"W-what are... they doing here?" I mumbled, at the edge of the crater's lip, the tip of my finger shaking as I pointed at the large vessel on the far side of the crater.
Images flashed in my head. Those soulless eyes. Those four arms—each the size of an elephant's leg. The Bodies, lining the streets—bodies of their creation.
If they aren't done, will they return? Could they harness Aethesium, creating weapons capable of annihilating us all?
"How do we get through?" Kaoru stepped up to the crater's edge.
"Are you crazy?" A voice behind her, Aiko—up in the turret—yelled, "This group? We'll be spotted in seconds—"
"Not if we split up..." I proposed. I felt their gaze pierce the back of my skull; I turned to meet them.
I pointed my finger at each person, counting, deliberately missing out Nozomi, Kaoru, and Harden. Excluding them, eight: Me, Aiko, Miko, Gabriel, and four other agents—Ajay, Jason, Leanne, and Tyler.
"Aiko and Miko, Ajay and Jason, Leanne and Tyler, each of you, take a rappel and spread out across the edge. Let me know when you're set up, and we'll descend on my mark. Gabriel, you're with me."
"What about me?" Kaoru asked from behind me. His face was stern, but his brows were twitching slightly, betraying his concern.
"Stay here," I said, "Watch over us through BB. Nozomi, stay here with Kaoru and Harden. Keep the engine on—you're our escape."
"Yes, Captain," Nozomi replied.
Kaoru slowly trod over to us, wrapping his arms around Aiko and me.
"Be careful." He whispered, gently in our ears. He then pulled back, closed his eyes and smiled, revealing all his teeth.
"Go break a leg."
We nodded, wordless in our affirmation. For a moment in silence, we stared at each other before turning away.
I watched as each duo faded into the trees, then nodded at the farmer. Grabbing a set of rappelling gear, we set up on the edge. Hooks firmly in place, we waited. The first came.
"Aiko. Rappel set. Over."
Then the next.
"Leanne. Rappel set. Over."
Then finally.
"Ajay. Rappel set. Over."
I threw myself over, standing on the cracked walls of the crater. Rubble dropped as my boots crashed against the shattered rock. In the distance, on either side of me, were the blurred bodies of my squad. I spoke into my radio.
"Everyone. Descend. Over."
"Roger that. Over." They affirmed. The blurred bodies began to move—I followed suit.
Rocks tumbled down the crater's walls as we descended.
"There's something I want to ask you, Gabriel..."
"Go for it." He responded.
"What made you stay here? In the void, I mean."
He took a moment before answering, then took a deep breath.
"They were all I had—my family. I promised Emma that I would protect the farm, and... Millie... then the power came. I can finally protect them, I thought, but in the end, the powers were useless..."
Those graves...
The ground below us had been curving while we descended. Once we reached the crater's bed, the ground became almost flat. Feet firmly on the ground, we removed our harnesses and rouched low. Each foot placement was careful and measured.
"How did you get the powers?"
"Can't say for sure... They developed slowly: faster regeneration, strength, and reaction time," he paused for a moment, "When did the shield ability come about?" he mumbled to himself.
"Of course. Millie and I were out exploring the woods. Boars attacked. One of them knocked me down; another one was charging into my girl. Out of pure instinct, I waved my hand out—grasping at air, really. I then had this... indescribable feeling in my arm... and she was in a bubble. It was like magic."
Swarms of drones buzzed from above, sinking into the treeline. We stayed low, hiding amongst the dying shrubbery.
"Did you ingest anything strange?" I continued my questions.
"Look at where we are," he said blankly, "I had to eat to survive, and just about everything here can be considered strange."
"So was it exposure, or ingestion that gave him powers?" I mumbled under my breath.
The farmer analysed me silently for a moment, one brow raised slightly.
"Are you trying to figure out a way to harness it?" He asked.
My face tensed slightly. Should we touch this power?
"Erm. If... if we don't understand it... humanity could get left behind. And what if they use it?" I pointed at the ship in the distance.
We continued in silence for a moment. Our boots thudded against the floor. The heart of the core—the tree—was getting closer with every step; I could see something at the bottom of the tree. I squinted. The cold bone-white trunk blurred into a solid white, but at the bottom of the tree, just before the white faded to grey, there was a black dot.
"I think I can see the entrance," I announced to Gabriel.
He squinted, looking at the point of the tree the tip of my finger had aligned with. I went for my radio.
"This is Himiko. I think I've found the entrance. Converge on me. Over."
"Roger that. Over." They responded.
Roots creaked underfoot as we trod. Following them with my eyes, they grew converging on the trunk of the central greatwood.
The closer I got, the more the silence became prominent, and it made me wonder: where is everyone? The buzzing of the drones had stopped a while ago, too. My hair rose.
"Himiko." I heard a distant whisper to my left, Aiko. The others followed shortly after.
The entrance stood in front of us. A nine-foot-tall triangle carved in the trunk. Warm air leaked from the gap in the wall, but that didn't stop the chills we felt on our skin. There was something in here, and it was causing this hell.
The interior was cloaked in shadow. I reached into my bag, digging through it in search of my torch.
"Torches, everyone", I said, still trying to keep my voice low.
Slowly, we crept into the black. White beams strayed from wall to wall—flickering slightly. It was a hallway of bark, roots and vines curling up into a sphincter in the ceiling. There was a faint blue light in the distance, seeping through in spots. I shone my light on the spots. Vines, a wall of them, forming a door into the area ahead.
"BB," I called, "Cut it."
In one swift move, the bot curled in the air, its pincer arced as it cut clean through the fines. They cried and hissed as they shrivelled up on the floor. We gave each other a nod, understanding our next move in unison.
A large hall embraced us. A cavern. The floor was uneven; a network of roots lined the hardwood surface of the room. They twisted and turned, moving, pulsating, they curled around each other like coils, climbing up the walls into a central point in the ceiling, then curling down, hanging in one giant spiral.
The mass was holding something, wrapped in roots around each arm. It lit up the cavern, painting the walls in bright blue. The roots around the limbs pulsated; blue ichor bulged out of the flesh. It was absorbing it. The being was humanoid enough—two arms, two legs—but it was different. It was lanky, thin, body hunched over, holding its elongated head. Its legs dangled, knees reversed, and on the end, there were feet, similar to ours, but there were three talons, two on the front, one at the back. It twitched.
"It's an Aethesium entity." My thoughts were vocalised into a mumble. I felt eyes carving into my shell.
"Now you mention it," Aiko concurred, "it looks a lot like the one from the school."
It felt different, much like how the one in the school felt different to the one from Rengappon. I felt slight anger from the red one, but this one calms me slightly when I look at it.
How many are there?
"Do any of you guys feel a bit off?" Jason asked.
"About that guy?" Leanne responded, "Of course I do."
"No... I mean... Why is it so quiet? This place seems untouched, like, why is that ship outside, but the actual tree is untouched."
"Like they're waiting for us..." My heart sank; my mouth vocalised my thoughts purely on instinct.
Just on cue, a sound started ringing. Beeping. It was coming from the wall up above, a drone, stuck to the wall like a security camera. Aiko spun, whipped her pistol out and shot.
Direct hit.
The cavern fell silent again...
The air became thick. Tension sat on each of our shoulders, whispering in our ears. Whether anyone noticed or not, no one wanted to say, but only ever so slightly, I swear I could feel rumbling under my feet. Just like in Rengappon.
Before the ship appeared.
"We need to get out—" I tried to call, but I was interrupted; the ground shook violently now. There was the moan of something massive coming from outside—from above.
"Everyone out." I cried again.
We rushed out of the tree, thinking that we would be safer out there, but we quickly discovered how wrong we were...
Elsewhere, Rachel Johnson's stomach was rumbling.
5 minutes earlier.
The young black woman reached into her bag, shuffling through ammunition, water, first aid, and finally, rations. Kissing her teeth, she grabbed one of the ration packs, reading it up and down, hoping it was good—Potato curry. It'll have to do, she thought, squeezing the pack into her mouth, she whinced; it didn't taste bad—although it didn't taste good either—she just didn't like the cold texture slipping down her throat.
For the moment, her life didn't consist of much—that meal was the most enjoyment she would get. Her and two other people's job was to watch the perimeter, taking turns on watch duty. At the moment, it was Fred's turn; she was next.
Rachel sighed, "I wish I were in one of the expedition teams."
"What are you talking about?" Ellie, the third agent, responded, "You do realise people are dying in there, right?"
"Any longer, and I'm gonna die of boredom."
"Can you shut up? I'm trying to get to sleep here."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Checking her watch, Rachel stood up. It was time to switch. She stepped out from the tent, making her way over to the makeshift watch tower; a small scaffolding of wooden palettes and steel beams—not too complicated.
Fred noticed Rachel walking out of the tent.
"Finally, I can get some sleep," his voice was giddy. He slid down the ladder on the side.
"Anything interesting happen?" The woman asked, patting his shoulder.
"Hell. No."
Just as expected, she thought.
"G'night, Fred."
"Have fun." He replied, opening the tent up. Rachel snorted.
The metal railing clinked as her boots climbed each step. Reaching the top, she got her bearings and wiped the binoculars with a cloth.
There was a bright light in the sky...
"Well, here we go agai—"
CRASH!
The once distant light was not so distant anymore. The ground shook violently. Three giant metal structures floated in the distance. For a second, she was frozen. However, the moment was short as she regained composure and scrambled to the binoculars. Throwing them onto her eyes. She analysed the metal hull, sleek, grey. Orange lights lit up across the canopy. There were three alien cruisers.
Trembling, her hands reached for the radio.
"This is west perimeter speaking... We have a situation..."
This was bad... Staring artillery right in the face. Alien artillery. The crater was swarmed, filled with all sorts of weaponry: Giant cannons on metal quadrupods, floating vehicles with turrets, locked onto us, and bipedal beings aiming advanced weaponry straight at us, cloaked head to toe in armoured black and grey space suits.
It was a trap.