Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Alice finds out Aquira and Sidus are being kept in a high-security underground base near to another military base further inland from the city. Apparently soldiers are going to be moved to it as an extra precaution, should the guardians reach it. If they sense there's a risk of an invasion, Aquira and Sidus will be killed and their deaths used against the warring guardians.


"Try looking for Artemis or any of the elites. I'm almost at the palace so I can check if they've joined the war or not." I say.


"Did you intentionally petrify your Gaia?" Eve asks.

 

He starts trotting down one of the tunnels.

 

Alice keeps lurking, hoping for a map to show in order to give her an idea of its location.

“Sort of too busy for that.”


“She ignored my family’s cries for help, and left me to bathe in their remains before coming with a false smile telling me everything would be okay. We were devoted disciples, we lived and breathed her teachings. Of course I did it intentionally, just as I would petrify any other betrayer.” She says with spite. “But this Gaia... she cares. She gave me my first meal in... I don’t even know how long. I want to see her again, if only to apologize for my wrongs.”

The tunnels echo his footsteps, slight shifting audible ahead.

 

He keeps his cannon aimed ahead, trying to tread lighter as he moves forwards.
Him trying doesn't really help, though.

 

Alice sees a map presented to the soldiers about where the guardians will be attacking from and where they must be kept away from. That's most likely the location Alice needs to look around.


I just sigh, approaching the palace.


Eve pauses, thinking. Her right hand retracts, before re-emerging as a sort of needle. Eve gently puts the needle on the hydra's neck. There's a slight pinch before Eve retracts it.

 

Alice makes two copies of the map with her main body.

"Hey, if you want to give me a hard time managing five bodies at once while holding two telepathic links in the middle of the day, you're welcome to come help."


She doesn't seem to feel it.
"...Putting me down that way? At least have it be potent..." She sighs.

"Scramble the tunnels. Make them overextend."
"Hold the lines, then, you moron."
He can hear in the distance as a few bugs skitter by.

 

The soldiers begin moving out, getting into vehicles for both the land and air.


"I'm going to." I say, heading inside the palace.


"No, that's so I can find you again." Eve says, turning to leave.

 

Alice keeps her clones on the ground, slipping out in the shadows of the vehicles.

"No, you're not. They're moving out, and you need to keep the guardians from advancing. Get Artemis the hell out of there, I'm going to call in EBB and I want it to have as few distractions as possible." Alice snaps. "You might be my king, but I need you to relay what I have to whatever guardians you can. If they have Aquira and Sidus, they might have Kiin, and if they kill her, Xlentia's wiping out Earth."


"...You were tasked to kill me, no?" She asks, unsure.

 

One of the vehicles containing a faux-guardian swerves and crashes after driving for a while. It seems not all of the guardians were fakes.


"Do you think I'm not already trying to do that?" I ask, heading to the portal room.


"I'm not entirely controlled by programming." Eve says, winking before blasting away with rocket boots.

 

Alice seems split, keeping track

“On a side note, how mad would you be if I kept my kill count at zero? Also, there are actual guardians in that army... except they all seem to be martyrs.”


Fenira looks up slightly before shuffling off.


EBB shows up at the palace gates.
“I was summoned by one of your kin. Do you know who it is, and do you know if the circumstances are of higher priority than my studies?”

 

The guardian glances up at one of the helicopters, before a bullet wound appears in their head and they fall to the ground, dead. A sniper reloads his rifle from the helicopter as it flies over.


"I wouldn't mind. It's probably best you keep yourself hidden."


"None of us have summoned you." One of the guards says bluntly.

 

Alice sends two clones towards where she thinks the compound might be, moves one to try and continue spying on the higher ups, and keeps one remaining to track of the mobilizing troops.

“I could break the vast majority of the offensive. I just don’t know if I should.”


“If no shadow summoned me here, then I was meant to go to Earth. Do you happen to have a portal convenient, or do I need to open one myself?”

 

The compound is a lot further away than Alice first thought, and it takes a while for her to reach it. When she does, it just seems to be an empty field, a farm not too far away with a field of corn.


"It'd cause chaos and probably save a few guardian lives," I say, "On another note, I've never seen the ocean look so much like a desert."


"You'll need to open one yourself." Another guard says.

 

She scans the area for sensors, using one clone as potential bait equipped with a fake soul, a pendant that gives resistance to light, and a feral-ish behavior as it makes a scene running through the field.

“Heh, you ought to do a little more exploring sometime.”


EBB flies backwards through a portal that spontaneously appears, closing immediately after.

You find EBB come through a portal near you.
“There you are, your guards are sorely out of the loop.” It says, seeming content... ish.

 

All this achieves is scaring a farmer half to death, the farmer running inside and locking his door.


"Don't kill the guardians please, I know you have an itchy trigger finger." I say, walking across the desert-ocean.

 

The other clone fakes being struck down, seemingly dissipating.
The two clones continue around the area, searching for anything out of place.


“Show me these guardians so I can interweave their soul patterns into my targeting algorithm.” EBB says, one arm summoning a railgun.

 

There's nothing out of place, the field full of wild flowers and occasional berry bushes. Either Alice was known and lied to, or the base is hidden extremely well.


"I'm trying to find them. You'll know them when you see them." I say.

 

Alice returns her focus to the clone spying on the higher-ups, intent on getting an answer.

Her two clones continue their search, widening the area they sweep.


EBB looks through the scope of the gun, checking for any signs of guardians... or anything that’s moving.

 

Alice can't seem to get a straight answer on how to access the base, only referenced by higher ups as something the guardians shouldn't get to.

As Alice explores, one of her clones finds a piece of rebar sticking out from the ground.


EBB sees what looks like the rest of the ocean in the far distance, though judging by it's height and movement, it soon becomes clear it's actually a tsunami.

 

She returns her focus onto the mobilizing forces.

She marks its location on one of her maps at home, making her clones sweep the area further.


EBB switches to a spectral view, looking into the tsunami.