12 Kilometers

New shields fell before the group along with a series of notifications.

You have been granted Eagle Eyes. Intellect temporarily increased by +5.

You have been granted Bimble’s Body. Durability temporarily increased by +5.

You have been granted Ohr Serpent’s Swiftness. Reflexes temporarily increased by +5.

As the buffs took effect, Ma’Z felt slightly confused that he couldn’t feel anything physically, but he did hear Sparkplug say, “Oh, hell yeah. The headmaster’s got the good shit!”

“Why don’t I feel all jittery like I did when I first ranked up?” Ma’Z asked.

“That’s ‘cause I’m filtering out the changes for you. You still haven’t completely opened up yet, though. You good?”

“With the way that they’ve been aggressively targeting me, I’m not the most keen to go all Leeroy when I barely know anything about them.”

“You can tell?”

“It’s an I’Lu thing?” Ma’Z hedged.

“Ha! Sure. We’ll go with that. Look, they’re regrouping, and we have just under twelve kilometers until we reach base. I’m really going to need you to start going all out.”

“Well, that Ramses guy seems to be their leader. Any suggestions?”

“Same thing I told you before. Fuck them up.”

“That’s-” Ma’Z paused and took a deep breath. “Heaven, is my guess correct? Ramses is the leader?”

“Yeah. He is. Why?” Heaven said.

“Sparkplug is pretty adamant that I need to fuck him up.”

“Ma’Z, you know the only thing on my mind right now is protecting you and the headmaster. I kind of have to disagree with that plan.”

“And if I go anyway?”

“We don’t throw our lives away. We protect them with all we have,” Heaven said.

“Look, I can’t really explain it, but I really feel like I need to-”

“BUT!” Heaven interrupted. “Wherever you go, I go. Ramses is likely nearing the peak of Chosen tier, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m with you all the way. So, if you think you got him, then I’m all in.”

“I really don’t,” Ma’Z laughed sarcastically. “But as I was saying, even without Sparkplug pushing me, I feel compelled to go. But in any case, let me give the group a heads up.”

Ma’Z was relieved that Ramses’ group hadn’t attacked yet. With their sightlines trained squarely on him, it was a bit of a relief that he could take some of the burden, if that meant giving the rest of the team room to focus on attacking.

Opening his mind to the entire party he said, Hey guys, sorry for the intrusion, but this is faster than talking, and I want to keep this short. Since this fight began, I’ve been able to see who they’re attacking and I plan to use that to our advantage. Plus I think I’m a complete unknown to them, so they’re currently all targeting me.

If their target changes I’ll call it out, and if it goes the way I think, they won’t have any idea how we’re countering them when they do. Cool?

Many of the crew were kind of startled at first but sent back an affirmative.

Everyone except Oraria.

“Nah, man. Keep that mental nonsense out of my head. I ain’t about to go through that skat all over again,” she complained.

“Ory, if this were literally any other fight, I’d agree with you, but we have to use everything we have. They’re coming,” Brigand called out.

Feeling like he’d entered phase two of a boss fight, Ma’Z’s eyes went wide as each of them started to glow with a multicolored aura of pure æther.

“Do y’all see that?” Ma’Z asked.

“Was that not there before?” War asked.

“No. It just started.”

“I’ve never seen the physical manifestation, but it’s definitely an æther shroud. They’re doing a mind synch,” Vivi said.

“Oh? Wait. They weren’t before?” Ma’Z said.

“I can’t say. I just report what I see. And they’re definitely synching. It’s kind of like having shared Vision.”

“Sounds like information overload. There’s no way they can maintain that for long.”

“Round 2, Reapers. We’re entering into the home stretch. What’s the play Ma’Z?” Heaven said.

Ma’Z turned to look at Heaven, surprised that she was giving him command. When he turned his attention back to Ramses and his crew, he realized that while his instincts were telling him to fight, that didn’t mean he had to be stupid about it.

“Welp, then for our first move… Run,” Ma’Z said. “Everybody switch to Drive mode. Brigand in the front, full burn. Scouts in the middle, and Rounders in the rear. I need everyone in, shoulder to shoulder, ass to mouth. I’ll handle our maneuvering and draft stability.”

Ma’Z expected Oraria to protest, but she along with the rest of the group turned heel, switched to Drive form, and floored it.

Ma’Z turned to Heaven, who gave him an approving nod before dropping into Drive form and linking up on the other side of Striga.

Ma’Z docked in-between them pulling up a set of windows for each Rider, streaming data for each of their vehicles speeds and drag coefficients.

“Alright Brigand, keep her as straight as you can manage. It’s about to get slick.”

Ma’Z started to chain cast Footloose, while maintaining Void Grips between Brigand and himself. The loss of friction helped the scouts push Brigand forward, while he used Heaven and Striga as his arms to keep them stable.

Data continued to stream in through Ma’Z’s feed, while he mentally tagged each member to make adjustments on the fly.

Vivi, shift left six degrees, and increase speed by four kilometers, he sent.

Maintain course but watch the corner. As soon as we come around, accelerate to 500 kpm, he sent to War.

War’s about to accelerate. Stay on his bumper to prevent him from slipping, he told Striga.

He continued this through the first couple kilometers, before Sparkplug gave him a warning.

“Coming in fast, boss. What are we going to do?” Sparkplug said.

“Exactly what you said, partner. Fuck them up,” Ma’Z replied.

Ma’Z realized that since they turned to flee, Vivi was no longer sending out chaff bursts to maintain the simulation. Thanks to his third eye, however, he could still see them. With no other option, he kept a running mental note of how fast they were approaching, mindful that Deterion, at least, could teleport.

No sooner than he thought it, the Rider appeared above him again, coming at a steep angle.

With no time to think, Ma’Z shouted, “Heaven, high beams on me.”

He then shifted into Assault form, catching the Rider in mid-air. Deterion impacted with a heavy crash, which Ma’Z remembered from when he crashed into Vasher after he teleported him.

Bright lights surrounded the two of them, providing Ma’Z the opportunity he needed. They impacted with the ground, Ma’Z falling through shadow, leaving Deterion skidding across the street with his hands removed at the wrist along with a piece of his shoulder.

Ma’Z reappeared a moment later, docked as if he never left, continuing their push back to base.

Ramses and the remaining two ignored Deterion, racing past with their boosters at full burn.

The next thing Ma’Z saw made his jaw drop. He had forgotten about the drones that dropped the four assassins and watched in disbelief as one of them dropped what looked like a replacement limb, which Deterion attached almost immediately before racing back to catch up to the pack.

They didn’t wait idly, however, as Vasher decided it was his turn to step up the attack. Lines of energy appeared in the sky and began to fall on the team, missing just barely, but getting closer with each strike as Vasher continuously adjusted for the distance.

Brigand, need you again. Concentrate all of your shields overhead and behind. Vivi, if possible, drop another chaff, and can you use that bubble to project us out of sight?

On it, Brigand said. His roaming shields appeared in a small phalanx, complete with a new dome of Steel laced æther. Vivi did the same. An explosion of nanomachines dispersed through the air as she pulled the nanoswarm back to camouflage their position.

One of the sightlines disappeared from Ma’Z, appearing on Oraria, coming from her flank. Shit, Oraria, on your right. Coming in fast. This time it was Solus, apparently not finished with their earlier melee. The scout tore through the field back onto the road, where he was swiftly intercepted by a Light Tether, that tore him off his path, and behind them all.

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Even through the silhouette, Ma’Z could tell he was shocked. He turned his attention back to Ma’Z who watched through his Vision, grinning triumphantly.

Two more sightlines left his person.

7 Kilometers

Only Ramses was targeting him now.

“Where the hell did they go? Sparkie, I need a hand filtering all of this. What do I do?”

“Link ‘em,” Sparkplug said. “That cloud of æther wasn’t some random ability. You can do it too.”

“I don’t think I can manage all of that and keep this draft going at the same time.”

“Leave that to me. Just link. Imagine the shared Vision you and Heaven did the other day.”

“But that was-”

“Shut up and do it.”

Ma’Z shook his head and opened up his mind’s eye, imagining the entire group being able to see what he saw. Æther started to pour out of his body, and soon it enveloped the party.

“Is this a… This is a mind link! Ma’Hiz, how are you doing that?” Vivi said.

“Fuck if I know. I just need you all to see what I see. Look for the sight lines!” Ma’Z grunted.

One almost immediately appeared above Heaven and Striga.

“Split. Now!” Ma’Z shouted.

All three of them broke off simultaneously as Solus, Deterion, and Ramses all crashed down in the spot they had just occupied.

With Oraria’s battered Frame, she was struggling to maintain her position without Heaven keeping her in place, while War and Vivi were starting to fishtail from trying to keep Brigand up to speed.

Shit, they’re going to fall apart, Ma’Z thought.

The three converged on the trio, as Ma’Z made a snap decision.

Summoning his Dark Servant, Ma’Z sent it to Striga, shadow jumping him back into position, motioning for Heaven to join him.

Instead of pursuing, the three went after Ma’Z, who began to fall back, knowing Vasher would be coming up his rear any second.

Chains quickly snared his Erzalis, but with a pulse of footloose, the chains uselessly slipped off of him. However, Ramses was on him an instant. Even though Ma’Z couldn’t make out his face, he had a feeling it was the image of an abject professional.

Just before Ramses could strike, a light tether grabbed Ramses by the ankle.

“You didn’t really think I was going to leave you, did you? Wherever you go. I go,” Heaven said.

“I’m kind of playing it by ear. Incoming!”

Deterion and Solus rushed by Ramses, Deterion targeting Heaven, and Solus on Ma’Z.

With a gravitic burst, Ma’Z knocked Solus sideways into Deterion’s path. Deterion barely managed to avoid spilling over Solus, vaulting over the scout before being caught by a second burst that hit him just at the knee.

The rounder fell to the pavement as Ramses was held steady within Heaven’s spell.

“Look, I don’t know why they’re holding back, but we might as well use it to our advantage. Go!”

With a nod, Ma’Z recalled his servant and jumped through, rejoining the group.

As if to confirm her suspicions, Ramses forcefully ripped himself free of Heaven’s snare, turning on the elf.

Heaven imagined a slight scowl on the man’s face, but instead of engaging, used her flash of the brightlord to jump back into position.

“Alright, Sparkie, can you still handle our formation?” Ma’Z asked the Erzalis.

“Started a long time ago. I’m projecting their individual paths and speed variables to follow. Currently showing only a four percent deviance from the best path. These guys are naturals,” Sparkplug answered.

“I need something to fight back with instead of constantly reacting. Any ideas?”

“Did you already forget your antics from this morning?”

“I nearly got burned to death, so I don’t follow.”

“Telekinesis. Pick up literally anything and use it!”

“Oh, that’s what you meant by fuck them up,” Ma’Z said looking over the party. “Anyone got a gun I can use? Preferably a big one.”

“As per your plan, we’re all pretty much running. We can’t afford to switch and risk losing our lead,” Oraria said.

“Didn’t ask you to. I asked for your gun,” Ma’Z said.

“I’m a short-range fighter. You’re better off asking War or Heaven for their rifles.”

“Nah, chica. If you want a big gun, ask Brig. He might be our defensive lead, but he’s actually a siege titan,” War said.

“Well, in that case, give me all of them,” Ma’Z said.

“Sorry, what?” Heaven said.

“Let’s just say, this is how I defeated the Selvig brothers.”

“Selvig brothers!? They’re the ones who attacked you?” Heaven asked. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Only just found out a few minutes ago. But that’s not important. Guns. Gimme.”

Several trade windows appeared, each one offering up a gun, which Ma’Z accepted without reservation.

Ma’Z turned to Heaven, only now noticing that her trademark goggles perfectly matched her battle suit.

“Can you show me their-” he interrupted himself.

Can you show me their weak points with your Godseye? he sent.

Heaven gave Ma’Z a sly grin and nodded.

Ma’Z started drawing each gun, holding each one above the group, forming a circle. Each member’s prospective jaws hit the floor at the sight.

“Diosa mios. Is that how you took out the Selvigs?” War asked.

“I did not think his racial ability was strong enough to hold that much weight. I’m really interested to know how you’re able to do that Ma’Hiz,” Vivi said.

“I might take you up on that. But for now, let’s just make it back, ok?”

3 Kilometers

Sightlines soon reappeared. Ma’Z used his mind link to sense who spotted who first.

Brigand reacted first. Deterion reappeared in the front with Vasher in tow. Ma’Z sensed where he was looking, rotating his siege cannon onto the pair, paying no mind to the collateral damage as he pulled the trigger.

Vasher responded, intercepting the heavy shell, using the shield spell he’d seen him use earlier to cancel out inertia.

Ma’Z answered in kind, angling the cannon to destroy the road in front.

“Sparkie, going to need you to compensate.” Ma’Z said.

“Got’chu boss,” Sparkplug answered.

Sparkplug shifted their paths as Ma’Z mentally pulled the trigger. Then pulled it again. And again.

Bit by bit, Ma’Z threw caution to the wind, using the pair’s sightlines to gauge their individual distances. The siege cannon bellowed with a deafening boom. Each shot creating small craters as asphalt and dirt erupted from each impact.

“I think I’m starting to understand why you like this guy, Reaper 1. This man has less chill than you do,” Oraria said.

“He definitely has a knack for property damage,” Striga lamented.

“Fraternity! Eleven o’clock,” Brigand reported.

“Home stretch. Let’s go!” War cheered.

1 Kilometer

As the group crested a hill, the fraternity rose across the horizon. Ma’Z was glad to see that no one had suffered any major damage. He was starting to think they were actually going to make it.

A new sightline appeared, Solus appearing just outside of their shields, firing into it with steady bursts. Ma’Z moved several shields to blunt the impact, angling War’s rifle towards him to return fire.

Deterion and Vasher disappeared, only for Deterion to reappear a moment later, falling bodily on another physical shield. Æther began to surge around his hand, as he plunged it through Brigand’s ætheric shield, aiming for Striga.

This time, Ma’Z rotated Heaven’s rifle onto the Frame, using the weak points highlighted by Heaven’s ability to inflict as much damage as possible. He managed to clip each of his joints, forcing Solus to abandon his attack.

Thinking they were finally clear of them, Ma’z turned to look at Heaven, a smile forming on his face. That smile quickly faded when he saw it in his mind’s eye before he saw that she was looking up in horror.

Ma’Z followed her gaze, his mind distantly scrambling to aim each of the guns up to intercept the incoming transport drones that were now crashing down on them.

“Everybody split!” he yelled.

Ma’Z quickly dropped back in an attempt to dodge out of the way as the group pushed ahead, too transfixed on reaching the fraternity to heed his warning. Everyone except Heaven.

The elven soldier turned around too late, however, as the transport drones crashed between them, knocking Ma’Z further back away from the group.

The impact knocked Heaven aside as well, the force strong enough to throw her off of her feet.

She had just enough time to see Vasher slamming directly into Ma’Z’s back, causing him to flip uncontrollably. Ramses appeared right behind him, catching the careening Ma’Hiz mid-air with his hammer.

Ma’Z slammed into the ground, still rolling from the momentum. Trying to catch himself, Ma’Z switched to his Assault form, arresting his backwards momentum before dropping back into Drive form and driving the opposite direction.

Deterion teleported directly in front of him, forcing him to veer out of the way, only to be met by Solus speeding headlong towards him in a deadly game of chicken.

Ma’Z switched to Assault form at the last second, vaulting over the scout. He remembered at the last second, he still had control of everyone’s guns, and turned War’s rifle in their direction and started firing on the pair.

Vasher erected a shield of his own, stopping the attack cold, which Ma’Z responded by calling all of the weapons closer to continue the assault from the opposite direction.

“They’re boxing us in, Ma’Hiz,” Sparkplug said.

“We lost the link. We can’t make out their forms anymore. Get out of there, Ma’Hiz,” Vivi called out.

“We need to go back,” War said.

“Now, we stick to the plan. The sooner we get to the fraternity, the sooner we can help him. We have to go,” Oraria countered.

“What about Heaven?” Brigand said.

“You know she won’t leave his side, and we got the headmaster. Let her buy time, but we need to keep moving,” Oraria said.

“She’s right, unfortunately,” Vivi said. “Headmaster?”

“Get me inside. We can’t help them from here,” he said.

Ma’Z listened as he continued to put up as much of a fight as he could muster.

He recalled Heaven’s speculation that they were holding back. The way they were converging on him, he couldn’t help but agree.

The stress was finally starting to get to him. Ambushed twice in one day, rich NPC’s holding grudges, and now this. He wasn’t sure how to feel, but anger was quickly starting to become a very welcome emotion.

There was a flash, and Heaven appeared at his back, twin blades at the ready and her first light beside her.

“Sorry. I’m sorry you had to get mixed up in my mess,” she said.

“I swear you PvP types really know how to go swimming in shit. What did you do to piss these guys off so bad?”

“Tl:dr? We and their leader had very different ideas of how we should treat the Tears and the core principles of the Fraternity. At the end of the day, we were the ones in the wrong. We’ve done a complete 180 since then, but then, so have they.”

“Politics?”

“Politics.”

The two stood at the ready, waiting for the next assault. Ma’Z held Durandal out to his side, each of his borrowed guns trained on each Rider.

He watched as Ramses and the others dropped their cloaks, revealing themselves for the first time.

The group gathered together, while Ramses silently walked forward to meet Ma’Z face to face.

Whatever façade was obscuring his face before seemed to vanish, and Ma’Z was stunned to see who was staring back at him.

Heaven moved to put herself between herself and the leader of the Tourmaline eye. Ramses ignored her, however, his red eyes soundly fixed on the man behind her.

Soon, he stopped just a few short steps from their position. Ma’Z having regained his senses, put a hand on Heaven’s shoulder and moved to stand beside her.

Ramses, in a show of good faith, put away his weapons and said, “Greetings Heaven. It’s been a long time.”

“You said you were going to stay out of this,” she said.

“I did. And I am. But you know that I’m not here for any of that. I’m here for him.”

“Never going to happen.”

“Oh, that’s really not your decision to make now, is it? Isn’t that right Ma’Hiz?”

“If that were the case, you wouldn’t have attacked us without provocation.”

“I had my reasons. But to start with, I’m guessing Ma’Hiz here has a number of questions running through his mind. Chief among them, why this face?”

“Can’t say you’re wrong, but what exactly do you want?” Ma’Z asked.

“Don’t engage him Ma’Z. There’s not a soul left in the Tourmaline eye that you can call a friend.”

Ramses blinked. If he was angry with Heaven’s accusation, he didn’t show it. Instead, he looked pointedly at the woman for a long second before turning his attention back to Ma’Z.

“We need to talk… little brother.”