Hello Lovelies! I'm back with another chapter. I know what you are all thinking, how did she have any time to write with Forsaken just released?! I honestly don't know, but the motivation to write has been high lately. Let's all hope that keeps up, but also realize in my excitement, I just finished writing this chapter like 5 mins ago. I should really wait, edit, and then publish, but what the hell, I'm a rebel (hopefully that doesn't bite me in the ass). Anyways, this chapter throws some plot right in your face from the very beginning. Enjoy!
Chapter 12 – Infiltration
The rock face they were perched on gave them the perfect vantage point to spy on the lair entrance and the sentries that guarded it. There were five sniper vandals currently high up in the cliffs surrounding the entrance. The first step in what was going to be a very long, very slow, and arduous process was to get by them undetected. And this is the easy part. "This is a bad idea," it said quietly, but with some emphasis.
Noted. 11.
"Well note it again for the 12th time. This is a very bad idea," emphasized Ghost more fervently. Its gaze left the female's form to survey the surrounding area. It was so exposed. They were going to be seen; it was certain. "This is moving way too fast. You want to go from a little bit of scouting and investigation of the entrance into full on infiltration of their lair? Our cloak is good, but not that good."
She gave it the look, the one that said she thought it worried too much.
It hated that look. "I admire your confidence, always, but I think I worry just enough, and this has me worried. I don't…" but Ghost trailed off.
A fact that did not escape the female's attention. She turned toward it curiosity evident in her mind.
Ghost wasn't sure it wanted to continue. It had never expressed this thought aloud before and it almost didn't want to, like somehow saying it would make it a reality.
The female sent it a stronger blip of curiosity at its continued silence.
"I've never acknowledged this before, but I'm not sure what will happen if you get hurt. Your light has always been your own and even though we share it now, I-I don't know if I can heal you." Healing was the least of its worries. What if the worst happened and it couldn't resurrect her? What if after her death, she had no resonance with the light? "This is the most involved we have ever been and consequently, the closest to real danger we have ever been. What if something happens to you?"
Trust.
"I do trust you. You know I do."
Close.
"And what are we close to?"
And to that, it received no answer.
Ghost sighed loudly. That wasn't very reassuring. "You know, I would help you with anything and I do trust you, but I… I can't lose you."
I know.
Activating their cloak, the female carefully started the climb down the cliffside without waiting for its response. Apparently, she was not going to be swayed nor did she want to allow it the chance to try. She moved slowly trying to avoid shifting rocks for her own safety and so as not to attract attention to the area. Halfway down, she let herself drop to the ground, and then hid behind a large boulder.
Ghost floated beside her, still unhappy about this situation, but doing its job nonetheless. Monitoring the vandals' positions, it made sure their progress was not detected. It would have preferred to transmat into the area, but there was too much risk. They did not know the layout of the cave system nor did they know what kind of equipment the fallen may have scanning the area. The transmat left an obvious signal residue if you knew what to look for. No, on foot was definitely the better method even if it was going to be more time consuming and certainly more angst ridden.
They moved to the base of the cliff that housed the fallen crew and crept along. Each second felt agonizing. The idea of being spotted and the whole crew converging on them filled the ghost with dread. Sure, right now they could still transmat away, but inside the lair who knew what kind of signal blockers the fallen might possess. They would most certainly be trapped.
The female stopped abruptly.
Ghost had been distracted with its thoughts. What was going on?! Had they been spotted?! It had known this was a bad idea.
Ghost. Calm. Please.
"Ah, I'm being distracting, aren't I?" it whispered. Even though the female could send it direct thoughts, it could not do the same. This form of communication had always been a one-way slide, but the female still picked up something from the ghost and right now its mind was chaotic.
The female just smiled; it couldn't see her face, but it could feel it.
Yeah, it was being distracting.
From there on, Ghost tried not to think. She moved, it scanned. Move, scan. Move, scan. Over and over until before it knew it, they had made it behind the false wall. The female paused there allowing it to scan for any signals that may be emitted by equipment designed to send out an alert when someone entered the case system. It didn't detect anything, which was fortuitous. I guess the fallen don't think anyone will find this place.
The actual entrance to the cave system was a tunnel that seemed just about wide enough to allow a servitor to pass unhindered. It was only a few meters in length as they passed through and on the other side, there were two dregs guarding the exit. Well, guarding was a loose description as they were bickering between themselves and hadn't even spared a glance at the tunnel.
The female crawled out of the tunnel, righted herself with a glance at the now quarreling dregs, and then easily slipped passed them. The corridor they passed through was cold and dry, which was to be expected. The ground had been worn almost smooth by the amount of foot traffic that must traipse through here each day.
This was where the real danger began. Their movements would need to be incredibly slow so as not to attract attention to the shimmer of their cloak, and they would have to keep their distance from any individual fallen. It was dark in the caves—thankfully—the few light tubes placed here and there the only source of illumination. For that reason alone, they might have a chance of getting through this in one piece.
The corridor opened into a large cavern, which seemed to be at least one of the main areas of the lair if the level of activity was anything to go by.
Movement. That was the first thing Ghost felt from the female. There was so much movement. It was overwhelming to her as her eyes were drawn everywhere at once, jumping back and forth too quickly to comprehend anything that was happening. Not a single thing was distinguished enough for her to focus on.
There were dregs everywhere. They huddled together in groups of threes and fours. Many bickered and growled, hurling insults back and forth while others engaged physically. Some of the dregs were alone, tending to wounds or just glaring at those around them. More still scrabbled after the few ether tanks that had been thrown haphazardly into the area for the dregs to share.
Here and there a dreg could be seen tearing into some unfortunate animal they had managed to capture. Congealed blood was splattered on the floor and walls. The thick layers of dried and flaky lines below denoted just how long the same pattern of kill, spatter, kill, spatter had been going on.
Ghost could not smell itself, but it could analyze the chemical composition of the surrounding air and from the female's impression, it was unpleasant. Pheromones, musk, blood, filth, all of it coming through at once with nothing but the cave entrance to ventilate the area.
While still distracted with taking in this chaos, the female grabbed it without notice and flattened them out against a shadowed area of the closest wall.
Two vandals passed within inches of them on their way across the cavern and deeper into the lair.
Ghost trembled in her grasp. That was way too close.
Only now did Ghost realize that the female would be able to communicate with it, but it couldn't reply while they were in this place. Always it had spoken aloud, which it could not do for fear of being heard, and the female did not wear a HUD where it could send written transmissions.
This was turning into more of a disaster than it had originally thought.
The female opened her hand to let it go now that they were alone again.
Ghost hesitated, but eventually it left her palm reluctantly. Without the ability to speak with her, it wanted to be as close as possible, but the female's movement could be hindered with only one hand. Instead, it huddled in against her side. From here it could still keep an eye out, but it felt safer and right now, Ghost needed that.
Their presence still undetected, the female started once again further into the lair. When they had moved passed the cavern into another corridor, the female picked up her pace. Large rooms opened from the left wall of the corridor every hundred feet or so. Each one was filled with sleeping dregs and idle shanks.
Something was… wrong about this. Sure, there were normally more dregs in a crew than any other class, but this seemed like way too many. How big was this crew? Was it… was it more than one crew?
This situation felt exponentially more dangerous all of a sudden; just how many fallen were in here? Ghost didn't like this; they needed to leave now. It floated upward to tell the female just that, but it paused. It hadn't exactly been paying attention the last few minutes. They were staring at a large wall that appeared to be the end of the cave system.
It hadn't expected that. Where were the vandals, the captain and servitor? This didn't make sense and unfortunately, it was right.
Feeling around a bit, the female located the continuation she had been looking for.
Great, another tunnel, and this one ascended higher into the mountain. Nope. This wasn't happening. Ghost bumped into the female's shoulder gaining her attention. It turned its body back and forth, effectively communicating its rejection of her plan. Then it backed up slowly willing the female to come with it.
It wasn't enough.
Ghost. I must. But, Ghost… should leave.
What?! She wanted it to leave? The suggestion stung. Did she think it too distracting? Was it slowing her down or worse, annoying her?
No. Ghost could feel the confliction within her.
She just wanted it to be safe. The female was not unaware of just how dangerous this might be, but there was something within pressing her forward. She felt like she had to do this, and she didn't want to drag it along. She didn't want to see anything happen to it.
She flashed it a small smile and then turned back to the tunnel, leaving it to its own decision. She would not attempt to pressure it, it knew that. Bracing her hands against the sides of the opening, the female lifted herself up and began the climb.
Ghost was paralyzed with indecision. Should it leave her here, alone? She was capable of handling herself, wasn't she? Besides, it could always transmat her back if she managed to signal it somehow, assuming transmatting itself out of here didn't set off some kind of alarm.
Perhaps, perhaps it was not indecision, but fear. She was afraid for its safety, but more so than any bodily harm or death, it was afraid to be alone again. All it could think about was losing her. Its mind was heavy with the images of her lifeless body splayed out before it, battered and clawed. Pangs of overwhelming loss from their broken connection assaulted it. It had experienced that loss before; it knew exactly how terrible it felt.
No.
That wasn't going to happen. The female was capable and determined, and… it would be there right by her side.
It would not abandon her; it would not leave her alone in this place. This ghost… was going to help its guardian.
Anybody catch what I did there? Let me know in the reviews if you realize the significant milestone Ghost just achieved.
On another note, how's everybody's Forsaken-ing going? I think the game has been significantly improved since the release. I could squee about all the stuff to do, finally.