48. Convoluted Caverns
"Well, now or never."
Lucki's forewarning and tactics came to light. Though she originally planned for platoons to be made and move in linear motions, the moment they got down there her plans were thrown asunder. With the arrival of extra emergency gear the police division armed themselves and prepared with their hydraulic suits on. The suits were a rubbery material that clung to skin like metal on a hot day. Due to their nature, all were a standard of yellow and blue that one could wear over their usual clothes with minimal restrictions; though in the case of augmentations some adjustments needed to be made by the wearer. Lena struggled to cut gaps for her bow to extend and strider wore his suit as a tanktop having the rubber wrap under his false limbs.
"Hmm? Even you're going?" Dynamo quizzed the leader of the group, the blue maiden dressed in the same garb. Lucki sat on the stones doing final preparations to her suit, securing her oxygen tube and tucking loose strands of hair under the smooth cap. With the teams finalizing their movement, she laid aside from the group. "You must have some real faith in those guards of yours."
Lucki picked up on Dynamo's eyeroll, though she only smiled, "That I do," she agreed, "After all, we have to thank the old creators for this technology, if you have any issues take it up with them," Dynamo fell over on the rocks with her joke. She covered her mouth with a chuckle as his hands covered his head as always.
"Jeez, I remember when you were such a nice kid. Now all you do is bully old uncle Dynamo," the rogue unit wiped away a faux teardrop. He was quick to compose himself once the crunch of sand grew closer, "Rather you not go down there if I'm being honest, hard to cover more than my own back in a firefight as is-" a nerve was struck. Dynamo's teeth cringed once the vein on Lucki's forehead revealed itself. She cleared her throat.
"Hmm? What was that?" she feigned ignorance, "Are you trying to say I can't take care of myself when I'm stepping into the fire myself? Cute," closed eyes and a hidden mouth felt as if the eyes of a snake and their fangs pinned down his neck. The Dyson withdrawed from their seat and shook off the sand, "Especially with my impromptu defender listening, where was the pleasant friend who believed in me all those years ago?" her hands ushered to the one who approached. Lena didn't expect a sudden pull and grab either; it was warm.
"Heh?" Lena ducked under Lucki's wholesome grip taking cover behind their employer and inorganic shield. Both hands twitched ready to grip, "Sorry," Lena's body relaxed from automatic motions, "Still a bit antsy right now…" from filing police reports of missing friends and family, the only people she could truly count on, then to finding that terrorist droids were behind it. She had a right to be so. But, that's not to say the Dyson was in the dark to all matters of her people.
"It's quite all right. I understand," Lucki remained patient as always. Her head shifted and so did her pitch, "The pain of loss is something I cannot fathom to the same extent as you feel now- especially how they boil in you now that suspects are so close," watching debates and discussions of her parents and eldest sibling, the art of walking along eggshells to say the most comforting lines wasn't a stranger to the youngest Dyson; though heavily refrained, it brought a level of relief most could not. Nonetheless, peace had no place in the halls of Lena's judgement.
Dynamo viewed her body's movements from over her shoulder. Her thumb wanted to unsheathe her weapon. Every muscle flexed and relaxed in tandem similar to feet during marching. Anger was visualized as steam, "No, you could probably imagine what it feels like," Lena felt as if a bubble stuffed her throat. Her hands continued to tighten, "And they'll feel the same way I do when I get my way with them," of a blazing storm where temper ruled over anguish. All it took was a hand's grasp paired along the sternest of glares to quell what stirred under her skin.
That usual jovial nature hid once more in place of realism. Dynamo brought his lips to her ear, "Don't forget what I told you before on that night," he spoke monotone, "I don't need to repeat myself now," he patted her shoulder and broke away from the trio. His arms were stationary once he reached the shores inspecting the final preparations being made. A shadow loomed behind the rogue unit though he faced away from the sun. An effigy of death was strapped to the soldier's body.
Lucki rested her palm on her friend's shoulder. Time drew thin. Words only did so much. Only stopped so much. Before Dynamo knew it he found himself thrusting himself to the bottom of the ocean to what he found. Carved on the face of an underside cliff. The others who used seastriders to explore the depths; two basic turbine engines conjoined via flexible polymers colored like mustard. Many droids stopped to scan the iron doors.
They were the size of the cliff itself with bolts the size of boulders embedded into the thick outer frame. Grass and dirt stained the base of the structure; from an overhead angle you couldn't tell that it was even there due to natural rock cover. No obvious security was placed on the door. As the few humans in the group held oxygen masks and tanks, they waited back for the robots to ensure the gate's safety. Even with a specialized torch, the door was too thick to simple puncture by regular means. One couldn't count Carnel as a regular mean, nor her weapon of choice.
Once the pathway was cleared, fear loomed in the unseen corners where eyes could not comprehend. Unit after unit swam through the river they made, finding their feet clanging against a grated floor; it was cold and soggy. The black grating covered a fair portion as far as the eye could tell in the dim cavern. The ceiling reached as high as the door, yet sloped as the corridor went on. Using emergency flare sticks the details of the cavern were scoped out. A mesh of modern design upon an ancient base.
On first inspection Lena and the rest could tell this structure was recently used; something crossed here recently. Imprints left impressions in the ground resembling eggs and the walls had fingerprints beyond the brittle and rusted steel. Everyone was cautious to an unknown dungeon after tracks exposed themselves. As they got deeper the grate floors were replaced by only strips which overlapped with the rusted over floor; underneath each layer you saw the exposed cavern in which the tunnel was built in.
"Well, this place had some renovations," Dynamo pointed out the obvious, "More importantly...that," Lucki's plan of attack was a simple one. Teams of a set amount were split in platoons and swarmed forward as waves, sending signals to the ones behind as they did until the last met with the first in their movement patterns. Each initial wave was another lot of police droids sticking their flares against the walls to light a path for the next. The second group did deeper searches and provided and acted more as guienie pigs ensuring safety for group three.
All of the organic lifeforms along some exceptions in Dynamo and Carnel composed this group, "Hmm, adding descacration to monuments to Zenith's alleged list of crimes," she noted with finger on her skull, "Installing such tacky design as well…." she commented on what awaited the end of the floor. Where the ceiling became standard height at the end a conundrum presented itself in the form of three doors. None were guarded and each took a different size descending from a door large enough for Draglion to fit, to the one on the far right which was average.
"Hmm? Why would you assume it's those terrorists already?" Dynamo held his hand over his mouth for a giggle. Carnel's fist of discipline met Dynamo's skull.
"Who else on this planet is ballsy enough to get on the Astarama's bad side?" a statement said by two duplicate voices coming from Carnel and Lena.
"Okay….ow," Dynamo licked his wounds, "To the serious matters now, how do you want to tackle this?" he analyzed the situation deeper, thinking of all the possible combination flowing between both ears, "Go in groups of three and cover more ground quicker? Or on the reverse where we take a safer approach and go as one big group?"
"On the offhand there are more than we can see, one big group can be more of a harm than good when we look at it, well that's my two sense in any case," Dynamo wiped off his hands, "I'll let the leader handle this one," with a smile he leaned against the wall on the left peering into the tunnel of shade. He picked up one of the police flares and tossed it in to see nothing to note. Though disturbing to say the least, such a level of rennovation needed new thoughts.
"No, he is quite right," Lucki was astute of the moment, "This is no longer our terrain- they have a home advantage," with that line the Dyson pulled the ear of her sworn protector near to utter a whisper. Heavy words echoed in the depths where light became foreign. Carnel received orders one could not ignore. Sealed with a nod the red pact was finalized.
"Alright listen up. Take trifecta form, sort yourselves out and designate spearheads and move on," she whispered orders. Her slender digits pointed and divided groups among them. "You, bartender- take the right with the heavy units," Strider lifted his arm in attention bolstering Veles ready for anything.
"Heard you, boss lady," the bartender joked with teeth grinning. Feet twitched for action. Fingers lusted for a bang only it and their target felt. One caress of Veles' back blended the silent sniper in with his own shadow leaving police stunned, "Just another old day of reliving the glory days, huh?"
"You," Carnel's authority directed itself towards Lena next; she stammered with the spear inches from her glass helmet, "Take the middle route with the brunt of the division," orders were few in words but earned a stance of respect from every droid in the form of salutes. Before they could mimic a formation the red knight's grip reached for the dragon of the group, "You, lead the charge," her tone grew harsher by the second. Her lips were brought close to Tome's ear as her thrushers lifted her. Whatever she said, it was enough to make the beast sweat a storm. "Do you understand?"
No words came from Tome's maw. How could he give any answer after that; tilting his head revealed the ocean eyes of the dyson pinning his soul down with a smile. He frantically nodded, "Yes, I'll see to it," his voice quaked lacking any form of draconian bravado. Dynamo whistled, not needing the knight's word before understanding where he needed to trek. One became three.
Following the foolhardy droid was Lucki Dyson, trailed by her knight ensuring her lady was protected. Within their neighbouring chamber was Lena who followed the trend of using the dragon as a shield, guarded on many sides by the police. Though it was annoying for Tome, he'd rather a mild inconvenience than envoking the wrath of Alexander's precious gem.
Lastly was Strider taking the biggest of tracks. He remained in the middle of the group having his trigger finger wrapped around his weapon. Eyes drifted around the corners once flared bloomed to life. Each step echoed further than the last. Droplets hit the damp floors emanating the harsh colds. He remained cautious of the ones around him. Tuffs of white hair came loose from the watertight seal around his head, "Not gonna use this anytime soon," jokes left his lips as their hair broke free of the cap. A chuckle left his lips as the ends of his gun tapped.
Every member of the police took notice of his weapon and taps against their flat. Including that devious weapon in his hands. Rifles like that weren't just on sale, you needed to know someone in the know to acquire such a premium product. On the ends of Veles muzzle were a set of mechanical eyes. Fake or not, it made the AI among the platoon nervous just a bit. For a good reason.
Eyes of strange origins laid upon their brow.