NOVPUB
Chapter 237
A meeting was called shortly after, with most if not all of the present Crusaders grouping up. The conversation was brief and ended before it could really even start. We were in a time crunch, and communications to the outside were still limited by Circle Netrunners. High Lord Lykos made the final call.
A portion of the Crusade was to be left here, cleaning up straggler cultists and finding lost, wounded, or dead members of the Blue Crusade. Another portion was to gear up and head under the ocean to look for the final ritual circle. The rest of us? We needed to return to the city. Although the situation was murky, it was clear something was going down.
I was in the group returning to the city. Not sure which was the safest option, all things considered. Stay here where Circle cultists might ambush at any time or head into the city where Mother was about to descend, whatever that meant. Not that it mattered. I needed to finish this off—to find and stop her—for the reward. Or at least thats what I told myself to make it sting less that the decision wasn't even mine to begin with.
Inquisitor Ligh was headed back to the city. As his Squire, I was stuck with him through thick and thin. Unless I somehow miraculously get teleported again or otherwise split up, but what were the chances of that happening?
Comms were still scrambled, so it was unknown what exactly was going down back in the city. We could all feel it though. That sense of incongruity. The Magi were hit the hardest by it, and were desperate to return and stop whatever was happening. Insight constantly buzzed like an iceblade in between every one of my nerves.
We were too late to stop the rituals. We wouldn’t be too late to stop Mother.
— — —
It was a clusterfuck, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating. The Waymakers flew around the area, giving us a clear view of the final part of Mother’s plan.
I had been worried about not finding Mother before it was too late. That was a needless worry. It was evidently clear where she was without even a bit of effort. The massive, skyscraping tree that grew out of the ground in the middle of East End was a dead giveaway.
Lightning flashed above, making even the city's neon seem weak as rain pounded the Waymaker. Tonight's storm was particularly thick, blocking even a hint of the moon’s light from breaching past it. The flashing light sat at complete odds with the dark section in the middle of the city.
The tree sat in the dead center of all three ritual circles, as if the three were set up to feed it. The tree grew inside of East End near to the Corporate Quarter, stretching grotesquely into the sky. A massive gap in the city skyline appeared all around the tree.
A crater formed had around it, the tree's roots stretching out far and wide to destroy the blocks around. The destruction hadn’t been controlled in the slightest, leaving fallen skyscrapers leaning against their brethren as they came crashing down. Through the gaps, plant life thrived. A forest had sprung up, covering the destruction partially.
Even at a glance, it was heavy. There was no telling how many people died in the collapsing buildings alone. The streets were probably red with blood. Or at least they would've been if the storm wasn't washing it all away.
Then there were the monsters on the prowl. Even from up here I could see their traces and make out the shapes of some of the larger ones. They grew from the tree like malevolent tumors, spreading destruction in their wake. Anyone who might’ve survived the collapsing section of Aythryn City likely wouldn’t have survived the plants seeking their flesh and blood.
”… disaster in East End. As all eyes are on the disaster in the middle of the city, the question can’t help but raise; just what is the Blue Crusade doing?” Hope’s phone blared loudly as she watched a scream stream. It was quiet, but in the relative silence of the Waymaker, it sounded loud.
Usually, they just discussed things closer to propaganda. This time, the threat was very real and very near. For once, the screamstreams didn’t have to make something up to get viewers to watch.
”The monsters pouring out from East End aren’t the only problem arising tonight. Gang uprisings, prison outbreaks, and terrorist sleeper cells awaking are the tip of the iceberg.” The caster, a woman in her forties, maybe, smiled as if to calm the viewers. “It comes as no surprise that the FSA has declared a state of emergency in Aythryn City. Martial law is in effect, and the military strongly recommends citizens to remain at home.“
“The City Council has put up a bounty per monster head, drawing mercs far and wide to the disaster zone. We have Tyran on the scene. Tyran, coming to you.” The video switched from the caster to an office building where a reporter was cowering with his cameraman.
The reporter coughed lightly. He was covered in full body armor, the word ‘Press’ across it in bold white. He spoke quietly. “Yes, we’re here on the scene in the evacuated Evan Tower, looking out over the disaster.”
The camera turned to look out a shattered window, showcasing the tree in all its horrid glory. The camera shifted, pointing down towards the base of Evan Tower. All around, bipedal plants stalked around with wicked-looking swords grown from their arms. Even more monstrous figures lurked just out of sight.
“We’re just outside of-“
A crash behind them caused the cameraman to flick around. A monster made of bark and vines, shaped roughly like a wolf, crashed through the door. Its bark ground against itself as if to imitate growling.
“Get down!” Tyran shouted as he started firing away at the monster with a pistol. The shots plinked off with no effect-
A wall shattered as a borg crashed through, pummeling the wolf monster. The camera abruptly cut back to the original caster as she quickly composed her expression-
Hope shut off her phone, sighing deeply as she glanced out the window towards the tree. ”What the hell is going on?”
I stared at her for a moment in silence. I felt exactly the same. This was very, very far outside of my job description.
My phone buzzed, drawing my attention. It was a message from Lia, of all people. ‘The city council struck a deal with the Captain. We’re moving on East End. Want to join?’
’Unfortunately, I’m already here with a group. Things aren’t looking good.’ I sent back after a moment’s hesitation.
’Alright. Good luck. Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other.’ Lia replied.
'Maybe.'
I suppressed a sigh as my gaze was drawn back to the tree. What the hell am I even supposed to do about that? It was larger than a skyscraper, and surrounded by monsters. Like, far more than what was even in the Supercarrier. Then there was the forest that was rapidly springing up around the gargantuan tree’s base. No telling what horrors lurked there, underneath the foliage.
This was so much more than just a simple get-in, get-out. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if there was even a point to getting to the big tree. For all we knew, this was just another distraction to hide She Who Grows‘s plan.
What even is-
“Brace!” The Waymaker pulled back as a torrent of tree-trunk-sized thorns flew into the sky from the massive tree. I gripped onto my seat tightly, tracing the origin of the thorns.
A massive serpent-like plant wrapped around the tree, vines whipping towards us as it launched the projectiles like some kind of anti-air defense. It’s maw, easily the size of a bus, opened up and hissed venomously at us.
As we vacated the airspace, the vine serpent blended back into the tree as if it’d never existed in the first place. The Blue Crusade backed away, though we continued to circle the airspace as whoever was in charge started making plans.
Why can’t anything ever be easy?
— — —
About twenty minutes later, our Waymaker finally came in for a landing on top of a parking garage right next to a fallen tower. A makeshift base of operations was already being erected as Crusade personnel set up camp.
In the distance, not even that far away from us, intense fighting continued. The reaction was late since a large chunk of us were on the carrier, but the Crusade was slowly but surely encircling the destruction zone. We were hemming in the monsters as we set up a perimeter as best as possible.
I was given free roam for thirty minutes as the Inquisitor discussed with the higher-ups, and I spent that time wandering around to collect information. Not only from the Crusaders, but from my phone, rescued citizens, and the few PMCs that were setting up defensive lines nearby.
From some of the discussions I’d overheard, the plan was to control the damage for now, and then figure out what to do after everything was contained. There were even talks of the FSA giving up on the city and asking for BosSpace to piledrive us. I sincerely hoped it was a baseless rumor.
Of course, the Blue Crusade weren’t the only ones acting as damage control. Mercs and PMCs alike across the city were popping up in large droves as the Aythryn City Council continued to create contracts and bounties almost constantly.
The FSA’s troops were also deployed, though in smaller numbers than I would’ve liked. With chaos around the city kicking up, they had their attention divided. There was a good chance we wouldn’t get much military support for the time being as they upheld martial law.
Overall, the situation wasn’t great. Even some of the Big 7 were starting to become active. Sentinel was busy joining the Crusade aboard the Supercarrier to retake it, but even with that holding them back, they were the most prevalent. Enforcer squads were deployed en masse, pushing back Mother’s monsters and rescuing civilians.
I’d heard even Sentinel’s Valkyries were deployed in the worst locations. I was half tempted to abandon the Crusade to go see them in action, but, well, I didn’t want to get called out for insubordination. And I just started getting paid. I’d rather not take a pay cut.
Sentinel wasn’t the only one. Surprisingly, Mystech was the second most active. They usually kept to themselves and were the most private of the Big 7. Their mechanized infantry were out taking care of business as they cleaned up the streets.
Shen Kang Keiji—who had a relatively weak foothold in Aythryn City thanks to Medtech—was also coming out in full force. The juggernaut squads were on full send, assisting the control efforts. I’d hate to meet one in person. They’re units, Maniacs, were supposedly so drugged up they couldn’t tell friend from foe without the help of the squad leaders.
Even Medech sent out Medevacs constantly and set up free clinics for those caught in the Circle’s schemes. It was a rare occurrence for the corp to not care about money more than human life. Then again, this was a special situation.
Raijin, by contrast, was near radio silent. Of course, they sent out a few groups of enforcers here and there, but they were by far the least active. None of their heavy hitters were out. It was unknown what they were thinking or planning.
Then there were the other corporations that called this city home. If they had combat power, most of them sent out at least one group to help. Of the corporations outside the Big 7, ASCorp was the most noticeable.
Of course, I wasn’t one to think that the corporations were helping out of the kindness of their hearts. There were plenty of reasons to help the city in its state of emergency. Namely, it would massively boost public relations if they were seen as heroic. They could show off how ‘good’ they were and manipulate public sentiment.
And then there was the flipside of that particular coin. Not only were they showing their ‘heroism’, they were making shows of force. A warning, not only to each other, but to the others in the city. In particular, the Big 7’s intentions probably line up with this the most. They were called the Big 7 for a reason, and they wanted everyone else to know why.
My break wound to an end as Joshua came to get me. His pockets were suspiciously bulging, though I decided not to say anything. If I weren’t worried about being weighed down or caught, I’d probably join him. “Zuku, c’mon, the Inquisitor wants us.”
I suppressed a sigh as I was pulled back into it again with barely any time to rest. Hopefully, this time we'd get a cushy backline position.
