As the horde of entities closes in, Becca raises her staff and slams it into the earth, creating a large shockwave that disperses the dust directly surrounding the squad.
"Keep your backs turned towards the ship!" Liam yells over the radio.
Brick steps forward, creating a defensive barrier in the front as the squad uses the aircraft as a barrier from behind.
Jasper activates his hover boots and floats into the air above the fight. He adjusts his rifle's scope, activating a thermal function, before taking aim and picking off any entities trying to sneak up behind the rest of the squad.
Becca uses her staff to keep the area clear as the fighting kicks up more dust. While Delaney and Liam slash and blast any threats from the left and right sides.
It doesn't take long for the squad to eliminate the vast majority of the entities, and before they can finish off the remaining few, another series of screeches echoes out, and the creatures begin to scurry back into the distance. As the fighting ceases, the dust in the area finally settles, revealing a mound of indistinguishable corpses surrounding the squad and their aircraft.
"Good job guys. The rest probably won't be back anytime soon, but keep your guards up," Liam says casually over the radio before returning to the aircraft and emerging with a variety of high-tech instruments.
The squad stands in shock for a moment as they examine the disfigured bodies. Although they had experience with fights like this in training, none had ever been this gruesome.
Jasper slowly descends as he takes in the surroundings. As he floats to the ground, he notices Brick looking up at him with a slight smile. Jasper smiles back, thinking he might have been too worried.
"That wasn't so bad huh?" Delaney says as Jasper rejoins the group on the ground.
"Could have been worse, I guess," Jasper laughs, feeling an immense sense of relief.
Liam makes his way over to the Fracture. It is embedded in a massive boulder not far from the aircraft. The area directly surrounding the Fracture glows as the iridescent energy around it swirls and arcs randomly throughout the air. Although it is much smaller than the facture in their Waypoint, it is just as vibrant.
Becca raises her staff from the ground, "I'll put up an energy dome around Liam while he works. If you guys run into trouble let me know."
"For sure", "K!", "No problem", the rest of the squad says as they take positions around the fracture.
Becca walks over to Liam and slams her staff into the ground again, this time, twisting it after it hits the earth. A powerful stream of energy shoots out from the top of the staff and slowly engulfs the area, creating a large, iridescent dome around the Fracture.
"That's handy," Liam says as he uses the various instruments to analyze the Fracture.
Becca looks down nervously, "I'm not much of a fighter, so I do what I can to support the others."
"That's just as important as fighting, we all have our roles," Liam says.
Becca's eyes light up as her gaze drifts upwards towards Liam, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
It only takes a minute or two for Liam to finish the fracture analysis, "Alright, you guys ready to go through?" he asks as he returns the instruments to the aircraft.
The rest of the squad signals that they are ready as they gather near the front of the fracture.
"Then let's go," Liam says as he moves to the front of the group and steps into the fracture.
Delaney steps up next, "See you on the other side!" she exclaims as she passes through.
Becca follows directly behind Delaney, then Brick immediately after.
Jasper is the last to step up and freezes in front of the Fracture. Although they made it this far, there is still a bad feeling in his gut that he can't ignore. Realizing that staying alone in the wasteland is more dangerous than being with his squad, he takes a deep breath and steps into the fracture.
His body jolts as the fracture sucks him inside. In an instant, the world around him disappears, and he enters a tunnel of swirling, iridescent energy. He feels a strange sensation pulse through his body as he flies deeper into the tunnel. He looks around, and it seems to stretch infinitely with no direct indicators of orientation or direction. Before he can fully process his surroundings, his body jolts again as the fracture spits him out into Latent Space.
Jasper braces himself, expecting to land upright on solid ground like he's practiced countless times in training. However, he quickly realizes there is nothing below his feet. He looks around frantically, realizing he's been spit out headfirst, high above the ground. A massive sea of thick trees rapidly approaches as he plummets toward them. He thrusts his feet toward the ground and desperately tries to activate his hover boots.
A small pearlescent orb of energy peeks out from behind the fracture and watches Jasper struggle as he fades away into the trees.
In his panic, Jasper eventually manages to activate his hover boots, but not soon enough to stop his descent. He tries his best to remain upright as he crashes into the trees, smashing through numerous branches on his way down before hitting the ground. Luckily, the branches and thrust from his boots slow him down enough to prevent any major injuries, but he hits the ground hard, leaving him disoriented.
As he tries to get up, he hears an ear-piercing scream ring out nearby. He stops on his hands and knees, realizing that the scream came from Becca as panic starts to set in again. He reaches toward his helmet in an attempt to activate his radio, but before he can, he hears a rustling in the bushes growing louder as something rapidly approaches him from behind. He flips around and reaches toward his back for his rifle before noticing it isn't there. Realizing he probably lost it in the fall, he tries to stand up and activate his hover boots again. Before he can take off, the approaching figure breaks through the bushes and tackles him. As he struggles to break free, he notices the figure on top of him is Liam.
"Stay quiet," Liam whispers as he slowly gets off Jasper and crouches next to him.
Jasper's panic slightly fades at the sight of a familiar face, "What the hell is going on?" he whispers back as he gets up and kneels next to Liam.
"I don't know, it seems like the Fracture we passed through might have been artificially placed," Liam whispers.
Jasper's panic turns to shock, "That's possible?!" he exclaims.
Liam puts his fingers to his lips, signaling for Jasper to lower his voice, "I've never heard of that happening, but I wouldn't assume it's impossible."
"Regardless of whether it was or not, we need to get back up there and call for backup," Liam whispers.
Jasper's shock turns to anger, "What about everyone else? We can't just leave them here."
"We don't really have a choice, even if you still had your rifle, there isn't much we can do without more information," Liam whispers.
"Is that the same mindset you had last time?" Jasper asks aggressively.
Liam sighs, "I know it's a tough decision, but it's protocol, we need to act rationally or else we are all gonna die."
"I'm not leaving them," Jasper states as he starts to stand up.
Liam stands up as well, "Suit yourself," he says as he prepares to take off with his hover boots.
As Liam's hover boots hum, he slowly starts his ascent through the trees. However, as soon as he takes off, a long, dark tendril breaks through the trees and pierces through Liam's torso. Jasper watches in horror as Liam's blood rains down on top of him.
"RUN!" Liam yells as he coughs up blood.
The tendril pulls Liam into the trees while he desperately flails around with his sword. Jasper starts to panic again as he frantically tries to get up, slipping over Liam's blood. Eventually, he manages to get his footing and starts to sprint in the opposite direction. As he runs away, he reaches for his helmet and activates his radio.
"H...hello? Guys! Is anyone there?" he stutters.
As Jasper runs through the forest, he trips over a large mass in the bushes and falls on his stomach. He puts his hands down to push himself up before noticing the ground is wet and mushy. Jasper looks down at his hands and sees a massive pool of blood soaking into the dirt. He slowly turns around and sees a headless corpse lying in the bushes. Before he can process the sight before him, he notices a pair of diamond-shaped gauntlets attached to the corpse's arms.
"Brick?! No... No... No..." he mutters to himself as he crawls toward the body.
A tear streams down his face as he flips Brick's body over and notices a massive hole through his torso. As he cries with Bricks mutilated corpse in his arms, he hears a voice come on over the radio.
"Jasper? Are you ok?" Delaney asks.
Jasper quickly reactivates his radio. "Laney? You're alive?" he asks.
"For now," Delaney says somewhat playfully.
"Where are you?!" Jasper asks frantically.
Delaney sighs, "I landed in a tree, but my leg is broken I think."
Jasper quickly gets up, "Stay there, I'm coming to get you."
"Don't bother, I can't fly with this leg, and you won't be able to either if you're carrying me," she replies.
"I can't just leave you, there's something out here, it... killed the others," Jasper mutters, as he stands over Brick's decapitated body.
Delaney takes a moment to reply, "Jasper, you're the only one who can make it back. If you don't get backup, you and I will die too."
"But who knows how long that will take? That entity is gonna find you eventually, I can't just sit around and wait for backup knowing that you'll still be in here," Jasper replies.
Delaney laughs slightly, "Please Jasper, just this once, please listen to me."
Jasper freezes, his mind races with the thought of losing everyone close to him. Does he really want to live in a world without them? It's a question he can't answer, but it's a thought he can't shake. Remembering he doesn't have his rifle and realizing he won't be able to carry Delaney with his boots, he reluctantly decides to listen to her.
"Fine..." he says as his voice shakes, "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault Jasper. Thanks for everything," she says before deactivating her radio.
As Delaney ends the conversation, she hears a strange noise approaching from the bushes below. She slowly starts to panic, putting her hands over her mouth to conceal her breath. The noise gets closer until she sees a long, dark tendril shoot toward her.
Delaney starts to cry, "Please don't leave me..." she mutters to herself as the tendril rapidly approaches her.
Jasper activates his hover boots and quickly flies through the trees, dodging the branches on the way up, and eventually breaking through the forest canopy. As he continues upward, he looks around the sky for the fracture, but it is nowhere to be found. He starts to panic again as he soars higher into the air, scanning every inch of the sky for any sign of the Fracture, but it's not there. Jasper realizes there is no way back to the real world and immediately activates his radio again before diving back toward the forest.
"Delaney! I don't know how, but the fracture is gone, I can't get back. Where are you?" he yells as he plummets toward the trees.
There is no response.
Jasper yells out again, "Laney! Please! Say something!"
Silence.
Jasper breaks through the forest canopy and catches himself midair. He examines every branch he can see, but there is no sign of Delaney anywhere. He picks a direction and starts flying through the trees, scanning them all for any trace of Delaney. His panicked breath causes his helmet to fog up, so he reluctantly deactivates it. As he flies, he slowly picks up speed, going faster and faster until he is barely able to control himself. Eventually, his uncontrollable flight sends him into a tree, and he begins spiraling toward the ground. Jasper lands in a clearing, hitting his head hard and falling unconscious.
As he lies unconscious on the forest floor, a large figure emerges from the bushes. It's incredibly tall, and its limbs are comprised of long, dark tendrils twisting around one another. It has no visible face, just another set of long tendrils sprouting from the top of its torso. It slowly creeps toward Jasper, raising its "arm" above him, as it prepares to strike.
Before the creature can attack Jasper, it freezes up as the small pearlescent orb of energy from before floats down through the trees. The monstrosity watches as the orb floats toward it, eventually phasing through the creature. After a moment, the monster starts to disintegrate until there is nothing left but a pile of shimmering, iridescent ash. The orb then floats toward Jasper's unconscious body before stopping just above his head. It hovers there for a few seconds before phasing into Jasper's forehead.
Jasper's body begins to seize. It thrashes around violently for a few moments until it abruptly stops. In the same instant, Jasper's eyes and mouth open, releasing a stream of pearlescent light, as his body starts to slowly float upward. As soon as his body is off the ground, sparks of energy begin to form on the ground beneath him. The sparks grow rapidly until they eventually combine, forming a small fracture below Jasper. His body hovers in place for a few seconds before his eyes and mouth shut again. Jasper stops floating, and his body falls into the fracture before it closes behind him.