Lost Rain
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Outrun - Chapter 242
🕑 Added 2025-04-25 22:04:01 +0000 UTCOur entry into the Underground was pretty far into the AEZ. It was one of the many entrances I marked when handing over my knowledge to the Blue Crusade. It’d been way less stressful getting out here than I thought it would be. Instead of coming out on foot like we had while patrolling, the Crusade brought out its APCs.
I shifted my pack uncomfortably as the last of our group descended into the Underground. Inquisitor Ligh wasn’t kidding when he said we’d be carrying some equipment. As for what kinds of equipment? Why, my favorite kinds: heavy-duty sentries and lots and lots of explosives.
I scanned everything I could with Technical Expertise. Most of it was from Knight Security, a child company of the Blue Crusade. It was interesting scanning the sentries, seeing the different design principles between the corporations. Knight Security was far more focused on durability and power, completely forgetting about weight. Yeah, they were heavy bastards.
The plan was still a bit unclear, but from the supplies, it was evident we were setting up a defensive position and blowing something up. Of course, none of us were explosives experts. I was probably the closest, but my knowledge was more so on how to make them rather than how to effectively use them. That meant we had additions to our team.
Thirty-five of them, to be precise. Seven various Knights and Inquisitors, as well as their own entourages of Squires. Our group totaled forty in total, which was a not so small invasion force. It felt even larger in the Underground with its relatively tighter spaces.
We were all crammed into a rather large cave, worn away by trickling water. A pool of water flickered in the group’s flashlights, and stacks and stacks lay across the walls. There were still Crusaders bringing crates down even as we gathered around a central figure.
”Ahem, ahem.” A Knight stood up on a rock. One of the Blue Wolves, by the looks of her armor. “You all know the drill. Gather up.”
We all ambled over to her, gathering around the Knight. “Alright, so we’ll be splitting off here. Four groups of ten. We’ve got four explosive experts here, and the rest of you are in charge of protecting them. Assignments have already been given out.”
I looked around the room, trying to pick out the experts amongst us. It was a bit difficult? Not like they had a red flag proclaiming their skill set just waving around. For all I knew, Ligh could’ve been the explosive expert.
”Uh, sir? Our meeting place?” An Inquisitor asked.
”I was getting to that.” The Blue Wolf tossed out a holo puck, popping up a hologram of the Underground. “We’ll be meeting here, in this cavern. Set up a defensive position and then wait for hell to break loose. Our guys should already be moving to take it, so it should be friendly territory when we arrive.”
The Knight moved to get off the rock, though she paused as she seemed to remember something. “Right, watch your fire. Lots of us down here. And above all, make sure not to go boom. That’d seriously complicate our plans.”
The Blue Wolf walked back to talk to some of the newcomers still bringing down supplies. Inquisitor Ligh raised his hand, calling out to a familiar man surrounded by Squires, “Inquishitor Zere! It appearsh we’ll be moving together.”
The man, clutching his fox amulet loosely, was the same one who stayed with me while I was at Fox’s Shrine. “Inquisitor Ligh. I see you’re… still as you always are.”
By the man’s tone and body posture, the two didn’t seem overly familiar with each other. It was a bit odd considering Ligh Strumgard seemed to know and be on friendly terms with everyone in the Crusade, including High Lord Lykos. Then again, was knowing everyone even odder? The Blue Crusade was a massive corporation, after all.
”Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Ligh’s cold voice gave no indication of whether or not he picked up on the man’s sarcasm.
The Fox Magus shook his head, casting a curious look over the rest of us. Even though he was wearing a mask, the motions of his head made it obvious. “Squire Zuku. Back up and at it, I see.”
”Unfortunately.” I would’ve also liked to have a vacation after I lost my apartment. “All hands on deck.”
He nodded his head faintly a few times before motioning to the Squires behind him. He pointed to one woman in particular. “This is my Squire, Siev, our explosives expert for this mission.”
“I-it’s nice to meet you.” The woman shyly bowed her head as we looked at her. She looked just a bit older than Hope, in her mid to late twenties. Similar to Dev, she had full plate armor, just missing the helmet. A massive bag absolutely loaded with supplies was strapped to her back.
“You know where we’re going?” Inquisitor Ligh asked. “I- uh- I forgot the exact detailsh of the plan.”
“Yes, sir. I’ve got it all memorized. We need to stop at seventeen points for me to plant what we have, and then we’ll be good to regroup.” As if talking about explosives was a switch, the woman's confidence went through the roof, even surpassing Hope's.
I eyed the other Squires behind Zere. They weren’t introduced, but two of them looked like normal riflemen. The third held a bow of all things. Except, there was no string to the bow, and he had no quiver. What was he planning to do with that?
Before anyone could ask any more questions, Inquisitor Ligh started walking towards one of the tunnels away from our entry point. “Come along. The shooner we finish, the shooner we help those above.”
I waited for a moment for someone who knew where we were headed to correct the Inquisitor’s path. I guess it wasn’t all that surprising that no one did. He didn’t even know where we were headed, and yet managed to pick the right path. Honestly, was it as to be expected? Inquisitor Ligh really was just built differently.
We followed behind, all of us with our guard up. Although we were with a large group, that didn’t make the Underground less terrifying than it usually was. Dev could attest to that. It was only thanks to Joshua keeping him calm that the Squire wasn’t shooting at every shifting shadow. Considering the group had several flashlights? There were plenty of opportunities.
We moved through the Underground steadily, arriving at our first point not too far from the entry. Squire Siev called for a halt just as we hit a crook in a natural cave. It was a narrow passage, making it difficult to fit even three people abreast.
”R-Rodney, a little help?” Siev asked the Squire with the bow.
Rodney moved over. “With what?”
”I need room to plant the bomb. Bore a tunnel into the roof. It needs to be… about this big?” Siev stretched out her hands, adjusting slightly as she tilted her head.
I watched with interest as Squire Rodney pulled where the bowstring should’ve been for his bow. An ethereal string appeared, pulling back with his hand. At max draw, an arrow of silver coalesced from nowhere.
He released the arrow, sending it piercing up towards the roof. It lanced upward, obliterating a path upward easily. Rocks fell as a neat passage way fitting Siev’s specs opened up.
”Thanks.” She moved up, placing her bag on the ground.
I watched with interest as she fiddled around, making an explosive right in front of me. I couldn’t recognize the chemical exactly, but it looked like some high-powered stuff.
“Which one of you has my primers?” The Squire asked.
Joshua unslung his bag and set it down. “I think that would be me.”
The process continued as she gathered what she needed and put together the bomb. Once it was all done, she stretched up on her tippy toes and stuck it to the side of the small passage. Then, using some adhesive, she pushed rocks back up into the hole, covering it up as if there was nothing there.
Siev tossed the bag back over her shoulders, nodding to us hesitantly. ”W-we’re good to go. Onto the next spot.”
We moved through the Underground, repeating the stops and starts as Siev easily planted ten bundles of explosives throughout the Underground. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of the plan, but with four squads moving throughout the area to plant explosives, the area we were blowing would be massive.
That was assuming it was just us, though. There was a good chance there were more teams than just our four scattered around the AEZ’s Underground. A bit terrifying, if you think about it. One wrong boom could send the entire section of the city up in flames if we weren’t careful.
We faced a bit of resistance as we moved. Mostly, it was the Underground's various inhabitants. Ghouls were the main issue. A lot of them looked recently turned, too. Probably people who tried to escape the chaos through the Underground only to get caught out in a nest.
It wasn’t until we were moving toward our eleventh spot that we ran into our first major issue. We moved down a subway tunnel, stopping before a collapsed section of it. The roof had fallen at some point. It looked recent. The dust and marks still looked fresh.
Inquisitor Zere kicked a rock towards the collapsed section unhappily. “Our intel’s outdated.”
”This just happened, though.” I pointed it out to the man. It was a bit unfair to blame my intel for this.
”Still… Siev, do we have a way around?” The man asked his Squire.
The timid woman shook her head. She then pulled out a slate and tapped around on it, checking the 3d model I made. “Um- not a good one? It’ll take a c-couple hours to wrap around.”
”We’ll miss the deadline at that rate.” Inquisitor Zere muttered.
”We probably aren’t the only onesh shtalled like thish. Zuku.” Inquisitor Ligh motioned me forward. “We have a better workaround?”
”Potentially?” I mentally dredged up the Underground’s map. “There’s a section we might be able to cut through. It’d take, I dunno, twenty minutes?”
Much quicker than a couple hours to get around. Ligh inclined his head after glancing at Zere. “Where’s the way around?”
”There’s an access shaft that runs parallel to this one. We’ll have to cut through a section to get to it though. The original entrance was caved in.” I pointed back the way we came.
Inquisitor Zere and Ligh looked at each other, seemingly silently communicating. Zere finally nodded his head. “Should be fine. Lead the way, Squire.”
I stepped past everyone, my rifle raised and ready. I'd better get a promotion for all of this. They were really working me like a dog. ‘Course, the Crusade could’ve probably just brute-forced through all their issues without me, but there was no denying I was of help to the whole operation.
And so, once more, I took the lead on a trip through the Underground. Unfortunately, it was starting to become a common event. Hopefully, this would be the final time for the foreseeable future.
Comments
InLucidReverie
> Our group totaled forty in total 'in full' would be better
Lost Rain
Could just scrap that part to be honest. It wouldn’t make much of a difference. I was trying to point out that Shiro didn’t note down everything of the Underground she knew, instead opting to keep her knowledge on a need to know basis. This way she’d still have an advantage if she ever needed to do something Underground past the Crusade’s eyes.
Gardor
"I paused for a moment as I quickly came up with an excuse. “Yeah… well… I had to map out a massive section in a short time, so of course I skipped a few things.” The woman shifted from foot to foot uncertainly and looked at me as if I were a loon. “What are you t-talking about?” I laughed lightly and waved off her question. “Where do you think the map came from?” ”N-no way. You made it?” The disbelief in Siev’s voice was obvious. ””Course! Just trust me.” I put on the best, Honest Face I could." I don't quite understand her motives for acting like this. It's not really a lie, that she made the map quickly. And it also doesn't seem like she's purposely trying to brag or be arrogant, as if she's trying to impress these people. However, she's definitely not just matter of factly telling them this information, she's aware of what it means that she shared the Intel and is trying to project something. It just doesn't seem like she should be "acting", trying to sell herself right now. Or that she should care that they know? Ligh knows she gave the map to the crusade, she knows she gave the map to the crusade, Ligh asked her for another route and she delivered. I dunno just struck me as a weird character beat. Tyftc
Gardor
Prob piercing
Scholar of Endless Knowledge
When does our mc get herself a cool fox companion 🥺
Arkus86
"At max draw, an arrow formed of silver formed as if coalescing from the air." - remove the first "formed" "He released the arrow, sending it perching up towards the roof." - I'm no expert, but "perching" does not feel like the right verb for this context.
David Brims
It's ironic: Inquisitor Ligh's powers probably work better BECAUSE he wanders around in a daze of drunken confusion and has no real idea where he's going. It gives his power a chance to step in.
