Into the Darkness

[Nox]

Everything was chaos. This much power was suffocating and Nox wasn't even drawing much. The smoke and stench filled the tunnel. It was all chaos. The man beside him new to the power threw a single fireball before losing his control. At last he wouldn't die -- if only Raffe could have been taught so easy there would be one less worry on his plate -- one less person he'd have to watch die in front of him.

The misery almost overwhelmed him, the raging horde pushed against his will and they surged again, this time Nox watched Jay slip and fall. The small rat sized creatures swarmed over his body trying to find purchase -- thank fucking god for the rods uniform. But it was only a half thought as Nox dropped the fiery mess and threw up two pillars of air behind Marcus and the Ascendancy. Allan watched as Jay fell and yet he hadn't reacted to saving one of his own. Hesitation would get them all killed. In addition to the two pillars Nox wove a third weave, one he'd done thousands of times. He practiced the intricacies of the directed sound wave. He'd spent a year perfecting it's design and he knew it inside out backwards and forwards and he wove the intricate weave of sound just above Jay. He stood up and staggered on first step as he clapped his hands like he was squashing the weave in front of him. The crushing wave sent out a unidirectional blast over the top of Jay's body throwing all the creatures on top of him crashing into the walls. The pillars in front of the Ascendancy and Marcus caught most of the sonic back last as the beasts crushed against the walls.

There were a few remaining on the ground biting at Jay's uniform. Nox picked up one creature with his mechanical hand and Jay with his good one pulling him from the ground with the help of a weave to make the man stand. Nox stared into the eyes of the creature. The darkness in him pushed at him, pulled at the world around him, but Nox pushed back. Mine! he roared in his head sending the message across to the horde. Those that stood near looked at Nox and then fled down the halls to join the remainder of the horde -- they would only be useful as long as they didn't die. Nox had no intention of just killing horde to be done with it. No -- this was about making the tunnels safe with no monsters -- none. Not a single one would survive him if he lived through this.

The threat diminished and Nox dropped the power and turned his attention to Jay with a single ball of light hovering over his hand as he pushed at Jay's sleeves frantically, and tilting his head from side to side roughly. "Did you get bit? Are you okay?"

[Allan]

The Atharim who Nox had brought killed the creatures. Allan watched in disappointment and then the inquisitor Nox had called him drew upon the power and cast a single fireball. That changed only a minor thing. But still he felt betrayed and wanted to kill the boy.

But the moment of the battle changed in a single moment. From chaos to nothing when Nox dropped a weave Allan had never seen before. He tried to follow it but the concept wasn't like he'd been taught. It was tight and elegant if the weave could be lacey this would be it. He should have helped. Jay was his friend -- well maybe not friend -- but his colleague and his partner in the nine. And... he stood and stared at the creatures. Maybe he wasn't cut out for the battle of monsters... Or maybe he was biased and couldn't focus. Anger clouded his judgement. Resentment perhaps... another thing to discuss with a thearpist. Drinking hadn't been his only problem.

The weave flattened and the sonic boom blew Allan back into the wall, he staggered and used the power to weave a shield. It was a little too late but it saved him from looking like the creatures that flew against the wall next to him. "What the fuck!

[Ascendancy]

When the last of the creatures fled, the flows holding his firestorm together were dispersed into the rock. A thud of air hit his back like a sudden gust of wind, but he caught himself before being shoved from his feet. The power created a shockwave from behind, though as soon as he regrouped with the others, he had no way to discern from whom it originated: Jay, Nox or Allan.

Flows of power shoved the debris of the dead, limb and blood from their path. Nikolai was already dirty, but he did not desire to slip and fall into the muck. He studied each man, “You alright?” he asked them in turns.

He wiped sweat and ash from his face with one sleeve, not having worked so physically hard in a long while. But despite the exertion, he wasn’t tired.
“Which way do we go, Nox? Let’s finish this.” he asked.

[Zephyr]

The chaos came to an abrupt end. The Ascendancy returned inquiring into their health. The rogue god traitor saved the man who'd fallen. He inspected for any wounds. These things must be like chupacabra but they looked nothing like them. Zef knocked another bolt and raised it half way. She was in the lions den and even the Inquisitor who brought her was one of them. She was supposed to be dead -- the man sent to kill her was propped up and nearly died. Now she might be his end. The Ascendancy hadn't noticed her yet.

The question of which way to go hung in the air while the man in question thoroughly looked over his friend.

Zef backed away. Crossbow ready to fire, not that it would do much good against this many men who could weild the power of the gods.

The inquisitor stepped in front of her and her bow raised fully. "We should probably go. I got what I came for and we don't need to die."

"What you came for?"

He gave her wry smile and turned her around and pushed her in the direction of leaving. She only went as she was confused by his answer. Or lack there of... What had he come for? He hadn't gotten anything...

[Grym]

Grym winced following the ringing of a gunshot. Idiot inquisitor using firearms in these tunnels would blow out their eardrums. Instead, Grym drew the battle axe from its holster. It was double-sided and made of ultra-lightweight steel honed to a razor’s edge. The creatures scattered at their feet. Grym sliced through what she could, but the dead carcasses caught her eye. At first she thought they were small Chupacabra, but when she flashed her light on one, she gasped. They were unlike anything she’d ever seen before. She grabbed one by the leg and smacked it on the wall until it went limp. She didn’t want it dead, but it couldn’t be biting around either. She stuffed the thing in a shoulder bag and Z and Jerry returned. Grym nodded in agreement. She wanted to get out of there before the gods realized they were still around.

[Jerry]

Zephyr didn't quite understand the anger she was in. The danger she put everyone else in. Jer ushered her away. If he could only see the lights that Nox had used to drag her the first time. It was strange knowing he'd come for the very thing he was not leaving with. His life was in his own hands and thanks to a boy and yet he did nothing but put his life in danger. And he asked for nothing in return. Though Jer expected if he asked his request would be his freedom. But not yet. The scientist still wanted him alive. and Jer had many questions for him as well. But right now they need to be away before the Ascendancy turned his fiery wrath on them.

Jer didn't fancy dying.

They reached Grym. "Let's get out of here." He pushed Zef ahead. "You can get us killed with your wildness, Legacy or no. You shouldn't provoke the gods when there are so many of them. And none of these are wee lads sick in their bed. I imagine none of them will be an easy kill or even capture. The Ascendancy has escaped every attempt on his life as has our traitor god. Let's be off before they care."

[Jay Carpenter]

Nox helped him up, but Jay felt like they were still all over him. But Nox’s pawing all over him made up for it. He smirked and held himself still for the inspection. “Suppose we’ll have to do a tick search later,” he said, alluding to stripping to his skin for a more thorough look.

In all seriousness, the only thing he felt was embarrassed for losing his footing. “I’m alright,” he assured Nox. “How about you? What’s happening in your head?” He asked with equal concern. Only to frown as Ascendancy came up. “Actually. Nevermind. Don’t answer that. You got this.”

[Marcus DuBois]

Marcus walked up next to Ascendancy as he confronted Nox. Carpenter stood by his side. He was aware that others were making movements to leave- if they hadn't already. And Marcus understood. He was tired. Using the Force was exhausting despite the lack of physical movement. Then again, that didn't surprise him. He was often spent at the end of a day of mental exertion. Not a surprise, given that something that 1-2% of a person's weight used as much as a 33% of the body's energy. Controlling the Force that fought him endlessly was even more of an exertion.

If they could find the lair or the nest or wherever these things were coming from, they could stop it. If not that...well, an idea occurred to him. Perhaps they could infect one of the things and it bring it back to the source. Some pesticides worked that way.

He was guessing an he knew it, just as he had with trying to figure how Nox held whatever bond with them. It was just...he hated brute force methodologies. And while the solution their problem might not be NP-Complete, if the time it took find one was large enough, it was just as infuriating. It ate at him, not finding an effective and efficient way to accomplish his goal.

One other thing solidified in his mind. He was going to take a deep look into companies and departments experimenting with biological weaponry. Unleashing the algorithm of life bundled with deadly capabilities was the ultimate stupidity. Even controls meant little. Invariably, natural selection would sift through the problem space that prevented them from spreading beyond their artificial confines, until one was just good enough to succeed and pass on its genes to the next generations.

He had no interest in dealing with this type of contagion again.

Tiredness seemed to evaporate from him in the face of the problem at hand.

[Nox]

Jay's quip made Nox smile. As much as he'd like it that probably wouldn't happen either. But it still made him smile. Jay's concern was also heart warming and Nox leaned his forehead against Jay's even though he'd given up on the question. Nox whispered. "We'll talk later."

Nox turned when Ascendancy neared and nodded he was fine and so was Jay. "Good. The hard part is over. The rest of the horde is under my control. They won't trouble me anymore. This was never just a mission to kill the unknown but to eradicate the monsters in the tunnels. The horde can be used to nullify the vermin down here, and at the end they will meet a firey death -- all of them." Nox glanced the way Nova had gone with the rest of the horde -- even Nova would find death at his hands. Another loved one felled -- the last of his family. Now he only had those that he made. Raffe and Jay, even Sage and Aiden and Cruz fell into the category, but it wasn't the same. Nox sighed. "You can return to your jobs. I will finish mine."

[Ascendancy]

Nikolai's stillness was palpable like he misheard Nox’s decree. There was activity going on in the periphery. People rushed away, but Nikolai paid them no attention. All of his thought was fixated upon this underworld threat. 

“You can do the rest alone? The depths of the underworld is indetectable from the surface. How will we know if you succeed? Or more importantly, how will we know if you fail? You should take a second person as backup. Or, at worst, to handle it if you are compromised.”

He glanced at those who remained. Jay and Nox were close in the way of friends. Marcus and Nox were cool at best. Allan and Nox were far too adversarial. They were all valuable assets, but Jay was probably the best positioned to enter the heat of battle and come out alive.

“Carpenter, you’ll go with Nox.”