Chapter 4
"How much longer till we reach the towers?" Nick asked, trudging through the overgrown pathway and occasionally using his chakrams to chop down bushes and branches that blocked him.
"Less than twenty minutes at your current pace." informed ADA.
Nick acknowledged that with a small nod as he thought back to the details about his destination he heard from ADA during his trek. The towers he had set out to investigate were placed within an abandoned fortress. There were several similar fortifications scattered throughout the southern part of this continent, originally built by Mantle when they held the area during the Great War. All of them, including the one Nick was walking to, had been captured by Vale and then abandoned shortly after the War. In fact, the core of Polendina's Rest had been initially constructed by re-purposing the material from nearby forts. However, the one he was walking towards was the biggest of the lot.
From the scant historical records ADA had recovered, that fort in particular was the location of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the entire Great War. Soon after the decisive battle in Vacuo, where the King of Vale had personally led the armies to decimate the forces of Mantle and Mistral, both sides were preparing for the eventuality of peace talks. Despite this, a large contingent of Mantle forces continued to hold down the fortifications on Tenebris, carrying out raids and guerrilla attacks on the coastal regions of Vale.
It was said that the King of Vale, realizing these forces needed to be put down for any chance at peace, personally led an army to wipe out any resistance, just like he had during the battle in Vacuo. Despite this, the defenders were prepared and fought with a ferocity unmatched in any previous conflicts of the Great War, inflicting heavy casualties and dying to the last man instead of surrendering. After the forts were taken, the King of Vale had apparently pulled back with all his soldiers and signed the Vytal Accords shortly after, signifying an end to the War. The Grimm, naturally drawn to the conflict, took over any remaining settlements and prevented the reclamation of this part of the continent.
Nick paused to manifest Mavros on the branch of a nearby tree and scout the area. Other than a few stray Beowulves and Ursae too far off to notice him, the area was devoid of Grimm. Nick had been surveying with Mavros quite frequently during his journey, and the lack of Grimm continued to surprise him. He knew that Tony and Steele had cleared out most of the Grimm when they initially activated the towers, but by now Nick was quite a distance away from Polendina's Rest, and Grimm tended to repopulate these parts rapidly. This also further lowered the chances of the Grimm physically destroying the towers, which meant the problem was probably more complex. Frowning at that thought, Nick dispelled Mavros and continued to follow the path with ADA's guidance. Eventually, the trees started to slowly thin out and the pathway led into a clearing.
"We have arrived." Ada spoke up. "The towers should be on top of the lookouts at the rear end of the fort."
Nick used his Semblance to try and find Aura or Grimm signatures, but found absolutely nothing. The fortress seemed to be as abandoned as it looked. The entire location was eerily quiet, and that unnerved Nick. He sent Mavros forward to take point, then decided to keep talking to ADA in order to calm his nerves.
"ADA, what do your sensors gather about the general layout of the place? Anything interesting?"
"From what I can make of the outer structure, the walls of the fort were over twenty meters tall, although large portions of it have crumbled or collapsed. I can pick out numerous small objects scattered near the walls. My best estimate is that these are the remains of the weapons and other equipment used during the siege. There is almost nothing left of the main gate; it seems to have been blown clean off its hinges. Strange, my data banks do not contain any knowledge of weaponry that the forces of Vale possessed back then to have dealt such damage." ADA added the last sentence almost as an afterthought, and Nick wished he could have gazed upon the ruins himself. Nevertheless, he knew he had only one objective, and so he pressed on and walked through where the gates of the fort once stood.
Nick carefully navigated his way through the overgrown vines and rubble, stopping every so often to listen to ADA remark on their surroundings. The inside seemed to be just as dilapidated as the outside, with ADA mentioning parts of the fort that were still recognizable as Nick walked past them. Soon, Nick approached the stairwell to one of the two outposts that were still standings. He left Mavros at the base to stand guard, and gingerly began climbing. The occasional footstep caused some ominous creaking and the circular stairs made Nick a little dizzy, but he finally reached the top.
"Well, here we are." Nick spoke up. "Notice anything wrong ADA?"
"I'm going to need you to connect your Scroll to the portable terminal just below the radio tower." ADA said.
"Oh, right. On it." With that, Nick crouched by a small device and took out his Scroll. He then tapped it to the screen of the monitor, waiting a few seconds for ADA to sync with the terminal.
"Power settings are optimal. No internal inconsistencies detected. The tower is broadcasting the signal just fine." ADA summarized.
"And yet there isn't actually a signal being received." Nick muttered.
"There seems to be a localized interference preventing the signal from actually being transmitted. If there was an issue with the tower itself, I would have found it." ADA continued. "It would be prudent to inform Steele about this, so a team can be sent to find the source of the problem."
"Right. But we're all the way out here already. I'd hate to head back without having something more to show. After all, there's barely any Grimm nearby, and we have almost seven hours of daylight left." Nick countered. "Let's dig around, see if there's a jammer of sorts or anything."
"Very well. Although I doubt any weaponry or traps are active now, there is always a risk. You should start by infusing different sections of this fort with some of your Aura and using your Semblance to try and find anything unusual. I can also analyze the Aura readings to see if anything is out of place." Ada acquiesced.
Nick agreed with that idea, and began by doing what ADA asked by putting a palm on the floor and letting some of his Aura seep into his surroundings. He re-summoned Mavros to stand beside him as he tried to identify any oddities, but the only objects on the top of the outpost was the radio tower and its accompanying equipment.
"Nothing here." ADA confirmed. "Let's move on."
Nick repeated the process at the other lookout, and then near the base of both the outposts for good measure, but found nothing. ADA steered him through different sections of the fortress, but each scan continued to give no results.
The mess hall contained only broken and dusty furniture, and the smell of rotting wood discouraged Nick from lingering there. The roof of the armory had caved in, burying most of the bladed weapons and antique rifles that Nick could sense with his Semblance. He doubted any of the guns were functional anymore, and the blades had to be far too rusty. The living quarters, on the other hand, were still largely in one piece. Yet all they contained were a few dozen beds, organized neatly in rows. The forge was barren and cold, with broken equipment strewn about. Nick was about to leave when a sudden squeaking noise startled him, but ADA quickly informed him that it was only some rats.
"I don't like this place. It's more a tomb than an ruined fortress, and the lack of bodies doesn't detract from that." Nick shivered slightly as he exited the forge room.
"Stay alert, Nick. From my scans thus far, this is nothing more than an abandoned old stronghold, but you can never be too careful."
"Abandoned, huh? I've been thinking about it, and Steele told me they found almost no Grimm here when they first activated the towers. And we haven't found a single one within the fort itself yet. The first time may have been a coincidence, but this just feels off. There would normally have at least a dozen Grimm. Why would the Grimm be avoiding this location?" Nick asked ADA.
"I do not know, Nick. Best we just keep searching." ADA replied unhelpfully.
After some digging around, Nick reached a room containing just a large table in the center with a sheaf of papers piled on top. Many of them were now strewn about messily, two of the legs on one side of the table having collapsed long ago. No chairs, desks or any other furniture at all, yet the room was large enough to fit over fifty people.
"Think this was a storeroom maybe? Or some sort of— hang on." Nick paused just as he was about to raise his hand that was inspecting the papers. He pumped some more Aura into the room, and noticed the same thing again.
"ADA, are your Aura sensors picking this up?"
"Yes, Nick. Very minor too, and it is only noticeable due to the extra Aura you are releasing in the area. Something is preventing the floor in this room from being coated with Aura. Or at least, the central part of the floor, where you're standing right now. There aren't any other objects in here other than the papers, so whatever is causing this is most likely underneath this room." confirmed ADA.
Nick felt out the floor with his palm, moving it back and forth a bit while continuing to pour out Aura. It seemed almost like the floor physically pushed aside the Aura that Nick tried to infuse it with, which pooled more towards the edges and walls of the room instead. Frowning, Nick turned Soulkeeper to Kite Shield mode and bashed the floor a few times, hoping it would fall apart like the rest of the fort. Unfortunately, the foundation was built much more solidly, as all Nick got for his efforts was a slightly numb arm and a cloud of dust right in face as the other two legs of the table suddenly collapsed.
"Yeah, that was a bit too hopeful from me." Nick said, standing up and brushing himself off. "Plan B then, we try to find the stairs that can take us down. We've already gone through most of the place. Let's scope out the remainder, and with some luck there will be a path."
...
Luck, as it turned out, did not seem to be on Nick's side. Neither his Semblance nor the scans from ADA could pick up any hidden stairwells or trapdoors in the remaining rooms. Nick even doubled back to check every single room he had already been through, but to no avail.
"Either the entrance to the basement is really well hidden, or it's buried somewhere in the collapsed sections of this fort." Nick sighed exasperatedly, now standing back near the gate.
"I've been trying to think of a solution," ADA spoke up, "and I might have something. Although I'm not sure how much you're going to like it."
"At this point, I'm all ears."
"Very well, but this could be a little dangerous. I'm going to need you to sync me with one of the radio towers again."
"Explain." Nick said, as he began to walk back towards the lookout.
"Right now, the radio signal is being drowned out by something, and we know that much. It's not broadcasting outwards, and the interference, like I said earlier, is local. So what I am going to try doing is fiddle with the frequency and redirect the radio waves towards the fort itself. If the frequency is low enough, the signal might just be able to get through at least a little bit, enough to also be used to scan through the walls and floors of this place and find anything my local sensors might have missed."
"Sounds like a plan." A few minutes later, Nick was back on top of the lookout and had plugged his Scroll into the small terminal by the radio tower.
"Hmm, looks like my hunch was right. If I were to just— and then change these settings— got it! Now to boost the signal. And now— oh." Ada suddenly stopped her commentary.
"ADA, what—" Nick began to ask.
"No time, grab the scroll and jump." ADA said, a thread of urgency creeping into in her normally monotone voice.
Nick did as he was told, quickly pocketing the Scroll and running to the edge of the lookout. Right as he was vaulting over the parapet, the terminal exploded along with the generator powering it, sending dust shards flying in all directions. A few of these hit Nick on the back, which his Aura was easily able to tank, but it did knock him off balance and sent him tumbling down at an awkward angle.
Lamenting the fact that he was unable to use his wings and just glide down safely - his usual landing strategy - Nick opted to go for the 'Tower Shield and brace for impact' strategy. It worked for the most part, as Nick landed with a large thump, winded but unhurt. As he rolled onto his back to catch his breath, however, he heard ADA's voice in his ear.
"Get up Nick, MOVE!" ADA yelled. "The whole lookout is coming down!"
Nick had never heard ADA actually shout, and the shock of it was enough to push him to his feet and rush to the side. A few seconds later, the entire lookout, tower and all, crashed down right where he had landed.
"What the heck did you do ADA?" Nick questioned, raising Soulkeeper to deflect a few pieces of debris that flew towards him.
"I overloaded the transmitter to try and push the signal through. The bad news is, well, that. The good news is we still have one tower left, and I've found us the basement entrance."
"Well, that's something at least. Lead the way then."
…
Nick found himself back in one of the nondescript rooms he had done a cursory search through before ADA's plan.
"Uh, there's nothing here ADA. A few old tables and chairs, and a bunch of papers too worn out to understand. Like most of this godforsaken place."
"There's a mechanism in this room, placed just behind that wall. As cliché as it sounds, I think you just need to push down hard enough on the exact spot I'm going to point to."
Nick moved to the point on the wall ADA directed him to, and pushed down hard with his hand. Nothing happened.
"Maybe it just needs a bit more force." ADA intoned.
"What, you think banging with the shield is gonna work now?" Nevertheless, Nick hit the wall with Soulkeeper, hard. A few moments later, there was an odd grinding noise, and parts of the floor near the doorway slowly slid apart to reveal a narrow set of stairs.
"Well, what do you know." Nick said softly, as he began climbing down.
After about two dozen steps, Nick found himself in what seemed to be a long unlit hallway, at least according to ADA. He tried to Aura-infuse the path in front of him, and a small layer of his Aura did coat the walls, floor and ceiling for almost two hundred meters, until it was abruptly cut off.
"Well, look like whatever we're looking for is right ahead." Nick whispered, slowly walking forward.
"Interesting. Compared to the rooms and hallways above, this place is almost completely undamaged. The attackers must never have found it." ADA mused.
"Probably. Hey, ADA, I've been meaning to ask, but back at the top of the lookout, when you told me to jump, you almost sounded worried. And I never heard you raise your voice until then. Can you actually," Nick paused for a moment, almost as if searching for the right word. "Emote?" he finally blurted out.
"I am simply ADA, the Accessibility Dialogue Assistant built by Dr. Polendina with the core directive of assisting you, Nickel Hope Anemos, to the best of my abilities. At that moment, you needed to act immediately, and I simply did what my programming told me to." ADA answered back.
"Stop, we're—" ADA's warning came a touch too late for Nick, who was suddenly knocked back a few steps.
"Aah! ADA, this isn't a wall in front of me, right?"
"No. My readings confirm there is an invisible barrier in front of us. The object we're looking for has to be just beyond this. It's strong enough at this distance to interfere with even your internal Scroll sensors and the sonar signals I'm sending out."
Nick held out his right hand in front of him and inched forward until the arm hit the barrier again, being knocked to the side. He tried again by coating his palm with Aura, but the knock-back was even more violent, sending him sprawling out.
"Okay, this thing does not like Aura." Nick said wryly, getting back to his feet. Still, he couldn't resist sending Mavros forward, who had been silently standing guard behind him until then. Sure enough, the moment the spirit touched the 'barrier' it dissolved away, confirming Nick's suspicions.
Next, Nick threw one of his chakrams out, but it was also deflected back to him. "So it blocks living beings, Aura and inanimate objects alike. Wow." he commented, thinking on what to do next. Realizing he hadn't tried his trusty 'bash with shield' plan yet, he walked forward and made a horizontal swing in Kite Shield mode. To his immense surprise, Soulkeeper passed through the barrier, along with the lower half of his hand, but his upper arm hit the barrier with a jolt and he was sent flying back once more.
"Ow, okay that one actually hurt." Nick moaned, laying face down on the ground.
"Nick, I've identified that the object is about ten meters beyond the barrier, sitting on top of a column, about as high as your chest. The object seems to be cubical in shape, and smaller than your hand." ADA suddenly piped up.
"Whoa, how did you figure that out? Didn't you say your sensors were also being jammed?"
"I used the same method I applied for the radio towers. I rerouted your Scroll's power, fiddled with the frequency of my sonar waves and boosted the signal to get past the barrier."
"And you didn't think my Scroll would blow up in my pocket, like what happened on the lookout?"
"I am far better attuned to the inner workings of a Scroll than an old radio tower, Nick. I can be a lot more careful, and I would have informed you if there was any risk. Do note that I had to use up almost all the power reserves in your Scroll, so I will be active for a few more minutes before powering down."
"Great. So now we know Soulkeeper can, somehow, get through this barrier, but I can't just reach forward while holding it and grab the thing. Unless," an idea suddenly came to Nick. Switching the shield to its default Buckler mode, he held it in his right hand like he would his chakram.
"Note that the shield is a lot heavier than your usual weapons, and will need to be thrown with a lot more force." ADA said, grasping Nick's plan. "I can provide you with the exact coordinates to throw at and direct you to the best of my abilities, but you'll only have one shot at this."
"I know." Slowly adjusting his arm, Nick lined up the throw and counted down in his head. Suddenly, a memory of practicing with Dawn came to him. Over and over he tossed it at different parts of a dummy target, sometimes hitting an arm or a leg, but mostly missing entirely. Meredith stood behind him, animatedly yelling and pointing with each toss and occasionally stepping forward to personally demonstrate. Not that she did much better, and Nick couldn't help but smile, recalling the days gone by.
3...2...1...and Soulkeeper was tossed forward, first hitting something with a small clink, and then banging into a wall before clattering to the floor.
"Good shot. My sensors are functioning normally again, you must have knocked off the object and stopped it from being the power source." ADA complimented.
"Funny, I used the shield to destroy the shield." Nick said, bending down to retrieve Soulkeeper first, and then picking up the object that had caused so much trouble until now. In his hand, it did feel like a cube, with jagged edges and a somewhat rough texture.
"You ought to head back, now." ADA interrupted Nick from examining the object further. "There's only a couple of hours of daylight left, we spent a long time searching around. I won't be able to guide you back, so it'll be just you and your Semblance. You have around sixty percent Aura left, which should be more than enough to sustain your Semblance for the entire journey back."
A distant roar distracted Nick, and he rushed back outside. Standing near the ruined gates, he looked outwards with his Semblance, and reeled in shock at the dozens, no, hundreds of Grimm rushing towards his location. He focused harder to identify them, and realized it was a whole assortment of Ursae, Boarbatusks, Beowulves, Creeps and with even a few Nevermores mixed in. They didn't move in packs or in any sort of organized way, simply rushing forward, with some of the larger Grimm even knocking aside the bushes and trees.
"You need to get out of here, Nick. Whatever that device was, it must have been keeping the Grimm away. It'll be at least ten minutes before the Grimm reach your current spot."
"No ADA, it's too dangerous to get cut off and surrounded out in the forest. I'll need to hold them off here. The radio towers are functional again, right? Send a distress signal, back to base, now!"
"Broadcasting. Signal s̸̯͙͉͉̟̒̄e̴̡̢̳̗̫̺̘̳̟͛͑̇͊n̸̹̞͈͇̣̬̟̒̈t̸̨̛̠̯̔̅̿̂͊͜͝"
ADA had finally powered down.
...