"That is still surreal" Tarvek heard Janet say over the suit's comms after they'd arrived in the new plane, going from snowy forest to sunny cityscape "Even the stargate has some feeling of…movement"

"Whooshing, hmm, yes" he muttered "Annoying is what I call that"

It was in his opinion, as that event horizon feeling wasn't the most pleasant compared to simply stepping through a planes-portal, or being teleported. No distortion or assault on the senses…just going from point A to point B, as Tarvek surveyed the buildings around them, one hand going to his other arm, sending his scout drones up into the air. No-one greeted them, as expected, with the city showing the emptiness of ruins, with no power sources or signals reaching Tarvek either. Yet, for all that, the place didn't show any battle damage now he was here in person, helmeted head moving left and right, up and down, as he surveyed the terrain, weapon at the ready.

Janet stood beside, and just behind, him, clad in the full body light armour, with sealed helmet as he was going to error on the side of caution for now, with no support team behind them. Her gear was drab as such, all dull colours due to the camouflage patterns of the last earths soldiers, mixed with manufactured blacks and greys of added equipment. The only brighter parts, unfortunately, were where the emitters for the kinetic barriers were placed, even if they were only faint specks…it was still needing fixing in Tarvek's opinion. Yes, good enough for missions, but with more time he'd ensure she had a better defensive setup. Once he'd finished the reserves for his own suit and gear.

"You would" Janet huffed, but she was doing a scan with her weapon just like he'd shown her after emerging, standing and moving back-to-back for a few moments "Nothing in sight"

"Confirm" he agreed after the initial sweep, lowering his heavy repeater "I see naught either, not beyond empty buildings"

"It's a very clean apocalypse" Janet said as she fell in beside him, eyes on the streets "No cars or trucks?"

Tarvek nodded, noticing that now "Aye, perhaps evacuated? The fact there are roads indicates that such vehicles are an intended use. Hmm…yes, a very neat apocalypse…hmm, or a ghost city? Watch for any alerts for camera signals"

"Copy that" she agreed as they moved along the street, but trying to have some cover…or as much as Tarvek's own towering height and bulk in the power armour could manage as he guided them towards a nearby building entrance. There wasn't any signs of such things as they moved, drones showing no activity around them either as he guided one into the largest entrance, noting his power armour would have trouble with navigating the low height. Tarvek sighed. It was why he'd equipped the jetpacks after all, looking up at the several stories high white painted building.

Janet was giving him an aggravated look he could tell, even though her face was hidden by her mask "No"

He gave a snort at her words, placing his weapon into its holder on his back, eyes on the height "I am afraid it will be as we trained"

"Or" her tone was annoyed, embarrassed, glaring at him "We could use the stairs. Like normal people"

"Normal people as you view it do not wear power armour too big for such things" he stated holding out his arms for her "Now, up"

"Must we?"

"Yes" he made a hand motion and she glared at him, unintelligible grumbling coming back over the comms as she stepped towards him, then allow grunting and huffing in annoyance as Tarvek took her into a carry, allowing her to hold her weapon still "Now hold still. Like we trained"

He gave her a few moments to do just that, before igniting the jetpacks on his back, regulating the power output from the fusion core to give a sustained 'jump' that began a rapid ascent up the building. Trading speed and energy for a slower ascent was the need her, to get a better understanding of this place; weather it was a true ruin, or merely a preserve as might be the case he now considered. Getting to the rooftops rapidly would grant a wider view, for both his eyes and the suits optics. Something achieved as quickly as he hoped, rising up to the top of the twenty-six floor building, coming over safety railings, and landing with a last flaring blast of the jetpacks once he was sure the roof could carry his weight.

"Ugh, that is…ugh" Janet complained after he let her down, watching as she wobbled forward a second, then straightened, looking around "These might not be ruins Tarvek. These…railings look brand new up close, and the whole roof is spotless"

He nodded. That was an increasing worry as his drones rose up after them, circling around them now he had signal strength up here. Looking out there was…

"And there are rope bridges between the buildings" Janet pointed out as Tarvek looked to the horizon, still not noting any electronics signals. Her words drew his attention though, as he was retaking his heavy repeater into hand, tracking her gesture with her gun to…

'Hmm, there are rope ladders between buildings. How…odd….how concerning' popped through his mind now, holding the weapon at ease, then tapping his pip-boy wrist-comp's holo-display to send the drones on a scouting pattern around them "That is not normal?"

"That a question or a statement?"

He gave a non-committal hum at Janet's words "I am unsure. I do not think such would be normal, but cultures are strange at times. Such shoddy construction alongside….such sturdy buildings makes it strange?"

Such things could happen of course, but this all…felt off somehow. Why was that?

Janet appeared to agree, tone odd "I'd say it's…strange. The city looks normal, so normal other than that…"

Then shrugged, an awkward laugh "Other than being empty"

Tarvek would have nodded, but now there were indicators of energy from the city "Not entirely it seems. Energy sources detected in that direction….and a larger building than the others. Looks to be a different design as well potentially. Can you stand watch a few minutes while I survey?"

Not only was it taller, but it was more…jagged perhaps in underlying design to his eyes, and his suit's optics were having trouble 'seeing' it through a fog. A poor sign, as well as one to avoid such a location as Tarvek began to survey the city…and there were power sources indicated now, but still now signs of life as he used height to survey. All of which was problematic in his view, as it made exploring this region for the next breach in dimensions if the place was inhabited.

'Higher dimensional energy readings….multiple breaches? Recent too perhaps?' he considered, taping at the holo-display 'Concerning. Good to, for us, but also concerning. Why would an intact city be so active, yet also so empty?'

"Something wrong?"

"Yes" he answer Janet as readings came in "This city is not dead. There are active power sources, and an active, but seemingly unused, communications signal. I detected no signals, because no one is using it, but there are intact systems…"

He pointed, as the city extended out towards the horizon, though his gauntleted hand gestured at a 'satellite dish' as he believed it was called several buildings across from them "Such as that unit there. There is power, and signal capacity, just no…usage. Blocking perhaps on some areas of ground level?"

'Which is a poor idea for a system' he mused, shifting his gaze, adjusting the scope to a longer range, and linking with the drones, looking over the areas with active power "Something is off about this city. I am increasingly sure that this place is not a ruin"

Janet, glanced towards him "That's…good?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not, I would prefer ruins than a curiously empty city. But one that is dimensionally active. We did not see it from below, and this is a vast city"

He paused, noting potential movement, tapping the side of his helmet to enhance…

Flicker.

…and there was definitely movement "Got movement, looks to be a human, clad in trousered and jacketed garb, mask as well. Not sure if protective or custom. Looks culture driven"

"Why?"

He studied the moving figure, looking to be armed with a wooden bludgeoning weapon of some sort, while clad in light or non-armoured clothing "Mask does not appear to be armour. Has exaggerated eye and mouth holes, markings look ritualistic"

"Where?"

"Marking on your HUD" Tarvek answered, doing as he said "Rooftop….there, crossing wooden bridge, see?"

"Yes, I see him" she answered after moving over to the edge of the building, looking through the scope of her scout rifle "God, that is a stranger look. Horror movie mask?"

"Lord of Shrouds, let us hope not. I'd rather not face such a realm" he muttered back, hoping this wasn't some ritualistic thing, or if these were a post-collapse survivor thing. Plagues were always a concern, though he rated that as a low probability with the city so clean. Potentially build and awaiting settlement, with a human such as that as security "Maybe ritual significance? Hmm, it's…"

{Alert}

He paused, seeing a warning pop up on his HUD, silencing him as a dimensional breach was occurring, and Tarvek began to shift his gaze to another rooftop. Somewhat closer, but not too far from where the masked human was…

Then watched as a human girl, likely an acolyte of some school, appear with a mirage like distortion on the roof, laying her back, asleep or dead he wasn't entirely sure. Likely just unconscious he judged, and that wasn't a good sign for her at least "Someone just planeswalked here. Possibly in their sleep"

"That's…" Janet trailed off, shifting to try see what was looking at. Then came the, for him, unwanted response "She's a child. We should help her"

Tarvek sighed, afraid that would be the suggestion "That is truly none of our business"

"She is helpless right now, and you just saw a masked man with a baseball bat not too far away from where the girl is" Janet paused "There is also the fact she might have answers about the city too"

He considered the matter for a few seconds, before nodding….