Chapter 12: Into the City
The Gorgon's Trench, Aletian Waters
6:30 pm
The Gorgon's Trench was a large trench at a depth of 15,000 feet below the ocean that had surrounded Atlas. It had ran for thousands of miles, spanding as far as the shores of both Vale and Mistral; and was known as the world's most uncharted region due to it being unable to be maneuvered by normal means. Since nobody had bothered to explore the trench itself, this made it the perfect place to hide Sanctuary, due to other parts of the trench being unable to be journeyed through by any normal means. With the help of security personnel armor and a high-tech submarine provided by Lucy, Team D.E.A.D was set to infiltrate Sanctuary...
" So we get to see the fabled underwater city after all." Evan said.
" Pretty much." Donnic said.
" Keep an eye out for Alexis's contact, he's apparently seen Sanctuary while diving once." Andrea said.
" She never even told us who this contact is ANYWAY!" Donnic said as something massive brushed against the side of their sub.
The sub was knocked about a bit, until they came face to face with the largest aquatic Grimm they had ever seen in their entire lifetime. It looked to be the size of a mountain, large tentacles with serrated bone blades gently stroked the sub and the creature was covered bone plates with blackened scales seen in some areas. It looked down upon the kids with bright-blue eyes and it appeared to communicate with them telepathically...
" What brings the children of the land to my domain? " The Creature asked.
" We're looking for someone named Dr. Ziel." Donnic thought nervously.
" Heh, Alexis and her jokes, always referring to me as that." Kephreziel said.
" Wait, What?" Evan thought.
" I am Kephreziel, fifth of the fallen seven and ally to Alexis Domino." Kephreziel said.
" Our contact is a Grimm?" Desmond said.
" Clearly, we didn't ask her what kind of friends she had." Donnic said.
" The city you seek is further along the trench, and entry requires a verbal password." Kephreziel said.
" Well that's just dandy." Evan said.
" The password is Triton's heart." Kephreziel said before taking off.
The Sub continued it's approach to the gates of Sanctuary, which was revealed to be an enormous city with a large citadel at the center. Hundreds of advanced submarines patrolled around the city itself, shooting anything that wasn't one of their own. The Command sub, the largest one out of the entire fleet, was docking with the citadel, and two small attack subs appeared beside them...
" Sub 734, what lies at the bottom of the ocean?" The Attack Sub Captain said.
" Triton's heart." Andrea said with her helmet on.
" Clearance granted, please proceed to bay 413 to dock." The Attack Sub captain said.
" Thank you, proceeding now." Andrea said, steering the sub to the bay marked on it's tactical map.
The Sub arrived in Bay 413, alongside hundreds of other subs in dock, which made them realize the full extent of Inquisitor's army. They stepped out of the sub, and they were contacted by Lucy...
" Guys, are you in?" Lucy asked.
" Yeah, we just arrived." Andrea said.
" When were you gonna tell us he had such a large army?" Donnic said.
" I thought you already knew." Lucy said.
" We've only fought small parties, now we know its almost the size of the Aletian military." Desmond said.
" He's been recruiting in secret ever since his father's death." Lucy explained.
" That was over 10 years ago." Evan pointed out.
" I looked into his history, he started recruiting at the age of 16, and psychological conditioning of his troops at age 20." Lucy explained.
" How old is he?" Andrea asked.
" He's actually 22." Lucy said.
" How did you know that?" Desmond asked.
" It's mentioned in his page on the codex net." Lucy explained.
" We're going towards a checkpoint, talk later." Donnic said, hanging up.
The kids approached the checkpoint where a guard had checked the bracer of the soldier who was passing through. When it came their turn, they lined up with Donnic at the front of the line...
" All right, just place your arm on the white cloth so I can check your bracer." The Guard directed.
" Okay." Donnic said with his voice disguiser on.
Donnic placed the arm with the bracer on down onto the white material, in which another guard plugged a cord into his bracer and the guard the terminal looked it over...
" Private Foster, you are cleared to enter." The Terminal Guard said.
" Thank you." Donnic said, when his tactical-view visor started to connect to something, finishing off with SUCCESSFUL.
" What the?" Donnic thought when Lucy came back on the comm.
" I forgot to mention, all of the trooper's helmets automatically connect to the Codex net, which is basically the big information network the city operates on." Lucy explained.
" Okay then." Donnic said.
The rest of the team was cleared and they were directed to the large group of troopers amassing at the city entrance and hopped in a line; in which a holographic image appeared and it was of a beautiful young girl in a white and black uniform holding a tablet.
" Greetings and Welcome to the independent City-Nation of Sanctuary, in which the people of Sanctuary can live in peace and prosperity, and its scientific knowledge can grow. You have the prestigious honor of being its sword and its shield, make them proud, make yourselves proud, and make our Inquisitor proud. " The girl said, finishing with a salute to the troops.
" Scientific Knowledge?" Andrea said after the Hologram disappeared.
" Everybody's got to have a hobby." Evan said.
" Cut the chatter, let's just get into the city." Desmond said.
The team proceeded into the city and discovered it was a paradise under the sea, classical music was playing over the intercom system everywhere. Hybrid civilians were behaving just like ordinary people, just nicer to each other than on the surface. There were shops, businesses, book stores, theaters, clothing stores selling the next great fashion, and there were guards breaking up any minor dispute that erupted amongst the residents.
" Man, this place is so peaceful you wouldn't know a conflict was raging on the surface." Donnic pointed out.
" This is isn't some underwater structure, it's a city under the sea." Andrea said.
" Let's hope Inquisitor is around here somewhere." Desmond said.
They proceeded through the city and came across some familiar faces along the way, such as Nina Colvin from the facility, who was talking with a young man. They decided to check out a bookstore along the way to lay low, and they found Lucy looking at a copy of The Tale of the Lion from the West...
" Good book? " Donnic asked.
" Yes, it's one of my favorites Donnic." Lucy said.
" Just call me Foster so I don't get in trouble with the guards." Donnic said.
" Of Course, Mr. Foster." Lucy said jokingly.
" Now, is there anything else we need to know about this city?" Donnic asked.
" Its main currency is this, its called a Drachma." Lucy said, tossing Donnic a small round, silver coin.
" Drachma, huh?" Donnic said.
" He must have named this after some old oceanic culture." Lucy figured.
" Where is he, exactly?" Desmond asked Lucy.
" The Citadel at the heart of the city, protected by the most advanced security systems that money could by." Lucy said.
" How long has this place been down here?" Andrea asked Lucy.
" Look up the codex net documentary about it." Lucy said.
" Okay." Donnic said, searching for it on his bracer, and the video played on his tactical visor.
" Many years ago, Criminal Scientist Robert Darnell attempted to establish Sanctuary as a military installation for a forward invasion of the kingdom of Atlas as an attempt to prove his scientific superiority over the military superpower and as retaliation for his imposed exile. Through the establishment of many shell companies on the surface, he gathered funds to continue his experiments and procure materials and resources to construct the installation below the surface of the sea in the heart of the Gorgon's trench. But sadly, his life came to an end at the hands of the Aletian authorities, thanks to a tip carried out by someone within his own family. Thus began the Inquisitor's rise to power, transforming Darnell's war fortress into a beautiful, shining gem at the bottom of the sea for not an army, but an independent people. He is hailed as the father of the Children of Sanctuary, and fights to ensure our independence continues for an eternity. He taught the people of Sanctuary that the world fears the great change that has begun, and will ensure that Sanctuary and its people have a place in the world, whether it is by peace or by force." The narrator said.
" The man's glorified himself to be a messiah to the people." Desmond said.
" How do we get into the citadel?" Donnic asked.
" You've got to impress him, in which that means you've do assignments and show that you're a good guard team." Lucy explained.
" Okay, Where do we get assignments?" Donnic asked.
" Head for the administration building, it will be the largest structure near the citadel." Lucy said.
" Okay, stay out of trouble." Donnic said in a guard's tone.
They exited the store and proceeded to the administration building alongside a large group of guards. When they arrived at Administration, they realized that the building was a large pyramid shaped structure with two massive cannons on each side of the building. Donnic decided to ask a guard who was standing next to him about the cannons...
" Hey man, what kind of cannons are those?" Donnic asked, pointing to the large guns.
" Mass accelerators, any hostile ship that approaches will be killed with just one shot." The guard explained.
" (Whistling) isn't that a bit of overkill?" Donnic asked.
" Not when it comes to this city's safety." The guard responded.
" Won't that ship come crashing into the city?" Andrea asked.
" Nah, the sentinels will just melt it down and repurpose the metal for the city's use." Another guard said.
The Sentinels were colonies of aquatic robots that were programmed to reduce anything metallic heading towards the city into a liquid metal state, and deposit it in the refineries over near the volcano fields. They entered the building and proceeded to approach the main desk, where a redhead hybrid girl was working the desk...
" Name and team?" The girl asked the guard in front of Donnic.
" Thomas Pentecost of Zeta team." The guard said.
" Zeta? All right, you will be working near the Poseidon's Rest spa in D ward. Please take this access card to present to Taskmaster Florin and he'll let you in." The girl explained with a smile.
" Thank you, ma'am." Pentecost said before leaving, leaving Donnic to approach the desk.
" Name and team?" The girl asked.
" Jacob Foster of Onyx Team." Donnic said.
" Onyx, that's actually my birth stone." The girl said.
" Really now?" Donnic said.
" Yes, and your assignment is in the theater plaza, peacekeeping detail, so present this card to Taskmaster Quinn and he'll let you in." The girl said, handing Donnic a card.
" Thank you." Donnic said before he and his team left Administration.
They had proceeded to the theater plaza doors and approached Taskmaster Quinn, who was a Blond-haired girl wearing a metal mask over her mouth and wearing a jet black formal uniform. She was typing at a console, and she looked up to see the four, young troopers standing in front of her...
" Aren't you four a little young to be soldiers?" Quinn said.
" We just got posted to this place." Donnic said as an excuse.
" Okay then, do you have your clearance card?" Quinn asked.
" Yeah, right here." Donnic said, handing her the card.
Quinn placed the card into a slot on her terminal and the terminal lit up green, causing the massive doors to open up...
" All right, you're clear." Quinn said.
" Thanks." Donnic said.
The four of them walked around the Theater plaza keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble...
" Man, this place has got everything." Andrea said.
" Yeah, they're even playing that movie you wanted to see a while ago." Evan pointed out to his sister.
" Ocean Battlefront? Man, that movie's awesome." Andrea said.
" What's that movie about?" Desmond asked.
" Basically humanity and the Faunus are on the brink of annihilation due to attacks by monstrous sized oceanic Grimm that are invading from another world." Evan explained.
" How do they even fight them?" Desmond asked.
" With Giant Robots that are controlled using technology that allows it's two pilots to merge minds together." Evan explained.
While Desmond and Evan discussed the science of that movie, Donnic decided to talk to Lucy about why she approached them directly about this...
" Hey Lucy?" Donnic said into his comm.
" Yes?" She said on the other end.
" Why us? We are a bunch of strangers to you, who only found about this a while ago." Donnic said.
" It had to be you guys, somebody else might have gotten it wrong." Lucy said.
" What do you mean?" Donnic asked in a confused tone.
" If you hadn't known about Roth, The institute would have moved out the last of those hybrids without anyone knowing, Bennett would have continued to supply intelligence to Inquisitor, and his war on the surface would have already been ended by him." Lucy explained.
" What?" Donnic said in a shocked tone.
" I've been watching you and your team's progress throughout the course of events." Lucy said explaining herself.
Lucy explained she had discovered Inquisitor talking with Scythe about the theft of the Tritarion Power core, and how she killed the majority of the staff before Korvac's arrival. So this prompted her to send copies of the financial transactions between Inquisitor and The Whitehall Institute to Roth, but didn't anticipate Scythe would get to him before he could discover the truth. But her hopes of stopping Inquisitor's terror agenda were renewed when he and his team found the documents and discovered the hybrids below Whitehall. But she immediately feared that Inquisitor would do anything to harm them, so she sold out the Inquisition's attempts to make hybrids of their own in hopes of distracting him so they could stop the Laz in Meridian...
" You were aiding us in secret?" Donnic said.
" Yes, I need your help...to stop my father and save my home. " Lucy said.
" YOU'RE INQUISITOR'S DAUGHTER?!" Donnic exclaimed.
But Donnic immediately concluded his conversation when he saw a young hybrid girl struggling to pick up a mess of books that had spilled onto the ground...
" Oh, jeez." The girl said.
" Would you like some assistance ma'am?" Donnic said in a guard's tone.
" Yes, that would be nice." The girl said, picking up a copy of a poetry book.
" Lot of books." Donnic said.
" Yeah, we just got a shipment in, and I've got to set this lot up." The girl said. " I'm Adelaide, by the way, Adelaide Colvin." She added.
" Nice to meet you, I'm Foster." Donnic said, placing the last book on the shelf.
" Thanks, you've been a great help." Adelaide said.
" Just doing my duty." Donnic said.
Donnic and his teammates had impressed Inquisitor enough through their actions, such as breaking up a fight over a movie and helping out the people when they need it, so they were approached by Malachi...
" Onyx Team." Malachi said.
" Yes sir?" Donnic said with his team lining up.
" Inquisitor wants a word with you, follow me." Malachi ordered.
" Man, this is easier than I thought." Donnic thought.
This chapter concludes with Donnic and his team proceeding to meet with the man himself, without knowing that they are walking into a trap. Lucy is revealed to actually be Inquisitor's daughter, and conspiring against her father for the good of Sanctuary. Here's a little treat for you guys, Like it's predecessor, it has a sneak preview to another story, in which the next story is centered around four friends from an alternate world that get trapped in Remnant and end up becoming both heroes and a threat to a criminal's plans. Wait till you see the sneak preview of Templar and Shadow.
WAIT AND SEE