Any kind of in-game temple with water totally sucks. That is all.
Chapter Twelve: Solitary Silhouettes
She moved like a breeze through shifting walls and over gold-plated flooring, slipping in and out of rooms deep within the Ceremonial Chambers of the Temple of Chizra like someone who had been within the ancient building hundreds of times before. She plunged into watery catacombs through the large hexagonal openings in the floor and moved with the efficiency of a fish, twisting around heavy sunken barrels and slipping past the serpentine creatures that paddled above her like birds in a liquid sky. When she emerged from the jade green waters she barely changed her pace; she pulled herself up and over the edge of the flooring, cascading with moisture, and was up and running within seconds, shaking water out of her Enforcer. It proved to be relatively trustworthy even when waterlogged; she had looked for a drier route through the deep tunnels but had been forced to go swimming several times. The effects of the water on the other weapons that she had gathered on her explorative journey worried her more, though; thus far she had four weapons strapped to her back, legs, and arms but had only used her Enforcer for fear of one of the more complex arms backfiring on her.
No matter, though. She was still in one piece and she was generally sure of where she was headed.
Generally.
She came upon a golden door that took up nearly half of an entire mold-and-moss covered wall; she had to squint against its brilliance. A face, ancient and familiar somehow, grinned at her from the center panel. She put her hand on it and pressed; the door creaked open, causing her to wince and start a little at the sound. She desperately tried to be silent at every opportunity; it seemed that every bloodthirsty denizen of this place came at her if she even so much as sneezed. She reloaded her Enforcer, took a breath, and dashed into the room beyond, casting quick glances to her right and left before she proceeded any further. The small passageway she had fled into had spit her out into a two-level room; off to her left was some kind of firelit antechamber while a wooden ramp led up to a smaller golden door on her right. The room looked empty as far as she could tell; she noticed with more than a little irritation that there didn't seem to be any healing items in the area. She put her free hand to her side, wincing a little as her palm came into contact with the acid burn she had received from a particularly nasty Slith that had ambushed her earlier in the temple.
"Bati d'vaar!"
849's head snapped to the side, her piercing eyes looking in the direction from where the call had come from. If she had been any more on edge her Enforcer would've found its target by now. Several unfortunate Nali who had done this same gesture of greeting had experienced a very different response from her; she had accidentally gotten a shot through once or twice before she could stop her arm from moving. A Nali priest, his body striped with red, blue, and gold paints stepped out of the left antechamber. He held one finger to his lips and padded up the ramp, beaconing her to follow. She trailed him tentatively, walking backwards and training her Enforcer on the floor below them. If there was anyone up ahead, the Nali would panic and warn her.
The priest stepped onto the platform at the top of the ramp and beaconed to a dark corner off to the side. 849 caught a dim gleam of metal—ammunition clips. She planted her foot on the platform and was about to lower her arm when a screech of metal from the passage she had just come through warned her of the trap she had just walked into. At the first pounding of footsteps the Nali priest fled into the shadowed corner where the ammunition was and cowered against the wall.
The Terran, however, remained on the platform, watching with an unreadable expression on her face; as soon as the trio of Skaarj warriors rushed into the open her eyes flashed with fury. A perceptible change came over her body; within the span of a few heartbeats she had holstered her Enforcer and had shrugged an ASMD shock rifle into her hands. She braced the weapon over her shoulder as her fingers found the trigger. Her eyes tracked two of the Skaarj; they spotted her and leapt towards the platform she was standing on.
Her body seized up; her fingers fluttered over the trigger, setting the firing mode to its alternative capability. A blue sphere of energy exploded out of the shock rifle, careening towards the pair of Skaarj practically climbing over each other to get to the Terran. A second later the firing mode of the rifle was back on primary fire and she fired a second time, aiming at the ball of blue. The shock beam struck the plasma an instant before the Skaarj could be hit with the deadly beam; the resulting explosion caught both of the lizard men in its wake and thoroughly destroyed them, flinging their entrails against the walls and splattering 849 with their blood.
She barely had time to wipe the offending liquid out of her eyes before the third Skaarj was on her. It dove forwards, catching her midsection and sending her flying back into the wall. She dimly saw the shock rifle skitter off the platform and disappear on the lower floor. Her breath had been knocked out of her but she couldn't waste time being in pain—the warrior was coming. She rolled to her feet and barely avoided getting decapitated by the Razik blades that the Skaarj was slashing at her with. She tripped while diving out of the way of another blow and tumbled down the ramp, landing on her stomach. The Skaarj took a flying leap off of the platform and landed directly on top of her, its clawed feet crushing the stones on either side of her body. It raised its voice in a roar and drew back its arm, the firelight gleaming on its blades. Sweeping its arm down with enough force to put gouges in solid marble, the Skaarj aimed the Razik blades at the center of 849's back, anticipating a clean cut all the way through her body.
The blades shredded the back of 849's shirt and immediately snagged on something. After several moments of trying to free its weapon from the Terran's back, the warrior reached down with its free hand and tore the rest of prisoner's top away, realizing with a snarl that his blades were embedded in a thick casing of upper body armor.
849 took advantage of the alien's hesitation to release the body armor's snaps from her shoulders and scramble away. With one set of blades out of commission, the Skaarj wouldn't have nearly as many chances to kill her. It was just the break she was looking for. She was on her feet in a moment and was halfway across the room before the Skaarj could react to her. It aimed its unencumbered arm in her direction and discharged two electrical beams into her body, recoiling in surprise when the only response it got from the Terran was a soft cry of pain and a subsequent firing of her own weapon into its shoulder. Multiple more bullets peppered into its scales and it growled, flinging the trapped body armor away with a flick of its wrist. It was preparing to lunge into her again when it realized she was running directly towards him. He dodged easily to the side, turning a somersault in the air and landing with one knee bent. The Terran backpedaled and brought her weapon up again, firing before the Skaarj could get its bearings. A few clicks later and the gun sounded empty. The Terran and the warrior met each others' eyes; 849 then lobbed the Enforcer at her enemy. The Skaarj brought its hands up to bat the projectile away, succeeding in the task but losing 849 in the process. Leaping to its feet, it turned in a quick circle, extending both Razik blades and uttering a warning growl.
The warm thrum of the shock rifle alerted him to the woman's position; she had run for her other gun and was now training its sights on her. The Skaarj anticipated its death; it had misjudged this Terran, and she had surprised it with her ability to survive this far, but she would not be alive for long, even if it had failed its task. Its brothers would see to that.
It cocked its head to the side. Its code of honor dictated that it should die fighting.
Moments later, a blue-white explosion erased its existence, and 849 ascended the ramp dripping with blood. She passed the still-terrified priest and met its eyes for a moment.
Her smile chilled the Nali to the bone.
---
Happy was unused to the quiet. Even though she used to relish in the blessed and rare silence of the Dark Arena when she was a captive, Norianna's sometimes unceasing conversation had distracted her from the seemingly hopeless situation they were both mired in. Without her friend by her side, Happy felt as alone and vulnerable as she had been when she was first captured by the Skaarj, even with the company of the Harobed villagers. Baran had long since fallen into a brooding silence, and none of the other villagers dared to speak with the Messiah. They followed her like sheep, every once in a while requesting that Baran ask the Messiah to stop so they could gather food or to answer nature's call. They never dared to ask Happy to stop, though; she had to decide that by herself. She looked at her infected arm. She had set a schedule for their travels but was tempted to speed up the process; she felt a fever spiking in her head and was breathing in short pants that she knew weren't caused by exhaustion. If Norianna were here, she'd probably tell Happy what she already knew—that her infected arm had given her sepsis and in a matter of hours or days, Happy would be dead. She just hoped that she could last long enough to get to the Sunspire. If not….
"Baran," she said, looking up at the clouds. It was midmorning and the weather had warmed considerably since their descent from the mountain village. They were now following a range of grassy hills that blocked them from both the Velora Temple and the Terraniux installation; Happy was in no humor to go traipsing around through Mercenary territory. Shas had often complained of Terraniux as being a burden to the Skaarj, but even so, Happy wasn't exactly sure that the enemy of her enemy was her friend.
"What?" Baran quickened his step to walk beside the Terran. Happy cleared her throat before continuting.
"If I die along the way, what will you do?"
Baran groaned. "Don't say that."
"I mean it," Happy said, giving him a serious look. "I'm leaking pus out of my elbow here and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. I don't want you to carry my body all the way to the Sunspire, but if Norianna shows up and I'm not with you all, I'm afraid she'll be upset."
The Nali shifted the Flak cannon he was carrying to his upper left hand. "Let's worry about that when we get to it," he said wearily. Happy turned her head away from him and was quiet for a moment.
"Do you have a family?" she asked.
After a short pause, Baran said, "I have a brother that I assume is still living. I haven't seen him for months. All the others are dead."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
Another uncomfortable silence. Baran fidgeted. "Do you have a family?"
"An adoptive one, yes."
At Baran's questioning look, Happy laughed. "I mean, the people who raised me weren't my real parents. They were people who were unrelated to me that pretended I was their child."
Baran nodded thoughtfully. "That is an interesting custom."
"Yeah," Happy murmured, her mind wandering to revel in memories that seemed to belong to another person, another lifetime, another world. Her mother, smelling of vanilla and rosin, setting down her 'cello to scoop Happy up in her arms and whisk her out to the backyard in summertime to catch fireflies and dance in the warm wind. Her father, playing hide-and-seek with her in their living room, pretending he didn't see her hiding behind the chair until he seized her and tickled her until she collapsed in a fit of tears. Lunchtime in the park, sitting on a blue-checked blanket as they watched the synthetic grass tremble in the breeze generated by the wind turbines that lined the outskirts of her hometown. Bedtime, after getting kisses on the forehead, watching the fiber-optic lights on her ceiling flash as they put on a light show of stars and comets and constellations for her to watch. I want to work on a starship, she had told them she was older. I want to see all these stars close up. For real. I want to fly.
She had been so thrilled to get a job on the ISV-Kran.
"I can still see their faces when I told them goodbye," Happy said, breaking out of her memories, wiping sudden tears away from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "But I can't remember what they told me. I just want to remember their voices. That's all."
They walked on in silence. At around midday Happy gave the signal for them to settle down and take a break; immediately their carried stores of redfruit and wineskins were brought out. Most of the group sat a ways away from Happy and Baran, sometimes casting a fearful—but respectful—glance at their Messiah. Happy figured it was for the best that she keep her distance from the crowd. She didn't want them to notice her deteriorating condition. She took the offered redfruit that Baran held out to her and held it to her lips for a moment, inhaling its scent. She hadn't eaten since the day before but the smell of the healing substance was cloying, and she swallowed hard and lowered her hand.
Baran sat next to her and ate in silence for a few minutes before he noticed that she was crying again. "What is wrong?"
Happy worked her fingers around the plump fruit. "I don't think I can do this."
"Do what?"
"This." Happy gestured to the group of Nali. "This whole Messiah thing. Leading them to God knows where when I don't even know where I'm going. They think I'm this goddess person and put all their trust in me. What if I let them down? What if they all die because of me?"
Baran chewed and swallowed. I was wondering the exact same thing. "As I said before. They will die for you."
Happy looked at him. "But you won't."
"I do not believe you are the Messiah. I do not believe in any divine creature. I believe what I see, and I see a dying race, a dying culture, and a dying planet. These cannot be saved by one life alone. It will take the hearts of many to save Na Pali, but since the hearts of many are turned to the 'warrior princess from the stars', this will not come to pass." Baran clenched his hands. "If I could have persuaded them otherwise, you wouldn't have this burden on your shoulders. My people are stubborn. We are stubborn and we are cowardly. It is shameful to think about."
The Terran smiled weakly and closed her eyes. "I don't think you are cowardly. Your village took me in even though they knew the law that the Skaarj established. Standing up to the Skaarj is a very brave thing to do." She frowned. "I know I couldn't do it."
Baran caught himself looking at Happy's prosthetic arm. "How long have you been their prisoner?"
The wind sang through the grass, blowing wispy clouds over the sun and causing shadows to dance on the hills. The second sun was beginning to set, casting the land with a warm golden hue.
"…I don't know," Happy said softly. "Far too long." She sighed drew her knees up to her chest. "For the record, I don't think I'm the Messiah either. I know there are humans on this planet but I highly doubt any of them are in the mindset to save Na Pali either. Except for Norianna."
"Your friend is…spirited." Seeing Happy hugging her knees, shaking, Baran reached out and draped one of his arms around her shoulders. "She will make it through. We shall make it through. Do not lose heart. They believe you are the Messiah," he whispered encouragingly, gesturing to the throng of villagers behind him, "and you are stronger than you know. You may not be the savior of Na Pali to me, but you are the savior to them. Play the part for them. Here, now. You shall prevail."
Happy raised her head and smiled at the Nali sitting next to her. "Yeah," she sniffed. "Thanks. I'll try."
To prove her resolve, she took a bite of the redfruit. It nearly made her gag.
After a half-hour of relaxing, Happy moved the group off again, keeping them between the hills to keep a low profile. She reasoned there had to be at least a few Skaarj to protect the Nali from. Their good luck couldn't possibly last for too much longer. It was already day five of their journey and they hadn't run into a single major problem—aside from general hunger and exhaustion and her own impending death.
The suns had long since set when Happy finally noticed that the group was lagging considerably, and she gave the signal to stop. The terrain had become a bit more rocky; they had obviously made some vertical progress and were now looking down at a sloping valley on one side and a group of craggy peaks blocking their opposite flank. Happy watched the Nali as they broke into groups of ten and went to work building fires and setting out places to sleep. They did everything with a kind of easy silence; they seemed carefree, trusting themselves in the hands of their warrior princess. She could see them moving like dim ghosts in the gloom of twilight; she hoped they'd picked a discreet enough spot to spend the night. Having eight fires blazing away in the darkness was less than stealthy.
She shuddered and put her hand to her forehead. The fever was getting worse. Suddenly the thought of curling up in front of a blazing fire didn't seem all that negative. She started towards one of the groups when a ruddy light in the sky caught her eye. For one terrifying second she thought that it was a scout ship; her thundering heart only relaxed when she realized the light wasn't moving. They hadn't been spotted.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Happy scanned the sky for the source of the light. The moon was half-concealed, but its ruddy tint couldn't be reflected down through such thick cloud cover. Besides the light seemed to be shining upwards, emanating from an area about a mile away. Another Skaarj installation?
She cast a furtive glance towards the groups of Nali, and then began making her way up the slope that led to a few small rocky jags no taller than she was. The incline wasn't steep, but halfway up, she had to pause to catch her breath. Hearing footsteps following her, she called down, "Baran, come with me to see where this light is coming from."
"I would rather help you back to the camp," the Nali said stiffly. "You're burning up."
"I just want to see what that light is from," the Terran said. "Now help me get over these rocks."
The two made their uneasy way over a few loose ledges and reached the peak of the slope with more than a little difficulty. Happy made her way around one of the boulders at the edge and Baran followed close behind her. He was more than a little surprised at where they found themselves.
The edge that they were standing on dropped off in a direct nosedive to the bottom of a massive trench in the earth, a quarter of a mile wide and almost as deep. The rich smell of churned dirt still wafted up into the air, but the damage had long since been done; a few patchy weeds were growing out of the nearly vertical slope to the bottom. The soil was unnaturally smooth, as if it had been tamped down by some huge invisible hand. He looked from side to side. On one end of the trench was a gradual rise back to ground level, while on the extreme opposite end, glowing in the illumination of multiple spotlights and framed by the mountain of earth that it had so rudely buried itself in, was the tail end of a star chariot. Its two rear thrusters looked out over the scar in the ground that its crashing had caused.
Baran looked down at Happy. Her head was draped in its hood, but her entire form was stiff as a board.
"What is this?" he asked her tentatively.
"My dream job," she answered flatly. "I'm back where I started."