1st floor room.

The lilin was the heavy lifter, scanning large swathes of data on the hard drives. Initially Maik had figured that this would be easy but they had to manually search through every file with the skill. Both a Chi and time intensive task.

Hours went by as they combed the data base for the desired factors and they did find a few here and there but not enough to consider the mission a success. Even after Maik and exhausted their pools of just over 4000 Chi twice over. Thankfully the skill advance quickly.

Tier 3 skill advanced - Chi data reader - Capable

Two hidden stashes of porn, 18 computer games, an untold number of news articles on aliens, and half of the data points they needed with regard to the mass and trajectory of the planets later Maik and the majority of bravo teem were beat and ready for a break.

David called for a stop to have dinner and Jose was all like. "Dinner ? What time is it ?" He was informed that it was dusk and probably about 6... Maybe 7 O'clock. "Damn. We were supposed to make it back with the data before evening."

Duke barks a laugh. "Hahh. Well you should have worked faster then pup."

Jose was too mental drained for a cleaver quip but James stepped in. "Well it is his first time using a whole new Chi skill they just invented to do something no one else can. So its taking a little time." The jock shrugs.

And Duke grunts. "Humph. Show off."

David steps in. "Enough. its going to take as long as it takes. For now we need to set up for the night and assign a guard rotation. I don't want whatever took these people out to creep up on us during the night."

Bravo team retrieved provisions for the evening from the trucks parked just outside but looked a little squirrely upon reentering the observatory. David was eager to know why. "Whats wrong."

Chase summed up the groups apprehension. "There's something out there, in those woods. We heard it move. Whatever it was it made fare too much noise but didn't sound like a person stomping around out there though. It sounded like it was trying to move through the trees. We shined our flashlights over but but didn't see what it was."

Despite the cramped space within the observatory they bunk indoors, even after Sara asks about the trucks. "What do we do if what ever is out there messes up the trucks ?" It was pointed out that the opening in the dome offered and angle to overlook the parking area outside the observatory. They would keep an eye on their rides from there.

Everyone gathered in the large room of the actual observatory for dinner, sense they were enough space up there for everyone to eat together. It was a short affair and when Sara suggested a card game before bed David assumed the role of captain buzz kill by sternly rejecting the idea. "We are not safe here. We should not, not even for a moment, act as though we are safe here. Now get some rest. We'll get back to work in the morning."

The squad leader quickly set up a guard rotation, leaving nothing to chance. One lookout for each room and another to keep and eye on the trucks. Maik gladly accepted the duty of last watch before laying their head down to sleep

For the second day in a row Maik was disappointed with the notifications awaiting them when they reached the mental construct.

Tier 3 skill acquired - Chi data reader - Beginner + 6 alteration points.

Tier 3 skill advanced - Chi data reader - Capable + 12 alteration points.

The points were casually and instantly tossed into the Chi stat before the lilin started drifting off to sleep with a grumble, hoping that tomorrow they would have the chance to start advancing again. However Maik didn't wake in the morning. The hadn't even managed to fully submerge into full sleep when loud voices started shouting followed by gunfire. "IIIEEEEE.. [BLAM, BLAM] KILL IT. [BLAM, BLAM, BLAM] KILL IT WITH FIRE !"

Everyone was up, half of them having been sleeping in the large room on the second floor where James was discharging his weapon at something. By the time the squad leader and duke made it up the stairs all was still, so the squad leader starting barking orders. "Report. The hell is going on ?"

The jock just started yelling back. "IT WAS A SPIDER. A fucking big ass spider man." Drake started to smirk and then chuckle at James but then the jock pointed with his gun. "Look !"

Drake wasn't smiling any more. The thing was the size of one of those Halloween decorations. Its leg span was almost 3 feet. Its central body was the size of a man thigh and its fangs were the size of the blades on small kitchen knives.

James continued. "The fucking thing just came out of the... The uhhh." He was gestured and pointed at the mechanism in the roof what would slide the a section of the dome aside for the telescope. "The roof... window thing. It was going to Chase."

Them man being mentioned looked visibly ill as he looked down upon, what must have been, 35 pounds of eight legged death.

James wasn't done though. The jock went on to explain that he had been conserving his Chi by doing a micro pulse with his aura and Chi sight. Like sending out a sonar pulse only once every few seconds. he noticed something strange emerging from the crevasse in the dome above and behind Chase. So he sent out another pulse right away. "It was just there, hanging upside down and lining up to lunge at him with his rear 4 legs. It was just.... there. If I hadn't be using those pulses...."

New orders went out and James's technique was spread among the rest of the group before everyone thoroughly checked over every inch of the building, even going so far as to barricade the air vents for the central air conditioning. Giant man eating insects had a way of making people paranoid it seemed.

The group was just settling back to either stand guard or sleep when Chase called out for David. "Sir. I think you need to come up and see this."

Everyone waited with baited breath as the squad leader climbed up to the dome opening and then peered at the trucks through the scouts scope. "The Fuck ? Are those... Ants ? Jesus, there all over..." The next instant he was sticking his head out the window, looking strait down the wall. After a few seconds he jerks his head back in. "Shit. Some of them are crawling up the wall."

David was rubbing his face and looking a little frantic, but he then stopped pacing, took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Alright. don't let any of them get in and then get back out. I think ants leave a trail for other ants to follow if they find anything. So if one comes in, kill it and we'll stash the bodies in the bathroom." He looks to the others. "Otherwise, the rest of you need to get some sleep."

Maik snorts a laugh and they weren't the only one. David wasn't disheartened. "Alright then. if you cant sleep then at least rest until you feel able to get back to those hard drives. Nothing much else to be done at this..."

There was a sharp thunk followed by Chase handing over the body of the first ant to James for disposal. the thing was the size of a mans hand and James just chucked it into the garbage can to the side of the room.

David next asked Chase if he had brought any more supplies in from the trucks then just enough for dinner. The man hadn't been put in charge of the support team for nothing and he pointed to the travel bags in the corner. "Enough protein bars and water to last us 3 days. After hearing something in the woods I figured that we shouldn't leave all the eggs in one basket." David praised the fire team leader and moved on.

So on it went with the occasional sharp thunk followed by another monster ant being tossed into the bucket. They had 14 ants by the time Chase made the whimpering sound. "Unnnnn. Man. We ain't in Kansas anymore." David only wanted to know if the new weirdness was a threat. "Not at the moment. Its just eating some of the ants..... Wait.... Fuck ! There's another spider too."

David ordered the man to stop looking out the opening of the dome, lest some horror grab at him and drab him out. "Just take care of anything that tries to stick its head in."

Maik decided to just get back to work at that point. They were full on Chi again and the lilin wasn't getting any more sleep. Not tonight anyway.