Lost Rain
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Outrun - Chapter 162
🕑 Added 2024-10-23 22:04:01 +0000 UTCThe night, as it turns out, was anything but uneventful. Where did it start going wrong? Somewhere after I laid down for the night, and then paranoia kept me from falling asleep amongst a bunch of strangers. Sure, Athena had been very clear she wanted me back in one piece, but logic didn’t always defeat instinct.
I decided to stay up a bit later, deliberating on the choice between instinct, which could be wrong, and logic which could be misinformed. It was a hard choice, though in the end instinct won out anyway since I stayed up too late.
In this case, instinct proved to be the correct choice. Just not how I thought it’d be. A few hours after the entire camp had settled down, in which I’d been doodling away in my sketchbook to clear my mind, I heard movement close.
I grabbed my gun on reflex, though I relaxed my grip slightly as logic won once more. I still kept the pistol close to hand as I stepped out of the tent and out onto the shifting rocky outcropping we were camped out on.
Sergeant Hampton lay on a towel in the middle of Red-Six’s area, staring up at the sky as he blew smoke from his mouth. Renold leaned against the nearby prowler, lighting his own with his fancy lighter thumb. I guess if you smoke a lot, such an augment would be a good idea. Also though, keeping flammable liquid in your thumb might not be the best considering our line of work.
”Can’t sleep either?” Sergeant Hampton propped himself up on an elbow and looked over. His cigarette dropped out of his hands, extinguishing itself in the sand. “Damnit.”
”Something like that.” I flicked on Hidden Hands and discreetly put away my gun. Should I share my bad feeling? They were my guards for the duration of the mission, so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea. “Just a bad feeling tonight.”
“I know what you mean.” Hampton nodded his head a few times before laying back and propping his head up with his hands.
Renold blew a ring, staring at it for a moment before shaking his head. “You lot are too superstitious if you ask me.”
Hampton coughed lightly. ”That’s what you said the last time. And if you really believed that, you wouldn’t be out here with me.”
The driver fell silent as he took another drag of his smoldering cigarette. The wind shifted, bringing hot air as the smoke hit me in the face. My nose scrunched up automatically at the scent of cheap cigarettes.
I sat around for a few minutes as we silently stared up at the night sky. Then all the smoke got to me and I retreated into my tent.
An hour later, as I finished working on my newest gadget that'd join my roster as soon as I got back to the city, a sandstorm blew in. It started slow, just a few pieces of sand flying here and there. Then it picked up to a full-fledged one as sound started pounding the side of my tent.
The storm wasn’t rough enough to get through the tent that’d been provided to me, but it was a near thing. The sand pounded at the tough material, creating a constant scratching like claws on a chalkboard. It was terribly annoying, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to listen to some music. Paranoia, I guess.
Just as I was starting to feel tired, having recently swapped my canteen from water production to XtraEnergy Quantum for a little boost, a screeching howl came just over the sandstorm. It had a haunting quality to it, seeming to scratch at the innermost sections of my brain.
Immediately, I was on my feet- er, knees. The tent was small. I threw on my breathing mask and goggles. Thankfully, I’d planned for a sandstorm this time, especially considering we were headed pretty far inland. I put up my stuff in my Drop Chute bag, grabbed my weapons, and unzipped the tent. Sand billowed in, covering my sleeping area entirely. That was a problem for future Shiro though. I had bigger worries.
About half of the Crimson Caravan was on their feet, spilling out of their tents in various states of awareness. Hampton and Renold were already up, guns drawn as they looked around. Lia and Yonrow were a few steps behind, though they quickly joined us.
Light had been cut down to a dim pitch, barely enough to light the way thanks to the captain’s desire to stay mostly hidden. It wasn’t a problem for me seeing as my vision had significantly improved from where it’d been a few months ago, but it was a problem for several others. Especially when combined with the already lacking visibility thanks to the sandstorm.
At least- until lights all over flashed on, blinding me as my eyes failed to adjust quickly to the sudden intrusions. With the inclusion of bright lights into the mix, the rest of the camp jostled awake.
“What was that?” I couldn’t tell who asked amongst the murmurs of hot camp, but the question broke through, seemingly spreading like an infection.
Soon, Lia was the one asking the questions through a deep yawn. “What was what? What’re they talkin’ ‘bout?”
Hampton immediately started laying down orders as he put on a mask to protect against the sandstorm, muffling his voice slightly. “Mask up. Lia, summon your sprite. Renold and Yonrow, go get the Prowler started. Zuku, stay close to me.”
Easy enough. I checked my weapons. Coming out here I packed fairly light. I activated the shock gauntlets, made sure my KS Squire-14 was loaded, and shifted to feel the reassuring weight of my pistols. This time around I’d brought my Sidewinder and the Knight Security Saber-19, the one I’d gotten from the Blue Crusade. It was far more powerful, and I’d already had a bunch of silver bullets from it.
There hadn’t been a call to arms quite yet, but I had a bad feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Had one ever since we got out here, really. Almost like a low buzz of coldness that could’ve been Insight trying to warn me or could’ve just been indigestion from the MRE slop they served for dinner.
I was leaning toward the former though. My own instincts, outside of Insight, were screaming something was wrong. Maybe it was thanks to the similarities from the last time I was in the Outlands while tracking the Leper-Khans? I wasn't sure, but I was deeply unsettled.
The sands around us intensified, making it difficult to see without protection of some sort. The rest of Red-Six followed the Sergeant’s orders, though Lia stalled slightly. “Are we expecting a fight?”
“I’m not sure.” He looked around everywhere, his head constantly twisting and turning as if to catch even the slightest of hints. Outside of the ruckus in the camp and the howling sandstorm, the world outside of the camp had been dead silent. There wasn’t a repeated noise like what first got everyone moving.
Lia frowned, her hand slowly caressing the ring. “Silver might not want to come back later if I call him now…”
”That’s fine. Call its brother then?” Hampton asked, but it was more of a command.
“Not how it works…” She sighed and started mumbling to herself as she stroked her ring. A moment later, the air crackled with power. The Aether split open, revealing-
A tiny wolf pup. It had super adorable eyes staring up at the world around it in wonder. A little yip sounded out, having an ethereal tinge to it making the sound almost ghostly. I doubt she’d materialize this particular sprite. If it were here physically it’d be picked up and carried away by the wind. Probably just planned to use it as a conduit to cast magic.
My eyes snagged on the sandstorm as sand wiped my exposed forehead. I pulled the hood lower down, blocking as much of the stinging substance as I could. With Aetherial Perception active, the entire thing looked entirely different than how it had with mortal eyes. This thing wasn’t natural. There was an almost heavy feeling to it, and the entire thing seemed to thrum as if following the beat of a dark heart.
Hampton’s radio crackled to life… then continued crackling. I could hear Captain Roger’s irritated voice from elsewhere in the camp. “Red-One, come in.”
”Tchhhhhhh-“ Something came across, though it was too garbled to make anything out of. The sandstorm must be causing some interference. Or something else. This sandstorm wasn’t naturally made. Ambush?
”Hey, something about this sandstorm doesn’t feel right.” It was the most I could say without exposing deeper capabilities. I’d rather the outside world consider me entirely tech-focused without a hint of magical awareness.
Hampton looked at me as if I were a kindred soul before slowly nodding. “You feel it too?”
”Red-One.” A call came again.
“Tchhhhhh- elp! Massive- tchhhhhhh-“
Gunfire erupted from just outside of the camp, sending everyone into overdrive. Visibility dropped again, turning everything not immediately around me into a shadow even with the lights.
A shout came from the center of the camp, carrying over the billowing winds. “Load up! Get the guns active up! Red-Two! Red-Three! Go find Red-One and offer fire support! The rest of you, circle up and get ready for a fight!”
Movement erupted from all over the camp as Red-Two and Red-Three rolled out in their prowlers as the barely audible firefight intensified. Uncertain looks passed around our temporary camp, but these guys were professionals. There was a shift as everyone locked in and psyched themselves up.
”Let’s move.” Sergeant Hampton called to our group as everyone got ready. I followed their lead as we headed back for the Prowler. It was a good decision in my opinion. At least we could flee this way without too many issues.
The gunfire in the distance intensified, briefly having a lull before several more guns joined up. The other two groups must’ve found the first one. Whatever they were fighting must’ve been quite the opponent considering the fight had gone so long. Was it those Thermoguants Lia mentioned? Then what was up with the storm?
”Lia, can you get us some vision?” Hampton called as everyone got into position. Renolds turned the engine a few times before the Prowler roared into action. We weren’t the only ones as the camp all prepared themselves, sliding the HMGs on the smaller vehicles in between the gaps in the Mice.
”Not this time. I summoned a pup.” Lia, who was carrying said pup in her arms, looked a little distraught. It was a massive change from the giant silver wolf she summoned the last time.
Yonrow pulled down the console to control the turret, putting me even more on edge. These guys didn’t even have an issue with a Nomad ambush, but now? Yonrow asked, “Do we know what we’re fighting yet?”
”No.” Renold replied. The sandstorm seemed to pick up, pelting the windshield so much that he had to switch on the wipers just for us to look through. Not that it mattered. Visibility dropped to an all-time low as if we were separated into our own world. Only the dim glow of lights in the distance told us we were still with the group.
Hampton looked back toward us, a frown on his face. “Go ahead and swap to silver.”
”You sure?” Yonrow asked though he was already following the command. He messed around on the console. A whirring sound echoed through the ceiling as the mag feeds disengaged and swapped over.
”I’ll take the blame if I’m wrong.” Hampton shrugged. “Guess no beer after the gig then.”
Lia laughed as if trying to lighten the overcast mood. “Nova. Maybe Melinda won’t complain about your belly this time around.”
It didn’t work. The cabin went silent- well, as silent as it could with sand constantly pelting the body of the vehicle. I followed Renold’s lead and swapped mags over to silver.
Dune Walkers. It must be what Hampton suspected if he had us change ammo types. No other point in using silver bullets- at least, not common ones around here. I’d never run into them myself seeing as I was from Aythryn City, a city on the far reaches of North Arkhanika. I’d heard horror stories though.
The central section of the continent, dividing the landmass into two, was entirely covered in the impenetrable Eternal Sandstorm and all the disasters that lurked within its ever-shifting sands. Dune Walkers were one such disaster, and the farthest reaching ones.
I’d heard the few city-states that remained around the central sections of the continent were constantly under attack and had massive walls built up to protect against the onslaught. Said cities were also the number one employers of mercs on this side of the pond. I can’t even imagine living there in constant fear of something breaking through the walls.
The gunshots in the distance died out entirely as the sandstorm seemed to freeze. The ferocious winds halted as an unnaturally seeming stillness seemed to come over the entire camp. Sand drifted down like yellow snow as some visibility returned. It felt almost like the entire world had slowed down.
I knew though. Insight’s warning was far stronger this time. This was only the calm before the storm.
Comments
Gardor
Oh gotcha, I missed that red one was patrolling, my mistake
Lost Rain
The silver bullets thing was a hundred percent a mistake. It’s gone now. The call wasn’t supposed to come till next chapter. I got ahead of myself a bit D: Red-Two and Three aren’t going to find a separate camp. There is only one camp centered on a rock outcropping just down the mountain. Red-One was out patrolling and keeping guard, so they were away from camp. Likewise, they were the first to engage in the mysterious enemy(Forget about the part where I already spoiled the tension…). Going out to them wouldn’t normally be an issue, but with the sandstorm dropping visibility so bad, they need to find them first.
Gardor
"Red-Two! Red-Three! Go find Red-One and offer fire support"-> are you saying they dont know where red one set up camp? I'm sure this outfit doesn't have the same discipline as an actual military, but I still think letting your crew just randomly pick individual spots to camp is a bit too far. Like, the little squads in a circle around the APC and transport vehicles, if they're not going to make one combined camp. I guess "find" is the operative word I'm complaining about here. Also, Hampton starts talking about taking the blame for wasting silver bullets, but they were already ordered to switch to silver bullets.
