Title: Three Degrees to the Right
Fandom: Guilty Gear
Part: 7/12
Characters: Sol, Ky
Rating: PG-15
Warnings: violence
Notes: Shadows in the dark.
Part I |
Part II |
Part III |
Part IV |
Part V |
Part VI | Part VII |
Part VIII |
Part IX |
Part X |
Part XI |
Part XII Three Degrees to the Right
Part VII
"My god."
The oath echoed along the walls of the cavern like a gunshot, followed by a number of whispered epithets in Russian telling the speaker to shut up.
"It's alright," Ky murmured, though inwardly, he felt just as tense. His attention was fixed on the structure rising in the semi-darkness, the remains of the Askold's broken hull stretching towards the faint light like spindly arms.
"If anything's around, it'd have caught wind of us by now, anyway," Sol said, not bothering to lower his voice as they continued to descend, half-skidding down the steep incline, gravel and small rocks tumbling into the gloom beneath.
"You think-?"
"Nah." Sol shrugged, but Ky still caught the subtle change in his demeanor that meant he was checking again, just to be sure.
"Let's risk a bit of light, then."
A simple shift of pressure set the Furaiken into wait mode, small, steady arcs of lightning spreading a soft light. Behind him, several more spots flared up, a few fire users lighting the way for their comrades. If anything, the light only made them seem more forlorn, the vast space closing in on them.
"This… can't be manmade, can it?" Ky asked, following Sol's seemingly blind leaps into the darkness, yet always landing on solid footing.
"Just the upper parts."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You can't see it, but we've been down through three layers of tunnels already," Sol said. "They dug up the entire city for a public transport system."
Drawing his brows together, Ky tried to imagine any kind of vehicle able to travel such an extensive underground network. All that came to mind were mine carts.
"Before the war, you mean?"
There was no answer.
He sighed, and decided to change the subject. "So if it's just the upper levels, this is…?"
A frustrated noise. Sol hated being made to explain things.
"Seismic activity, probably. Place has a history of roads breaking up and whatnot. Nobody really bothered to investigate the cause. Wouldn't be surprised if they just forgot about it."
"Then this could have been a natural cave-in."
"Let's hope that's all it is."
Up close, the damage to the ship appeared to be much more severe; the main cannon had been lodged into the rock wall and entire sections of the outer plating were missing, the airship more resembling a gutted carcass than anything else. Ky tried the radio again, but there was no reply, only static hissing.
"Alright. Find a way inside the ship and try to locate survivors. Stay alert, and report anything untoward."
Silent salutes answered him, the soldiers spreading out to slip through the gaps in the hull. He stayed behind, trailing after Sol, who was already making his way along the side of the ship to inspect the damage.
"Was all that really caused by the impact?"
"Hard to say. Something of that size drops, any number of things happen."
"But you don't think so, either."
"No."
Frowning deeply, Ky stopped, gazing up at the structure. He wasn't an expert, of course, but some of the gaps were resembling the tears of claws entirely too much for comfort. Still, he had never heard of anything so large operating underground-the real predators out for the airships were all creatures of the air, and would be unable to fit into this space due to sheer wingspan. It was always possible that a number of smaller Gears had ganged up on the ship after its fall, but they wouldn't have fled at their approach. Perhaps-
"Rear's gone."
"What?"
"The fucking rear is gone."
"That's impossible!" Hurrying after Sol's voice, he came to a stop as the ship abruptly ended, half its bulk vanished into thin air. "Where-?"
"I can't see it." Sol was squinting into the darkness. "It's not here."
"Then…"
Turning back, he allowed the Furaiken to flare brighter, scanning the separated section with steadily increasing disbelief. There was nothing to suggest an explosion or a fire, not with the cave intact and not the least bit of burnt material. The entire expanse was smooth and clean, corridors and interior piping simply extending into nothing, as if sawn in two by a knife.
Ky reached out to run a hand along one of the severed metal beams, and drew back with a startled yelp.
"What's wrong?"
He shook his head, hissing and clenching his fist in an effort to stop the burning pain. Sol reappeared at his side, prying his hand away from his chest and forcing his fingers open.
"Shit."
Freeing the canteen from his belt, he upended the entire contents on Ky's hand. The stinging lessened almost immediately, the water draining to reveal the tattered glove, bits of fabric flaking away like loose leaves.
"Can you move your hand?"
Curling his fingers experimentally, Ky nodded. The skin felt raw and tender, as if he had stuck it into a pot of boiling soup, but was thankfully still whole.
"Thank you, it'll be fine." He returned to inspecting the place he had touched for any sign of a strange substance. "What was that? That wasn't a coolant leak."
Sol reached past him and unceremoniously pressed the empty canteen against the beam, watching as it began to smoke and sizzle. When he finally let go, there was a sizable hole in its side.
"I'd say you just found the method they used to cut this thing in two. Whatever that stuff is, just the residue's potent enough."
"So fast…"
"Sir!" A soldier was running towards them, half-tripping over rocks in his haste. "Sir, we've found survivors!"
"How many?"
"We can't say yet, sir. We're still trying to get them out. Everything's been warped by the crash."
"Alright. Tell the men to avoid touching the hull at all costs. It might have been covered in extremely strong acid."
The man gulped, his eyes widening. "Yes, sir. And, sir? They say they have no idea what hit them, but they were touching down to pick up evacuees."
"…And the cargo bay opens towards the rear."
Biting his lip, the soldier nodded.
Without a word, Sol turned, and stalked off.
"Wait a minute. We don't even know what did this. You're not going to hunt it down."
"Whatever it is, it's strong enough to open up fissures and precision-cut titanium," Sol growled, unsheathing the sword from his back as he walked. "I don't have to tell you what that means for us."
Ky sighed, swallowing the reply, and addressed the soldier instead. "Alright, Corporal. I want these people out of there. Leave everything else, and head to checkpoint N9 for medical attention. Don't wait for us. Anyone who's incapacitated will board with the next group of civilians. Contact Lieutenant Andreyev for further orders."
"Yes, sir. If you're going to look for the other half…" The soldier hesitated. "Best of luck, sir."
"Thank you, Corporal," Ky said, nodding firmly. "To both of us."
With that, he jogged after Sol's retreating back. "You're not going alone."
"I'm not gonna take troops. They'd just get in the way," Sol said, jerking his head back towards the ship.
"No. You're taking me."
----
It felt like they had been walking for hours, all sense of time and distance dulled by the darkness. In reality, Ky knew it was probably less, even though it had been a long time since they had left the site of the crash in search for the missing half.
The system of caves seemed to stretch on endlessly, sometimes leading upwards, sometimes further downwards, tunnels branching out from the main cleft or joining back together.
The smaller ones appeared to be man-made, as he sometimes caught glimpses of abandoned construction work, piping and a strange kind of metal track running along the ground in places. They had been following the fissure for the longest time, until Sol had discovered a tunnel wide enough to drag parts of a small supply ship into.
Ky was left with little choice but to follow, forced to put his faith in whatever it was that Sol could sense.
His earpiece gave off another burst of static, and he pulled it out, hooking it back into his belt. Right now, it was useless, and there was no sense in allowing it to distract him.
"Worried?"
After the bout of silence, Sol's voice seemed almost unbearably loud.
He shook his head. "Andreyev is a competent soldier. I trust he can handle matters. I just hope whatever got the Askold hasn't managed to get a hold of anything else."
Sol shrugged. "It'll likely be busy for a while. This is like shellfish for Gears."
Ky didn't reply. He knew Sol was right, of course, knew why the monster had made off with the ship, and how unlikely it was that anyone would still be alive by the point they found it.
I'm sorry.
The prayer that came to him was short and simple, one he had seen inscribed on the gates to an Orthodox church and memorized to be able to pay his respects if need be, but he went over it regardless, all too aware that nobody would ever learn so much as the names of these unfortunate souls. At least, he might be able to prevent further suffering, if-
Sol's hand against his chest stopped him dead. The Furaiken's light died down immediately, plunging the tunnel into blackness.
"How many?" His voice was hardly louder than a breath.
There was a pause, Sol listening intently. "Over two dozen. Small-sized."
"Then-"
Sol charged.
Biting back a curse, Ky followed, the sword flickering back to life in his hand.
Sol's definition of "small-sized" had to be different from everyone else's, as the things were still almost as tall as a human. His blade slammed into the first Gear's open jaw, the current momentarily lighting it up from the inside.
Three more lunged for him, and he caught an impression of their shape-spindly legs, poised tail, armored forearms. They were caught in the spell sent to greet them, blue lightning momentarily plunging the cavern into brightness.
Another leapt from the side of the wall, hoping to skewer him, and he brought the blade around, severing its legs and sending it skittering into the darkness.
"Pro-tip!" Sol shouted over the cacophony of death cries. "Try to avoid their spit. It hurts. Lots!"
"We're being spat to death?" Ky yelled back, dancing out of the reach of a tail swipe. The spike buried itself in the ground, and he wasted no time, piercing the creature's ribcage.
"It's Tuesday! What do you expect?!"
"I can't dodge what I can't see!"
His call was swallowed by an explosion, the ground rocking precariously as a stream of fire sent several Gears hurtling towards the opposite wall.
"Try not to collapse the cave on top of us!"
"And here I thought you'd be the type for candlelight," Sol shot back. "Fine then, sparkplug! Ten yards to your right-box at shoulder level."
Ky didn't even think to ask what he was talking about.
Dashing for the location, he thrust his hand against the wall, a charge jolting through the metal under his fingers. The effect was instantaneous-along the wall, rows of bulbs flared to life, brightening the cavern like floodlights.
A chorus of surprised wails met the sudden brilliance, even as several bulbs shattered under the strain, the creatures rearing back to spit their acidic saliva-but not at either of them. They were staggering about aimlessly, twisting as if to escape the light and accidentally hitting their comrades with the spray.
Across the chaos, Sol shrugged, and dived in.
After the dust had finally settled, Ky carefully poked at a carcass, rolling it over on its side. Now that he could see them properly, they all appeared to be of the same type, a grotesque composition of scorpion and alligator, varying only in size. A strange sac attached to their underside seemed to be holding the deadly acid.
"I've never seen those before," he murmured, slicing the sac open and watching the liquid dribble out onto the Gear's legs to no apparent effect.
"How creative," Sol muttered. "The damn things are silicon-based… fire does nothing. And they can't hurt themselves with this."
He slammed his sword down, severing a leg partition. At Ky's look, he shrugged. "For the eggheads."
"Right," Ky said. Then, he caught sight of something towards the far end of the cave, outside the glaring circle formed by the light bulbs. "Wait. I think-"
"Hm?"
Stepping closer, he could make out a large, haphazard structure, some portions still vaguely curved in the manner of an airship's hull.
Even without a close inspection, he could tell that the rear had been torn apart, half-dissolved to drag out the helpless victims within. He gritted his teeth.
"…I've found the airship."
Sol didn't reply, so he turned back around, surveying the cavern. Something was nagging him, though for a moment, he couldn't say what it was.
He turned over another body, this one a small-scale replica of the first. For a new species of Gear, they appeared to be oddly fragile; deadly in a surprise assault in darkness, perhaps, but not overly difficult to kill. And far too few to drag an airship.
Something gave under the heel of his boot, and he looked down to see the splinters of a strange kind of hollow rock. Bemused, he picked it up, turning it over in his hand and feeling the odd patterns, a realization dawning as he did so.
"Sol, that… might be a nest."
No answer.
"Sol."
"Get back from the wall."
His feet were moving before the command even registered, swiftly backing away towards the center of the cave. Even as he did so, he was beginning to feel what had drawn Sol's attention-vibrations in the ground, growing steadily stronger.
He hit Sol's back, who barely acknowledged it. "You think-?"
Sol merely adjusted his grip on the sword in response. "Mommy's mad, alright."
----
Size didn't necessarily reflect a Gear's capacity for dealing twenty different kinds of horrifically creative agony-in fact, there were some types considerably larger in size than the average Megadeath.
When the rock wall burst open, though, boulders and debris hurtling everywhere, it was safe to say that someone had been subscribing to the bigger equals better philosophy on this thing.
There was nothing like several tons of death barreling towards you, arms poised like battering rams, followed by a bottomless maw. Against his back, the kid took off, wisely bringing himself out of range to leave the part of crash test dummy to someone who was actually durable enough.
The first blow sent him stumbling, the powerful forearm crashing against the flat of his blade with unchecked force. The second blow nearly managed to wrest the sword from his grasp, sending him flying across the space. His feet barely touched the ground before he was forced to leap out of the way, the massive tail slamming into the place he had been in a mere moment ago.
He landed in a low crouch, muscles tensed to evade another blow, but instead, the creature swiveled, trying to target a flash of white to its side. A flash that leapt through the air like a butterfly, landing neatly on the Gear's back and driving down the sword with a burst of lightning.
The creature howled in surprise rather than pain, tail arching as the kid drew back for another strike, and Sol glimpsed rows of impossibly sharp spikes, gleaming in the flickering light-
"Move!"
The fireball was more distraction than actual attack, but the Gear howled again, backing away from the flare. The spikes went off, regardless, cutting through the air like spears, but that split-second was all it had taken, Ky landing securely a few yards away.
"It's like concrete!" he called. "Not a scratch!"
"Well, lovely."
A normal Gear, even an armored one, would've been skewered by the blow-but a normal Gear wouldn't have allowed someone to get that close so easily. The damn thing was a tank, and knew it.
Now it swerved, zeroing in on them again. The flat of one forearm swung in the kid's general direction, but there was nothing he could do about that, as the other arm decided to go straight for him. They connected with the ground, driving into the rock like butter, dust and debris spraying everywhere.
The monster turned, devoting its entire attention to him. There was no telling what had happened to the kid, but he had other problems on his hands right now-like evading the reach of a staccato of blows.
All of a sudden, the Gear gave a shrill shriek and staggered, one of its legs slowly breaking away.
All he had was a momentary impression of the kid, darting away from certain impalement, but then he himself was already on top of those monstrous shovels, running up its length to the juncture and driving in the sword as hard as he could.
The carapace splintered, the creature howling and shaking violently in an effort to get rid of him. Sol allowed himself to be thrown, grabbing a hold of the sword hilt as he did so, wrenching the blade like a lever to bring himself back down.
The remaining arm swung at him, the Gear now goaded into a pain-fueled rage. Another glimpse of the kid, flying past him at the creature's defenseless flank and driving the sword deep inside the leaking wound, lightning ripping down its length.
Squirming in pain, the Gear reared back, the kid lifted along with it like nothing at all. A slight twist of the blade caused it to slip free, Ky falling back down as the monster rose higher and higher, revealing the pulsating sac at its underside.
Oh, fuck.
"Get back!"
It was useless, he knew that even as he barked out the warning, the thing's range more than enough to drench the entire cavern-so all that was left to do was grab the kid and slam both of them into the wall, the acid spray against his own back making him cry out.
"Sol!"
"I'm-"
Fine, he wanted to say, choking on the words, before they were thrown to the ground as twenty tons of Gear came crashing back down like a tidal wave.
Underneath them, the rock was cracking and splintering, slabs sliding into the opening fissure even as Sol tried to right himself.
A shriek of outrage from the creature, legs groping at nothing as it was swallowed by the breaking bedrock, before their own perch tilted towards a gaping abyss.
"No-!"
Grabbing the kid by the scruff, it was a blind toss, his arm refusing to cooperate properly. Ky kept yelling at him even as he was thrown, landing hard a few paces away. His last glimpse was of that face, frozen in incredulity and fury, before a boulder slammed into him, and then, there was nothing but the rush of air, and a fall of hundreds of feet to the bottom.
-TBC-
----
A/N: I just realized this chapter would merit an obligatory "Oh no, I'm falling!" joke. Ah well. XD Thanks to
raging_tofu for her help. C&C, as always, is welcome and appreciated.
Authorial Babbling Corner:
- Let it be said here that The Last Remnant soundtrack has excellent
cave-crawling music.
- Actually, what Sol is saying about Moscow is true. The city has a history of seismic instability that will often cause random roads to break up. Nobody is sure about the cause, but the construction of a huge subway system and lots of underground buildings
sure isn't helping.
- KGC (Ky Grab Count): 4.
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