AN:
MINESWEEPING VOCABULARY:
Automaton: Man-made machines that can perform complicated calculations, even human tasks. There are many, many types of Automatons, and new ones even mimic human form and motion. The Puzzle-locks are said to be regulated by Automatons.
Bombe Entschärfung Turnier: The Minesweeping Tournament. A mysterious move by the Vatikan.
Dӓmon: The secret name of the current minesweepers, or the Schergen des Gottes.
Decoder: The ones who solve the puzzle-locks.
Drachen: A military unit formed by the Vatikan. They have been ordered to join Bombe Entschärfung Turnier. Purpose yet to be revealed.
Ingenieur: Scholarly historians who have studied records of the Old City and extrapolate the presence of the Doors. They are also puzzle-lock solvers, or Decoders. Example is Yukimitsu.
Oberhaupt: Captain (Hiruma)
Um der Ritter: The White Knights, the police of Abaddon
Quelle: A mythical energy source that lies in the dark belly of the Old City, guarded by puzzle-locks that are rigged to explode if not solved properly.
Schergen des Gottes: The Hand of God, the minesweepers, originally had the nickname of Dämon. A unit of the Um der Ritter was added to them, under Hiruma's direction. Now, may have more arms from other parts of the Vatikan military that will be directly under the Vatikan, pending the Minesweeping Tournament.
Schild: The ones who protect the decoders and who act as walls or shields from explosions.
Sucher: Seeker of the Doors. Often plucked from the streets, as it is often the street children who have also explored the Old City. Finds the Doors through intuition, from previous experience. Also puzzle-lock solver or Decoder. Example is Monta.
Vater: Priest/ess (Mamori)
Vatikan: The state and the church of Abaddon
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Chapter 5: Wherein another disaster strikes. Wherein Sena sees a terrible future. Wherein unknown creatures attack the current Schergen des Gottes. Wherein the current Schergen des Gottes become separated in the attack. Wherein Sena must descend into the dark.
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They descended into the darkness.
Musashi drove the modified mine car that was taking them further into the Old City, deep into the Abyss, simply pushing a lever forward to keep them going forward. It rumbled and jolted underneath them. Their platoon – 22 strong with both Dӓmon and Um der Ritter – were strangely quiet. As if all of the members of the current standard-bearer of Schergen des Gottes could feel the menace in the shadows. Because as any minesweeper worth their salt will tell you, the darkness is alive. The dark now seemed to swallow them up, with no intention of spitting them out again.
It seemed like an endless ride, punctuated by the repeating lights of the mile lamp. With every moment, the silence growing deeper.
Static sounded in Sena's earpiece, his communication radio lighting up. "There's something wrong." Yukimitsu murmured.
Sena swung his head towards the other Decoder, seated in the back.
Shin touched his arm lightly, questioningly.
Sena held up two fingers at Shin, the communication line that Yukimitsu had used with him, and pointed to the radio.
Shin held up his radio. Broken.
Of course. Shin and his legendary bad luck with anything that was a device. He leaned over to Shin and whispered, "Yukimitsu said something's wrong."
Sena pressed his own radio. "Yukimistu, I'm speaking to Shin now. What do you think is going wrong?"
Static came back in his ear, almost drowned out by another jolt in the mine car. "It's too quiet, Sena. This is a tournament for minesweepers. I would have thought we'd be feeling vibrations from blasts. Not everyone is that lucky. Or that good."
Sena looked up at Shin, "He says it's too quiet."
Shin held his eyes for a moment, nodding. For a moment, Sena felt ice slide down his spine. Shin had already known something was wrong. Shin glanced back at Takami, who had been looking at them. He raised two fingers, and pointed at his broken radio. Takami pressed on his radio.
Static came onto Sena's ear. "So, Sena, any of the Oberhaupt's scenarios going to play out?" Takami said.
"Negative," Sena murmured. "We may have a scenario we haven't prepared for."
Yukimitsu spoke, voice sounding tinny, "Takami, there's no noise at all. I'm not sure what could have happened, but with as many teams sweeping mines in the Abyss, even as big as it is, we should be hearing vibrations. We should call the tournament officials on radio."
"We don't have a basis, Yukimistu. I don't disagree with you, but not hearing anything would not be considered sufficient evidence for us to call for help. There should have been medics on the tournament grounds."
Shin leaned into Sena, "Tell them that the knights should not work as Schilds for now, but expect to fight. Protecting the squad they've been assigned to."
Sena nodded, "Takami, Yukimitsu, Shin is suggesting that we create a plan now to have the knights be prepared to fight and protect the squad they've been assigned to, overriding their task to shield Decoders."
Takami's voice came on, "Agreed. Assign vanguard and flank watches. Let's sweep the landing area for now and make sure it's not just us getting jumpy at shadows."
"All right," Yukimitsu said, reluctance, clear even over radio.
By now, the rest of the platoon was uneasily watching their conversation.
Sena opened up the line to everyone. "Schergen des Gottes. Ingenieur Yukimistu, Acting Co-Captain Schild Shin, and Schild Takami, are advising changing conditions at site arrival. In preparation for these changing conditions at the site, we're assigning all Um der Ritter to change positions from Schilds to vanguard and flank watches for each squad. Put away your bomb blast gear and ready your weapons. We're not sure what to expect when we arrive, but we there's something going on. We're not hearing any other teams. We'll be sweeping the landing area to check it out, and if there's nothing to be concerned about, we'll continue with the tournament mission. If there is cause for worry, we'll be getting in touch with the tournament officials."
"Yeah, with all due respect, to hell with all the bombing, I'm ready to fight it out." Ikari said.
There were grim nods all around.
And almost suddenly, the mining car screeched and jolted to an ear-piercing stop.
The darkness was filled with the confused and angry voices of the Dӓmon and the knights.
"SILENCE." Shin's voice pierced through all the cries, and all the members quieted down. "Squad Kobayakawa, gear up. We're going to check the tracks to see what stopped us. Ingenieur Yukimitsu, attempt to contact the tournament officials."
"Aha-ha, the special ones are the ones to do the job," Taki cried out. Gushiken rolled his eyes, but said nothing.
The eight members of Sena's squad picked up their gear or weapons: Sena, Juumonji, Shin, Gushiken, Ishimaru, Taki, and Ichimaru and Niishu, the angelic-looking twins of the Um der Ritter. Meanwhile, Yukimitsu started to establish communication with tournament headquarters.
There were soft thuds of the first squad landing on the ground by the tracks. Lights from lanterns shot beams of white light into their surroundings.
At first, all that Sena could make out were rocks,S stalagmites, stalactites jutting down and up, like jagged teeth. Then rock fragments, and then finally, the ancient track that had been laid down long ago. There were bats that screeched as the light went upward, and there were wings that flapped and disappeared. A sense of foreboding began to creep over Sena.
The squad members surrounded the modified mine cart, bending down, looking at the gears and wheels of the huge cart, or looking at the tracks. There were cries from the twins.
They came over the comms, "Sena! We got it."
Sena came around the corner of the mine cart, looking for the twins, and he found them, by the front of the cart. He stopped as a vision, so strong, that he couldn't breathe for a moment, swept over him.
He saw, not the twins as they were now, alive and healthy, but their ghostly corpses, standing in their place. Flesh peeled, necks broken, limbs torn and missing. Sena's eyes helplessly moved to look up at the rest of the Schergen des Gottes, and the ghosts that appeared to him were not the many ghosts of themselves, they were not the many versions of themselves streaming through time, but a standstill platoon of death, of corpses rotting where they stood.
Reality returned, and there were just the twins again, standing in front of the wheels of the cart grinding against a stone that had been wedged into the tracks. The front right wheel was insistently scratching against the rock, giving off sparks, attempting to turn.
The other members of his squad had come around, as well, at the cries of the twins.
"That's strange," Juumonji said over the comm, "who would have thought a rock could stop this thing," he tapped on the modified mine cart.
"Yeah, I see what's the problem." Sena said casually. "SQUAD KOBAYAKAWA," he said raising his voice. "Saddle up and return to the cart!" The members of his squad started, looking at one another, giving him a strange look.
Sena nudged at them, "I think I can just have Musashi reverse the cart, I'll take out the stone, then, and we can be on our way. Shin, go back in and let Musashi know to reverse the cart for a bit. Go on everyone, go on."
Gushiken, the twins, Taki, and Ishimaru began to volt over the side of the cart again, but Juumonji took another push. Shin was the most stubborn. Finally, Sena had to call out to Musashi himself and explain the plan, clinging to the outside of the cart, his feet finding bare purchase on the screws on the outside of the cart, before Shin also went over. While Sena was perched in the cart, he had Sakuraba hand him a tool to wedge out the stone.
"Okay, great," Sena said, "Musashi, on my signal, okay?"
Musashi began to grind the lever back to back up the mine cart as Sena nodded. Then, before anyone could blink, Sena lunged and pushed the lever all the way back, and jammed the tool in. He jumped back out at their cries, as the cart began to rumble fast, going backward.
Just in time, as huge flapping wings (in no way bat wings) were lit by the disordered beams of light from their lanterns, trying to swoop down on the cart. The cries of confusion, became cries of anger, cries of fear.
Sena popped out one of his minesweeper's tools then, a little device that provided the effect every Decoder, every minesweeper hoped to avoid, but carried in their pockets, anyway. He twisted the top, and threw it out before him.
There was a tiny explosion. The creatures swooping on the cart, horrific creatures that were made all the more horrific by the almost-human faces, flew up and looked at Sena, his outline lonely in midst of the small explosion, yelling and waving his arms.
They decided to leave the accelerating cart alone. All of them came for him.
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Sena ran.
And descended into the darkness.
He ran down a dark corridor, lamp flickering in his hand, terror making his heart beat wildly. Behind him, he could hear the faint beat of the wings those creatures with almost-human faces. And his own jagged breathing, he could hear his own terrified hitch of inhale and exhale. He ran into a jutting stalagmite, and his lamp went out. He stumbled, and managed to stop himself from crying out, or perhaps his throat had just constricted enough from fear that it would not let any sound out.
He was doubled over, his body in a crevice, when he heard them. He froze, afraid to even breathe. For some reason, through the patter of their feet, and the sound of their wings softly folding, he knew they could not see him in the dark.
He was half-crouched in the crevice of that dark tunnel, half hidden behind the stalagmite that he stumbled over. He trembled, and his hand was fisted against his chest, his heart thudding. He felt them passing, felt the rush of a claw sweeping above his head. And he thought:
They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him hear him hear him hearhimhearhimhearhimhearhearhearhearhear…
SENA!
Was it his psychic power, snapping him awake? Sena pulled himself together. In the dark, he realized that there were no more noises. He stumbled out of the crevice, his hand shaking, his vision turning funny, he struck a light by feel, and his hand made the light beam of his lamp go all over the place. He was afraid that they were still there, of course, but Sena was sure that if he stayed in the dark, he would go crazy.
With the light turned on, he calmed down somewhat. Although his hand still shook, and he still felt himself trembling.
Now what?
He didn't really have a plan beyond keeping his mates safe. That was all in that was in his head. But now that he was here in the dark, in a tunnel, and he had more space to think, he wasn't sure what to do now. He took a deep breath, and told himself to stop and to think.
There were creatures in the Abyss. Strange creatures. The first question was, of course, where did the creatures come from? They had tunneled in the Abyss, and although, they had many stories, and minesweepers had many myths and legends of what exactly you found in the dark, they had never yet encountered those winged things with human-like faces.
A groan rose and echoed in the tunnel, shaking even the loose rocks near his feet. It made Sena tremble.
He had to squeeze the handle in the light, trying to keep his fear under control. Those creatures, they must have come somewhere. Maybe, they were the reason that they couldn't hear the other minesweeping teams. So, perhaps, Yukimistu would be able to tell the officials of what was happening. They would probably send military units down to the Abyss to help rescue them. In the meantime…in the meantime, though, the other minesweeping teams must be fighting off the creatures. There might be teams that needed his help seeing them before those creatures attack.
Sena stood, heart still throbbing. He could go out. He could try to escape the Abyss and those creatures. And he might have. Before Shin had discovered him, and had tested him, he would have run away.
But now…now, he'd met Shin. Shin's words came back to Sena: if you're afraid…if you cannot focus on here and now, then you have no right to carry everyone's lives in your hand. Sena took a shuddering breath. He was afraid, yes. But there were people who might be dying if he did not face his fear and help them. He had to see if there were survivors. Had to see if there were. Even though he was scared out of his mind. Even though he was coward, there were people who might need help. They were probably not far from the drop off point. All he had to do was make it to the drop-off point, and he could do that by following the tracks.
At the edge of his vision, he saw something moving beyond the darkness. Hurriedly, he turned off his light and started to go back the way he came, looking for the tracks of the mine carts. And in the dark, he could hear them—
Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hearhearhearhearhearhear—
STOP! Sena shook himself, STOP SENA! He walked through the dark, trying to hold on to the thought that there others who needed his help. There were others. Who. Needed. His. Help.OthersWhoNeededHisHelp. A sheen of sweat was covering his forehead. His vision was becoming funny again, as if the rocks were contracting and expanding. There were things growling in the dark. He could hear the voices, he could hear those sly voices, he could hear them growling, he could feel them now. Coming. He could hear them …hearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearh earhearhearhearhearheahearhearhear.
In the dark, something reached for Sena.
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End of Chapter 5