One by one, they stepped back on the soil of Earth in the park between the city and the school. A moment after the last person came through. Lana had to sit down at a tree. Her head was killing her and she was feeling really sick. The trees had assaulted her with everything that had happened over the last six weeks. While the others were looking around at the devastation the forest had endured, Lana was seeing it in her head as the trees played back the history of it. Shalt was at her side while Vorden was investigating some marks. She threw up and felt a little better but tears streamed down her face. She could hear the others talking. Something about not expecting what they saw coming from Kaz. She sat there for a few minutes while the others started walking toward the school. Caser had his tentacles wrapped around her in a hug only he could manage. He had grown quite a bit over the summer and she no longer even wore his perch.
She gathered herself together as best she could and the three of them jogged to catch up. She saw Peter cut off from the group and head to the city. Her ears were somewhat working but her tongue was simply broken. She could form no words as the horror replayed in her head over and over again. The base was almost leveled. There were charred bodies periodically, though there were not many. It looked to be soldiers, though. They had not found any students so far. She heard Logan lament something about his research being destroyed. They were told to break off and search and she went to her agricultural area. She was able to salvage a few books but most were charred. It looked like lightning strikes but she already knew that. Graylash. She knew the who but not the why. She also wasn't clear on the exact when as trees didn't understand the concept of time. That was the one problem with relying on them for intelligence. There was no room left in her bag so Shalt added the books that were salvageable to his trunk. She also took the crystals out of the hydroponic machines, those she could access anyway. Most were melted to the point she could not open the door. She then returned to the center where they had all departed ways from. She was still crying so she kept her head down.
The others were starting to regroup. She heard something about the city being the same way; no student bodies, just soldiers. Something about returning to the vampire world and another about it being out of the question. She thought she heard Paul's voice say there might be another way. Next thing she knew, they were digging through rubble. Then they were walking down a very long set of stairs. A set of stairs she remembered very clearly. Quinn and Paul in the lead. Her, Shalt and Caser were the last to descend.
It didn't take her long to be hit by the full realization of where they were. It was the dungeon. She didn't see this portion when she was here last. She realized it was far more vast than she had noticed before. She heard Paul say something about the area being big enough to bring the entire population of the base down there in case of attack. They looked in some of the cells that were open. A few had dead students in them. They had the same scorch marks but also knife wounds. She realized she had stared at a body too long, thinking he looked like a classmate and caught up. They were standing outside an area that required a code to get in.
Apparently, Paul had realized she had fallen behind and waited for her. They then went through a series of coded doors. It seemed the Graylash were unable to enter this area. Everything remained intact. Eventually they arrived at a door that opened up to a huge ship. Everyone stood and stared at this ship. She heard Paul mention something about this being a prototype. Soon they all found themselves aboard. He took them to where there were about 100 uniforms that were made from beast crystals and offered protection, she guessed they were like her clothing. Each was given one to wear since most were wearing vampire clothing. Quinn practically lived in his military uniform prior to going to the other world but he evolved so it no longer fit.
They spent an hour just running all over the place and Lana's head began to clear. She found Logan and pulled him aside. This ship had vehicles, several ships, mechs, you name it. A war could be launched from it and be sustained. There were hydroponics machines like those in school. There was a canteen, training rooms, enough quarters for 2,000 personnel. It was a home away from home while still enabling combat support. When she found Logan, she asked him if he could give her exclusive access to two ships; program them with the coordinates so she would only need to hit a button or two and it would take her to her planet. He told her he could and would but first they needed to get in the air and figure out where to go from here. She was okay with that.
Her reason for wanting two ships was so she could use one while the other could be left on the ship for someone to be able to come to her. She wanted to have as little communication systems on planet as possible as she didn't want the Dalki or the Blades to know anyone lived there. All the smaller ships were built for combat with guns and such. She would allow Logan to decide on what to do there. She needed hers to primarily be cargo and transport. The other could be combat and transport potentially but the transport portion was what was most important to her. All the ships carried at least 15 people. Currently, she had 7 but was interested in getting Dilly Threadbare, Rene, Dante, and Tobias that she rescued from Quinn's class. It would give her ten people plus her seamstress. Two teams. On the bridge, she was finally able to take in the sleek design of the ship though she didn't really appreciate technology. She preferred plants and earth. It certainly did seem state of the art. The table in the meeting room even had a 3D projector in the middle for planning purposes. It reminded her of a very modern version of King Arthur's Table that the Vampire Council used.
Everyone trickled in wearing their uniforms. Each had chosen a room for themselves in the same area of the ship and put their things in there so they didn't need to carry bags or trunks around. Logan started the ship. The next agenda was to discuss where to go. Quinn didn't want to go to Dreamland City because he knew he'd kill Truedream if he saw him. They decided the next closest city after that was just a bit further away but they would be passing over Dreamland City along the way. Logan plotted the course and they were off. They could have gone faster but they were not buckled in. Instead, they were pretending they were filling rolls on the bridge of a science fiction flick. Lana couldn't get into the rolls but she was happy the others could. Sometimes being oblivious was a good thing.