The whole gang was waiting for us when we landed. The Durins had a secret elevator to the surface world, which Tomimi and the rest used. Glad I wasn't missing much. The lift didn't even have music, from what Spider was telling me.
Oh yeah. Spider. Funny story. He was the youngest guy in Hell's Gate since he was a couple of years old. Gavial couldn't figure out who the kid's parents were, and he was too young to survive the cryosleep trip back to Earth. She put Spyder under Tomimi's care, and he's been part of the family ever since. He looks the part as well, doing his hair like the Liberi. And to the rest of the landship, Spider is simply an orphaned kid who lost his parents to mercenaries. Even we weren't sure about the circumstances, as a baby couldn't survive a trip to Hell's Gate, much less from it. He must have been born on site, but since he was abandoned, they weren't proud of the fruit of their labor. Or they were dead.
"Man, wish I could've joined you guys!" Spider laughed.
"There was a lot of failing involved. Not sure you could handle it all, buddy." I respond, wiping the sand off my face.
"Spiders climb. They don't fall." Zumama joined in.
The kid rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I only came with Tomimi because she was really worried about Zeruertza. A tiny man came up to us and said a 'Great Calamity' threatened to destroy his city. Check it! Does this look like a disaster to you?"
He waved towards the onlookers. All through Spider was just emphasizing his point, the Durins took it as a friendly invitation. Then they noticed Gavial. In an instant, she became a superstar. She gave them a lukewarm reception since it kinda got in the way of her reunion with Tomimi.
Miss Wolf, on the other hand, wanted to outright throw us out of the city. Avdotya fended off a few Durins who were also excited about her presence to confront Gavial.
"You better not plan on taking advantage of our beautiful society. We already have enough disgusting leeches from the surface."
"Uhh, we only came here because our underground neighbors need help. That's all. Helping them is helping us." Gavial responds civilly.
"Hmpf!" Avdotya huffs. "Oh yes, you showed up to your neighbor's house, but instead of doing anything of value, you sit down and watch Television like a stale couch potato."
"Ok, am I seriously missing some context here?" Gavial raised her voice.
"There was another group before us." Inam informed us. She leads the fourth tribe, the Inam Committee. They don't fight, and instead, they barter freely with the other tribes. "Bunch of movie stars flew over to Acahulla for a jungle. Most of them actually have experience in mercenary organizations, which is why Stitch trusted them. The results are less than satisfactory."
It was all in an open air bar a few meters away. The mercs stood out like a sore thumb, since they were the only adult sized men in the room, not counting Elysium. He would make for a great radioman with his Arts, but at the moment, he was nearly wasted along with the rest of the occupants. Liberi, Perros, Felines, and more. Some were passed out, others still downing the booze.
"Did Elysium bite them too? Damn." Gavial shook her head.
"That's where they've been hanging out since we got here. Elysium recently challenged them to a contest. He's still standing." Inam sighed.
"Listen, I don't even drink much. I can't speak for those other guys, but you have my word."
"You also have a chainsaw." The Lupo responded in a rather blunt tone. She was getting all up in Gavial's face too. "I'm sure you're just trying to fix my table leg. MInd cutting down some fruit with that most inelegant blade of yours?"
If anything's changed over the years, Gavial has gotten better at keeping her frustration in check. Adoyta would be eating sand if she faced the woman I first met in Acahulla.
Since her insult failed to provoke Gavial, she layed it all out clearly.
"Don't try to pull a fast one on me. I've seen a kindly messenger transform into the image of wickedness in the blink of an eye. The pursuit of profit and the lust for conquest is the nature of all surface-dwellers. You may be able to deceive my good-natured Durin friends, but you can't trick me. I'm all too familar with the venom behind your honeyed words."
"Uh, believe it or not, my saw is only for, uh, self-defense." Gavial tried to honestly explain herself, but the wolf's gaze only got colder. She gripped her weapon tightly. "But if you think we have to solve this with violence, then I'm more than glad to rumble with you."
"Enough, Avdotya"
The crowd made way for a distinct individual. He was the only Durin not in swimwear, and he had this cube-shaped drone following him around. While most of Durins were at differing levels of intoxication, the fellow was positively sober.
"Stitch... I didn't know you came back" Adoyta's ears slumped.
"Calm down. Gavial's group will be far more productive than the last."
The lady perked up again. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but as someone who used to ' be one of them, ' I urge you to give it up. Relying on the surface dwellers will only bring ruin to Zeruertza. Zeurertza's have never seen real greed, a real scheme."
Adoyta stormed off. Even in her anger, she carefully maneuvered around the Durins like a game of Operation. We all witnessed the greed that she hates, but not in the form she recognizes. I guess Earth's economic style never translated over in Terra. Everybody hates each other so much, they don't realize what they can accomplish if they play nice, scratch each other's backs. The ground below and the stars above became way more interesting than shooting at each other. The greed to keep everything up and running soon becomes incomprehensible.
I'm not blaming Adoyta. Even I had no idea how far they went to secure humanity's future.
"Lyle, status report."
"Sully is participating in the race, along with Gator and She-Wolf. All eyes are on the cave-in across the lake."
"As for your men?"
"Ja, Warren, and Lopez are ready for action. The rest are still blacked out. You know that piss-drunk surfer? He must've slipped something in our ale."
"Any word on his location?"
"With Sully and the rest. Dammit! I shoulda known they were on to us from the start..."
"A minor setback. Return back to our room and gear up. We're going loud."
"Colonel, you don't have Sully yet, and most of our troops are incapacitated!"
"What I do have is... an incentive. Just need to secure more bait, and the whole school is going to swim right into our hands. Understand?"
"Uh, understood, colonel. Out!"
With Sully out of the way, it was time to execute the final stages of the plan. The changeling not only had the ability to steal faces but split itself up into several bodies. It even faked a whole town in a prior operation. Don't know the logistics of it all, and is probably violating several of our scientific laws. Don't care. My point is that the Changeling can get me close to anyone if it intimates a close aide. Including the city's leadership. One of those gremlins hung out around the garden, along with some of Jake's girls. "Deculture". What the hell is going on with their names!? Excuse me. Anyways, I had my weapon fool the girl by pretending to be part of her robotic security detail. Once she was close enough, a single dose of tranquilizer was enough to take her out.
She would be a bargaining chip for whoever else is running this freakshow. Now I needed someone who was closer to Jake.
"Ms. Silvermint!"
I can only hear the girl's voice since I'm camouflaged with the scenery, but I recognize it. The one with the ridiculous gator tail. I knew she was close with Jake, but he's away now, frolicking with his bitches. He's out of the picture.
Footsteps. Fast. Heavy. She's within effective range.
I emerge from the ground and take the shot.
The girl's eyes were wide, like one of them spooked deer. They went back and forth between me and the demon. Wild. Scared. As she should be.
The full effects of the drug kicked in, and the kid was knocked out cold. I just had to secure her and proceed with the next stage.
What I was not counting on was my goddamn son being with her.
"Come on, Tomimi! Wake up, wake up!" He pulled out the syringe and shook her body. His eyes and I met. Even after all these years, I knew they belonged to him.
"They should've sent you home, boy."
He had no love for his father. "Babies can't survive cryosleep, dipshit."
He sprinted away. That was the last I saw of him.
"Why do you hesitate?"
The changeling reverted back to its true form. I now realized that it had those same slitted eyes as the gator girl.
"I did not give you permission to speak."
"You hold no authority over us. We work together because our goals for Terra are mutual. In a different scenario, we would have annihilated your organization. Our observations support this conclusion. You traveled the stars, bend space and time to your whims, all without Arts. But where is your leadership? Why can't you turn us into sludge, or rot our skin down to the bone? All the humans we've interacted with are nothing more than pawns who believe in a hopeless cause. The Teekaz Empire at its height could not fend off the demons. Real demons. And what does humanity bring? Guns functionally similar to the Sankta, power armor similar to Colombian and Victoria equivalents. Marksmanship and craftsmanship is utterly laughable. You would be a B+ student in the average Lateran academy, Miles."
My grip on my V6 tightened. No, I wasn't going to put it to sleep. I wanted it to be awake and feel every single strike as I bash in its hideous face. It only cocked its head in response to my barely-tempered fury.
"Why the hatred? Is it because your Marines are no longer the dominant military power? Can't put down defenseless farmers on the whims of your superiors? Afraid that Terra will shoot back?"
"Listen, demon. I don't care that you put them on tank treads. The U.S. can turn every one of your goddamned cities into a smoking crater without planting boots on the ground. We've won wars in a week, ya hear?"
"Being the leading experts in nuclear science is a considerable advantage. The power of a Catastrophe, compact in a form small enough for aircraft. Aircraft far ahead of anything Terra can mass produce. You truly can destroy us all, but it is not of your master's will, as our sources say."
"Now you're talking sense."
"That simply applies to the mortal races. No amount of science will save you from what lies in the deep, or off in the north and south poles. They spit in the face of your rules for the universe. It is why the establishment in Iberia failed. The sea is Earth's lifeblood. The sea is Terra's poison."
"Alright, I'm just about had with you. Radio the general to send in the extraction team."
The demon doesn't respond. It's still looking at me, damnit.
"The general is displeased. Jake Sully was expected to be detained before the Basilisk breaches the city."
"Well, is this Basilisk coming or not? Because I'm ready to pump everyone here full of lead, including you!"
"Soon."
"Now you are giving me one word answers?! I need an ETA!"
"The rendezvous point is the center of Zeurisa. The Great Aquapit."
I had enough of its bullshit. I grabbed the dwarf and girl and booked it for the beach. My son a likely alerted the enemy by now. Any more dilly-rallying, and my plan would go tits up.
All that was left was to pray to God that the "Basilisk" was worthy of its name.
Stitch's problem was simple. An earthquake had collapsed the railway connecting Zeruertza to the rest of Durin civilization. His proposal was to reconstruct the railway, except the kid had no experience with trains. He expected the tribes above him to know better. The kid's damn lucky we have the tech savy Enucetes tribe in house. Imagine if it had been cat people he begged for help. Yeah, real out of the blue.
Thing is, the Durins made lemonade out of lemons. They saw all the flooding and decided to build a giant water park right in the middle of the proposed railway, the "Great Aquapit". Stitch got outvoted every time, being pretty much every stereotype nerd. Democracy for you. The presence of us Acahullans managed to swing things in his favor, and the town voted to demolish it.
The Durins weren't even all upset. They saw it as another opportunity to celebrate and decided to throw a 500 m swimming race for us. Nothing someone who came out of Water Survival can't handle. I was afraid that I'd smoke the competition, but everyone else put up a good fight. Gavial was barely slowed down from having Edge Eartheart on her back. Geological Representative. I'll get to him. Avdotya must've taught herself to swim, because she was keeping up with ease. Elysium too. We are kinda tied, until Stitch nearly ran us over with a speedboat. First time in my life that a boat wins a swimming competition.
But there was a purpose behind all this. The race ended right where the cave-in was. We could allow the Durins to have some fun before the demolition and analyze the cave-in at the same time. Two birds with one stone. Stitch's boat was supposed to bring us the cutting equipment, but the boat was wrecked beyond repair. It was a one-of-a-kind vessel too, the "Ale Keg". The Durin folk got over it quickly, but now we had to wait for the replacement tools.
Gavial decided to do it herself, the equipment be damned. Her raw strength still catches me off guard, because at the end of the day, being a Doctor comes first. For now, she sliced through several tons of stone like play dough, with a chainsaw. The tunnel was cramped, but we could always make it bigger later on.
We quickly found out that "later" wasn't an option. The actual cave was completely lined in a vein of Originium. Active Originium. The difference is that it glows like radioactive waste and can explode like a goddamn nuke.
That was grounds for an emergency evacuation, but I'm assuming Zeruertza never had a plan. Or a plan that doesn't involve the railway. Edge and Avdoyta were arguing over it, as if they were not standing over the next Chernobyl.
We didn't know that there was bigger fish to fry.
The ground rumbled and shifted beneath our feet. Earthquake. In a cave that was a giant, ticking time bomb.
"Everybody, move!" I direct everyone to the tunnel. "Go go go!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Gavial responded.
I stayed by the tunnel's mouth. No way I was leaving until they were safe. Elysium and Avdoyta manage to get out. Edge was behind them. Then, the ground wasn't underneath him. The Durin was up to his chest in the stone, and a large chunk of originium dislodged from the ceiling.
"Huh? Save yourself, kiddo!" He protested before I covered his mouth. The dust was getting everywhere at this point. Breathing it in would be enough to catch Oripathy. The shit was burning my lungs, but in my adrenaline-induced state, I had one objective.
Leave no man left behind.
I hauled my ass and his, running like hell. I stopped feeling the agonizing pain of each breath. I just focused on the light at the end of the tunnel.
I leap out just in time before the entire thing collapsed. Any slower, and we would both be 6 feet under.
"Edge!" Adoyta rushed over to the elderly Durin. "My deepest condolences! I... should have been more aware... More careful..."
"It's ok, Avdoyta. You should be thanking Jake for this."
The wolf, for a split second, raised her finger. I thought she going on another one of her winded rants, but instead, she was polite.
"Thank you." She whimpered.
Gavial rushed to my aid.
"Sully, can you stand?" She casted her Arts. Back on Earth, if you told me someone could just wave a magic wand to close up wounds, then I'd laugh you out of the room. Or punch you in a bad mood. But we were on Terra, which played by its own rules, where heal spells are not fantasy, but very real.
"I'm fine." I couch, getting to my feet. Gavial sighed with relief.
"At least the infection hasn't seeped into your bloodstream yet. Once we get back to the mainland, I'll check you up asap!"
"That will have to wait, Gavial," Elsium spoke gravely. "I have a feeling that was no ordinary earthquake."
"You're right. I don't need the seismometers to tell that this quake was almost as bad as the one 6 months ago." Edge scratched his mustache. "We typically get a bad one once per year. I pray that this is not a mere Catastrophe..."
"No, that's not what I, *sigh* " Elysium groaned, disappointed that his setup failed. "Just look at the Aquapit. Or what's left of it."
The ginormous landmark was nothing more than scrap metal and plastic. I thought the Durins went ahead and demolished it while we were gone, but...
"What in tarnation? Is that a giant drill?" The man's eyeballs bugged out from his face.
The machine reminded me of one tunnel-borers they would show in documentaries. Take one of those things and make it twice as large, and you would get a good picture. It was a weird cross between a freight train and an earthworm. It had all the rings, but I could see where each "car" was hooked up to. The "Caboose" was pointed towards us, while the rest of it was aimed towards the city. The drill wasn't running anymore, but it must've caused all that ruckus while I was still inside the cave.
The Earthquake was manmade. But it gets even better. The whole contraption was off at an angle, so its broadside was exposed to all of us. Pearly white camo fatigues, which should have been the first hint. Camouflage isn't all that popular in Terra. Not much long-distance ballistics outside of their city guns, so I guess that's why it never caught on.
What we saw were three bold letters. Letters that I, and Gavial, were far too familiar with.
"R... D... A..." Edge squinted at the logo.
"It's giving me some serious Colombian vibes. Maybe the machine is a joint project between Rhine Labs and Rim Biliton? That would explain why those so-called actors were in Acahulla. Every race under the sun, but they all speak Colombian or Victorian. What do you think, Gavial?" Elysium shrugged.
Kal'tsit ordered us to keep everything about the Incident under wraps. I know I said this before, but it's kinda hard to disguise a mechanical sandworm crashing in on an underground beach town, proudly owned by a corporation that no one on Terran has heard of.
"Well, it was a nice vacation while it lasted. We have to act, now." She spoke to all of us in a serious tone.
"I knew it! You surface dwellers were exploiting us from the very beginning!"
Avdoyta was seething with rage. All the goodwill Gavial built up with her was gone. She pulled her crossbow on us. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a naked piano or typewriter, or how she kept that thing under her clothing. Either way, she was pointing a firearm directly at Gavial. Instinct told me to suppress the armed assailant with my own, but I held back. It would only make things uglier.
"Hold up. Do you really think WE built that monster?" Gavial tone was sharper than last time.
"Who's to say that you weren't sponsored by the Sargon elite? Rich swine doesn't just thrive in Ursus. They are a plague that infests every corner of the surface world. And now you dare bring such twisted ideologies into my Durin paradise!"
"Uh, Avdoyta? There was another group of people who came down before us, right?"
"You are all guilty by association with the surface world. Silence!"
Adoyta was only a couple of feet away. Realistically, Gavial's skull would have been skewered in under a second. Somehow, she pulled out her battleaxe and deflected the bolt.
"I really just want to use my words instead of my fists, you know." Gavial was unfazed.
The Lupine tried to reload, but Edge shut her down.
"Adoyta! The last thing we need is an all out brawl! We don't know what they're doing to the Durins and Gavial's folk, but once they move out, the earthquakes will agitate the active originium vein. You know what that means for Zeruertza. We have got to decommission it!"
The Lupo lowered her weapon. "In the best interests of Zeruertza, I will collaborate. But mark my words, Gavial, I will find who the true culprits are! And if the breadcrumbs were to even suggest that..."
"Why won't you believe us?" I shouted at her. "Everyone, just shut up!
Silence. I then realized someone who was quiet from the very start of this mess. Stitch. He was staring up at the opening of the dome, the same one we fell through. Except, it grew even larger, and the small stream of water that had been flowing through it was expanded into a river.
"It's not Gavial, Adoyta." He spoke weakly.
"Yeah..." Edge's thoughts drifted off. "She only came on down to Zeruertza today. The drill isn't a Durin excavator. It's far too scary for our tastes. The surface world shouldn't be caple of burrowing this deep in the first place..."
"Then... who delivered the javelin of our demise?"
Adoyta's question was answered by a motorboat. Not the Ale Keg. A different one game speeding in from the sea, going so fast that it beaches itself. The pilot had more restraint than Stitch, since the boat only came up to where the sand line ends.
It was the first time I have seen tears roll down Spyder's face.
"My dad! He's got everybody tied up on the drill! Tomimi, Zumama, Inam, and all the Durin reprsentatives!"
"That makes no damn sense!" Gavial roared. "Tomimi's been training and Inam can hold herself well. Zumama, well, she's Zumama! Your dad must be a reeeeal kickass, huh?"
"His name is Quaritch."
Gavial froze up. Her body went rigid, as if she was getting ready to strike. I was pissed off at myself. Why did I assume he would stay dead, if Rhodes could bring back me? I'm his target. He's going to destroy everything and everyone just to get back at me.
"Say that again." She said through clenched teeth.
"Colonel Quaritch..." Spider gulped.
"So the culprits are the same mercenaries that 'orphaned' you? Now I know that story is a complete and utter lie." Elysium crossed his arms.
"Now's not the time, Elysium!" Gavial raised her voice.
"I'm not saying that I won't help you fight off the invaders. As a communications expert, I need to know exactly what I'm dealing with on the battlefield."
"Fair enough. Aliens"
"Huh?"
"Long story short, psychopathic mercenaries sent from another planet tried to burn down Acahulla."
"Another world? If it wasn't coming from your mouth, I would never believe such things."
"Well, you do now. I'm turning this boat around, and whatever that Quaritch has in store for us this time, I'll be ready. He's not going to get away with picking on the weak again, and that includes the Durin. Anyone else coming along?"
We all nodded our heads. Originium, flooding, and the RDA threatened Zeurtiza at once. Take out Quaritch, and now we only have 2 problems to deal with. Simple enough.
Except, it wasn't so.
The Durins were waiting for us when we touched down on the shore. But they weren't Zeruertzans.
"Is it him?"
"The Jake Sully?"
"We're free!"
They were all on top of us in seconds. I knew things were wrong right away from their clothing. They still wore the elaborate polyesters the Zeuritizans loved. It was with the hats. Horned, black hard hats with a skull insignia. Honestly, it was kind of cute, trying to make themselves seem bigger. But the Durins had reason to be concerned about their height because there are no elves in Terra. Or I assume. If the Durin are Toiken's dwarves, then where are the elves and goblins?
Then I saw their weapons. Pickaxes, two-handed sledgehammers, and battleaxes, made sleek and futuristic with steel stained black. Standard issue for Terrans, but a few of them had sci-fi firearms. Giant, bulky hand cannons, scaled-down miniguns, sawblade shooters, backpack-fueled nozzles and... polearms? Staffs? Rifles? They looked like a mashup of all three. Everything in their hands was some sort of Frankenstein of science and fantasy, but at the same time, tried to make it all look cute.
The real concern was how in the hell did the RDA get the Durins on their side.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Edge yelled at the Durins. "All mineral rights belong to Zeruertza! Several meters directly above, directly below, and surrounding the dome city, as we settled in Acahulla first!"
"We didn't break the code!" One of them cried. The rest of them spilled the beans.
"Yeah, it was our overlords!"
"Aliens broke into our city in Sargon! They thought we were holding the fugitive!"
"If we didn't join, they would've destroyed Karakistan!"
"But was it worth it? The aliens abducted our representatives and forced us to manufacture weapons to their twisted specifications."
"Why do they even need our help? Didn't that old hag say something about owning the surface world?"
" 'All planets, moons, and celestial bodies of the Alpha Centauri System are official property of the Resource Development Administration.' "
"What does half of that crap even mean?"
"Don't ask me! They didn't get here with Originium, so why are they making us mine it?"
"They hate us!"
"They breached Karakistan last winter. You should've seen their eyes. They didn't even know who the Durin are!"
"See, Mr.! That's why we have to bring Jake to the Alien Kernel. So we can all go back home!"
"I have a better idea."
I rise up, and the hoard of Durin's silence themselves. "I used to be one of them. When I saw what they were doing to Acahulla, I threw my old way of life away to save my friends. Have you ever tried to fight back? Small guys like you tend to come out on top from where I come from."
"Fight... Back?"
"So they do have Durins! But why were all the aliens tall and tailless?"
"I think we should vote on this. With the rest of our folk. Agreed?"
"AGREED!"
Things just sorta worked out. The Durin escorted us toward the head of the drill, rallying more and more of themselves as we went. It really made me think. The RDA failed to take over Acahulla, and I had almost singlehandedly reversed their efforts to subjugate a Durin city. What was the plan for the rest of Terra? Hell's Gate, the biggest base at the time, barely had enough manpower to secure a mobile city, even with the help of the good old airstrike. Then it hit me. The true reason why the RDA went through all the trouble with those Durins. They were a dry run. To see if it's possible to turn Terrans against each other. They have centuries of deeply ingrained racism. Each nation has an excuse to wipe the other off the face of the planet, regardless of Oripathy.
The RDA wasn't sticking their fingers up their asses for all these years. They were going to start a world war. And they got us too far away to stop them.