Chapter Three – On the Run
Thedas was crumbling into political chaos after the terrorists had attacked the Summit Meeting at Halamshiral. That had been a month ago. Kai had been working almost nonstop, going on mission after mission on orders from the Council. Each mission, each kill…it all began to make her sick as she was reminded constantly of the truth she had learned from that email. She had read every single page in the files she had received about her personal history in Trinity's and the government's records. All the experiments, all the tests, all the missions…they had recorded everything.
Sitting in the Chantry, Kai found solace in the peace and quiet of the small cathedral. She was thankful that it was void of people, except for the few devoted sisters of the faith. Kai had never been one for prayers or faith, but after learning the truth of her origins and discovering a little more about her parents, she had hoped that Andraste and the Maker would bring her a little closer to her parents. All the report on her parents would divulge was that her mother was a mage and her father was a Templar. They had lived in Kirkwall. Their names were Marian and Cullen Rutherford.
Rutherford.
If that was her family name then why the hell was she named Hawke? Was it a poor attempt at erasing her past? Was it code for something?
It felt rather ironic for Kai to sit inside the chantry, considering her line of work. If she were to confess her multiple sins the poor Revered Mother would more than likely go mute from horror. But sitting on a pew within the quiet of the chantry felt soothing. She'll occasionally hear the quiet whispers of the cloister sisters or the muttering of prayers from a few devout people. Kai, on the other hand, just sat quietly, trying to absorb the serenity of the place. She couldn't quite claim to believe in the Maker and his profit Andraste, but she appreciated some of the messages within the chant that always seem to give her some comfort.
Now that she had a moment to herself she could let herself digest the information she had practically shoved into her brain early that morning, plus the whole terrorist attack problem which came second in her mind. She just wondered if what she read in those files about herself were all true or if someone was playing an elaborate and cruel prank. Then there was the ordeal about Cor, about how he had abducted her as an infant from under her parents' noses. Then a flurry of what-ifs flooded her mind. What if he had never taken her? Would she have lived as a normal girl? Never knowing what it felt like to kill another person on someone's orders? Never develop calluses on her hands from handling weapons? Never have experienced that nightmare in Redcliff?
What were her parents like? Did she look like them? Did they try searching for her? So many questions unanswered and the only way to possibly answer them would be to actually go to the past physically. It's possible, if those documents weren't typos, there could be an actual way for her to go back. But time travelling is illegal…
Fuck illegal! Cor's a fuckin' baby-snatcher! And Trinity knew! I'm not the only displaced abductee, either. There had been hundreds like me. she thought just as realization of what that meant made her stomach squeeze. And I probably killed the bulk of them…
It felt a little too coincidental that she received that email just hours before the terrorist attack in Denerim happened.
Fucking Cor. That bastard has a lot to answer for. If anything, she'll polish a bullet that she'll use to shoot him between the eyes. She had looked up her previous mentor, learning that he was running for government back in Orlais, which meant he was currently too high profile to target for revenge. At least for now.
She and her friends had been making plans though their plans weren't panning out until Flynn had mentioned that one of his contacts was part of the radical group called Cerberus; who had been responsible for the attacks in major cities as of late. Turned out that Flynn's contact also happened to be a former subject of Trinity's, having also received an email from an unknown sender. The contact told Flynn where to go, and Flynn relayed the message to Kai and their friends: an abandoned fortress in the Frostbacks.
Someone sat down beside Kai in the pews and she didn't have to turn her head to see that it was Jameson. They sat side by side in silence, under the gaze of Andraste's statue.
"You don't strike me as a devoted Andrastian." Jameson said softly.
"Doesn't mean I don't believe, even a little." Kai replied.
She felt Jameson taking her hand in his, a rather forward move on his part. He had been getting bolder around her since their little heart-to-heart several weeks ago. The furthest he had done was hug her after returning from her last mission.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"No. Are you?" she asked.
"It's a shame there's no manual for what we're about to do."
Kai let out a short, breathy laugh as she gave his hand a little squeeze. "Guess we have no choice but to wing it."
"Hawke…Kai, I promise this time I won't let go of your hand when things get hard." Kai looked at Jameson with mild surprise while a blush creeped up onto her cheeks as she met his violet gaze.
"Nikolai Jameson, it almost sounds like you're making a vow to me before the Maker." Kai teased. A smile spread across his face, showing off his crooked smile that made Kai's heart flutter rapidly in her chest. Kai found herself tilting her head up and leaning forward while he was angling his head down and met his lips with hers. It was a soft, chaste kiss that left Kai wanting for more but knew she had to stop before she gave into that urge of continuing. They sat for awhile longer in the Chantry, holding hands quietly before finally getting up to leave. Kai had packed her military issue duffel bag that Jameson took from her and slung onto his shoulder as they walked out of the Chantry together. They fingers now laced together.
It was, in a way, like a disguise, leaving the Chantry together like a couple while they made their way, inauspiciously towards the shipping bay.
xxxxx
Taking one of the ships easily without incident or suspicion, Kai and her friends managed to fly out from the Presidium Ring to make their way towards Thedas with Jameson flying the ship. It took six hours to reach the Frostbacks from the Presidium Ring, staying below the radar so as to not be detected even if Flynn reassured that they couldn't be traced. The last half hour of their flight, Jameson had to manually steer the ship through the peaks and the apparent storm they had gotten themselves into until they reached their destination. An abandoned fortress, deep within the Frostbacks that could have easily been missed because the storm was so thick. Jameson landed the ship as steady as he could in the storm, the landing a lot rougher than he would have liked but at least they touched ground. Turning off the engine deactivated the cloaking but Flynn made sure to remove and destroy the tracking beacon just in case it had a backup battery that would turn on.
Everyone was suited in their gear, helmets on, weapons at the ready. Each of them had taken up a plasma gun from the ship's armory, their usual weapons secured to their bodies. They all carried as much as they could from the ship, from emergency kit to camping gear, they couldn't take a chance of not being prepared.
"Brace yourselves. And stay close." Kai said, cocking her plasma gun before pulling the lever to release the hatch.
"It's been awhile since I've had to gear up like this." Mimi said, adjusting her fingers in her gloves. "And it's not even for role playing in the bedroom."
"Good to know of our Lady Ambassador." Jameson said.
Kai, Javan, Mimi and Jameson braved through the storm, walking carefully towards the fortress ruins, all the while alert and keeping eyes on all angles with Jameson bringing up the rear, plasma gun at the ready. The flashlights on their guns were very limited in the thick storm, and their helmet's infrared and night vision settings weren't as helpful in the black frenzy of the wind and snow. Yet it was just enough for them to get inside the building and shelter them from the storm.
Kai lead them further inside, still moving as one unit, still alert to what might be lurking in the dark. It felt like an eternity as they followed Kai, locating an inner sanctum of the building behind a rotting wooden door. It was a small space, probably once used for storage but couldn't say for sure in the limited light they had with their flashlights.
"We'll camp here for the night." Kai said, switching on the safety on her gun. The rest of them did the same as they began to sort through their gear, the flashlights being frustrating for not illuminating more. With some difficulty and frustration they laid out the thin aluminum blankets and set up the electric lantern that lit up the entire room in its white light and slowly began to emit heat to warm them. Air purifiers were set up, vacuuming any poison or toxin in the air so that they could take their helmets off without worry. The four of them huddled around once the red light on the air filters turned green, giving them the relief to take their helmets off but still fully armed.
They took shifts in keeping watch, two awake and two asleep; rotating every four hours until first light. Luckily the storm had passed and they were able to get a good look at their surroundings. Despite the sad shape the fortress was in, it was an impressive structure to have lasted through the ages. They had packed everything up and hauled their gear as they searched around the abandoned compound.
"I wonder what this place was used for." Mimi said in wonder.
"It's definitely some kind of abandoned military base or something. Why else build a fortress in this blighted location?" Kai said, while she tapped the side of her helmet to check the air quality at the altitude they were at. Kai sighed in disappointment, seeing her scanners showing that even the high peaks of the Frostbacks had been touched by the many nuclear war's aftereffects. Which explained the color of the snow that crunched under their boots, a dirty combination of grey and brown.
Disgusting.
"This was where the Inquisition of the Ninth Age was based in." said a familiar voice, though it didn't stop the two from whipping around with their guns at the ready. Even in his gear, Kai can still recognize the dwarf. "Easy, ladies!"
"Where's Bjorn?" Mimi asked as she and Kai lowered their weapons.
"Inside with Jav and Pretty Boy." Flynn said, waving for them to follow him inside. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to some interested people."
"How long do you think it'll be before Trinity finds us?" Mimi asked, "They're bound to send agents after us."
"Which is why we need to hurry and meet up with the rest of the party." Flynn said.
"You mentioned these rebels but you didn't give us a lot about them." Kai said, as she and Mimi followed their friend back inside where Javan and Jameson were standing with Bjorn "Who are they?"
Flynn just held up a gloved hand as he pulled out his phone and dialed some unknown contact. "It's me. Open the doors." He then hung up and before any of them could utter a word the ground beneath their feet shook. They all turned, looking in the great hall and seeing the floor separating, revealing its hidden secret. A metal platform rose up to ground level, a protective guard rail fencing around it. Flynn motioned for them all to step onto the platform and once they were all aboard it began to slowly descend beneath the floor.
The hatches began to close above them, suspending them in darkness with only the pulsing of florescent yellow lights giving them any clue that they were still moving. Kai tensed when she felt a hand on her shoulder but eased up when she felt the familiar squeezing of reassurance by Jameson. The platform stopped and another door hatched open before them. Light flooding through the darkness and a single figure, obscured by the light, stood, waiting for them.
"It's about bloody time. I was beginning to worry until you called."
Kai felt herself bristle up at the familiar gruff voice, quickly reaching over her shoulders and unsheathing her daggers.
"Hawke! Wait!" Flynn exclaimed but wasn't fast enough to stop the Spectre as she flew off the platform and knocked the man onto his back with her on top, her black blade pressed against his throat.
This was it.
This was the moment she had been anticipating for weeks.
This confrontation.
She had already broken away from her creed with the Spectres, having betrayed her sect and abandoning her oath, all for the sake of vengeance for the wrong that had been done to her. All thanks to the man she had, with the edge of her blade pressed up against the soft flesh of his throat, small beads of blood beginning to form. She had steeled herself for this very moment, wanting to kill him but first she needed to know.
Kai ripped off her helmet, not caring if she will breathe in poison before ripping off the O2 mask from Cor's face to look him in the eye.
"Why me? Out of countless infants you could have taken that night, why me?" she all but hissed, glaring angrily down at the man she had once trusted. A man she had looked up to. Thought of as a father-figure. All of that now shattered with an ugly reality of lies and blood.
Cor merely looked up at her with eyes that held no remorse for his past deeps. "I see you read your files. Good." he said; his voice gruff and low.
"Hawke, stop!" Flynn said, making a move to run up to Kai but remained where he was by Cor, who lifted a hand, silently telling the dwarf that it was fine.
"I took you from your timeline because you would have died within a year. And your parents would have been executed because they had you." A heavy feeling dropped in Kai's stomach at that and she could see no lie in Cor's eyes. "Your parents were too important for history to die because they had a child together. So much depended on their survival."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Kai breathed, her throat burning from breathing in the unfiltered air.
"Your mother was an apostate and your father a Templar. It was a dangerous time in Kirkwall's history. Your discovery would have caused a chain-reaction of events that would have had devastating results in Thedas. Your parents needed to live through that to ensure the world did not end."
"So what—I'm some sort of walking apocalypse just waiting to happen?"
"The Knight-Commander at the time was unstable and would have killed you in a fit of madness and then would have murdered your parents. Taking you out of the equation was the only way to make sure that humanity survived."
Kai pressed the blade further up against his throat, "No. You're lying!"
"Killing me won't accomplish anything, Hawke."
"You'll say anything to justify what you did. You not only displaced me but hundreds of others!"
"Hawke! Stop!" Flynn called out but went no further than that when Kai had shot a warning bullet at his feet without looking away from Cor. The gunshot surprising everyone in the corridor and elicited a scream from Mimi.
"Tell me. You know how to travel through time, tell me how so I can go back." Kai demanded. "Flynn and Javan, too. They deserve to know the truth also since you're responsible for them being here, too."
"Fine."
xxxxx
"It has been three days since the attack on the Summit and there has been no new development in tracking down one of the known fugitives. The Citadel Council had released a statement earlier this week, stating that they have officially begun the manhunt for former Spectre Kailah Hawke and Javan Sten. Along with former pilot Captain Nikolai Jameson of the Alliance Federation. It has also been reported the Ambassador Pavus was seen with Sten, heading towards the Presidium Ring shipping bay just days before the attack on the Summit. It is believed that she was assassinated for she had not been present at the Summit. Furthermore…"
"Turn it off." Kai said, pacing back and forth. Since arriving in the secret rebel base below the ruins of the crumbling castle of Skyhold, Kai had been in a sour mood. Not only was she and her friends branded as traitors, but Cor wasn't mentioned once in any of the news stories. The air quality was poorer than if they were in any major city housed within a protective dome, the generators that were meant to keep the oxygen flowing throughout the base were constantly being repaired. Thus everyone was given O2 masks to wear whenever the yellow lights in every room and hallway turned on, indicating the air generators were down.
The rebels gave them beds, food, and clean clothes, but it did nothing to erase the reality of their situation. The base was frigid cold all over the place, and with the spare clothes they were given, it wasn't enough to keep warm and so they also kept their uniforms on for some extra warmth. The only place that was warm was in their small shared room that contained a single space heater. And only three cots. Kai and Mimi shared one of the cots and used both their bedrolls to attempt to block out the cold and share body heat in the night.
Cor was constantly away in the war room, obviously keeping his distance. It irritated Kai to no end, forcing her to wait. Waiting and not knowing was the worst. And she was done waiting as she threw off her blanket, shivering at the instant cold that hugged her body. She ignored her body's craving for warmth as she left the cramped room and ventured out into the hall. Kai shivered again, her teeth clattering and her breath fogging in front of her as she walked down the hall, searching for her answer, for Cor. For anyone!
xxxxx
Cor bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. He was in the war room, standing with the other key members of the rebellion. The rest of their members were scattered across Thedas, with only a few messages a day with only bad news to report. The attack on the Summit was unexpected and it also was forcing them all to stifle their desire to retaliate, but when Trinity framed Kai for the attack—Cor had never before known true fear and anger until that moment. Trinity knew who they were, or at least they think they know. All of his careful planning to prepare them…he was hoping to wait until at least until his and Councilman Ykut's plans were fully ready, but now Trinity has forced him—and the rebels—to speed up their plans.
"They have three of our names on their black list that they announced publically, including that Spectre Flynn brought in…it's only a matter of time before they name everyone." Dominic said, looking down at the round table where it projected the holographic geography of Thedas with red dots mapping every outpost that belonged to Trinity. Dominic was an ex-soldier who was familiar with Trinity's protocols and security details, though he defected from questionable orders; only learning of Trinity's true horrors years later and even then that was barely scratching the surface. "This has already forced what's left of our allies to go into hiding."
"Trinity used their children soldiers to kill Professor Copper fifteen years ago," Oswald said, a dwarf who was part of the Merchant's Guild, as indicated to the signet ring on his left third finger. "Trinity obviously found out somehow that he was helping us locate the weapon's whereabouts before them. But how the hell did they know to point the finger at your prodigy, Cor?! On top of that who else do they know about?"
"It wouldn't be hard to believe that there is a mole in our group, the only question is who among us is the traitor?" Dominic wondered.
"Anyone able to get a message through to the elf and his team?" Oswald asked.
"Radio silence, they must have moved their ship to the dark side of the moon." said Rylo, who was responsible for decrypting incoming messages across Thedas from their allies in the rebellion against Trinity. Rylo was a short and round man in his late twenties, brilliant at coding and encrypting. His idea of a good time is sitting in front of the computer, writing code, and eating "cheese" crisps. "We may not hear from them for awhile."
"It's only been three days and Trinity has already raided eight of our hideouts. We need to find that mole before we lose anymore good people!" Dominic said, his voice carrying authority as his fists slammed down on the tabletop.
"Kid, I know yer hurtin', but we can't help them now." Oswald said, knowing his pain as most of his own family had gone into hiding and his eldest son and his family were found by Trinity and executed on the spot. "What we can do is keep their memory alive by seeing this through."
"Cor, when you were a handler, do you recall any orders going through to retrieve anything?" Rylo asked.
"You're gonna have to ask Kai and her friends, they're the ones who were sent on miscellaneous missions during their Academy years." Cor replied.
"Back to square one." Rylo sighed.
"So now we're on a treasure hunt for the third piece, great. I do so love myself a scavenger hunt." Oswald said sarcastically. "So, where do we start?"
The door into the war room slid open as a woman with messy red hair and thick glasses came in, her arms loaded with rolled up schematics and maps. "I'm sorry! I got caught up researching the artifacts Trinity was after and realized something while I was doing my afternoon jazzercise!" She dropped everything onto the table and rifled through the rolled up maps, grabbing a rather ancient looking map that was yellowed and thinned. The contents of the map were definitely of a Thedas that no longer existed. "While I was reading through the professor's notes he had been using some weird key words that made no sense to me but then I realized that the reason they made no sense to me was because I was comparing his notes with an up to date map when really I should have been looking at older maps!" The woman rambled as she pulled up a holo-screen and entered activated the scanner to create a 3-D print of the old map. "And then when I figured that out I had to go search through historical maps going back decades and centuries until I came to another realization that the maps that are available in our geography networks didn't go back far enough so then I—"
"Hattie!" the men all chorused together, cutting the woman off mid-sentence.
"Right! Fast-forwarding," Hattie said as she adjusted her thick glasses and then maneuvered the 3-D map around to show them her discovery, marking where the artifacts were all supposedly hidden. "I went into the archive vaults and found this copy of a super-mega-old map of an original super-mega-ancient map of Thedas pre-dating the First Blight in 800 TE."
"This map obviously pre-dates the discovery of all of Thedas." Dominic said, "There's hardly any landmarks."
"I'm gettin' there," Hattie said as she then began to add the layers of the other maps throughout each age until it was of the current Thedas with the location marking where New Arlathan resided among other locations throughout Thedas. "X marks the spots!"
"Good job, Hattie." Cor said.
"Trinity will have figured this out, too." Rylo said.
"True, but all this digging around for this ancient Thedas got me thinking…" Hattie began, "Why not go back in time before Trinity was founded and get the missing pieces ourselves and destroy it?"
"Tch! You say it like it's the most obvious thing." Oswald said skeptically. "Time travel is illegal plus we don't have the equipment or manpower."
"Actually…" Hattie trailed off, her magnified eyes flicking to Cor.
"It's not yet ready." Cor said, looking sharply at the red-head. Hattie puckered her lips and puffed out her cheeks, showing her disappointment. "It's too dangerous and there's no guarantee. It's not even tested!"
"But Marius showed me his work! The formulas are accurate, the only thing left to do is activate the machine but that will require a lot of power and—"
"I said no."
"Are you sayin' that we have our own time machine?" Oswald asked incredulously, his bushy brows nearly reaching his hairline.
Cor let out a huff of agitation. "Pavus and his lunatic mages are still working on their wormhole project." he said.
"But I thought we shut that down years ago?" Oswald said, furrowing his brow.
"What project?" Dominic asked.
Cor let out a sharp sigh. "Marius is trying to replicate Trinity's time machine."
"Say what now?" Dominic asked, "Time travel? Cor! You of all people know of the repercussions that has already caused! This rebellion formed because of Trinity doing shit like manipulating the timeline. Not to mention the files Rylo had been able to decrypt about where Trinity got all those kids for their sick Malapa Project—and you were part of it, no less."
"If you're gonna hit low try not to pull your punches, whelp." Cor growled, squaring his shoulders in front of Dominic. "You would have done the same as me, following orders like a good soldier."
"And I'm supposed to believe that justifies what you did for them?"
"Dom, Cor is one of the founders of this rebellion." Oswald said.
"Even so, why? You know everything about all of us but how many of us left know anything about you?" Dominic asked defensively. "What made you suddenly betray your nation?"
Cor picked up the control tablet and pulled up on the holo-screen of a photo. The photo showed a little girl in a white room that was stained in blood with bodies of other children laying dead around her. The girl was sitting with her knees hugged up to her chest, her blue eyes peeking through the matted curtain of her black hair. She was covered in blood and her face showed no emotions but her eyes showed the horror she witnessed.
"Is that…?" Hattie began.
"Kai was my reason for turning my back on Trinity, the Federation, and the Citadel Council. It was they who allowed this to happen. Turning children against each other all for the sake of progress. Kai was also the last child I took out of her time before I had been promoted. Her and all the other displaced children are the reason why I helped formed this rebellion."
A silence fell into the room as everyone slowly peeled their gazes away from the painful image. Cor turned the holo-screen off.
"Kai says she wants to go back to her time," Cor said, breaking the silence. "I think I can at least try and do that much for the girl who became the Monster of Malapa."
Everyone quieted down as Kai walked into the room, casting an icy glare at Cor as she stopped at the table between Oswald and Dominic. Hattie adjusted her thick glasses on her nose, her magnified eyes blinking behind the thick lenses.
"I think it's fair to include me in since Cor promised to send me back to my actual timeline." Kai said smoothly, obviously having heard the last bit of the conversation. She reached out to the hologram map of Thedas and turning it in different angles. Cor suppressed a frustrated growl while his companions all looked at him accusingly.
"Hawke, now isn't the time." Cor said.
"Hawke? As in the Kailah Hawke from the Graduation Test?" Hattie asked.
"That's gonna haunt me forever." Kai muttered. Cor grunted when Hattie suddenly shoved him aside and made a move to grab hold of Kai's face for examination but was quickly stopped when Kai grabbed her wrists and twisted her until she was face down on the table.
"Hattie?!" Dominic said in alarm.
"A-Amazing!" Hattie wheezed, "Your reflexes are so fast!" Kai released Hattie who slowly pushed up from the table and rubbed her wrists tenderly, though she turned and grinned excitedly at Kai. "I've read so much about the Malapa Project but the materials I had gotten were so vague about its subjects. I have to run my own tests! Let me take some samples of your blood, I wanna study the properties of what Trinity may have injected into your body. Can I also do a stress test on you? Do you have super strength? Where do you max out at in stamina?"
"Not now Hattie!" Cor growled, silencing the little woman.
Kai crossed her arms and stared Hattie down, silencing the woman who gave a little intimidated squeak and hid behind Cor.
"So…where's your time machine?" Kai asked, looking at Cor.
"Andraste's flamin' arse." Cor cursed before letting out a sigh.
xxxxx
Hattie led Kai, Dominic, Cor and Oswald to a lower level of the base and into the research lab where Hattie spent nearly all of her time in. Inside the group was met with five mages working zealously on a machine that was built to look like a portal with the center glowing with a purple miasma and sparks flying out of the gaps, glyphs glowing a bright green, and the mages staring at their work with intense concentration. A chain of sparks flew and shorted out the machine and the purple miasma was gone. The lights went out and then flickered back on a second later. The alarms going off as the air filter failed again.
"Fuck!" screamed one of the mages as he threw his goggles down in frustration.
"Marius," Cor called, getting the man's attention. The look that crossed his and the four other mages' faces translated that they were caught red-handed.
"This looks bad, but I can explain." Marius said as he straightened his white lab coat and combed his finger through his thick, curly black hair.
"What the fuck, Marius!" Dominic said as he stepped forward. "Is this thing you're working on the reason for the blackouts?"
"Well it's a bit more complicated than that but judging from your expression I doubt you want to hear it. Short version—partially." Marius said, turning on the charm.
"Will it work?" Kai asked, getting Marius' attention. He brightened slightly at her inquiry about his project.
"Once we put in the final touches, I believe so." Marius said, "And then we'll be able to start testing it."
"I'll volunteer." Kai said immediately.
"I like this one, she's got spunk." Marius said.
"Absolutely not!" Dominic said, "This is dangerous magic!"
"But we're so close!" Marius said, turning to Dominic with desperation. "Please, we're so very close, Dom. Think about it—Trinity is too powerful to face in this time. If we go back to the past where Trinity's reach is limited then we can at the very least release what hold they have in the past. The nuclear wars can be prevented and Thedas will no longer be this dying Void it's become. As your friend, I am begging you! Believe in this."
A long pause followed before Dominic sighed again and pinched the skin between his eyes. "Marius, it's too risky. You of all people should know that time travel is taboo magic. Think of what happened to your dad who tried his hand at forbidden magic."
"I know that, Dominic! But you need to open your eyes and look around you! We're running out of real options and Trinity has already wrapped the noose around our necks!" Marius said, on the verge of getting hysterical as he gripped his friend by the front of his Kevlar vest. "All that's left is for them to pull the lever to drop the floor under our feet. We're losing more of our people every day, Dom! They've already taken both of our families! Executing them without an arrest! A trial! Think about whose left! I'm doing this for them! All of them!"
Dominic's jaw tightened as he stared back into his friend's eyes, seeing the pain behind the brave front he was putting on. The eldest son knew the mage was passionate when it came to what he believed in and finally conceded. He looked to Cor and Oswald, seeing them not giving him a hint of what to do. "All right," he finally said softly, undoing the mage's grip on his vest.
"Cor, is that machine similar to what Trinity used?" Kai asked.
"Close, but not quite. Trinity has had years to perfect the technology and science behind time travel; this in front of us is a model similar to Trinity's earlier prototypes." Cor said, "It was all I could manage to scrape up without getting caught."
"Will it work?" Kai asked, turning her head to look up at the older man.
"For your sake and for the sake of what blighted future is waiting for me, it better." Cor said, turning to leave the lab, followed by Oswald.
Dominic pulled Kai aside, away from the working mages with Hattie right beside him. "Listen, Cor's shown me some of your files so I know you're eager to return to your timeline and all but what exactly is your plan after that?" Dominic asked.
"Hopefully to find my parents. At the very least I just want to see them, they don't need to know who I am." Kai said
"Good, it's best not to mess with history too much." Dominic said, "But if this is successful I need you to seek out as many Trinity agents as you can and eliminate them."
"Cor said Trinity has been successful in time traveling," Hattie said, "He was one of their agents they sent back to abduct children, including yourself, right? Cor doesn't have to say it but it's obvious that Trinity must have many outposts in every era." Hattie then moved closer to Kai, practically getting in the Spectre's face. "On top of that, I want to talk to you personally about your blood work; the results were just fascinating and I wanted to know if you were aware that the experiments that Trinity did on you as an infant had obvious long-term effects."
"Hattie, not now." Dominic said, pushing the woman back with one arm to give Kai room. "I don't know about you, Spectre, but I don't trust Cor completely and I suspect you feel the same way."
Kai crossed her arms and looked at the ex-soldier. "Get on with it."
"If Marius is successful in sending you back, will you make it your mission to take down Trinity in your era?" Dominic asked.
"To prevent others from being taken from their families like me? Yes." Kai said, "I'll do what I can but you need to help me find their outposts."
"I'll update your digital maps." Hattie said.
"Anything digital will be useless in the Ninth Age." Kai stated.
Hattie just peered up at her through her thick lenses and smiled smugly (which seemed out of place). "Is that so? How do you think Trinity is able to go back and forth in time without working tech? I have a theory that one of their earlier exploits to the past they brought the equipment to set up and launch a satellite in secret; and have possibly launched many more in every era."
xxxxx
Kai was sitting backwards on a chair, her chest pressed against the back of the chair and her arms resting on top. Shirtless with only a towel to hide her breasts while Mimi worked on a new tattoo, using a special ink mixed with lyrium dust and enchanted with a spell by the mage ambassador. The process burned more than Kai remembered, of course the room was freezing cold, making the contrast of the two feel extreme. She quietly examined the tattoos on her forearms that Mimi had touched up with her special ink concoction, Kai's skin already healing and now mildly pink from the previously angry red and puffy. There were some benefits to being genetically modified by Trinity's sick experiments.
Mimi insisted on tattooing a protection rune onto Kai's back after touching up Kai's current tattoos, which Kai allowed.
"So interesting!" Hattie said, taking one of Kai's healing arms and examining the skin, running a hand up and down her forearm. "If I were to cut you how fast would you say your skin would heal from that?"
"Depends on the cut." Kai replied, "Maybe a few minutes if it were a deep cut. A bullet wound takes roughly ten minutes, assuming it's just one. I guess it depends on how much damage my body has taken will determine how long it takes for me to heal."
"Can I make a cut and time it?" Hattie asked.
"This chick for real?" Javan asked from where he was lounging on one of the cots. Flynn just snorted, trying hard not to let out an actual laugh from where he sat at the small table, working on his latest manuscript for his most popular serial comic (a series that Kai wasn't a big fan of because the main character is loosely based on her in an overly exaggerated way).
"Why don't you just time how quickly she heals from the tattoo instead?" Mimi suggested.
"Oh, what a good idea!" Hattie exclaimed, hopping over to Mimi's side and pulling out her phone to set up the stopwatch. "Hmm, the ink vanishes, is it special?"
"Yes." Mimi answered curtly, "Now shut it. I'm trying to concentrate."
"Actually, Hattie, I have a few questions if you don't mind." Kai said. She heard Mimi tsk in disapproval after saying how she wanted silence but ignored her all the same.
"Yes, of course." Hattie said all too eagerly.
"You had mentioned that it's possible that Trinity's outposts in the past may have launched satellites; does that mean they're able to also communicate through time and space?" Kai asked.
"From what Cor told me about when he was still a time agent real time communication wasn't possible but digital messages were. He doesn't know much about the science behind it all but he said that messages and orders had to be short and simple between times. But he said communication between other agents in the same time was as easy as making a regular phone call." Hattie said.
"Will I be able to come back to this time if I wanted?"
"As far as I know Marius' machine is a one-way ticket. However…if you find Trinity agents, they might have a way back since Cor said Trinity's understanding and technology have advanced and improved over the years."
"What will happen to me if the machine fails?"
"Worst case scenario—you might become trapped in the time stream forever."
"Well, that's cheery." Flynn grunted.
xxxxx
A week had gone by and already Kai was feeling cabin fever, escaping up to the surface in her gear and sat outside in the snow. Of course she was careful not to risk being seen and stayed under the cover of the rotting ceilings in case Trinity was using their satellites to find them. At least she was alone with her thoughts…and her regrets. The biggest being the Graduation that she had thought she had gotten over but those memories were slowly leaking into her most current nightmares. What was she thinking?! Volunteering without thinking of the consequences about an untested time machine. She could die before ever finding her parents. And her friends…
"You never think things through, Kai." she grumbled to herself, rolling her head back against the rotting wall she was sitting against. "Is risking your life for just a glimpse really worth it?"
Kai had tried to go through her photo album in her phone but found that she couldn't handle looking at the smiling faces, carefree of all worries. Most of the photos were taken by her friends who sent her copies since Kai wasn't very good at remembering to capture those kinds of memories on camera. A part of her wondered if she was sentimental about anything.
"Kai…" crackled Mimi's voice through their suits' communication. The signal in this altitude made everything fuzzy and disconnected, not to mention whatever the hell the mages were doing was also fucking up with the power grid. "Kai…do you hear me?"
"Yeah…I hear you." Kai replied.
"I know you've got a lot on your mind and all but it's not healthy for you to be all alone, brooding and all."
"I'm not brooding."
"You've been avoiding your friends. I know you. I know how you'll beat yourself up over something stupid. So it's better that you come inside and talk it out with your friends."
"M...I just wanna be alo—" Kai said.
"Get back in here NOW!"
Kai flinched at Mimi's raised voice, screeching through her com-link. "All right! All right! You win, Pavus!"
Returning underground, Kai made her way straight down to the shared bunker, finding Mimi waiting for her alone with a big smile. The guys were nowhere to be found.
"I'm here," Kai announce with no attempt at feigning enthusiasm.
Mimi just shook her head at Kai, knowing the fact that she even returned was enough for the mage. "Thank you. I know you wanted to be alone but…"
Kai reached out and grabbed her hand, giving her fingers a reassuring squeeze. "It's fine, M. You were right; I should have been more of a friend and less of an angsty bitch." Mimi snorted and Kai grinned back at her. "So what did you need me for?"
"Did you forget what today is?" Mimi giggled, enjoying how good it felt to laugh again.
Kai raised a questioning brow. "What did I forget?"
The mage rolled her eyes and tugged on her friend's hand, pulling her towards the door and leading her down the chilly halls into the dark mess hall.
"Are you gonna let me in on what it is I'm forgetting?" Kai asked.
The lights then turned on. "SURPRISE!"
Kai immediately reached for her daggers before stopping herself when she saw the faces of her friends (plus her daggers were in her duffel bag). She looked at her friends, confused now.
"Wh-what's going on here?" Kai asked, forcing herself to relax.
"Seriously?" Flynn scoffed, stepping forward with his arms out to the sides. He flashed a devilish grin her way. "Don't tell me you forgot your favorite dwarf's Nameday, Hawke."
Kai blinked and then slapped a palm to her forehead. "Fuck! That's today?!"
Flynn just laughed.
"Happy Nameday, Kai." Mimi said, hugging Kai's waist.
"How like you to forget your own Nameday." Bjorn said, smirking.
"She forgot last year, too." Javan said.
"And the year before that." Mimi added.
"Let's also not forget the year she had accidentally sent me to the hospital after surprising her." Flynn said.
"Okay, I get it." Kai said, though she felt warmth spread inside her chest and grinned at her friends. "You guys are the best."
"Group photo!" Mimi announced, bringing out her phone as the five of them squeezed in together. Mimi had always been the group photographer, ever since she joined their little gang in the Academy. Capturing every moment, even meaningless selfies. Flynn and Javan took the occasional photos though the two of them were more notorious for snapping embarrassing photos; such as catching Kai sleeping in class or Mimi right after waking up. Bjorn was rather careful when getting his photo taken, though some of the photos Mimi and the guys took were of him doing mundane activities like reading or looking off in the distance. Plus the elf was so upsettingly photogenic that even snapping a photo of him eating a dry wafer was a thing of beauty (and Mimi resented him deeply for it).
The door to the mess hall opened up as Rylo came running in, breathing hard and flushed from the exertion that his flabby nerd body was clearly not meant to do. "Co—Cor!" he huffed as he doubled over, bracing his hands on his knees. "Is Cor here?"
"No." Kai said. Rylo groaned as he stood up straight with obvious effort and left to go find the man.
Kai and Mimi looked at each other and Mimi just rolled her eyes when she saw the look her friend had. "Just go." she huffed, crossing her arms under her breasts. Kai flashed her a grateful smile before chasing after Rylo, catching up to the chubby decoder and keeping pace with him to the to the war room. Kai entered through the doors first followed by a wheezing Rylo who had to lean up against the wall to keep himself from collapsing. Cor, Oswald, Dominic and Jameson were standing around the war table, discussing quietly amongst each other when they arrived.
"Cor…" Rylo wheezed as he pushed off the wall and staggered to the table, practically collapsing on it. "Message…from Korcori Wilds…Kane…"
"Take a breath boy," Oswald said.
Rylo took a moment to compose himself. "Kane just sent a transmission from the Korcori Wilds. He said that Trinity has set loose their undead experiments on them. They're forced out of their hideout and plan to head here."
Kai looked at Jameson, who in turn also looked back at her. Both of them thinking the same thing: Redcliff.
"Shit, Trinity isn't pulling any of their punches." Oswald said.
"Undead experiments?" Dominic asked.
"Another one of Trinity's pet projects." Cor said, bracing his hands against the table. "They used some kind of cocktail variation of the darkspawn blood and injected it into soldiers. The supposed outcome was to make super soldiers to fight off the next Blight if it ever came, trying to recreate the ancient ritual to make modern Grey Wardens. Obviously it backfired; the modified blood changed the genetic makeup of those poor bastards, killing them and then reanimating them into mindless monsters."
"And they're still unable to get it right?" Oswald asked.
"What can I say? Takes a few cracked eggs." Cor shrugged.
"More like a few sacrificial lambs."
"That's quite a bit of inside knowledge, how did you come across it?" Dominic asked.
"Because thirty years ago they ordered me to send my unit in as subjects." Cor said, a muscle flexing in his jaw. "I'm not proud of what I did, but back then I had no idea that I sentenced them to a fate worse than death. They were good men and women. I found out the truth after one of my soldiers had escaped and had sent me a video message warning me to not trust Trinity. He said that they were being used for something called Project Arcadia. In that video…I saw him being taken over by it, changing as the video kept recording. It was…a thing of nightmares."
Kai snorted as she went to go stand by Jameson at the table. "That putting it lightly." she mumbled.
"Someone other than you has gotta be suspicious. Don't those soldiers have family?" Oswald asked.
Cor shook his head, "They use soldiers who have no families, the perfect candidates are the orphans that Trinity takes into the Academy and the homeless they offer shelter to in return for their "services." Trinity gives the pretense of offering good will towards the unfortunate who want to escape the slums. But they don't know the horrors until it's too late. And with an endless supply of orphans and the homeless means more nugs for the slaughter."
Dominic looked at the other two ex-soldiers in the room; his steely grey eyes that were often calculating had then, in that moment, looked dull and tired. Kai hadn't noticed before the bruises under his eyes, showing her that the rebel leader wasn't getting much sleep, and why would she have noticed before? She had been too caught up in her own drama to notice anything but herself.
"Did Trinity ever make you guys face those monsters?" Dominic asked.
Kai and Jameson glanced sideways at each other, both clamming up. It had been years since Redcliff, and being two of the survivors, it was still hard to talk about. At least it was for Kai, she had no idea how Jameson felt since they hadn't taken the time to sit and talk about it. Jameson cleared his throat while Kai crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the table, looking down at the 3-D map of Thedas.
"It's not something you can easily put out of your mind," Jameson said, looking around the table at the faces of everyone. He averted his gaze to the table. "I'm sure you've all heard about the so-called accident in Redcliff?"
"You mean the nuclear meltdown that wiped out the city?" Oswald asked, "Are you saying that wasn't a tragic accident?"
"Tragic, yes. Accident Well…" Jameson trailed off, looking at Kai for backup who merely shrugged and turned her head away, refusing to meet his gaze.
"I don't want to talk about it." Kai sharply.
"That bad, eh?" Oswald observed.
"Why are you being so stubborn? Whatever information you have about Trinity will help our cause." Dominic said, stepping forward towards Kai but Jameson stepped in between them, blocking off the other man's advance.
"It was a nightmare, okay?" Kai snapped back and this time Jameson had to put his arm out in front of her, staying in between the two, more so in favor of protecting Kai. "Everyone who came down with us died. Eaten alive by those—those monsters! I barely got out of that Void by the skin of my teeth."
Jameson turned around to face Kai, placing a hand on her tense shoulder. "Hey, it's okay." He looked back at the others. "Excuse us." he said before moving his hand from her shoulder to the middle of her back and walking her out of the room. Silence followed in their wake until the doors closed behind them.
"They were down there for over twenty hours. I had lost communication with them almost immediately after they entered the compound. By hour ten we were receiving orders from HQ to seal the doors and evacuate Redcliff. I had to negotiate with HQ to give the team the allotted twenty-four hours that they originally ordered." Cor said.
"Why? What happened in there?" Dominic asked.
"Redcliff didn't experience the nuclear plant melting down, it was Trinity. They fired a nuc and used the plant as a cover up." Cor said.
"At least you were able to pull the kids out in time." Dominic said.
"Not soon enough, if you ask me." Cor said, scrubbing a hand over his tired face. "There's a reason why Kai refuses to talk about it. A reason why you should never again bring it up around her. They saw enough to scar them for a lifetime. Hawke saw enough for a lifetime. But I wish I could say that that was the last of those fuckin' things."
"But what exactly did they see?" Dominic asked.
"You can't imagine what they had gone through, but the video their suits recorded painted a gruesome picture. All fifteen soldiers who went in were all slaughtered by the undead. Hawke…she got separated and Silas had to find go in and track her before Trinity blew up the place sky high." Cor said.
"Who's Silas?" Oswald asked.
"A seasoned Spectre." Dominic said, having met the Qunari when he was still serving under Trinity.
"Jameson and two others had come back, claiming everyone was dead, including Hawke, but her suit was still showing her vitals, letting us know that she was still alive. Silas had gone in and tracked her down. I don't know the full extent of what went on down there, but it was obvious by the boys' reactions to seeing her that something had happened between the four of them." Cor said.
"What do you mean?" Rylo asked, his beady eyes now wide with anticipation.
Cor couldn't resist the smirk that tugged the corner of his mouth at the memory. "Whatever falling out they had she got them back for it."
"Meaning?" Dominic asked, a little annoyed by the unnecessary prolonging.
"She took Silas' gun and shot all three of them without missing a beat. And they were clean shots, too. Right through their legs." Cor chuckled. Oswald let out a belting laugh. "Those boys got her message loud and clear that she was pissed at them. And like a perfect revenge she became a Spectre not long after. But despite her success it's obvious that what happened in Redcliff left a very deep scar."
xxxxx
Jameson brought Kai into an unused room, sensing that she was more than just upset at having Redcliff brought up. It was her body language and the way she just simply shut out everything.
"Hey, talk to me." he said softly to her.
Kai didn't look at him.
"Does it still bother you?" he asked.
Kai then slowly looked up at him with her blue eyes. "Does it still bother you?" she countered, throwing back his question at him. Jameson cupped the side of her face, looking into her eyes and seeing that the events of Redcliff still did, indeed, affected her.
"Time helped. Talking about it…it took me a long time before I was able to talk about what happened." Jameson said, gently brushing his thumb across her cheek.
"I never spoke about it to anyone." Kai said, "I felt like if I never spoke about it then it would just go away."
"Clearly it didn't work."
Kai let out a dry, humorless laugh.
"You know what got me through the trauma?" Jameson asked, getting her attention again. "I thought about you. I thought about how I did the most horrible thing and you emerged from the darkest pit and got your deserved revenge by shooting me."
A laugh erupted from Kai and Jameson grinned at her, glad to see her mood lifting.
"You're never getting an apology for that, just so you know." she said.
"I'm not holding my breath for that." he replied before lowering his head to press his lips to hers. When he pulled away from the kiss his crooked grin returned to his face. "I've been wanting to do that for years."
"You probably would've gotten another bullet in the other leg." Kai joked.
"Yeah, you're right." he said before kissing her again. Kai raised her hands to bury her fingers into his soft hair, pulling him closer to her. Emboldened, Jameson pushed her up against the wall, opening her mouth to him and plunging his tongue into her. Their kiss grew heated and in a blur of hands and rough groping Kai had her legs wrapped around Jameson's, grinding against each other. Their dry humping was rough and feverish and the release, even though it was much needed, lacked the satisfaction of actual intercourse. But it did the job. Kai felt a little bit lighter in her heart.
xxxxx
That evening, dinner consisted of dry rice patties that tasted like sawdust and gummy cubes to substitute liquid. Kai was sitting with Mimi in their cramped, icy room, wrapped up tightly in their aluminum blankets and huddled close by the space heater for warmth. The Flynn and Javan were in the lab, helping the mages with their time machine while Bjorn was off Maker knows where. The earlier jovial feeling of their little surprise party for Kai and Flynn had been spoiled for Kai when Redcliff had been brought up. She had never spoken of it with her friends, even when they had visited her in the hospital she never uttered a hint of what happened, simply choosing to pretend that everything was fine when it obviously wasn't. For years her dreams were plagued with running from those monsters, from their outreaching, grey-skinned, bloodied hands and gnashing teeth. Those dreams always ending with those blood-red eyes staring straight at her.
"Kai, do you think we'll ever live a normal life again?" Mimi asked.
Kai snorted, "What's normal? I was trained as a Spectre, a military organization that kills and spies for the Council. You are an Ambassador who is believed to be dead."
Mimi sighed as she glanced over to the door where their duffel bags sat, packed and prepared to go at any moment. Cor had ordered that they stayed suited up, telling them to never let their guard down. It reminded her of the days when Cor was their team handler and had often sent them away on team building excursions that put them more danger than necessary, making the mage rather wistful. The mage looked at her friend's profile, admiring how even in the present danger that hung over their heads she knew when to switch her priorities without a second thought. Mimi had always been self-centered and self-absorbed, always keeping her distance in a fight and staying behind while her teammates bravely engaged in close combat. She admired how whenever they were on a mission Kai would always know what to say to keep up their spirits and focus, showing a brave face without a hint of fear.
Even after finding out about Trinity's betrayal, Kai kept in her tears and offered her shoulder to cry on. Even when it was Kai she should have offered a shoulder to Mimi had remained selfish and asked her to stay strong for them. For her. All because Mimi needed an anchor to hold her down. It was why she loved her. Mimi reached up and tucked the black hair behind an ear that had three silver rings pierced in the lobe, one half way up, another two in the helix, and then one in the tragus. She knew the other ear was the same and envied how Kai could pull off the bad girl look effortlessly.
"Thank you for being so selfless." Mimi said, resting her head on Kai's shoulder. "I know how much you want some space from all of us." She heard Kai sigh and her hand came up to pat the side of her face. Mimi closed her eyes; relishing the comfort she was being given.
"If I left you guys to your own devices you'd all end up in a black hole." Kai joked, making Mimi smile a little. A part of her was glad that Kai always resulted to humor during serious moments. A ping sounded off, indicating that one of them got a message on their phones. Sitting up straight both girls picked up their phones. Mimi's message box was empty while Kai's had one from Flynn.
It's go time.
Bjorn was already up and the three of them quickly folded up their blankets into messy squares and stuffed them into the duffel bags. Kai slung on two of the bags, feeling the weight threatening to knock her down with the wrong shift in weight. Mimi carried her own while Kai and Bjorn both carried Javan's bag since it was the heaviest.
"What the fuck did Jav pack? The entire armory?" Kai grunted in annoyance as they hauled down the corridors.
"Knowing him he probably also packed the entire kitchen, too!" Bjorn added.
When the three of them arrived in the lab they couldn't help but collapse under the weight of the bags. Kai untangled herself from the straps as she glared over at the boys for not coming to get their own shit themselves. Thank the Maker that Cor insisted they all keep their weapons on them at all times. Flynn and Javan finally had gone over and relieve their friends of their own bags.
The portal was on and appeared to be working smoothly, the magic glyphs glowing green while in the center of the portal a swirl of colors gently churned.
"All right," Cor called to attention, looking at them the same way as if he were briefing them on their next mission until his hardened face relaxed and his dark eyes softened. "No, you're no longer those kids I handled. You're no longer agents of Trinity. You're now part of the rebellion against Trinity so here's our next mission: We're going to the past."
"We?" Kai interjected, "I thought I was going solo on this one?"
"We're going with you." Flynn said.
"Excuse me?" Kai said a little too defensively.
Javan snorted and crossed his huge arms over his massive chest. "Like we were gonna let you have all the fun without us."
Kai looked at Bjorn and Mimi, the only two who had hung up their gauntlets since the Academy. "Even you two?"
"Of course!" Mimi piped rather cheerfully.
"Don't worry, I haven't let my skills dull over the years." Bjorn said.
"Our objective is to locate Trinity's outposts in the past and disrupt their operation. Hattie has compared today's maps with the era we'll be going to, marking all of today's outposts into the maps, along with a few spots that no longer exist today but could be occupied."
"What if those posts are empty?" Javan asked.
"Move on to the next." Cor said simply.
"Sounds easy enough." Bjorn said.
Cor paced in front of them like he did when they were teenagers with one of his pep talks before a mission. It felt nostalgic. "Marius is putting in the final touches, calibrating it to send us to a time before the Armageddon War. It'll be a time where Thedas is different—better than the present. The air quality in the past has a higher percentage of oxygen, 200 times greater in fact. So Hattie and the mages have concocted a kind of antidote for you because of the exposure of radiation we've all had." Hattie had gone to the five of them, handing them each an autoinjector pen filled with a deep purple liquid.
"Cor is partially right," Hattie said, adjusting her thick glasses on her face, her red hair even messier than possible. "Because the air in the past isn't polluted your bodies will go into shock after ten minutes of breathing in the air without your masks on to control the amount of oxygen you'll be taking in. It's been calculated that the oxygen level even five hundred years in the past is 200% more oxygen than there is today. So as soon as you can, just take off the cap and jab as hard as you can into an arm or leg or stomach or neck or wherever you want—but not the eyes! Oh! And don't drink it; it tastes really-really-really terrible."
"What if something happens and we aren't able to use the antidote?" Bjorn asked.
"You'll die." Flynn said with a shrug.
"No no! You won't die (I don't think). Like I said before, your bodies will go into shock from the amount of oxygen that is introduced into your system, oxidizing your red blood cells which are used to being deprived of the recommended amount. With oxygen enriching the red cells, they will engorge from the oxygen and cause everything to speed up, slow down, back up, flush out and everything in between. So I theorize that it'll feel like a drug addict going cold turkey under water. You'll vomit, experience fluxes in your body temperature, trouble breathing, muscle cramps, vertigo, amnesia, possible blindness and the loss of fine motor skills." Hattie said, "—But it could all be temporary! (Or permanent)."
"You make the possibility of agony just sound so appealing." Kai said as she stuffed the pen in her bag.
"Now remember, this is a different Thedas that we know, which means there are more dangers that you have never encountered. Animals and beasts and plants that have long been extinct. You have to stick together as a team." Cor said, "If you get separated for more than six hours send a signal flare. There's a good chance that anything electronic won't work until you find a way to connect to the satellites."
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you're coming with us, right?" Flynn said.
"No, you five will be on your own while I stay here to help the rebels keep Trinity off our arses." Cor said.
"I feel so grown up with no chaperone on this little field trip." Flynn said. Kai shook her head and rolled her eyes as she walked over to Jameson who was looking like a kicked dog.
He handed over Kai's helmet. "Just when I finally made progress with you and you're off on some wild adventure. Wish I were goin' with ya."
Kai took her helmet, turning the dial on the side to revert it to its "closed" state and placed in against her right ear. "You can still come with us."
"No. I feel like I can do a lot more here than in the past" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. If he was squeezing them she wouldn't have felt it through her armor. "Plus I'd probably just get in your way. Ever since Redcliff I haven't done much field work and mainly focused on my piloting skills."
"Then I wish you luck." Kai said, not knowing what else to say.
Jameson cupped her face with both his hands and tilted it up to meeting him as he placed a gentle kiss to her lips. "May Andraste watch over you."
Kai gave a little laugh, feeling her eyes sting with oncoming tears and heat rising to her cheeks and ears, and she tried desperately to keep them from falling as she pulled away from him and returned to her friends who were already waiting on the platform.
"Is this a one way trip?" Javan asked.
"Technically, yes, but according to Cor you'll be able to find devices at a Trinity outpost that can bring you back to this point." Marius said.
"And what if it doesn't?" Javan asked.
"Then we're stuck." Bjorn said in an obvious tone.
Kai felt the icy hand of dread grip her heart and looked to Jameson who was staring back at her. In her heart, Kai knew that she would never see him again and it was obvious that Jameson was thinking the same thing. Breaking eye contact first, Kai turned around to face her team, turning the dial in her ear to activate her helmet.
"All right!" Marius hollered as he enthusiastically went over to the computer to lock in the destination. "All aboard the Marius Time-warp Express! Now remember, the wormhole is unpredictable but if you all hold onto each other you'll minimize the risk of drifting off course." Marius said, "Ready?"
Suddenly there was a loud boom that echoed down the corridors, putting everyone on high alert. Another boom, followed by the sound of crashing metal and rock. The lights flickered, threatening to shut off completely. All of a sudden there was quiet and one of the mages went to the door to check only to suddenly let out a howl of shock, followed his blood curdling screaming that was drowned out by savage growls and grunts. In the next breath a horde of hideous creatures appeared in the doorway, fresh blood down their fronts and hands. Their wild eyes equally as red. Jameson and Cor instantly ran for the guns while the remaining mages threw up a barrier to keep the monsters from getting in.
"Undead!" Javan yelled, instantly reaching for his weapons when Bjorn stopped him.
"We have to stick together." Bjorn hissed.
"Marius!" Cor yelled.
Marius turned to activate the portal but saw that the lights flickering earlier had reset his coding formula. He hastily began to re-enter the formula, his fingers gliding over the keys like they were on fire. From his anxiety he began to sweat as he furiously typed.
"The barrier is starting to come down!" Jameson yelled as the undead clawed and pushed at the barrier relentlessly in their bloodlust. Jameson immediately started firing at the undead, followed by Cor as it took several shots to bring one undead down. The lights flickered again before the power shut off completely, the only light coming from the portal behind the five and the blue light from the fading barrier.
"Shit!" Marius cursed as he kicked the computer and turned around to face the portal, figuring he only had one last option by doing it manually. "I need two of you to help with the spell!" he yelled as he grabbed his staff.
Two of the mages ran to stand on either side of Marius with their staves at the ready and stood to create a triangle, lighting the glyphs and beginning to chant as one, the glyphs coming alive even brighter. The third mage remained with Jameson, throwing out spell after spell. Kai couldn't hear anything past her pounding heart as she fidgeted where she stood, wanting so badly to help them but Bjorn kept her planted with a vice-like grip on her arm.
The undead were endless as they climbed over each other, flooding faster into the lab and forcing the defense to move back. Two undeads broke through and went after Jameson who fought back, quickly getting overwhelmed. Cor shot at the undead on Jameson, aiming for their heads while fending off the undead on him. The mage was overwhelmed, screaming as he was savagely bitten and ripped apart. Suddenly the undead were thrown back across the room, Mimi having stepped forward and using her force magic on them before Flynn pulled her back onto the platform.
Dominic scrambled up onto his feet, still holding his gun and covered in blood. He looked over his shoulder and saw Jameson laying on the ground, still as stone. He grabbed the back of Jameson's vest and dragged him towards the portal, stopping outside the glyphs and turning back to keep shooting as the undead ran towards them.
The air began to move around them, picking up speed as the glyphs were now ablaze and the wormhole crackled and sparked.
"GO! NOW!" Marius screamed.
"NO!" Kai yelled when she saw Cor blocking an undead from biting him. She pulled away, taking a step out of the glyph but was stopped by the look Dominic gave her while fending off the undead. She felt an arm around her waist and pulled her back and instantly was pulled into the wormhole just as she saw him knocked down by three undead and then was lost in a sea of swirling lights and colors.
"Everyone stay together!" Kai ordered firmly, her brain switching gears to the soldier she was raised to be. Javan and Flynn held onto Mimi and Bjorn and they held onto Kai. The five of them slipping through the stream path they were on and a scream escaped from Mimi. Everyone looked to see an undead had followed them through the wormhole and had grabbed a hold of Mimi's leg. Two more were clawing up the first. Kai kicked at the monster, only for it to grab onto her legs and climb up her body. Bjorn and Mimi were trying to fight them off while trying not to let go of each other while the undead snapped its hungry teeth at Kai, biting at Kai's armor and trying to find a chink in her armor.
Kai released her grip of Bjorn and Mimi to push with both hands at the undead, punching it to make it let go. It clawed up at her head, its nails scraping across the smooth surface of her helmet. Kai looked directly into the wild red eyes of the undead as it screeched and craned its neck to take a bite out of her. Kai pushed it away as far as her arms could stretch. Within the struggle her teammates lost their hold of her and she and the three monsters were thrown off course.
"KAI!" Mimi screamed, reaching out for her but Javan pulled her tightly against him and Bjorn closed the gap, knowing that they had to stay their course. "KAI! KAAAI!"
"I think that's our exit!" Flynn yelled, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
xxxxx
From falling through a vortex of weightless gravity and dizzying colors the four of them flew out through the exit, landing with hard thuds onto solid ground. They each groaned as they picked themselves up.
"Everyone alive?" Flynn asked through gritted teeth as he looked around, counting heads up. "Hawke! Shit!"
"Everyone, get your antidotes," Javan said, setting his bag down to dig out his autoinjector pen. The other three did the same, though Mimi lagged, upset that Kai didn't make it with them. Bjorn knelt down in front of Mimi, taking her pen and firmly pushing it against her thigh. She jumped slightly at the sting of the needle that punched through her suit and skin, injecting the antidote into her bloodstream. Once it completely emptied itself into her the needle automatically retracted, rendering the pen useless.
Bjorn stood up and surveyed their surroundings, leaving his helmet on to give the antidote some time to work itself through his system. The lens of his helmet was calculating the area, making a graphic scan of everything that was within view. He would be lying if he said he wasn't in awe of what he was seeing; trees, lots of trees. They were in the middle of a forest, an actual forest!
"Amazing…" Bjorn breathed, finally taking off his helmet and breathing in the fresh air, letting it fill his lungs completely. He couldn't get enough of it, exhaling quickly to take in another lungful, feeling as though his body had been starved of it.
"Whoooaa!" Javan breathed, looking up through the tree branches at the streams of light shining through the leaves. "Everything is so…hi-def."
"It's so beautiful," Mimi said, letting a tear roll down her cheek, never before seeing anything so beautiful. She walked up to the closest tree, taking a glove off to touch the bark. The feeling of it, rough and warm beneath her fingers. "Marius really did it…his spell worked!"
"All right, guys, first things first. We need to get our bearings and find out where we are. Let's get some altitude." Flynn said, picking up his bag again and taking the lead.
Kai…Please be alive. Mimi thought.
xxxxx
Falling out from the dizzying wormhole, Kai fell flat on her stomach and her duffel bag dropped onto her back, forcing the air out of her lungs. She reached behind her and pulled the heavy bag to roll off her back while she tried to focus her mind, trying to stop the spinning in her head as she slowly pushed herself up onto her knees with shaky limbs. Her elbows shook, feeling like gelatin. The vision inside her helmet was glitching, unable to focus. She groaned and smacked the side of her helmet, trying to get the damn thing to work but gave up and turned the dial to disengage it. Unfortunately her helmet was obviously damaged and malfunctioning, forcing her to yank it off her head. She blinked open her eyes, her vision blinded by the brightness around her as she blindly pushed herself up onto her feet, her legs feeling weak and threatening to give out on her.
It was just too bright, and the air…it was hard to breathe suddenly. Her helmet—fucking undead had damaged it in the vortex. She felt like her lungs were filling up with a thick slurry and choked for air. Next thing she realized her stomach lurched, the strength in her legs failing her as she dropped like a rock to her hands and knees. Her stomach lurched again and she vomited, the sour and acidic bile came up, burning her throat as her body seized, her abdominal muscles kept squeezing and contracting, pushing more bile up her throat. Unable to breathe, unable to see, and the pounding of her heart thrumming loudly in her ears.
She was gripped with fear. She didn't know where she was and she was fearful that she was dumped in the poisoned, inhospitable environment wasteland. Exposed to the radiation, to death. Her entire body ached in a way she couldn't describe, every fiber every cell in her felt like they were being compressed under a great pressure.
After a few more minutes of gasping, dry heaving, and tears, the world began to slow down. Her eyes began to adjust to the bright light, though it hurt her eyes. Breathing was still a challenge but at least her stomach had seemed to calm down enough to loosen up. Blinking again the first thing her eyes were able to see was green. The color green. She pushed her palms and fingers down, feeling a texture she had never encountered. Soft and layered and a little bit itchy. Shakily she pushed up and sat back on her knees, blinking and squinting. She brought a hand up to her face, shielding her eyes as she tried to focus, bright colors blurred around her. That was when she noticed her fingers were loose inside her gloves.
That was a weird.
She patted herself down, tugging on her armor that had once fit like a second skin was loose all over. Did she shrink?! Was this normal? Shit! Her lungs were on fire! It was getting harder to breathe.
A soft breeze caressed her face and combed gently through her hair. Another sensation she had never felt. It felt good, soothing even and helped her momentarily forget her growing list of concerns. Such an experience would possibly be more amazing if only breathing wasn't so hard and making her head spin again as she hunched forward and hung her heavy head. She coughed, her lungs and throat constricted from the air. It took her several minutes before her coughing fit calmed down, just in time to hear the deep guttural sound of the monsters that had gotten her separated from her team inside the wormhole.
Her head snapped up and turned to her right, squinting her eyes she could make out the blurry figure of the undead monsters getting up from the ground. Even with her impaired eyesight she could distinctly see the blood red eyes looking at her that always gave her goosebumps. Not to mention the smell…the distinct stench of rotting flesh. She saw them move, locking in on her and she wasn't even halfway to recovering.
But she had to move.
She had to fight.
She had to SURVIVE!
The undead let out a loud screech as they clambered for her. Adrenaline taking over, Kai jumped up onto her feet, dipping into her reserves and reached over her shoulders, cursing loudly when she didn't feel the familiar grips of her weapons. She must have lost them in that blighted wormhole. One knocked her flat on her back and it took everything she had to keep the blighted thing from taking a huge bite of her face. She felt a searing pain drag across her left cheek as the undead had taken a lucky swipe at her with its filthy nails. Within the struggle of keeping the thing at arm's length she managed to get her feet under it and pushed back with all she had, giving her the space to scramble onto her feet. Her head was still in a fog, her vision still bordering along being legally blind, and the sour taste of bile returning in her mouth. She was seriously at a disadvantage and if she didn't get her bearings fast she was dead for sure.
She touched her thighs, feeling the familiar shape of her guns. The handles felt oddly bigger in her palms than she remembered but she had no time to ponder that as she removed them from their holsters and fired several rounds. Even though her vision was impaired, she could still make out their blurry forms, seeing them jerk from the bullets' impacts. One fell, leaving two and then one. Kai boldly knocked the last one down when it got too close to her, pinning it down with her boot before firing a final bullet into its head.
Kai took in a careful breath as she looked around, her vision still blurred and impaired but at least this time she could make out a little more. Walking away from the dead undead she scanned the area as best as she could but with the adrenaline waning fast she was reminded again that she could hardly breathe. She needed to find her duffel bag and take the antidote. But where the fuck did she leave her bag? Fuck! Why does it have to be so bright?
"You there!" called a voice, male she figured as Kai turned around on unsteady legs. She saw blurry blue figures, she couldn't discern how many as they approached. "Girl! Who are you?" the same voice asked.
Kai blinked slowly, she could already feel herself losing consciousness. She felt something warm drip down her lips and chin, prompting her to reach up and touch her mouth and pull her hand back, seeing her gloved fingertips glisten with moisture. Blood?
"Serah, are you all right?" the same voice asked as the blue blur came closer. "Serah?" Kai squinted her eyes, trying to focus as her lungs felt like she was drowning. "Serah!" Kai lost what little strength she had and remembered nothing more.