Chapter II: The Dust of those lost
"Those who venture deep into the abyss shall perceive the true void."
- Prophecies of Tenelor
Lilith felt the ground scrunching by her feet, as they slowly sank into the grains of sand below her. The dune was steep, high, as the hike to the summit of the dune brought great difficulty to her and her group. For every step that they took, another was dissolved as their steps could only move sand around them. The wind by now had calmed, gentled into a light breeze, showering the sky with its benevolence.
Lilith peered up as she caught a glimpse of Sermänt and his hike to the top. The man was making admirable progress. As much as Lilith abhorred them, Regans ∞ were bred for these hostile conditions, as Gainans ⬡ like her and Vance are meant for greatness, the philosophy of the human mind.
Sermänt looked down and spotted the other three struggling to make progress.
"Quit it, get serious. We wouldn't want to awaken scrapers," he said, scoffing.
"But we can't! We aren't Regans ∞ , how should we be able to move through this!?" Daise replied.
"Sigh," he expressed, pointing to Lilith, "You, Gainans ⬡ should have seekers, no?"
"We do." Lilith heard a voice speak behind her; it was Vance.
"I was not talking to you, but that's besides the point. Seekers. Place them on the sole of your boots, which should give you more grip on the sand."
Lilith felt around her pocket, grabbing onto the circular object and placing it on the sole of her left boot. She peered behind her and caught sight of Daise scratcher her head at the thought of Sermänt's command.
"Here, hold onto my shoulder, I'll help you get up."
Climbing the dune, they finally caught sight of their objective, the crashed Valiquet. Sermänt stood in front, as a means of light flashed from his hand, as it scanned the wreck for the objective, thought Lilith didn't understand how it worked.
"Alright. Lilith, Vance, get to work and start dismantling the hoverports of this mechanical beast. Daise, assist them if need be, and I will be searching the perimeter. Quota says we need at least three. There should be five intact here."
Lilith's eyes lit up as she approached the left chassis of the beast, nearing its long metal tail, where the hoverports were located. The vehicle was large, as its hull held a shade of shamrock green and silver. It held no wings yet could fly because of the hoverport thrusters on its tail. The main body looked like a cockpit to the eyes of Lilith, as it held a turret by its lower front side.
Lilith whipped out a wrench made of balamar metal. She gripped it tight as she approached the bolts of the hoverports. The metal would help her dismantle parts too difficult to move.
"Do you know what these Valiquets were made for?" Daise said, leaning on the hull of the valiquet smugly as she watched Lilith work.
"No, why?" she said, straining her breath as she moved the bolts.
"I've read about them in Studos ♡. Armed royal "transports" of high-ranking officials during the Supreme Humanitarian Republic, before the Enlightened took over. I don't buy it, though, probably some form of historical enlightenment propaganda. They used to be white, too."
"Well, the Enlightened are scums," Lilith replied, as she finally took off her first hoverport, "the SHR would still be here if it weren't for them."
"That is true, but I'm more concerned about the question of who took this vehicle down and why. They'd be toying with the Enlightened for sure, and would practically be signing their own death sentence."
Lilith continued her work as she laboriously carried the large hoverport towards the front for later collection. The hoverport was heavy, and its thruster held depth which started into her face like a creeping eye, a damaged void speaking unsettling tongues, which made Lilith's skin crawl at the thought of. Once she dropped off the thruster, she met Vance, who had also completed his side, leaving one more port needed to meet their designated quota.
"One more, then we return to Chimera." Vance snickered.
"Tell me about it. Miracle how we're still breathing."
"Hey- team?" Lilith heard a voice call out; Daise, get over here, quick."
Vance and Lilith sped to Daise's position, as they found her staring down a hoverport by the right side, gazing deep into it as if it were hypnotizing the girl.
"Daise, snap out of it. What's wrong?" Vance asked, shaking her by the shoulders, before she pointed to the thruster.
"The thruster.. I-it's.. something's glowing blue.." Daise replied, voice quivering and hand shaking.
Blue? Lilith was unable to collect her thoughts.
"Let's keep our distance from it right now. Could have just been remaining power-" Lilith, before being cut off. Immediately, the blue light started to show flashes of red, as high-pitched ticks could then be heard from the hoverport, each with increasing frequency. Suddenly, a burst of energy left the thruster as the ticks continued. Lilith couldn't move- none of them could move. It felt as if their muscles had tensed up in a disgusting tightening fashion.
Lilith felt her chest tighten as she could hear Sermänt's footsteps get closer to their position. Her mind pushed her to move as little as a single hair, but the external force overpowered her far too strongly. The ticks of the device grew faster, and faster, and faster- then their muscles freed.
With control over her muscles once again, she chased Daise onto the ground as quickly as possible while the device felt like it was about to conclude its sonnet of ticks. Vance took cover behind nearby scraps and yelled for Sermänt on the other side to take cover, before the thruster detonated, sending scraps and debris in all directions of the wind, scraping Lilith's back as she covered Daise. The Valiquet exploded in blazing glory, as it completely disappeared in the smoke and ash around it.
W-what was that? Lilith asked herself, groaning and shaking in fear with every breath.
"Segnus!" Daise exclaimed, rolling over to free herself, "Are you alright? I know you took some damage." Daise immediately urged Lilith to lie face down so she could tend to her wounds.
"Explain!" Sermänt exclaimed as he made his way to their side, "Do you understand how unbelievably screwed we are because of this stunt?"
"It wasn't a stunt!" Vance yelled with frustration and protest, "There was something we couldn't even describe, stuck inside that thruster! Technology of destruction that almost took our lives!"
"These thrusters are worth more than your lives!"
"Well, our lives aren't worth more than yours!" Vance said, as silence came after.
"Segnus, a-are Regans ∞ tr-truly incapable of empathy?" Lilith muttered in pain, though her words were slightly muffled by the sand. She could feel the needle entering her skin as she clenched her hand and threw it at the sand in each moment.
"H-hold still- oh Segnus, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Daise said as her hands shook mid-sewing in humility.
Minutes had passed as the group attempted to recuperate from their disaster. Lilith's wounds had been painfully tended by Daise, as Daise herself curled by the scraps in silence.
"S-SEGNUS!" Sermänt yelled, "Daise, we're so damn screwed because of your carelessness!" but Daise did not respond.
"Just, go easy on her, Sermänt, please?" Lilith quietly pleaded with him.
"SHUT UP! Oh Segnus, we're screwed, and it's all her fault!"
"It ISN'T her FAULT!" Vance yelled, "Do you think that she's the one who PLANTED it there?"
"No, but I'm saying that she's the one who'll get us KILLED-"
"SILENCE!" Lilith yelled in frustration. The pain from suturing her wounds had also come out of her words at that very moment.
"Apologies." Vance bowed in repentance.
"I'm sorry," Daise whispered, her voice cracking under the pressure. Lilith approached her slowly and tugged her vest. "It's okay."
Suddenly, the area filled with hellish shrieks and cries, stunning the four by the ruins of the Valiquet.
"Hostiles; scrapers heard the destruction. Hoist your weapons, I'll call an overheader to lift us out of here." Sermänt commanded, as he coughed up a powerful tone.
Lilith picked Daise up and dusted herself off. Daise reached into her utility belt, grabbing out a pistol, as both Vance and Sermänt unholstered their rifles.
"Chimera: Regas ∞. Mission compromised, requesting overhead pickup, needed imminent." Sermant relayed, speaking through a radio on his gloves.
Lilith reached into her utility belt, taking hold and snatching a silver dagger.
"Let's see what we're worth in the eyes of the messiah."
Lilith gripped the dagger as veins started to show on her wrists. She then muttered a small prayer.
O' Child of Ver'As, bless this dagger as we bite the tongue of those against you. Bless me though I am unworthy, bless the machinery and chassis that holds its parts. C'est Fayt.
Her thumb slid across the hilt of the blade as she felt the handle vibrate with great intensity. Immediately, the silver blade began to emanate with yellow sparks, as it glowed with a faint shade of green. Electricity.
The group then entered a powerful position at the center of the summit of the dune, as the unholy cries of scrapers flooded their ears. Daise was to be in the middle, with the other three around her in the form of a triangle. Lilith held her blade as she observed the movement of the sand, predicting where the beasts would strike first. He hands slightly waved in fear as the adrenaline pumped vigorously through her veins, causing every breath to be heavier than the last.
Stillness..
Stillness..
Stillness..
The shrieks grew closer.
Stillness..
Stillness..
"SUNSCRAPER!" Sermänt cried as the sounds of gunshots quickly filled the air. Lilith peered behind her to see that the beast had confronted them. Its heavily armored white skin deflected all rounds that were shot at it. Its stature was almost the same height as hers. The unholy freak donned a large white horn on the top of its head, reminiscent of a charging bull, with four spiked legs.
The scraper sprang its legs, like an angered bull staring down a waving flag. The team pushed to different locations of the dune, squaring it off in their own corners.
"The skin's too tough, find its cracks, electrocute the beast, kill it!" Sermänt commanded. With valiance, the group entered the ring of the beast, firing pure valor.
Vance and Sermänt lit up the air as they shot between the beast's eyes, attempting to slow it down and blind it. Lilith sped through the scraps with pure adrenaline pumping through her veins and nerves as she tried to flank the beast. She ducked and slid through any debris that the beast threw across the area before meeting a rusted panel. Without hesitation and filled with vigor, she leapt, aiming for the beast's back to drive her silver dagger, but was cut short, as the beast's ghost-like tail snapped at her like a steel whip mid-air, tossing her half-across the dune, crashing into a metal support beam.
Lilith could feel her consciousness slipping away from the pupils of her eyes and the mortality of her face. The wind's waves seemed to appear in front of her eyes, dancing in a way that spited her. She stood around, her hands flowing like restless water in an oxbow lake, as the blood rushed to her face like a fiery entourage of despair. She struggled to move as her back shot with pain with every inch, as her throat felt as if it were to snap at any given moment. She was going to die. She was going to die here, pathetic. She was going to die from the loss of feeling, and not in blood. Pathetic.
Her mind broke in shambles as her head attempted to reassemble every piece to regain sanity. until a large, sharp pain struck her back.
"Lilith? Stand!" Vance said. He had stabbed Lilith with a painkiller stim, which cooled her nerves of pain immediately, but temporarily. By the edge of her vision, she caught a glimpse of Sermänt struggling as he circled the beast, while Daise stood, aiming, but never pulling the trigger.
"DAISE!" Lilith yelled, her voice chords close to severing from her impact as she broke off from Vance's grip, and sprinted towards her. She ran, exhausting all her power. Daise was the only one who could talk to her on her level, a friendly one. She could not afford to lose that comfort now.
She ran, and ran. Her feet started to limp as her body was still damaged, but the adrenaline kept her moving.
"Daise! Move! Pull the trigger!" Lilith yelled at her, desperate to keep her from harm. Daise then looked at Lilith's reaction, as Lilith's heart tensed more and more at the sight of the beast getting closer to her.
"Daise! Out of the way, damn it!" Sermänt called, as he leapt from beam to beam, avoiding the grasp of the beast, scouting for an opening in its tough, layered skin.
Lilith ran, and ran, propelled by the desperation of her legs,
But her feet stopped in their tracks as a mist of red from Daise's position spread through the carrying wind in a scene of gruesomeness.