Chapter IV: Deep in arrays of grand dismay
"But I am not to let the sufferers weep! I am to free them with the salvation of loss!"
- The Final Child of Ver'As.
The overheader transporter hummed with great intensity, as Lilith clutched her stomach in agonizing pain within the hovering balamar beetle. She'd been hooked up to MediPaks. They held a shade of withered sterling as they pumped juices to her veins, replenishing the nutrients that she was losing in real time. They installed them by the chassis of the overheader to keep her vital signs at bay, though the agony lingered. The vehicle was silent, but hummed greatly, as if it were sentient and reciting its own sonnets because of the hoverports. The walls were made of fashioned steel, balamar, and scrap. She looked across the hull and found Vance praying on the floor, muttering religious jargon in the Tenelorian faith.
Lassen Nous soyons. Libre par, sicut fugaces, segnus. C'est Fayt.
(Let us be. Free like the flightless carriers, demand. It is done.)
Far ahead of her was a tattered Regan ∞ military poster reading: Balamar! Bless the messiah, for the ancients have blessed us with metal so cunning and reliable!
To her left was Sermänt, whose fingers tapped endlessly on his seat, as his eyes lay fixated on the one hoverport that they had acquired. His left foot lightly stomped on the ground, almost rhythmically, as if he were attempting to relay a message through vintage Morse code. Their bodies swayed side to side as the overheader gradually bound to different directions, throwing their bodies across their seats.
"D-do they have a-anesthetics?" Lilith groaned, interrupting Vance's prayer.
"I'm afraid not," Vance mumbled, refusing to face Lilith and interrupt his prayer. "Transporter said most reserves had expired. Oil leak."
"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Sermänt scoffed, barging into the conversation with his raspy voice.
"I will, and I do, if it means that I get to complete my prayer." Vance's voice tensed into a heightening pitch as more heat left his body.
"It's obvious that this is a scheme, a plot. That 'leak' has happened thrice in the span of this month. Someone or something is plotting to dethrone the child of Ver'As, and take the Chimeran throne in Regas ∞."
"I'm praying." Vance raised his voice. "Continue to speak of such, and that is heresy."
"Heresy? I care deeply for the loving messiah to where I worry for his safety, and you call that heresy!?"
"So you doubt the Child of Ver'As' ability to protect himself?"
Silence loomed in the air soon after. A few minutes later, the hull of the overheader was barraged by a flood of static from its speakers, though the team did not react. They sat, recuperating as if they were used to the predicament, as a voice soon followed.
"ETA to Chimera, 15 minutes Southwest of Selford. Recons by Sermänt, prepare for anchor, and present your findings to the Regan ∞ Valliel of Bellus."
Bellus. Lilith thought. She had never been used to the twisted processes and systems that lingered in that plaza of Chimera, but it was what kept her alive. Bellus never held an insignia, nor was it a people. It was a plaza built solely for negotiations and professions, a giant heap and amalgamation of busy, dim streets, filled to the brim with firms and occupations.
Lilith could feel her conscience gradually slipping away from her physical body as the pain began to engulf her entire frame in a painfully beautiful bliss that drove sharp spikes down her epidermis. She couldn't speak as she had exhausted her voice trying to ask for anesthetics. She felt as if her throat had separated from her head; her vocal chords had finally severed from the impact, as her spine remained unstable. Tears rolled down her face, as all that could be heard from her was the exhaling of air from her lungs, which the others in the hull perceived to be happiness in what they considered to be the arms of safety.
She had no mouth, yet needed to scream.
The group flinched forward as the overheader came to an abrupt stop. Lilith could feel the overheader slowly descending as she peered through a crack in the ship's hull. Three metal domes pointed straight to the sun, around them a burning, barren plain, as they pulsated with large amounts of electricity. The overheader descended near a titanic Balamar hatch, shining yet scathed by the wind.
Lilith peered around their vicinity, as they spotted six more overheaders, who had been waiting for the gigantic metal hatch to unlock.
The overheader's radio blasted with static yet again. "A message for you, will relay it," the pilot said.
"Is this Sermänt's recon? Yeah? Good, better be," an unidentified voice spoke on the other side, through the speakers. "You're two hours late. You've got Seneri and I's fleet on standby, hopelessly waiting for you four."
Sermänt stood from his seat as he approached a console next to the opening of the cockpit.
"Yes, it is us, Viro. I apologize for the-" Sermänt was interrupted by Viro's voice.
"Well, you'd better have more than three hoverports, Sermänt. Otherwise, you're a disgrace to Regan ∞ blood."
The console shut off, as Sermänt sluggishly trudged back into his seat. Witnessing this, Lilith recalled a thought that stabbed through her chest like a piercing veil.
"You know, I've never understood Regans ∞ and their fashion. I've never gotten a glimpse of Sermänt's face. I do wonder why their culture's blood thirsty." The thought of Daise rang through her head as she could unconsciously hear her voice in her ears. Poor girl. She thought.
"Prepare for descent," the voice of the pilot blasted, interrupting Lilith in her thoughts.
"Chimera," Vance commented. "We should be entering through Bellus now."
She once again peered through the crack, taking sight of the other transporters, as the titanic circular metal hatch hundreds of feet below them began to rumble. The balamar hatch slowly unlocked, as its doors slid into slits within its rim, revealing a darkened gaping opening into the underground. Lilith could feel her body lower with the transporter, as the lighting within the balamar beetle slightly dimmed as it went through the passage, and she could once again feel the rumbling of the hatch as it slowly closed shut, sending minor seismic waves within the passageway tunnels around them as it echoed.
Lilith looked around the transporter as she laid her eyes on Sermänt, who lugged the one hoverport into a cart installed by the side of the transporter's door. His hand slightly shook, as Lilith could sense his silent disdain. He was still shaken by Daise's death, far because he cared, but because he failed to commit to his duty as a Regan ∞ Captain, to protect.
Vance sat still by the corners of the hull, silently. Not so much as a word came out of him after his debacle with Sermänt.
The overheader lowered as it came to an abrupt halt. There was silence for half a minute, until footsteps could be heard from the exterior of the overheader. Lilith could hear sharp monotone yet altruistic orders being shot around, as the locks of the door of the overheader released, vibrating her seat as goosebumps flooded her body. Despite her shock, she felt a hint of warmth travel down her stiff and battered body. She recognized the tones, the use, and the form of language. It reminded her that she was finally safe. They were around her-around them. It was her people.
The large rear horizontal door of the overheader echoed with gears and rinks as it slowly lowered into an open ramp, reminiscent of medieval castles and their grand drawbridges. The hull was instantly filled with bright yet melancholic lights, as the hangar was flooded with the chatter of Regan ∞ officers and pilots, as well as the thrusters of docking overheaders. The glow of tall firms, guilds, and post offices from across the hangar shone like the divinity of Ver'As, as it crept next to her eyes. They were here, they were there. They were in the great underground slum of Chimera.
Her dream-like state paused as a group of three heavily armored men entered the hull. The three donned armor as their chestplates held a dark purple Gainan ⬡ insignia. Their armor was angular, sleek, and dark, yet continued to reveal the marks and gaps of where different metals were smithed and fashioned together. Each had a wire running down from their hip to their helmet, which was shaped in the form of an armet. The figures seemed faceless, yet their bodies moved deployed with great coordination and discipline. Lilith gazed upon them, the Gainan ⬡ Viscorp.
"Where is the injured one?" the Viscorp in the middle of their formation asked as he ushered the other two to assist with the hoverport cart and Sermänt. His voice stood in a distorted tone through their microphone hip wires so that they could hide their identities.
"Her," Vance replied, pointing toward Lilith's direction.
The Viscorp peered towards Lilith's direction before moving out of the aisle and making way for two more figures. One was a man in white, who held a blue rigid case holding the insignia of Studos ♡ , as the other stood tall in a dark-lengthy zipun with colors black and maroon, as he held a military cap in his hands, donning the leminiscate of Regas ∞.
"Vallian Caros!" Sermänt gasped as he bowed, kneeling on the ground in his presence.
"Stand," Caros responded in a discerning attitude as he refused to lay eyes on the Regan ∞ in front of him before facing the Studon ♡, giving him an order. "Kelly, assist the woman. I can tell that she is in pain."
"Yes, my Vallian," Kelly responded, lightly tugging on the needles that fed Lilith's veins her MediPaks and injecting her with a painkiller stim.
The relief flooded through Lilith's veins as she felt the pain slowly drown away through the serenity of her stim.
Caros looked forward through the hull of the overheader, looking at Vance as he stood awaiting command.
"Do not remain wary. As we know, Gainans ⬡ are known to be experts in the psychology and tactics of the mind, which is why the Viscorp is with you today, to intimidate the truth." Lilith was ushered out of the overheader by Kelly as she slowly heard Caros' voice dissipate in the hangar.
"First, Vance Sumner," he stared into his eyes with honor. "It has come to my attention that your party had stumbled across a Senerate Scraper, yes?"
"Indeed, my Vallian."
"We were watching. We are always watching through your seekers. Your actions were admirable despite the outcome of your botched objective. Dismissed." Vance bowed in front of the Vallian as he slowly trudged out of the overheader. Caros then peered towards Sermänt, his eyes fueled with dismissiveness.
"Recon Captain Sermänt."
"Yes, my Vallian?"
"A fleet of six overheaders left the Bellus hangars today for the Valiquet acquisition mission. Three ruins by Vornade, two by Silat, and one by Selford, your convoy." The Vallian snapped his fingers before continuing. "It has come to my knowledge that you had kept Recon Captains Viro and Seneri. Why?"
"I apologize, Vallian but-"
"Up-up." The Vallian raised his hand as he shushed Sermänt. "I know. The seekers always know. But do you know who doesn't? The other two."
The Vallian walked outside with Sermänt, swaddling his feet as they walked towards the figures of two people conformed in a line; Viro and Sereni.
"Formation. Now, Sermänt," he commanded, as he reluctantly followed.
"Now, reel them in," Caros called the three Viscorps. Minutes later, the silent Viscorps reeled in the rusted storage carts from each of the overheaders, as they separated them in front of the Vallian.
"Twenty-three, if you would be so kind," he called to the Viscorp on his right. They called the Viscorps by numbers so that the Regans could retain order and assert dominance over the Gainans ⬡.
Twenty-three entered the frame as he tugged on three carts containing multiple hoverports.
"Viro," the Vallian called. "Three overheaders, three teams, for three Valiquets. Quota said to deliver 9, you and your teams have brought in 11, and retained minor injuries, very well. Fifteen."
Fifteen entered in front of the line, rolling two carts.
"Sereni. Two teams crashed by Silat, two teams, the quota was 5. Your team returned with 5 and suffered no complications, very well. Eight."
Eight entered, holding the one cart of Sermänt.
"Now.. Sermänt. Would you kindly explain to us why your quota was never met, and why your team never returned with the Studon ♡, leaving Sereni and Viro out by the hatch for over two hours?"
Sermänt cleared his throat while rubbing his hands together as he could feel his heart quake. The gaze of the eyes of the other two Captains and Vallian, as well as the faceless Viscorps, whom he wasn't even sure were listening, added more pressure to his mind, pressing deeply into his skull.
"For the start…" Sermänt started, his voice slightly quaking. "It was as if we were anticipated- ambushed, even. There was an explosive, deep inside one of the hoverports. It caught us off-guard but we survived, though it left us with two hoverports remaining… until a scraper entered our field, Vallian. And I tell you, Sir, I-it was a shared victory-"
"So you brought in just one hoverport as a result of that 'shared victory?' I think you misunderstood the objective. It was three hover ports, not one third."
"No, Sir, it was a Senerate, it ambushed- killed"
"So it wasn't a shared victory? So we're blaming twisted nature and its instinctual creatures, for the death of your Studon ⬡ Daise Harmam, yes?"
"N-no, Valian-" Sermänt's voice broke. He was suddenly surrounded by the three Gainan ⬡ Viscorps.
"Do it," Caros demanded, as the Viscorps followed. Immediately, Sermant was held up by force under Twenty-Three as Fifteen and Eight immediately began to lay punches to Sermänt's abdomen. His cries filled the harrowing air as Viro and Sereni watched with horrific tenor in their eyes, shaking as their pupils began to dilate. Blood began to gush out of his mouth, as he begged for forgiveness- mercy, even. Something a Regan ∞ would rarely do.
"This, my friends," the Valian continued. "This is what you are supposed to avoid as Regans ⬡. The Child of Ver'As entrusted the safety of Chimera into our people's hands. We are the people of the messiah. We are meant to be powerful, overflowing with vigor and patriotism for Chimera-"
"H-Help M-me!" Sermänt's cries grew louder.
"You are meant to protect, not to yield. Not to beg for mercy like that man in front of you right now."
"H-HELP ME!"
"This, this is what we are meant to do as Regans ∞, what we are meant to do as Captains. This is what we are meant to do as leaders."
"Dismissed."