They had Dave providing directions, but it was the nomads who led the way. They seemed to know the way through the city, easily avoiding any streets too narrow and routing them around any roads where the debris was too high to drive over.
The drive was as quiet and as peaceful as it had been yesterday when they had parachuted in. JD refused to let himself get used to the calm and kept scanning the buildings and gripping his Lancer tight.
With the city in shambles and whole sections having fallen into the pit created by the Riftworm, their progress slowed as they approached their destination. The rocking as the rig trundled over debris became too persistent and annoying, so the group disembarked and made the last leg of the journey on foot.
It was a posh district, full of once-beautiful stores and shops. Broken glass from display windows riddled the streets, and the red sand dunes had crept up and crawled through the front doors. Most of the stores were empty, long ago scavenged and pilfered.
There were empty holes in the sidewalk where lamp posts had once been bolted down, but they had been removed and the metal melted down for armour and ammo and weapons after the start of the Locust war. Humanity hadn't been able to afford leaving any scraps behind.
JD peered through the broken windows of a large department store and found the remains of a long-abandoned garden. Most of the soil had dried out and blown away, but there were desiccated remains of plants jostling in the breeze. Tools and pots lined the walls, and it had clearly been the site of a desperate attempt to grow some food for the surviving population.
"We're coming up on our launch site." Fahz announced over the radio, the static and incessant beeping growing louder as they got closer to the collapsed section of the city.
"Roger that." JD responded, tearing himself away from the investigation of the nearby buildings.
The rig rumbled around a corner and he spotted a derelict park up ahead. The city must have been beautiful and green decades ago, before the sea had drained back to flood the Locust tunnels. If he squinted JD could picture the tall lush trees and the rolling green fields. It was a shame it had all dried out and turned to ruin.
There was a stone fence lining the large park and the nomads guiding them motioned to follow them around a side street to find an entrance. JD walked with them, with the rest of Delta keeping watch behind the rig.
Behind him he heard the rig's engine roar and turned just in time to see Fahz give the behemoth a burst of power. He watched and cringed as the rig crashed straight through the rock wall, individual boulders and sections of cemented rocks exploding outwards, leaving a wake of debris as the rig rumbled onwards. JD sighed and jogged after it.
Fahz's laugh cackled out from the cab as he brought the rig to a stop between two splintered tree stumps further inside the park. JD walked up to the front of the vehicle to examine the damage, then glared up at Fahz with his arms thrown out wide.
"Really? We've had this thing for a day and you go and crash it on purpose?!" He shouted up at the grinning maniac behind the wheel.
The heavy bumper of the rig sat askew, the right side dangling so low it almost dragged on the ground. The front panel beneath the cab was smashed in to the point that they would have sustained significant engine damage if not for the fact that the engine was housed near the middle of the rig's chassis.
"You're explaining this to Baird, not me." JD yelled irritably, bringing his Lancer stock back up against his shoulder.
"James, what's going on?" His father's voice burst over the radio, the background beeping louder still. JD took a few steps to spot the other members of Delta just entering the park through the hole Fahz had made in the stone wall.
"Oh, just Fahz forgoing all intellectual thought in favour of brute force." He grumbled, his fingers pressed to his earpiece.
"I saved us all that time looking for an alternative entrance. You're welcome!" Fahz responded cheerily.
Dave buzzed out of the cab and let out a few joyful beeps before zipping off ahead. JD followed with the nomads, Fahz slowly rolling the Grindlift rig behind him.
The structure of the park was still present, but time had dried up all the plants and blown in sand from the beach. Fields that had once been green were now blood red dunes that flowed and crashed over stone benches. JD could make out pathways and the husks of shrubbery, and there were remains of an old fountain and playground.
Dave flew on ahead and came to a stop in front of a series of worn and broken statues, only a few mangled stumps of legs and a torso remaining. The plaques beneath the statue had been pried off, likely for melting down like the city's lampposts. There was no way to tell who or what the statues were meant to commemorate.
There was a loud ping from Dave, and JD watched the robot send a pulse downwards and into the ground. A moment later Dave buzzed excitedly.
"Looks like we've found our launch point. Let's get this thing set up." JD announced and Dave zoomed off to prepare the rig.
Fahz climbed out of the cab as the rest of Delta caught up with them, and they watched as a large crane arm unfolded from the top of the rig and began lifting the Grindlift pods off the truck bed.
Each pod was carefully swung into place by the rig, where they attached to a mounting arm that had jutted out from the side of the big machine. There were four pods, but only two were set up and prepared for launch, one on each side of the rig. The other two pods served as backups in case of malfunction, or in the event a secondary team needed to be sent into the tunnels to support Delta.
JD approached one of the pods and the door slid open. Inside were two harnesses, one on each side of the cylinder. There was a weapon rack for storing their gear, a storage compartment, and a small control panel with what JD presumed to be communications gear.
"Hm, cosy." Kait commented, appearing at his side to inspect the pod.
"Bloody coffins." He heard Fahz mutter.
"Alright, you kids ready to rock?" Cole asked. The old thrashball player was going to stay topside, manning and protecting the Grindlift rig along with the nomads.
"I'm not happy about it, but I'm ready." Fahz sighed defeatedly. All of his previous joy at crashing the rig had evaporated and he was left looking sullen and anxious.
JD reached inside the pod and yanked open the storage compartment beneath the weapon rack.
"All the gear is accounted for."
Each pod had a store of rations, water, ammo, radio equipment, and more. It was enough to last them three days if they needed it, but JD doubted they would.
"Then let's get down there." Marcus said gruffly. "Fahz, you're with me." He jerked his head towards the other side of the rig. Fahz's shoulders dropped and he reluctantly followed the older gear to their pod.
Detaching his Lancer and Gnasher from their magnetic mounts on his armour, JD stowed them carefully on the pod's weapon rack. Kait passed her weapons to him and he stowed them as well.
In the confined space, securing himself into the harness while wearing his bulky armour proved to be a challenge. He pressed his back to the wall and managed to shimmy his arms through the straps, but he struggled to buckle them.
Kait stepped into the small pod and helped, able to maneuver a little easier in the space.
"Here, turn your arm like—no, the other way." She grunted as she pulled on the strap and tried to get it to stretch across his chest plate. "Hang on, don't move. Wait, JD—stop!"
"I think I got it." JD twisted, trying to get more slack from the harness. Something was tangled behind him, and he moved to look over his shoulder.
"No, you're doing it wrong. Just—"
"Am I? Looks right to me."
"If it was right then the two buckles would be here." She jabbed the front of his armour.
"Says who?" He asked, studying the straps draped over his shoulders.
"Says anyone who has ever flown in a Raven before. It's the same setup." Kait gripped one end of a strap in her hand and tugged it. "You've got this whole thing tangled. Just…just don't move for a second, okay?"
JD gave her a doubtful look but stopped fidgeting with the harness. Kait leaned forward and reached around him to grasp at the straps behind his shoulder blades. She grunted and hissed and ended up with the side of her face pressed against the metal of his chest plate.
Watching Kait's face screw up as she fumbled with the harness, JD started to laugh.
"Stop it," she mumbled, her words obscured from her face smooshed against his armour.
"Here, why don't I just take this thing off and we try again?" He chuckled.
"No, I…hah! Got it!" Kait leaned back and JD wanted to point out that she had the imprint of his armour on her face, but elected to stay silent for his own sake.
Kait yanked the straps again and that time they stretched all the way across his plates to click into place over the COG emblem.
"There!" She said triumphantly. Then she stepped backwards into her own harness and was successfully buckled up in less than ten seconds. "See, this is how you do it." She pointed to her own untangled straps.
"No fair. You were all practiced after doing mine."
Kait shook her head. "Can't take you anywhere, seriously."
"You two ready?" Cole asked, appearing in the open door. "Sounded like you had some trouble."
"This one's got the coordination of a toddler." She jerked her thumb at JD, who scoffed in mock offence.
"Well, get comfortable. This ain't gonna be pleasant." And with a push of a button the pod door slipped shut. JD blinked in the sudden darkness.
"Bloody coffin." Kait muttered after a moment, repeating Fahz's words.
"Yeah. Didn't think it would be so cramped." The blue lights from their armour allowed him to make out Kait's face, but just barely. It had seemed roomier before, but in the dark JD realized there was little more than a handspan between their chest plates.
A thunderous clanking noise erupted all around him and made his ears ring. Then the familiar sound of a turbine whine started up, the vibrations trembling through the walls and up through their boots.
The noise became so loud and the vibrations so strong that JD couldn't clench his jaw without feeling and hearing his teeth rattling in his skull.
"I don't like this!" Kait yelled, barely audible. She had her shoulder straps in a death grip, her face scrunched up and her eyes clamped shut.
JD wanted to yell something comforting back to her, but the engine whine got louder still and his voice was overwhelmed. Instead, he let go of one of his straps and reached out to grab her hand. Kait's face stayed screwed up, but she grasped his hand eagerly, clutching it painfully tight.
"This is fucking insane!" He heard Fahz yell over the radio, all anger and desperate fear.
"Hang on tight!" Cole's bright voice blasted in his ear. "Launching in three…two…one…"
JD's hand clenched tight on Kait's as they suddenly lurched downwards, a choked cry escaping through his gritted teeth.