Galactic High

“The Pallid Pit?” Nya squeaked.

“For what reason would you wish to go there?” Rena asked calmly, narrowing her eyes at Jack.

“We’re not asking you to come with us and we’re not gonna justify our reasons,” Jack replied flatly to Rena, meeting her gaze with one of his own. “We’re just asking you to teleport us to a safe location as close to there as possible for a generous fee. And this is time-critical!”

The group had quickly rushed back to their arranged meeting point - a nearby outdoor cafe within a Greenwarden grove, where the animals were tame and would often snuggle up to patrons to be fed by them. Alora had left a moderate advance payment behind the bar to keep both Nya and Rena content while they waited for the group to get the location of the hacker, and she was thankful they hadn’t taken too many liberties with their lent budget.

“If you’re sure.” Nya nodded. “Then I won’t stop you.”

Rena actually looked taken aback by the Stygian’s answer. It was the most emotion Jack had ever seen out of the yellow fox-like Prefect so far.

“I don’t know why you would want to go there, but I can tell it’s very important to you,” Nya replied seriously, without a hint of hesitation in her voice. “I’ll get you as close as I can. Commlink signals are spotty in that area, but if you’re in trouble and can get through to me I’ll try and get you out.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to handle what lies ahead.” Alora sighed, as the other members of the group made a quick weapons check. “The Pallid Pit hasn’t returned to full strength since…it was cleansed a month and a half back.” Her eyes briefly moved to look at Jack. “Since the signal is exact, we’ll hopefully be in and out in a short amount of time.”

“Are we all ready?” Nya asked, shooing the nearby animals away as Nika, Jack and Sephy did some final stretches. “Link arms in a circle. I’ll stand at the centre and cast a transportation circle.”

Jack did so, directing Dante to stand with Nya as he linked arms with Nika and Sephy, who were very keen on staying away from Rena, who would be joining them temporarily for the ride.

Casting eldritch chants, Nya barely gave Jack any time to close his eyes or react as one moment they were all on the grass, and the next they were standing on dust and rubble, surrounded on all sides by squalor and despair. Fighting the slight nausea he felt at the sudden shift of reality, Jack immediately went into action, turning and aiming his newly-slinged plasma rifle, assessing the situation and ready to open fire. “I don’t see anything.”

“Looks like we’re alone here,” Nika confirmed, spinning up her gatling laser and checking the other angles with Sephy while Alora and Chiyo hid behind them.

“I can confirm no hostile lifesigns in this vicinity,” Rena cooly replied, her eyes glowing purple for just a moment. “Though your technique needs practice.”

“Didn’t ask,” Nika growled. “We’ve been through enough crap to know what we’re doing, and I bet we’ve been in more proper scraps than you.”

“Thank you, Nya!” Alora butted in before Nika started a fight. “I hope you and Rena enjoy the rest of your night!”

“It was no trouble!” Nya smiled. “But be careful, especially you Jack!”

“We will.” Jack nodded as Nya and Rena quickly disappeared.

“Well you heard her, Jack, you have to try doubly hard to stay alive!” Sephy joked, to quiet laughter from the others.

“Where did she even dump us?” Nika quickly asked, getting them back on task.

“We’re very close!” Sephy replied, sounding surprised as she checked her comms. “One district out, close to the Pallid Pit district entrance. No wonder we couldn’t find anyone nearby! Most of this shit is abandoned, only the desperate take root here!”

And neither should we. We need to get to the signal before our enemy has a chance to get away! Where’s the entrance?

“If I remember right, the entrances were mostly blocked, but if you say new people keep finding their way there, then there must be a way in,” Jack reasoned. “We just have to find it.”

“According to the map, one of the old entrances should be a few blocks up the main road,” Nika confirmed. “While time is of the essence, we can’t rush recklessly in. It isn’t that far but the slicer will know something is up and might try an ambush.”

“I’ll go first then.” Jack nodded as he quickly expanded and retracted his shield a few times to get a good feel for it. It was a little awkward to aim his rifle while the shield was up, but he figured in an emergency he could let it fall freely on his sling and switch to his axe or much more powerful Dominator if he needed to.

Once Alora and Chiyo had cast all the magical protections and contingencies on them that they could in a reasonable amount of time, they were ready to go. Leading the way he was flanked by Nika, who was directing them with the map. Sephy stayed behind them with Alora and Chiyo, who had wands out. Dante took the rear on high alert, occasionally stopping to sniff in certain places or spend more time looking in different directions before catching up. Nobody would be sneaking up on them from behind, at least.

The rows of abandoned structures continued, looking more decrepit as they got closer. Rotten wood, corroded metal, and gnarled and twisted foliage taking root. It was clear that nothing good had settled here in a long, long time, and somehow the Pallid Pit was at the middle of it all…

“Movement up ahead,” Jack whispered to the others as he slowly moved closer to the wall they were following, the others following suit and ducking down behind cover without alerting anyone.

“What do you see?” Alora asked on subvocal comms.

“People by the entrance,” Jack whispered back. “I think it’s open. How do you want to play this?”

“Should pick them off now while they’re in the open,” Nika reasoned

“We don’t know if they’re all hostiles, so we should take a closer look but be ready for a fight,” Alora hesitantly whispered.

“Both of you are right,” Jack interjected. “Stay hidden and cover me while I’ll go try and talk to them and get them to fuck off, but the moment any of them make a hostile move you take them down.”

Jack got closer to the small gathering, seeing that, for the most part, Alora’s plan to hold off had been a prudent one. Several sorry souls were sitting on the ground on the side of the road leaning against whatever rubble was available, and it only took a quick glance from Jack to sum them up. Lepers, beggars, the destitute and downtrodden. The Pallid Pit was the place where only the most desperate sought refuge.

What kind of horrors and nightmares could these people have possibly experienced that would make coming here a comfort?

Some of the standing figures turned on hearing Jack’s methodical footsteps and immediately moved out of the way, knowing full well that shit was about to hit the fan. Others moved more slowly, thumbing weapons and quickly moving to the side, looking to the imposing figure leaning against the entrance rubble. A glowing orange cigar poking out the side of their maw, they were guarding the way into the Pallid Pit, where light indicated a single-file path. They were a hulking reptilian with natural bone spikes that had clearly been artificially sharpened to a point. The thick, heavy armour they wore looked like corroded scrap, and the painted burning skull on the chestplate was a dead giveaway that they belonged to the Cult of the Destroyer.

“Prophet told me you’d be back tonight, human,” he growled in a sadistic chuckle, and Jack’s eyes widened at being called by his species. “Almost doubted ‘em, but here you are, just as promised. I’ve been waitin’ a long time for a night like this.”

“Who are you?” Jack asked him, as many of the figures now fled from the scene, with only a few remaining, backing away from the two cautiously. “Do you know who we’re after? Will you let us pass?”

There was silence for several moments as the two stared at each other, the unknown figure with wide eyes licking his lips in ecstasy as if anticipating delicious meat, with Jack getting ready to run, listening to Nika telling him over subvocal comms where the best bit of cover would be, and listening to the others call their targets. Eventually the man spoke, turning to fully face Jack, and it was only when he shifted did Jack notice the large, heavy gun propped up against the wall next to him.

“Tell me, boy. Do you like to….dance?” the man’s voice grumbled, a hint of dark humour dripping from the question. “I’ve been waitin’ too long underground for someone worthy to finally kill me, and now that you’re here, I’m just achin’ for a dance!”

“Jack! Move!” Nika called as several shots ran out to take out most of the remaining figures. Followup shots all centred on the leader, whose armour and shields easily ate the gunfire as they raised their huge gun, laughing as the twin barrels started spinning….

“Aegis!” Jack called out in panic, his shield popping up just in time as his cover was melted by the heavy plasma fire, with several thuds pinging off the metal sheet, smoke billowing as Jack ran, trying to remain fully covered as the man kept up his fire. Jack didn’t know what he was screaming, but it was something about ‘dancin’.

“Overcharge!” Jack yelled as the fire ceased, the plasma barrels having overheated. The figure barely reacted in time as he lifted his gun up to block the high-powered photon blast, before dropping it and rushing to get close to Jack while the human kept firing. Several shots landed true and hit, but the armour held long enough for him to tackle Jack. He tried to bite him with his teeth and gore him with his spikes like a feral animal, piercing through the battleskin and stabbing into the human’s flesh, before stopping with a jerk as Jack’s knife got through his armour plates and slid between his ribs. Following through, Jack shoved the brute off him as they chuckled through their final breaths.

“Wait, boy….” the brute whispered as his voice got faint. “I gotta tell you something…”

The fighting had ceased as quickly as it had begun and the others were slowly making their way to him. Jack moved closer so he could better hear his opponent. “What can you tell me?”

“The Prophet ain’t runnin. They figured you’d show up eventually and they’re waitin’ for you. Tell them…Tell them….”

The brute suddenly held on to Jack as hard as he could, activating something on his armour that beeped ominously. “TELL THEM THE BUTCHER TOOK YOU WITH THEM! DESTROYER TAKE US!”

Jack tried to jerk free but the grip was strong, the Butcher desperately keeping him there with the last of his strength as the beeping got faster. Thinking quickly, Jack put his left wrist close to the Butcher’s head. “Aegis!” Jack commanded as his shield reappeared, crudely slicing off the Butcher’s head and breaking his grip before Jack frantically dove behind cover just as the armour exploded in a roaring fireball, obliterating everything nearby. He was knocked and cut a bit, but still alive.

“Jack! Are you alright?” Alora rushed to him, with a wand of healing out. “I’m sorry, it was a bad idea to let you get close!”

“I’m alright!” Jack quickly called out as the others joined them, Dante getting close and licking his face. “Get off!” he told the dog with a relieved sigh. “And no, it wasn’t a bad idea. Most of them ran away, so I’m glad we didn’t open fire on any non-combatants. Couldn’t have seen this bastard coming though.” He kicked what remained of the armour plating across the ground and spotted the sorry sight of the Butcher’s weapon. “Does his gun still work?”

“Slagged to shit.” Nika sighed. “Can’t blame you for wanting it, but something like that would have been linked to the electronics in his armour anyway.”

We have learned a few things though. Chiyo reminded them. If the Pallid Pit being the place wasn’t enough of a clue, then this confirms the Cult of the Destroyer is involved.

“Who the hell is the ‘Prophet’?” Sephy asked, a little shaken. “Chiyo? Aren’t Destroyer Prophets like…super rare or something?”

Yes. Chiyo replied, worried. Very little is known about how the Cult of the Destroyer works, but Prophets are rare, and are speculated to have been the ones in charge of some of the more powerful cells.

“Powerful?” Sephy replied in confusion. “The Pallid Pit is dangerous, but it’s never been considered a serious threat.”

“That we know of,” Nika interjected. “That guy for sure wasn’t your average cultist.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Jack looked to the others as he indicated the blast zone behind him. “After that explosion, if the Cult didn’t know we were coming before, they certainly do now.”

“You’re right,” Alora agreed. “Let’s hurry.”

Jack took the lead, aiming down his gun sights as the group made their way through the rubble of the entrance, combining the practice and experience he had accumulated so far to check any possible alcoves and murder holes where they might be ambushed from. One fool tried, and was quickly blasted apart by Jack’s plasma rifle before they could even jump out.

Soon they made it through, Jack quickly surveying the immediate area, ready to dip back before he allowed the others through, Nika and Sephy covering the casters, with Dante taking the rear and confirming nothing else was amiss.

The Pallid Pit barely had anything resembling buildings remaining, having been destroyed multiple times over many battles and local wars, and so it was of little surprise to the others that the signal ping came from closer to the central ruins, though how the hacker had access to power and space was a mystery for now. Most cultists and vagabonds were content to simply sit or lie on the unsheltered ground, lazily staring at the group as they pressed on, occasionally putting down the odd fanatic that ran up to them with a weapon, easily dropping the hostiles before they got anywhere near.

“He’s here…” one of the dregs whispered to the others.

“It is foretold…” another voice carried in the wind.

The group was tense, ready to put down any that made any bad movements, not that many did. Glancing at the faces, Jack could see that many were in awe.

“Signal should be around here,” Sephy added nervously as they made their way to a spot that looked ever more familiar to Jack as they got closer. “But I don’t get it, these buildings couldn’t possibly have the equipment needed! Even if they did, the Cult of the Destroyer would fuck it all up. You’ve seen how suicidal they are, seeking destruction even to the point where it’s detrimental to their own cause.”

Jack? Chiyo asked, as the human was examining a spot on the ground. What’s wrong?

“This is the place where I woke up,” Jack admitted, remembering the nightmare as if it were yesterday and pointing at an unassuming spot on the ground. Dante plodded up to it and sniffed at it in slight curiosity, but didn’t give any particular reaction, except to look up at Jack in confusion. “When I woke up there were a bunch of assholes with weapons and spiky armour, and I was fighting for my life, and that has me thinking…”

“What?” Alora asked, gently.

“Where’s the welcoming committee?” Jack asked simply. “We’re right in the middle of Cult of the Destroyer territory, and apart from the guy at the entrance we’ve faced mostly token resistance. There’s a Prophet around that’s waiting for me, so where the fuck are they?”

“Hang on.” Nika perked up, seemingly having remembered something. “Remember what that guy at the entrance said?”

“Yeah…” Jack replied, catching on. “Before he attacked he mentioned something about waiting underground. This ringworld has an extensive undersection, right?”

“That’s right!” Sephy excitedly understood. “It’s normally really hard to access the Gloom Paths and natural entrances to the really deeper parts are extremely rare! But if the signal originates from here…”

Then the slicer is somewhere below us! Chiyo concluded. It explains why the Cult of the Destroyer here is always able to rebuild so quickly!

“That kind of close-quarter combat in what’s got to be a fortified area is gonna be bad.” Nika grimaced. “But we’re prepared. Keep your wits about you!”

“All we need to do is find the entrance.” Alora sighed. “Where should we-”

They were immediately interrupted by several roars above them, as a small squadron of ships seemed to rush in before abruptly stopping. The group barely had enough time to register what they were, before they immediately opened fire indiscriminately on the countless cultists below.

Those are drow ships! Chiyo panicked. Why are they even here?

“Doesn’t matter!” Jack replied, being the first to spur the rest into action. “We’ve got to get underground! There’s no way there’s any good cover up here!”

“Chiyo?” Alora asked the Ilithii, who seemed to be concentrating.

Bunch of life signs are gathering in certain spots all over the place. Chiyo replied. Likely multiple entrances, nearest one over there! She pointed to one of the ruined buildings, that Jack remembered several of his previous attackers burst out of.

The group quickly ducked behind a ruined wall as one of the drow ships did a flyby overhead, mercilessly cutting down cultists who seemed apathetic to their imminent demise. Another ship in the distance hovered amid one of the clusters of cultists, and Jack could see it lower slightly off the ground before a group of drow soldiers jumped out and rappelled down with practised discipline, blasting anyone near them.

“We’ve got to get the fuck underground. Now!” Nika ordered, and the group wasted no time in following her, blasting anyone unfortunate enough to wander into them. At this point, anybody in the area was considered hostile, and with the sounds of fighting everywhere, there wasn’t any time for niceties. Turning the corner of one of the ruined buildings, Jack didn’t hesitate to open fire on a small group of cultists emerging out of a hatch in the ground, catching them completely by surprise, and he was quickly joined by the others who helped finish them off.

In the distance there was a loud explosion as one of the drow ships exploded, hit by a ray of hellfire, and Jack could see in the distance a familiar-looking red-skinned figure in black robes.

Devil’s Daughter was on the hunt for him this night.

“We should get a grenade down that hatch!” Sephy quickly suggested, and Nika agreed, lifting it just enough to get it in before shutting it, holding it down with Jack standing on top. After feeling the explosion, Jack and Nika hopped in and cut down the unfortunate psychos with extreme prejudice. Helping the others down, they quickly shut the hatch.

“Shall I weld it behind us?” Nika suggested, and Alora thought for a moment.

“Yes.” She finally nodded. “We don’t want anyone getting in behind us, just make sure you can undo it if we have to come back this way.”

“That’s unlikely considering the shitstorm outside,” Sephy pointed out. “Might be safer to fully weld it, exfil underground and find the nearest hatch out that isn’t in the middle of a battlefield.”

“We still don’t know what lies ahead.,” Jack suggested. “Might as well leave our options open for now.”

They were interrupted by Chiyo, who was focusing her mind around the area. I sense no immediate hostiles in this area. I suggest we make some distance and get to the source of the signal before we are discovered.

“I’ll keep point,” Jack immediately volunteered.

“I’ll be right behind, but your shield is fucked,” Sephy pointed out, noting the heavy damage The Butcher had managed to inflict on it in such a short amount of time. “You’ll need to give it time to recharge and auto repair soon.”

“It’s still better than nothing,” Jack reasoned as he snuck to the end of the corridor and checked for hostiles.

It was only then that he really took in the atmosphere of where they were. With several sets of pipes and wires that ran along the dank, rusted walls, this reminded Jack heavily of a maintenance tunnel from the post-apocalyptic video games he used to play, with dark graffiti occasionally scribbled along the poorly maintained metal and the occasional pool of coagulated blood sticking to the rough concrete floor.

Local legends say that these tunnels were made for servitor machines created by the gods themselves to maintain Hive Station Bastilla. Chiyo telepathically whispered to him, as if she could sense his curiosity as they moved along. It had been about 15 minutes since they started moving, only to find nobody else, which Jack found awfully strange, though perhaps the cultists had all been called to fight the drow or Devil’s Daughter. Nobody was meant to ever access them, but over the millennia they have, and legends say that dark and powerful beings live at the deepest depths, where the passages open up into vaults the size of continents. Certainly what’s known for sure is that monsters are known to lair down here. Even more reason to keep our guard up!

“Here’s hoping we don’t meet any of them,” Jack muttered, listening out for any movement as they came out at a crossroads. “And if there are servitor machines still around they’re doing a shit job. Which way, Sephy?”

“This way!” Sephy pointed down one of the passages to their right, allowing Jack to take point and scout a safe route for the group. The sounds of combat echoed in the distance all throughout the maze-like tunnels, and more than once Jack got the group to double back if he spotted any sign of squads of drow or cultists fighting. That wasn’t something they wanted to get involved in if they could help it, since it made sense to allow one enemy to fight another. They’d likely be forced to fight their way out at some point, but the fresher they were for it, and the fewer enemies there were, the better.

They could tell they were getting closer to…something as they found what was clearly the various signs of a large number of rough living individuals against the walls and along the floors of the Gloom Tunnels from where adherents of the Cult of the Destroyer had clearly been hiding and waiting for something. Ironically enough, the drow likely coming for them made things much easier for the group by keeping the fanatics busy.

Sadly, that was not to last.

Being as quiet as he could as he peaked around the corner, Jack quickly leapt back as several laser rounds zipped past his head. He quickly snapped around and returned fire once they stopped, smacking the cultist who had shot at him in their centre of mass with a quick plasma burst, and catching another who was too late to duck into cover with a second. Sephy quickly rushed to join him to give Chiyo some covering fire while the Ilithii used her power to lift the remaining cultists out of cover, where they were quickly dispatched by Jack and Sephy.

“That was unlucky but not unexpected,” Nika commented. “They must have been lying in wait for hostiles to come by; it was wishful thinking we could get to the slicer uncontested. We’ve gotta get the fuck away from here now, both sides will have heard the gunfire. The Cult here is much more extensive than we thought, but those Drow are elite. I don’t want us fucking with either longer than necessary.”

“I think we probably need to go down another floor or two.” Sephy pointed up ahead down the large chamber they were in to a nearby passage that looked like it headed deeper and seemed barely travelled, and Jack wasted no time in leading the group down. “Same as on the surface, no way would the slicer be up here,” Sephy continued. “If the cultists that aren’t left outside sleep here, further down would be the more important places.”

Agreed. There are life signs downstairs! Chiyo warned. Get ready!

They did so, as Alora moved closer to the front so she could more quickly get an offensive spell off. Jack stayed up in front, using the strap to hold his plasma rifle one handed, and bringing his Dominator out with the other. The tunnel had clearly seen some kind of recent use, but Jack could still see the telltale signs of lime covering much of the piping and wiring, making it look more like a stone cavern than a maintenance tunnel. He could only imagine what it looked like even deeper…

“This is probably the floor, I’m picking up a strong electronic signal of some kind,” Sephy informed them as Alora, Jack and Nika immediately checked the room for hostiles, while Dante and Chiyo kept watch back the way they came. This room seemed much more lavish than the rooms they found on the previous floor, with several banners with the burning skull of the Destroyer dotting the room, lit up by several dim crystals, as opposed to the rough flames and bulbs up above.

“Lighting sucks,” Nika stated the obvious. “What do we think? Cast some light and possibly reveal our position, or do without and risk an ambush?”

“Do without.” Alora decided. “Chiyo and Dante should be able to alert us.”

“Which way, Sephy?” Jack quietly whispered.

“Around that sort of direction.” Sephy waved broadly at one of the longer walls. “Why can’t things just be simple?”